Chapter 10: Perseverance
Training, day two.
Just like yesterday, starting with a morning run of three laps.
At first, it was less of a run and more of a walk.
However, as he walked on, he slowly began to run.
The soreness in his body from yesterday's workout was fading more and more, and his pace was getting faster and faster.
This made Soren even more convinced that he had a cheat.
"Here we go, flying high! What's to fear when I've got a cheat? Just watch me punch Garp and kick Kaido in the future. The king of demonic muscles, a walking human cannon!"
Running and hyping himself up, Soren fantasized about the future.
Perhaps this was what ignorance meant by fearlessness.
After finishing the three laps, he found his body felt a bit lighter than yesterday, and he shaved more than ten minutes off his time.
"Yosh! Time to go home and cook."
After the meal, Soren brought three bento boxes to the back hill. Before leaving, he had been repeatedly admonished by Little Irene not to do anything reckless; if it weren't for Grandpa Doug's help in persuading her, the little girl would have even tagged along.
Looking at the blood-stained tree trunk in front of him, faintly marked with several fist prints.
Soren didn't pause for long. He wrapped cloth tightly around his medicated hands and began to punch the tree trunk.
"One, two, three..."
After boxing came squats, after squats came frog leaps, and after frog leaps came push-ups.
When today's workout ended, he slowly unwrapped the cloth, which was once again soaked through.
"Hiss, still a bit painful, but Grandpa really gets me, secretly slipping me some medicine."
"This way, Little Irene won't be able to tell."
After applying the ointment and wrapping his hands in fresh cloth, Soren set off on the road home.
Day three.
Perseverance...
Day four.
Perseverance......
....................
Day ten.
On this morning, after finishing his three laps, Soren didn't rush home.
Pocketing the Beli he had withdrawn in advance (Soren kept all his pension money with Grandpa Doug), he headed to a clothing store on the street.
March 13th. Today was Irene's birthday.
There was a light yellow floral dress in this shop; he had noticed Little Irene secretly glancing at it whenever they went out to buy groceries.
Later, on a day when Soren walked into the shop alone, clutching the 1,208 Beli he had saved up for a long time, he checked the price tag on that dress: 8,000 Beli. It felt like a bolt from the blue.
"Hu Hansan is back again!"
Soren marched up to the counter, took eight banknotes from his pocket, and slapped them onto the table, exuding the air of a poor kid striking it rich and becoming the boss.
"Boss, I'll take that dress. Please wrap it in a gift box for me, thank you."
After buying the dress, Soren went to a bakery, reserved a two-tier fruit cake, and left the newly bought gift in storage there.
At breakfast, Little Irene was a bit unhappy because no one had mentioned that today was her birthday.
The truth was, however, that Soren had told Grandpa Doug in advance to keep it a secret so they could give Little Irene a surprise.
Therefore, the two of them had a terribly hard time acting natural.
After hastily eating and grabbing his bento, Soren fled the scene, leaving Grandpa Doug alone to flutter in the wind.
Today's training schedule was completed exceptionally early, driven by Soren's eagerness.
Watching the sun, which had yet to set, he arrived beside the flower field.
A breeze swept past, sending ripples across the flower field like a purple ocean.
The fragrance of flowers washed over him, refreshing his mind and spirit. For a moment, Soren was dazed.
"A gentle breeze brushes the purple flower field, swaying gracefully to dance with the azure sky. Pale purple and deep green both enter the painting, with lingering fragrance and boundless charm."
"As expected, a wild boar can still enjoy fine cuisine once in a while."
Soren praised himself before starting to pick flowers.
Returning to the street, Soren picked up the cake and the gift.
Carrying the cake in his left hand, and holding the flowers and gift in his right, he hurried to the front door.
"I'm back."
Grandpa Roger had already prepared the meal, and the little girl had long been waiting by the door for his return.
"Looks like Grandpa didn't keep the secret."
Seeing Grandpa smiling apologetically by the table, Soren guessed that the secret had leaked out shortly after he left that morning.
"Bad brother, you made me sad for a little while this morning! But Grandpa felt bad for me, so you're not allowed to scold Grandpa," Little Irene said, puffing out her cheeks in a pout.
"I won't, I won't. By the way, happy birthday, Little Irene. These are all gifts for you."
No girl dislikes surprises—which is to say, no girl dislikes flowers and gifts.
Especially when given by someone she likes.
"Thank you, brother."
Little Irene's eyes curved into crescent moons.
She first took the cake and placed it on the table, then accepted the flowers and the gift.
Just as she was about to unwrap the gift, Soren stopped her, saying with a mysterious expression, "Unwrap it back in your room."
Blushing, the little girl ran back to her bedroom.
She closed the door and gently opened the exquisitely packaged gift box. When that light yellow floral dress came into view, her eyes were filled with shock and joy.
"So, big brother noticed it long ago."
The girl carefully picked up the dress from the box and changed into it.
Standing before the mirror, she looked at her reflection in disbelief.
The dress hugged her figure just right, accentuating her petite cuteness.
She gently stroked the hem of the dress, a faint blush spreading across her face.
Taking a deep breath, Irene gently opened the door and stepped out shyly.
"An angel! An angel wearing a floral dress! Oh, my heart—I think it's about to explode."
Irene's cuteness delivered another critical hit to Soren.
Grandpa Doug wore a pampering expression.
"This dress really suits Little Irene. Soren, you brat really have an eye for this."
"Hehe, not at all, not at all. It's mostly because Irene is cute; the dress just sets her off." Soren rubbed the back of his head in response.
Just then, Little Irene suddenly walked up to Soren and said softly,
"Big Brother Soren, thank you."
"It's so wonderful to have met you."
Suddenly, she stood on tiptoe and planted a dragonfly-light kiss on Soren's cheek.
Three seconds later, Soren started foolishly grinning as his brain and heart crashed simultaneously.
"Is this heaven?"
"Take a deep breath, take a deep breath..."
"Aba aba, aba aba, aba aba."
Seeing Soren shocked into utter silliness, Grandpa Roger laughed heartily, while Little Irene blushed from her face all the way to the root of her neck.
Dinner proceeded in a joyous atmosphere. By then, Soren had snapped out of it, though he would still occasionally let out a silly giggle.
He lit the candles and stood up to turn off the lights.
In the darkness, the flickering candlelight danced slightly, casting a warm glow.
Soren told Irene she could make her wishes, but she could only make a maximum of three; any more than that and they wouldn't come true.
Irene closed her eyes and began to make her wishes.
"I hope Big Brother Soren will always protect me."
"I hope to be with Big Brother Soren forever."
At this point, she peeked open her eyes to look at Soren beside her, then quickly closed them again, her face flushed red.
"I hope, I hope that in the future, I can become Big Brother Soren's wife."