Li Yan replied, "I don't know how, but I can learn." Liu Cunren's first instinct was to ask what martial arts had to do with women, but he caught himself just in time. Many women practiced martial arts here; if he voiced such an opinion, he would undoubtedly draw their contempt. "A woman's primary duty is to bear children and marry a man capable of protecting her."
Turning to him, Li Yan asked, "Can you protect your woman?"
For a moment, Liu Cunren was struck speechless, wishing he could slap himself twice. As a man, he was utterly incompetent and had failed to protect his own wife and child. Now he had dug his own grave. Yet Li Yan held a fairly favorable impression of him, if only because he hadn't resorted to boasting. Once more, silence settled between them.
Chapter 49