Chapter 27: Trust Me, I Always Win When I Gamble, Guaranteed!
Yuan Ye spent two days digging wild vegetables with the villagers. After experiencing the local customs and slightly resolving his doubts, he lost interest in this “famine-relief activity of the working people in medieval Japan.” After all, he didn’t eat wild vegetables. Unlike the villagers of Hibitsu Village, who needed to subsist on wild vegetables as their main food before the middle of the second lunar month to save precious grain for the strong laborers during spring plowing.
So he returned to the Yayoi Family to continue running his black clinic. However, the patients became increasingly scarce, sometimes not even one a day. Perhaps between illness and hunger, people of this era feared hunger more. During this period, they prioritized digging for wild vegetables and would endure illness for the time being.
As for people like Yuan Ye, they couldn’t stand idleness. When idle, he would start to worry about future dangers, plan for contingencies, and become suspicious, always suspecting there was a trap waiting for him to fall into—survival anxiety was probably etched into the bones of all Chinese people.
He pondered the current situation. As a “Divine Doctor,” it was unlikely the villagers of Hibitsu Village would try to attack him with manure forks anymore. He had also established a connection with Maeda Toshiie, and he could deepen their relationship when Maeda visited during his vacation. On the “official” level, there shouldn’t be major problems. So, what else could he do to prepare for unexpected events?
He pondered for a while and felt that hiding in the village was safe and wouldn’t be a problem anymore. However, if something happened and he needed to leave the village, his personal safety would be greatly reduced—mainly because his taser was almost out of power after more than a month since his transmigration, and it would soon be unusable.
It seemed he should acquire a more powerful weapon to prepare for sudden departures.
So, what kind of weapon would be good?
Blades, spears, swords, and halberds? Matchlock guns?
He didn’t know how to use blades, spears, swords, and halberds. If he had to learn now… Yuan Ye felt it might be too late.
He studied mathematics, physics, and chemistry in elementary school, and his university major was related to chemical engineering and machinery. In terms of physical training, he had at most practiced the “Fledgling Eagle Spreads Its Wings” and “The Times Are Calling” techniques. Now that he was twenty, it would probably be difficult to switch to martial arts, and the results would likely be half as effective with twice the effort, with not much achievement in the future.
As for matchlock guns, they were quite suitable. Firearms were, after all, the trend of history; he was very clear about this. However, he didn’t have the conditions to make them now, and buying them was too expensive. The little money he had was only enough to buy a gun stock.
He paced back and forth dozens of times with his hands behind his back, then rummaged through the items he brought with him during his transmigration. Most of them were secretly buried. He decisively activated the “I’m Thinking” skill of the green-skinned race. With an idea in mind, he immediately got to work, preparing to create a design drawing first.
“What are you doing?”
He was moving around the earthen seat and earthen floor room, shaving wood, burning charcoal, looking for a wooden ruler, and spreading paper. He woke up A Man, who was dozing off. Yuan Ye had something to do and was focused, his sense of unease subsided, feeling very stable and comfortable. He casually waved his hand, “Just making something, it’s none of your business. Go back to sleep!”
“Making what?” A Man became curious. She felt Yuan Ye was really restless. He already had a little money and could live comfortably for several years, but he insisted on being busy, never idle!
“I plan to make a bow,” Yuan Ye didn’t hide it from her. With the taser unusable and matchlock guns unaffordable, he felt a bow was the safest option.
“You know how to make bows?” A Man was a little surprised. After all, as an “original ninja,” she hadn’t been idle during this time and had thoroughly investigated Yuan Ye’s background. She felt he was just a bit eccentric, a good-for-nothing who was kicked out of his home, and that his medical skills were quite good, his body was strong, and there was nothing else. To her surprise, he suddenly revealed a new skill.
This was somewhat unexpected and began to insult her professional dignity.
“I learned a little before,” Yuan Ye continued to tell the truth, recalling some past events, a slight smile appearing on his face.
Meng Ziqi’s father was an amateur outdoor enthusiast who also dabbled in archery and bow hunting.
Of course, it was purely for recreation, and he wasn’t proficient in any of the three. Even his mountain climbing often only reached halfway; it was all about entertaining himself and having fun. However, like Yuan Ye’s uncle, he worked in a machinery factory. He used his free time to take Yuan Ye and Meng Ziqi to “scavenge” materials from the factory, making compound bows from scrap materials, hoping to hunt pheasants and rabbits in the mountains. Unfortunately, before they could achieve their goal, the bows were confiscated by the security department as soon as they were made.
This incident left a deep impression on Yuan Ye. At that time, he had just broken his alcoholic father’s head and was being looked down upon and scorned by his relatives. He had just been taken in by his uncle, was introverted and gloomy, somewhat self-destructive, constantly complaining, and often got into fights with other children when provoked.
He would fight even if it was one against many, and if he couldn’t win, he would bite others. He was like a wild child. However, Meng Ziqi’s father was an extremely sunny and cheerful person. He not only didn’t object to Meng Ziqi making friends but also willingly included Yuan Ye in their activities. He would smile and ignore Yuan Ye’s lack of upbringing, cold remarks, and even rude words, showing great tolerance and magnanimity.
Uh, Meng Ziqi’s father had a slight disability in his legs. At that time, Yuan Ye wasn’t much better. If a word didn’t match, he suspected Meng Ziqi’s father was looking down on him, secretly mocking him. He also spoke carelessly and called Meng Ziqi’s father a “cripple,” then went back to become reclusive and distressed. However, he couldn’t control his emotions at the time…
These were all Yuan Ye’s dark past, best left unmentioned. But strictly speaking, he was able to overcome his childhood trauma, reinvent himself, and become a calm, strong, mature, and magnanimous person who could see many things clearly, largely due to the influence of Meng Ziqi’s father. At that time, Yuan Ye was just a child, only slightly older than A Man is now. He learned for the first time that people could live like that, even in difficult circumstances and with physical disabilities, they could still be self-disciplined, self-reliant, optimistic, and achieve something.
For this, Yuan Ye was extremely grateful, and the older he got, the more grateful he became. After all, even if he asked himself, he might not have the patience to tolerate an ill-mannered wild child. He deeply missed that time that changed his life. Therefore, when he spoke of making a bow, he couldn’t help but smile.
A Man didn’t know his past. Seeing him suddenly smile, she thought he was being smug. Her rebellious nature kicked in, and she couldn’t help but say disdainfully, “It’s nothing special to be able to make a bow. You’re just bored! There are plenty of bamboo bows and wooden bows in the village. Why do you need to make one yourself? Just ask those foolish villagers for one! You big fool, you don’t even take advantage of freebies!”
“My bow is different,” Yuan Ye didn’t care about her nonsense. He selected charcoal sticks, prepared his simple drawing tools, and began working on the design draft, smiling, “I’m going to make a good bow!”
“What’s different about it?” A Man became even more curious. “Do you really know how to make bows? Can you make a Sanmai-uchi bow? A Tōmaki bow? You can’t possibly know how to make a Five-Vine Bow, can you?”
Wooden bows and bamboo bows are traditional Japanese bows, mostly made with materials like Japanese spindle, Japanese zelkova, bamboo, and moso bamboo for the bow body, strung with ramie strings. The production method is very simple. They are usually made very large due to insufficient bow material strength, commonly exceeding two meters, with many reaching two and a half meters. They are representative of Japanese bows.
What often appears in Japanese anime is mostly this type of wooden bow.
This type of bow was used in Japan until the late Heian period. Then, a bow-making method was introduced and modified from the Korean Peninsula: the front surface of the bent bow material was planed flat and bamboo strips were glued on to increase the bow’s strength.
This bow was called a “Bamboo Bow,” but it wasn’t used for long and was soon replaced by the “Sanmai-uchi Bow,” where bamboo strips were glued to both the front and back of the bow material, which was used until the late Kamakura Shogunate period.
By the end of the Kamakura Shogunate period, Japan experienced a period of intense conflict, and weapons were upgraded. Based on the “Sanmai-uchi Bow,” rattan was layered around the bow body, usually thicker at the top and thinner at the bottom, with thirty-six layers wrapped at the top and twenty-eight at the bottom, further increasing the bow’s strength. The bowstring was also changed to hemp string soaked in lacquer, improving it into the “Tōmaki Bow,” which became the main force on the battlefield.
The biggest problem with this bow was its extreme weight. Then, by the mid to late Muromachi period, a “Five-Vine Bow” appeared as the times became more chaotic. However, the bow-making method had not yet become widespread. It was considered a new high-tech product. Legend has it that with only five layers of rattan, it could accurately shoot at thirty-three ken (approximately 66 meters), capable of killing unarmored units. For armored targets, one would need to be 30-40 meters closer, and with an upward angle, it could reach one hundred and eighty-five ken (approximately 370 meters). When shot with light arrows at an optimal angle of 39 degrees, hitting the target depended entirely on luck, making it extremely difficult to aim. It was hailed as the strongest bow of its time.
Later in Japan, there was a “Sanjusangen-do” where archery competitions were held annually, named after the legend of the Five-Vine Bow. After all, Japan had no new types of bows afterward; archery was phased out by the times, and improvements ceased. There were no new legends to be made.
So, if Yuan Ye knew how to make wooden bows and bamboo bows, the only strange thing would be how a pampered young master like him knew how to do such rough work, as the villagers were already using these bows. There was no technical skill involved, just physical labor. But if he could make a Tōmaki bow, or even a Five-Vine Bow, that would be quite impressive, definitely a family secret technique, allowing him to become a professional bow maker, or even a master bow maker.
After A Man asked, her Dou Dou eyebrows furrowed, and she became cautious, suspecting Yuan Ye was a hidden master bow maker, with a side she hadn’t seen through. But Yuan Ye naturally wouldn’t be able to make such primitive compound bows. Recalling in his mind, drawing with his hands, calculating the lever arm and eccentric load, he casually said, “Neither. I told you, I’m going to make a good bow.”
What he intended to make was a modern pulley compound bow, or rather, given the limited conditions, he would try his best to imitate a modern pulley compound bow, ensuring high precision and strong bow power, capable of piercing heavy armor with a single arrow, terrifying enemies into submission, and possessing absolute deterrence. If he had to leave the village and his taser was gone, his close-combat ability would be greatly reduced, so he would shoot enemies from afar to scare them away, achieving the same effect.
As for whether it would actually achieve the desired effect… he wasn’t sure. He hadn’t shot at a living person before, so only practice would tell. He would build it first!
A Man didn’t understand and became even more curious. “A good bow? How good? Is there a bow better than the Five-Vine Bow? How far can it shoot?”
Yuan Ye didn’t actually pursue range, but strong bow power was a byproduct.
He thought for a moment, recalling two test videos of pulley compound bows he had watched: one penetrated six bottles of cola with an arrow at 10 meters, accurately hit a coin with direct aim at 70 meters, hit a target at over 170 meters, and landed after an upward shot of over 690 meters. Another involved playing with marbles, where at over 150 meters, two teeth were lost, requiring nine stitches, resulting in a 170,000 fine and a suspended sentence of six months.
However, he estimated that due to his lack of materials, he wouldn’t be able to achieve that level and would have to make significant compromises. He pondered and said, “The direct aim should be around sixty ken. Within sixty ken, I should be able to guarantee good accuracy and a certain degree of lethality.”
A Man immediately disbelieved him. She wasn’t a sheltered young lady; she was an “original ninja” who had personally witnessed battlefield combat from the grass. Hearing this, she felt her intelligence was being insulted and immediately shouted, “That’s impossible! You’re lying! There’s no such strong bow in the world that can aim at sixty ken. I don’t believe it!”
Yuan Ye was making the bow just to pass the time and as a precaution, not to prove anything. He didn’t care if she believed him or not. He continued his work and casually threw back, “Believe it or not!”
A Man looked at the strange squares, lines, circles, and strings of unfamiliar “Southern barbarian script” he was drawing on the paper. She thought he was bragging, and bragging about something incredibly foolish.
She wasn’t going to indulge his bad habit and was naturally combative, wanting to argue with him further. But her eyes suddenly lit up, and she became excited. She grabbed the Mino paper in front of Yuan Ye and said excitedly, “Since it’s impossible, how about we make a bet? A bet of five guan coins… hmm, three guan coins, do you dare?!”
Yuan Ye treated her well, so she wouldn’t try to ruin him completely. Three guan coins would be enough, showing some conscience.
Yuan Ye looked up at her, then lowered his head, batting away her hand, and said irritably, “No bet. You don’t have three guan coins.”
“If I lose, I’ll lose my head to you!”
Yuan Ye was truly exasperated by her. She really valued money over her life. He looked up speechlessly and said, “Your head is already the stake, don’t you remember?”
Right, they had made a bet before, betting on whether that big fool Oda Nobunaga would perish within two years, and she would have to come to him to collect the money…
A Man remembered, but this wouldn’t stop her!
Barefoot, she rushed out the door, shouted, and called A Qing, who was practicing martial arts in the courtyard, inside. Then, pulling her along, she said to Yuan Ye, “You don’t need to worry about this. We have plenty of heads. It just depends on whether you dare to bet!”
A Qing was stunned for a moment before understanding what was happening. She couldn’t help but frown slightly and said in a low, angry voice, “Sister, what nonsense are you up to again?!”
A Man didn’t care if she was angry or not. She pulled her forcefully and whispered in her ear, “How is this nonsense! Trust me, I always win bets, it’s a sure win! We’ll split it fifty-fifty… forty-six… uh, thirty-seven, twenty-eight. I’ll take eight, you take two. I won’t let you work for nothing!”
If Yuan Ye had said thirty ken, or even forty ken, she would have grudgingly believed him, reluctantly playing along with the patron with a guilty conscience. But sixty ken was absolutely impossible. That was almost double the Five-Vine Bow. How could there be such a strong bow in Japan?
Did she really think she was a naive fool who had never seen the world?
She, A Man, was never foolish. She was the foremost wise person of the Kōka Group’s Life Preservation Style!
Therefore, it was a sure win!
