Xiuxiu actually said seriously, "Ah, is that underworld slang?"
I nodded: "Yes, our school is a school that combines academics and martial arts."
When we arrived, Hua Rong took advantage of the moment when Xiu Xiu got off the bus to pull me aside and say, "I don't want to hurt Xiu Xiu, but I can't be with her anymore. The gap between me and her, and between me and that Ran Dongye, is too big. Also, we can't keep pigeons anymore—I keep thinking about using guitar strings as a bow to shoot them down."
Before I could say anything, the heroes swarmed around me, greeting me, "Brother Hua Rong is back!"
At this moment, Xiuxiu turned around from behind the car and asked in confusion, "Hua Rong?"
I quickly said, "These are our nicknames at the club. Everyone usually calls us by our nicknames."
I shrugged at the guys, indicating that I couldn't shake off this little tail.
Xiuxiu laughed and said, "How come I didn't know Dongye had joined such a club? Can I join too? I'll call myself Beauty Hu Sanniang."
Hu Sanniang stepped forward, gesturing with her hand to her bald head: "Who called me?"
When the heroes learned that the girl before them was Xiuxiu, they all felt a genuine affection and respect for her. Xiuxiu looked around and sighed, "This school is really big." Wu Yong winked at Hu Sanniang, who then put her arm around Xiuxiu and said, "Sister, let me take you for a walk somewhere else."
After the two women left, Hua Rong immediately reached out to Tang Long: "Where's the bow?"
"What's your hurry?" Tang Long said, handing Hua Rong a curved pipe he had been holding as a support. He had been holding this thing for a while, and it didn't attract any attention at all. It didn't look like a bow either, but other than that, it looked somewhat familiar.
Hua Rong, however, showed no disdain whatsoever; his eyes lit up the moment he saw it. He carefully stroked it with his fingers, as if communicating with it.
Let's talk about this thing. From the outside, it's just a shiny steel pipe. Although it has a slight curve, it's definitely not like a bow. It's crooked and awkward, with two knots on its body. There's a string tied to each end, but the string is also out of tune, thick and yellow, like a mudfish pulled out of the mud.
With a mysterious smile, Tang Long asked me, "Does this look familiar?"
I nodded vigorously.
Tang Long pointed to the two knotted tassels on the bow and prompted, "Think carefully about what these are on?" I noticed his gaze sweeping over them intentionally or unintentionally, and when I looked over, I immediately understood: a bicycle.
This bow was actually made from a bicycle handlebar! No wonder those two knotted tassels look so lifelike. When I was a kid, I often sat in front of adults on their bicycles, and when I looked down, I could see this thing!
Tang Long laughed and said, "You guessed it, didn't you? I welded it together from two bicycle handlebars."
Although I don't understand it, I know that there are requirements for bows, so I asked him, "Can it be flexible?"
Tang Long took the bicycle handlebars (I was too embarrassed to call it a bow anymore) and said to Hua Rong, "I've already made cuts in the bow body, and it's also filled inside. If you pull it hard, it will bend back, with five times the force of a regular bow. The bowstring is made of cow tendon with several strands twisted together. The whole bow can be summed up in one word: hard! Without 800 jin of strength, it's just a bent tube." As he spoke, Tang Long gave me a disdainful look.
Hua Rong picked up the handlebars, pulled them with focused concentration, and they immediately emitted a pleasant breathing sound, opening into a charming arc. Releasing them, they reverted to their ugly, crooked shape. Hua Rong nodded in satisfaction, then stretched out his hand: "Arrow!"
Tang Long piled a bag full of arrows with long feathers at Hua Rong's feet. They looked familiar to me—later Tang Long told me they were made from the tongs used for frying dough sticks.
Tang Long took out a large apple, balanced it on his head, and stood far away, saying, "Shoot the apple on my head! I have confidence in Brother Hua's skills, and even more confidence in the bow I made myself!"
Hua Rong called Li Kui over and whispered a few words in his ear. After listening, Li Kui ran to Tang Long, took the apple, and bit it into a thin core in a few bites. Then he placed it on Tang Long's head and ran back while saying, "Alright, shoot now."
Tang Long's legs went weak, and he put his hands in front of him, shouting, "Wait! I just remembered, I still have three push-ups to do today. Brother Shi Qian, you're the smarter one, you can take my place."
Hua Rong completely ignored what he was saying. With a slight twang of the bowstring, a dark arrow flashed before everyone's eyes, and with a "snap," the apple core was blasted into a cloud of mist, almost as if it had been hit by a bullet. The arrow continued its trajectory, exploding into a tree and sending splinters flying.
While wiping the syrup off his face, Tang Long cursed, "You damn pretty boy, I kindly made you a bow, and you're trying to scare me."
The heroes laughed, each picking up a few stones and shouting, "Brother Hua Rong, look carefully!" They then threw the stones into the air, and instantly, stones of all sizes rained down on them like a shower of flowers.
Hua Rong leisurely slung a satchel full of arrows over his back, his hands moving with unparalleled speed. He unleashed a rapid-fire barrage of arrows, each one shattering a rock. At its fastest, the arrows formed a continuous line, hissing and crackling, like a 7.62 caliber general-purpose machine gun firing, turning rocks into dust that covered everyone in its path.
Later, Hua Rong probably felt that even the rapid-fire arrows weren't enough, so he opened his palm, grabbed four or five arrows at once, and shot them all at once. Surprisingly, none of these four or five arrows missed their mark. When Hua Rong fired the last arrow, the last stone shattered into dust. The heroes roared with cheers, and someone exclaimed, "There's one more!"
Suddenly, a rock the size of a hawthorn berry fell from a great height. It was probably thrown by Zhang Qing, hence its powerful impact, taking so long to reach the ground. Hua Rong checked his back; his quiver was empty. Suddenly, a brilliant idea struck him. He ripped a quiver from his chest, nocked a bow, and fired again. The rock shattered instantly. Hua Rong had used nothing more than a mere button.
Hua Rong was still not satisfied. He picked up an arrow from the ground, nocked it, looked up at the sky, and pointed at it, saying, "Do you see that white bird? I will shoot it in the left eye." With that, he drew his bow and prepared to release the arrow.
I held him tightly, yelling, "Don't shoot! That's an airplane—"
Chapter 80 Building a Harmonious Education System
Goodness, this kid's really wild, always picking the big shots. Why doesn't he just point to something far away and say he's going to shoot the sun? That's 1.3 million times bigger than Earth, I could believe that too.
Just then, Hu Sanniang and Xiuxiu returned. Seeing the mess on the ground, Xiuxiu couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing?"
Hua Rong didn't see her. He slung his bow over his shoulder, chatting and laughing with his men, his arms around their shoulders, unintentionally exuding a heroic and spirited air. Xiu Xiu stared at him blankly and said, "I've never seen him like this before."
Hu Sanniang grabbed her shoulder and said, "Sister, do you see this? This is what a man is like. What good is being able to recite poems and play the zither?"
Xiuxiu stared at Hua Rong, murmuring, "But... he's changed so much. I never knew he had so many friends."
Now, she faces a cruel choice: to choose the artistic young man she once was or a bandit. We know that Hua Rong was originally a government military officer, but his resolute decision to join Liangshan shows that he was not a peaceful person at heart and belonged to the truly ruthless bandit type.
To officially celebrate Hua Rong's return, we have decided to hold a large banquet at noon, which will be attended by all Yu Cai employees, and the children will have a half-day off in the afternoon.
When I arrived at the canteen, I felt dizzy. The canteen was packed with people. The heroes were calling out to each other, and Duan Tianlang, Cheng Fengshou, Tong Yuan, and Bao Jin were all chatting and laughing. Even Yan Jingsheng had brought a stack of children's homework and was busy grading it before the food arrived. Xu Delong declined Duan Tianbao's invitation to sit with them and consciously sat at a table with the heroes. He was mature and composed, probably afraid that he might say something inappropriate while drunk and give himself away.
Song Qing went back to his old ways, directing people to move jars of Five Star Gin to the corner. Xiao Liu, cigarette dangling from his lips, was busy preparing the food, wielding a spatula. I pointed at him and shouted, "Ashes! You dropped ashes into the pot!"
Xiao Liu gave a cool smile, tilted his head slightly, and immediately a junior apprentice took the cigarette away from him, knocked off the ash, and put it back in his mouth. Xiao Liu said arrogantly, "Actually, I'm a first-class chef!" The junior apprentice next to him also told me without hesitation, "I used to study nursing!"
To be honest, today's situation is giving me a bit of a headache; it's almost like a tale from ancient times to the present. Apart from Bao Jin, those modern people like Cheng Duan are just skilled in martial arts, no different from ordinary modern people. What if my clients get a little drunk and say something careless that reveals a clue? I really don't know what they'll think.
The food had already started being served. Lu Junyi and the other leaders were sitting at one table, and they all called me over to sit with them. When I went over, I saw that besides Wu Yong and Lin Chong, Hua Rong and Xiu Xiu were also there, and Xu Delong, being a friend of Liangshan, had been pulled over as well. Hua Rong was entitled to sit at this table according to seating arrangement, and Xiu Xiu was his benefactor, which meant she was also a benefactor of Liangshan, so there was no question about it. But if we ranked them, I would be number 109. I pointed to Duan Jingzhu's table and said with a grin, "I'll sit there."
Lu Junyi pressed his hand down and said, "From the perspective of Liangshan, you are our brother; from the perspective of the wider world, you are the master here, so don't be so polite. Besides, we are all family, why be so formal?"
Xiuxiu whispered to Huarong, "You guys are playing pretty professionally."