We Martial Warriors

We Martial Warriors

Early the next morning, Li Fei got up early for his morning run as usual.

He had already asked Hao Yi for leave today, so he did not need to train at the Military Academy. Instead, he and Li Tianyu were going to school to take their graduation exam.

At eight in the morning, the two arrived at Xingcheng Secondary Vocational School on time.

However, they did not enter the school right away, instead waiting at the entrance.

More than ten minutes later, someone rode over on a bicycle from the distance.

The moment he arrived, Li Tianyu complained:

"Chen Dog, why are you late every single time? You even dared to be late on the day of our graduation exam."

The newcomer was also very young, with an utterly ordinary face and a pair of black-framed glasses. He looked exceedingly honest.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Even if I came early, I'd just have to stand there listening to the leaders lecture us. What fun would that be?"

The newcomer was named Chen Lixin, a good friend of Li Fei and Li Tianyu's at school.

He studied in the Business Department and did not need to take the graduation exam. He had already earned the title of "Excellent Graduate" through his consistently outstanding grades, and he also planned to apply to university next.

Though he looked honest, he was actually full of scheming ideas. Sinister and crafty, he was well suited to becoming a profiteer, which was why Li Tianyu had nicknamed him Chen Dog.

Today, Li Fei and Li Tianyu were taking their graduation exam, and Chen Lixin had come as their friend to cheer them on.

"Come on, let's go in first."

Li Tianyu called out.

The three entered the school and headed straight for the athletic field.

At this time, the athletic field was bustling with people. Some were students from the Conflict Mitigation Department, while many others had come simply to watch the excitement.

Nine circular arenas had been set up around the field and in its center. These would be the venues for the graduation exam shortly.

The leaders had finished speaking, and the graduation exam was about to begin.

"Tianyu's here?"

"Sister Tianyu."

"Sister Tianyu, good luck later!"

After arriving at the athletic field, quite a few Conflict Mitigation Department students took the initiative to greet Li Tianyu, and she smiled as she returned their greetings.

Li Fei and Chen Lixin had long since grown accustomed to this.

Li Tianyu was lively and cheerful, generous and warm toward others. She could easily get along with anyone, so she had many friends and was very popular.

"That show-off is putting on airs again."

Li Tianyu suddenly said.

Li Fei followed her gaze and saw someone surrounded by a crowd ahead, chatting and laughing with great ease.

The man's features bore some resemblance to Chen Lixin's, but he was more powerfully built and carried himself with greater swagger.

The man Li Tianyu had called a show-off was Chen Lixin's cousin, Chen Lixin.

The Chen Family was Xingcheng's foremost powerful clan. Chen Lixin was the Chen Family's eldest legitimate son, while Chen Lixin was merely born of a concubine from the Chen Family's third branch. Their statuses were worlds apart.

Li Tianyu was friends with Chen Lixin, but she found Chen Lixin extremely unpleasant to look at, feeling that he put on far too many airs.

And as the Chen Family's young master, even the teachers at school fawned over Chen Lixin. Yet Li Tianyu, a mere girl, constantly competed with him and never gave him any face, which infuriated him as well.

The two often clashed at school.

Over there, Chen Lixin also spotted Li Tianyu and the others and immediately walked toward them.

A group of people followed at his side.

"Tianyu's here."

"So you're here too, Cousin."

Chen Lixin greeted Li Tianyu and Chen Lixin.

As for Li Fei, he ignored him outright.

"I've already obtained an admission quota for the Wu'an University Zhi Ge Department without having to take the exam. I heard Tianyu, you're planning to apply to Wu'an University too, so you'd better work hard. I still hope we can remain classmates in the future."

Chen Lixin said with a flamboyant grin.

Xingcheng was located within Datong Prefecture of Feng Province, and Wu'an University was in Datong Prefecture's capital. Thus, Xingcheng Secondary Vocational School students generally chose Wu'an University as their first choice for university applications.

Given the Chen Family's influence, it was hardly strange for them to secure an admission quota without an exam.

Chen Lixin had deliberately brought this up to show off, making Li Fei feel as though he had returned to his student days in his previous life, when someone in class would parade around with the latest fruit-branded phone after school.

"What's there to be proud of about getting into Wu'an University by relying on your family?"

Li Tianyu shot back, her face full of disdain.

"I can rely on my family to get into Wu'an University. What can you rely on your family for? Oh, right, I heard your little brother went to the Military Academy. Is it that your family can only afford to send one person to university, so the older sister stole her younger brother's spot?"

Chen Lixin burst out laughing.

He had never been able to thoroughly suppress Li Tianyu at school. Now that graduation was near, he could finally display his superiority over her when it came to applying for university, and he could not help feeling immensely pleased with himself.

He looked at Chen Lixin. "You too, Cousin. You knew the Li Family was struggling, yet you never said anything to me. I could have lent them some money, so their brother and sister wouldn't have to fight over it."

"You bastard!"

Li Tianyu had already felt guilty over Li Fei being unable to apply to university. Hearing this, she immediately flew into a rage and was about to rush forward to fight Chen Lixin.

After all, she had done this plenty of times before.

Li Fei grabbed hold of her.

To him, what was happening before his eyes seemed somewhat childish, but to seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds, it concerned their dignity.

At that age, everyone still took saving face very seriously.

It was unrealistic to expect Li Tianyu to swallow this, so Li Fei decided he might as well use the situation to gain something for himself.

He looked at Chen Lixin and said calmly:

"I heard the Chen Family sponsored this graduation exam?"

Chen Lixin paused, then smiled smugly. "That's right. The prizes for the top eight in this graduation exam are being provided by our Chen Family."

This was the Chen Family's usual method for winning people over and building prestige. For the past several years, the prizes for Xingcheng Secondary Vocational School's Conflict Mitigation Department graduation exam had all been covered by the Chen Family.

Li Fei looked at him. "You just said you were willing to lend us money. But we martial warriors would rather rely on ourselves than others. Would Young Master Chen be willing to add another prize on top of the existing rewards, so that we can earn this money through our own abilities?"

"We martial warriors would rather rely on ourselves than others." The surrounding Conflict Mitigation Department students' eyes lit up at those words. For some reason, they found them incredibly stirring, as though the soul of youthful chuunibyou within them had been touched.

Those words also took a jab at Chen Lixin for relying on his family background to enter university, and his face instantly darkened.

Beside him, Li Tianyu looked at Li Fei in surprise. She had not expected him to respond like this.

Chen Lixin likewise gave Li Fei a surprised glance and nodded to himself.

In his view, Li Fei had handled it very well. Not only had he preserved their dignity, he had also dug a pit for the other side.

Though Chen Lixin was arrogant and overbearing, he was not an idiot. He sneered, "Fine. Then I'll personally put up three hundred yuan as a prize. Whoever takes first place in this graduation exam will receive double the prize money!"

The top eight in the graduation exam all received prizes, but he would not add another reward for all eight. He would only add one for first place.

With Li Tianyu's strength, making the top eight was a sure thing, but taking first place was another matter. When the time came, that money might even return to his own pocket.

"Fine. Then I'll thank Young Master Chen in advance for the prize money."

Li Fei smiled faintly, as though first place were already in the bag, then pulled Li Tianyu away and turned to leave.

"Hmph!"

Chen Lixin felt as though he had punched a ball of cotton.

"I really couldn't tell. Usually, this kid acts like a stuffy gourd and only knows how to trail after his sister. Today, he suddenly seems to have grown some backbone."

One of Chen Lixin's companions said beside him.

"Idiot, does he really think his sister is guaranteed to take first place?"

"Tch, he's just talking tough. What 'we martial warriors would rather rely on ourselves than others'? They just don't have anyone to rely on."

Someone mocked.

"Enough!"

Chen Lixin barked with a dark expression.

He actually cared deeply about others saying he only knew how to rely on his family background.

He was clearly talented himself, too.

But since he had already butted heads with Li Tianyu, Chen Lixin absolutely could not let her take first place in this exam. The extra three hundred yuan was nothing; what mattered was the Chen Family's pride.

"The Chen Family's pride stands above all else."

This was the lesson Chen Lixin had received since childhood.

After thinking for a moment, he called someone over and gave him a few quiet instructions.