MMB Chapter 18: Martial Arts Exam Results Announced
Chapter 18: Martial Arts Exam Results Announced
Du Fei stood by the ring, staring at Lin Fan's pale, sweat-beaded face, remaining silent for several seconds. Then he turned around and, without a word, rolled off the ring.
He walked very fast, his footsteps tapping out a rapid rhythm on the corridor floor. He even ripped off his arm guards as he walked up the stairs, the Velcro straps tearing open with a ripping sound that echoed in the narrow stairwell.
When he pushed open the door of the martial arts school, the sunlight outside made him squint.
Standing in the shade of the old sycamore tree by the door, he took out his phone, found Sun Hao's number, and dialed it.
I answered the phone after it rang twice.
"Brother Du!" Sun Hao's voice came through the receiver, brimming with barely suppressed excitement. "How did it go? Did you teach that kid a lesson? How badly did he fare?"
Du Fei did not answer immediately.
His gaze fell on a bus waiting at a red light across the street, with a GG (gift card) painted on the bus, advertising a martial arts school's recruitment.
Sun Hao's reaction proves that the kid wasn't lying—Sun Hao really does know him.
"Young Master Sun," Du Fei's voice was much lower than usual, as if he was carefully choosing his words, "Can you tell me, what exactly is the background of this Lin Fan?"
Sun Hao laughed heartily on the other end of the phone, his laughter full of nonchalant lightness: "Don't worry, Brother Du, this kid doesn't have any connections. Even if you hurt him, it won't be a problem—he's my classmate."
"That bastard dared to steal my woman, I'll make sure he regrets it."
Du Fei's fingers tightened slightly around his phone. "Classmate." Those four words hit him like a stone, shattering all his guesses, doubts, and presumptuous judgments.
The laughter on the other end of the phone continued, but Du Fei could no longer hear what Sun Hao was saying.
He took the phone away from his ear, glanced down at the call timer still flashing on the screen, and then hung up.
I walked to the roadside, sat down on the steps of the green belt, rested my hands on my knees, lowered my head, and my shoulders rose and fell slowly with a deep breath.
A high school senior, a student who hadn't even reached the Qi Condensation Realm, took his Chasing Wind Fist head-on for fifty moves, until he was forced to stop, without falling down. And this guy calls it "no background"?
Sun Hao frowned as he looked at the phone screen where the call had been disconnected. Du Fei was acting strangely today; it was just a matter of disciplining a good-for-nothing, why was he being so hesitant?
However, this thought only lingered in his mind for less than two seconds before he dismissed it. He could teach Lin Fan a lesson later; the kid wasn't going to get away anyway.
What's on his mind right now is something else entirely—how to get Zhao Xiaoyue to come out.
The college entrance exam is over, summer vacation has begun, and Zhao Xiaoyue is definitely staying at home.
He decided to take advantage of this opportunity to make a move and ask her out for a meal alone. He opened his contacts, scrolled to Zhao Xiaoyue's profile picture, stared at it for a few seconds, and then began to compose a message.
……
The days slipped by quietly in this busy yet leisurely rhythm.
The days after the college entrance examination are like a lazy river basking in the summer sun. There are no school bells urging you forward, and no exam countdown chasing after you.
He goes out to practice boxing at six o'clock every morning, comes back at eight o'clock to eat breakfast, and then spars with Zhang Yang at the martial arts gym.
Life is simple, but each day is more fulfilling than the last.
His Dragon Fist technique became increasingly refined, and he reviewed every detail of his sparring match with Du Fei several times in his mind. The next time he faced a Qi Condensation Realm martial artist, he knew where he should hold back his strength.
But this leisurely mood was finally shattered on the day the college entrance examination results were released.
"Have you found it yet?" Zhou Lan stood behind Lin Fan's computer chair, nervously rubbing her hands together on her apron, which she had tied on while cooking that morning and hadn't taken off yet.
Lin Jianguo stood on the other side, holding an unlit cigarette between his fingers—he had quit smoking three years ago, but this morning he had to rummage through the deepest part of his drawer to find it.
Lin Fan sat in front of the computer, having just opened the website for checking college entrance examination results. His fingers were steady as he entered his examination number, but the two pairs of eyes behind him seemed to be staring right through the back of his head.
However, before he could press the query button, a rumbling sound came from downstairs, growing louder as it approached.
It wasn't the sound of an ordinary car engine; the roar was deep and resonant, like several large-displacement engines running simultaneously, interspersed with the distinctive whistling sound of a motorcycle.
The roaring sound stopped downstairs at Lin Fan's house, followed by the sound of car doors opening and closing, and then the sound of hurried footsteps in the stairwell.
thump.
There was a knock on the door.
Zhou Lan and Lin Jianguo exchanged a glance, both seeing the same question in each other's eyes. Lin Jianguo walked to the door, looked out through the peephole, and then froze.
He looked back at Zhou Lan, then at Lin Fan, and then took a deep breath and opened the door.
There were five or six people standing outside the door.
At the front was a middle-aged man wearing a dark blue martial arts uniform, his hair neatly combed, and a shiny Jiangcheng Martial Arts Club badge pinned to his chest.
Behind him were two young men in uniform, each carrying a briefcase.
Behind them was a group of reporters carrying cameras and microphones. One of them had already raised his camera, and the flash went off in the stairwell.
The noise downstairs was even louder. Lin Jianguo leaned half his body out from the railing at the door and looked down. A whole row of black vans were parked downstairs in the community, along with two police motorcycles. The red police lights on the roofs of the vehicles turned silently, illuminating the entire community in red and blue.
"Excuse me, is this Lin Fan's home?" The middle-aged man leading the group smiled kindly and spoke politely, but there was a serious, businesslike air about him.
"Yes, yes," Zhou Lan responded instinctively, then realized what she meant and stammered, "Who...who are you?"
"I am Chen Zhengfeng, the head of the Jiangcheng Martial Arts Department." The middle-aged man took out an ID card from his pocket and handed it over with both hands. Lin Jianguo took it and saw that it was stamped with the bright red seal of the Martial Arts Department.
The job title column reads "Head of Jiangcheng Martial Arts Department," indicating a high rank.
After handing over the documents, Chen Zhengfeng's gaze passed over Lin Jianguo's shoulder and landed on Lin Fan sitting in front of the computer. Then he strode into the living room, grabbed Lin Jianguo's hand, and gripped it tightly.
Congratulations!
Lin Jianguo's hand was gripped so tightly it hurt, and he was still in a daze.
He opened his mouth, countless possibilities flashing through his mind—had his son gotten into a fight? Had his son caused trouble at school? Had his son been caught cheating on the college entrance exam?
Were these leaders here with reporters to announce disciplinary actions? Zhou Lan's expression changed, and she instinctively grabbed Lin Jianguo's arm, her palms sweaty.
"Congratulations, congratulations..." Lin Jianguo replied mechanically, then tentatively asked, "Um, Minister Chen, may I ask what you're congratulating me on?"
Chen Zhengfeng released his grip, took a step back, straightened his collar, and said loudly in a solemn, almost dignified tone, "Congratulations on raising such a fine son! Congratulations on your family producing a national champion!"
The living room was silent for a full three seconds.
The unlit cigarette slipped from Lin Jianguo's fingers, bounced on the wooden floor, and landed beside the coffee table leg. Zhou Lan's grip on his arm loosened, and she froze as if she had been struck by a magic acupuncture point.
National top scorer?
Lin Jianguo and Zhou Lan exchanged a glance, both seeing the same message in each other's eyes—liberal arts. Their son must have gotten the top score in liberal arts.
Lin Fan's humanities grades were already good; he consistently ranked in the top three in his class, which they all knew. Their view was that Lin Fan's insistence on taking the martial arts exam was just an experience he had no chance of getting, but the humanities were a different story.
In the month leading up to the college entrance examination, Lin Fan tutored Zhao Xiaoyue with humanities textbooks every day, while also keeping up with his own studies. Although the title of top scorer in humanities was not as prestigious as that of top scorer in martial arts, it was still the top scorer in the country for humanities, and a weight was finally lifted off his shoulders.
"That brat!" Lin Jianguo suddenly turned around, his eyes gleaming as he looked at Lin Fan, who was still sitting in front of the computer. "I didn't expect him to do so well! What did I tell you? My son will definitely excel in the humanities!"
Zhou Lan's eyes were already red. She wiped her eyes with the corner of her apron, her voice trembling, "Okay, okay, okay." Even the top liberal arts student can get into a good liberal arts university. Jiangbei University's School of Liberal Arts is a sure thing. She can find a decent job in the future and won't have to worry about anything for the rest of her life.
My son no longer needs to envy those who practice martial arts, no longer needs to be dejected because of his martial spirit, and no longer needs to run downstairs alone in the middle of the night to practice punches against thin air.
Isn't this what parents ask for?
When Chen Zhengfeng heard Lin Jianguo and Zhou Lan's words, he was first taken aback, and then his expression became a little strange - that kind of expression of trying not to laugh, his mouth was twitching, but he quickly suppressed it with his professionalism.
"Mr. Lin, Ms. Zhou, you've misunderstood." He slowed his speech, correcting her word by word, "Your son didn't get the top score in the humanities."
He was not the top scholar in the martial arts examination.
"What?"
This time, Lin Jianguo and Zhou Lan's voices rang out simultaneously, twice as loud as before, and could be heard even in the stairwell.
Lin Jianguo bent down and picked up the cigarette from the ground. The action was completely subconscious. His eyes were fixed on Chen Zhengfeng and never left him for even a moment.
Zhou Lan was speechless. She looked at Chen Zhengfeng, then at her son, her mind a jumbled mess of thoughts.
I tried to put "the top martial arts scholar" and "my son" together, but I just couldn't get them together.