The beautiful woman said, âHumph is he qualified to be the Prime Minister?â
The man got angry, âIf heâs not are you?â
The young woman became furious and shouted, âWho the hell are you; how dare you be impolite to me?â
The guy picked an iron rod from the fire; she grabbed a few sticks of firewood and struck his rod. The guyâs arm trembled and he felt half his body go numb so he let go of the hot rod, which fell onto the floor causing sparks from the fire to fly and scorch strands of his beard. People called out in alarm. Although the man is hot-tempered, he tasted her martial arts, suffered a loss and did not dare act rashly. He only stroked his burnt beard, not even wanting to drink the wine anymore.
The refined young girl said, âOthers have been talking about the Eagle Hero and it was all going fine, why do you not like to hear it?â Turning her head to the man she gave a sweet smile, saying âUncle, please do not be offended.â That man was originally filled with anger, but seeing her sweet smile, his anger dissipated immediately and his large mouth also smiled; he wanted to say something polite but did not know what to say.
The young girl said, âUncle, how did you get to know the Eagle Hero?â The man looked at the young woman, hesitated and did not speak. The young girl said, âJust agree not to offend my elder sister and that will do. How old is the Eagle Hero? Are his looks good?â She did not wait for the man to reply and turned her head to the woman saying, âElder sister, I wonder how his Divine Eagle compares with our pair of eagles?â
The young woman said, âCompare with our pair of eagles? In all this world, which eagle or eagles can hold a candle to our pair of eagles?â
The young girl said, âNot necessarily true. Father often said, âA person who studies military theories must know that superior parties always exist and so one cannot be complacent.â If that applies to humans, then it applies to our eagles too, so more magnificent birds should exist.â
The young woman said âAt your young age, what do you understand? When we went out, our parents told you to listen to me, have you not remembered?â
The young girl said with a smile, âThat also depends on whether what you say is right. Younger brother am I right or is elder sister right?â
The youth next to her is big and sturdy, but actually looked very naive, so he hesitated for a while then said, âI donât know. Father said we should listen to elder sister, and told you not to talk back to elder sister.â
The young woman looked very pleased and said, âIsnât that so?â
The young girl saw that her younger brother was helping her elder sister, but she was not angry and said with a smile, âYou donât understand anything either.â Turning her head to the straightforward man she said, âUncle, continue the Eagle Heroâs story, please.â
The man said, âOK, since the lady wants to hear, I shall speak; although I, whose surname is Song, have poor skills, I am an honest man. What I say is true and definitely doesnât contain half a word of lies, if the lady does not believe me, then thereâs no need to listen.â
The young girl took the wine pot and poured out a bowl of wine for him, then said with a smile, âWhy would I not believe you? Come on, quickly start talking!â She also called out, âWaiter, bring ten catties of wine again and cut 20 catties of beef, my elder sister requests all of you to drink merrily and drive out the cold air.â The servant repeatedly agreed and relayed the order. The many travelers smiled from ear to ear, expressing their gratitude with one voice. Before long, three waiters brought the wine and meat.
The young woman calmly said âEven if I wanted to provide a treat, I would not invite people who utter rubbish. Waiter, the bill for the wine and meat money should not be charged to my account.â
The servant gawked, looked from the young woman to the young girl, not knowing what to do. The young girl took off a golden hairpin from her hair and gave it to the servant, saying, âThis hairpin is made of real gold, itâs worth several taels (a unit of currency) of silver. Take it away and exchange it for money. And bring another ten catties of wine and 20 catties of mutton.â
The young woman got angry, âYounger sister, must you be spiteful with me? Even a pearl on this hairpin alone is worth more than 100 taels of silver; you bothered and begged Uncle Zhu for it, but now you casually use it to treat people to a drink. When you return to Xiangyang, if Mother asks about it how will you answer?â
The young girl stuck out her tongue and said with a smile, âI shall say it fell on the road, and I could not find it.â
The woman said âI will not lie for you.â
The young girl used her chopsticks to grasp a piece of beef and put it in her mouth. She then said, âAfter all, we have already eaten, how can I take it back now? Everybody, please eat, there is no need to be polite.â
The people saw the two arguing and all found it interesting, but they liked the young girlâs naĂŻve character, so even those who did not drink carried the liquor bowls to those who drank the wine, helping the young girl secretly. The young woman spitefully closed her eyes and used her hands to cover her ears.
The young girl said with a smile, âUncle Song, my elder sister is sleeping, itâs OK if you speak loudly; you wonât wake her.â The young woman opened her eyes widely, getting angry, âWhen did I sleep?â The young girl then said, âThatâs even better, even if we talk loudly we wonât disturb you.â
The young woman said loudly, âXiangâer, let me tell you, if you anger me, I will not allow you to follow us around tomorrow.â The young girl said, âItâs alright, I can travel together with Younger brother.â The woman said âYounger brother will come with me.â The young girl said, âYounger brother, say, who will you follow?â
The youth was caught in a fix, if he helped his big sister, his other sister would be upset, if he helped his other sister, his big sister would be angry, so he said, âMother said, the three of us must always travel together and not be separated.â
The young woman stared at her younger sister and snapped, âIf I had known that you would become so disobedient, I would not have been anxious to find you back when you got kidnapped by the thugs when you were small.â
The young girl heard her say that, causing her heart to soften, so she hugged the young womanâs shoulders, begging, âGood elder sister, please donât be angry, itâs my fault.â The young woman was angry and paid no attention to her. The young girl then said, âIf you donât smile, I will tickle you.â That young woman turned her head away instead. The young girl suddenly extended her right hand and poked at the young womanâs armpit from behind. The young woman did not counter the move but swept her left hand backwards. The young girl used her left hand to block and her right hand continued to move forwards. The young woman sank her right elbow slightly, pressing down on her sisterâs arm. The young girl then circled her palm and avoided the elbow, executing the graceful move beautifully. In that short moment, the two people exchanged seven or eight moves, all originating from the ingenious âSubtle Hand Arresting Techniqueâ. Although the young girl did not manage to tickle her elder sisterâs armpit, the young woman also could not catch her sisterâs arm.