Pei Youguang had a dream.
In his dream, his family was happy and fulfilled. Although his father was as stern as ever, he was always proud of him. His mother would always sneak him pocket money behind his father's back, cup his head in her hands, and tell him, "Mama loves you." His siblings in the dojo looked up to him as their leader, and he became a world-renowned martial arts prodigy, the center of attention.
He would not be scorned by his father as if he were an invisible man, his mother was still alive, and he was not always seen as just an accessory to his genius brother who went to the Inner Ring City. Nor did he have any experiences of being humiliated in the dojo and running away, unable to bear it.
Everything was so beautiful.
"..."
His father in the dream seemed to be saying something to him. Pei Youguang strained to listen, but he just couldn't hear it.
His father repeated himself many times, seemingly impatient, and then he slapped Pei Youguang across the face.
"Slap!"
Pei Youguang woke up, feeling his right cheek burning with pain.
"Hey."
Xue Jing squatted down, looked at Pei Youguang who was lying on the ground, now with his eyes open but still a bit dazed, and slapped him again. Slap, producing symmetrical imprints on both cheeks.
"Pei Youguang, right? You had something to talk to me about? What is it, speak up."
Xue Jing said coldly.
Pei Youguang: "…"
After coming to his senses and realizing the situation, Pei Youguang fell silent for a while and then showed an embarrassed smile,
"No… nothing anymore."
Xue Jing nodded, "If there's nothing, that's good."
"But now that you're fine, I do have something to talk to you about."
Pei Youguang touched his nose, now sunken into his face, the pain making him hiss sharply, but upon hearing Xue Jing's words, he quickly said, "Please tell, please tell."
He wasn't a defiant person. Having been bullied countless times from a young age, he had long learned to swallow his pride and bear insults quietly.
Although after entering the Affiliated Middle School he had grown accustomed to throwing his weight around and almost forgot his past, now he had been abruptly reminded of his muscle memory by Xue Jing's two slaps.
He didn't pull rank using his family's background anymore. All the students at the Affiliated Middle School knew he had connections. Now that Xue Jing dared to hit him, it meant he wasn't afraid.
Whether it was confidence through backing or just sheer audacity, Pei Youguang had lost either way.
He could only yield.
Looking down at him, Xue Jing asked, "I heard you have killed someone? And bullied female classmates?"
Pei Youguang said with a forced smile, "No, no, those are all rumors."
"What about that girl who transferred out last semester?"
"… I was pursuing her, but I really never did that sort of thing. That classmate transferred out because she was too scared, if it were true, the school would not have waited until now to expel me."
Saying this, Pei Youguang glanced at the fallen lackeys beside him, hesitated for a while, and said softly, "Please don't spread this around, but I'm still a virgin."
Xue Jing slapped him backhandedly across the face.
Slap—
"I don't want to hear this kind of useless information."
Pei Youguang covered his side face, "Yes…"
"Since nothing like that happened, why didn't you clear things up?"
"Clarifying it might not work, and… with such rumors, all the classmates are afraid of me… I thought it was cool…"
Xue Jing delivered another slap to his face.
Silently he said, "Are you brain-damaged, wanting to take on the name of a strong criminal for yourself?"
Pei Youguang didn't dare to talk back, "What you said is right."
"From now on, be a good student and don't get involved in these pointless schemes. Write a reflection when you get back, listing everything you've done and haven't done. Recite it ten times in front of the whole class during morning reading, and have your underlings record it. I'll check it later."
Pei Youguang said with difficulty, "Ah, this..."
Slap—
Pei Youguang covered his cheek with one hand and frantically waved the other, "I'll write it as soon as I get back."
Xue Jing hummed, seemingly asking casually, "By the way, the punch you threw at the wall had quite some power. What was that about?"
Pei Youguang honestly answered, "I've practiced martial arts. The punch just now, I used 'Power'."
Xue Jing asked curiously, "Power? Is it something like the 'Inner Strength' you read about in wuxia novels?"
Pei Youguang first nodded, then shook his head, "Power, also known as Inner Strength... It's not some supernatural energy, but a way of using Physical Strength. It's a skill that draws out the body's inherent potential through coordinating muscles, bones, blood, breathing, and so on. That's 'Power'."
Pei Youguang recalled what the master at the dojo had taught and explained.
"To put it in scientific terms, 'Power' is essentially kinetic energy. Different organs within the body cooperate in movement to accumulate kinetic energy, which is then released through 'moves' to produce far more force than an ordinary punch or kick."
"I've heard that some impressive Martial Artists can exaggerate the use of Power to the point where they can punch through a tank's armor with their bare flesh and blood. I don't know if that's true."
Xue Jing pinched his chin, remaining silent.
Seeing this, Pei Youguang immediately understood and hastened to say, "If you're interested, I could teach you. Although I only know a bit about Basic Energy Harnessing..."
Xue Jing, seeing his eagerness, patted his shoulder, softening his expression a bit, "Then I'll trouble you with that."
Pei Youguang cautiously said, "It's no trouble at all, but about writing the reflection and reciting it in class... could you possibly let that slide?"
Xue Jing thought for a moment and then said, "No, but you don't have to read it ten times. Once will be enough."
"..." Pei Youguang felt there was no difference between ten times and once, as both meant a loss of 'dignity'. It seemed an odd concession, but he didn't dare argue and could only chuckle, "Thank you very much."
"Alright." Xue Jing stood up.
"That's settled then. I'll come to find you this afternoon or tomorrow when I'm free to learn 'Power'. From now on, study hard and be a proper student; don't let me hear about you bullying anyone again."
Pei Youguang: "I'll do as you say."
...
After Xue Jing left the alley, the underlings lying on the ground pretending to be unconscious slowly got up, rubbing their heads and groaning as if they were just waking up.
"Hey, Pei, where's that Xue... Senior Xue?"
Pei Youguang sat up, reached into his school uniform pocket, pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes, and thought about lighting one but then decided against it with a sigh.
"From now on, we're to call him Jing."
The underlings looked at each other in confusion but agreed nonetheless.
The scene quieted down for a moment, and Pei Youguang looked thoughtful: 'He hasn't trained in martial arts, but he has such physical aptitude... He must be what the dojo masters call someone with good aptitude...'
'Just like Big Brother...'
Whether he was convinced by the beating or something else, Pei Youguang had an intuition that Xue Jing was not an ordinary person.
The phrases 'cling to the big thigh' and 'Dragon's Achievement' flashed through his mind, but the limits of his perspective and understanding made it hard for him to discern the pros and cons.
After a while, he shook his head.
"Forget it, I won't think about it. In any case, getting on good terms with him is the right move!"
Pei Youguang decided to follow his intuition.
...