Chapter 20: Uncle’s Incredible Strength and Natural Martial Talent

Though Su Mingshan felt a hint of nervousness, he was mostly eager to give it a try. Having hunted for years, he was confident in his physical strength. Even if he couldn’t block a single move, he wouldn’t lose too embarrassingly.

“Then I’ll take my chances, Mr. Ji Sang,” he said, adjusting his clothes and assuming a fighting stance.

Ji Sang observed his steady posture and couldn’t help but feel some admiration. His main goal was to test Su Mingshan’s reflexes before taking the initiative.

Clenching his fist tightly, Ji Sang struck directly—no fancy moves—aiming a punch straight at Su Mingshan.

Su Mingshan knew he couldn’t withstand Ji Sang’s blow. With a quick sidestep, he dodged the punch, treating Ji Sang like one of the wild beasts he was used to hunting.

Ji Sang thought his punch was fast and didn’t expect a country bumpkin to dodge it so easily. But to his surprise, Su Mingshan dodged smoothly.

His eyes brightened as he threw three faster punches in succession—each one faster than the last, like a sudden storm of blows. Yet Su Mingshan dodged every single one again.

“Well done, Brother Su. Your evasive skills are stronger than I expected.”

“Now it’s your turn to punch.”

Encouraged by the praise, Su Mingshan’s confidence soared.

He raised his fist and threw a punch at Ji Sang, who was far more alert. Naturally, Ji Sang easily dodged.

But then, curious about Su Mingshan’s actual strength, Ji Sang suddenly stopped dodging and took the punch squarely.

“Bang…”

The sound was muffled but unmistakable. Ji Sang dropped to his knees, and a clear cracking of bone echoed through the yard.

Everyone was stunned—Ji Sang himself, and the watching Su family alike.

“Sorry, Mr. Ji Sang! I thought you could dodge it!” Su Mingshan gasped, rushing forward to support Ji Sang as he settled onto a nearby chair.

Ji Sang knew his knee was injured but allowed Su Mingshan to help him sit.

Except for Su Wan, who clapped excitedly, the rest of the family was at a loss.

Anyone with eyes could see Ji Sang could have dodged that punch easily—so why did he take it?

They then heard Ji Sang mumbling, “The strength is tremendous. All that’s missing is technique. With some practice, he could be on par with General Cheng of old.”

Su Mingshan had no idea who General Cheng was, and neither did the Su family—they looked puzzled.

Ji Sang was excited and urged Su Mingshan to punch the osmanthus tree in the yard.

“Give it your all.”

Hearing this, Su Mingshan obeyed and threw a full-strength punch at the tree.

To everyone’s astonishment, the tree cracked on impact.

“Wow, Uncle is amazing! Uncle’s got incredible strength! Uncle will definitely become a mighty general someday!” Su Wan bounced around, clapping and cheering.

Su Xinyao also clapped her hands, imitating Su Wan and repeating her words,
 “Wow, Uncle is so amazing! Uncle is incredibly strong! Uncle will definitely become a great general someday!”

“Little Yao, you called him wrong. You should call him ‘Daddy’,” Su Wan smiled and corrected her.

“Oh, right! Daddy is amazing, Daddy is a great general!” Su Xinyao babbled, waving her tiny fists with impressive imitation.

Their laughter filled the room, making the elderly couple burst into joyous smiles.

Ji Sang, after his initial surprise, felt a wave of happiness in his heart.
 “It seems Brother Su is also a martial prodigy. As long as he trains more in technique, his future will be limitless.”
 He recalled Su Wan’s words yesterday about the Su family blood flowing within them.

Thinking it over, Ji Sang realized that all the Su family members were gifted like her. It was truly a pity for such talents to be confined to a small village like Qinghe.

Hearing Ji Sang’s praise, Su Mingshan grew more confident, scratching his head with a bashful smile.
 “Lately, I feel like I have endless energy.” This was something he had never experienced before.

Xia Xian and Su Fu were equally surprised and delighted.

Su Fu had already told the family that Su Wan had learned lightness skill in just half a day.

Now hearing that Su Mingshan was also a martial prodigy, their joy was beyond words.

Su Wan smiled slightly at the dinner table, happy to see everyone’s physical strength improving.

She had also prepared some body-refining pills for Su Shanyu, planning to give them to him during his rest. By then, he would be the next Su Mingshan.

Because of the high spirits, at dinner, Su Mingshan and Ji Sang toasted and drank several cups. As the mood grew lively, night had already fallen.

Ji Sang found it inconvenient to return to town, so he decided to spend the night on the carriage.

The family’s house was cramped and could barely accommodate everyone. Fortunately, Xia Xian’s two brothers—a carpenter and a bricklayer—were there. After some discussion, they decided to start building a new house immediately.

Su Mingshan helped tally the first day’s shop accounts: total revenue was twenty taels, and after costs, the net profit was eight taels.

As a farmer, Su Fu understood the hardships of farming and had set the prices very low.

More than half of those twenty taels came from Wang Shun and his people.

Ji Sang drove the carriage into town. Along the way, he overheard many people discussing the scandal about Ning Yumo, the top scholar, abandoning his wife and daughter. This was a complete reversal from yesterday’s rumors.

“Did you hear? That new top scholar, Ning Yumo, abandoned his wife and daughter to climb the social ladder.”

“Really? Is that true?”

“Of course! This was confirmed by Ning family’s cousin, the Liu family.”

“Oh my god, I can’t believe it. Just after taking office, he gave up his loyal wife to court a noblewoman. Is a man like this fit to be a government official?”

“Of course, she’s not worthy.”

Someone who knew the truth quickly spoke up:

“You don’t know — villagers from Qinghe say that ever since the Su family daughter married into the Ning family, she worked like a beast of burden. It’s said the Su family often helped the Ning family financially. But once they turned things around, they discarded her like trash. So ungrateful, truly unworthy of being human.”

“Ah, it’s just so pitiful for that Su family girl. She thought hardship was over, but just after becoming the top scholar’s wife, she was thrown aside. And with an orphaned girl, too — it’s so tragic.”

“Exactly. Now, it’s said that mother and daughter rent a shop to sell sundries, with prices much lower than others. We should go check it out.”

“Sure, let’s go, let’s go.”

As they spoke, a group headed toward the sundry shop.

By the time Su Fu and the others arrived, a crowd had already gathered outside. Su Fu felt uneasy, fearing the Ning family might learn about this and come looking for trouble. The Ning family nowadays was not someone they could easily offend.

“There she is! That woman in the coarse hemp cloth must be the Su family girl, really beautiful. Such a kind and lovely person, yet they just cast her aside like that — truly ruthless. And with such a little child, it’ll be hard for her to remarry!”

“Isn’t that the truth? Men, once they rise, forget the bitter days they went through.”

The villagers whispered back and forth, making Su Fu feel quite uncomfortable. She raised her voice:

“Everyone, please go home and stop discussing this. The Ning family now is not someone we can afford to offend.”

Hearing this, the crowd knew Su Fu had resigned herself to the situation.

But there was nothing to be done—after all, the Ning family held high office now.

The villagers didn’t leave immediately, waiting until Su Fu opened the door and bought some necessary items before dispersing.

Not far away in an alley stood a mother and daughter. The woman’s skin was dark, while the younger one was paler, but her face was quite ordinary-looking.

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