So you’re going to whoop my ass later?
Yan Bubu finished his shower riddled with anxiety, becoming a cute little boy with fair skin and big eyes again.
Feng Chen looked him over and found two scratches on his ear as well as a few scrapes on the backs of his hands and elbows. Although they weren’t serious, he applied a bit of medicine to ward off infection.
Yan Bubu hasn’t been scolded yet, so he became emboldened and began to narrate the scene just now in graphic detail.
“So he held Binunu like this and I went for it. Then he pushed me away.” He mimicked how he scuffled with the fat boy. “I didn’t fight back or use magic. After all, he’s annoying and bad, but not…not…”
Yan Bubu really didn’t know how to describe it. He thought for a while before continuing, “He’s a kid like me. If I recite the spell he’d die, so I didn’t.”
Feng Chen removed the lid of the lunchbox and handed the spoon to Yan Bubu. “Eat. I’ll teach you a little self-defense later.”
“Huh? What’s that?”
Feng Chen thought about it. “I’ll teach you how to fight with that fatty and beat him.”
“W-what? You’re going to teach me to fight?” Yan Bubu was so shocked that he almost dropped the spoon he was holding. His jaw dropped wide in disbelief.
Feng Chen gave him a look. “You do want to beat him, right?”
“Yeah.” Yan Bubu nodded emphatically before hesitating again. “But won’t you be angry if I fight with other kids?”
“I’ll only be angry if you can’t fight back when you’re being bullied.” Feng Chen said.
After observing Feng Chen’s expression to make sure he was telling the truth, Yan Bubu was so excited that he was practically in tears. “Big Brother, you’re so nice. I really, really like you! I have to serve your for the rest of my life–”
“Shut your mouth! One more word and I won’t teach you anymore.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll stop.”
A few moments later.
Feng Chen tapped the lunchbox with his spoon, “When I told you to shut your mouth, I only meant you should stop talking, not eating as well.”
“Oh. Got it.”
After dinner, Feng Chen began to teach Yan Bubu some self-defense techniques. Although Yan Bubu was young and had little strength so the moves wouldn’t be as effective even if he learned them, he should be able to deal with other children like him.
“If he grabs you by the chest, duck under his armpit and trip his calf with your foot. Pay close attention to what I do and don’t look around.”
After Feng Chen demonstrated a few times, he let Yan Bubu try the move on him.
Yan Bubu kept having trouble with the reverse kick part. Feng Chen tried to be patient at first, but eventually he started to loudly reprimand the child.
“I just told you to duck and then trip the leg. Why are you tripping the leg and then ducking?? With the disparity in strength between you two, do you really think he’ll let you finish if he notices?”
“Behave. Don’t keep going to scratch your face.”
“Don’t look at me so pathetically. There’s no point, I tell you. No point at all.”
“Wrong again. I really want to open your head up and see if it’s as empty as it appears.”
Yan Bubu practiced very seriously, but his limbs refused to cooperate. Feng Chen eventually couldn’t bear to see him work so hard and went easy on him, finally letting him succeed once.
“I did it, I did it!” Yan Bubu’s forehead was covered with sweat as he bounced with joy.
A faint smile also surfaced on Feng Chen’s face. “That’s all for today. Keep practicing later. When that kid comes to cause trouble again, that’s how you deal with him.”
Yan Bubu was brimming with confidence. He picked up the remaining half of the corn cob and gnawed fiercely. “If he comes to mess with me again, I’ll knock his teeth out! Then I’ll pull on his ears and call him Toothless, hahahaha…ah.”
Before he even finished laughing, he froze with his mouth open.
“What now?” Feng Chen asked.
Yan Bubu stared at him in horror and pointed to his mouth.
Feng Chen came closer and softly hissed. “Another teeth, huh? From the bottom row this time. Don’t worry, the upper ones have almost grown in.”
The next day, Yan Bubu didn’t laze around in bed. He got up at the same time as Feng Chen and followed him to the water room to wash up.
Feng Chen was working at the greenhouses today, so he could get breakfast and lunch there. Thus, he and Yan Bubu parted ways at the water room. Yan Bubu watched his figure disappear into the lift before going to the dining hall alone.
He didn’t expect the last person he wanted to see to be there as soon as he walked in.
Mortal enemies sized each other up in their respective lines. The fat boy and Yan Bubu glared at each other with wide eyes.
Since both of them had lost teeth and believed they had lost more than their opponent, they didn’t trade verbal barbs this time. That would be a pyrrhic victory at best. They just glared at each other in silence, filling the dining hall with the strong scent of gunpowder.
It was not until he reached the front of the line that Yan Bubu looked away to hand over his lunchbox and swipe his credit card. The credits from the limestones he picked yesterday were already here. He looked at the extra five credits in the balance, turned around, and smiled from ear to ear at the fat boy behind him.
However, when he finished his meal and came to the limestone mine to work again, he ran into the fat boy.
Again.
Yan Bubu grabbed the satchel containing Binunu tightly, but the fat boy didn’t even look at him. He just shook his bamboo sieve and concentrated on looking for limestone in the ore.
Yan Bubu glanced at him suspiciously several times before finally determining that he wasn’t here to pick a fight.
Since they were fellow workers, Yan Bubu stopped caring about him and went to the person in charge to get a bamboo sieve. He picked the place farthest away from the fat boy by a pile of ore and squatted down to pick limestone.
Although he didn’t have Binunu in front of him today, his luck was still good. It was only an hour or so before he found his first one, followed by a second just before lunch.
Yet the fat boy had no luck all morning.
Continuing after lunch, Yan Bubu gave his full attention to sifting limestone. He had little luck in the afternoon until the person in charge announced the end of the work day. Then he caught a glint of bright light in the crushed ore.
Surprised, he poked the broken ore over there with his fingers, not noticing that the fat boy happened to be passing by behind him. The other kid’s eyes lit up when he saw the shiny thing in the bamboo sieve.
Yan Bubu carefully picked out the limestone. He was just about to get up when a hand reached in from the side snatched it away.
He turned in shock and saw that the fat boy was leaving with his limestone.
“It’s you again, baddy!” Yan Bubu’s anger sparked as he pounced on him with a shout.
The fat boy raised the limestone high with one hand and pushed Yan Bubu away with the other. He was so tall and strong that Yan Bubu couldn’t reach or even get close.
“I picked up this limestone just now. What are you trying to steal it for?” The fat boy was still as shameless as yesterday.
Yan Bubu couldn’t touch the limestone, so he decided to use the self-defense technique Feng Chen taught him last night. He also shouted angrily, “You’ve messed with the wrong guy! Prepare yourself!!”
As soon as the words fell, he sidestepped the fat boy and weaved behind him, extending a foot to hook his calf.
Yan Bubu kept rehearsing the steps in his mind all day after practicing last night. Surprisingly enough, he executed it perfectly. The fat boy felt his opponent seem to literally vanish before feeling a pain in his calf.
After Yan Bubu hooked that thick left calf, he waited for the fat boy to fall. Yet nothing happened. He was as steady as a rock, both legs planted firmly on the ground. Not to mention falling, he didn’t even move one step.
Huh?
He tried again.
Nope.
Again?
The fat boy slowly looked down at that small, round, sneaker-clad foot. He grit his teeth and his, “You actually kicked me! You’ve messed with the wrong guy. Prepare yourself!!”
The next moment, the two were tousling on the ground again. Yan Bubu’s self-defense technique turned out to be useless.
At 6:00pm, Feng Chen took off his insulated suit in the lift as usual. He also peered through the metal bars to the boulder as soon as he could and finally saw that small figure waiting there.
Yet as the lift slid down, that figure didn’t look up as usual to try and spot him behind the bars. His head remained drooped, his whole body radiating frustration and upset.
When Yan Bubu heard the lift come to a stop, he didn’t look up or move until a familiar pair of black outdoor shoes appeared in sight.
“What’s wrong?” Feng Chen’s voice rang out.
Yan Bubu slowly looked up at Feng Chen with tears welling up in his eyes. “Sorry, I lost again.”
Feng Chen paused. “Did you use that trick I taught you?”
“Yeah, but he’s too heavy. I couldn’t trip him.” Big tears rolled down Yan Bubu’s cheeks as he gestured, “I went to hook like this, but nothing happened…”
He didn’t cry at all during the fight just now, but now that Feng Chen was here he couldn’t hold in the sadness any longer.
Feng Chen walked over and smoothed his hair that had become all messy from the fight. He asked, “Did he pull your hair too?”
“En.” Yan Bubu nodded.
“Did you pull his back?”
“I sure did, but his hair was too short and I…I couldn’t get a good grip.” Yan Bubu whimpered.
Yan Bubu was in an even more wretched state than yesterday. Not only were there more scratches on his ears, even his neck had a few bruises that resembled fingerprints. He clutched the cloth bag containing Binunu, looking unbearably pitiful.
Feng Chen gently touched those bruises. A fire was burning in the depths of his dark eyes, but his tone remained gentle towards the sniffling Yan Bubu, “It’s fine. So what if you lost? I’ll teach you new moves later and you’ll beat him tomorrow for sure.”
“R-really? But the one from yesterday didn’t seem to work.” Yan Bubu had most of his confidence beaten out of him.
Feng Chen picked him up and carried him back, saying with utmost seriousness, “Really.”
After a shower and dinner, Feng Chen said he wanted to talk to Wu You about something. Yan Bubu wanted to go with him but was told to stay.
“I want to talk about work-related things that need to be kept confidential. You can’t come and listen in.”
Yan Bubu was also a working person nowadays, so he was quite understanding. “Okay. I won’t go since it’s about work, but you have to come back soon, okay?”
“En. I’ll be quick.”
Feng Chen left. But instead of going to Wu You, he headed straight to the lift and pressed the button for the 69th floor.
The 69th floor was much more chaotic than the 65th. Children were chasing each other all over the place in the corridor. A couple was fighting inside and outside their room. Feng Chen was almost hit by a shoe that flew out as he passed by the wide open door.
He avoided a few elderly people dancing in the corridor and headed straight to one closed door in particular. He knocked not too gently.
“Who is it?” A gruff voice came out of the room.
Feng Chen: “I’m looking for Chen Wenchao’s parents.”
He asked around today at the greenhouses. The fat boy’s name was Chen Wenchao. His family was somewhat infamous in Area C due to what happened the first day they arrived in the underground settlement. Chen Wenchao’s mother got into a vicious fight for a more spacious room with other people and was taken by the Western Union Army to Military HQ to be detained. She’s been locked up for almost a month now. Some mused it would be another two weeks before she would be released.
The room went quiet. No one came to the door either. Feng Chen raised a hand to knock again.
After he knocked persistently for almost half a minute, the door finally opened. A burly middle-aged man with a beer belly stood in the doorway, looking at him impatiently. “What do you want?”
“Hello, I’m looking for Chen Wenchao’s parents.” Although Feng Chen was a full head shorter than him, his expression remained calm.
His gaze slipped over the burly man’s shoulder to the fat boy eating at the table.
“That’s me. What do you want?” Father Chen replied.
Feng Chen got straight to the point, “I’m Fan Renjing’s guardian. Your son has been bullying my child for quite some time now, grabbing his things and even resorting to violence. He’s left several bruises on his neck today and in other places too.”
“Don’t listen to him! I’m no bully! Toothless tried to fight me first. He’s just a sore loser.” Chen Wenchao abruptly jumped up and scurried behind his father.
Chen Wenchao was a routine troublemaker. This wasn’t the first time parents have come to complain about him. While Father Chen usually just beat him up, he saw that Feng Chen was only a half-grown kid and didn’t take him seriously at all. He raised his chin and condescendingly stated, “Hear that? My son said he didn’t bully anyone. Isn’t it normal for kids to fight? They’re just playing around. Don’t take it too seriously.”
With that, Father Chen went to close the door. Feng Chen held it open with one hand. “Your son is lying. Should I call the person in charge of the limestone quarry over? He saw Chen Wenchao grabbing my child’s toy and hit him with his own eyes yesterday.”
“Dad, I’m not lying! That Binunu was on the ground so nobody wanted it.” Chen Wenchao hid behind Father Chen, his eyes that looked a little small because they were surrounded by folds of fat peering out at Feng Chen.
Father Chen shooed Feng Chen away, “Shoo, shoo. Stop blocking the door. We’re eating here.”
Feng Chen didn’t let go. His dark eyes were emotionless. “Chen Wenchao’s father, you don’t want to admit that Chen Wenchao bullied my child, right?”
Father Chen finally lost his temper and roared, “Where the hell did you come from? Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear what my son said? He didn’t hit anyone! Go find who the hell hit your kid elsewhere. And grabbing toys? My son has all sorts of toys! Try to take a good look at who you’re trying to mess with first next time.”
Father Chen continued to try and close the door while cursing, but Feng Chen didn’t even budge. A shred of doubt flashed by Father Chen’s mind after trying twice to no avail. He reached over to push this kid away.
But before that hand could reach, Feng Chen had already ducked behind Father Chen and hooked his left leg.
He used the same move that he taught Yan Bubu last night, yet the effect was completely different. Father Chen lost his footing, his pagoda-like body suddenly lurching forward. He stumbled a few steps and ended up falling into the corridor with a thud.
Father Chen was a bit disoriented by the fall. It took him a few seconds to come back to his senses on the floor. Then his face turned red as he jumped up and punched Feng Chen. “I’ll kill you, you little bastard!”
His punch was quite fast and furious, ready to knock Feng Chen down flat. He already imagined that thin body being sent flying by him, landing heavily in the middle of the room.
But the expected impact never came. The punch fell short. A trace of confusion appeared on his face. He wanted to stop his forward momentum when his eyes went dark. At the same time, a terrible pain suddenly came from his cheek as the muffled impact of flesh on flesh registered.
“Dad!” Chen Wenchao screamed out in shock after seeing his father being sucker punched in the face.
Father Chen shook his somewhat dizzy head and looked at the teen standing across from him. He wasn’t sure if the punch just now came from him.
The teen only came up to his chin. Although he looked tall, he was obviously not an adult yet. Father Chen felt that he could send the brat flying with a single slap. Yet he was calmly standing in the room right now, his eyes cold as if nothing had happened.
“How dare you hit my dad!” Chen Wenchao turned red as he pointed at Feng Chen and yelled, “How dare you hit him!”
Father Chen was finally sure it was the teen who was responsible. He was both shocked and enraged, raising his fists again. “Laozi is going to kill you now!”
But right after he shouted that, before he even got a chance to move, the figure opposite him flickered out of sight. A moment later, two more punches landed on his face.
Father Chen was now completely furious. Like a mad beast, he swung his fists with reckless abandon at Feng Chen.
He had only one thought in his head right now: smashing the teen to the floor and beating him unconscious like a dying wild dog.
The wooden cabinet in the room was knocked over, the chairs used by Father Chen as blunt weapons. They smashed into the wall, showering the room in splinters.
Even so, he didn’t even manage to touch Feng Chen.
Feng Chen bent over slightly, his eyes fixed on Father Chen as he anticipated each of his attacks. He skillfully wove around the room like an antelope in the forest, taking every opportunity to land punches on Father Chen’s face.
Not long after, Father Chen sported two black eyes. His nose was bleeding and half his face had ballooned up.
To Feng Chen, Father Chen’s strikes lacked discipline, and his stance was laughable. He was just a brute who thought himself a tiger.
Because he had not received professional training, his punches might look fierce, but they lacked speed and instantaneous explosive power. Even the other kids he had as opponents at the training centre were stronger than this buff adult man in front of him.
Crash!
Boom boom boom!
The room rattled continuously, interspersed with Father Chen’s roars and Chen Wenchao’s terrified cries.
After Feng Chen dodged for a while, he picked up on an opening and aimed straight for the centre of Father Chen’s face.
Every punch he threw was to the face, with force calculated to hurt but not cripple. With a scream, Father Chen covered his nose. After staggering a few steps back, he fell to the floor, blood and tears painting his face.
Feng Chen looked down at him before walking up and jerking him up by the collar.
Terror finally appeared in Father Chen’s nearly swollen shut eyes. “Don’t do it man, don’t do it.”
Feng Chen emphasised each and every word, “I won’t beat your son, so you will have to keep him under control. If you can’t? Every time he bullies my child, I will beat you like this.”
