Chapter Eleven: Unbearable

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  Zhang Peng took the lesson to heart, became low-key, and stopped showing off his abnormal body. Every day, he trained diligently, attended classes conscientiously, swept the classroom after school, and helped the old soldiers with their chores.

  "Zhang Peng, your hat is crooked again. You're not paying attention to military bearing and discipline. After school, clean the classroom." Li Dapai has come to pick on me again.

  "Yes!" Zhang Peng stood up straight and replied, turning back to his seat.

  It was unknown how many times it had been, Zhang Peng swept the classroom until the leader checked and couldn't find any fault, when Li Dapai started checking military uniform and discipline again, making him feel annoyed, but instead he developed a habit of looking in the mirror before going out.

  "Countryside people are just countryside people, wasting a whole body of 'national defense green'." The speaker is Qian Kang, whose father was the commander of the First Regiment and a die-hard follower of Li Yan.

  "In my hometown, they say I'm a city person. Now that I've entered the city, I've become a country bumpkin instead." Zhang Peng couldn't help but chuckle at this.

  "Don't bother with them, his dad is just a local tyrant, letting the landlord occupy the land, he's only a soldier for a few years, but he's already become a city person." Li Ye's father was the director of the political department of the First Division and knew all about Qian Kang's background.

  "We peasants have a saying: 'When you hear the cuckoo's call, it's time to plant.' " Zhang Peng was now identifying himself as a peasant.

  "They've all been in the army for a few years now. That day they didn't train as well as you, so they're not feeling good about it and are intentionally picking on you!" Li Ye said.

  Li Yefei spoke so much with Zhang Peng for the first time, apparently also very dissatisfied with Li Yan's approach.

  After school, Zhang Peng looked at the 'snowflakes' scattered all over the floor by Li Yan and others, shook his head helplessly, picked up the broom and started sweeping. Suddenly, Zhang Peng found that Li Ye hadn't left, was still in the classroom sweeping, and hurriedly ran over.

  "Little aunt, stop it! My sister will know about it and who knows what she'll do to me tomorrow."

  "She dares, I'll help you, let's see how she does?" Li Ye was not afraid of her sister.

  Zhang Peng persuaded her a few more times, but Xiao Yatou was very stubborn and insisted on helping him. Zhang Peng didn't want to stop her, actually having a 'little beauty' work with him was also a very pleasant thing.

  The two of them worked together and cleaned the classroom quickly. Zhang Peng sincerely said "thank you" to Li Ye, which made her blush and feel embarrassed.

  Li Yan soon discovered the situation, secretly resenting herself for being a "foolish sister" who had ruined her own affairs, and having no way to deal with her. Li Ye was more favored by their parents than she was. It seemed that "verbal attacks" wouldn't work, so they could only resort to "physical defense". One day, Wu Quan and Li Weiguo, under the deliberate guidance of Li Yan and Qian Kang, brought up Zhang Peng, thinking about how they had been in the army for several years, yet were suppressed by the newcomer Zhang Peng, being trained like dogs by their squad leader, and now having ill intentions towards Li Dapai's younger sister. They couldn't help but feel "indignant", so the few of them discussed it and decided to teach Zhang Peng a lesson.

  That evening, after dinner, the old soldiers in the class all went out to visit their hometowns. Zhang Peng hummed the new "Returning from Archery" alone by the water pool in front of the dormitory washing clothes, and Wu Quan and Li Weiguo, who were fellow students with Tong Lian, quietly approached him.

  After waiting for several days, Zhang Peng was finally alone at home. Wu Quan immediately contacted Qian Kang and Li Weiguo to take action.

  "New recruit, help me brush my shoes." As he spoke, Wu Quan threw a pair of Liberation shoes emitting a foul odor into Zhang Peng's washbasin. Zhang Peng looked at him with disgust, picked up the shoes from the basin and put them by the sink, ignoring Wu Quan.

  Wu Quan is seventeen years old this year, and unexpectedly by the end of the year he will have to join the army. He is 1.73 meters tall and has been learning combat skills in the reconnaissance camp for two years. Relying on his father being a deputy division commander, he has been acting recklessly in the reconnaissance camp.

  "What are you staring at? Can't find your place? Get out of here!" Wu Quan shouted loudly.

  "Wu Ge, this kid is shameless, what's the point of talking to him." Li Weiguo came up and threw Zhang Peng's washbasin to the ground.

  Zhang Peng suppressed his anger and bent down to pick up the basin on the ground. Wu Quan came over and pressed Zhang Peng's head with his hand, lifting his right knee to strike Zhang Peng's face, causing him to be covered in bruises. Zhang Peng had been prepared for this and used a "Lion's Head Shake" to break free from Wu Quan's left hand holding his head. He then used a "Sea Bottom Moon Scoop" to grab Wu Quan's raised right leg and with a swift motion, threw Wu Quan out.

  Li Weiguo saw that Wu Quan had been defeated and took advantage of Zhang Peng having his back turned to him. He threw a straight punch at the back of Zhang Peng's head, but Zhang Peng ducked down just in time and grabbed Li Weiguo's arm. Li Weiguo felt as if his arm had been broken and he was lifted off the ground, flying over Zhang Peng's head before crashing heavily onto the ground. He rolled around on the ground, unable to cry out in pain.

  "Zhang Peng, why are you fighting?" Qian Kang had participated in martial arts before and knew the importance of having a weapon. He secretly found a short-handled entrenching tool and hid it behind his waist before falling back. Qian Kang pretended to be breaking up the fight as he approached.

  “Hng!” With a loud shout, Zhang Peng kicked out and sent Wu Quan flying. Qian Kang took advantage of the opportunity to pull out his entrenching tool and swung it fiercely at Zhang Peng's head. Zhang Peng's movements were too slow, he couldn't change his stance in time, and could only dodge to the side, but was still cut by the sharp edge of the shovel on his left arm, opening a bloody gash. Qian Kang saw that he had injured Zhang Peng and took advantage of the situation, not showing any mercy, swinging his entrenching tool again at Zhang Peng's head. Zhang Peng saw the blood and thought about how he had been bullied by them for less than a month, his anger boiling over, and instead of dodging or avoiding Qian Kang's incoming attack, he charged forward to meet it head-on.

  "Crack!" A crisp sound, the shovel handle broke into two sections. Zhang Peng used the "Double Dragon Out of the Sea" move, punching and breaking the shovel handle, advancing with a flurry of punches that landed on Qian Kang's body. Qian Kang was beaten back, unable to stand firm. Before he could steady himself, Zhang Peng grabbed his lapels with both hands, twisted his waist, and executed a beautiful "over-the-shoulder throw", slamming Qian Kang heavily to the ground.

  Zhang Peng still didn't intend to let him off, his right foot stepped forward and pressed down on Qian Kang's right shoulder, grabbing his wildly flailing right arm, twisting it back and forth. With a "crack" sound, accompanied by Qian Kang's already hoarse scream, Zhang Peng dislocated his shoulder joint, causing him to pass out from the pain.

  Zhang Peng made a fierce movement, and the blood from his wound had already stained his white shirt red. Zhang Peng turned around and walked towards Li Weiguo, who had just gotten up, lifted his leg and slapped him several times with his foot, Li Weiguo fell down straight and went to "dream" together with Qian Kang. Zhang Peng tore off his sleeve, roughly bandaged the wound, and then walked towards Wu Quan.

  "Murder! Zhang Peng has murdered someone!!!" A loud, inhuman cry echoed through the camp. Wu Quan saw Zhang Peng approaching him, shouting loudly while dodging his pursuit and running towards Lian's department.

  It took a long time to say, but it was only a few minutes. When the old soldiers rushed out, they saw "Little Overlord of the Army" Wu Kuan running in front like the wind (according to the squad leader afterwards, Wu Kuan's speed was absolutely far beyond his best performance during peacetime training), Zhang Peng covered in blood with red eyes chasing behind him like a madman. Several old soldiers tried to stop Zhang Peng, but were kicked down by him. Although several old soldiers failed to intercept Zhang Peng, they delayed the time, and Zhang Peng could only watch as he hid into the company barracks.

  Zhang Peng chased to Lian's department, Lian Zhang was already blocking the door, but he only had one thought in his mind and didn't care who it was, so he kicked out. Lian Zhang wanted to say a few words, but Zhang Peng came up and hit him, kicking him into a daze. Zhang Peng took advantage of the situation and didn't show mercy, turning around and kicking again, fighting with Lian Zhang together. Zhang Peng saw that his two legs couldn't push back Lian Zhang, knowing he had met a formidable opponent. Lian Zhang was also a master who could fight against ten people at once, initially not taking Zhang Peng, this primary school soldier, seriously, but now he wasn't feeling well either, barely blocking one of Zhang Peng's kicks, his arm felt like it had been whipped with a stick, burning with pain.

  Zhang Peng saw Lian's tall and powerful build, his movements swift and fierce like a hook, his feet chopping, thrusting, lifting, and tripping. Obviously, he wanted to capture him alive, so Zhang had no choice but to use his inch-hand fanzi to dodge and weave around him. One hand sealed, the other struck; hands defended above, feet attacked below; attacking with defense, defending with attack, advancing and retreating in a flash, they fought over ten rounds without determining victory or defeat.

  The instructor comforted the badly frightened Wu Kuan in the house for a while, went out to take a look, and saw Zhang Peng fighting with Lian Chang. He thought: The sky has turned upside down! No one is bullying us! With a wave of his hand, 7 or 8 well-trained old soldiers rushed up and pressed Zhang Peng to the ground.

  "Throw him into solitary confinement and let him reflect on his actions." The company commander was also furious, having been forced to scramble about by a mere child.

  The old soldiers escorted Zhang Peng to the confinement room, led by the instructor to find two other "victims". When the instructor saw those two people, Li Weiguo was lying on the ground with his head covered like a pig's head, and Qian Kang was leaning against the water tank with one arm, singing "Ah yo, ah yo"! Next to the overturned basin on the ground were scattered several clothes and a pair of Liberation shoes, and a blood-stained broken-handled army shovel lay nearby. The instructor felt that his own head had also grown bigger, as the son of a division commander, two sons of regiment commanders, and among them, two were even his own company's recruits. If the superiors found out, they would not know how to deal with themselves, and their hatred for Zhang Peng increased by several points.

  The instructor quickly found a car to send the three people to the hospital. When Liu Dàyǒng reported to the instructor that Zhang Peng was also injured, and asked if he should be sent to the hospital together, the instructor flew into a rage: "He's even more capable than Lian Chang, what could possibly happen to him? Lock him up, no one is allowed to care for him!"

  The three were soon sent to the military hospital, and after a flurry of activity by the doctors on duty, the results came out quickly. It looked serious but wasn't a big deal. The instructor finally put his mind at ease and notified their parents.

  Liu Dayong carefully cleaned up the scene and found that the basin belonged to Zhang Peng, the clothes belonged to two old soldiers in the class, and after checking, a shovel was missing from the engineering soldier's kit. The Liberation shoes were also not found. He roughly understood what had happened. Liu Dayong wanted to talk to the company commander about it, but was put off by the commander saying they would deal with it tomorrow.