Chapter 365: Sparring, Part I

Zhuo Yifan hesitated. This woman was a police officer; she must know a great deal about the short-hairs’ internal affairs. If he could charm her into gathering intelligence, it would save a world of trouble. He immediately said, “Then I shall respectfully obey.”

Lian Nishang said, “I work at the East Gate Market police station. I have two days off a month, on the fourth day of every month, starting from the first. You can find me at the north entrance of the cooperative department store at noon.”

“Alright. I’ll be there,” Zhuo Yifan thought, she is quite straightforward.

“It’s the local ‘Gregorian calendar,’ not the ‘Great Ming calendar.’”

Since they were both returning to East Gate Market, they traveled together. Zhuo Yifan, a young man of early success, was usually bold and meticulous. With this heroic and valiant policewoman by his side, he felt not fear, but a sense of pride. They chatted on the train, and he learned much about Lingao and the short-hairs from her.

Back at the inn, he told Wan Lifeng of the matter. Wan Lifeng said, “This is feasible, but we must be wary of a trap.”

“We haven’t broken any laws here. The short-hairs pride themselves on ‘ruling by law,’ so they wouldn’t just arrest people without reason, would they?” Zhuo Yifan had received a thorough “legal education” from Lian Nishang on the way.

“What you say is reasonable, sir, but I feel there is some risk,” Wan Lifeng, with his extensive experience, always seemed worried.

“We are also taking a risk. We can only take it one step at a time.”

As they were talking, a disciple of the Hengshan Sect came to ask for Zhuo Yifan. Abbess Miejing wanted to inquire about the recent situation of Zhou and Nan. They were two young women, living among several men for a long time without the supervision of their elders. If anything happened, it would bring shame to the sect.

Zhuo Yifan did not dare to tell the Abbess about Zhou Zhongjun’s current appearance, for fear she would get angry and ruin the bigger picture. He only said some good things to get through the task.

The night passed without incident. For the next few days, Zhuo Yifan had to deal with the various “sales pitches” from Li Xiaoliu and Li Xiaopeng. In order not to arouse suspicion, he paid a deposit for a house in Bigui Garden that was still under construction. He also used the excuse of preparing to move to have Li Xiaoliu take him around East Gate Market to familiarize himself with the local terrain.

The Bai Siwen family, however, was as anxious as ants on a hot pan. After the young master of the Bai family was arrested, the family had no connections in the local area and could only turn to Li Xiaopeng for help. Li Xiaopeng was so anxious that he stomped his feet. A case of harassing a woman was not too serious. According to the “Public Security Law,” the punishment was roughly a whipping and a few days in the cangue. However, Bai Siwen was the young master of the Bai family, the apple of his elders’ eye. How could they watch him suffer like that? Naturally, they wanted Li Xiaopeng to help resolve the matter.

In the Great Ming, this would not be a problem. But under the rule of the Senate, even if his grandfather Li Sunqian was willing to step in, it would be impossible.

But the Bai family was his client. If he completely ignored them, it would have a great impact on his reputation on the mainland. Li Xiaopeng had no choice but to feign compliance and promise to try to “pull some strings.”

The Bai family, in their desperation, tried everything. Regardless of whether they had any relationship with the other families living in the same inn, they sent their steward to deliver gifts and ask for help from each household. Zhuo Yifan was at a loss for words and could only politely refuse.

In the blink of an eye, it was the fourteenth. Zhuo Yifan went out alone and took a public carriage to the city center. There was a dedicated stop for the cooperative department store. After getting off the carriage, it was only a few steps to the north entrance of the department store.

Just as he arrived, he heard the sound of a bell ringing in the distance. It struck eleven times—the bell of the Shangguan clock tower. This was the latest version made by Dr. Zhong, and it could already strike the correct number of times on the hour, instead of just once.

Today, he was still dressed as a Confucian scholar, with a square scarf on his head, a lake-blue silk robe, pink-soled black boots, and a Korean folding fan in his hand. He was handsome, from a family of officials, and had studied under a master at Huashan. He was both elegant and heroic. Standing on the street, he had a temperament that was rare in the local area. The women who passed by, regardless of their age, could not help but take a second look.

Zhuo Yifan was looking around when someone suddenly called him from behind. He turned around and saw a young girl in a blue short-sleeved dress, with a white collar and cuffs, and a black ribbon tied at her chest. A rose-red, long, rectangular object was clipped to the side of her short hair. She wore white socks and black cloth shoes. Who else could it be but Lian Nishang? Every time Zhuo Yifan had seen her, she had been wearing the black “police” uniform. Though her appearance could be called beautiful, there was a fierce aura in her expression. This time, she appeared in an “Australian-style” dress, which made her look as delicate as a flower in spring. Zhuo Yifan was stunned.

“What? You don’t recognize me?” Lian Nishang saw him staring and gently touched his arm.

“Not at all, not at all. It’s just that your attire today is a bit unfamiliar…” Zhuo Yifan was slightly embarrassed. To be seen walking with a woman dressed in such “shameless” attire would be very detrimental to his and his sect’s reputation…

However, since things had come to this, he could not back down. He said, “Why aren’t you wearing your uniform today, miss?”

“Uniform? You mean the uniform, right?” Lian Nishang smiled. “Today is my day off. Why would I wear it? Do you only feel good when you see me afraid?”

Zhuo Yifan thought to himself that this woman had a big mouth. He smiled and said, “Do you have a great reputation here, miss?”

“I wouldn’t say a great reputation, but I am the household registration police officer here and also in charge of public security. I have handled many cases, so I guess I have some reputation,” Lian Nishang said nonchalantly, accepting the compliment.

The two of them walked together. Since they had agreed to spar, Lian Nishang took him to the “gymnasium.” Zhuo Yifan didn’t know what a gymnasium was, but he just followed her.

The county gymnasium was built on the bank of the Wenlan River. It was the height of spring, and the streets were full of new green shoots, and the flowering trees were in full bloom. Walking along the road, it felt like being in a painting. Zhuo Yifan felt refreshed and couldn’t help but exclaim, “It’s like being in the Peach Blossom Spring!”

Lian Nishang looked at him. “You just came from the Great Ming, didn’t you, doctor?”

“Yes,” Zhuo Yifan nodded. “It’s only been a little over ten days.”

“No wonder you have such thoughts. Compared to the Great Ming, this place is so much better.”

“Are you also from the mainland, miss?” Zhuo Yifan asked deliberately.

“Of course. Except for a few natives, all the people here are immigrants from outside.”

“I see that you are quite skilled, miss. You must be from a martial arts family,” Zhuo Yifan probed. From Lian Nishang’s skills last time, he could tell that this woman had been trained since she was young.

If she had practiced martial arts and had a master, they were fellow martial artists. He might be able to use this as a starting point to persuade her to abandon the darkness and turn to the light.

“You have a keen eye. I did indeed practice martial arts when I was young,” Lian Nishang nodded nonchalantly. “I’m out of practice now. As for my skills, they were mainly taught by the chiefs.”

The two of them talked as they walked, and the road did not seem long. In what felt like a moment, they had arrived at the entrance of the gymnasium.

The Lingao County Gymnasium had also been recently built. The large stadium was magnificent, but it was open-air, and some indoor sports could not be held there. For this reason, Director Xiong had proposed to build a gymnasium, on the one hand to promote mass sports activities and various sports, and on the other hand to provide an indoor venue for large meetings.

So the gymnasium was approved. Now that the Senate had plenty of steel and people, building a 1970s-standard gymnasium was not a major project. Soon, a gymnasium was completed on the bank of the Wenlan River. It was not particularly beautiful, but it was a rather amazing building for this time and space—enough to surprise Zhuo Yifan.

“Are you scared?” Lian Nishang smiled, not surprised.

“It is indeed incredible,” Zhuo Yifan nodded. “But it’s probably not a big deal here.”

“Exactly. The chiefs’ miracles are countless. This small gymnasium is just a drop in the ocean.”

Zhuo Yifan was indignant. The short-hairs are so good at deceiving ignorant young girls! A good girl, and she tells such big lies without even blushing.

He saw that on both sides of the main entrance were huge couplets with yellow characters on a red background. One side read: “Develop sports and strengthen the people’s physique,” and the other side read: “Life is endless, sports are endless.” He couldn’t help but wonder, These sentences don’t even have parallel structure, and the number of characters doesn’t match. What kind of couplet is this?

Lian Nishang led him up the steps and into the main entrance. Though the building was tall, it was very bright inside. It turned out that the roof was inlaid with a lot of glass. Zhuo Yifan looked closely and was immediately shocked.

The interior of the building was extremely tall and spacious. Not to mention ordinary houses and shops, even the halls of temples and Taoist monasteries were not so large. He was afraid that only the palaces in the Forbidden City could match this scale.

In terms of sheer size, the gymnasium was not world-shattering in Zhuo Yifan’s eyes. But the vast space under the roof, without a single pillar for support, was what truly shocked him.

Traditional wooden structures had limited spans due to the strength of the materials. To build a large house, a large number of pillars were needed for support. Therefore, whether it was the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Dacheng Hall in Qufu, or the Todai-ji Temple in Japan, the largest existing wooden structure in the world, they all had rows of pillars.

But the Lingao County Gymnasium used a steel truss structure, which did not require a large number of pillars for support, ensuring the transparency of the indoor space.

“Well? I wasn’t lying, was I?” Lian Nishang seemed to know what he was thinking and teased him.

Zhuo Yifan was speechless. Under the roof, the floor was all made of wooden strips, with white and yellow lines painted on it, and various pieces of equipment he didn’t recognize. Some people in shorts and short-sleeved shirts were running and jumping on it, or tumbling on the equipment, he didn’t know what they were doing. There were also two people in white shorts and short-sleeved shirts, standing on opposite sides of a fishing net, each holding a racket, running back and forth and hitting a ball. Zhuo Yifan saw that they were hitting it with great vigor, making “ow” and “ow” sounds. Though they were sweating profusely, they were all engrossed in it. He was secretly surprised: What are they doing?