Extreme tempering, the iron-blooded inheritance between father and son
It was five o'clock in the morning, and the sky was still dark.
Lu Chen's biological clock promptly pulled him out of his sleep.
The boy rolled out of bed, his movements so light they were almost silent. He changed into his training clothes and quietly left the room.
The corridor was pitch black.
But the lights in the direction of the training field have already been turned on.
Lu Chen paused for a moment, then quickened his pace and walked over.
On the training field, Lu Zhanting is doing warm-up exercises.
The man, dressed in a simple black vest and military trousers, had his muscles outlined in smooth curves in the morning light. Every movement was precise and controlled, reflecting the muscle memory honed through years of training.
Lu Chen stood on the sidelines, watching quietly.
"What are you standing there for?" Lu Zhanting asked without turning his head.
"Report, prepare for training." The boy immediately stood at attention.
"warm up."
Without saying a word, Lu Chen began to move his body in rhythm with his father.
The father and son walked one after the other, their movements almost synchronized.
Ten minutes later, the warm-up was over.
"Five-kilometer cross-country run, starting now." Lu Zhanting glanced at his watch. "Complete within thirty minutes."
Lu Chen gritted his teeth.
Five kilometers in thirty minutes means running each kilometer in an average of six minutes. For a fifteen-year-old, this level of intensity is not easy.
But he didn't complain; he turned around and ran towards the mountain path outside the training ground.
Lu Zhanting followed behind him, keeping a distance that was neither too close nor too far, maintaining a distance that allowed him to observe him at any time.
The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and the mountain road was slippery.
Lu Chen's breathing quickly became rapid, and his steps began to become heavy.
"Adjust your breathing." Lu Zhanting's voice came from behind. "Inhale every three steps, exhale every three steps."
Lu Chen did as instructed and indeed felt better.
But by the third kilometer, the boy's physical strength began to decline significantly.
"Can't hold on any longer?" Lu Zhanting's voice rang out from behind.
"Yes." Lu Chen gritted his teeth.
"Then speed it up."
What?
Before Lu Chen could react, he felt a sense of pressure coming from behind him.
Lu Zhanting overtook him and his speed increased.
A sense of indomitable spirit welled up in the boy's heart.
He gritted his teeth, forced his legs to quicken, and desperately chased after the figure in front of him.
Sweat blurred my vision, and my lungs felt like they were on fire.
But Lu Chen did not stop.
For the last kilometer, he was almost entirely sustained by willpower.
The moment he crossed the finish line, the boy's legs buckled and he knelt on the ground.
Lu Zhanting stood to the side, his breathing perfectly steady.
"Twenty-eight minutes and thirty seconds," he said calmly. "Barely passing."
Lu Chen was panting heavily, sweat dripping onto the ground.
"Rest for five minutes, then do push-ups."
Five minutes later, before Lu Chen had fully recovered, Lu Zhanting called him to the training ground.
"Two hundred push-ups, standard form, begin."
The boy lay down on the ground and began doing push-ups.
The first fifty were relatively easy, but by the time I got to one hundred, my arms started to shake.
By the time he had done 150 repetitions, Lu Chen's movements were severely distorted.
"Stop," Lu Zhanting said.
Lu Chen thought his father was telling him to rest, and was about to stand up.
"Who told you to get up?" Lu Zhanting walked over. "Your movements aren't correct. Do it again."
Lu Chen was stunned.
"Start from the beginning, two hundred, standard movements."
The boy gritted his teeth and lay down again.
This time, he forced himself to do every movement perfectly, even though his arms were shaking like a leaf.
One hundred...one hundred and fifty...one hundred and eighty...
Lu Chen's consciousness began to blur, leaving only mechanical up-and-down movements.
"One hundred and ninety-eight...one hundred and ninety-nine...two hundred."
After finishing the last one, the boy collapsed to the ground and could no longer get up.
Lu Zhanting squatted down and handed him a bottle of water.
Do you know why we have to start over?
Lu Chen took a sip of water and shook his head.
“Because on the battlefield, no one will let you go just because you’re tired.” Lu Zhanting’s voice was calm. “If your movements become distorted, it means your body has reached its limit. But the real limit is the part you can still persevere after you think you’ve reached your limit.”
Lu Chen raised his head and looked at his father.
There was no sympathy in those eyes, only a cold scrutiny.
“If you want to get into the academy, you have to break this limit.” Lu Zhanting stood up. “Rest for ten minutes, then do squats.”
Lu Chen lay on the ground, watching the sky gradually brighten.
He suddenly understood.
His father wasn't tormenting him.
Instead, it's about pushing him to his absolute limit in the shortest amount of time, and then pulling him back.
This is a process of tempering.
A painful, but necessary tempering.
---
At nine o'clock in the morning, Su Wanqing carried a bowl of porridge into the clinic.
Lu Xi was lying on the table, staring blankly at a thick book called "Huangdi Neijing".
"Tired?" Su Wanqing placed the porridge in front of her.
"Mom, these meridians are too complicated," the little girl frowned. "I can't remember them."
Su Wanqing smiled and sat down next to her.
“Meridian points are not for memorizing, but for feeling.” She took her daughter’s hand and placed it on her wrist. “Close your eyes and feel the pulse.”
Lu Xi did as instructed.
“Every pulse represents the flow of Qi and blood in the meridians,” Su Wanqing said softly. “What you need to do is not to remember which meridian leads to which place, but to feel their presence.”
The little girl closed her eyes and listened intently.
After a while, she opened her eyes, which were shining.
"Mom, I think I can feel it!"
"Yes, take your time." Su Wanqing patted her head. "Medical skills can't be rushed."
Lu Xi picked up her bowl of porridge, took a sip, and suddenly asked, "Mom, do you think my brother can make it?"
Su Wanqing remained silent for a while.
"Your father knows what he's doing."
"But I saw my brother was having a hard time." The little girl felt sorry for him. "I just saw him lying on the ground and he couldn't get up."
“It’s meaningful precisely because it’s hard work,” Su Wanqing said softly. “The path your brother chose was never easy. But it’s his own choice, and all we can do is support him.”
Lu Xi nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.
At that moment, Lu Nian'an's voice came from the study.
"Mom, I've finished my thesis, can you take a look at it for me?"
Su Wanqing stood up, shaking her head with a smile.
Three children, three completely different paths.
But they chose each and every one of them themselves.
---
At noon, Lu Chen finally finished all the training he had done that morning.
The boy was soaking wet and was practically half-supported by Lu Zhanting as he returned home.
Su Wanqing felt heartbroken when she saw her son's condition, but she didn't say anything. She just told him to take a bath and then prepare lunch.
After taking a shower, Lu Chen collapsed onto the sofa.
Lu Xi brought over a glass of honey water.
"Second brother, have some of this to replenish your energy."
Lu Chen took the cup and rubbed his younger sister's head.
Thanks.
"Second Brother, are you really going to the academy?" The little girl looked at him expectantly. "Then will you not be home anymore?"
Lu Chen was taken aback.
He hadn't really thought about that.
If you get into college, it means you'll have to live on campus and can only come back during holidays.
“What’s there to be afraid of? It’s not like we’re not coming back.” Lu Nian’an came out of the study and pushed up her glasses. “Besides, haven’t you been saying you want to study medicine with Mom every day? Maybe one day you’ll go out for an internship too.”
Lu Xi pouted.
"That's different."
“It’s all the same.” Lu Nian’an sat down next to her. “We are all growing up, and we will all have our own paths to walk.”
Lu Chen looked at his brother, then at his sister, and suddenly smiled.
"Don't worry, I'll come back often."
"real?"
"real."
At this moment, Lu Zhanting returned from the training ground.
The man changed into clean clothes, and his face showed no expression.
"Fighting training at 2 PM." He glanced at Lu Chen. "After lunch, rest for an hour."
Lu Chen nodded.
Su Wanqing came out of the kitchen carrying the dishes and glared at Lu Zhanting.
He's only fifteen years old.
"When I went to the battlefield at the age of thirteen, it was much more tiring than this," Lu Zhanting said calmly.
"That's different."
"What's different?"
“That’s a battlefield, this is training.” Su Wanqing put down the dishes. “Can’t you be a little gentler with our son?”
Lu Zhanting remained silent for a while.
"Precisely because he is a son, I cannot be gentle."
He looked at Lu Chen, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
"The battlefield will not be kind to him, nor will the enemy. If I am kind to him now, it would be cruel to him."
Su Wanqing opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing.
She knew that Lu Zhanting was right.
But as a mother, she still felt sorry for her.
Lu Chen looked at his parents and suddenly spoke.
"Mom, I'm fine."
He stood up and walked to Su Wanqing.
“I know you feel sorry for me, but this is the path I chose.” The boy’s eyes were bright. “I want to become stronger, as strong as my father. So I can endure this hardship.”
Su Wanqing felt a lump in her throat as she looked into her son's determined eyes.
She reached out and hugged Lu Chen.
"Okay, Mom believes you."
Lu Zhanting stood to the side, watching the mother and son, a silent smile playing on his lips.
This kid has grown up.
---
The afternoon combat training was even more brutal.
Lu Zhanting personally took to the field to spar with Lu Chen.
Every attack the boy launched was easily deflected, while every counterattack the father launched precisely at his weaknesses.
I was knocked down again and again.
I got up again and again.
Lu Chen's body was soon covered in bruises.
But his eyes grew brighter and brighter.
He began to learn to observe, to think, and to find patterns in his father's attacks.
"Not bad," Lu Zhanting rarely praised, "You're starting to use your brain."
Lu Chen was panting, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
"Again!"
Looking at his son, Lu Zhanting suddenly remembered himself many years ago.
He was like that back then, getting knocked down time and time again, getting back up again and again, until he became the strongest.
"That's enough for today." He stopped.
"Dad—" Lu Chen wanted to continue.
“Rest is also part of training.” Lu Zhanting turned and walked back. “We’ll continue tomorrow.”
Lu Chen stood there, watching his father's back.
Suddenly, he shouted, "Dad!"
Lu Zhanting stopped in his tracks.
"I will definitely pass the selection!" The boy's voice was full of determination.
Lu Zhanting did not turn around.
But a very faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"I'll wait."
As the sun set, the shadows of the father and son stretched long across the training field.
At a window not far away, Su Wanqing held Lu Xi in her arms, while Lu Nian'an stood to the side, the three of them quietly watching this scene.
"Mom, Second Brother will succeed, right?" Lu Xi asked.
“Yes, he will,” Su Wanqing said softly, “because he is Lu Zhanting’s son.”
More importantly, he has a family willing to stay with him to the very end.
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