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墨書 Inktalez
The sky finally cleared up. No matter how much wheat was lost this year, it had to be harvested, as it was the staple food for every household and also needed to pay the grain tax.
Some families had already cut down their wheat but hadn’t brought it into the wheat field yet. The children were mobilized by the adults to use wooden forks to turn over the wheat bit by bit, drying it out before loading it onto carts to take it to the wheat field for further drying. They spread it out evenly, and the next step involved one person wearing a straw hat standing under the sun, guiding livestock to pull a stone roller over the wheat countless times, a process commonly referred to as "grinding." In between, they would repeatedly use wooden forks to sift out the wheat straw, and only after this laborious process would they finally see some results in the form of mixed milling chaff and grains.
However, this was still not the final result. They had to pile up these mixed grains, husks, and awns and, taking advantage of the wind, use wooden shovels to toss them into the air so that the wind could blow away the milling chaff while they swept away any remaining wheat straw, leaving only the sifted grains.
Every step of this process was labor-intensive and dirty work.
This year, with the wheat lying flat on the ground, even those families willing to spend money on a harvester found it useless. They had to rely on manual labor with sickles, cutting one bunch at a time while bending low or squatting down, which was even less efficient and more exhausting.
For the uncomprehending children, they hoped that while the adults were cutting wheat, they might stumble upon a rabbit's nest and catch a few bunnies. In reality, however, what was most commonly encountered during this process were hedgehogs and snakes.
During this time, Hu Ruoyun was desperately trying to remember this year's entrance examination questions at school but regrettably couldn’t recall any of them.
The time for middle school students to advance to high school and elementary students to move up to middle school exams was approaching. Thanks to a successful early harvest of wheat, Hu Ruoyun became the "hero" of his family, allowing Hu Qihua and Zhao Meirong to encourage him to focus on preparing for his exams at school.
Although he couldn’t remember what subjects would be tested this year, Hu Qihua recalled another incident from his memory: during the entrance examination in town, after finishing the first exam, a classmate named Jiang Qiuying was harassed by some street thugs on her way home. Xiong Debiao, who was stout and honest-looking, saw this happen and stepped in to stop them. Unfortunately, he was stabbed in the abdomen by one of these thugs with a triangular bayonet. If not for timely medical attention, he might have lost his life!
Due to his injury, Brother Biao couldn’t participate in any of the remaining subjects and thus missed out on high school. Jiang Qiuying was so frightened that she performed poorly in her remaining subjects and ultimately failed her exams. The class flower and top student whom their homeroom teacher and school had high hopes for fell from grace as a result.
It was said that those thugs were children of officials from the County Government Compound; the leader was even the only son of the Deputy Director of the County Public Security Bureau. After the incident occurred, these privileged youths seemed not to face any real consequences aside from paying a little compensation through their families’ connections with the school—an advantage often enjoyed by those with power or wealth during that era.
Since he could remember these events, perhaps there was still hope for change.
In the dead of night, Hu Ruoyun quietly got up, dressed, and tiptoed out to the playground without disturbing the other students sleeping in the dormitory. He began to practice the Vajra Fist.
As he moved through the techniques, Hu Ruoyun found himself flowing effortlessly, his movements powerful and dynamic.
The Vajra Fist, also known as the Vajra Arhat Fist, is one of the older and more representative traditional martial arts styles from Northern Shaolin. Its complete system, rich martial arts connotations, unique technical forms, and practical self-defense applications have established it as a significant presence in the realm of traditional martial arts.
The Vajra Fist is a close-combat style that emphasizes "every move has force, every force has method, and every method is useful." This ancient martial art, which embodies the efforts of several generations and retains its "original ecology," features a vigorous and powerful stance with fierce decisiveness and exquisite precision. The overall technique is divided into four sections, comprising eighty-one movements characterized by heavy power, speed, stability, solidity, and clarity. Its application is marked by simplicity, quickness, mutual use of fists and legs, simultaneous offense and defense, evasion of direct attacks while striking at vulnerabilities, and a harmonious blend of hardness and softness.
In terms of technique, it excels in "rapid successive strikes with heavy hits, swift movements in both directions, unexpected forceful strikes that are decisive and overwhelming." It focuses on close-range combat with low kicks as a priority, short punches and elbows for quick changes, grappling throws for control, and seizing opportunities for submission. Thus, its techniques emphasize "long-range punches and kicks, close-range knees and elbows, grappling for control when necessary."
Although Hu Ruoyun practiced smoothly without any real combat experience to assess its effectiveness in a fight, he was determined to change the fates of Xiong Debiao and Jiang Qiuying—or rather their life circumstances.
At just fourteen years old, he felt the weight of planning this endeavor with the wisdom of someone aged forty-six. He aimed not only to help Brother Biao and Jiang Qiuying resolve their issues but also to ensure that those scoundrels paid for their misdeeds.
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