The next day, Yu Lian woke up very early and thought about making breakfast for his family and Feifei himself, but when he went into the kitchen, he found a pot of stewed meat porridge on the stove, four-colored buns in the steamer, and three small cold dishes to go with the meal.
He tasted a bite… it was a familiar skill, Feifei's skill.
Yu Lian quickly finished breakfast and went directly to the dojo across the street.
He had, of course, already agreed to go sweeping tombs with Feifei, but there was no need to leave so early; he could do some morning exercises first.
Daily morning exercises were a good habit that Feifei and Yu Lian had developed since they were eight or nine years old, and they had maintained it to this day.
As soon as he entered the main gate, he saw Feifei dressed in a training uniform, happily pummeling a dummy made of composite plastic.
Wearing sportswear and with her black hair tied back in a ponytail, she still wore a smile, but her cheeks were flushed, and she was sweating profusely, full of the rhythm and vitality of exercise. Compared to her usual dignified and steady self, she was a completely different person at this moment.
With a heavy punch, she sent the dummy flying more than a meter away before stopping and saying to Yu Lian, “Yu'er, you’re here? Want to join?”
Yu Lian really wanted to say, “I’m a spiritual energy user and a grown man, how can I bully a girl?” But in that instant, the fear of being dominated by Feifei for years, belonging to the original owner, surged into his heart. After thinking about it carefully, it seemed he hadn't beaten her since he was eight years old.
“Eh heh, eh heh heh, I’ll just practice on my own.”
“Okay, then I’ll continue by myself.” Feifei’s eyes narrowed into a beautiful crescent moon again, and she spread her hands at Yu Lian, then started gesturing towards another dummy.
Feifei practiced a new style of martial arts called Atomic Punch, which was also the main business of their family dojo.
The so-called Atomic Punch was a practical combat technique created three centuries ago by a martial arts grandmaster from Earth named Chen Qiying, who integrated the strengths of various martial arts from the Earth mother planet's civilization era and also studied the combat skills of other civilizations.
After mastering his martial arts, Chen Qiying personally went to the Celestial Domain of the Imperial Capital to challenge various experts from across the universe. There were victories, of course, but also defeats, martial arts heroism, and bloodshed.
In short, after omitting nearly a million words of cosmic martial arts stories filled with grievances and enmities, this martial arts grandmaster indeed carved out a place for his martial art.
This was a practical martial art; ordinary people could use it for physical fitness, self-defense, and self-protection. It was also a spiritual energy martial art; when combined with spiritual energy, it could shock hundreds of miles and tear apart the sky and earth.
In short, Atomic Fist was recognized by all sectors, including the Virtual Spirit Temple, and was even transcribed into the Temple's Infinite Martial Arts Library.
Didn't I mention it before? The Present is an era where a hundred flowers bloom (of cold weapons) in martial arts. Martial arts like Atomic Punch, which can almost be considered a famous brand of Earth martial arts, are naturally highly revered. And Feifei’s father, Mr. Willis Lee, also had real skill—this could be seen from Feifei’s combat power. Their dojo business naturally remained good.
Anyway, in Yu Lian’s memory, Feifei never worried about money. The first holographic immersion game helmet Yu Lian received when he was 12 was her birthday gift.
Of course, don't think Yu Lian was freeloading; he paid her back with a full year of carrying bags and handmade desserts.
Mr. Willis Lee, whom Yu Lian called Uncle Wei, was not home again today. This was a perfectly normal situation.
According to the dojo disciples, Uncle Wei was actually very well-known in the martial arts world. He often had to participate in martial arts exchange activities and occasionally had to travel abroad. Among his disciples were also some social celebrities or children of prominent families, who would sometimes pay handsomely to have him come to their homes for private lessons or special tutoring.
Feifei's mother died young; Yu Lian had never met her. Since her father's job required him to be away often, she could only eat at Rongxia Restaurant across the street.
In a sense, Feifei, like Yu Lian, grew up eating at Rongxia Restaurant, and her uncle and aunt naturally regarded her as half a daughter.
She was indeed so excellent that others couldn't even feel jealous. Besides her impeccable academic performance, she fully inherited her family's skills, winning the (non-spiritual energy group) Youth Martial Arts Championship in the Greater China Region and reaching the top 64 in the Galaxy Youth (non-spiritual energy group) Martial Arts Competition's unarmed combat event. By the time she was fifteen, she even started teaching in her father's place.
As the two practiced their punches and chatted, the conversation quickly turned to yesterday's topic.
“Oh, people from Jingyang Company, right? I knew about it long ago.” Feifei was not surprised at all and even knew their background.
“You knew?”
“Yes! When Yu'er went to New Yumen for his internship, I received their email. I ignored it, and they even personally came to visit me at the academy.”
“Why, why didn’t they look for Uncle Wei?”
“When I was sixteen, my dad transferred the dojo and the land under my name.”
…What a good father!
“They really want to break through one by one. Uncle Liu’s Rongxia Restaurant is the oldest establishment on the entire Fu Street, and his culinary skills are the best, giving him the highest prestige on Fu Street. As for our dojo, as you’ve seen, it’s the largest in area and also the most valuable. As long as they conquer our two families, the rest will be easy to solve,” Feifei said with a smile.
“Yes, the small shops on Fu Street occupy such a good location, yet they have always lived a slow-paced life. For some people, this is a sin. They can’t give up that easily.”
“Not to mention, the new mayor is also a very proactive gentleman who is eager to make a big impact.”
They wanted to discuss it further, but at that moment, several of Feifei’s senior brothers who were coaches at the dojo, as well as the disciples for morning class, arrived one after another, so they stopped their conversation.
The disciples had changed quite a bit, but the coaches were all familiar faces to Yu Lian, so there was naturally a joyful conversation.
After finishing the morning class, the two said goodbye, quickly showered, and changed clothes. Then, Feifei skillfully retrieved the key from a gap in the garage floor tiles and drove out Uncle Wei’s antique car.
There was no other way; Feifei only had a flying motorcycle, and Yu Lian only had a Balance vehicle, but since they were going to sweep tombs, they had to bring some things.
The two drove for twenty minutes, leaving the urban area of Jin City and arriving at a cemetery in the suburbs, nestled against green mountains and waters. This was where Yu Lian's parents were buried.
The two got out of the car, carrying various offerings and flowers, and walked up the steps of the mountain path. The closer they got to their parents' resting place, the more the original owner's somewhat vague memories of his parents slowly resurfaced.
His mother, Liu Qiluo, was a carrier-based aircraft pilot in the Suspension Arm Fleet. As a soldier, she didn't spend much time at home, but even so, she gave Yu Lian all her love, pouring out everything she had.
Yu Lian remembered very clearly that while other playmates might have various luxurious high-end toys, he was the only kid in the entire neighborhood who had a handmade swing and slide. All of them were made by his mother with her own hands during her few precious holidays.
Then, there was his father, Yu Xiao, an ordinary Engineer with average work ability but who was indeed very handsome and good-tempered.
His mother was busy, so his father took on the job of taking care of him. His work ability was average, and his housework and cooking skills were also very average, but he could be considered dedicated. Yu Lian's most vivid memory from his childhood was mischievously making a mess of the house, with his father scrambling to clean up, but unable to keep up, so the two of them would simply sit in the messy room and giggle. When his mother came home, she would see two fools, one big and one small, acting silly.
This period of memory was not long, but it was truly very warm.
Then, on the day he was almost four years old, he sat on the swing his mother had made, waiting for her to come back. She had long said she would come back for his birthday and bring him a big fighter jet model.
He waited and waited, but what came was his pale-faced, red-eyed father.
His father changed later; his cooking got better and better, his housework got better and better, but the smiles on his face became fewer and fewer.
He also seemed to get busier and busier, often away from home for long periods. Yu Lian could only eat his three meals a day at kindergarten, or occasionally go to other people's homes for food. Fortunately, by then, he understood the changes that had happened at home and tried his best to be well-behaved and sensible, trying not to trouble his father.
The kindergarten and the surrounding neighbors mostly pitied and sympathized with him, a child without a mother, so they would help out as much as possible.
His uncle and aunt would occasionally come over and take him to stay for a month or two. When he was almost seven and about to start school, they simply took him in to live with them directly.
A few more years passed, and when he was ten, his father also died in a space accident. It was said he went to repair a faulty power device; he saved the device and hundreds of people, but he himself never returned.
“The instantaneous burst temperature of the power furnace is very high. He didn’t suffer, I promise, he absolutely didn’t suffer!” The person in charge of the space station, facing his uncle who was gripping his collar, raised his hands and shouted.
There was a government official who came with him, and he handed Yu Lian a silver-gray medal.
“Your father is a hero,” he said.
Yu Lian expressionlessly took the medal, but his other hand, hidden behind his back, tightly clutched another one.
In a flash, it had been over ten years!
Yu Lian wiped his slightly sore eyes, feeling a warm hand take his. He looked at Feifei, and the two exchanged a knowing smile, continuing up the mountain, and soon found his parents' graves.
But to Yu Lian and Feifei’s surprise, a man in a gray-black military officer’s overcoat was also standing in front of the two side-by-side gravestones. He stood there silently, eyes closed, like a silent, towering tree.
He seemed to hear footsteps, turned his head, and faced the two approaching figures.
“…You still look like your mother,” he said.
Yu Lian surveyed the other person up and down, not bothering to hide his puzzled expression.
“Don’t you recognize me? Little Yu Lian, I’m Uncle Wang from next door!” He revealed a simple and honest, even somewhat shy smile, and the aura that had been like a sturdy pine or cypress immediately vanished.