Chapter 10 of 10

Chapter 10: Being Pressed into Service

15 min read3,830 words

Chen Kangjie had no idea that at this moment, an aunt wanted to see him. After composing the song with He Wanrong, almost all the classmates had left school. He had told Teacher He to keep his songwriting a secret from the classmates. He didn't want to draw too much attention yet, as it might disrupt his precious childhood.

Chen Kangjie didn't take the main road home but chose a small path through the hills. This path was one he often walked in another parallel world. Today, revisiting the place, he felt an endless sense of nostalgia. The small flowers that bloomed year after year by the roadside, the butterflies fluttering in the vegetable fields, and the large green dragonflies circling in the distance brought back vivid memories of his childhood. He couldn't help but sing "Young Friends Come Together" joyfully: "The flowers are fragrant, the birds are singing, the spring light is intoxicating, laughter and songs fly around the colorful clouds. Dear friends, whose is the beautiful spring? It belongs to me, it belongs to you, it belongs to the new generation of the 1980s. After twenty years, we will meet again, the great motherland will be so beautiful. The sky is beautiful, the earth is beautiful, the spring light is even brighter, cities and countryside are filled with glory everywhere..."

When he got home, only Chen Mei was doing her homework. Chen Mei and Chen Jing had gone out to play with their classmates and friends. Chen Yuchang was polishing the Phoenix bicycle again.

"Third Brother, can you make me a punching bag?"

Chen Kangjie tugged at Chen Yuchang's clothes and said.

"Punching bag? What kind of punching bag? Don't Juhua and Juyan have punching bags? If you want to play, just use theirs."

Chen Yuchang was a bit puzzled.

"Not the kind for playing, but the kind for boxing practice, the kind used for boxing training."

Chen Kangjie knew his third brother had misunderstood and explained further. Besides running, stretching, and frog jumps every morning, Chen Kangjie always felt something was missing. Today, after coming home from school, he finally realized that to protect himself, he needed to learn some martial skills. Otherwise, just having brute strength wouldn't do.

"What are you up to? You want to practice boxing? You're so young, you don't need to do that. If someone bullies you, just tell me, and I'll help you."

Chen Yuchang said proudly. In his view, it was unnecessary. If someone bullied him, he could just find his older brother; why did he need to fight with his bare hands?

"Third Brother, you can help me when you're around, but what about when you're not? For example, when I go out to play on my own, or when I go to school elsewhere in the future, it's better to have a skill to rely on. Hehe, as the saying goes, 'rely on your own hands to be well-fed and well-clothed.'"

Chen Yuchang was taken aback by his little brother's words, but he thought it made sense. If his little brother wanted to exercise, he could make him a small punching bag. It wasn't a difficult task, and he could see how long he would last. Maybe after a few days, he would give up. Chen Yuchang didn't know that once he started, his brother would hardly stop for the next few decades.

"Alright, I'll get some river sand and make one for you in a few days."

Seeing his goal achieved, Chen Kangjie didn't say anything more and went back to his room to practice calligraphy. Since the first day he learned calligraphy from Chen Qigang, Chen Kangjie practiced every day, using several newspapers. Fortunately, Chen Qigang's office subscribed to several newspapers, and he often brought home some old newspapers for Chen Kangjie to practice with.

After dinner, Chen Qigang and Ma Fangqin were watching TV in the living room, while Chen Mei and Chen Mei went back to their rooms to do homework. Chen Kangjie originally wanted to continue practicing calligraphy, but he was pressed into service by his sixth sister, Chen Jing.

It was dark, and the streetlights in front of the house were on. Chen Jing and a few other girls wanted to play jump rope, but they were short one person to hold the rope. Chen Jing dragged her brother, Chen Kangjie, to help. Chen Kangjie didn't want to do such a boring thing, but he couldn't resist his sister's pleading eyes and threatening little fists, so he reluctantly agreed.

Chen Kangjie was familiar with all the girls.

Geng Guiying lived with her brother, sister-in-law, and mother (her father had passed away). She was a beautiful and spirited girl with a beauty mark, always with neatly combed and clean hair, and large, bright eyes. In his previous life, she had a crush on Chen Kangjie in fifth grade, but after her brother's job transfer, she moved back to Henan with her family and they never met again.

Yu Lan lived in the same row of houses as Chen Kangjie, but her house was in the middle, four doors away from his. The most unforgettable thing about her was her eyes, which were deep and blue, almost like a Westerner's, and very captivating. She had a fuller figure from a young age and had a crush on Chen Kangjie for several years in his previous life. After he went to college, he rarely saw her, and he heard she had married and moved to another province.

Hou Jimei was in the second grade, Class 1, and lived on the second floor of the same building, right above Yu Lan's house. She was a playful and well-behaved girl. Because she was pretty and mature from a young age, many boys liked her. In his previous life, their parents often joked that Chen Kangjie and Hou Jimei were a pair. She could be considered Chen Kangjie's first girlfriend, and they started dating in fourth grade. However, at that time, Chen Kangjie didn't really understand anything, and he was heartbroken when Hou Jimei gave him a note saying "We're over" after just a month.

Li Ying had always been a neighbor of the Chen family. She had small eyes and liked to keep her hair in a short, curly bob. When they were young, their relationship was average, but it improved after fourth grade.

In the first round, Chen Kangjie and Li Ying held the rope, while Chen Jing and the other four girls jumped. In the second round, Chen Kangjie and his sister held the rope, and Geng Guiying and the other four girls jumped. For five rounds, Chen Kangjie played the role of the post. However, he enjoyed watching their lively and cheerful antics. Every time they switched, they would tease Chen Kangjie. He also liked to play small jokes with them, pinching Geng Guiying's cheeks and touching Hou Jimei's soft hands... like a young man teasing innocent girls. Of course, each girl who was teased would roll her eyes, and Chen Jing even hit him a couple of times, as if standing up for her sisters. Ha, Chen Kangjie really didn't understand why his sister would be so "traitorous."

It wasn't until Ma Wei and the others came to play with Chen Kangjie that he was finally released from his post. Otherwise, he might have had to stay there indefinitely. Ma Wei, Chen Qiancheng, Zhu Bala, and Zheng Xiaosi (who was in the same class as Chen Qiancheng and lived on the third floor of the building in front of Chen Kangjie's house) came to play hide-and-seek with Chen Kangjie.

Hide-and-seek wasn't very appealing to Chen Kangjie, but to avoid being a post again, he invited the five girls to play with them. They used a hand game to decide who would hide and who would seek. Chen Kangjie's luck wasn't good, and he and Yu Lan were left to seek, while the other eight children went to hide. After counting to sixty, the two of them started searching separately.

Fortunately, based on his previous life's experience, he knew exactly where they liked to hide, such as in sheds, behind doors, and in the toilet. He quickly found them one by one.

Some of them were不服气 (unconvinced). Usually, Chen Kangjie didn't find them all so quickly, so they started to complain, saying that Chen Kangjie must have peeked. Even Yu Lan couldn't convince them otherwise.

There was nothing Chen Kangjie could do. To prove he hadn't peeked, he had to play "Sherlock Holmes" again. The others were quickly found again, but his sister Chen Jing was still missing. It wasn't until Ma Fangqin's hint that he realized she had run home and crawled under the bed. Chen Kangjie was really frustrated.

It's just a game of hide-and-seek, why be so serious? To the point of running home and hiding under the bed?

At this moment, Chen Kangjie's thirty-year-old mind was at work. If he were really six years old, he probably wouldn't have thought that way and would have followed suit.

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