Chapter 44: The Zhou Family Are All on the Thin Side
Unable to have another match, Wu Zihe was ultimately left with a sense of regret. During the training, he would intentionally or unintentionally observe Zhou Wanfeng, and he found that her sense of balance was excellent, and her physical condition was good. For some of the military training events, many students were complaining and crying, but she was completely at ease, as if she didn’t feel tired at all.
When it was time for a break from training, Wu Zihe really wanted to talk to Zhou Wanfeng, but unfortunately, the moment the whistle blew, she would sit on the ground and take out a small piece of paper from her pocket, and become completely engrossed in it.
It wasn’t until the military training closing ceremony was approaching that the homeroom teacher, Xu Lei, found Wu Zihe and asked him to write down a few military training models. Wu Zihe took the pen and wrote Zhou Wanfeng’s name first.
On September 2nd, the closing ceremony of the first-year high school students’ military training was held grandly on the school’s playground. The deputy chief of staff of the Yunhai detachment of the Armed Police, the deputy squadron leader, the principal of No. 1 High School, the vice principal, the director of teaching, and the director of the first year of high school, among others, attended the closing ceremony.
For nearly half a month, all the new students of the first year were dressed in neat camouflage uniforms, arranged in neat formations according to their classes. The colored flags were flying, and the slogans were deafening. Even though their throats had long been hoarse, they were now trying their best to shout as loud as possible, especially when they passed the rostrum, the slogans were deafening.
As an outstanding military training model, when Zhou Wanfeng’s name was called, she stepped out of the class line and, with a standard running posture, ran all the way to the center of the rostrum, along with the students from the other classes.
The deputy chief of staff gave a high evaluation to the few students.
The instructors had already gathered in a formation, ready to take the bus and leave after the closing ceremony. Wu Zihe stood in the line and looked up at the tall and straight, cold-faced Zhou Wanfeng on the rostrum, and couldn’t help but sigh.
“Is that Zhou Wanfeng?” a teammate said, hearing Wu Zihe’s sigh behind him. He looked forward, sized her up, and said in a low voice, “Indeed. When she stands with the other students, you can notice her at first glance.” It had nothing to do with her height, but the strong presence she exuded, and those eyes, which were full of sharp edges the moment she looked up.
“Damn, did she just glance over here? From so far away, her alertness is definitely top-notch,” the teammate felt as if he had just made eye contact with Zhou Wanfeng in front.
Wu Zihe said nothing.
After the students returned to their lines, the principal of No. 1 High School went on stage to give a speech and make a final summary, officially representing the end of the closing ceremony.
Under the command of the chief of staff, the instructors saluted, and then left in a neat formation.
A day or two before the closing ceremony, all the first-year high school classes, under the instruction of their homeroom teachers, had collected money to buy some commemorative farewell gifts.
Now that the closing ceremony was over, the lines began to disperse. The class president or the sports monitor would take the gifts and chase after them to the school gate.
The bus was already parked at the gate, and the instructors were getting on one by one.
The students in their camouflage uniforms chased after them, found their own instructors, and immediately stuffed the exquisite notebooks, fountain pens, and other gifts into their hands.
“Instructor, I wish you a smooth journey.”
Some of the more capable students even got on the bus, gave their instructor a big hug, and then took out a farewell gift from their arms. It was a stuffed doll, which made the other instructors laugh.
Wu Junfeng and Kong Xiaoxu squeezed through the students around the bus and found their own instructor, Wu Zihe, who was sitting at the very back. They presented him with a book, still in its plastic wrap, How a King of Soldiers is Made.
“Instructor, this is a book that all the students of First Year, Class Three bought for you. We hope that after you return to the army, you won’t just practice martial arts, but also read more. We hope you will be both a scholar and a warrior.”
Wu Zihe took the book and looked at the cover and the back, then looked up at Wu Junfeng and Kong Xiaoxu with a frown, his expression hesitant. In the end, he just said thank you.
A teammate in the back row stood up and looked. “He has this book. Even the publisher is the same. He’s always reading it during his breaks.”
Wu Junfeng chuckled. “It’s fine. This is a commemorative collector’s edition. The meaning is different.”
“Thank you, instructor, for your hard training,” Wu Junfeng and Kong Xiaoxu said, saluting, and then got off the bus. The teacher below was shouting for the students to get down quickly.
The bus started. Wu Zihe put the book in his backpack, pulled his hat down, and prepared to sleep on the way. The bus was noisy. Many students were standing below, waving at the instructors, saying their final goodbyes.
Wu Junfeng and Kong Xiaoxu didn’t leave. They stood around, waving at the bus. Suddenly, Kong Xiaoxu’s sharp eyes saw someone squeeze through the crowd and get on the bus with nimble hands and feet.
“Class president, Zhou Wanfeng is on.”
Wu Junfeng saw it, and the two of them quickly went over.
Zhou Wanfeng ignored the teacher’s shouts, jumped on the bus, and stood in the aisle, scanning the area. Suddenly, the instructor in the front row smiled and pointed to the back.
Only then did Zhou Wanfeng see Wu Zihe in the back row.
The hat on Wu Zihe’s face was snatched away. Just as he was about to frown and look at his teammate, he opened his eyes and saw Zhou Wanfeng standing next to him with a blank expression. He was startled for a moment and couldn’t help but look around and out the window.
Zhou Wanfeng took a neatly folded piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to Wu Zihe, her expression cold. “You lost to me because, to me, your movements are relatively simple and lack flexibility and change. It’s best if you can subdue your opponent quickly. If you drag it out, the other person can predict and counter your moves. And you also need to strengthen your mentality and tactical awareness.”
Many of the instructors in the front stood up and looked back. Hearing Zhou Wanfeng’s impolite comments, they had the illusion that she was the instructor.
They stared at each other, dumbfounded.
Wu Zihe took the folded paper and opened it. An entire page was filled with a review of their fight.
After saying what she had to, Zhou Wanfeng turned and got off the bus.
After she left, the entire bus was in an uproar.
“Wu Zihe, is that Zhou Wanfeng? The girl who beat you?”
“Damn, she’s so arrogant. She’s even commenting on her own instructor, saying you need to strengthen your mentality.”
An instructor also reached for the paper in Wu Zihe’s hand. “Wu Zihe, let me see. What did she write?”
Wu Zihe didn’t stop him and just handed it over.
A few instructors gathered around to look. It was very detailed, but also to the point.
After reading it, the instructor who had been shouting about how arrogant she was stopped talking. He turned to the instructor and asked, “Instructor, what’s this Zhou Wanfeng’s background? Is her family a martial arts family, or is someone in her family a combat champion?” To be so good at fighting in the first year of high school, it could only be that she had been training since she was a child.
The instructor waved his hand. He couldn’t see the student’s records, but there was one thing he was sure of. “Don’t underestimate her just because she’s young. You haven’t seen her combat skills with your own eyes. Wu Zihe’s personality was even provoked by her. He really does need to strengthen his mentality. This Zhou Wanfeng is unbelievably strong,” he said, in terms of skill, stamina, and mentality.
The bus slowly started. Wu Zihe pressed his face against the window and watched Zhou Wanfeng walk out of the crowd without looking back. He held the piece of paper in his hand, a faint smile on his lips. He said to his teammate next to him, “I feel like I was the one being trained this time. And the teacher doesn’t seem to think much of me.”
This made all the instructors laugh. Behind them, No. 1 High School gradually receded into the distance. The students at the school gate were returning to their classes one by one.
Wu Junfeng and Kong Xiaoxu caught up with Zhou Wanfeng. The two of them were on either side of her. Kong Xiaoxu asked anxiously, “Zhou Wanfeng, what did you say to Instructor Wu? I saw you give him a piece of paper.”
Zhou Wanfeng glanced at the two of them as she walked, a smile on her lips. “A martial arts manual. I wish him to become even more formidable in the future.”
Kong Xiaoxu was taken aback. He knew she was fooling him. He followed her and continued to ask, “Zhou Wanfeng, can you introduce me to your training dojo and your master? I want to go and train too.”
“My master is dead. I gave the martial arts manual he wrote to the instructor,” she said, closing the loop. Zhou Wanfeng quickened her pace.
Kong Xiaoxu looked at Wu Junfeng, then at the faster and faster Zhou Wanfeng in front. He couldn’t help but pat Wu Junfeng. “To have someone in the class who can even take down an instructor, wouldn’t hitting us be like playing?”
Wu Junfeng pushed his arm away. “Haven’t you noticed that Zhou Wanfeng is not very interested in anything other than studying? Unless you provoke her, isn’t it normal to get beaten? You’re just asking for it,” Wu Junfeng said, rolling his eyes at Kong Xiaoxu and quickly walking to the classroom.
After nearly half a month of military training, the students were all very excited when they returned to the classroom, because they would be on vacation in a while.
The homeroom teacher, Xu Lei, came to the class and said a few things to pay attention to, then let them go.
Yun Jingya and Zhou Wanfeng went out with their backpacks. Many students had to go back to their dorms to pack. Some other classes had been let out early. At this moment, there were many cars of all sizes parked at the school gate, and also many tricycles waiting to take students to the bus station or the long-distance bus station.
These could usually take four or five students at a time, and they charged by the head.
Compared to these simple tricycles, the shiny black Crown sedan was very eye-catching.
This was the car that Yun Haisheng usually sat in. Yun Jingya recognized the license plate.
The car window came down, and Yang Yijun waved at the approaching Yun Jingya. “Jingya.”
“Grandma,” Yun Jingya said, running over. Zhou Wanfeng walked at a steady pace, scanning her surroundings. Many of the passing students were curiously looking over, especially when they saw that there was even a private car to pick them up. They all covered their mouths, their eyes filled with surprise, and whispered to their classmates as they walked.
“A private car to pick them up. What kind of license plate is that? I’ve never seen it.”
“Damn, we take the bus to the county seat and have our family pick us up. This person is also being picked up by their family. Why is there such a big difference?”
Many of the students were far away, but they still looked back, not knowing if they were looking at the car or the people in it.
Yun Jingya opened the car door and got in, hugging Yang Yijun. “Grandma, I missed you so much,” she said, hugging her even tighter and taking a deep breath. She looked up and saw Zhou Wanfeng walk past the car and towards the rented house.
Only then did she remember that this was the school gate. It was a little too ostentatious for her grandmother to come and pick her up in a car. She had been too excited to see her and had forgotten.
It was less than a ten-minute walk from the school gate to the rented house. It was very close.
Zhou Wanfeng was almost home when the car caught up with her.
Yang Yijun said with a smile, “Since you’re on vacation, let’s go home. The auntie has made a lot of delicious food. She said she wants to nourish you.”
“Wanfeng, get in the car. Didn’t you say you had something to get from home?” Yun Jingya shouted at Zhou Wanfeng.
Zhou Wanfeng opened the passenger door and got in.
“I don’t know when it started, but the new students of the first year of high school have to have military training. What’s the point of training for a few days in this hot weather? They’re all a bunch of children who have never suffered. It’s not like they’re going to join the army. It’s just a waste of time. They’re all tanned like black coal balls. It’s so much trouble.”
Yang Yijun touched Yun Jingya’s face. She had been tanned. She had been so fair before, but now there was a clear line between her face and her neck.
After getting in the car, Zhou Wanfeng closed her eyes and slept. She pretended not to hear or see the warm scene in the back seat. She was completely treating herself as air.
Perhaps because the two of them were in high school and it was the first time they had come home after more than half a month of military training, everyone was at the dinner table this time.
The dishes were indeed rich and delicious. Yun Jingya took a bite of the lion’s head meatball and immediately looked up at Yun Haisheng with a pleasant surprise. “Grandpa made this.”
Yun Haisheng sat at the head of the table, his smile kind and amiable. He didn’t cook often, only occasionally on holidays or when it was someone’s birthday.
Zhou Wanfeng ate with her head down, not saying a word.
Yun Lan was a little heartbroken for the tanned Yun Jingya. She said she would give her some skincare products later, and she was curious about her military training and asked a lot of questions.
The dinner table was clearly divided into three. Yun Haisheng and Zhou Zhiru were talking about business. On the other side were the three generations of grandparents and grandchildren, plus a Yun Chengbin who would occasionally chime in. And then there was Zhou Wanfeng, who was eating silently by herself.
She was really eating. The food at the school cafeteria was not bad. But this meal was indeed delicious.
“The military training was so tiring, so hot and tiring. I almost couldn’t hold on several times… Grandma, you have no idea, Wanfeng is so amazing. The whole class was shouting and screaming with excitement. The instructor also kept his promise and really let us rest. He ran ten laps around the playground by himself. It was all thanks to Wanfeng. You have no idea how enthusiastic the atmosphere was. My junior high school classmate, Wang Feili, even said that Wanfeng is her idol and wants to get her autograph.”
Yun Jingya was very excited as she described the match between Zhou Wanfeng and the instructor, vividly, trying her best to describe the atmosphere at that time.
But after hearing this, Yun Lan stole a glance at the eating Zhou Wanfeng and said dryly, “She can even beat an instructor. That’s really amazing.”
Yang Yijun helped to tuck Yun Jingya’s loose hair behind her ear and said with a smile, “She’s amazing, but it’s better for a girl not to be playing with sticks and guns. Besides, an instructor is an instructor, the same as a teacher. To hit a teacher in public is not a good look,” she said, glancing at Zhou Wanfeng, who was sitting opposite her, and then asked, “Winning makes you look tough, but it also makes the instructor lose face in front of the students. In the end, it’s not a good thing.”
Hearing this, Yun Jingya quickly explained, “Grandma, it’s not like that. Wanfeng was helping us, that’s why she fought with the instructor. She…”
“Alright, alright, I know. Hurry up and have another bite of the lion’s head. Grandpa personally cooked it for you. Hurry up and eat, before it gets cold,” Yang Yijun said, comforting Yun Jingya and passing her own portion of the lion’s head to her.
Zhou Zhiru had heard what Yun Jingya had said about the military training match. He looked up slightly at the silently eating Zhou Wanfeng. Three years had passed. She had grown a lot taller. Her features, even a stranger would be able to see the father-daughter relationship between them. Blood ties could not be denied.
Her personality had become colder, and she was more silent. Occasionally, when she looked at people, her gaze was very cold and sharp.
If it had been three years ago, she would probably have stood up and retorted to what Yang Yijun had said. Now, she just ignored it as if it were air. She had not been without progress in these three years.
Zhou Zhiru’s gaze was unreadable. He picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks, his expression gentle, almost like a loving father. “Wanfeng, you should eat more meat to nourish yourself. The Zhou family are all on the thin side. They can’t get fat no matter how much they eat.”
The words “Zhou family” were like a silent bomb.
The dinner table was instantly silent. Zhou Wanfeng looked up, her eyes cold as she looked at Zhou Zhiru. She pushed her bowl away, put down her chopsticks, and quickly stood up. “I’m full,” she said, and went upstairs.
Zhou Zhiru’s expression was natural. The piece of meat he had picked up went into the little fatty, Yun Chengbin’s, bowl. He said with a smile, “Your sister is not eating. Then you can have it.”