The Martial Arts Path

Time passed quickly.

Before he knew it, more than a month had passed since the day Lin Zichen had taken over the Martial Arts Team.

Ever since that day, Lin Zichen's standing on the team had changed.

He had gone straight from a new recruit to the team's star player.

But only the coach and his teammates' attitude toward him had changed. Lin Zichen himself was pretty much the same as before.

After school, he still went to the gym to practice martial arts, found a spot to train by himself, and stopped at six-thirty in the evening to shower and head home.

As for Shen Qinghan, she still waited for Lin Zichen at the gym every day and went home with him after training.

While she waited, Shen Qinghan either read books or worked through practice questions. Every now and then, she'd take out her phone and snap a few nice photos of Lin Zichen. The time passed pleasantly enough.

Sometimes, when Lin Zichen was sweating a lot, she'd even come over and wipe him down.

Everyone at the gym watched the two of them together with envy written all over their faces.

The girls envied Shen Qinghan. They wished they could be Lin Zichen's childhood friend, too, and spend every day by his side.

The boys envied Lin Zichen. They wished they had a childhood friend like Shen Qinghan, someone who knew how to take care of them.

Other people's envy left Lin Zichen completely unmoved.

Shen Qinghan, on the other hand, was every bit the teenage girl. When other girls her age looked at her enviously, she couldn't help feeling secretly pleased.

"Hanhan, let's go."

Lin Zichen had finished training at the gym and showered in the locker room. He looked over at Shen Qinghan, who was waiting quietly by the entrance.

At the sound of his voice, Shen Qinghan obediently followed him. The high ponytail at the back of her head swayed with every step, giving her the lively, youthful air of a girl in bloom.

The seven teammates who were still training at the gym saw Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan coming and going together every day, and envy filled every face.

"Enough gawking. Get back to training!"

"Summer vacation's almost here, and the new Eight-School League is coming up. Just like in previous years, there are only five spots. The best players will compete."

"Zichen's already secured one spot, so the seven of you have just four left to fight over. Whoever performs best gets to compete."

Seeing his teammates staring blankly at the childhood friends as they left, Guo Xiangyuan immediately gave them a few words of encouragement.

The seven of them heard him and hurried back to training, all of them afraid of falling behind.

Five of them were in their third year of middle school.

This year's Eight-School League was the last one they'd be eligible to compete in. None of them wanted to leave with regrets.

In the blink of an eye,

the second semester of seventh grade was nearly over, and there was only a week left until final exams.

That week, Lin Zichen went to Shen Qinghan's room every evening to help her review and fill in the gaps in her knowledge, so she could get good grades.

That evening,

Lin Zichen finished dinner and showered, then headed out to the neighboring house where Shen Qinghan lived.

Xu Meng knew he'd arrive right on time, so she had left the door open and waited for him outside.

When she saw him, she smiled and said,

"Xiao Chen, you've really been helping us out lately, coming over every night to tutor Hanhan. When you finish your exams and summer vacation starts, Aunt Meng will get you a present. You can have whatever you want."

"Aunt Meng, you're too kind. Hanhan and I grew up together. Of course I should help her."

Lin Zichen smiled.

Then he went inside and headed straight upstairs.

Shen Qinghan's room was on the second floor, just two walls away from his.

In other words, their rooms were right next to each other.

He stopped outside Shen Qinghan's door.

It was half-open.

Lin Zichen didn't think much of it. He pushed the door open and went straight in. "Hanhan, I—"

He'd meant to say, "I'm here," but the words had barely left his mouth when he nearly bit his tongue. He froze on the spot.

The girl in the room was sitting on the bed, about to pull on her pajama pants. Right above them was a very conspicuous diaper.

Lin Zichen: "..."

Shen Qinghan: "..."

They both fell silent. The air seemed to freeze, and the awkwardness was almost unbearable.

After a moment, Lin Zichen recovered and broke the silence. "Uh... I'll come back in a bit."

With that, he hurried out and closed the door behind him.

The moment Lin Zichen left, Shen Qinghan's face turned bright red. She pulled the blanket over her head, collapsed onto the bed, and curled into a ball, completely motionless...

She'd just died of embarrassment. She wanted to move to another planet.

Ten minutes later,

Lin Zichen decided enough time had passed. He raised his hand and knocked on the door in front of him, his voice a little awkward. "Hanhan, is it okay if I come in now?"

"Mm..." Shen Qinghan's voice came from inside, so faint it was nearly inaudible. Clearly, she still hadn't recovered from the awkward scene.

Lin Zichen acted as if nothing had happened and calmly pushed open the door.

"Um... I only need to wear a diaper when I'm sleeping at night. I don't wear one during the day."

Shen Qinghan pressed her lips together and brought it up herself, her delicate face flushed bright red.

Lin Zichen didn't know what to say, so he could only nod. "Mm, I know."

Then neither of them said another word, and the awkwardness settled over them again.

But Shen Qinghan soon decided to break the silence herself. She twirled a strand of hair around her slender, pale fingers and tried to sound as casual as possible as she found a topic.

"While we were eating dinner, I asked Mom and Dad whether they thought I looked better with my hair tied up or down."

"Dad said I looked better with it down, while Mom said I looked better with it tied up."

"Zichen, do you think I look better with my hair tied up or down?"

As she asked, Shen Qinghan gathered her courage and looked Lin Zichen in the eyes. She wanted to use the topic to move past the diaper incident and make things less awkward for both of them.

Without even thinking, Lin Zichen replied, "I think you look good either way."

"That's such a non-answer. Pick one."

"Now that I think about it, I guess you look a little better with your hair tied up."

"Then do you think I look better with a single ponytail, twin tails, or a bun?"

"I like the bun and the single ponytail best."

"Then I'll wear a bun tomorrow and a single ponytail the day after... By the way, which looks better, a low ponytail or a high ponytail?"

"I think a high ponytail looks better..."

Little by little, they both relaxed into the conversation. Neither of them was as awkward as when he'd first come in.

It was as if they'd completely forgotten about the diaper incident. Neither of them brought it up again.

Before long, they got down to the evening's main task: one student reviewing, one teacher tutoring, the two of them spending a productive evening together at the desk.

Time flew by.

Several days later,

Shanhai High School held its final exams.

As usual, top student Lin Zichen breezed through them and came in first in the whole school.

Shen Qinghan did well, too.

In just one short year, she'd gone from third-to-last at the start of the school year to placing in the top twenty of her class. She happily received a Progress Model Student certificate.

She'd put in plenty of effort herself, but most of the credit went to Lin Zichen for tutoring and helping her.

"Zichen, thanks to you helping me review and fill in the gaps, I did so well this time!"

In the classroom, Shen Qinghan looked at the Progress Model Student certificate in her hands, her little face beaming with delight as she spoke to Lin Zichen.

Lin Zichen smiled. "You're the one who studied so hard."

"Zichen, if I keep improving at this rate, I'll definitely get into the same class as you in two years. Then we can keep sitting together!" Shen Qinghan said, full of anticipation.

The same class, sitting together again?

Shen Qinghan's words reminded Lin Zichen that he planned to attend the Martial Arts Class in high school. He realized he hadn't told her yet, so he said, "Hanhan, I've decided to join the Martial Arts Class in high school."

"Then I'll join the Martial Arts Class, too!" Shen Qinghan replied without a moment's hesitation.

Lin Zichen didn't know whether she was suited to the path of martial arts. But since she'd said without hesitation that she wanted to follow him, then even if she wasn't suited to it, he'd make sure she became suited.

"If you've decided to take the path of martial arts, then starting today, you'll need to shift your focus a bit. You should study more about Exotic Beasts, Gene Fusion, and Mechanical Modification."

"Mm, I'll do my best!"

Shen Qinghan said, full of energy.

She wasn't lacking in knowledge in those areas. After all, she'd spent plenty of time reading books with Lin Zichen when they were little. She was confident she could handle it.

The only thing she might lack confidence in was her physical fitness.

Lin Zichen had thought of that, too, and quickly said, "Then, after school, come practice martial arts with me at the gym. I'll teach you some exercises to build your strength."

"Mm, I'll listen to you, Zichen!" Shen Qinghan obediently nodded.

Her experiences growing up had taught her that whatever the matter, listening to Lin Zichen was always the right choice.