"Crazy!"
Fang Shuwen was speechless as he watched Guo Ziming walk away with his head held high, as if he'd just won a great victory.
How could this guy, a rich young master from a prominent family, still act like a child who hadn't grown up?
But then again,
the other guy really was a child who hadn't grown up.
Whatever. There was no point stooping to his level.
He shook his head and turned his attention back to eating.
Before long, afternoon arrived.
The physical assessment began in the middle of the school sports field.
"Today's physical assessment is being held on a pretty grand scale!"
When Fang Shuwen arrived, he saw that there were already plenty of people on the field.
The boys gathered in twos and threes beside the stone-lock area, each trying to outdo the others.
Most of the girls stood in the shade of the trees along the edge of the field. Some were stretching their legs while others chatted quietly.
A row of long tables had been set up beneath the sunshade on the east side of the field. They were covered with brand-new blue cloth, and rosters and tea had been laid out on top.
Principal Qian Jun sat in the middle, with Vice Principal Liu Wei'an and Dean of Studies Zhou Changping on either side.
At the far end sat another man, dressed in a dark blue martial arts uniform. An emblem of two crossed swords was embroidered on his chest.
His expression was stern, and his hawklike gaze swept over the students on the field.
Fang Shuwen had never seen him before, but judging by the emblem on his chest, the man must have come from the Xikou County National Martial Arts Hall.
"It's only an unusual physical exam. Why has the National Martial Arts Hall sent someone in person?"
Fang Shuwen was a little curious.
When the Great Flame New Kingdom was first founded, the Central National Martial Arts Hall Sports Institute was established in the capital, Divine Capital City. That was what people now called the Central National Martial Arts Hall.
Over the past decade or so, the National Martial Arts Hall's influence had spread outward from Divine Capital City like creeping vines.
First, branch halls had been established in the provincial capitals, then they had reached down into the prefectures and counties.
The Xikou County National Martial Arts Hall had only opened three years earlier.
Officially, the National Martial Arts Hall's mission was to "develop national martial arts and strengthen the people's physiques."
In reality, however, it controlled the teaching of martial arts in every region.
Any local martial arts school that wanted to keep operating had to register with the National Martial Arts Hall and list its manuals and techniques. It could continue teaching only after its application was reviewed and approved.
Those who refused to register were shut down on charges of "privately hoarding martial arts and endangering public order."
In its early years, several major martial arts schools in the south had joined forces to resist, leading to several bloody incidents.
Later, the head of the Shenghai National Martial Arts Hall personally traveled south.
In one night, he challenged seven major martial arts schools, leaving all seven school masters seriously injured. Two of them died from their injuries.
After that, no one dared openly oppose the National Martial Arts Hall again.
Before long, the martial arts world of Jiangnan had fallen entirely under its rule.
The Xikou County National Martial Arts Hall was only a county-level branch.
But its head was said to have been transferred from the Shenghai headquarters. He was extremely powerful, a Grand Martial Master in the late Dark Force stage.
Over the past three years,
three of the five martial arts schools that had originally operated in Xikou County Town had closed. The remaining two had changed their signs and hung up plaques reading, "Designated Teaching Center of the Xikou National Martial Arts Hall."
Every month, they paid the National Martial Arts Hall thirty percent of their earnings as a management fee.
The martial arts school where his predecessor had studied for half a month was one of those that had been restructured.
"Students, quiet down!"
Dean of Studies Zhou Changping walked out from beneath the sunshade, holding a roster in his hand. His voice rang across the field through a megaphone.
He pushed up his round glasses and looked over all the students present.
"This physical assessment will be supervised throughout by Instructor Meng Zhen, a specially appointed inspector from the Xikou County National Martial Arts Hall."
"The assessment score will count toward your total score for advancement to the next school level, with physical education and academic subjects each accounting for fifty percent. Anyone who fails to meet the physical standard will be expelled."
The moment he finished speaking, the field erupted.
"Fifty percent? Didn't they say it'd be thirty?"
"They raised it from thirty to fifty? That's going to kill us!"
"That's it for me. I can place in the top three in academics, but I doubt I'll even make the top twenty in sports..."
Zhou Changping raised a hand to quiet them, then continued, "There's only one event in this assessment: stone-lock lifting."
"Right, we're short on time, so I'll spare you the extra talk."
"For stone-lock lifting, boys will start at sixty pounds, girls at forty. Hold it up for three breaths to pass. Every additional ten pounds earns ten more points."
"Now, step forward when you hear your name!"
At Zhou Changping's words, the assessment began.
Several rows of stone locks had been laid out in the middle of the field. Ten people could be tested at once.
The lightest stone locks weighed thirty pounds. The largest sat at the far end, its dusty surface carved with the number "Three Hundred." It was a good deal wider than a person's head.
Most of the boys topped out at forty to eighty pounds.
Every now and then, someone managed to lift a stone lock weighing over a hundred pounds, drawing a wave of gasps.
The girls fared even worse. Many couldn't even lift forty pounds.
There was no helping it. Those students would be eliminated outright.
Beneath the sunshade, National Martial Arts Hall inspector Meng Zhen tapped his teacup lid with a finger, his pace growing faster and faster.
"For the best school in the county, Xikou County Public Middle School is putting on a pretty poor showing." His tone was mild.
Principal Qian Jun coughed dryly, looking a little embarrassed, but said nothing.
In previous years, even when physical assessments were held, they had never been taken this seriously.
So most physical education classes had been little more than going through the motions.
Who knew what had gotten into the National Martial Arts Hall this year? They hadn't even sent out a notice.
They had simply shown up and changed the school's assessment plan, elevating physical education—which had never been taken seriously—to the same level as academic subjects.
Just then,
Zhou Changping turned to the next page of the roster and raised his voice. "Fang Shuwen!"
A commotion immediately broke out in the crowd.
"That Fang Shuwen who failed six out of seven subjects?"
"He could barely pass physical education before. Look at how skinny he is. I bet he can't even lift forty pounds..."
Guo Ziming folded his arms and scoffed. "He used to trail after me and couldn't even carry a bucket of water without wobbling. If he can lift forty pounds, I'll write my surname backward."
A ripple of quiet laughter spread around them.
Fang Shuwen walked out from the back of the crowd. When he passed Guo Ziming, he stopped. "Classmate Guo, if I lift more than forty pounds, forget writing your surname backward. Just give me fifty silver dollars!"
"Fine, it's a bet! You think I'm scared?" What kind of person was Guo Ziming? In Xikou County Town, he was the ultimate rich second-generation heir.
Fang Shuwen only had to prod him a little, and Guo Ziming took the bait.
Fang Shuwen smiled, then walked straight toward the stone-lock area without even looking back.
Guo Ziming's face flushed red, and his teeth ground together with a sharp clack.
This kid really thought he had him in the bag!
With Fang Shuwen's skinny build, he might not even meet the minimum standard, let alone anything more.
Beneath the sunshade, Meng Zhen sat a little straighter. "This student walks with a steady center of gravity, and his spine is straight as a bow. He's got some skill."
Fang Shuwen didn't stop in front of the eighty-pound stone lock, nor did he look at the one-hundred-pounder.
He walked past the hundred-pound lock, then the one-hundred-and-twenty-pounder, and stopped in front of the one-hundred-and-fifty-pound stone lock.
The laughter around him gradually faded.
"What's he trying to do? That stone lock weighs a hundred and fifty pounds!"
"Without the strength to make your bones crack, there's no way you could even budge it."
Meanwhile,
Guo Ziming watched what was happening and sneered.
"Putting on a show? Just wait. He'll come slinking back in disgrace."