Chapter 181: Chapter 181: Training
An Ning leaped down from the An family’s courtyard wall and had just steadied herself.
"So early?"
"Couldn’t sleep."
Wearing a hat and scarf, Jiang Xia walked over from the side.
He saw An Ning looking at him with an expression of profound sympathy as she asked, "Woke up because you had to go?"
Jiang Xia closed his eyes at the question and rolled them.
"Comrade An Ning, please remember that you are a lady. Watch your words."
An Ning retorted in disagreement, "Comrade Jiang Xia, please watch your tone. You should be clear on your own capabilities."
An Ning threateningly raised a fist, snorted coldly, and headed up the mountain.
Following behind, Jiang Xia felt that something about him had been off lately.
’Normally, when someone provoked me like that, I would retaliate on the spot.’
’But why did I feel so good after she said that?’
Jiang Xia shook his head as he followed An Ning up the mountain.
After a few steps, An Ning turned back to look at Jiang Xia and asked warily, "What are you doing coming up the mountain?"
"Enjoying the scenery."
An Ning, naturally, didn’t believe him. She circled Jiang Xia, then reached out and squeezed his shoulder twice.
This time, it was Jiang Xia’s turn to be surprised.
"Hey, hey, what do you think you’re doing? Getting a little handsy isn’t a good look."
An Ning pulled back her hand, holding up her fair, clean palm.
"Handsy? My hands are freezing! My feet aren’t, though."
Across from her, Jiang Xia felt a pang of regret. ’It seems I’ve taught her a little too much.’
"Where are your gloves?"
Jiang Xia’s focus was entirely on An Ning’s hands. He wanted to take off his own gloves and give them to her.
"Right here!"
An Ning pulled the pair of gloves Jiang Xia had given her from her pocket, swung them in the air, and her voice grew a little more serious.
"Jiang Xia, do you want to become stronger? Want to join our training team?"
"How about I make you the vice-captain?"
’She’s obviously just trying to make me do work, and she’s dressing it up so nicely.’
Jiang Xia saw right through An Ning’s intentions.
"Alright!"
That single word was the last remnant of his pride.
Sure enough, An Ning nodded in satisfaction and led Jiang Xia up the mountain with her. When they arrived at the spot, they saw seven figures stamping their feet to stay warm.
An Ning glanced doubtfully at her watch. She wasn’t late.
’Which means this group arrived very early.’
’When did people become so trusting of each other?’
An Ning had expected to face a scene of defiance, with people unwilling to show up until she’d threatened them a bit.
"Morning. You’re all here very early."
The moment the seven men saw An Ning, they immediately stood at attention.
Yesterday, after the seven of them had gone home with the money, they were first suspected of having done something wrong. But after explaining that they had found jobs, they were showered with enthusiastic praise from their families and lauded to the skies.
They were all too light-headed to sleep, completely lost in the thrilling sensation of bringing glory to their families.
Before three in the morning, the whole group had gotten up and started heading toward the designated meeting spot one by one.
"It’s better to be early."
"Yeah, I was afraid of getting lost."
"Me too. Better early than late."
The seven men were each more eager than the last. An Ning felt too embarrassed to use the show of force she had planned.
’They’re too sincere!’
"Alright. Then starting today, we will officially begin our one-month training."
"If you all pass after one month, you can go find my second brother then."
As soon as An Ning said this, the seven men’s hearts jumped into their throats.
’Does this mean if we don’t pass in a month, we can’t go see her second brother?’
’Does that mean we lose the job?’
The seven men, their trains of thought perfectly aligned, exchanged a look and resolved to train for their lives!
An Ning couldn’t read minds. She only sensed that the seven men were full of energy, but also a little tense.
"Don’t be nervous. I’ll let you have breaks."
"No! We don’t need to rest."
"That’s right! Train us to death!"
An Ning truly didn’t understand this unexpected reaction.
Not only did she not understand, but she also felt a surge of admiration.
’So this is the unyielding will of the Ancient Earth People!’
"Alright. I will definitely respect your wishes."
The two groups had a conversation where they were talking completely past each other. The only one who understood what was happening, Jiang Xia, naturally wasn’t going to spoil it.
’One group believes they’d be unemployed if they didn’t pass in a month.’
’The other is thinking that if one month isn’t enough, they’d just do two.’
’This is fun.’
’Days are pretty boring when the mountains are snowed in.’
’This is probably the only interesting thing going on.’
The training for the nine of them officially began.
An Ning was the head instructor. She taught the eight of them a style of martial arts.
Jiang Xia, who had been nonchalant at first, grew more and more serious as he learned, and also more and more suspicious.
’How does An Ning know this kind of martial art?’
The martial art An Ning knew had been honed through years of battle, a system developed and summarized from personal experience in life-or-death combat.
A person’s hair, fingers, teeth, nails, even their tongue, could all become a weapon.
She would tailor her approach to each person’s strengths. For example, for Li Daniu, who was the strongest, An Ning designed a set of fist techniques and training methods that best suited his specialty.
It was the same for the other six men.
「A month passed in the blink of an eye.」
Every day at three in the morning, An Ning went up the mountain to check on the men’s training results, then came down at seven to teach Yin Xuemei and the others.
After the morning class, she would eat breakfast.
Once breakfast was over, she would teach Li Chengze.
The rest of the time was An Ning’s free time.
Most of the time, she would go up the mountain with a notebook or a book, watching the men train while she read and wrote.
The vast mountain became a natural training ground for the nine of them.
Climbing heights, scaling cliffs, swimming in the winter to temper their bodies, running, strength, speed—not a single aspect of their training was neglected.
Among them, Jiang Xia’s progress could only be described as meteoric.
One day, Jiang Xia finally couldn’t hold back any longer and asked An Ning a question.
"How do you know all this?"
At that moment, An Ning was sitting on a thick tree branch, her legs dangling in the air. She pulled a few things from her coat pocket and handed them to Jiang Xia.
Jiang Xia took them and saw a diagram of the human skeleton, a chart of traditional Chinese medicinal meridians, and a "secret martial arts manual" that looked like it had been bought from a street stall.
"Basic principles, logical deduction, and reaching a conclusion."
Jiang Xia didn’t know what to say. Call it impossible?
But this was An Ning. He had truly witnessed her intelligence, so it wasn’t entirely out of the question.
Jiang Xia stopped thinking about it. No matter how she’d learned it, this person was still the An Ning he knew.
"I have to say, were you just waiting for me to ask? You carry this stuff around with you."
An Ning flashed a brilliant smile at Jiang Xia, who was standing below.
"It was a logical inference, and as it turns out, I was right."
An Ning reached out her hand, took back the papers, and smiled with a touch of smugness that mirrored Jiang Xia’s own occasional arrogance.
Jiang Xia couldn’t help but laugh at her expression.
"By the way, where’s your second brother?"
"He went out. Isn’t the New Year coming up? He said he’s going to prepare some couplets and ’Fu’ characters, and that they’ll sell really well this year."
Down below, Jiang Xia said admiringly, "Your second brother has a real knack for business."
"Of course. He’s my second brother, after all."
An Ning watched the seven men returning with logs on their shoulders and mused, "I should have them go pick up my second brother."
