On Saturday, Chi Wan waited until Song Wenbin and Fu Ping left for work before heading to the martial arts hall.
When she left, Song Xuan was still in his room. Chi Wan guessed he was probably still asleep, as breakfast had been left on the dining table. She only glanced at it briefly, then left without the slightest hesitation.
At Yangwei Martial Arts Hall, Zhang Lei seemed to be in a great mood. Holding a feather duster, he hummed an out-of-tune song while dusting everywhere.
Chi Wan gently tapped on the door of the main hall to avoid startling him with a sudden voice, and greeted, "Good morning, Brother Zhang."
"Oh? Xiao Chi, you're here so early?" Seeing that it was her, Zhang Lei's smile grew even brighter. "Have you eaten yet?"
Chi Wan nodded. "I have."
She took the feather duster from Zhang Lei's hand. Looking somewhat surprised, he couldn't figure out what she was up to.
In the past, this girl would come straight in to train, and leave the moment she finished without staying a moment longer. Today, she actually had the leisure to help him clean?
Sure enough, he saw a look of hesitation on the girl's face, as if she had something on her mind. After looking at him for a moment, she finally spoke in a consultative tone, "Brother Zhang, I'm not here for a lesson today. I've already memorized and mastered all the moves you taught me."
"Well, you've learned them, but you still need to practice diligently. If an opportunity for actual combat ever comes up..." Zhang Lei trailed off halfway through his sentence.
If he remembered correctly, the reason this girl had wanted to learn combat in the first place was because he'd told her it was practical for fighting.
Zhang Lei looked her up and down, then suddenly broke into a mischievous grin. "A couple of your senior martial brothers will be coming by later. I'll have them spar with you then."
"Senior martial brothers? Jiang Zhi?"
Surprised, Zhang Lei asked, "Huh? You know him? The last time you were here, I didn't even get a chance to introduce you all."
Chi Wan nodded and answered honestly, "We're in the same class."
"Well, that works out great." Zhang Lei rubbed his hands together and nodded in satisfaction.
"Brother Zhang." Seeing that he was about to turn and leave, Chi Wan hurriedly called out to him.
Zhang Lei turned back, his eyes asking if there was anything else.
Chi Wan bit her lip and resumed the topic that had been interrupted—the very purpose of her visit today. "There's something I'd like to discuss with you. It's just that... I've learned all the moves, but I need to practice them, and it's not convenient for me to do so at home."
Thinking she was going to bring up something serious, Zhang Lei waved his hand dismissively and said with utmost casualness, "Oh, is that all? Feel free to come practice here at your brother's place."
"What about the tuition fee?" Chi Wan found it a bit difficult to bring up, feeling that she was being too thick-skinned. They weren't very close to begin with, and due to a lack of money, she had fallen behind on tuition a few times before. Although she had eventually paid it all off, it still made her somewhat uncomfortable.
Now Zhang Lei completely understood why she had been hesitating.
He smiled, softening his voice like an elder, and affectionately patted her head. "You already call me brother; how could I pocket a little girl's living expenses over something like this? You've already finished learning everything I have to teach, and I don't have anything new to show you anyway. It wouldn't make sense to keep charging you tuition. From now on, we're not just martial arts master and student, we're friends and family, alright?"
Chi Wan's usually cold and calm eyes rippled with emotion. With utmost sincerity, she bowed deeply to him, her voice slightly hoarse as she said, "Thank you."
A look of gratification crossed Zhang Lei's face. He reached out to help her up and teased, "Stop calling me 'you', it makes me sound old."
Chi Wan smiled faintly and nodded.
When Jiang Zhi and Yan Xu arrived at the martial arts hall, it was already past ten in the morning. As soon as they stepped inside, they saw a girl doing horse stances in the courtyard. Her back was held straight as an arrow, her cheeks flushed red—whether from the sun or exhaustion—and beads of sweat dotted her forehead and the bridge of her nose.
Her slightly trembling legs and arms showed that she had been holding the position for quite some time.
Lounging on a reclining chair in the shaded entrance of the inner hall, Zhang Lei leisurely waved a cattail-leaf fan. Seeing the two fashionably late arrivals, he drawled mockingly, "Well, look who decided to show up, our two young masters."
Jiang Zhi merely glanced at him indifferently, strode into the inner hall with his long legs, and lazily collapsed onto another reclining chair, his deep gaze falling upon the courtyard.
Instead of following him in, Yan Xu walked over to Chi Wan with keen interest, putting on the airs of a strict instructor. "Stand steady! Your legs are shaking like a sieve. Didn't you eat breakfast this morning?"
Sweat from her forehead rolled past her eyebrows and into her eyes. Uncomfortable, Chi Wan blinked hard, causing her hands to tremble slightly.
This movement only emboldened Yan Xu to push his luck further with a stream of nonsense. "Hey, hey, hey! What are you batting your eyelashes at me for? If you can't even hold a proper horse stance, why bother learning martial arts? You'd better go home early and be a good little student. Study hard, and who knows, maybe you can make it into Class 1 someday."
Turning a deafening ear to his taents, Chi Wan looked at the annoying figure standing right in front of her, steadied her lower stance, and simply closed her eyes to shut him out.
"What kind of attitude is that... Ouch!" Yan Xu's raised hand was instantly swatted down by a feather duster, and he yelped, quickly grabbing his instantly reddening hand.
Zhang Lei grabbed his right ear and retorted, "And what kind of attitude is *that*? I think you're just asking for a beating, boy."
"Let go, let go! Brother, good brother, I was wrong, okay? There are outsiders here, at least give me some face," Yan Xu whined, standing on tiptoe with his head tilted as he begged Zhang Lei for mercy.
"What outsiders? Aside from you punk, where are there any outsiders here?"
Instead of letting go, Zhang Lei twisted his ear harder and dragged him straight into the inner hall.
Jiang Zhi let out a single, scoffing laugh, the mockery in it unmistakable.
Yan Xu's temper flared as well. He wrenched himself away from Zhang Lei's grip and complained, "Hmph! Once the brother gets a new favorite, he throws away his old one."
Hearing his overly dramatic tone, Zhang Lei kicked him in the shin. "Watch your mouth, brat."
"What's wrong with you? Weren't you quite interested in your junior martial sister last time? How come this is your first time seeing her—oh wait, aren't you guys classmates?" Zhang Lei asked, puzzled.
"Hmph, who's classmates with a straight-A student like her? I'm not worthy!" Yan Xu turned his head away, acting all petulant and proud.
Zhang Lei looked over at the other kid lounging in the reclining chair, but the latter wouldn't even deign to give him a look. Zhang Lei felt that he must have been deeply unlucky in his teaching career to have ended up with two rebellious disciples. Then, looking back at the obedient and quiet Chi Wan, he felt all the more consoled.
Female disciples really were the best—obedient, sensible, and respectful.
"Xiao Chi, come inside and take a rest. You can practice again next time," Zhang Lei called out toward the courtyard.
Chi Wan slowly lowered her stiff arms. Her legs had already gone numb, but underestimating the lingering stiffness, she tried to stand up slowly, lost her footing, pitched backward, and sat down hard on the ground.
"Pfft—" The young man lounging in the reclining chair witnessed the whole scene and couldn't help letting out a laugh.