The Taming of the Ruffian Hero

Lin Wenxi looked at his watch. It was 3:00 am. He hurriedly pitched up his tent to have some rest. Zhang Dong walked back into the wood, nimbly jumped up and climbed up a thriving tree. As the tree had many branches, he put his backpack on some crossed branches and slept with his head on the backpack.

He squinted his eyes, looking at Lin Wenxi. Lin Wenxi mounted his flashlight to a tripod holder, letting the light shot toward the slowly flowing river. The river reflected the light back on his calm face. Zhang Dong somehow felt that the night became even quieter because of the calm look on Lin Wenxi’s face. Lin Wenxi rubbed his tent and the hesitantly looked at Zhang Dong.

Zhang Dong smiled and turned around. He leaped to some other crossed branches of the tree and swiftly wove the smaller branches there into a nest for his head. After that, he tied himself up with two vines to create a swaying hammock for himself. He yawned relaxedly and glanced sideways at Lin Wenxi. He saw Lin Wenxi run to the tree without saying a word and thought, “Well, he’s still a child.”

Zhang Dong found Lin Wenxi unusually quiet now and wondered, “What is he thinking now?”

“Instructor Zhang?” Lin Wenxi said softly. Zhang Dong remained silent.

“Instructor Zhang.” Lin Wenxi raised his voice, but his voice still sounded somewhat squeaky. Zhang Dong was not satisfied with that and still remained silent.

There was no sound.

As Zhang Dong was lying with his face toward the sky and his back toward the ground, he could not see Lin Wenxi clearly. Suddenly, he felt a tickle on his nape. He wanted to turn around but failed to do so, since he was tied up by the vines. After that, he felt a tickle in his armpit, on his waist, and then somewhere below his waist… He could not help but tuck his tailbone and thought grumpily, “Sure enough! A man can be killed but can not be humiliated!”

“Lin Wenxi, what’re you doing? Don’t poke my ass!” Zhang Dong cried out with a loud voice.

“I see…” Lin Wenxi said and then used the dry twig in his hand to poke Zhang Dong’s back for a few times.

“What? You did that again! You…” Zhang Dong untied himself, grabbed the tip of a branch and jumped down, his face full of anger.

“You just asked me not to poke your ass…” Lin Wenxi said somewhat embarrassedly.

“If you want to call me, speak louder!” Zhang Dong said sternly. Lin Wenxi was stunned. He moved his lips but failed to utter a word.

“Did your platoon leader talk like that in your military training?”

“No!” Lin Wenxi straightened his back and replied loudly.

“Attention!”

Lin Wenxi stood up straight.

“At ease!”

Lin Wenxi immediately stood at ease.

“About turn!”

He turned around.

“Quick march!”

Lin Wenxi marched toward the river, but gradually, he slowed down. The surface of the swelling river, which was about 30 meters in width, was already on a level with the river bank. The river seemed to flow slowly, but Lin Wenxi could clearly see some vortexes in it. He thought, “This river looks quiet on the surface, but the undercurrent beneath the surface must flow very fast. Once I fall into the river, I can never survive even with the help of Zhang Dong.’

As he got closer and closer to the river, he felt anxious and slowed down.

“Attention, about turn!” shouted Zhang Dong. Lin Wenxi stood upright and then turned around, while feeling the cool vapor blowing on his back and hearing the river roaring behind him.

“Why did you call me just now?” Zhang Dong asked loudly. Lin Wenxi could only hear his voice and could not see him in the dark.

“Instructor Zhang!” Lin Wenxi replied loudly.

“Why did you call me?”

“I want to…” Lin Wenxi stuttered.

“About turn! Quick march!” Zhang Dong shouted.

Lin Wenxi turned around, took a step forward, and then took another step forward, feeling hesitant. Now, he was only about one meter away from the rushing river. Within three steps, he would end up in the river. With this in mind, he could not help but shudder with fear.

“About turn!” Zhang Dong asked Lin Wenxi to stop again. Lin Wenxi stood in the wind and trembled.

“Why did you call me?”

“Report to Instructor Zhang! I want to sleep in the tree!”

“Why do you want to sleep in the tree?”

“…” Lin Wenxi was rendered speechless.

“About turn!” Zhang Dongqing shouted again. Lin Wenxi felt hurt upon hearing his cold voice and thought, “Well, Zhang Dong can never let me die here. He just wants to push me by putting me in this dangerous situation. If I refuse to obey his orders and leave this place, he’ll probably just deduct my points.” The next moment, when Lin Wenxi thought of the stern look on Zhang Dong’s face, his slanting eyebrows and his determined mouth, he somehow felt that he could never disobey Zhang Dong.

He turned back again and replied loudly, “Because it’s fun!”

“Dismiss!” Zhang Dong commanded and set Lin Wenxi free. Lin Wenxi stumbled forward with his wobbly legs, and when he managed to return to the tree, his legs were still shaking.

Zhang Dong nimbly climbed up the tree, tied a few vines to a branch of the tree and then cast them down for Lin Wenxi. He grabbed the vines and slid down to hold Lin Wenxi up. Lin Wenxi grabbed the vines and tried his best to climb up. As the vines twined too tightly around his arms, he felt really hurt. His military instructor, however, just ignored all his pains and climbed up the tree again. After resting in the tree for a while, Zhang Dong heard Lin Wenxi fall to the ground and groan.

After a long time, Lin Wenxi finally climbed up the tree and panted heavily. Zhang Dong was a little surprised and gazed at Lin Wenxi. He thought of the strong-willed boy during the military parade again. “Back then, Lin Wenxi insisted on leaving the formation and practicing alone. Now, he seems to have fully recovered from his illness. It’s great to see him act like this than see him lying on the bed all day long,” Zhang Dong thought pleasedly.

Zhang Dong taught Lin Wenxi how to build a “bird nest” to rest his head on and how to tie himself up with vines. He taught him to tie a slipknot and put a finger into the loop to stop it from untying during sleep. By doing so, they could also untie the knot rapidly if there was an emergency. When they got ready to sleep, the day had begun to break. Lin Wenxi set his alarm and fell back on his swaying hammock made of branches and vines, feeling relaxed and comfortable.

Not long after he closed his eyes, he was woken up by his alarm and opened his eyes again. It was a quiet and misty morning. The mountains and rivers in the distance evoked his memories of ink-wash paintings, and the wood on the top of the mountain was covered with golden sunshine. A bird skimmed the surface of the Yinshui River, leaving some ripples behind, which looked like a smile on the surface of the river.

Lin Wenxi felt great while enjoying the scenery. He yawned and breathed some fresh air. It was 5:30 am. He felt energetic, although he had slept for only about one hour.

He looked at Instructor Zhang. He lay on his back with one knee bent, looking vigilant during his sleep. He frowned slightly. It seemed that he had heard his alarm but still did not want to open his eyes. Lin Wenxi wondered, “He’s probably a student from the Army Civilian Police Academy in the other city. He looks about 23 or 24 years old. What kind of life does he live?

“According to Zhao Yuan, the reason Zheng Kai is equipped with so many extraordinary skills is that he’s a graduate from the Green Fields Military Academy. He said that the academy trains its students strictly. As to this Zhang Dong, he has probably never showed his full strength in front of us.”

Gradually, Zhang Dong stopped frowning and did not look so grim as usual. Lin Wenxi smiled slightly upon seeing that. He remembered how Zhang Dong had jumped down the tree with a brand in his hand. As he was deeply impressed by the movement, he wanted to try it by himself.

Lin Wenxi struggled to stand up and jumped off the branch, while grabbing another branch in hand.

To his surprise, before he landed on the ground, he felt that the branch in his hand could not be bent anymore and was about to bounce back. He wanted to release that branch but felt hesitant. The next moment, the bent branch bounced back, sending him up into the air.

“I’m flying now…” Lin Wenxi thought when he was sent up into the air. After that, when he fell down toward Instructor Zhang, he was too frightened to scream. He quickly bumped into the military instructor, and his knee smacked into something soft between the military instructor’s thighs. Zhang Dong groaned with pain and curled up. In the end, both of them started to slide down the tree toward the ground.

Lin Wenxi felt that this was his mistake and wanted to get behind Zhang Dong to protect him from hitting the ground directly. Nevertheless, before he could move, Zhang Dong had already held his waist with one hand and grabbed a branch with another hand to slide down to the ground.

When they landed, Zhang Dong tried to stand up straight but failed and bent down. The next moment, he tried to stand up again, but failed one more time.

“Uhm… I’m sorry… It’s the first time that I’ve tried this new skill…” Lin Wenxi scratched his head and said bashfully, waiting for Zhang Dong to punish him.

“That’s alright… It’s always great for you… to learn new things.” Zhang Dong forced a smile to Lin Wenxi and then said with a solemn face. “But you can’t try something new regardless of the consequences. And you can’t be hesitant when it’s time for you to make a decision. If we were on the battlefield, you would accidentally kill the brothers around you. Do you understand?”

Lin Wenxi could not fully understand Zhang Dong’s idea but he still nodded his head