novelraw Chapter 299 Extra 19: I Quite Enjoy Being Your Human Punch Bag
Chapter 299 Extra 19: I Quite Enjoy Being Your Human Punch Bag
After a series of changes, our Tong family decided to move to the countryside. I was ten years old that year.
My mother and sisters didn't hide anything from me and Xiaoqi when they discussed things. Because we were young, they didn't explain much to us.
Actually, I already understand a lot of things. I know that some people are scheming against my mother, my father's job and pension, and even us girls who are about to grow up.
My third and fourth sisters are twins. They were kidnapped by human traffickers, but luckily my eldest sister was clever enough to lure the criminals out and rescue them. I heard there are many more criminals there, and it's a gang. I'm very worried they might harm my family.
This incident terrified me. I felt like all the strangers around me were bad people. Whenever I went out, I would hold Xiaoqi's hand tightly, afraid that she would be kidnapped by human traffickers.
My older sisters take care of most things at home. My mother and eldest sister handle the big things, while my second sister, along with Linglong and my fifth sister, do the smaller things. I just need to look after Xiaoqi so they don't have to worry about us.
Actually, I really want to go to the countryside. There are vast fields there, a group of children running around and playing freely, and I would have the freedom that parents would never call me back for dinner.
Haha! Once I get there, I can build a new Boy Scout team and continue being my general!
My wish came true soon. When we arrived at Chenjiatun, where we were sent to work in the countryside, my mother recognized a god-sister, Aunt Cheng. She had a cheerful personality, and she and her brother had ten bald boys in their family, which was more than enough for a class!
My mom adopted this god-sister quite casually. We had just arrived in Qingshi County and went to a state-run restaurant for a meal. Aunt Cheng, who worked at the restaurant, saw our group of girls and her eyes lit up. She took the initiative to chat with my mom, and her words clearly showed her affection for us sisters.
Mom and she got along quite well, but then a troublemaker showed up, claiming to be the wife of some leader, and started arguing with Aunt Cheng. In the end, Aunt Cheng called the police, and the woman didn't get away with it, leaving after uttering some threats!
Aunt Cheng then suggested becoming sworn sisters with my mother so they could stay in touch. The eldest sister readily agreed, calling her "Aunt" and saying she would visit once she was settled. She mentioned she had four younger brothers, three sons, and seven nephews—all boys—and that she cherished daughters dearly!
I'm really curious what it would be like to have ten boys in the house? Would they be very naughty? Would I be able to beat them if I played with them?
My older sister went to visit relatives before the New Year, taking Xiaoqi with her, while I went to the market with my mother to exchange things. Maybe it was because Xiaoqi was too small, and they were afraid of losing her!
I didn't see Aunt Cheng's bald-headed boys right away; they got home quite late. Xiao Qi vividly recounted how Aunt Cheng's youngest son had mistaken soda for poison and drunk it. It was all thanks to my older sister that the child was saved!
I'm so incredibly curious! What kind of clueless child and careless mother could make such a mistake? I have to go and see what kind of bizarre mother and son this is!
Later, my older sister took me and Xiaoqi to visit another family, and that's how I met them. They were warm, straightforward, and generous, and their children were mischievous but also very loyal.
When school started, Xiaoqi and I attended elementary school in town, where we were classmates with some of the older students. One time, Xiaoqi got into a fight with some of the older students, and everyone called on each other to help. Jiang Chengshan, the eldest son of Aunt Cheng, also joined the fight with more than a dozen of his brothers and friends!
The result was that people from all grades in the school participated in the brawl, involving forty or fifty people. We older students were all criticized and required to write self-criticisms. The instigator, Xiaoqi, however, was comforted by the teacher, who told her to tell the teacher if anyone bullied her again. Is there any logic to this? If she hadn't hit that third-grade brat, and those kids hadn't gone to find their older brothers and sisters, I wouldn't have gotten involved. He's in the same class as Jiang Chengshan; if I hadn't participated, he wouldn't have known about it. In the end, we were all dragged into this by Xiaoqi, and she got away scot-free while we took all the blame!
"Brother Dashan, did you get a beating when you got home?" I asked cautiously, since our parents had both been called in!
"No! After my mom found out what happened, she said I did the right thing! She said if anyone bullies my two younger sisters again, I should keep hitting them! Hehehe!"
Yes, I believe that's something Aunt Cheng would say!
"Actually, you didn't need to bring so many people. I can beat them all by myself! Really! I'm very strong, I'll protect you from now on!"
"That won't do! My mom says girls need to be protected. From now on, I'll go first in any fight, and you can come if I can't win!"
From then on, Jiang Chengshan became a shield in front of me, making it impossible for me, a great master, to use my skills and giving me no chance to practice!
With my eldest sister's permission, I took Aunt Cheng's son and nephews as disciples of the Tong family, teaching them ancient martial arts techniques and skills. They were nominally my mother's disciples, but in reality, I was the one who taught them.
Many times when we sparred, he always got utterly thrashed. The other junior students were unwilling to spar with me; whenever I suggested a match, they'd all run far away. Only this big, goofy guy, no matter how many times he got slammed and thrown around, was always the first to step forward!
Of course, he didn't suffer in vain. He improved the fastest and became the strongest among all the brothers. The gap between him and the others was not small.
However, it's too unfair to always use him as a human punching bag, so I occasionally switch people to torture.
"It's okay, senior sister, I'm willing to be your human punching bag..." He called me senior sister when we were practicing martial arts, and I called him Brother Dashan in normal times.
Actually, he's less than half a year older than me. When I first met him, he was almost a head taller than me, and I thought he was two or three years older than me. I should have known better than to call him "brother"!
He would always follow me at a distance, not too close, while everyone else was having fun. He also liked to pick wildflowers from the fields and slopes and weave them into a wreath to put on my head to shield me from the sun...
We spent our childhood and adolescence together happily. Neither the hustle and bustle of the outside world nor the huge changes in my family affected me much. I also gradually transformed from being cautious and wary of unfamiliar environments and strangers into a more cheerful and outgoing person.
Jiang Chengshan and I were classmates from fourth grade all the way to high school graduation. His grades were a little worse than mine, and sometimes I had to tutor him. So we were the closest of friends, and Aunt Cheng treated me like her own daughter.
My high school classmates in the county thought we were either blood siblings or cousins, and even asked us if we were paternal or maternal cousins!
We graduated in 1977, but there was no news of the resumption of the college entrance examination at that time. Just then, my eldest sister, who had been missing for several years, came back.
My older sister told us that the college entrance examination might be reinstated soon, so we intensified our studies and applied to the Economics and Trade College in Yan City together.
Entering university felt like a dragon returning to the sea. We joined a martial arts club together and defeated a challenger from country R.
Those people were showing off and injured one of our group members. Jiang Chengshan stepped in as a new member and severely injured those guys who came up to provoke us.
He quickly became a hero in the eyes of many girls. Some took the initiative to send him letters or confess their feelings, and some even asked me to pass on messages to him!
He naturally didn't accept anyone's advances, and there was still no sign of him finding love until we graduated.
At that time, the country was eager for talent from all walks of life. I was assigned to the Ministry of Commerce, while he was assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After a period of training, he would work in embassies abroad.
During this time, he kept in touch with me, telling me about his experiences and sending me various gifts. It wasn't until I had been working for a few years that my mother started urging me to get married, and I also received the news that he had been transferred back to China.
"Brother Dashan, aren't you planning to find someone and get married? Has Aunt Cheng been urging you?"
"No, my mom said if I can't find someone I like, I should just wait. Anyway, my second brother is already married and has a little daughter. My mom hasn't had enough of doting on her granddaughter yet, she doesn't have time to worry about me!"
"So you don't have anyone you like? What kind of person are you looking for?"
"Hmm... Xuanxuan, have you ever thought about it? I really enjoy being your human punching bag. I'd like to sign a long-term contract with you. What's your opinion?"
"Huh?!" I finally realized, was this a confession to me?
"When did you start having these thoughts?"
"Senior, you're so oblivious! I've been saying this since high school, almost ten years now!"
I thought about it and agreed, after all, it's not easy to find a willing "human punching bag"!