August 28th, one final day remained before the re-examination.
For the past two days, Chen Chuan had stopped going to the House of Fists, choosing instead to prepare at home for what was to come. Up first thing in the morning, he practiced the forms of Greater Sanshou over and over in the courtyard.
His movements were deliberate yet powerful, balancing motion and stillness with effortless grace, lending a striking aesthetic beauty to Greater Sanshou, which was originally fiercely aggressive in every strike.
Yu Wan came out wearing an apron and watched him practice with a warm smile. Even though martial arts were completely beyond her, the rhythm and power carried within Chen Chuan's movements brought a comforting ease to her heart.
In Chen Chuan, she seemed to see a shadow of another figure, practicing boxing in the courtyard just like this. She couldn't help but murmur softly under her breath, "Second Sister..."
After running through the forms several times in a row, Chen Chuan suddenly caught a savory aroma. Pulling back his fists and settling his stance, he asked, "Aunt, did you stew chicken soup?"
Yu Wan looked a little surprised—it hadn't been on the stove long at all. Smiling, she said, "Sharp nose, just like your mother. Isn't your re-examination tomorrow? Auntie's stewing some chicken soup to nourish you."
In truth, a bowl of chicken soup did little to meet the demands of Chen Chuan's training, but it was Yu Wan's heartfelt kindness and care for him. Besides, after eating black meat pumpkin rice and nutritional paste day in and day out for so long, he had almost forgotten what real food tasted like.
His mood lifted, and he smiled. "Thank you, Aunt. I've been eating out all this time, so it's been ages since I tasted your cooking. I really missed it."
Hearing this, Yu Wan was delighted. "It still needs to simmer a bit longer. Martial arts burns so much energy—do you want to eat a few flatbreads first to hold you over?"
Chen Chuan laughed. "I'm saving room in my stomach for your chicken soup."
Yu Wan chuckled and turned back inside. "I'll go keep an eye on the stove. I'll call you when it's ready."
Chen Chuan trained alone for a while longer. Once he felt thoroughly invigorated from head to toe, he returned to the living room.
Because today was a day off, the whole family was at home. Nian Fuli was rarely around, but today he had laid his belt aside and was sitting there reading the newspaper. Beside him, the radio was on, playing a Mount Zhang folk tune.
Entering the room, Chen Chuan picked up the thermos to pour himself some water. Seeing that Nian Fuli's teacup on the table was half-empty, he brought the thermos over and topped it off as well.
Nian Fuli looked up at Chen Chuan. As if remembering something, he lowered his newspaper and said, "Chuan, that matter has been dealt with. There are still a few loose ends tied to it, but just focus on your exam. Don't ask questions. Whatever comes up, your uncle has your back for now."
Chen Chuan realized he was referring to the ambush he had suffered. "Thank you, Uncle."
"How are things looking?" Nian Fuli asked. "Are you confident?"
"Mr. Yu is a great teacher," Chen Chuan said. "I've learned everything I was supposed to learn. And that's largely thanks to you, Uncle."
Seeing the quiet confidence in Chen Chuan's eyes, Nian Fuli grunted in acknowledgment. He raised the newspaper to hide his face and resumed reading, though the toe of his crossed leg began to bounce with a subtle rhythm.
Chen Chuan smiled. Carrying his water cup, he went back to his room. After setting the cup on the desk, he pushed the window open a crack. A light rain had fallen the night before, leaving the morning air crisp and clean, carrying the faint chirping of birds from outside.
After standing there for a moment, he turned and retrieved the book *The Great Expansion* from the shelf. It was his favorite book, one he had been reading for a long time.
The setting of *The Great Expansion* dated back sixty years to the nation's Third Expansion era. Back then, Yangzhi City had been nothing more than a small county town, only gradually growing after serving as a logistical transit hub for the expansion army.
However, the book wasn't primarily about the military. Instead, it followed the perspectives of three commoners attached to an expeditionary corps, chronicling the bizarre and wondrous tales they encountered during their travels. In that sense, it read more like an esoteric chronicle or an adventure journal. Its descriptions of local customs and geography were remarkably detailed, keeping him thoroughly engrossed.
In fact, Yangzhi City itself was rife with all sorts of odd urban legends. For instance, the Skull-Cleaving Demon: at every crime scene, the victim's head was split open, and rumor had it that their brain was completely gone.
Due to its grotesque nature and the fact that the victims were never ordinary folk, the story circulated widely.
There were other tales as well—the sudden vanishing of an entire village deep within Mount Zhang, the Apparition of Mount Jiao, the Human-Faced Kite, and so forth. Chen Chuan had asked Nian Fuli about them in private, but his uncle had scoffed, saying the constabulary had investigated all of them. Aside from a few incidents that were genuinely hard to explain, most bore clear signs of human foul play.
He had added that even if such sinister things truly existed, they weren't worth a fart in front of guns and cannons.
Out in the living room, long before mealtime, the rich scent of chicken soup drifted through the air. The two younger cousins playing nearby caught the scent and immediately began clamoring.
"Smells so good!"
"I want chicken! I want chicken!"
"That's for older cousin, not for you! None for you!"
"I want some too, I want some too..."
"You don't get any! You just don't!"
Nian Fuli got a headache from the two squabbling kids. Putting down his newspaper, he called toward the kitchen, "Hey, Yu Wan, just stew another one then."
"I want this one! I want this one!"
"This boy never listens..." Yu Wan hurried out of the kitchen, pinched Nian Mo by the ear, and gave him two smacks on the backside, prompting loud, dramatic wails from the boy.
Hearing the commotion from his room, Chen Chuan couldn't help but smile.
Both lunch and dinner that day were shared with the whole family around the table.
Before dinner, Nian Fuli said to Chen Chuan, "Don't be too nervous tomorrow. Back when your uncle first stepped onto the battlefield, I didn't even know the meaning of fear."
Yu Wan chimed in, "Your uncle isn't bragging for once. He really was brave back then. It's just that after he came home, he kept saying that if a certain bullet had flown even an inch farther off, it wouldn't have just left a hole in his helmet—we'd never have seen him again."
Nian Fuli rubbed the stubbly bristle on his head and sighed. "Before enlisting, when I ate my fill, the whole family was fed—I didn't have to worry about anything. Once I started a family, my guts shrank. Looking back, I always feel I was too reckless in my youth. But if you don't fight with everything you've got when you're young, you're bound to regret it when you're old."
He looked at Chen Chuan. "Kid, give this exam everything you've got. To put it bluntly, whether you'll be feasting on meat and wine or chewing on chaff and wild greens all comes down to tomorrow."
Chen Chuan smiled. "Uncle, Aunt, I'm confident."
"Good! Say no more. Let's eat! Eat plenty, fill up, and get a good rest so you'll be sharp tomorrow." With that, Nian Fuli picked up his chopsticks, and the family began their meal.
After dinner, Chen Chuan went for a walk outside. Upon returning to his room, he placed the alarm clock on the desk. With a shift of his will, his Second Self instantly overlapped and merged into his physical body, and he began counting silently.
By the time he opened his eyes and glanced at the second hand, a full two minutes had elapsed. This was the fruit of his hard work over this period.
In a true life-or-death fight, the outcome was decided in mere seconds, or at most a dozen or so. If it was only to handle a single one-on-one combat bout, this was already plenty.
Whatever lay ahead, over the past three months he had done everything within his power. Now, he only had to await tomorrow's test.
He double-checked the items he needed to bring tomorrow, then relaxed and went back to flipping through his book. When the mantle clock struck ten, he turned off the light and went to sleep as usual, quickly drifting into a deep slumber.
The night passed. Around five in the morning, he rose, fully refreshed. Yu Wan, however, had gotten up even earlier; she had already prepared breakfast for him and repeatedly told him not to be nervous.
Chen Chuan truly wasn't particularly nervous, an ease born of confidence in his own strength.
Because the notice for the re-examination hadn't specified an exact testing time—only that examinees were required to arrive before eight o'clock—he decided to head to the school early to avoid any last-minute rush.
Stepping outside, he saw a hazy gray dawn. The sun was just rising, and few pedestrians were on the streets.
He pedaled his bicycle all the way past Central Square and turned smoothly onto the main avenue leading to Wuyi College, only to find security guards stationed all along both sides of the road to maintain order, batons and daggers tucked at their waists.
These were likely deployed by Wuyi College. After all, with so many students gathering—all young, hot-blooded, and possessing martial strength—problems could easily arise without proper arrangements.
After riding a bit farther, the campus gate came into view, but the open ground before it was cordoned off with barrier cables. A security guard standing at the corner stepped forward and waved him down, directing him to park his bicycle in a designated area.
He swung off his bicycle, pushed it over to an open lot where several rows of bikes were already parked, and, after securing it, walked through the passageway left open between the barrier cables.
Ahead of him, many early-arriving applicants were already queuing up. Each candidate's identity had to be verified individually. Anyone without a student credential wouldn't be allowed inside—if it was damaged, forgotten, or lost, you were turned away without exception, and no explanation would be entertained.
Guarding the gate were two college instructors and three teaching assistants, every one of them solemn and stern. Coupled with the guards patrolling back and forth, the atmosphere felt exceedingly tense.
As before, Chen Chuan entered through the side gate. At the checkpoint, they matched his registration number and photograph to confirm his identity, then inspected his belongings. Aside from food, drinking water, tissues, and a washcloth, nothing else was permitted inside. Finally, only after signing his name was he granted entry into Wuyi College.
While they were queuing up, a sedan drove up slowly. An instructor stepped forward to speak with the occupants; the student inside didn't even get out of the vehicle, merely holding up a student credential for inspection, and was waved right through.
None of the students filing through the side entrance thought anything amiss of it; rather, most looked on with envy and yearning.
Just then, a few bird calls sounded overhead. Chen Chuan looked up. In the now-brightening sunlight beneath a clear sky, he could see several birds wheeling and soaring high above.
"Student, your ID card."
Snapping back to the moment, Chen Chuan said thank you, took it back, and stowed it carefully away. Tightening the strap of the satchel on his shoulder, he strode across the threshold of Wuyi College.
Chapter 29