Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 395: Chapter 376: Tomorrow and Tomorrow (Part 1)

Luo Qianqian swallowed saliva but obediently stayed seated without moving her chopsticks. Elders hadn’t seated at the table yet, only impulsive children would start eating first.

Soon enough, Ji Xun, Hu Si, and Uncle Zhuang joined them. They took a whiff of the tantalizing food and smiled contentedly.

Luo Qianqian tasted a mouthful of white porridge, which was soft and glutinous, with crispy bamboo shoots that were refreshing. As for the soup, Feng served her a bowl, but for some reason, she didn’t feel like picking up her chopsticks.

Looking at the shiny white soup, Luo Qianqian asked doubtfully, ”Is this fish soup?”

Hu Si’s eyes twinkled with amusement, ”You were catching fish yesterday? Well, even so, they can live in the water after all.”

On hearing this, Luo Qianqian hastily pushed the bowl away from herself, shaking her head repeatedly, ”I don’t want it, I don’t want it.”

With a reprimanding look, Feng glanced at Hu Si, who touched his nose, unaware that Feng had done it on purpose.

Ever since knowing what it was, Luo Qianqian found the white porridge hard to swallow and continued to eat the bamboo shoots in silence.

”After we finish eating, I’ll take you for a walk,” said Hu Si.

Luo Qianqian nodded. She didn’t believe that this stroll would be merely a casual walk-around. There had to be a different motive behind it, but she didn’t know what it was.

”Should I wear long sleeves?”

”Do you want to die of heat?” Hu Si was speechless, staring at the blazing sun outside.

Luo Qianqian silently considered the clothes she was wearing. It seemed okay to go out, so she said no more.

After Hu Si finished his meal, he glanced her way, and she silently followed. Now, she was just like a dog being taken out for a walk, doing whatever Hu Si said. She might as well have been leashed.

Luo Qianqian looked puzzled at the place where Hu Si stopped. If she wasn’t mistaken, this seemed to be... a Taekwondo Gym???

Seeing Luo Qianqian’s eyes widen, Hu Si’s lips curved into a smile, ”For the next month, four hours here every day, until you can defeat your trainer. If not, the plan to go back will be postponed.”

Luo Qianqian’s eyes rounded even further. She sneakingly hoped to pick a physically weaker-looking coach, one who seemed easier to take down. However, the man who came out to greet Hu Si looked like his muscles were about to explode.

”Fox, you finally decided to visit me, huh? I heard you went back to Capital City a while ago?” The man punched Hu Si in the chest, which Hu Si returned with an unflinching punch of his own.

”I’ve come to ask a favor this time,” Hu Si smiled, ”Have you eaten? Want to grab something?” He gestured towards a nearby western restaurant.

The man had a sudden realization, ”I was wondering why you’d come to me if not for business.” He glanced at his watch with a laugh-curse, ”What time do you call this a meal? It’s neither lunch nor dinner. If you had a heart, why didn’t you come at noon and save me the cost of a meal?” He then turned and, with a hint of surprise, asked, ”How come I haven’t seen you for a few years and now you have such a big girl?”

Luo Qianqian didn’t know what expression to make. Although she called Hu Si ”uncle,” he surely couldn’t have a child as old as she was, could he?

”What are you talking about?” Hu Si shook his head calmly, ”She’s my patient. I need you to train her for me. Am I really that old? Maybe I should get a facelift one of these days?”

”Patient?” The man frowned, ”You know what we do here. What good is bringing her to me going to do?”

”She’s been excessively frightened and keeps having nightmares. I’ve coordinated treatment for her, but it requires a robust physique, which is why I thought of you,” Hu Si shook his head with a calculating smile, ”It’s cheaper with someone you know. Remember to give me a discount.”

”Off with you, talking about money here?” The man looked at Luo Qianqian and shook his head, ”She doesn’t look like she exercises regularly. Do you expect me to train her, or should another teacher?”

”I definitely want you to take her; she only has one month. What I’ve set for her is to bring down her coach, and that counts as passing,” Hu Si didn’t hide anything and spoke directly, ”Do you think I should get her a gym membership, so she can work on her strength or something?”

”One month? Then I should take her. I won’t ask for much, just bringing down any coach in our gym will count as passing. Is that okay?” The man patted Luo Qianqian’s back, a hint of disdain in his voice, ”This little frame of yours, are you not feeding her?”

Hu Si narrowed his eyes. Did he really look like a bad guy?

Luo Qianqian nodded repeatedly, ”Thank you, uncle.” But whether she was agreeing to let the man coach her or to the accusation of not being fed was anybody’s guess.

After talking for a bit, they brought Luo Qianqian into the gym. Since it was morning, most classes wouldn’t start until the afternoon, so there were hardly any instructors around, making the gym feel like Luo Qianqian’s personal training ground.

Hu Si didn’t know what Hu Si told Yang Zhen; he just pulled a straight face and tossed a training uniform to Luo Qianqian, pointing to one side, ”The changing room is over there.”

Meanwhile, Hu Si sat down on a chair to the side, sipping tea and not even glancing at Luo Qianqian, occasionally checking his own face on his phone.

Hu Si and Luo Qianqian had walked over, so there was no issue of food digestion. Luo Qianqian looked at Yang Zhen, who was clearly over one meter eighty with a massive frame, and compared to her, wouldn’t he just pick her up as easily as picking up a little kitten?

She didn’t dare talk back and obediently changed her clothes. The basic training wasn’t too troublesome, but a poor performance resulted in a 270-degree aerial throw, commonly known as a shoulder throw, which made her feel like her whole body was about to fall apart.

The coaches who arrived one after another watched Yang Zhen train a child with such severity and gathered to the side to watch the commotion; they hadn’t seen him like this in a long time, prompting a flurry of comments.

Luo Qianqian felt like crying without tears—it was unclear how many times she had been thrown. When she trained with her godfather, it was just running; wasn’t this the same faction? One called the Gentle Faction, the other the Beast Faction?

Hu Si watched Luo Qianqian, her eyes red but still biting her teeth while stretching her legs, and for the first time, a smile appeared on his face. This was the spirit of not admitting defeat, the expression that a child, whose time had been compressed, should have.

After four hours, with only a twenty-minute break in between, Luo Qianqian finished the class and didn’t want to move a step further. Lying in the changing room and staring at the ceiling, she was doubting her life after being thrown so many times.

However, after lying down for a while, she heard a knock on the door, followed by Hu Si’s voice, ”Time to eat, there’s another task in the afternoon.”

Luo Qianqian looked at her somewhat bruised arms and legs, sighed, changed clothes, and looked at the somewhat damp training uniform. She picked it up as she left the changing room, ”What should I do with this?”

Hu Si took it and tossed it to Yang Zhen, ”Your coach will wash it.”

Luo Qianqian looked at Yang Zhen’s disdainful gaze and smiled apologetically. But she probably didn’t even have the strength to wash her own clothes, her arms were so sore she didn’t even want to move, trembling slightly even when holding her phone.

Hu Si also saw the bruises under her short sleeves and shorts, a complex emotion flashed in his eyes, and he glared fiercely at Yang Zhen.

For lunch, Hu Si generously treated Yang Zhen and Luo Qianqian to a Western meal. Luo Qianqian sneaked off to pay the bill and unexpectedly received Yang Zhen’s praise.

”This patient of yours isn’t bad at all, even knows to pay the bill; the kid is pretty sensible,” Yang Zhen didn’t miss Luo Qianqian’s sneaky act of going to the restroom to secretly take out her wallet and pay the waiter.

Hu Si glanced at Luo Qianqian’s figure and said nothing.

”Tell me honestly, is this child your illegitimate daughter? The look you gave me earlier, like you wanted to kill me, didn’t seem fake at all,” Yang Zhen continued speaking as he got no answer.

Hu Si sighed, ”You’ll find out later. In a bit, she’ll have to learn a ton of other stuff; she won’t be able to go back if she doesn’t meet the requirements, even if she recovers from her illness.”

Catching Luo Qianqian’s return in the corner of his eye, the two men ended their conversation.