Chapter 24: Dare Not Accept the Challenge?
After all the performances were over, Liu Yingzi sat in a corner, her fingers fiddling with the strap of her bag.
Shanshan making the list was pretty much a sure thing now.
But a fire was smoldering inside her.
Her own daughter, Jiajia, danced more steadily than anyone. Even the judges had quietly nodded and praised her.
’If it weren’t for that little bitch Shanshan pulling strings behind the scenes, how could she have been eliminated?’
She just couldn’t swallow this insult!
"A bunch of blind fools!"
"Some little wild child, dressed so shabbily, hair like a bird’s nest, and you all treat her like a treasure! Are your eyes on your asses?"
She gritted her teeth, stomped her foot hard, and turned to rush toward the stage.
"You’d better explain this to me—"
Cao Daqiang grabbed her arm and yanked her back.
"Where do you think you’re going?"
He kept his voice extremely low.
"What else could I be doing?"
Liu Yingzi whipped her head around, her eyes red-rimmed.
"Look at your daughter! Her eyes are swollen from crying! Maybe your heart doesn’t ache as her father, but I can’t stand it! If I don’t vent this anger, I’m not her mother!"
Her face was purple with rage, drawing quiet side-long glances from a few other family members nearby.
Cao Daqiang glanced around, and his heart sank.
In the back rows, a line of leaders sat perfectly still.
He immediately tightened his grip on Liu Yingzi’s wrist and dragged her to a pile of miscellaneous items in the farthest corner.
"Are you crazy? The back rows are full of leadership! If you rush up there and make a scene now, by tomorrow, the news will be everywhere: ’Cao Daqiang’s wife threw a public tantrum because her daughter lost a competition!’ How are we supposed to show our faces after that?"
Liu Yingzi heaved for breath, tears welling in her eyes.
"So we’re just going to let it go?"
Her voice trembled.
"Jiajia has been wronged, and as her parents, we don’t even have the right to speak up for her?"
Cao Daqiang was silent for a few seconds, his gaze slowly falling upon his daughter.
Jiajia was sitting in a front-row seat by the window, her head lowered, her shoulders trembling slightly.
A pang of frustration hit his chest, and he suddenly spoke.
"No, this isn’t over."
Liu Yingzi snapped her head up, a faint glimmer of light flashing in her eyes.
"The selection for the deputy battalion commander is tomorrow."
Cao Daqiang lowered his voice.
"There’s a martial arts competition in the district, held on the east side of the training ground. I’ll make Yang Dapeng understand..."
He paused, his gaze as sharp as a blade.
"...just who that position belongs to!"
"Can you really do it?"
Liu Yingzi was skeptical.
"Yang Dapeng used to be a famous tough guy! Wouldn’t go down after three shots, broke the 100-meter obstacle course record at thirty-five seconds—even the drill sergeants at boot camp were a bit afraid of him. I heard when he was injured back then, he broke two ribs and didn’t even grunt when the bones were dislocated."
"Don’t worry."
Cao Daqiang gave a cold smile.
"You said it yourself, that was before his injury. Even if he’s recovered a bit, how good can he be? At best, he’s a crippled general, a good-for-nothing who can’t even run steadily!"
As he spoke, he raised his right hand and clenched his five fingers into a fist, his knuckles letting out a series of sharp CRACKS.
"You just wait. Tomorrow, I’ll definitely give you a reason to be happy."
The next morning, Cao Daqiang walked straight toward Yang Dapeng at the edge of the training ground.
"Huh?"
Yang Dapeng was squatting on the ground cleaning his gun. Hearing the sound, he looked up, stunned.
"You want to spar with me?"
He looked Cao Daqiang up and down, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
But compared to Yang Dapeng, the man’s waist, arm circumference, and leg strength were a whole class below.
"What, you don’t dare accept the challenge?"
The corner of Cao Daqiang’s mouth twitched up in a smirk, his tone light and dismissive.
"Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to bully you. Look at me,"
He deliberately lifted his right foot, which had a layer of bandages wrapped around the ankle.
"My foot is still sprained, I’m even limping. We’re both injured, so it’s perfectly fair."
The phrase "perfectly fair" almost made Yang Dapeng laugh out loud.
He slowly stood up, stuffed the cleaning rag into his pants pocket, and looked up at Cao Daqiang.
"You know... the more you talk, the less sense you make."
’Looking at Cao Daqiang’s earnest expression, he figured the man must have a screw loose. Did he really think a limp leg put him on equal footing with a trained fighter like me?’
There was a competition today, so Zhang Yunhua had specially brought Shanshan to watch.
"Dapeng, since Captain Cao has made the challenge, you should just accept it."
She tugged her husband’s sleeve and urged him softly.
Hearing this, Yang Dapeng nodded, walked forward, and accepted Cao Daqiang’s challenge.
"Alright, I’ll go easy on him and try not to let him get hurt. After all, he is Shanshan’s biological father."
After speaking, he ruffled Shanshan’s hair and turned to get on the platform.
Shanshan opened her mouth, wanting to say that he didn’t actually need to go easy on that man.
But before the words could leave her mouth, her uncle had already walked away.
Zhang Yunhua saw her conflicted expression and also smiled, pinching her cheek.
The two of them looked up at the stage.
Cao Daqiang had a gentle smile on his face, looking like a rather amiable person.
But Zhang Yunhua didn’t believe for a second that he was really that honest.
Her husband had been famous for his fighting skills back in the day.
Although he had kept a low profile for a while after his injury, his reputation remained.
Now that he had just earned a commendation, his star was on the rise again.
Cao Daqiang had clearly spotted an opportunity and was trying to use her Dapeng as a stepping stone to climb higher.
And it was just like her soft-hearted Dapeng to be worried about not hurting the man.
The other guy, however, had no such reservations.
"Auntie, are you worried about Uncle? Don’t be scared, Uncle’s body recovered a long time ago. He’ll definitely win!"
"Mm, Auntie isn’t worried. Let’s cheer for him together, okay?"
Zhang Yunhua picked Shanshan up so she could see more clearly.
Just as the referee began to explain the rules, Liu Yingzi walked in with her daughter.
The mother and daughter were dressed gaudily.
Jiajia wore a little pink dress with a sequined bow in her hair.
Liu Yingzi wore a purple silk jacket and was teetering on thin high heels.
The moment they entered, they attracted a ton of stares.
"Tsk, so gaudy and flashy."
Zhang Yunhua glanced over and muttered quietly in Shanshan’s ear.
Shanshan exchanged a look with her auntie, and they both almost burst out laughing.
They quickly covered their mouths, their shoulders shaking.
"Well, if it isn’t Zhang Yunhua? Come to watch your Dapeng’s little show? You should come watch this one. After all, he’s a cripple, who knows if he’ll ever get another chance to fight after this."
Liu Yingzi started making sarcastic remarks the moment she got close.
But Zhang Yunhua wasn’t one to be trifled with and retorted on the spot.
"What’s wrong with being a cripple? He’s a cripple who used to take first place. Some people might not even be able to beat him."
"Hah, how interesting. Jiajia, watch closely and see how your dad easily beats a cripple."
"Yeah! My daddy is the strongest, he can beat that good-for-nothing with no problem!"
The mother-daughter duo’s back-and-forth was well-practiced.
Shanshan hugged Zhang Yunhua tightly and whispered comforting words in her ear.
"Auntie, don’t be scared. Uncle will be fine. He was so amazing before, he won’t lose now either."
Seeing them quiet down, Liu Yingzi lifted her chin, the corners of her eyes gleaming with triumph.
Although she kept saying, "Uncle will definitely win," a trace of unease was still hidden in Shanshan’s eyes as she looked at the stage.
She believed that good people shouldn’t lose to bad people.
But she also knew she couldn’t secretly help her uncle; that would be unfair, and it would be wrong.
With a blow of the referee’s whistle, the match officially began.
Jiajia immediately started screaming at the top of her lungs, cheering for Cao Daqiang in a shrill voice.