"Xiaoxiao, how could big brother bear to throw you away?"
Lu Heng knew that even if he asked Xiaoxiao the reason now, there was a high probability that she would not tell him anything. As such, he could only think of a way to comfort her first.
"Big brother is getting better and better at martial arts now. He'll become a martial artist very soon. When that happens, all of our problems will be solved."
He did not say this just to comfort Xiaoxiao. Lu Heng indeed believed that he had a chance of becoming a martial artist now.
At the very least, he was much more confident than before.
Who knew that as soon as he said these words, Lu Xiaoxiao immediately raised her head. Her eyes were filled with tears, but she looked at him seriously and said, "Second brother, don't lie to Xiaoxiao. Xiaoxiao knows everything."
Lu Heng almost burst into laughter when he heard this.
He thought to himself, 'Which of my secrets could you have possibly discovered?'
Just as he was about to respond to her, Lu Xiaoxiao gently lowered her head again. She sniffled and said, "Second brother, I know that you lied to me to make me feel better so that you could go out of the city and get some monster meat for me to eat, just like what you said before, but, but..."
Hearing this, Lu Heng suddenly realized what the crux of the problem was.
It turned out that it was all because of what he said at dinner last night.
At that time, he had told her that he would get some fresh monster meat for her to eat.
Then, this afternoon, he brought up his improved talent and talked about how much the instructor had praised him. Despite Xiaoxiao questioning him about it, he had not given her an explanation. Instead, he changed the topic, causing her to misunderstand.
She felt that he was lying to her, and that his purpose for lying was just so she would not worry about his excursion out of the city to get fresh monster meat to eat.
Lu Heng was speechless. This sister of his really knew how to connect the dots. She could actually think this far ahead.
Could it be that she had inherited their mom's genes?
Thinking back to when their parents were still young, mom had always suspected that dad was seeing someone outside.
The reason for this was that dad was too handsome, to the point that he could easily attract countless admirers.
"Second brother, don't take risks for Xiaoxiao, okay?"
Lu Xiaoxiao turned to look at Lu Heng with pleading eyes.
When Lu Heng heard her, he grabbed Xiaoxiao's hands and said solemnly, "No, big brother will definitely not take the risk to leave the city. He will always be with Xiaoxiao."
Hearing his promise, Lu Xiaoxiao finally managed to hold back her tears.
Seeing this, Lu Heng patted her little head, and then got up and began to cook dinner.
'I should avoid boasting in front of Xiaoxiao again unless I can prove to her that I have enough strength to back up my words,' Lu Heng secretly warned himself.
…
The next morning, after Lu Heng ended his shift, he rushed home.
After making breakfast for Xiaoxiao, he ran all the way to Dojo No. 9.
However, even though he hurried, it was already past 7.30am by the time he arrived at Dojo No. 9.
'I hope I'm not too late,' Lu Heng thought to himself.
Yesterday, Instructor Wu had specifically told him to arrive earlier today. However, the instructor had not mentioned exactly how early he should arrive.
The line slowly moved forward, and it did not take long before it was Lu Heng's turn.
Lu Heng hurriedly ran into the dojo's gate.
By the time he reached the training room, He Bing was already there practicing his knife skills.
"You're finally here. If you were any slower, your saber would have been taken away by someone." He Bing stopped what he was doing and said to Lu Heng.
"Senior Brother He, why are you here so early?"Lu Heng asked casually.
"I've been working the night shift like you. I have nothing to do during the day, so I came here early," He Bing replied.
When Lu Heng heard this, he thought to himself that he should not compare himself to He Bing. Working in the pharmaceutical factory was completely different from working on the farm.
Comparing the two, working in the pharmaceutical factory was much easier. He Bing had much more time to rest than he did, and a much better schedule to boot.
Moreover, He Bing was a technician in the pharmaceutical factory. Unlike ordinary workers, he did not have to stay on the production line all the time.
"Let's go and get your saber first." He Bing waved his hand and strode out of the room. knife in hand.
Lu Heng hurriedly followed behind him.
Soon, the two of them arrived at the equipment room together.
After revealing their identities to the person in charge of managing the training equipment, the other party immediately took out a saber with a scabbard from the room behind them.
"Come and get it whenever you need to use it. Return it when you're done. You're not allowed to take it out of the dojo."
The manager gave Lu Heng a brief reminder before handing the saber to him.
After that, He Bing shook his head and said, "Let's go."
Lu Heng turned around and followed him. As they walked on, he asked, "Senior Brother He, am I not allowed to take this saber out of the dojo?"
"What do you think?" He Bing said, "Other people need to use it after you. How can they allow you to take it with you?"
"Then why do I often see people carrying swords and sabers in and out of the dojo?" Lu Heng asked, puzzled.
"That's because they are powerful enough to be granted that permission. If you can prove to the dojo that the saber is better off with your hands, the dojo will naturally allow you to bring it out," He Bing replied.
Lu Heng pondered the meaning behind He Bing's words. The dojo would probably only allow him to bring the saber around with him if he performed well and proved that he was a talent worth nurturing.
"Let's go. We'll go to the library to get the saber technique manual first, then we'll go to the holographic projection room."
A moment later, inside the holographic projection room.
He Bing brought Lu Heng over to the holographic projection machine that was playing the army breaking saber technique moves and instructed, "Like yesterday, first, make sure you look carefully at the moves being shown. However, today, you'll only focus on the first move of the saber technique. Just practice this one move first."
"After learning the first move, should I move on to the second move?" Lu Heng asked.
When he was working in the field last night, he had been constantly replaying the saber technique moves mentally. Inside his mind, he had imitated those moves countless times.
Perhaps his talent really had improved again after eating the flower poison ginseng because, when he envisioned those moves, his thoughts were exceptionally clear. He felt that it was rather easy to grasp the essence behind each move.
Therefore, he figured he would be able to learn all of the saber technique moves this morning.
Of course, he did not believe that he would be able to fully master them so quickly, but he reckoned that he should at least be able to learn each move.
"You shouldn't bite off more than you can chew. Don't be so impatient. Learning the first move today is more than good enough."
"Remember, this is a martial technique created by Grandmaster Liu," He Bing advised.
Seeing that he could not refute the other party's words, Lu Heng decided to do as He Bing said.
If he really managed to learn the first move easily, the latter would probably not stop him from learning the next move.
Thinking this, Lu Heng turned to look at the holographic projection.
However, when he turned his head, He Bing tugged his sleeve and asked, "Lu Heng, are you acquainted with Grandmaster Liu's Daughter?"
"Yes... Yes, Senior Brother He. Who told you that?" Lu Heng quickly replied.
"That big mouth something… Uh, I think he was your junior high school classmate," He Bing recalled.
"Big Mouth Jia?"
Lu Heng immediately figured that Big Mouth Jia had to have gotten the news from Fan Kun.