What Should I Do If My Ex-Girlfriend's Pheromones Smell Too Good? - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Family Matters & The Most Rebellious Thing Done in Adolescence.

The instructor selected the tall and sturdy Su Heyi to step forward and provide a demonstration, correcting several of his improper movements.

“Practice ten times each in pairs. I will come around to guide each group one by one,” she assigned the task.

Yan Xiangyu picked it up very quickly; having a certain foundation, she only needed to correct a few redundant habitual movements.

Shu Qiong didn’t have it as easy. Her bones and muscles were stiff, she lacked flexibility, and she clearly looked non-aggressive.

When the instructor walked to their group, she commented, “Too refined. No fighting spirit.”

The two of them exchanged moves softly, as if practicing “Mandarin Duck” kung fu.

Shu “Technical Personnel” Qiong: “…”

Shu Qiong’s hesitation caused Yan Xiangyu to hold back her strength throughout. The instructor, possessing incredibly sharp eyes, waved her hand and called Su Heyi over: “You! You spar with Yan Xiangyu.”

Su Heyi walked over with a gentle smile and bowed to Yan Xiangyu: “Pardon me.”

The two quickly engaged in combat, every move and stance following the most standard textbook style of sparring.

The instructor was immediately satisfied, explaining to Shu Qiong as she watched: “Understand now? You can’t flinch when punching; you must have an indomitable momentum, but the retraction must be clean. Look at Student Yan’s lower limbs—a very standard defensive posture. At this time, we should follow up with the third set of tactical evasion…”

Shu Qiong nodded—her eyes understood!

The instructor then stopped the two, who were locked in a stalemate: “Student Su, you try sparring with Shu Qiong.”

Shu Qiong immediately became nervous. She hadn’t been in a single fight since she was a child!

If she had a gun in her hand or was piloting a mecha, she might feel a sense of security, but in pure hand-to-hand combat, Shu Qiong truly lacked confidence.

Su Heyi’s starting moves were fast, her rhythmic style being the polar opposite of her gentle temperament, and her strength was surprisingly great. Shu Qiong defended passively, her footwork appearing slightly disorganized during her retreats.

Under the instructor’s sideline direction, Shu Qiong consciously adjusted her breathing. She slowed down slightly while retreating, but her posture became much more standard. She was constantly sensing and adapting to the rhythm of the battle. Aside from the few times she was hit at the beginning, she was eventually able to dodge all of Su Heyi’s attacks.

However, Shu Qiong was still rarely seen attacking; she dodged blindly, focusing entirely on finding flaws in Su Heyi’s movements.

Su Heyi also intentionally slowed the rhythm, controlling her strength.

Extending a punch, swinging an arm, tilting the head, lifting a leg…

Su Heyi’s movements were practically flawless.

Suddenly, Shu Qiong’s peripheral vision caught Yan Xiangyu watching the battle, and inspiration struck.

She abruptly changed her previously conservative stance of only dodging without attacking. She leaned in close to Su Heyi’s waist, braced herself to take one of Su Heyi’s sandbag-sized punches, and without a word, slammed into the most vulnerable part of the opponent’s body with the force of “Lin Daiyu uprooting a weeping willow.”

The aesthetic value was zero, and the technical skill wasn’t much better.

Shu Qiong felt bitter inside; Su Heyi’s base was too stable, her upper body strength was difficult to face head-on, and her head was even harder to reach. She could only use some “unorthodox” methods.

The tickle attack.

Su Heyi stumbled in shock, her face written with disbelief.

Shu Qiong was invigorated—her chance had come!

Where strength failed, reaction speed made up for it. Seizing the moment the opponent was dazed, she executed a horizontal leg sweep, finally performing the most standard tactical posture she had shown so far.

Instructor: “…”

Shu Qiong rubbed her nose and awkwardly helped up Su Heyi, who had fallen after failing to dodge in the confusion: “Seeing how good your relationship with Tiantian is and how you never let anyone touch your waist, I guessed you were ticklish. A victory by unfair means, a victory by unfair means.”

Su Heyi laughed: “It seems I’ll have to watch out for this weakness in future bouts. Fortunately, mechas aren’t ticklish… By the way, how’s your arm?”

Earlier, in order to get close, Shu Qiong had taken a hit. Su Heyi hadn’t been able to pull back in time and had used seventy to eighty percent of her power; being hit by that definitely wasn’t pleasant.

Shu Qiong shook her head: “It’s okay. I managed to divert some of the force.”

The instructor’s expression was complicated.

She had realized that Shu Qiong’s offensive combat skills were a mess, but her tactical evasion could be described as progressing at lightning speed.

Forget it, forget it. Considering the other party was currently a mecha manufacturing student, she waved her hand and left to guide the other single-soldier groups.

After the instructor left, Yan Xiangyu pulled up Shu Qiong’s sleeve to check: “Are you really okay?”

Shu Qiong assessed the feeling and said with a smile: “It’s just a flesh wound. If I were afraid of pain, I wouldn’t have applied for the Mecha Department.”

The two of them went over the movement details a few more times before finally welcoming a short class break.

The instructor clapped her hands and announced: “The format for this year’s Inter-High Mecha League is out, and there are some innovative parts.”

Unlike competitions like the Mecha Design League, which are specifically for mecha masters, the Inter-High League is a grand event for all mecha department students in the entire Alliance and has higher popularity. As soon as these words were spoken, the eyes of the whole class turned toward her.

Under the curious gazes of the crowd, the instructor explained: “The main change is that there is no longer a mandatory regulation on the professional mecha composition ratio for each team.”

As the words fell, the crowd immediately erupted into a hubbub of discussion.

In previous years, the competition format strictly regulated the configuration of each participating high school team. The main team had to consist of one commander, one mecha master, and three single soldiers. However, the abolition of this hard requirement this year undoubtedly meant a major reshuffle for the participating teams of each high school. The matches would be more exciting, tactically more flexible, and richer in strategies.

Shu Qiong sighed softly: “The format has been innovated; can ‘crazy maneuvers’ be far behind?”

Yan Xiangyu evaluated objectively: “The watchability will increase significantly.”

The Inter-High League had been held for over twenty sessions, and it was becoming somewhat aesthetically fatiguing. Although the public’s passion for mechas remained high, there weren’t many exciting strategies left for professionals to excavate.

Shu Qiong guessed: “Since the main format can change, the match content might also have major revisions. This year’s contestants are having it too hard! They know nothing, many past experiences are no longer applicable as references—it’s pure exploration.”

She felt sympathy.

However, just as she expressed her sympathy, she was called away by the instructor responsible for the mecha school team’s daily training.

“Shu Qiong, are you interested in joining the school team? You must have heard about the reforms in the Inter-High League; our school team is currently working hard to explore new combination modes.”

The instructor asked her, “The Military University school team has never discriminated against freshmen for their lack of seniority. I’ve looked at your practical class assignments; you have a great sense of innovation.”

The same rhetoric was also delivered to Yan Xiangyu and Su Heyi.

The three of them looked at each other.

“You can try out for the school team’s assessment first,” the instructor said. “Three members of last year’s main school team graduated: a commander, a mecha master, and a breakthrough-position single soldier. That leaves one sniper-position and one scout-position single soldier. For this league, we will either move people up from the bench or select new talent.”

She tempted them, “Give it a try. After entering the school team, you can skip classes legitimately, and even being a substitute can earn you academic credits~”

The three were shamelessly tempted.

In the afternoon, they arrived as agreed at the training venue dedicated to the school team. This place didn’t cover as much area as the mecha department’s public training ground, but it excelled in having a wide variety of equipment and fewer people.

Several other candidates had also come along, and Shu Qiong saw Jin Yan at a glance.

That head of blonde hair was truly too flamboyant in the crowd, and for some reason, she was crossing her arms with an unhappy expression, looking as if someone owed her several hundred million.

“Young lady, what happened?” Shu Qiong bumped her friend’s arm.

Turning her head to see a familiar face, Jin Yan’s expression softened slightly: “Did you blacklist your dad?”

Shu Qiong’s face immediately darkened: “He came looking for you?”

Jin Yan nodded: “It was bizarre. He asked how you were doing, said he was worried about you, and told you to call him when you had time.”

Shu Qiong gave a cold “Heh”: “Sounds like he’s short on money. Ignore him.”

Jin Yan’s expression was complicated; Shu Qiong’s father-daughter relationship was truly different from typical families.

Usually, children ask their elders for money, but Shu Qiong’s father had to use Shu Qiong’s connections to ask the Shu family for huge living allowances to maintain his daily luxury spending.

“He brought it on himself, who else can he blame?” Shu Qiong looked like she didn’t want to talk much about it. “This man always loves to put on an act—an affectionate husband and a kind father in front of people, but selfish, cold-blooded, and thin-skinned in private. My mom has terrible taste.”

However, she could understand her mother’s thoughts a little. It was likely that when she was young, she was fed up with her grandfather forcing her into marriage and didn’t want to marry into other aristocratic families, so she found a “soft-meal man” who looked decent, had obvious weaknesses, and was easy to handle, and hurriedly got married.

And her father, the famous “Phoenix Man” who high-profiled his love back then and even changed his name to Chen Aishu to show his unwavering love for Shu Ci, could indeed provide the emotional value Shu Ci needed.

In short, Chen Aishu was handsome, physically fit, and knew how to coax people, but he was a total brainless idiot.

It could be seen from the fact that even though he had to rely on his daughter Shu Qiong to maintain his status as a son-in-law in the Shu family, he still made the father-daughter relationship so strained—this gentleman simply lacked self-awareness.

“Let’s not talk about him,” Jin Yan said, seeing Shu Qiong’s face darken as she fell into memory, and proactively changed the subject. “My mom is having a birthday banquet this weekend. She said she’d pick us up on Sunday night.”

Shu Qiong immediately agreed: “Sure, I’ll bring the gift then.”

Jin Yan yawned: “Forget the gift. Look at my mom; what gift is she lacking?”

After saying that, she muttered, “And I don’t know what world-shaking big thing my mother is going to give her this year. She’s been very secretive lately.”

Hearing this, Shu Qiong thought of the way Jin Yan’s two mothers—one Alpha and one Omega—interacted, and fell silent.

Last year, the former gave the latter a luxury custom diamond-encrusted “Desert Star” themed supercar. Driving it on the road was practically blinding. Consequently, the sunglasses Shu Qiong gave last year surprisingly received high praise from Jin Yan’s mother.

Shu Qiong actually quite liked the atmosphere of the Jin family. Unlike the “dog-blood” (melodramatic) atmosphere of wealthy families full of gossip, the Jin family was a famous model “Five-Good Family” in the aristocratic circle. Of course, this could be glimpsed from the occasional dim-wittedness shown by Jin Yan herself.

The younger generation of wealthy families her age were either scheming against each other or cultivating a cunning mind; how could they grow up into such a “ham-handed” manner?

Therefore, Shu Qiong had loved running to the Jin house since she was a child. Ms. Shu Ci was too busy to stay home, and it was a miracle if her father Chen Aishu could remember he had a daughter. At a young age, Shu Qiong knew how to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, developing a set of skills to please the elders of the Jin family.

Both of Jin Yan’s mothers had a very good relationship with Shu Ci; they were close friends who had played together since childhood. Consequently, they also took great care of the little “bean sprout” Shu Qiong, raising her as a biological sister alongside their own daughter and inviting her to have dinner at the Jin house during festivals.

As for the Shu family, Shu Qiong felt distant instead. Ever since she could remember, she knew of her grandfather’s feudal patriarch attributes. Thus, as soon as Shu Ci became economically independent, she basically stopped interacting with the family.

Shu Qiong inherited her mother’s attitude toward the family. The only person in the Shu family she had a good feeling for was her grandmother.

Her grandmother had no temper and no opinions of her own. The outside world called her Mrs. Shu and viewed her as a “vase”—obedient, virtuous, and listening to her husband. The only “outrageous” thing she had ever done in her life was helping her youngest daughter hide her decision to privately apply for the military academy.

When Shu Qiong was little, she often saw her mother and grandmother arguing; they would fight over even the most trivial things. But she knew that after Shu Ci left the Shu family, what she missed most was still her grandmother.

Shu Qiong remained silent, her thoughts floating at a high altitude with nowhere to land, just like her drifting sense of belonging.

The evaluation of her by the instructor of the single-soldier Class 1 popped into her head: “High caution, low aggressiveness.”

“The assessment teachers are here.” Yan Xiangyu’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “What are you thinking about so intently?”

Shu Qiong crinkled her eyes and blurted out: “Thinking about you.”

This wasn’t a lie. Because she truly discovered that for someone as cautious and steady as herself, the most rebellious thing she had done during adolescence was actually having a premature relationship with Yan Xiangyu.

It seemed this person truly gave her a lot of security.

Shu Qiong saw a faint red crawl onto the tips of Yan Xiangyu’s ears again and unceremoniously grinned and laughed.