RBCT Chapter 19 Sensation
Chapter 19 Sensation
Lin Jianguo and Zhou Lan stood in the living room, while Chen Zhengfeng, the head of the martial arts department, was still smiling and waiting for them to process the news. Outside the door, reporters carrying cameras had already crowded into the stairwell, and the cars parked downstairs filled the main road of the community.
But all of this seemed to Lin Jianguo as if he were looking through a layer of water—blurry, unreal, like a dream.
"Leader," Lin Jianguo swallowed, his voice a little dry, "Are you sure you're not mistaken? My son is okay in humanities, but he's terrible at martial arts."
"Yes," Zhou Lan nodded vigorously from the side, her apron crumpled from being gripped so tightly. "He only seems to have a strength of 300 jin, right? How could he be the top martial arts scholar? You must have made a mistake."
Chen Zhengfeng smiled.
He had worked in the martial arts club for over a decade and had witnessed countless reactions to being hit by a surprise—some screamed, some jumped up, some burst into tears, but the most common reaction was disbelief.
The couple in front of us, in particular, clearly still have the same perception of their son's true abilities as they did a month ago.
"How could we possibly make a mistake?" Chen Zhengfeng's tone was gentle, but every word carried an undeniable certainty. "Our martial arts department would never make a mistake on such an important matter."
Lin Fan's college entrance examination score—3000 jin (1500 catties)—not only broke the national record but also exceeded the previous record by a full 700 jin (350 catties).
"3000 jin?" Lin Jianguo repeated the number, subconsciously reaching into his pocket for his cigarette pack, but then remembered there were guests at home and pulled his hand back.
He glanced back at Lin Fan's room, about to call his son out to ask him what was going on, when Lin Fan had already come out of the room.
He sat in the computer chair for a long time, listening to the conversation between his parents and his boss outside the door, but he finally couldn't sit still any longer.
"Dad, Mom." Lin Fan walked to the center of the living room, standing between his parents and Chen Zhengfeng. His tone was calm, as if stating a perfectly ordinary fact, "They haven't made a mistake. I am indeed the top scorer in the country."
Lin Jianguo's eyes widened. Zhou Lan covered her mouth.
"Son, don't talk nonsense!" Lin Jianguo scolded instinctively, but his voice lacked any authority and instead carried a tremor that he himself did not realize.
Lin Fan looked at his father, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Dad, didn't you ask me after the exam who the top scorer in the country was? I said it was me. Do you believe me now?"
Lin Jianguo's expression froze. His pupils dilated slightly, his lips moved a few times, and his mind seemed to be rewinding like an old projector.
The scene shifts back to the evening of the martial arts exam. He stood at the entrance of the exam hall, holding a bottle of mineral water and two steamed buns, watching his son walk out of the exam hall.
He asked his son, "Who is the top scorer in the national exam?" The son pointed to himself and said, "It's me." He slapped his son on the back of the head and said, "Don't talk nonsense, you brat."
But now, the head of the martial arts department is standing in front of him, reporters are blocking his door, and the area downstairs is full of black minivans. Everyone is telling him the same thing.
Zhou Lan's eyes reddened again.
Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something but didn't know what to say. In the end, she managed to squeeze out a few words, her voice trembling with tears: "You...you child..."
Chen Zhengfeng stood aside with a smile, not urging him on. He had seen this scene too many times, and each time it made him feel from the bottom of his heart that although this job was tiring, it was worth it.
But just then, the roar of an engine came from downstairs again. It wasn't the deep rumble of the official car engine from before, but a more rapid and intense sound, mixed with the banging of car doors opening and closing and the sound of hurried footsteps.
The reporters in the hallway were the first to react. A young man carrying a camera peeked downstairs, then quickly pulled back, his voice trembling: "People from Beijing University of Martial Arts and Shanghai University of Martial Arts are here!"
The crowd stirred. Camera lenses all turned in unison, and flashes went off everywhere.
Sure enough, the two groups of people squeezed up the stairs almost at the same time.
The group on the left wore dark red uniforms with the Kyoto University badge pinned to their chests. The leader was an elderly man with gray hair but a vigorous spirit; judging from his shoulder insignia, he was at least a vice dean.
The group on the right wore silver-gray uniforms with the emblem of Shanghai Wuhan University on their chests. The leader was a middle-aged woman wearing gold-rimmed glasses, with a capable and sharp demeanor and a brisk pace.
The two groups met face-to-face in front of Lin Fan's house. They glanced at each other, their eyes practically sparking with unspoken tension. Then, they turned simultaneously, squeezed to the doorway, and spoke at the same time—
"Hello, is this Lin Fan's home? I'm Su Yunlan, the director of the admissions office at Shanghai Martial Arts University. We sincerely invite Lin Fan to join Shanghai Martial Arts University!"
"Hello, I am Qin Zhen, Vice President of Kyoto Martial Arts University! Our Kyoto Martial Arts University is willing to admit student Lin Fan with the highest level of special admission treatment!"
The two voices overlapped, each faster and more urgent than the last.
Lin Jianguo and Zhou Lan were completely dumbfounded.
Kyoto Martial Arts University? Shanghai Martial Arts University? These two names only existed on television and on the front page of newspapers for them.
The top three martial arts universities in the country, the holy land of martial arts that has cultivated countless war god-level powerhouses, are now arguing at the entrance of the building over who gets their son—no, they're negotiating terms.
"Our Shanghai Martial Arts University is closest to Jiangcheng. Since Lin Fan is staying in Jiangnan to develop his career, we will definitely treat him as a key talent and nurture him with all our might!" Su Yunlan pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses, her tone quick and sharp.
"In terms of overall strength, our Kyoto Martial Arts University has been number one in the country for three hundred years! What makes your Shanghai Martial Arts University compare to us?" Qin Zhen retorted, his white hair standing on end.
"We are aware of your admission requirements, but Lin Fan's situation is special—"
"What's so special about it? Our Kyoto Martial Arts University still has one last special admission spot, reserved for Lin Fan!"
The two admissions officers were arguing heatedly at the entrance, while the reporters in the hallway were laughing hysterically.
A cameraman switched the camera from Qin Town to Su Yunlan, and then back to Qin Town, his fingers clicking on the buttons—the two top martial arts universities in the country were arguing in front of each other's houses over a student. If this scene were broadcast, the ratings would explode.
Lin Jianguo swallowed hard. He took a step back, moving closer to Lin Fan, and lowered his voice to a volume only the two of them could hear, saying, "Son, am I dreaming?"
Lin Fan glanced at the two admissions officers still arguing at the door, then at his father's face, which was filled with the thought, "What's wrong with this world?" and smiled: "Dad, it really isn't a dream."
But that wasn't all. Less than ten minutes later, a third and then a fourth convoy arrived downstairs.
This time, it was reporters from major media outlets—provincial TV, municipal TV, the official Wuzhe Forum, and Huaxia Wudao Daily—all with their cameras and microphones. They were pushed and squeezed upstairs by the crowd before they even had a chance to remove the lens caps from their cameras.
The reporters behind couldn't squeeze any further, so they simply set up their equipment downstairs and started filming the entire building. The commentator stood by the flower bed downstairs with a microphone, speaking rapidly into the camera as if doing a live broadcast.
The neighbors were all alarmed.
Grandma Wang from the third floor leaned out halfway out, still holding a spatula in her hand; Grandpa Liu from across the street came out wearing slippers, not even having taken off his reading glasses; the owner of the convenience store downstairs simply closed the store and ran over to see what was going on.
People from the entire neighborhood poured out, completely surrounding Lin Fan's apartment building.
"What happened? What happened?"
"I heard Old Lin's son passed the imperial examination with top honors!"
"Top scorer? Top scorer in the humanities?"
"What?! Top scorer in liberal arts? Top scorer in martial arts?! National top scorer in martial arts!"
"My God..."
The news spread like wildfire, flying from one person to another, from one building to another. Someone pulled out their phone and started taking pictures of the row of black vans and police motorcycles.
Someone started sending voice messages to the family group chat—"Guess what? Our community has produced a martial arts champion!" The property management's security captain stood at the door of the duty room, staring at the sea of people in front of him, and it took him a long time to remember to call the manager.
The event was broadcast live on television. The provincial television station's live broadcast van pulled up, and the host stood downstairs at Lin Fan's house, with a large crowd and flashing police lights behind him.
Speaking in perfect Mandarin to the national audience, he said, "Dear viewers, we are currently in an ordinary residential community in Jiangcheng, but something extraordinary is happening here today—this year's national college entrance examination martial arts champion will be born right here!"
……
In the Ziyuan Villa District, Zhao Xiaoyue lay sprawled on the sofa, her legs dangling in the air, with a newly opened laptop on the coffee table in front of her.
She just checked her grades: 1476 pounds, ninth in the city and twenty-sixth in the province. With these scores, she's a shoo-in for Wuhan University in Shanghai. Her parents are already downstairs discussing where to celebrate tonight.
"I wonder who will be this year's national champion?" Zhao Xiaoyue muttered to herself, her fingers swiping across the touchpad as she opened the martial arts forum.
Sure enough, a pinned video was prominently displayed on the forum's homepage, with a long and explosive title: "Breaking News! National Martial Arts Exam Champion Announced! Jiangcheng's Lin Fan Breaks a Twelve-Year-Old Record with a Weight of 3000 Jin! Exclusive Interview Video Released!"
Lin Fan?
Zhao Xiaoyue blinked, hovered her finger above the touchpad, and then tapped it.
The video begins to play. The scene shows a somewhat familiar living room, with an old sofa and a calendar on the wall in the background. A reporter is interviewing a teenager with a microphone.
The boy, dressed in a white T-shirt and black sweatpants, sat in an old-fashioned wicker chair, looking calm and composed in front of the camera.
Zhao Xiaoyue stared at that face for a long time, then jumped up from the sofa, almost knocking her laptop to the ground.
"Dad! Mom!" Her voice pierced through the two floors of the villa.
……
At the same time, in an ordinary residential community in the provincial capital.
Du Fei was curled up alone on the old sofa in his rented room, his phone screen lit up, and the pinned video from the martial arts forum was playing automatically.
The reporter is interviewing the newly crowned martial arts champion, a young man standing next to the head of the martial arts department, surrounded by a group of leaders and reporters. He has a calm face, stands tall, wears a white T-shirt and black pants, and looks exactly like the guy who fought him for fifty moves on the martial arts arena that day.
It's him.
Du Fei's pupils contracted slightly.
His thumb hovered above the screen as the video continued playing. When the reporter asked Lin Fan how he usually trained, Lin Fan's answer was very simple.
"I practice boxing every morning and evening. When I have free time, I watch combat instruction videos on forums." When asked how his strength increased from 300 jin to 3000 jin, Lin Fan thought for a moment and said, "It's just from practicing boxing. As I practiced, my strength increased."
He gained weight while training. He gained 2700 pounds in a month. "He gained weight while training." Du Fei took a deep breath, his right hand unconsciously gripping the edge of the sofa cushion.
He remembered what he had said to Lin Fan in the ring, every word of which he remembered clearly: "Teaching a high school senior a lesson is as easy as turning your hand."
Then he was hit head-on by that senior high school student with fifty moves of the Chasing Wind Fist, and was forced to stop, but he still couldn't win.
The martial arts champion. The martial arts champion who broke the national record. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the martial arts champions in the national college entrance examination have all achieved at least the highest level in their respective regions. Several of them have even become god-like figures, with their names engraved in textbooks.
And he, Du Fei, an ordinary martial arts college student who had just broken through to the Qi Condensation Realm, actually wanted to teach such a person a lesson.
court death.
When those two words popped into his head, he almost instinctively pulled out his phone—finded Sun Hao's number,
He pressed down hard with his finger, fueled by anger. The phone rang several times before being answered.
"Hey, Brother Du!" Sun Hao's voice came through the receiver, light and cheerful with a hint of smugness. "My college entrance exam results are out, and I did really well! Top ten in the city! Let's get together later, it's on me—"
"Sun Hao!" Du Fei's voice was muffled, like thunder.
Sun Hao was startled by the shout: "Brother Du, what's wrong?"
"You son of a bitch, you dare to rip me off!" Du Fei's knuckles turned white as he gripped his phone.
"Brother Du, what do you mean by this? How did I trick you?"
"Didn't you tell me to teach Lin Fan a lesson? Isn't this just setting me up?"
"Lin Fan? What happened to him?" Sun Hao's tone was genuinely confused. "He doesn't have any connections. What good would it do to teach him a lesson? Don't worry, Brother Du, even if there's a real problem, my dad can handle it—"
"You think you can handle this?" Du Fei's voice suddenly rose, almost roaring, "What the hell do you think you can handle this?!"
He was the top scorer in the martial arts section of the college entrance examination!
Moreover, he was the top martial arts scholar who broke the national record!
Do you know what 3000 jin (1500 catties) means? Do you know what being the national champion means? Do you know that I fought him for fifty moves in the ring and still couldn't beat him?!
There was silence on the other end of the phone.
A long period of silence.
Then Sun Hao's voice rang out again, but it was completely different from before. His tone was several octaves lower, and his voice was stiff with disbelief: "Brother Du, you're not kidding. Lin Fan is the top martial arts student? And he broke the record? That's impossible—"
"Go watch TV yourself!"
After saying the last word, Du Fei slammed down the phone.
Sun Hao stood there, holding his phone, his brows furrowed.
He was in his bedroom on the second floor of his villa, with a neatly trimmed lawn and swimming pool outside the window, and the afterglow of the setting sun shining in, turning the whole room golden.
He stared at the disconnected call screen on his phone for several seconds, then snorted and tossed the phone onto the sofa.
This is utterly ridiculous. Has Du Fei lost his mind?
He turned and walked downstairs, intending to have the kitchen prepare dinner ahead of schedule. When he reached the living room, the television was on, showing the provincial news channel, and his mother was sitting on the sofa, eating sunflower seeds and watching TV.
Sun Hao hadn't planned to stay, but a sentence from the TV made his feet stick to the floor.
"The college entrance examination results are out, and this year's national martial arts champion has come from our Jiangcheng!" The female host's voice was clear and loud, carrying a professional excitement.
Sun Hao suddenly stopped in his tracks. He slowly turned around, his gaze falling on the large screen in the living room.
The scene shifted from the studio to the scene—a familiar old neighborhood, an ordinary residential building, with the stairwell crowded with martial arts officials in dark blue uniforms and reporters carrying cameras.
Then the camera zooms in, and a boy walks out of the room, wearing a white T-shirt and black sweatpants, with a calm face and upright posture.
The microphone was brought close to the boy. The female reporter's voice came from the screen: "Lin Fan, as this year's national martial arts exam champion, how do you feel?"
Sun Hao stood in front of the television, his car keys slipping from his fingers, clattering onto the marble floor, bouncing twice, and rolling under the sofa.
He didn't react at all, not even glancing down. He just stared intently at the face on the television screen, the face calmly answering the reporter's questions.
That Lin Fan, whom he had called a good-for-nothing for a month, that Lin Fan, whom he had asked Du Fei to "teach a lesson" to, that Lin Fan, whom he had never even given a second glance to before today—
He stood right in the center of the television screen, being sought after by the two top martial arts universities in the country, receiving congratulations from the head of the martial arts department, and being hailed as the "Martial Arts Champion" by all the television stations and media outlets across the country.
Sun Hao's face looked as if he had been slapped, not in pain, but in a blankness where the sudden truth had left his features in disarray.
His mother turned from the sofa to look at him, and seeing that her son's expression was off, asked, "Haohao, what's wrong?"
Sun Hao did not answer.