Jane Ning was usually alert during her sleep, but these past two nights, the silver fox cubs kept barking. It was fine during the day because they had the other four little ones to keep them company, but at night, they probably missed the male and female foxes and started barking. Fortunately, the barking wasn't loud enough to disturb anyone, so she didn't bother to bother.

She heard Ding Youtian get out of bed in the middle of the night and thought he was going to the toilet, but she was so deep in sleep that she didn't hear him coming back. When she woke up in the morning and saw him lying in bed with his clothes on, the oil lamp on, and a book in his arms, she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

Jane Ning was a little dissatisfied with herself. In the past, he would always make noises while reading by lamplight at night. It was impossible for her to not hear anything. This was not okay. If she slept too soundly, she wouldn't even know if a thief broke into the house. It seemed that her current farm life had made her relax her vigilance.

The environment can indeed change people.

She decided to go to the courtyard to practice boxing, which was a compulsory course every morning. She couldn't slack off any longer, otherwise how could she protect the four little ones? She had originally planned to wake the four little ones to practice with her, but then she thought it would be better to wait until they had enough nutrition, especially since time was tight and the task was heavy.

Now that I have received the deposit, I have to renovate the roofs of the remaining rooms and seal the wall cracks in the morning, and go to town to buy some wine jars in the afternoon.

She opened the door quietly and came out. After practicing for a while, Ma Xiaomai jumped over the wall and came in.

Knowing that Ding Youtian and Dabao were still asleep, he didn't say anything. He just made a gesture and followed Jian Ning to practice.

Before they finished their set of punches, the four little ones came out dressed. When they went to bed last night, Jane Ning mentioned to them that she would teach them to practice martial arts in the morning, which would not only strengthen their bodies but also protect themselves. They all remembered it.

Jian Ning first asked them to stand in a stance and cultivate their breathing by standing still. This is the basic skill of learning martial arts, and it was also the same way that Grandma Wu taught her.

Ma Xiaomai took the initiative to act as an assistant coach and was quite responsible, which made Jian Ning less worried. Moreover, he had a solid foundation and his punches were powerful, which invisibly increased the enthusiasm of the four little ones.

Ding Youtian slept until noon. When he woke up, Jian Ning, with the help of Ma Xiaomai, not only renovated the rest of the roof, but also filled the gaps in the wall with mud.

In the yard, Da Niu and Da Bao were weeding. The four little silver foxes had all recognized their masters, swishing their tails and following them around in circles. Mao Qiu, presumably the eldest of the four and by far the most intelligent, not only helped Da Bao pull weeds but also imitated him by shaking off the dirt, much to the envy of Da Niu and the other three.

But in their eyes, their friends are the best and irreplaceable. The three girls were not discouraged because their friends were not as good as Dabao. Instead, they enthusiastically formed teams and started a competition at Jian Ning's suggestion to see which team could complete the designated weeding task first.

Ding Youtian woke up and heard the cheerful laughter of the four little ones. He went out to see that his wife and children were busy as hell. Even the two chickens were leisurely catching insects in the grass by the courtyard wall. As the head of the family, he had slept until this time and felt guilty and incompetent.

He quickly washed up and ate the breakfast that Jane Ning had heated up for him as quickly as possible. Then, while helping to paste the wall, he told Jane Ning the reason why he got up late.

Jian Ning was a little surprised when she learned that he went to Blind Liu's house in the middle of the night and formally became Liu's disciple. From the tone of Ding Youtian's voice last night, she thought that he looked down on Liu and was unwilling to become his disciple.

Now it seemed that he was not only willing but also quite happy. As a poor student, he was studying late into the night after his apprenticeship. What magic did this Blind Liu have that made him change like this? She felt that Blind Liu was not an ordinary person. She had not thought too much about it last night, but now she came to her senses and thought about it. Blind Liu, a village fortune teller, seemed to know too much.

This is not normal. Blind Liu must have some background.

She looked at him casually and asked, "Is he from outside or has he always been in Dingjia Village? Is he single or... a widower?"

"He was married, but his family died of plague. He later made a living by traveling around the world telling fortunes and stories. He later came to our Dingjia Village and thought the feng shui here was good, so he bought a house and settled down there."

Ding Youtian finished speaking and then asked Jian Ning, "Madam, why do you ask this? Are you worried that Master can't teach me? Madam, please don't underestimate Master." He lowered his voice and said, "Master traveled a lot in his youth. He has a lot of knowledge and skills. He's not just good at fortune-telling, storytelling, and brewing wine."

So that's how it is. Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. No wonder Blind Liu knows so much. Jian Ning no longer has any doubts in her mind.

"Master, are we going up the mountain later?" Ma Xiaomai asked.

"How can you call me master when you haven't even become my disciple yet?" Ding Youtian, who had already become my disciple, unconsciously put on an elder's posture. "You haven't even reached adulthood yet. You have to wait until your father recovers before you can become my disciple. Only after you offer tea to my wife in front of your parents can the ceremony be considered complete. Don't call me that now."

"Yes, Master." Ma Xiaomai clasped his fists and said with a smile.

"You kid are still yelling, do you owe your father a beating?" Ding Youtian also had a smile on his face.

Jane Ning didn't take it seriously. After all, in the 21st century, people could call a master whatever they wanted. Besides, Ma Xiaomai had been busy since early morning and had helped her a lot so far. It didn't matter if he called her. He was just a kid, so she could just do whatever he wanted.

"You can have lunch with our family, and then we'll go up the mountain." Originally, she didn't plan to go up the mountain today, but then she remembered that she had to go to the town in the afternoon, so she decided to go and have a look. If she caught some more big fish, she could take them to the town to sell them. With the money, the whole family could buy a new pair of shoes. She forgot to buy shoes in the town yesterday.

Ma Xiaomai had been waiting for prey since he dug the trap yesterday. If he hadn't agreed with Jane Ning last night to come and help her repair the roof early this morning, he would have gone up the mountain alone to check it out.

Because they didn't have to cut grass anymore, after lunch, Jian Ning and Ding Youtian took all four little ones with them. Fortunately, she changed her mind and came. They heard the calls of wild boars from afar, mixed with the sound of people talking. The trap she dug for Ma Xiaomai caught a big wild boar. Some villagers heard the noise and came over to find it. When Jian Ning and Ma Xiaomai arrived, they were just tying up the wild boar and getting it out of the trap.

They were the two sons of Mr. Ding Sanye. They had also gone up the mountain to dig traps yesterday, but hadn't caught anything. When they were about to go down the mountain, they heard the cries of wild boars, so they followed the sound and came here.

"Put it down! This is mine!" Ma Xiaomai angrily stepped forward to argue with them, "How dare you steal my wild boar? Be careful or I'll tell the village head and make sure you're in big trouble!"

The two sons of Uncle Ding Sanye blushed. The eldest rubbed his hands and said calmly, "How can you talk like that? Who stole yours? We just wanted to help you get it out of kindness. We will take it to the village and ask who set it up. We don't want yours at all."

"Yes, whoever wants yours is like someone who has never eaten meat. Let's go, brother. Good intentions are not rewarded. Don't worry about him, let's go."

The second brother tugged at the eldest brother's sleeve, and both of them walked away with red faces and ashamed expressions.