Chapter 22: Becoming the Devil's Coach

  Ji Xin'an changed his clothes and tied sandbags to his legs, thinking as he walked out that his relationship with Yu Yao was not very good to begin with, and now he had come to play the villain. It seemed that his first enemy was about to appear, and it was himself who had forced him into this situation.

  "It seems we really are fated, wherever I go, I can always run into you." Ji Xin'an hadn't even thought of how to get rid of her yet when Yu Yao was already standing in front of him.

  "It's not fate, I came here today to tell you that I'm going to challenge you and win against you fair and square. My purpose in coming here is to prove that whether it's my strong points or your advantages, I am stronger than you and will win against you." Yu Yao raised her chin, looking at Ji Xin'an with unyielding determination and full of confidence.

  Yu Yao decided to come here after knowing that Ji Xin'an comes here every day since last time. She not only wants to compete with her in learning and piano, which are her own strengths, but also wants to compete with her in Ji Xin'an's strong points.

  Ji Xin'an was so choked that she couldn't say a word, it turned out that Yu Yao wasn't suddenly interested in this, but she came for her, and Guo Rong still let herself be an obstacle for her, isn't it the more anxious the more chaotic? If Yu Yao's personality is really like what Guo Rong said, as long as she doesn't leave, it's not easy to make her leave.

  "Hey, Yuyao, you're also like this. If you like Zou Ze, just go for him, what's the point of competing with me? This scene suddenly made Ji Xin'an extremely depressed. But since I promised Guo Rong, I couldn't just go back and tell her I didn't want to do it now, it seemed that this bad guy had really taken it for granted. "Yuyao, coming here to train is mainly for interest, you don't like these things, in order to compete with me and come here to learn something you don't like, isn't it a waste of time?"

  "I don't think so, I just want to win you now, as long as I can win you, it's not a waste of time." Yu Yao ignored Ji Xin'an's advice, seemingly determined.

  "You want me to win? I can also go where there are pianos and good grades, what's wrong with that, must it be here?" Ji Xin'an said with a bitter smile.

  "Because I know that none of those things matter to you, only winning against your strongest self counts." Yu Yao wiped away the sweat that was already dripping down her forehead.

  "Alright, since that's the case, I'll accept your challenge. However, you should think about how to stay here first." Zhi Xin'an stopped persuading her, knowing her personality, anything he said would be a waste of words, it was better to let her know when to retreat as Guo Rong had said.

  In the following days, only the two of them trained every day, so Guo Rong happily handed Yu Yao over to Ji Xin'an. It was only then that Ji Xin'an discovered that this young lady's body was not normally weak, and she would get leg cramps after running a few more steps, and her hands would go soft after hitting a few more times.

  "Get up, this is just three laps, not even a thousand meters and you're already crawling down. You're wasting your time and mine too. If it's going to be like this, we might as well go back." Ji Xin'an stopped but was still running in place, while Yu Yao had collapsed onto the ground, motionless.

  Yu Yao didn't speak or was already unable to speak, and Ji Xin An's words were so piercing in her ears. Having grown up in a sea of praise since childhood, she had never been treated this way before.

  She stood up stubbornly and continued to run forward. Although she was not much faster than walking now, Jing Xinan didn't say anything this time, just following beside her until he felt it was enough and called a stop.

  "Alright, let's just do this for today and add more later." As soon as Ji Xinan told her to stop, she immediately fell back onto the ground motionless. "Get up, you can't rest right after running, walk slowly by yourself."

  "I'm exhausted, let me rest for a while." Yu Yao was truly out of energy this time, otherwise she would never show weakness in front of Ji Xin'an.

  Ji Xin'an walked forward and pulled her up, "Can't move? Still have to get up."

  Yu Yao finally stood up with Ji Xin'an's support, and after walking for a while, she recovered some of her strength. When Ji Xin'an saw that she had almost recovered, he found a place to start teaching her the military body fist in the same way his master had taught him.

  When I was an apprentice, I didn't think much of it, but when I became a master, it was a different story. Not only was my body tired, but my heart was also tired. Because Yu Yao really wasn't suitable for practicing this, her punches were soft and weak, her kicks were gentle and powerless, and her movements were severely out of shape. Meanwhile, Ji Xin'an fully implemented Guo Rong's conversation spirit, severely striking her, "Punch with force, this is military boxing, not tai chi."

  Yu Yao repeated the action, using a bit more force than last time, but still not quite right. Ji Xin'an corrected her movement, "This is a straight punch, if you lean any further it will become a hook punch."

  "Lift your legs a bit higher, make sure the movement is in place." Almost every move, Ji Xin'an had to guide her movements with her hands. Fortunately, they were both girls, or else Ji Xin'an would have never experienced this kind of treatment before.

  Under such repeated corrections and verbal blows, Yu Yao endured it, silently listening to Ji Xin'an's guidance.

  Watching her like this, Ji Xin'an felt a little admiration and was still unwilling to give up. She had planned not to waste time and get rid of her in one day, but if she insisted on going on like this, wouldn't that be a miscalculation?

  So Ji Xin'an brought the application in actual combat that should be taught after she practiced proficiently to today, and every time she taught a move, Yu Yao would fall once. Although Ji Xin'an was very careful, with her physical quality, falling once would make her hurt so much that she would grimace.

  "Hurry up and get up, don't dawdle." Ji Xin'an looked at Yu Yao who had been lying on the ground for half a day and felt that it was about time.

  At this time, Yu Yao felt an unprecedented discomfort, not only physical pain but also verbal sarcasm. She suddenly stood up from the ground, "Ji Xin'an, what do you mean, why are you treating me like this?"

  "What's wrong with you? This is all normal training. If you can't even handle this, then just go back!" Ji Xin'an looked at her with a hint of helplessness in his eyes, seeing the hatred in hers.

  "You're talking nonsense, there's no normal training like this, you're just targeting me." Yu Yao was so angry that tears were welling up in her eyes, but she gritted her teeth and bit her lip hard, holding back the tears.

  "Is that so? You can think that way if you want, but I've been trained this way. If you can't take it, then leave." Ji Xin'an leaned back against the wall with a rather provocative expression.

  Yu Yao saw Ji Xin An's shamelessness and was so angry that she couldn't speak.

  Ji Xinan thought she would storm off, but unexpectedly, after a while, she came to her senses and decided to continue training. However, the resentful expression on her face made Ji Xinan feel a chill run down his spine.

  In the following days, Yu Yao endured the double blow to her body and spirit. Although she was still exhausted after running a thousand meters and could only pretend to throw punches, she persisted stubbornly.

  On the contrary, Ji Xin'an was getting more and more anxious, not only did she have to teach her, but also had to occasionally use verbal blows to strike her, or think of other ways to make her give up. It really wasn't easy being a mentor. But as long as Yu Yao didn't leave, she couldn't stop either, and still had to continue on.

  A week's time had passed and Yu Yao didn't know how many times she'd been thrown out, her whole body was covered in bruises, every time tears welled up in her eyes, even Ji Xin An couldn't bear to watch. But thinking about it, he too had gone through the same thing, maybe even more severe than hers, yet somehow he hadn't felt so much pain? He couldn't help but wonder 'Am I a masochist?' and shuddered at the thought.

  Ji Xin'an's original intention was to drive away Yu Yao, but it wasn't until now that she discovered her method seemed to be wrong. Yu Yao had been coming for herself all along, and her cold words couldn't drive her away. On the contrary, they were more effective than any encouraging language.

  Ji Xin'an couldn't help but feel a headache after realizing this point, but she really couldn't think of any other way.

  But just as Ji Xin'an was helpless about this matter, another person made her completely give up.

  Ever since she was going to bring Yu Yao, she came earlier than usual every day, first running five kilometers by herself, and then waiting for Yu Yao to arrive to teach her. But today, someone else arrived before her, none other than Yu Yao's best friend, Shi Lin. As soon as she saw Ji Xin An arriving, she rushed over, "Ji Xin An, what did Yu Yao do to offend you? You're treating her like this, from childhood to adulthood, not even her parents have ever hit her, and now she's been beaten by you until her whole body is covered in wounds."

  "Xīn Lín, are you here to reason with me or interrogate me?" Ji Xīn ān looked at Xīn Lín, who was red with anger, and smiled, not getting angry with her.

  "I... I just came to ask clearly, what right do you have to hit her." Shilin was a bit tongue-tied by her question.

  "Oh, you're asking me? Alright, I'll tell you. Yu Yao came here to train her physical strength and learn combat skills. Officer Guo temporarily handed her over to me for guidance. If she wants to master these skills, it's impossible without suffering. I'm just doing my job. If you don't believe me, ask the others around here, who has suffered more than her?" Ji Xin'an smiled lightly as he looked at Shi Lin.

  "That's too cruel, her body is all purple, it hurts so much that she can't even get out of bed, I've never seen her like this before..." Shilin suddenly stopped.

  Ji Xin'an thought Yu Yao must have cried in front of her, and Shi Lin also felt that this matter couldn't be told to her. "This is already considered mild, Shi Lin, I think she actually doesn't like these things, coming here just to show off, you're her friend, go advise her well, wasting time aside, it's not worth suffering."

  Xilin was about to say something after hearing her words when she suddenly heard Yu Yao's voice, "Ling Ling, how did you come?"

  "I... I'll take a look at you." Shilin replied somewhat unnaturally.

  Yu Yao listened to her words and looked at Ji Xin'an, "What are you two talking about?"

  "Nothing, you two chat first, I'll go change clothes." Ji Xin'an certainly couldn't tell her that Shi Lin had come to take revenge, so she turned and left.

  "Lingling, did you tell her that I...that I cried?" Yu Yao looked at her tensely.

  "No way, I couldn't possibly tell her that." Shilin immediately shook her head.

  Yu Yao let out a sigh of relief, "Alright, you've seen it too. Go back first, I'm about to start training."

  "Yao Yao, listen to me, let's not come here anymore, okay? Look at you, being beaten up every day with a body full of injuries, what's the point?" Shilin realized that finding Ji Xin'an was impossible, so she could only advise her good friend.

  "Ling, I've already made up my mind about this. Since I've come, I must see it through to the end. Even if I leave, I want to surpass her first. You're my best friend, you should be supporting me, not advising me to go back." Yu Yao felt a bit displeased seeing that she too had come to persuade her like everyone else.

  "Alright then, I'll support you." Shilin saw that she had already made up her mind not to leave and stopped persuading her. "However, you have to let me accompany you."

  "Lingling, thank you, but this is my own business, don't get involved." Yu Yao was deeply moved and grasped her hand.

  "If you still consider me a friend, don't refuse. Let's defeat her together." Shilin said with a smile, but her tone was firm.

  Yu Yao smiled after hearing her words, "Alright, let's defeat her together."

  When Ji Xin'an came back and learned of their decision, he was speechless and stunned, and after coming to his senses, he blurted out two words, "I quit."