Chapter 8

In the afternoon, Chen Kangjie had calligraphy and physical education classes, both of which he was now relatively more engaged in. He had been practicing calligraphy, so he naturally wanted to learn from the well-known local calligraphy teacher. The calligraphy teacher was an elderly lady from the north who didn't speak the local dialect, but fortunately, almost all the teachers at the school had been using Mandarin since its establishment.

There were many employees from the north who came during the third-line construction period and the educated youth who went to the countryside later. Chen Kangjie remembered that many of the mayors of Liushuipan City and the provincial leaders of Qianzhou Province were from the north, so the official language in the mining area was almost entirely Mandarin.

Chen Kangjie still remembered that in his previous life, the first technical mnemonic the calligraphy teacher taught was "head straight, chest upright, arms open, feet stable." However, few students followed her instructions because few of them liked learning calligraphy, and Chen Kangjie himself didn't like it in his previous life.

However, today Chen Kangjie was learning very seriously, writing several sheets of paper. Most of the other students just scribbled a few strokes to get it over with. Ma Wei was very puzzled as to why Chen Kangjie was so serious about writing calligraphy, while he seemed less focused in Chinese and math classes.

In the second class, everyone went to the playground and did two sets of calisthenics under the supervision of the physical education teacher, then they were free to do as they pleased. Many girls jumped rope, and the boys played with sandbags. After playing a few rounds of sandbags, Chen Kangjie found it uninteresting and went to the side to stretch his legs and try some push-ups.

Ma Wei, Zhang Jiahua, and another classmate, Xing Xiaokai, saw Chen Kangjie doing these strange exercises and became interested. Chen Kangjie explained the benefits and techniques of these exercises based on his future memories and also gave them some precautions. They found it interesting and followed Chen Kangjie. Gradually, many other boys saw them and put down their sandbags to join in.

The tall physical education teacher came out of the office and saw this scene, feeling very confused. "Who is the physical education teacher here?" He was puzzled but also happy to be idle. The girls stopped jumping rope and watched the group of boys doing frog jumps, leg stretches, and push-ups with keen interest. They wondered why the teacher hadn't taught these moves before and why everyone was following Chen Kangjie. The result was that they were all very confused.

After the two afternoon classes, the students' happy time arrived. Generally, they could play for at least an hour after school before going home, and if their parents asked, they had a ready-made excuse—cleaning the classroom.

During the physical education class, Chen Kangjie asked who would play "cockfighting" after school. Twelve students came, and many were very enthusiastic about playing. However, only seven students from Class 2 came, making the strength disparity obvious. Fortunately, it was heard that Class 2 would play against Class 3, and five boys from Class 1 came to watch, so they were added to Class 2's team. It became a 12 vs. 12 match, and a fierce battle was about to begin.

The chosen venue was a field behind the primary school, where the rice paddies were dry and overgrown with weeds. To the east of the school was the mining area, and to the west were the local village's farmlands. Many boys liked to take the small paths through the farmlands to go home after school, catching dragonflies, digging for earthworms, and catching tadpoles along the way.

After the preparations were made, the game was about to start. Chen Kangjie chose to stand on the inner side, next to the edge of the previous rice paddy. This was strategic, as his past experience told him that standing in the middle made one the easiest target, while standing on the outer side made one vulnerable to being pushed into the next paddy. He needed to take advantage of the terrain to avoid being ambushed and knocked down at the beginning, which would be very embarrassing.

At the start, the combined forces of Class 1 and Class 2 launched a fierce attack on Class 3. Ma Wei and Zhang Jiahua stood in the middle of Class 3 and led the counterattack. Chen Kangjie followed the group but did not rush into the fray. He didn't want to be like Sun Jian, who charged into the enemy's ranks and was killed by a stray arrow. A general needed to stand in a key position.

Ma Wei and Chen Qiancheng faced each other, jumping and pushing. Zhang Jiahua also engaged with the tall boy from Class 2, Xiong Guangxin. At this moment, Qian Xiaobin from Class 1 saw Chen Kangjie watching and charged at him with a fierce look. Qian Xiaobin was about the same height as Chen Kangjie but looked a bit stronger. He jumped at Chen Kangjie, trying to knock him down with a single move. Chen Kangjie carefully observed his movements and quickly calculated Qian Xiaobin's strength and point of impact. As Qian Xiaobin's body came down, Chen Kangjie steadied himself and raised his right knee. Qian Xiaobin realized something was wrong but couldn't change his position in time. He landed on Chen Kangjie's knee and was knocked down. Qian Xiaobin had to withdraw from the battle.

After dealing with Qian Xiaobin, Chen Kangjie observed the situation. Two students from Class 3 and two from the combined forces of Class 1 and Class 2 had been knocked down, and with Qian Xiaobin's withdrawal, the situation became 9 vs. 10, giving Class 3 a slight advantage.

While Zhang Jiahua and Xiong Guangxin were locked in a fierce battle, Chen Kangjie noticed that Gao Debo from Class 2 was entangled with Luo Bo from Class 3 but was also observing Zhang Jiahua's condition, looking for a chance to take out the main force of Class 3 (he considered Zhang Jiahua the main force of Class 3, with a strategy of capturing the king to defeat the enemy). He wanted to catch the enemy off guard, but Chen Kangjie saw through his plan. Chen Kangjie slowly approached, waiting for the right moment. When Gao Debo relaxed and turned to attack Zhang Jiahua, Chen Kangjie suddenly struck, pushing Gao Debo's waist with great force, causing him to lose balance and fall to the ground.

Zhang Jiahua noticed Gao Debo's fall and deduced that he had been ambushed. He realized that Chen Kangjie's counter-ambush had saved him, and he gave Chen Kangjie a grateful look.

This gave Class 3 an even greater advantage, but they couldn't be complacent. To end the battle quickly, Chen Kangjie joined Zhang Jiahua in the fight against Xiong Guangxin, two against one. Chen Kangjie wanted to knock Xiong Guangxin down to demoralize and weaken the opposing team, as Xiong Guangxin was their absolute main force.

Chen Kangjie was already skilled at cockfighting, and even Zhang Jiahua alone might not have an advantage over him. Now, with both of them teaming up against Xiong Guangxin, who had just fought Zhang Jiahua to a draw, the odds were even less in his favor. As expected, a coordinated move by Chen Kangjie and Zhang Jiahua made Xiong Guangxin stumble, and to regain his balance, he had to put his hands down and stand on the ground.

With Xiong Guangxin out, the rest of Class 3's team quickly fell like dominoes. Chen Qiancheng, under the combined attack of Ma Wei and another classmate, also soon conceded. Class 3 emerged victorious with seven students still standing.

After the battle, everyone lay down in a row, resting and discussing the reasons for their victory. Gao Debo said Chen Kangjie had ruined his plan, Luo Bo said Class 3 was naturally stronger, Xiong Guangxin blamed his carelessness, Ma Wei said Class 1 and Class 2 were too weak, and Chen Qiancheng said Class 3 was lucky. Zhang Jiahua didn't speak, as he wanted to say something but couldn't articulate the reason for their victory.

"Actually, there are many reasons, but the key point is that Class 3 is united and has better tactical coordination. You are a combined force of two classes, lacking the unity and默契 (cohesion) needed, so it's easier to be defeated one by one. In the future, no matter what we do, we must be united. Only through unity can we be invincible."

Chen Kangjie pointed out at the end. They all seemed to understand but couldn't fully grasp the depth of his words. After all, what Chen Kangjie said was quite mature and profound. They all looked at Chen Kangjie with admiration and seriously considered his words.

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