Arriving once more at the chess tables by the park entrance, Chen Jue finally saw the youthful and radiant Teacher Wu.
She wasn’t in her usual practice attire today; instead, she had changed into casual clothes.
A lake-blue autumn jacket paired with beige trousers and pink-and-white sneakers on her feet—she was a sight for sore eyes.
However, Wu Fang wasn’t alone. Beside her and Elder Wu stood a lean-faced, middle-aged man.
When Wu Fang saw Chen Jue approach, she quickly greeted him, "Brother Jue!"
The middle-aged man’s face lit up with joy upon seeing Chen Jue. He came forward, grabbed Chen Jue’s hand, and thanked him repeatedly, "Thank you! Thank you! I can’t thank you enough, Xiaochen!"
Chen Jue was completely baffled, as he didn’t recognize the man at all.
Wu Fang stepped in to make an introduction. "This is Li Rui, Uncle Li. The little boy we saved is his younger son."
It all came back to Chen Jue. He seemed to recall taking a call from this Uncle Li before, but with the dog incident being a few weeks ago, the memory had faded.
"You’re too kind! Wu Fang did most of the work; I just helped clean things up at the end."
"By the way, how is your son doing?" Chen Jue asked with concern now that he knew who the man was.
"Haohao is out of critical condition now, but his face was badly scarred. He’s still recovering in the hospital."
"I’ve been at the hospital with him this whole time and couldn’t get away. I came to see you two—the heroic dart-throwing couple—as soon as I had a free moment. Thank you so, so much!" Li Rui seemed quite emotional. He even pulled two thick envelopes from his bag, wanting to reward them on the spot, but both Chen Jue and Wu Fang refused.
After all, it had been an emergency. They had both acted out of basic decency, not for some reward.
"Li Rui, I have to criticize you for this!"
"What era are you living in, still pulling this stuff? Who’s hurting for a little cash like this these days?"
"If you’re truly grateful to these two youngsters, just wait until Haohao is discharged and treat them to a meal." Elder Wu chimed in, lecturing with an air of seniority.
Seeing that the two young people wouldn’t accept the money, Li Rui leaned in, looking like a student humbly accepting a lesson. "Right! Right! You’re right, elder. Bringing money into this is just too tacky. Once Haohao has recovered, I’ll bring him to thank his two saviors in person!"
Elder Wu nodded in satisfaction as Li Rui put the envelopes away. He then pointed to Chen Jue beside him and said, "Besides treating him to a meal, if you run into this young man at the university, you should look out for him. He just started at Jiang University as an auditing student. If there’s anything he doesn’t understand, you, as a teacher, should set a good example!"
"An auditing student?" Li Rui paused, then pulled Chen Jue aside to ask a few questions.
When Chen Jue learned that this middle-aged man was none other than the P.E. department’s Teacher Li who had taken a long leave of absence, he was stunned.
’No wonder Li Rui seemed so familiar with Elder Wu’s family.’
’Does this mean most of the residents in this upscale neighborhood are teachers from Jiang University?’
’What a coincidence!’
...
After chatting for a while in the open space near the chess tables, Chen Jue learned that Li Rui was in charge of physical training courses at Jiang University, and an idea began to form in his mind.
He was currently lacking professional athletic guidance. His daily workouts were all self-taught and based on brute force, with no systematic approach.
’If I had a professional teacher like Li Rui to guide me and create a training plan similar to what student-athletes use, wouldn’t my efficiency at grinding Attributes increase significantly?’
However, seeing how anxious Li Rui was to get back to the hospital, Chen Jue knew his leave wouldn’t be ending anytime soon. He had no choice but to temporarily suppress the idea.
’The man’s kid is still lying in a hospital bed!’
’Asking Li Rui to squeeze out time to help me with a training plan right now, wouldn’t that be taking advantage of his gratitude?’
’It’s better to wait until I run into him at the university before bringing it up.’
...
After seeing off the hurried Li Rui, Chen Jue and Wu Fang verbally agreed to film a few short videos later.
He went out for a quick breakfast, then carried the filming equipment and props he had bought yesterday to the edge of the small lake in the park.
"Well, look at the great master! You’re getting more and more professional!" Wu Fang, who was in the middle of grading coursework, was taken aback when she saw Chen Jue arrive with a pile of impressive-looking equipment.
"What can I say? I just quit my job, so now I have to rely on making videos to get by."
"But I have to thank you for your help, Teacher Wu. Our channel’s subscribers have surpassed 100,000!" Chen Jue didn’t hold back, pulling up the video backend to show her the stats.
Wu Fang didn’t pay much attention to the online traffic data. Instead, her face flushed slightly as she muttered to herself, ’Our channel?’
While her mind wandered, she took the gimbal and drone Chen Jue offered and gave them a try.
Young people learn everything so quickly.
Besides, the equipment was all designed for simple, one-touch operation. After Chen Jue gave her a few pointers, Wu Fang got the hang of it right away.
She was especially good with the drone, flying it even more smoothly than Chen Jue.
Seeing this, Chen Jue decided the time was right. He went to the cardboard box he had brought and took out a pile of Water-Drifting Stones.
"Are we filming the Stone Skimming trick today?" Wu Fang asked curiously.
Of the three trick videos Chen Jue had filmed before, the first one, Stone Skimming, was the most memorable for her because it was a particularly fun recreational activity.
"It’s not just simple Stone Skimming!"
"Today, we’re filming something more difficult. We’ll need to edit several clips together."
"I’ve already thought of a title for the video. We’ll call it: The Art of Hidden Weapons!"
Chen Jue chuckled, holding a few Water-Drifting Stones between his fingers. He slowly walked to the lake’s edge and signaled for Wu Fang to pilot the drone for an overhead shot.
"’The Art of Hidden Weapons?’" Wu Fang thought the title sounded a bit over-the-top. Not understanding Chen Jue’s plan, she focused on the drone’s camera as she flew it out over the lake.
The next second, Chen Jue took a running start, and with a powerful motion, flung his arms out from their crossed position over his chest.
Eight flower-petal-shaped Water-Drifting Stones shot from his hands at high speed, skipping across the water’s surface in an unbelievable arc.
Watching the drone’s camera feed intently, Wu Fang’s eyes widened slightly.
Because in the overhead shot, the eight Water-Drifting Stones, all thrown at once, created ripples that traced the outline of a blooming flower on the lake’s surface!
The flower, which resembled a butterfly, appeared and vanished in an instant. It was an ephemerally stunning sight, so beautiful that even a young teacher like Wu Fang couldn’t help but marvel, thinking, ’It really is art!’