Adventures of Fu: Women Are Weird, Women From The Jing Family - Doubly More So!

Disclaimer: If you get triggered, don't read. If you read and get triggered, Your Fault.

 

That's when fate started fucking with Fu again!

He went on to train. He's been doing lots of conditioning lately, and it seems to pay off.

 

As he was doing front presses and pull-ups, he caught sight of another Jing, Silver Cat - the traps specialist who is the sister of Black Fox - chatting amiably with our Yanzi, the beggar girl.

They were looking at him doing exercises and sweating, and giggling. Well, one of them is around 16-17, the other is around 25 (and not really acting her age), what else can one expect?

Girls, Fu decided, and sagely finished his series without paying them any heed. Then he turned around and kept doing his pull-ups with his back turned to them!
(If he had any earplugs, that's where he would have been tucking them inside his ears, and the sound would be at near-max levels! As it was, he didn't).

They started giggling even more, but he ignored them for a couple of hours.

A couple of series before he was done, Silver Cat approached him. "Are you free to talk?"
 

"In a couple series", Fu answered. He might normally cut it short, but those three years weren't getting any longer!
 

She was willing to wait. In fact, she started playing slowly a taolu ("formal exercise") of his own style. And her abilities seem to at least be matching his!

 

When he finished, Yanzi was nowhere to be seen.
 

"So, what did you want?"
 

"Are you free today?"
 

"Sure!", he replied. Hey, another aunt of the Emperor! What would you think she could be after?
 

Clearly, that was a test! He knows Black Fox considers him a prospective xia who could be useful to his family. What, he knows not, but he's seen the eldest Jing (The Wolf) hiring xia, and has been hired himself. 

And, since Jing always pays handsomely, Fu is only willing to try passing all their tests!

"Do you have any preferences? It should be on me", he suggested.

 

Hey, he's got money, and last few times he was invited, the Jing family paid for his food. Even a beggar can have a bit of dignity once he's got some money, and at least try to return the gesture...

 

Not that he didn't suspect it's not going to happen. And not happening it did!

"No, I'll insist I'm paying! There's a few places I want to show you..."
 

Oh! Clearly that would be a test, Fu concluded. And knowing the tastes of the Jing family members, she could be leading him to places where he couldn't afford even the entry fee!
 

"OK, if the respected Jing elder insists, a beggar can only agree humbly!", he nodded.

She even looked at his muscles (he trains naked to the waist), which further confirmed his suspicions this is a test. Clearly, she seemed happy with his muscular development and "visible power" (in Chinese, Li - strength, as opposed to Qi power).

So he went to change in his better clothes - the black xia suit gifted to him by Black Fox. He keeps that one clean, and he even took a quick bath. Can't afford to stink when you're trying to impress a potential employer.

And they started going around. Number one was a nice family restaurant that he, being a relative newcomer, didn't know about. They had nice steak and offered avocado salad! 

 

(Note - the GM has imported avocado, bananas and tomatoes to the setting; it's wuxia/xianxia fantasy, not historical China. I keep forgetting whether we've got potatoes, too; they wouldn't fit around that area anyway, they need lower temperatures. But the food is quite varied as a result!)
 

Number two was a type of bar (probably not what they call it in the setting) where they could drink without being molested, challenged, or seen as easy marks.

 

Neither was real expensive, but both were nice and cozy! Perfect for an interview, right?
 

He still didn't know what kind of job she was interviewing him for, but he suspected she might not know. If it was something her father, the Wolf, has ordered her to do, what else would she be doing?!?
 

And of course, the fact that she kept asking him about himself and what his plans are, also made total sense. As a consequence, he tried to make his answers complete and detailed!

Which is why, of course, when she stumbled and fell towards him, he immediately grabbed her in a double underhook!
 

She seemed surprised at his reflexes, so he immediately pulled her up - hey, that's literally what you do with underhooks! - and released her, not willing to keep the contact longer than necessary, lest she be offended!

"See? I know the unfa (application) of Two Snakes Sneak Around The Tree Branches" move! It's even from the same taolu you demonstrated today! Eh, of course I didn't continue with Righteous Beggar Turns Around, after all, I only wanted to prevent you from falling, not to take you down..."
 

In the historical China knowing the move and knowing the unfa were two separate things. The actual unfa is only shown to students the teachers trust, i.e. those from the "internal circle". So Fu is flexing that he's not one of the guys that are being told that the Double Underhook is a "double uppercut".

 

 

"Oh stop it!", she snapped! "Is there anything wrong with me?"
 

"Huh?!? What do you mean?"
 

"Oh forget it...or actually, are you into boys? Nah, doesn't matter..."
 

"Boys? What do boys have to do with anything?"
 

"Well, I'm an woman!"
 

"So what? It's not like you've invited me here as a woman*, right?"
 

"Not as a woman? How did you come to this conclusion?"
 

"Well, it's obvious, right? You're the auntie of the frigging Emperor, for Heavens' sake!"
 

"So are aunties of the Emperor not women?"
 

"Definitely not the type of women who would be interested in a beggar, I'd say! I mean, you're really beautiful" - he had discerned that she thinks he finds her ugly or something - "but your station is high above mine, it's like Heavens and Earth, there's no point even thinking about getting intimate! So I was just hoping to pass your test!"

"My what? You thought I'm here to put you to a test?"

"Yes! I mean, I wasn't sure if it's your father who sent you to ascertain my abilities, or you had some personal issue you wanted to hire me for, but obviously either one works!"

 

I mean, why was anyone surprised? She has been asking about him all night, much like a prospective employer. Granted, she was also touching him, but Fu knew that she was worried about his physical shape, and assumed it was just checking.
He also knew some employers like taking liberties with female workers, but of course, it wouldn't count if it was a woman doing that to him, right? Totally not the same thing!

 

This seemed to only make her thoughtful, though...

 

"Wait...hey! Did my brother warn you?!? That bastard!"
 

"Warn me about what? About your test?"
 

"About me killing my husband!"
 

"No, I mean - about you testing me for a job, obviously...you killed your husband? Eh, did you catch him cheating or what?"

"Would be better if he was...nah. Caught him smuggling opium from the Jing island! That's nasty stuff, Father doesn't approve at all - and neither do I!"

Fu has heard it's nasty stuff as well, so he just shrugged.

"Well, you did a good job, then! But no, nobody told me you did that. And it wouldn't have mattered, why would it? Your family, your call, and it seems like you did the righteous thing!"

She looked into his eyes and decided to trust him.

"Eh...then I guess you're actually into boys?"
 

"Boys? I still don't know what do boys have to do with anything... you mean, for sparring, right?"

 

But no, she stared at him in a way that he surmised she didn't. In fact, Silver Cat made it clear that no, she's not kidding, and Fu has been vetted already by her father, anyway. And then she asked him straight: do you want to go to her room? "I've been lonely lately", she explained.

Eh, what kind of a man would refuse, Fu wondered? Maybe one who's only into boys or something, but he didn't even find boys attractive - at least outside of a lei tai (free combat) area, where he prefers them!

So they went to her room, and she started to undress. Fu reached for her, half-expecting to be slapped away and mocked...then quickly pulled her towards himself after seeing no such thing was happening!

Then he quickly jumped back, realizing he might be committing a dishonest act, which is totally unbefitting a xia!

"Wait! I'd love to do this, but I'm not sure we could! I mean, I'm not sure whether I don't count as 'dating someone already'..."

"How could you not have known?!?"

"It's a kinda new thing, and it's not like I was thinking of such matters...you know, hunting those cannibal murderers and training? That's what had occupied my attention, what right-thinking man would do otherwise?"

I think she made a mental note: Fu has (mistaken) priorities.
 

But hey, he would have loved doing it with her, he wasn't lying! But he has been taught to live according to ideals of fairness, justice and loyalty. If a man hides such information, how is that fair? If he drops an old lover who swore she loved him, how is that loyalty?
 

Fu the Falcate Spear might not be the sharpest spearhead, nor the straightest one, but even he doesn't see a way to deviate that much!

So the woman crossed her hands (producing, in this state, a dangerously seductive effect):
 

"So go check on her, and ask her! I'll wait here!"
 

"Eh...it might take me a while. I'd need to plan that, it's not like her father would approve me! And the security is heavy. So...I'll let you know in a couple days, I hope?"

Have you tried telling to a heterodox xia to wait a couple days when she wants anything?

"Couple of days? Bullshit! Just tell me where it is, I can get anywhere - and I can get you in, too. You want to know it now, right? So you go in, clear it up with her, and we'd know where we can continue what we'd started!"

Fu was amazed. This woman might be a Silver Cat, but she has the bite of a combat dog - once she clamps on something, there's no releasing, only swallowing!
 

Eh, this might be a fun quality, for sure - but going to his lover with...a potential lover, who wants to know whether they can legally do the dirty?!? This was a bit too heterodox for him...

"Why not?", Silver Cat inquired when he voiced his objections. "I'm not going to go in, I'm not going to spy on you. If anything, I'll go check for loose items..."
 

This actually reminded him of something Yanzi has said.
 

"Heh, don't tell me...the kind that feel bad where they are and ask you to take them away?"
 

"Sorta. Sounds like a good reason to give".
 

He sighed, then agreed. After all, she is a master thief, and she'd resolve his issues getting in!

So they got in almost too easily: she used special powder to get the dogs confused, put the guards to sleep with surprise, and helped Fu to jump up to the third floor.

 

When he was safely there, Silver Cat announced to be leaving.
 

Fu jumped through, and announced his name: Fu the Falcate Spear!
 

"My hero!", the girl exclaimed, not disappointing him in the slightest. "So you survived!"
 

"That I did! And I captured the Four Southern Winds...though not by myself, the warriors Silver Cat and Black Fox, from the Jing family, did even more! But I created the plan how to get them to come to us, and I broke one of them..."
 

"So you did capture one, right?"
 

"Sure, I got to break the hand of the magorast! And then the foot!"
 

"I haven't heard that word!"
 

"Eh, a magician who's also a pederast...and in this case, that probably ranked among his better qualities!"
 

"So you captured him!", she concluded, happy, and launched herself at him!

 

It was to be some time before they could talk.
 

But then talk they did!
 

"Eh...dear, what's in the future for us?", he asked. "I mean, no way your father would approve me as a son-in-law, I think. So what are we to do?"
 

"He might", she said. "If you could become a great hero...yes, he might. But you'd need to be really famous!"
 

"That might take a while", he said. "All young xia aim at this. Only a handful ever get even close..."
 

He realized it seems like he's giving up on her, though...
 

"I mean, try I will! But it's not going to be easy, nor fast. And in the meantime?"
 

"In the meantime, I shall resist being married to some boring scholar, probably older than me as well", she promised. "I'll hold off for as long as I can!"
 

Thus, Fu concluded she really wants to marry him. Not that he minded...although he hadn't even considered marrying when he agreed to Black Fox's offer...but listen he had, and what kind of man would just say "it wasn't me, I didn't know what would happen, no fair"?
 

A lesser man than Fu the Falcate Spear, that's for sure!
 

Bad news for Silver Cat!

*And then Fu would have been expected to pay, so her behaviour didn't show she's treating him as a man, in his book.