Chapter 73 0075: Touching on Sensitive Topics

After properly sending Liu Yu back to her hospital room, Chu Yun breathed a sigh of relief and returned to visit his teammates.

The old principal of the First Martial Arts Academy had actually tracked down Liu Yu and spoken at length, praising her and disparaging Lan Feng as worthless. This stirred Liu Yu’s emotions; she wanted the best for her son and wished for him to return. Otherwise, she would have refused to cooperate with the surgery. Fortunately, Chu Yun had just finished refining the serum, and everything was ready for her to be fully cured.

Left with no choice, he brought her along to visit Zhang Yang and the others, hoping to cheer her up.

Liu Yu’s mind was simple, solely focused on her son’s future. Chu Yun could only try to persuade her.

“Class leader, are you serious?” Zhang Yang looked at Chu Yun and asked, “Do you really plan for us to qualify and head to the finals?”

“Is there a problem?” Chu Yun took out a cigarette, stuck it in his mouth, and lit it.

“You’re fine,” Wang Biao said, “but we’ve got issues—a lot of them. Have you seen what’s said about Lan Feng and us on the martial arts forums? The reviews are pretty accurate: freeloaders.”

“Just answer me—if you had the ability, would you be willing to fight and change things?” Chu Yun asked.

“Absolutely,” Zhao Hu replied. “But class leader, we’re almost out of time. In two years, we’ll hit the age limit for the tournament. How much can we improve in two years? I’m really touched that you want us to stay on the team. As long as you don’t mind, I’ll fight alongside you. But I’m afraid we’ll hold you back. With your skills, you should be on the top team in Guanshan. We just feel it’s a pity for you.”

“That’s all I needed to hear.” Chu Yun looked at the rest and asked, “What about you? If I don’t mind having you, are you willing to fight with me?”

Zhang Yang replied, “You know what our greatest strength is? Thick skin. As long as you don’t mind us, I’ll stick around no matter what!”

“Me too!” Zhao Hu said.

“So am I,” Lin Yu echoed.

“Good.” Chu Yun nodded. “But I want you to excel in another skill as well.”

“What’s that?” Zhang Yang asked.

“Sturdy bodies—thick skin,” Chu Yun replied.

Wang Biao boasted, “Isn’t our skin thick enough? We’ve been beaten by Longjiang’s team for three days straight. Go check if their skin’s grown calluses yet—hmph!”

“Alright, then everything’s settled.” Chu Yun flicked away his cigarette, standing with his arms folded as he addressed them, “I have a way to make you stronger. But I require you to follow my training regimen unconditionally. From today until the tournament, you must all obey my daily instructions. If I tell you to go east and you go west, you’re out!”

“Deal,” Zhang Yang stood up. “You let us stay and continue collecting the scholarship—you’re the boss, your word is law. We’ll all be looking for jobs after graduation anyway, and the pay isn’t always better than here. So do as you wish.”

Thinking of graduation, Chu Yun asked offhandedly, “Have you found good jobs yet?”

Zhang Yang and the others shook their heads. “Are jobs really that easy to find? Graduates from the First Martial Arts Academy can qualify as warriors at eighth or ninth tier. The big families recruit clan guards from them first. It’s never our turn. At best, we work as guards for the small clans, but the salary is pretty low.”

“How about this, then,” Chu Yun said. “After you graduate, you can follow me and become my attendants. I’ll give you the same treatment as the clan guards in the big families.”

Since he was training them, he might as well benefit from it himself.

“Really?” Zhao Hu and the others immediately perked up. “That’s settled then! We’ll report straight to the Ye Residence after graduation.”

Little did Zhang Yang and the others know that this contract would make them the eight fiercest enforcers for the Ye Residence in the future.

Chu Yun nodded. “No problem. Heal up quickly. I’ll be waiting for you at the academy.”

With that, Chu Yun tossed the remaining cigarettes to them and turned to leave. At the door, he ran into Hou Manman, who seemed puzzled by Chu Yun’s refusal to let the academy recruit outside talent.

“I finally convinced the academy to pressure them into recruiting stronger team members—why did you refuse?” Hou Manman said, exasperated. “Don’t you realize you’ll face Duanmu Ci? His team will be stronger than yours, and if he bears a grudge against you during the matches, who’ll help you? That’s why I negotiated with the academy, and without even telling me, you went ahead and submitted the roster. Now the tournament officials will only recognize those people.”

She had her own competitive spirit, and everyone took the tournament seriously. That’s why she worked so hard to persuade the academy to reinforce the team. Who could have guessed Chu Yun would make such a unilateral decision, submitting the roster so the officials would only acknowledge that group?

Chu Yun walked toward the surgery room, while Hou Manman continued to fret for him.

At the entrance to the surgical suite, Chu Yun motioned for silence.

Hou Manman, annoyed, folded her arms and leaned against the wall, glaring at him, unsure what he was waiting for.

An hour passed before the doors to the operating room finally swung open. Liu Yu, her face pale, was wheeled out on a hospital bed.

Chu Yun immediately stepped forward to help push her back to her room.

Hou Manman still didn’t know who this woman was. When the attending physician handed Chu Yun the report and said, “The family member needs to sign. The surgery was very successful,”

“Thank you,” Chu Yun replied, signing the form, then sat beside Liu Yu, smiling at her. “Mom, how do you feel?”

Liu Yu’s eyes were red as she clutched Chu Yun’s hand anxiously. “Son, tell me, how did you get this serum? Did you pay some price? I heard it’s extremely expensive. Where did you get the money? You didn’t trouble the Ye family again, did you?”

“Mom, lie down first,” Chu Yun soothed her, then spoke gently, “I’ll explain everything to you in time.”

Only then did Liu Yu notice a beautiful young woman standing nearby. Surprised, she asked, “Who is she?”

Hou Manman brushed a strand of hair aside; her anger from earlier vanished, replaced by a shy smile. She crossed her long legs elegantly, ready to greet Liu Yu with sweet politeness, when a certain cold voice interjected, “You should go now.”

Hou Manman felt like she could bite him.

Ignoring him, she put on her most graceful and charming smile. “Hello, Auntie. I’m Chu Yun’s classmate.”

“Hello, hello,” Liu Yu replied, surprised that her son had such a lovely classmate. In this practical world, she knew her son’s circumstances well; it was fortunate enough that any girl would be friends with him. Seeing someone as beautiful as Hou Manman was unexpected.

Chu Yun just wanted to send Hou Manman away. “Look at you—coming to meet someone without bringing a gift. Go buy one quickly.”

Hou Manman wanted to kill him!

Why bring up the worst possible topic?

Damn!