Chapter Twenty-Three: Why Are You Unharmed?

In truth, Chen Feng had never intended to let those punks off so easily. After all, they had threatened to break his leg—why should he show them any mercy? He could, if he wished, be ruthless enough to cripple them for good. Yet, deep down, it was Li Wei who gave him pause. This was, after all, his first real fight, and he wasn’t entirely confident he could defeat Li Wei. Moreover, with Fang Yue standing nearby, he doubted his ability to protect her from a group assault. That was the real reason he let them go. Had he been alone, he would have made sure those thugs understood just how formidable he could be.

“Chen Feng, are you alright?” Fang Yue asked, her face filled with concern as soon as they arrived at his home.

“I’m fine!” Chen Feng replied quickly, stretching his limbs. “It’s nothing—none of those punks could ever be a match for me.”

“But I just saw one of them hit you on the back with nunchaku! Take off your shirt and let me have a look!” Fang Yue insisted.

“Uh?” Chen Feng hesitated, glancing at her uncertainly. “Isn’t that a bit inappropriate?”

“What’s wrong with it?” Fang Yue countered swiftly. “You took a blow—let me check. What if you hurt a bone? Shouldn’t you see a doctor sooner rather than later?”

Resigned, Chen Feng followed her advice and slowly took off his shirt, exposing a body that, though still plump, had slimmed down somewhat in recent weeks; he had been much heavier before.

“There’s a bruise here,” Fang Yue said softly. “I’ll put some medicine on it.”

“Alright,” Chen Feng agreed, making no objections. In truth, he barely felt much pain anymore—though the blow had hurt at the time, it was no more than a mosquito bite to him, nothing truly serious. Despite his size, Chen Feng’s constitution was excellent, and his body healed rapidly; such a bruise was hardly worth mentioning. Still, if a pretty girl wanted to tend to his wounds, he saw no reason to refuse.

With practiced hands, Fang Yue quickly found the iodine, dipped a cotton swab, and gently dabbed it onto Chen Feng’s back. A cool sensation spread over his skin, causing him to sigh in relief.

Fang Yue, cheeks flushed, soon noticed something extraordinary: the bruise on Chen Feng’s back was shrinking rapidly. What had been a dark patch just moments before faded in mere seconds, leaving only a faint red mark. In less than a minute, even that was gone, with only the stain of iodine remaining.

“How is this possible? The effect is incredible!” Fang Yue stared in disbelief at Chen Feng’s back, where not a trace of the bruise remained.

“What’s wrong?” Chen Feng twisted around, puzzled.

Fang Yue quickly shook her head. “It’s nothing—your injury healed really fast!”

“Oh, that? I’ve always been like this,” Chen Feng answered, improvising. “Ever since I was a kid, I’ve healed quickly. What takes others three or four days, I recover from in just one—sometimes even faster. Haven’t you noticed I don’t have any scars? Not a trace from all the bumps and scrapes I had as a child!”

Fang Yue, curious but blushing, found herself noticing for the first time a man bare-chested before her. Instead of revulsion at his plumpness, she was surprised by the smoothness and firmness of his skin.

“Well, it’s getting late. I’ll walk you home. Get some rest tonight—don’t tire yourself out,” Chen Feng said, pulling on his shirt.

“Alright,” Fang Yue replied softly, rising to leave his room. But as the two stepped out the door, they heard the front door open—Chen Feng’s parents had returned.

For a moment, the four of them froze. Chen Feng’s parents stared, stunned, at their son, half-dressed, emerging from his room with Fang Yue.

In that instant, an odd tension filled the room.

“Dad, Mom, you’re home!” Chen Feng greeted them with a smile, gesturing to Fang Yue. “This is Fang Yue—a classmate of mine.”

“Hello, Uncle and Auntie,” Fang Yue said politely.

“Hello, hello!” Chen Feng’s parents replied, still dumbfounded. Fang Yue, cheeks burning, felt rather awkward; after all, she was being escorted out by a half-dressed Chen Feng.

“Fang Yue, you should head home now. Let’s talk tomorrow,” Chen Feng coughed.

“Oh, alright!” Fang Yue nodded, and, like a startled rabbit, darted out the door.

Left alone with his parents, Chen Feng tried to defuse the awkwardness. “You’re home early today.”

His father, Chen Ze, looked at him intently. “Xiao Feng, who is she to you? What’s your relationship?”

“Us?” Chen Feng smiled. “We’re just classmates—nothing more.”

“Just classmates, but you take your clothes off in front of her?” his mother, Xiao Sufen, interjected. “Are you seeing each other? Tell me, are you dating now?”

“Absolutely not! Who would like me? You’re overthinking it,” Chen Feng said with a wry smile. He couldn’t deny that he’d daydreamed about it, but that was all it was; he knew himself well enough. As overweight as he was, unless a girl was blind, she’d never fall for him. He’d thought of pursuing girls before, but until he lost the weight, he’d shelve the idea.

“Son, if you like her, go for it! Mom supports you!” his mother said brightly.

“Ah?” Chen Feng was taken aback, giving her a helpless smile. “Mom, you’re reading too much into it. There’s really nothing between us—she just came over because, well, because...”

There was no way to explain further; he couldn’t very well admit to getting into a fight, or his parents would worry even more.

“Alright, Xiao Feng, why don’t you get some rest? You have school tomorrow,” his father said.

“Okay.” It seemed his parents had misunderstood, but Chen Feng didn’t bother to explain; the more he said, the worse it would sound. He headed back to his room to sleep.

“Old Chen, have you noticed how much our son has changed lately?” After Chen Feng went to his room, his parents retired as well, but, unusually, they found themselves unable to sleep.

“He really has changed,” Chen Ze said thoughtfully. “He seems more cheerful. That’s a good thing.”

“Do you think that girl likes our Xiao Feng?” Xiao Sufen wondered aloud.

“It’s hard to say. Don’t overthink it,” Chen Ze replied with a cough.

“What’s wrong with that? Our Xiao Feng might be a bit pudgy, but he’s so kind and good-natured. Plenty of people aren’t as decent as him. Sigh...” Xiao Sufen said, her heart heavy with guilt.

The couple always felt they’d failed Chen Feng in some way and carried a lingering sense of remorse.

Unlike his parents, Chen Feng fell asleep almost instantly, unconcerned about who might be after him. He hadn’t made any enemies at school—if anyone, the only person he might have offended was Lin Hang. But really, had winning against Lin Hang twice warranted such cruelty as to have his leg broken? It hardly seemed likely.

After all, he was just a student, still largely sheltered from the world’s darkness.

What pleased Chen Feng most was that, after teaching those punks a lesson, he’d gained five achievement points—a pleasant surprise. All the effort he’d put into drawing attention to himself had earned him far fewer points, and that had been in front of crowds. Last night’s brawl involved only a dozen or so thugs.

Could it be that displaying martial prowess was a faster way to earn achievement points? Or was it that his ruthlessness had instilled such fear in them?

With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Chen Feng drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, he rose early, practiced Wing Chun for a while, washed up, ate breakfast, and met Fang Yue on the way to school. The two chatted and laughed as if nothing unusual had happened the night before, and Chen Feng continued with his weight-loss plan as usual.

While Chen Feng had set the incident aside, Lin Hang spent the next day in nervous apprehension. He went to Chen Feng’s classroom and learned from classmates that Chen Feng hadn’t attended class.

Had they really broken Chen Feng’s leg?

A cold fear crept into Lin Hang’s heart. In a moment of anger, he’d ordered someone to break Chen Feng’s leg, but now, regret and anxiety gnawed at him. All day, visions of Chen Feng lying in a hospital bed haunted him.

Yet by afternoon, Lin Hang was shocked to see Chen Feng lively as ever on the basketball court, his plump body shaking with effort as he trained with weights in the gym, as if nothing had happened the night before.

“How is he unscathed?”

Lin Hang longed to demand an answer, but suppressed the urge.

Could it be that Li Wei’s gang hadn’t gone through with it? Had they taken the money and done nothing, which was why Chen Feng was unharmed? Lin Hang could find no other explanation.

(It’s the last day of 2014—shouldn’t everyone show Feng Shao some strong support?)