Chapter 4 The enemy is within oneself, the obstacle is in the mind
Chen Chuan put his things back, closed the box, walked into the living room, found a rotary phone, picked up the receiver, and said, "This is the Nian residence..."
A familiar voice came from the other end of the phone: "Hey, Chen Chuan, what are you doing? Don't stay home bored, come out for a walk?"
He recalled that it was the voice of his middle school deskmate, Ding Jiao. He heard a lot of noise on the other end of the phone, probably from a street phone booth. He asked, "Where are you?"
"Where else could you be? The usual place, Zizai Snack Street. Dali and Miangua are both there. What have you been doing lately? I can't see you anywhere."
Chen Chuan said: "You guys go ahead and have fun. I have something to do recently, so I won't be going."
"Hey, are you looking for a job? I say, if you have any problems, don't keep it to yourself. I'll help you if I can. Besides, it's not difficult to find you a job at my family's factory."
Chen Chuan smiled and said, "I won't be polite if I come to you."
He didn't mention that he had been admitted to Wuyi. Ding Jiao was a man of great loyalty, but he was also a big mouth. If he told it now, all his classmates would know about it the next day, and many people would come to congratulate him or try to make friends with him. He still had to prepare for the entrance exam and had no time to deal with all that.
"Okay, by the way, you know what..." Ding Jiao's voice suddenly rose, "Han Laosan went to Molan, and the news spread everywhere! Damn, what kind of luck did he have! His grades are not even as good as yours!"
Chen Chuan was slightly surprised: "Molan Company?"
"Which other company? This kid is so arrogant!" As he spoke, Ding Jiao's envy and jealousy seemed to overflow from the phone.
Chen Chuan nodded.
Molan Company, whose full name is "Molan Gaoling Company", is said to be headquartered in the central city. It has a relatively important branch in Yangzhi City. On the surface, its main business is cosmetics, but in fact, this company has already penetrated into all aspects of Yangzhi City and surrounding counties and towns. Most of the people's food, clothing, housing and transportation are related to Molan and its affiliated companies.
According to Nian Fuli, half of the members of the Municipal Advisory Council took Molan's money, and the remaining half helped Molan count the money. Several civil affairs directors had to look at Molan Company's opinions before doing anything.
This company also has its own independent security team and its own training center for company employees. This is probably where his classmate went. That's really not simple. Maybe his family has some connections. I vaguely remember that the Han family seems to be in charge of water utilities?
After Ding Jiao finished speaking, he remembered something and raised his voice, "By the way, don't forget the graduation dinner at the end of next month."
Chen Chuanshuo said: "Remember, I will never forget."
"Hey, I'll hang up first. Dali and the others are pushing me so hard."
Chen Chuan hung up the phone and returned to his room. He would start preparing for the entrance exam. Starting from June, there were still three months left, but it was only so little time, and it was far from time to relax.
Moreover, the reason why his predecessor was killed was also very unclear. Although it was in the suburbs, far away from the city, he decided to avoid wandering around as much as possible unless necessary.
He took out a map of Yangzhi City and spread it on the table, then took out a small notebook marked "Military Records". His eyes wandered as if he was looking for something, and he circled a few places with a pencil.
Time passed quickly, and soon it was time for dinner. Nian Fuli's family came back one after another, and the house became lively. When the family sat down at the dinner table, Nian Fuli said, "Boy, are you going to look for a place to go today?"
Chen Chuan said: "Yes, uncle."
Nian Fuli hummed and said, "How is it?" He just asked casually, thinking that today was the first day and there would probably be no results.
Chen Chuan said: "I went to Wuyi University Hall today."
"Wuhan University?" Nian Fuli suddenly looked at him, very surprised. "What are you doing there?"
Chen Chuan smiled and said, "I was just about to tell my aunt and uncle that I passed the entrance exam for Wuyi University today and will be moving in as soon as school starts."
"Got into Wuhan University? You?"
Nian Fuli was shocked and looked Chen Chuan up and down with wide eyes, as if he was meeting his nephew for the first time.
What kind of place is Wuhan University? Every year, countless people try to get in. Even Wei Lao Hu, who was at odds with him, had his son admitted to Wuhan University and bragged about it for a whole year!
He couldn't help but wonder: "You didn't cheat, did you?"
Yu Wan was immediately displeased and pushed him: "Why can't Chan'er pass?"
Chen Chuan smiled and said, "Uncle, how can I cheat? I don't know anyone and I don't have any money. Why would Wu Yi's teacher help me?"
"That's true."
Nian Fuli glanced at him a few more times, his eyes filled with an indescribable complexity. Chen Chuan also noticed that his aunt's expression also had a hint of melancholy, but more of it was relief.
After a while, Nian Fuli picked up his chopsticks and tapped the table. He said, "Wuhan University is a way out. If you get in, you'll have some gold in your pocket. But you still have to pass the re-examination, right?"
"Yes." Chen Chuan nodded, "There is an entrance re-examination."
"That's it." Nian Fuli knocked again and said, "Boy, let me tell you, there's a trick here. Even if you're admitted, there's a big difference between passing the re-examination and failing. I don't know how Wuhan University managed to get you through, but even if you're admitted, it doesn't guarantee you'll pass the re-examination."
Yu Wan suddenly became anxious and said, "Dad, what should we do?"
Nian Fuli waved his hand at her, looked at Chen Chuan, and said, "Xiao Chuan, what were you planning to do?"
Chen Chuan thought for a moment and said, "I was planning to find a boxing club to learn from, but I didn't know which one would be reliable. I was thinking of asking my uncle about it."
Nian Fuli leaned back, thought for a moment, and said, "Don't go to the boxing club. It's a mixed bag, with too many tricks. You'll spend a lot of money, but you might not learn anything real, and you'll probably get covered in mud."
Chen Chuan nodded and asked sincerely: "Then uncle, what should I do?"
Nian Fuli stroked the stubble on his scalp and said, "There are still two months before school starts, right?"
Chen Chuan said: "Yes, uncle." In fact, there are three months left until the official start of school, but new students who apply for admission need to report for school one month in advance, so it is not wrong to count it as two months.
Nian Fuli said, "Xiao Chuan, I'll find someone for you. You can go and learn from him for a while and try to pass the exam this time. This person is no ordinary person. If you can learn a few tricks from him, you will benefit a lot."
Yu Wan asked with concern: "Do you need tuition?"
Nian Fuli said, "Don't worry about this." He then said to Chen Chuan, "Xiao Chuan, come with me after dinner."
Chen Chuan said, "Okay."
After finishing dinner, the two of them pushed their bicycles out of the door. After about five minutes, they arrived at the Baofeng District Police Station, where Nian Fuli worked.
This was originally a fortress built during the war years, and was later transformed into a police station. It was built entirely of reinforced concrete, so it looked particularly heavy from the outside. Now that it was not completely dark yet, the entrance was already blocked by roadblocks.
Seeing Nian and Fuli, a patrolman wearing an armband slowly walked up from behind the roadblock and said, "Hey, why are you back? Nian Tou is not on duty tonight."
Nian Fuli threw a cigarette over, pouted at Chen Chuan, and said, "This is my nephew. I brought him here to see the world."
The patrolman put the cigarette under his nose and sniffed it, then glanced at Chen Chuan casually, without asking any more questions. He waved his hand, and two patrolmen came up to remove the roadblock.
Nian Fuli said thank you, motioned Chen Chuan to follow him, and pushed the cart inside.
After the two of them went in, the armband patrolman glanced at the street outside a few more times before slowly turning back.
This was Chen Chuan's first time at the Police Station. He was a little curious at first, but most of the buildings here only had a few holes on the outside. They looked solid, dull and very depressing. There was really nothing to see, so he lost interest.
The two of them turned around and around, as if they had gone in a big circle, and finally came to a place that looked like a warehouse. The lights here were very bright, the terrazzo floor was covered with cushions, and there were a lot of exercise equipment and stacked wooden boxes piled around.
More than a dozen patrolmen took off their shirts and only wore linings, revealing their strong arms. They were either squatting or standing in a circle. In the middle was a middle-aged man wearing a formal suit with a double-breasted collar, who looked elegant and gentle. He seemed to be explaining something.
"You can try standing on one leg first and keep the posture still."
All the patrolmen immediately stood on one leg. Some of them were shaky at the beginning, while others stood for a long time. However, even those who were shaky were able to stand steadily after trying a few times.
A patrolman said, "Mr. Wen, what's so difficult about this?"
Mr. Wen smiled and said, "Then please close your eyes."
The patrolmen closed their eyes as they were told. This time, most of them began to shake violently and swear at each other, but one young patrolman still stood steadily.
"The cockscomb is awesome!"
"This posture, without moving, can't be seen."
"Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg, What an Image!"
The patrolmen chatted with each other, and the young patrolman closed his eyes and said proudly, "I used to play this as a kid, and there's also the sheep-bull fight. I can stand still for even a moment. Mr. Wen, what else do you have? Let me try!"
Mr. Wen smiled and said, "Patrolman Ji is very good. This time you can stand on the box and try it again."
"This isn't easy, just look at me!"
The young patrolman excitedly climbed onto the box, and then...
“I’ll go!”
He had only been standing there for a short while when he began to shiver violently and had to jump down.
He looked back at the box and felt it was incredible. He had clearly moved from the flat ground to the box, the standing space was not necessarily smaller, and the box was not necessarily very high, but as soon as he closed his eyes, he felt a sense of panic and could not stand up.
"Wait, I didn't stand firmly."
The young patrolman was still unconvinced and went up to try again, but this time it was even worse than before. He started to stagger as soon as he closed his eyes. He jumped down and said in confusion, "This is strange, Mr. Wen, what's going on?"
Mr. Wen smiled and said, "Because your brain tells you that you are in an unstable environment and wants you to refuse such an action."
He pointed to his head. "This is your brain fighting you. For example, some people feel the urge to jump down when standing on a high place. It's based on the same principle. Essentially, your brain wants you to stay away from danger. However, we can coordinate our bodies through certain training."
In the old days, martial artists would choose to practice on the edge of cliffs in order to conquer their mental obstacles. Nowadays, we don’t have to be so extreme. We can choose to train on the edge of a high platform and slowly adapt.
In reality, there are still many things we need to overcome in our daily lives. For example, if you see a fist coming at you, you will subconsciously close your eyes. A fist is not a big deal, but if it is a weapon, you could be dead in the blink of an eye. As patrol officers, you must maintain your sight to observe the target at all times, unless you have a better sense to replace it.
Someone subconsciously asked, "Better senses?"
Mr. Wen smiled and said nothing more.
When Chen Chuan heard this, his heart moved slightly. If he used his "second self" to see it instead of himself, would it be a better perception?
This "second self" basically exists within a few meters around him, and is one with him. If it could replace normal vision, then not only could he see from behind, but perhaps even from above, he could observe his opponent from all angles...
Just as he was thinking, Nian Fuli took the initiative to step forward and greeted Mr. Wen, saying, "Mr. Wen." Then he gestured for Chen Chuan to step forward, patted him on the shoulder, and said in a louder voice, "My nephew has just been admitted to Wuhan University."
"Wuhan University? Wuyi Academy?"
"Oh, that's incredible! You've done a great job, nephew!"
"We need to treat you to a meal at the beginning of the year!"
A dozen patrol officers joined in the excitement. These days, to get ahead, one either had to get into a prestigious university or attend Wuhan University. Many Wuhan University graduates worked as security consultants for officials in the Civil Affairs Department, and if they were lucky enough to make it to Central City, they could rise to the top.
Nian Fuli also felt proud and said, "Mr. Wen, my nephew has never practiced martial arts before. He just figured it out on his own and somehow passed the entrance exam. I don't want him to act recklessly during the re-examination. I'd like to ask Mr. Wen for some guidance. What do you think?"
Mr. Wen looked at Chen Chuan, pondered for a moment, and said, "Okay, Captain Nian, let's talk over there." The patrolmen were all very tactful. When they heard this, they all dispersed.
Chen Chuan and Nian Fuli followed Mr. Wen to a spacious corner. Mr. Wen said sincerely, "Captain Nian, please forgive me for being blunt. I don't want to delay your nephew."
Nian Fuli was stunned. "What do you mean?"
…
…
(End of this chapter)
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