NOVPUB"Everyone’s attention, eyes on me, eyes on me!"
Aunt Gu stood at attention, positioning herself to begin.
"Just like me, bend your knees and relax your hips."
Her instruction was detailed, and the students followed along.
"Then lift your left foot, pointing your toes upward."
Gu Wei pointed at several students: "It’s the left foot, not the right!"
"Toes in the air, got it?"
Before she could finish her sentence, nearby, Gao Heshuai, who was teaching another class, was demonstrating with his foot raised when he stumbled and almost fell.
The students suppressed their laughter.
...
After about fifteen minutes of instruction, the group hadn’t really learned much, so they dispersed.
Jiang Ning didn’t return to class; instead, he went out to eat with Xue Yuantong.
Because the school had shortened the afternoon dismissal time for Tai Chi practice, Jiang Ning had told Aunt Gu in advance that they wouldn’t come back for dinner the next few days.
There were many students on the main path of the campus, so Xue Yuantong and Jiang Ning took a smaller path near the flower beds where it was quieter.
Xue Yuantong whispered:
"Last time, Bai Yuxia mentioned a new mutton soup restaurant that opened on the west side of the school, saying it’s delicious. Let’s check it out."
"Yes," Jiang Ning recalled. Indeed, there had been a decent mutton soup place near the school gate, which he’d visited twice with his classmate Huang Yuzhu.
It was just slightly out of the way; it took ten minutes to walk from the school to the restaurant.
That’s probably why the place only lasted three months before closing abruptly.
Later, even when Jiang wanted to go, he never got the chance.
After they left the campus and walked west for a few minutes, Xue Yuantong looking at the shops on either side suddenly said:
"Jiang Ning, did we take a wrong turn?"
It was her first time coming here; she couldn’t have led them astray, could she?
"Nope, it’s just ahead. We can see it on our way to school." Jiang Ning was familiar with the location of the restaurant.
"Oh, you’re very observant, Jiang Ning," she complimented, a rare occurrence.
"Of course."
As they walked, their classmate Huang Yuzhu, who was about twenty meters behind them, walked silently. He usually went home, but his routine had been disrupted by the Tai Chi lesson, so he came out to eat.
He had overheard Bai Yuxia discussing the restaurant and planned to try it.
After yesterday’s rain, Yuzhou, being a small city, had a decent amount of pedestrian traffic near Fourth Middle School, but the roads weren’t very wide. There was only one narrow road, which frequently had potholes filled with muddy water.
Huang Yuzhu walked carefully along the edge of the road, avoiding the puddles. In the past, he’d been splashed by passing cars and doused in mud, familiar with the embarrassment, so he was always cautious.
Not everyone has the same decency as he does.
An electric scooter zoomed by from behind.
The rider was a woman in her forties or fifties with permed hair and a face caked in a generous layer of pale makeup.
The scooter raced by so fast, barely grazing Huang Yuzhu and splashing up a bit of water. Luckily, Huang dodged quickly, as only a few drops hit his shoe.
Huang stopped in his tracks, almost cursing out loud.
Then he saw that Jiang Ning and Xue Yuantong were one meter away from a large puddle on their left, and he watched as the electric scooter drove through it. 𝒏𝒐𝙫𝙥𝙪𝙗.𝒄𝙤𝙢
The once still puddle roared to life, muddy and filthy water spraying up, and lunged at Jiang Ning and Xue Yuantong.
Jiang Ning was wearing a white jacket, and Xue Yuantong was in orange-pink; it was foreseeable that the dirty water would drench them both.
Huang Yuzhu couldn’t shout a warning in time; all he felt was indignation.
Why are there so many inconsiderate people in society?
Yet, he watched as the splashed water rose midair, as if running out of momentum, and fell back down, landing on the ground near the two of them.
"Lucky break," Huang Yuzhu muttered to himself.
He wasn’t the kind of person to revel in someone else’s misfortune.
"Damn it!" Huang Yuzhu glared at the electric scooter. The rider, the old woman, didn’t stop or seem to care that she had almost dirtied someone else’s clothes.
Xue Yuantong, protected inside by Jiang Ning, was nearly startled by the splash.
Jiang Ning’s coat was a gift from her, and it was his first time wearing it!
"So infuriating!" Xue Yuantong gritted her teeth.
Jiang Ning just smiled; indeed, it was pretty annoying.
So, he moved a finger, releasing a bit of Spiritual Power.
"You’re still smiling, aren’t you angry?"
Xue Yuantong found Jiang Ning strange; she suddenly remembered never seeing him angry, always with a smile.
Unlike her, who got angry at least once every day.
Just after she finished speaking, she saw the scooter that had driven off some distance suddenly lose control, swerving wildly.
With another violent shake, it crashed to the side with a "boom," toppling over.
Since it was going so fast, the scooter skidded across the ground for over a meter and went straight into a puddle.
The woman, head buried in the water, hair wet and bedraggled, looked a miserable sight.
Huang Yuzhu felt a surge of satisfaction, as if his grievances had been avenged.
He had been splashed more than once and even had trouble with electric scooters while riding his mountain bike. Before, he could only acknowledge his bad luck.
Now, he felt a sense of release and began to applaud involuntarily:
"Clap, clap, clap!" Applause rang out.
His face, which looked around thirty years old, revealed a genuinely simple smile.
Xue Yuantong pointed at the scene ahead, exclaiming:
"Jiang Ning, Jiang Ning, she got her comeuppance!"
"Yes," Jiang Ning agreed, their karma is themselves.
