“This is called Judo. It sounds like a fighting technique specially prepared for those with weak bodies, but if practiced to perfection, it is not weak at all. It requires two people to practice, so I’ll be your opponent,” Li Yao said. “What you need to do is try every means possible to throw me to the ground.”
“Ah?”
Wang Er was dumbfounded.
To make him throw his mother to the ground... this was not a matter of whether he dared or not, but whether he could or not.
His mother could fell a captain with one slash!
“Don’t be afraid, the ground is soft.”
“Then... then son will try.”
Wang Er had never wrestled anyone before, but he had seen it done. He reached out to grab Li Yao's shoulders, but before he could even touch her, Li Yao seized his hand and suddenly exerted force, flipping him over her shoulder and throwing him on the ground.
Fortunately there were cotton quilts below, otherwise he might not have been able to get back up after that throw.
“Again.”
Wang Er shook his body and this time he didn’t grab her shoulders. Instead he tried to hug her waist, but was pulled by Li Yao again. He tripped over his own feet and fell face down in the mud.
“Again.”
Wang Er tried various methods, but each time before he could even touch the person, he was already sprawled on the ground.
He seemed to understand a little.
His mother was not actually teaching him martial arts, because he simply could not learn it. His mother was teaching him how to take a beating!
“After taking a beating many times, you become unafraid of taking beatings! Mother, is that right?”
Li Yao: ...
But practicing Judo did seem to be like this - after repeated falls, you gradually learned.
“You need to feel how I threw you down,” Li Yao said. “Then try to figure out how to counter it. Then use the same methods I used to in turn throw me down.”
Wang Er was a little confused by this. It sounded even harder than the Four Books!
“Auntie, why don’t I practice with him instead?” Du Xiao Hui took off her shoes at this time and stepped onto the cotton quilt. “Just now when I was watching for a while, I feel like I learned a little.”
“Then you practice with him.”
Facing Du Xiao Hui, Wang Er was even more hesitant to make a move. After all, men and women were different. He didn’t even know where to grab her.
But Du Xiao Hui didn't care about such things. Since Wang Er didn't make a move, she took the initiative. Grabbing Wang Er's arm, she pushed and pulled, easily flipping him over her shoulder.
Of course her strength was smaller, unable to throw Wang Er flat on the ground like Li Yao. She even caught Wang Er at the last moment, only letting his feet touch the ground while his body was still suspended in midair.
“This time throw me like I did to you.”
Having been thrown by a girl, Wang Er still felt a little unwilling. Remembering the method from before, he also wanted to flip Du Xiao Hui over his shoulder.
But Du Xiao Hui had obviously learned faster than him. Bracing herself, she then countered and threw him. Not steady on his feet, the two tumbled together on the ground.
Both blushed deep red, hurriedly separating and climbing up from the ground.
“Cough cough, Brother Wang Er, don't hold back against me. Use your full strength!” Du Xiao Hui said. “Of course I won't go easy on you either.”
And so the two continued, repeatedly falling down to the ground.
Seeing Wang Er lose more than he won, Li Yao sighed incessantly in her heart.
If these two got married in the future, I'm afraid Wang Er's days would not be easy!
...
And so, the whole family's martial arts practice began this way.
At the beginning, the first few days were very difficult and no one felt good.
Da Zhuang was exhausted every day. Wang Er and Du Xiao Hui threw each other around until they were battered and bruised. Wang Xiao Si was no longer like the wind, even feeling his legs were filled with lead when he walked.
The most miserable was Song Zhe. After a few days, he was dizzy and muddleheaded almost all the time, feeling like his head would split open.
But under Li Yao's supervision, after half a month, everyone gradually adapted. If they went one day without practice, their whole body would feel off.
As each person's progress improved, Li Yao continued teaching more techniques. By now Wang Er and Du Xiao Hui had a little bit of a foundation in Judo, and Wang Xiao Si could run around swiftly like the wind again.
And Da Zhuang's muscular body was even more bulging, able to pass off as a wrestler with just a cloth wrapped around his forehead.
Li Yao didn't make them practice too intensely either. Having them gang up on three or five opponents was good enough.
Time flew by and soon it was July, right before the Qiqiao Festival.
In this world, there were no legends of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl, so there was no such festival.
But recently Li Yao had nothing much to do, so she was prepared to mobilize everyone to celebrate it together.
Celebrating festivals like this was meaningless if it was just their family. Only when great crowds of people celebrated together was it lively enough.
Just as she was thinking about how to spread the story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl in the village, so that everyone could join in celebrating the festival together, the Song County Magistrate couple came in tandem.
Recently there had been some rain, and the Song County Magistrate was worried some farmland might be washed away by floods, so he had been patrolling each village almost every day, urging them to promptly deal with any problems that arose.
After a period of busy work, the originally somewhat fair-skinned Song County Magistrate was now tanned like a piece of charcoal.
This was Li Yao’s first time seeing him working diligently as an official, and she respected him very much in her heart.
“Lady Li,” the Song County Magistrate said, “today we came first to see how our son is doing, and second because we have an important matter we wish to ask your opinion on.”
Matters like this were already not the first time.
Whenever he encountered something he couldn’t resolve himself or felt confused about, the Song County Magistrate would choose to come ask Li Yao for advice.
“County Magistrate Song is too polite. Please go ahead.”
Since last winter when Baichuan County repaired the roads and built reservoirs and waterways, this year the benefits were already huge. Baichuan County’s economy was getting better and better, and many commoners had earned money.
But infrastructure construction was still far from ideal compared to Li Yao’s proposals of “every household connected by cement roads and running water”. There was still a difference of tens of thousands of li, so construction needed to continue.
But a problem had occurred.
Last winter the county government spent all the money until the coffers were empty. Now with no disasters or calamities, it was also not good to ask the wealthy locals to donate again. Thus infrastructure construction had almost completely halted.
So he wanted to ask if there were any good ways for the county government to gain some income.
“County Magistrate Song, what do you think?”
“I've thought it over and over, and can only think to increase the head tax,” the Song County Magistrate said. “But I also know this method is inappropriate. Many commoner households are still very poor, so it would be unfair to them.”
“Indeed.”
“Lady Li, I know you must have a clever solution. Please don't hesitate to enlighten me.”
Wanting to earn money, and wanting liveliness and the taste of mortal life, Li Yao instantly thought of a good method.
She suggested the Song County Magistrate promote the legend of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl, promote this Qiqiao Festival, and then hold a grand festival in the county city.
That would take care of having excitement and liveliness, and money could surely be earned too.
After hearing the story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl, the Song County Magistrate was slightly moved. He considered himself well-read, yet had never heard such a story before.
Moreover, the meaning behind this story was very appealing to commoners’ tastes.
“Let’s first find some storytellers and have them spread this story around the outskirts. Then announce that on the seventh day of the seventh month, Baichuan County will hold a grand three-day festival. At that time, not only will all kinds of good things be available for purchase, but at night, people can appreciate the lantern displays and a spectacular fireworks show.”
The Song County Magistrate knew of lantern displays, but fireworks were something unfamiliar.
“Uh... it’s a little novelty I recently created,” Li Yao said. “But it looks best at night, so why don’t County Magistrate Song and his wife stay here tonight to see.”