Although the martial arts novels that became popular in later generations had not yet entered the mainland, every teenager had the dream of becoming a martial arts master. So when Li Yuezhen said she wanted to find a few people to perform martial arts on stage, the students in the class jumped up and raised their hands.
Among them were He Yan’s two good friends, Sun Lin and Zhu Binbin.
Sun's family lived upstairs from He's family. Sun Lin's mother He Cuixia had a good relationship with Su Ting. He often went to the He's house to play. He had seen He Dongchuan teaching He Yan martial arts a long time ago and had wanted to learn it, but his father was lazy and didn't want to teach him, so he hasn't learned it yet.
Zhu Binbin was the first friend He Yan made after entering the Military District Primary School. The two had always been good friends and had visited each other's homes, so he knew that He Yan was practicing martial arts with his father, but for various reasons, he did not complete his studies.
In short, both of them are very interested in martial arts, and among so many students in the class, they are the most active in raising their hands.
But Li Yuezhen didn't choose the candidates based on how fast they raised their hands, but on their height. She wanted to find a student who was about the same height as He Yan, so that the visual effect would be better when they performed on stage.
After just a quick look, Li Yuezhen discovered that there were not many students who were about the same height as He Yan. There were only two in the entire class. One of them was a girl with a quiet personality. She was not interested in martial arts, so she did not raise her hand.
Li Yuezhen had no choice but to select the boys who raised their hands first, and then select four students who were shorter than them.
In this selection, Sun Lin was successfully selected, but Zhu Binbin was not selected because he was too chubby and not tall enough. He was sad about this for the whole night!
In fact, it wasn't just one night. On the way to school the next day, Zhu Binbin was still feeling sad.
But when he arrived at the classroom, he learned from Sun Lin that they had done horse stance for half an hour at He Yan's house last night, and were called up at six in the morning to run laps for half an hour, and their calves were trembling. Suddenly, Zhu Binbin's sadness disappeared.
Zhu Binbin certainly knew that martial arts training requires a solid foundation. Last year, when He Yan was being trained to death, he was watching from the side. If he hadn't been scared, he would have followed suit and learned it.
But Teacher Li said yesterday that they were only going to perform on stage this time, so they just needed to practice the postures, and it wouldn't be too difficult. If it wasn't so, Zhu Binbin wouldn't be tempted, because he was afraid of hardship.
But Sun Lin and the others are doing horse stance and getting up early to run. It doesn't look like they are just practicing empty postures. They are actually laying a solid foundation, right?
Zhu Binbin was curious and asked.
He Yan had asked his father about this question yesterday, so he knew the answer: "My father said that he can't teach you how to practice martial arts right away. If you want to learn from him, you need to practice the basics for at least a week."
"So you guys are going to run and do horse stance every day this week?" Zhu Binbin asked curiously.
Sun Lin sighed: "Yes."
Zhu Binbin continued to ask: "What if someone can't stand it and doesn't want to learn anymore?"
He Yan had never thought about this question, and said hesitantly: "Probably not?"
Zhu Binbin did not argue with He Yan, but turned to ask Sun Lin: "Grandson, can you hold on?"
Sun Lin had never imagined that practicing martial arts would be so hard. He usually didn't feel anything when he saw He Yan practicing, but after a night and a morning of training, he wanted to back out, so he chose to remain silent.
"You really don't want to learn anymore?" He Yan didn't expect Sun Lin to be the first one to give up. His eyes widened in surprise.
He Yan's facial features are very similar to He Dongchuan's, but his skin is whiter than his, and he looks delicate and tender. His eyes are large, and his pupils look dark and clear against the background of his skin.
Because of his good looks, He Yan can be said to be the most popular boy in their class. Not only do the teachers like him, but the female classmates will blush when they see him.
He is just popular among girls, but boys don’t like him so much. Not long after he transferred to the school last year, he was nicknamed “pretty boy”.
It was not until he learned martial arts from He Dongchuan and defeated several boys who called him by his nickname in a duel after school that no one called him by that nickname anymore.
Although He Yan could fight several people in a one-on-one duel, in the teacher's eyes he was still the obedient one because he didn't look like he could fight.
As He Yan's brother, Sun Lin knows that He Yan only looks obedient, but is actually very fierce when he beats people up, but he is always deceived by his appearance. When he is with He Yan, Sun Lin always feels that he is the older brother and wants to protect him.
Just like now, looking at He Yan's clear black and white eyes, Sun Lin couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
The guilt in his heart made him unable to retreat. Finally, he closed his eyes and said, "No, I will definitely persevere and perform on stage with you!"
He Yan was instantly delighted, patted Sun Lin on the shoulder and said, "Good brother!"
Although Sun Lin promised to persevere, Zhu Binbin really predicted the situation. That afternoon, two people backed out and told He Yan that they didn't want to practice anymore.
They didn't want to practice, and He Yan had no choice but to explain the situation to Li Yuezhen.
After hearing this, Li Yuezhen found the two students to understand the situation and tried to persuade them, but in the end only one of them was willing to go back to practice, and one student was determined to give up.
The students did not want to practice, and Li Yuezhen had no choice but to ask in class if anyone else wanted to practice. She told them that her estimate yesterday was wrong and that practicing martial arts was actually very hard, and asked them to think it over before raising their hands.
As soon as these words were spoken, more than half of the students who had raised their hands put their hands back silently.
But there were still many people who raised their hands, because Li Yuezhen was afraid that the situation today would happen again and more students would back out, so this time she selected a few more people to learn.
So when it was time to do the horse stance at night, He Dongchuan found that the number of people he had to teach had not decreased but increased. He called He Yan to the balcony to ask the reason.
After being asked about the situation, He Dongchuan said nothing. He would only teach for one month and half an hour every day. It didn't matter whether there were one or ten children, so he just let them do the horse stance together.
After a week of horse stance training, the number of children coming to learn martial arts gradually decreased from ten to six.
Since they were learning martial arts in order to perform on stage and just wanted to get the hang of it, He Dongchuan stopped asking them to do the horse stance and started teaching them the moves.
But I still have to keep running in the morning. Martial arts performances look easy, but they are actually very physically demanding. If I don't keep up my strength, they will start panting and shouting before they finish their moves on stage, and the show will be unbearable to watch.
Although he did not formally accept them as his disciples, he was the one who taught them all the martial arts moves they were supposed to perform. If they did not perform well, he would be embarrassed.
If the place at home wasn't too small and there weren't too many children to fit in, they would have to practice downstairs where people coming and going could see them. He Dongchuan really wanted to tell He Yan that he could teach them, but when they got on stage, they just had to not say that he was the one who taught them.
But in this situation, even if they don't say it, anyone with eyes can see it coming and going.
If you can't deny it, you can only train them hard.
Originally Sun Lin and the others thought that they would feel more relaxed if they stopped doing the horse stance. After all, practicing martial arts requires moving around, and it is better than staying in the horse stance for half an hour without moving.
But when they really started practicing, they found out that it wasn't the case!
When doing the horse stance, the feet are spread apart and the body is in a half-squatting position and cannot move. When practicing the moves, the postures that cannot move become varied, such as standing on one leg or leaning back. Although each posture is only maintained for a short time, it is very difficult!
Not only is it difficult, but it is also very boring.
What they imagine as practicing martial arts is just humming and laughing, but what they actually practice is standing on the stakes while changing postures.
Sun Lin and his friends felt that they were going to be worn out.
But the fact that they were able to complete the horse stance showed that they really loved martial arts, and they had persisted until now. They were a little reluctant to give up, so they gritted their teeth and persisted in practicing.
This practice lasted until before the Children's Day party.
…
It was also a Children's Day party, but the one held by the military district primary school in Shanghai was much more grand than the one on Pingchuan Island.
First of all, the venue was different. The Pingchuan Island Military Region Elementary School held a party with a stage built directly on the school playground. Except for the seats for the military leaders provided by the school, everyone else, whether students or parents, who wanted to watch the party had to bring their own benches. Those who didn't bring any had to stand and watch.
However, the party of the military primary school in Shanghai was held in the county auditorium. The principal directly borrowed the venue from the county. Even the county primary school did not have such treatment.
The county auditorium is used to host important events. It is equipped with sound systems and lighting, a semicircular stage, and stepped auditoriums with thousands of seats.
There is only one disadvantage of holding a party in the county auditorium: it is too far away and takes a lot of time.
Secondly, there was a difference in the number of programs reported. There were few classes in the elementary schools of Pingchuan Island Military Region, with less than ten classes from grades one to five. Each class had two programs, so there were less than twenty programs in total. In order to make up the running time, even the teachers had to perform on stage.
There was nothing to choose from in terms of programs, either singing, dancing, or poetry recitation. Last year, the drama performed by He Yan's class was quite unique.
At the Shanghai base, although the programs are basically singing, dancing and poetry recitation, their singing includes chorus, solo and singing with instrumental accompaniment, and their dancing includes solo, group dance and dancing with instrumental accompaniment. The poetry recitations are all the same, without many variations.
In addition, there are many classes in the military district primary schools in Shanghai. There are five classes in grades one to three, two fewer classes in grade four, and one less class in grade five, for a total of twenty classes.
Each class also performs two programs, and all classes together perform 40 programs, but the party does not need so many programs, so a week before the party, the military district primary school will hold a small selection competition to screen out some programs that are not so effective.
Therefore, the Children's Day party held by the military primary school in Shanghai is actually more watchable than the party held by Pingchuan Island Primary School.
However, because the county auditorium is too far away and not very convenient to get there, not many parents are willing to watch the show on the day of the party. Last year on Children's Day, none of the five households living in the ten buildings went to watch it.
Among them, Shen Xuan, Xu Min and Zhao Meihong could not go because of work, and the remaining Meng Xiuzhen and He Cuixia did not want to join in the fun at all.
Originally they hadn't planned to join in the fun this year, but something went wrong.
The problem was He Yan's fault. Every year at the Children's Day party, his family would go to cheer him on. So as soon as it was confirmed that he would be performing on stage this year, He Yan booked a time with his parents and sister.
Su Ting had always been supportive of He Yan in these activities, so she agreed immediately. She did not hesitate, as she always loved to join in the fun, and her brother was going to perform on stage, so she had to go.
The only one who did not agree immediately was He Dongchuan, because Children's Day was on Wednesday and he had to see if he could get leave.
Thinking about the fact that his father didn't get a day off to watch his performance last year, He Yan felt that his father wouldn't come this year either. He was sad for several days and even ran laps in the morning with his head down.
This is a rare thing.
After running for half a year, He Yan is now in great shape and running for half an hour in the morning is no longer stressful for him. Especially now that the weather is warmer, he no longer has trouble getting up like in winter, and he is full of energy every morning when running laps.
Guessing that he might be in a bad mood, Sun Lin asked him on the way home after running.
There was nothing to hide about this matter, especially since Sun Lin was his good brother, so He Yan did not hide it. He simply explained the situation and then sighed, "I don't think he will be able to take time off to watch my performance this year."
As a result, after he finished speaking, not only did he not wait for his good brother to comfort him, but when he looked up, he saw his good brother with a tearful face. He was stunned for a moment and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Sun Lin said sadly, "I also performed on stage last year, but not only my dad, but even my mom didn't come to see me!"
So he really didn't know how to comfort He Yan. In fact, he felt that he should be comforted more.
After hearing this, He Yan looked at him with eyes full of sympathy, but this did not comfort Sun Lin. Instead, it made him feel even sadder.
Seeing that his brother was unhappy, He Yan had to use his brain to help him find a solution and asked, "Have you told your parents that you want them to come to the show?"
"No, do you want to tell me?"
He Yan nodded immediately: "Of course I have to tell them! If you don't tell them, how will they know that you want them to come and see it?"
“What if I tell them and they don’t want to come?”
"If you don't come, you act like a spoiled child. If that doesn't work, you act like a spoiled child."
Sun Lin had never acted coquettishly before, so he asked hesitantly, "Is this okay?"
"Of course, every time I have something to worry about, I just act coquettishly to my parents..." Before He Yan could even utter the word "coquettish", he realized that being coquettish seemed to damage his image, so he stopped himself and changed his words, "Playing tricks, yes, every time I play tricks, they agree."
Sun Lin thought for a moment, "Then... I'll go back and try it?"
After returning home, Sun Lin told his mother that he wanted her and his father to go see his performance.
Ho Tsui-ha had no interest in the party and was too lazy to travel so far. She frowned and said, "You are acting in your own play, why do you have to make us watch?"
After hearing what He Cuixia said, Sun Lin was a little stuck and didn't know what to say.
But he soon remembered what He Yan had told him, and said with a frown, "I don't care, I want you and Dad to go and watch. Every time He Yan performs, his parents go to watch. If you don't go, I'll cry for you to see!"
He Cuixia laughed angrily: "Okay, cry for me to see."
…
"Isn't it just a performance at a party organized by the school? What's so good about it? He even made me throw tantrums and roll around. I was so mad that I really wanted to beat him up!" After the children went to school, He Cuixia went downstairs to find Su Ting to complain.
Su Ting smiled and asked, "Did you beat him up?"
"Isn't he going to school now?" He Cuixia looked embarrassed, and after thinking for a moment, she asked, "Your Xiaoyan performs on stage every year. Do you and your wife go to watch?"
"I go there every year. I also went to Dongchuan in the past two years. I was busy with work last year and couldn't take a leave, so I didn't go."
"So are you all going this year?"
"I will go and see. Dongchuan is not sure yet. I'll see if I'm busy when I see him." Su Ting answered and then asked, "Why do you suddenly ask this?"
"It's that brat of mine! He insisted that every time He Yan performed, your family went to watch, and if we didn't go, we didn't love him. Oh my!" He Cuixia couldn't help but yell, "I almost worshipped him as my ancestor, and he still had the nerve to say that I didn't love him!"
"Children always want to attract their parents' full attention." Su Ting asked, "Will you and Comrade Sun go to see it?"
"How can he have the time? He has to go out to sea in a few days!" He Cuixia waved her hands and sighed, "As for me, I'd better go and take a look, so that he won't make trouble with me again."
Su Ting couldn't help laughing: "How could that be."
Unable to stand her son's nagging, He Cuixia finally decided to go to the party with Su Ting. Meng Xiuzhen, who was downstairs, was also slightly tempted when she heard that they were both going. After He Cuixia found out, she urged them to go, and the team going to the party had one more person.
Xu Min was very puzzled when she learned about this. She had never seen them show interest in the party in previous years, so why did they all want to go this year?
Not to mention He Cuixia and Su Ting, their children are in primary school and they also have programs, but Meng Xiuzhen’s youngest daughter is in junior high school, why would she join in the fun?
Meng Xiuzhen really couldn't answer this question, because she was indeed there to join in the fun. After thinking for a while, she came up with a similar excuse: "Isn't it just to accompany Su Ting to support her man?"
Xu Min was surprised: "Comrade He is going to perform on stage?" Isn't this a Children's Day party?
"That's not the case, but you should also know that the group of children who will perform martial arts at the party were all taught by him." Meng Xiuzhen said seriously, "He spent a month teaching those children. We live upstairs and downstairs, so we should go and take a look, right?"
Of course Xu Min knew about this. During this period, after dinner, she walked to the balcony and looked down. She could see He Dongchuan practicing martial arts with the group of children.
They were practicing, and it looked pretty good, but she could see it every day when she looked down, so she had no interest in going to the party in person.
Xu Min was not interested, but there were many people in the compound who were interested.
No one knew who spread Meng Xiuzhen's words, but when many people in the compound who were not planning to go to the party heard them, they changed their minds and decided to go and join in the fun.
First of all, although He Dongchuan appears serious outside, he is quite popular in the compound because of his good looks. Of course, this does not mean that he attracts many women, but that the sisters-in-law in the compound have a good impression of him.
They often joked with Su Ting, asking her to urge He Dongchuan to exercise well and take good care of his appearance, so as to prevent the only face of their compound from becoming fat and disabled in middle age.
After all, it is the face of the compound, and when the students he taught were going to perform on stage, they had to go and support them. Of course, this was also because it was free to watch the performance and all they had to do was spare a morning.
The thing that these unemployed military wives have the most of is time. As for those who have jobs, they should not join in the fun, as they will be deducted money if they take leave.
Secondly, He Dongchuan's fighting skills were well-known. He was exposed to martial arts very early and learned a lot of different styles. He learned all kinds of martial arts, but he didn't learn them in depth. Especially compared with the orthodox descendants of those martial arts schools, he didn't learn any of them well.
But he had good muscles and was very talented, and as time went by, he slowly figured out his own way of attack and defense - he did not stick to any martial arts techniques when making moves, he only sought to defeat the enemy.
A bit rogue, but it works.
Last year he won two first places in the competition, one of which was in fighting.
However, after arriving in Shanghai, He Dongchuan's work focus was on the training of soldiers in the regiment. He seldom fought with others. Even if he did, the only people he could see were basically people from his regiment, so outsiders were quite curious.
Therefore, when they heard that he was going to teach a group of children martial arts and let them perform on stage, more and more military officers started to appear under the ten buildings.
After watching it a few times, many people were a little disappointed, because He Dongchuan teaches military boxing, and which soldier has not learned military boxing after joining the army?
There's nothing interesting about this!
But some people were somewhat interested in the performance of these children, after all, there had never been a martial arts performance at the party of the military primary school before.
Some people calculated their time and felt that they were not busy during that period, so they simply took a leave to watch the show.
In the end, more officers took time off to watch the show than their wives.
…
On Children's Day, He Dongchuan also took a day off. Although it was only for one morning, it was enough for him to watch the party.
However, don't apply to borrow a car to watch the party. Firstly, it will have a bad influence. Secondly, there will be many people watching the party in the compound. If you meet them all, there won't be enough seats in the car. But it would be a bit inhumane not to take them all.
After consideration, they decided to get up early that day and take the bus to the county.
There were many people in the compound who thought the same as them. Therefore, when the bus approached the Marine Compound that day, the driver thought he was dazzled. He even raised his hand to rub his eyes. When he looked up, the roadside was still crowded.
Full of doubts, the bus driver stepped on the brakes.
The conductor opened the door, and a huge crowd of people on the roadside poured in through the narrow door and walked to the back of the carriage.
Soon, because it was too early, the carriage with few passengers was packed with people, so that the conductor who wanted to go to the back to sell tickets could only squeeze through the people standing on both sides of the aisle by leaning sideways.
After finally squeezing to the back of the carriage, the conductor let out a long sigh, took out the ticket book from his bag and asked, "Where to?"
"The County Auditorium."
"One cent."
After collecting money and giving tickets, he asked the next person where to go. After asking seven or eight people, they all said they were going to the county auditorium. When they came to Su Ting, he couldn't help but ask, "Is your compound holding an event? Why are you all going to the county auditorium?"
"The military district primary school is holding a party. Let's go and watch it." Su Ting answered as she took out two dimes from her pocket and handed it over. She said that since she was still young, she didn't need to buy a ticket.
The ticket seller was from the city and didn't know much about these things. Hearing this, he said, "Oh, I was wondering why there are so many people." He tore off the ticket and handed it to Su Ting, then went to find other people to buy tickets.
If you drive fast, you can get from the Navy Compound to the county in about half an hour. The shuttle bus usually takes a longer time because it stops at many stations, and it is common for it to take forty to fifty minutes.
But today there were many people on the bus, and those who were waving at the roadside were hesitant to get on the bus when they saw the scene on the bus. The driver simply did not stop the bus and asked them to wait for the next bus. As a result, the bus arrived at the county auditorium about ten minutes earlier than expected.
The children from the military primary school arrived earlier than them. When they entered, many people were already sitting in the audience seats, and the remaining seats were at the back.
It doesn't matter if you sit in the back, since the audience seats are stepped and the view is good no matter where you sit.
Su Ting and her friends came together with Meng Xiuzhen and He Cuixia, so they chose seats together. On her left was He Dongchuan holding Manman, and Meng and He sat down one by one from her left.
Although they both said they were not interested in the show before they came, they were quite excited when they actually arrived and asked Su Ting: "How long will it take for the show to start?"
Su Ting raised her hand and looked at her watch: "More than twenty minutes."
"So long?"
"We came earlier."
They did arrive early. After they sat down, parents came in one after another. Ten minutes before the performance was to start, the principal showed up with several leaders.
The leaders who came to watch the performance included not only military personnel, but also people from the county education bureau and the revolutionary committee. The lineup looked much larger than that at Pingchuan Island.
The quality of the program was also much better. After all, the primary school parties here in Shanghai have been held for several years, and many of the students who can go on stage have performance experience. In addition, the school borrowed performance costumes from the children's cultural troupe, and the performers wore uniform clothes. When the lights were turned on and the music started, the atmosphere immediately came up.
The performance started with a chorus, followed by a group dance, and He Yan and his team's martial arts program came third.
The six children, all wearing white training uniforms, formed a triangle on the stage. When the music started, they jumped up, made some impressive-looking moves, and then began to practice with a humming sound.
Not to mention, the music coupled with the humming and shouting sounds quite impressive. Of course, they also fought well, their movements were neat and looked powerful, which made many people excited and they couldn't wait to go up and try their luck.
Manman was one of those people whose blood was boiling. As he watched, he started dancing, kicking his feet forward and waving his arms.
But while she was gesticulating happily, the person sitting in front of her suffered. First, the back of the chair was kicked, and then he was hit on the head.
Although the force was not great, it was enough to confuse the opponent, who turned around and looked at him, covering his head.
Su Ting, who was staring at the stage, saw this and quickly apologized to the other party. She also said to Man Man: "Just watch it honestly, don't move your hands and feet, and apologize to your auntie!"
Gradually, she realized that she had gotten into trouble, and she drooped her head and said, "I'm sorry, Auntie."
The woman sitting in front was also a military wife from the compound. Although she was not familiar with Su Ting, they knew each other. She looked pitiful as she slowly apologized. She didn't hit him hard, so she said kindly, "It's okay. Auntie also likes your brother's show."
Hearing her brother being praised, Manman smiled and reciprocated, "Manman likes auntie too!" She also stretched out her hand and made a heart shape to the other party.
The military wife in the front row was instantly touched, she covered her chest and said sincerely: "Auntie also likes Man Man."
Originally, she wanted to make a heart shape with her hands, but when she saw He Dongchuan sitting behind her, she thought about it and held back. Although she knew that she was making the heart shape with her hands to show it to the child, others might not think so when seeing it.
But in the end, she couldn't help but reach out and touch Manman's head.
Afraid that the hairstyle she had just tied in the morning would be messed up, she slowly and quickly covered her head with her hands. After he withdrew his hands, she gently touched the top of her head twice. Only when she felt that her hair was not messy did she breathe a sigh of relief.
Alas, being too popular is not good.