Let's be friends

  Bai Jian raised his fists to protect his face, but Lin Pei's move was just a feint. She turned her elbow and shifted her body, raising her foot, trying to change her stance, but it was too late. A heavy blow struck her abdomen, causing her to gasp in pain. Her light footsteps were pushed back by the force of the impact, stumbling backward several steps until her lower back hit the guardrail, finally stopping her retreat.

  Onlookers suddenly boiled up, cheering, shouting, sighing, and exclaiming. Shi Zhuang's eyes widened in surprise, "Wow! This little girl is fierce, her legwork is impressive!" He thought to himself, "Brother, you've met your match, hold on tight!"

  Bai Jian pressed his aching abdomen, gazing at Lin Pei Pei with some incredulity. Her moves had been too fast, as natural and smooth as flowing clouds and water, making it impossible to defend against. He stared at her lithe figure jumping and moving around the arena, her high ponytail and hairband bobbing up and down with each jump, like a sprite flitting in and out of a dark forest. A hint of admiration flashed across his eyes, he composed himself and walked back to the center of the arena.

  The atmosphere on the scene changed, Pei Jian's expression changed from his previous casualness, like a cheetah discovering its prey, accumulating momentum and preparing to attack, with a fiery glow flashing in his eyes, staring tightly at the person opposite him.

  Lin Pei Pei also stopped her wandering footsteps, adjusted her posture, and fixed her gaze on the opponent's stance: with feet standing front and back, legs slightly arched, weight centered on the back foot. This stance is unlikely to be a kick, and the possibility of a straight punch is greater. The first move is easy to dodge, but the second move is difficult to defend against...

  Lin Pei Pei mentally judged Bai Jian's moves and her own countermeasures, and indeed, she saw Bai Jian's body tense up, his arm stretch out, a right straight punch with the momentum of breaking through bamboo, making a whistling sound, sweeping horizontally like lightning.

  Lin Pei Pei didn't dodge to the side, but instead closed in, making a sideways turn to avoid the straight punch's wind, and launched a spinning kick that forced Bao Jian to block with his left hand and retreat two steps away. Neither of them touched each other.

  The first move, flat stick.

  Bai Jiandao stepped forward again, this time he also abandoned the rules of boxing and did not start with his feet. He changed to using Sanda moves to attack, using both hands and feet, long fists sweeping straight, feet kicking horizontally, leg shadows flashing, "slap"! The two legs met in mid-air, like lightning striking flint, sparks seemed to flash in the empty space.

  The second move, Ping Ju.

  Lin Pei Pei took advantage of the brief interval when the two men drew back to rub her sore leg, which had been kicked and was now throbbing with pain. She thought to herself, "What kind of physique does this guy have? His chest muscles are like rocks, his leg bones are like iron pillars, how did he train? Could it be that he's a transformed Golden Steel?"

  On the other side, Pei Jian also started to feel a bit uneasy. At first, he thought it was just carelessness when Lin Peipei kicked him during warm-up, but afterwards, two moves were resolved as if she had anticipated them in advance. It couldn't be said that he was underestimating her anymore. Could she have guessed his moves in advance? Lin Peipei's skills were indeed impressive.

  Bai Jian also learned from Lin Pei Pei, starting to move around the field, constantly changing his footwork. In the unexpected moment, he struck out with his hand and foot. The third move, the fourth move, the fifth move... Several consecutive moves of Bai Jian's most useful finishing moves in the national martial arts competition were all dodged, resolved, and blocked by Lin Pei Pei, who had been prepared for them.

  Bai Jian started to sweat, if this continues, he might lose. If it were just a one-on-one match, losing to Lin Peipei wouldn't be embarrassing, originally he didn't dare use his full strength, but now in the arena, with dozens of big and small eyes staring, even a draw would be humiliating. With heavy force, he's afraid of hurting her, with light force, he can't win against her, what to do is good.

  One head, Pei Jian, was flustered and annoyed, while the other, Lin Pei, was also sweating profusely. Her forehead was covered in large beads of sweat, and she was slightly panting, her legs starting to tremble after several exchanges. She thought to herself, "These legs are probably red now, if I keep going like this, I won't even be able to walk, that damned Pei Jian has nothing better to do than show off his brute strength, it's infuriating! Anyway, we're both dead either way, so might as well go for a quick kill, if it works, great, if not, then I'll just die trying."

  Their minds made up, the two returned to the center of the arena.

  Lin Pei Pei started with a kick, right side kick, left spinning kick, back kick, double flying kick... all leg techniques were executed by her in one breath, and finally a jump spinning wind kick went towards Baegeom's face.

  Pai Jian was forced to retreat and dodge, his feet slipping repeatedly as he tried to block Lin Pei Pei's rapid kicks. He didn't even have time to counterattack, let alone notice the opening in front of him. Lin Pei Pei's final move, a whirlwind kick, swept down from top to bottom like a tornado, striking Pai Jian's helmeted head with a series of lightning-fast kicks. Dazed and stumbling, he fell onto the protective mat.

  The onlookers were all stunned, their eyes wide with wonder and mouths agape in shock. It took them a long time to erupt into thunderous cheers. When would they have the chance to see such an exciting duel again? And it was live! How thrilling! How satisfying! The crowd cheered wildly for Lin Pei Pei, no one thought of going over to check if Bai Jian was okay or hurt.

  Shi Zhuang was stunned and stood there for a while, then came to his senses and rushed over to check on his brother who was still lying on the railing.

  Although he was wearing a helmet, the thick foam had dissipated most of the force, but his head still felt dizzy from the impact. He leaned against the guardrail, panting heavily, and hadn't recovered when Shi Zhuang came over to ask him something.

  This time it's a big deal, Pei Jian started to get bloodshot eyes, his face turned red and hot. Can't see that this little girl is so capable of fighting, not giving you a chance to show off your skills, really think I can't beat you? It's just legwork, look, brother me too!

  Pei Jian slowed down his pace, pushed away the stone pillar in front of him that was helping to fan the wind, and returned to the center of the arena. Without saying a word, he launched into a series of kicks, covering all three levels - high, middle, and low - with no blind spots. He immediately followed up with a spinning kick and then added a side hook kick, his movements kicking out in a smooth and unbroken flow, full of vigor and energy.

  The students watching from the sidelines felt like their eyes weren't enough to take it all in. They were still trying to process Lin Pei's previous series of kicks that had seemed to create a whirlwind, and now they were faced with Pei Jian's continuous leg movements, which left them feeling dizzy and disoriented. They couldn't tell which moves belonged to Lin Pei and which belonged to Pei Jian, as the two clashed together in a blur.

  Just then, there was a loud "thwack" sound, and when they looked again, Lin Pei had been kicked out of the way and was lying on the ground several feet away.

  Just now, that series of movements had left Lin Pei Pei somewhat exhausted, panting heavily, sweating profusely, and her lower abdomen was still aching slightly. She was shocked in her heart, no way! At this time, she came to drop the chain? Your mother was too ruthless!

  Her stomach seemed to be avenging her complaints, the cramps gradually became more and more severe. Pei Jian's leg sweep also hit her. Lin Peipei barely blocked the first few moves, even dodged that spinning kick, but she didn't have the strength to dodge that hook kick again, clutching her stomach and standing there, her shoulder took a solid hit, flying out and falling to the ground, for a while, curled up on the ground unable to get up.

  Everyone looked at each other and rushed onto the stage together, but didn't dare to pull. They were all shouting and arguing with each other.

  After a series of movements, Pei Jian turned his back to Lin Peipei and took steps to the edge of the field to catch his breath. Hearing the voices behind him, he turned around, but didn't see Lin Peipei; instead, he saw a small figure lying on the ground. His heart skipped a beat as he rushed over in large strides, pushing aside the surrounding crowd. He only saw Lin Peipei covering her stomach and curling up into a ball, her eyes tightly closed, her eyebrows furrowed, her face pale, with big drops of cold sweat sliding down her cheeks to her small chin and then dripping onto the ground.

  At this moment, Lin Peipei was a weak and helpless, pitiful sight. Pei Jian's heart was torn with pain, and he secretly slapped himself in the mouth. Why did he have to be so cruel? He regretted it now, but what use was regret at this point? He stretched out his hand and wrapped it around Lin Peipei's waist, then circled her legs with his other arm and scooped her up horizontally. Without caring whether it was the men's or women's locker room, he charged in. Fortunately, he hadn't entered the wrong one - it was the women's locker room, and there were no other people inside at the moment.

  Bai Jian put Lin Pei Pei on the long bench in the dressing room, scanning her up and down, anxiously shouting, "Pei Pei, where are you hurt? Where are you hurt? Tell me where you're hurt?"

  Lin Pei Pei didn't respond to him, she just kept pressing her belly, her whole face scrunched up.

  Pei Jian saw that she was anxious and depressed, thinking to himself that when he kicked her, the position shouldn't have been on her stomach, it should have been around shoulder height. Why didn't she rub her shoulder but instead covered her belly? But she didn't say where she was hurt, nor did she make it clear what happened! It's driving him crazy! Pei Jian felt like he had a hundred cats scratching at his heart, yet he couldn't grasp the situation.

  Lin Pei Pei covered her stomach and didn't make a sound for a long time before saying, "Get out!"

  "Pepe, what's wrong with you? Tell me and I'll help massage it for you."

  Bai Jian's heart quickened as soon as he was told to leave, thinking that the eldest miss must be getting angry and about to throw a tantrum. If I have to go out, won't it really set off a fire?

  "I'm fine, you go first."

  Lin Pei continued to issue the "Expel the Guest" order, and Bai Jian was so anxious that he started sweating.

  "No, Pepe, where does it hurt? Tell me and I'll help you rub it, or... are you angry with me?"

  "No! I'm not angry, oh dear, you... just get out will do! My... my relatives are coming."

  Lin Pei Pei's face turned red as she told Bai Jian the truth, but at first he didn't understand and blinked for a long time before suddenly realizing what was going on. His face also turned red as he jumped up and rushed out of the locker room.

  Pei Jian stood outside the door, panting heavily, his face bright red. Relatives aren't just aunts, are they? When an aunt comes, isn't it just the girls' monthly physiological period? Not knowing this, what a waste of life! Today's embarrassment is really big, embarrassing even to Grandma's house!

  Lin Pei Pei had been struggling in the dressing room for nearly half an hour, and Bai Jian was scratching the ground outside the door for nearly half an hour. During this time, Shi Zhu came over to take a look, saw that Lin Pei Pei hadn't come out yet, and went to attend to his own matters first. Finally, when he saw the young lady walk out of the dressing room looking refreshed, Bai Jian's heart finally felt at ease. The crowd gathered around again, asking questions and showing concern, which left Lin Pei Pei unsure of how to respond to them.

  Actually, getting punched and kicked is a normal occurrence when practicing boxing, and suffering minor injuries is not worth mentioning. Everyone is so tense because they think of Lin Peipei as a delicate lady, even if she has impressive skills, she's still a gentle lady. Also, her pale face at the time scared them, making them think that Pei Jian's moves were too heavy-handed and hurt her badly. If she got hurt badly, then she wouldn't come back, and they wouldn't be able to see this beautiful and lovely girl again.

  Bai Jian sent Lin Peipei to her doorstep and called out to her again as she was about to get off the car.

  "Peipei, I...I have something to tell you..."

  "Pei Jian, I also have something to say to you."

  Lin Pei Pei looked at Bae Do-jin's focused face and the light in his eyes, just like how Peak looked at her. Her clever heart understood what he was going to say next, but she couldn't let him say it out loud. She didn't want to lose a friend who made her feel like they were evenly matched.

  "I'm so glad that after returning to my country, I can still meet friends like you who make me feel like I've met a worthy opponent in chess. I really enjoy this feeling. I want to say something very sincere to you... let's be friends!"

  Bai Jian, who did not expect Lin Pei Pei to say such a thing, stared at her in a daze for a while, then scratched his head, looking very uncomfortable.

  "You've already said everything I wanted to say, what else can I say? Are you a tapeworm in my stomach or something? You could guess my next move when we were boxing before, and now you're guessing what's on my mind. You're really amazing!"

  "You're the tapeworm! I think you're a iron-made tapeworm from head to toe, hard as death! My foot still hurts now, if it's swollen tomorrow, you have to pay for my medical expenses!"

  "Alright! As long as the young lady speaks up, I'll compensate however much is needed. But let me declare first, I don't have that much money to begin with, and what little I do have is reserved for my future wife's dowry - you can't just take it all from me!"

  The two of them joked around for a while, and then Lin Pei Pei got off the car and entered her home. Bao Jian looked at her figure disappearing into the night, and the smile on his face disappeared without a trace. Did I come too late? Have you already given your heart to someone else? Why didn't you even give me a chance to finish what I wanted to say? You are so delicate and transparent in your feelings, yet you use such an irresistible way to reject me. Lin Pei Pei, I like you, do you know that? You must know, then am I already sentenced to death, with no more chances?

  The cool moonlight spilled on the door where Lin Pei had disappeared, and a faint silver glow emanated from the metal door. The night breeze gently swept over the leaves and branches, bringing with it a soft rustling sound, as if whispering to itself or responding to Pei Jian's inner questions. However, the language of the trees was difficult to understand, and Pei Jian's doubts would remain unanswered tonight.

  In the distant H country, a drama of rejection and being rejected was also unfolding.