In another world, Lu Mingfei is learning card making.

Chapter 166 All Parents Under Heaven Have the Same Heart

Chu Zihang and his mother, Su Xiaoyan, were waiting on the sofa.

Lu Mingfei didn't rush to sit down, but waited for Lu Tianming to sit down on the single sofa before sitting down next to Chu Zihang on the other sofa.

The LCD TV hanging on the wall was playing a soap opera that Lu Mingfei didn't recognize. Su Xiaoyan leaned against Chu Zihang, laughing hysterically as she watched the characters on TV.

The penguin maid thought for a moment, then sat on the armrest of the sofa on Lu Mingfei's side and leaned against him.

Lu Mingfei's nose twitched slightly. The maids had an extremely faint fragrance, detectable only when they were very close to the body. For example, the penguin maid had an aquatic scent, a cool fragrance like ice water—

Seeing this, Su Xiaoyan seemed to be ignited by some competitive spirit, and her movements became even more exaggerated. Originally, she was just leaning against Chu Zihang, but now she simply opened her arms and hugged Chu Zihang in her arms, forcefully inserting her hands under Chu Zihang's arms that were pressed against her body, and rubbing her head against Chu Zihang's shoulder.

Not to be outdone, the penguin maid also tried to hug Lu Mingfei—and then Lu Mingfei forcefully picked her up and placed her on the single sofa facing Lu Tianming.

"If I'd known this would happen, I should have left her in the car." Lu Mingfei thought to himself as he pressed her firmly down on the sofa.

Watching this scene, Su Xiaoyan's eyes sparkled, seemingly eager to try it herself. However, after glancing at Chu Zihang and considering the possibility of him doing the same, she chose to maintain her maternal authority: "Mingfei, how did you and our Zihang meet?" Su Xiaoyan finally straightened her posture and reached out to hold Chu Zihang's hand. "He's usually too quiet; I worry he won't make any friends—"

Lu Mingfei thought about the girls at school who were chasing after Chu Zihang, and then looked at Chu Zihang's face. So how do you communicate with your parents at home? Why are they worried about this?

It's more realistic to worry about you messing around with women; at least you could have a bunch of girls chasing after you with just a wave of your hand.

Chu Zihang gave him a helpless look, indicating that all parents are the same in this world—they can see even small problems with their children as big problems.

"I met him at the kendo club, right after the National Day holiday —"

Lu Mingfei then began to lavish praise, subtly shifting the focus to the National Day performance, exaggerating its brilliance to the heavens and the earth, as if Nuwa created humanity so that such a performance would appear thousands of years later—Su Xiaoyan listened with delight, her expression towards Chu Zihang filled with "My Zihang is just that outstanding!"

It wasn't until Lu Tianming put down his teacup that a crisp "ding" sound was heard.

Su Xiaoyan's smile faded, and she gave Lu Tianming a reproachful look, but the latter remained unchanged: "Mingfei, how do you usually practice your katana? Is it like in the books, where you say you swing the sword a certain number of times every day?"

"Hmm—not really." Lu Mingfei didn't seem to notice anything amiss, his mind preoccupied with how to continue the story. "When it comes to repeated training, it's usually after you've memorized the moves and can recite them from memory. At that point, the goal of training is to make the moves muscle memory, so you can react instantly during sparring and execute them flawlessly in one go when practicing—"

After listening for a moment, Lu Tianming interrupted, "Just saying that doesn't quite make sense to me. It's still early before dinner, why don't you practice for a while first?"

Lu Mingfei blinked, finally coming to his senses:

So, he asked that because he was unhappy that the Kendo Club made Chu Zihang practice at home?

Is that right? I've never heard of Chu Zihang's family having any high standards or strict requirements for him.

In contrast, Chu Zihang was rather impatient. He immediately pulled out his own red-wood katana from the side, picked up the katana that Lu Mingfei had brought, and got up to walk towards the stairs.

As she reached the stairwell, she waved to Lu Mingfei, signaling him to hurry up and follow, as if she felt very uncomfortable staying there.

Chu Zihang and Lu Mingfei walked side by side to a basement.

Considering the apartment layout, this basement was probably partitioned off specifically for Chu Zihang to use as a training room; it was originally part of the underground parking garage.

Soft mats had been laid out, and even the walls were covered with a layer of sponge. Chu Zihang and Lu Mingfei changed into protective gear, without...

Instead of a wooden sword, I switched to a bamboo sword.

A bagged bamboo sword is a sword made by wrapping bamboo in a soft bag. Since a genuine iron katana couldn't be used in combat, and even a wooden sword was somewhat dangerous, this bagged bamboo sword was used instead.

The biggest advantage is, of course, safety: a katana can split a person in two, and a wooden sword can break bones and tendons, but there is no such concern with a bamboo sword.

Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang, swords drawn, stood on either side of the cushion. They moved slowly in circles, preparing to seize an opening in each other's defenses—and then, they swung their swords!

Tang Zhu, positioned directly in the center, swung his sword downwards. Lu Mingfei easily dodged it, but his posture was thrown off balance. Before he could adjust his stance and straighten his blade, Chu Zihang launched his second attack:

Reverse Kasaya Slash!

A downward-sloping, upward-sloping swing forced Lu Mingfei to take another step back. The relentless attacks, seizing every opportunity, reminded Lu Mingfei of Miyamoto Musashi's actual combat style, though there were differences.

Looking at the dangerous tip of the bamboo knife, Lu Mingfei slowly inhaled.

Chu Zihang didn't have time to observe Lu Mingfei's movements, because the situation was indeed urgent: if he couldn't defeat Lu Mingfei within three strikes, he would be forced to switch from offense to defense due to exhaustion and mental fatigue, which would be very disadvantageous for him.

Therefore, this last move must hit!

The hand holding the bamboo knife slowly moved downwards, gripping the end of the handle. Chu Zihang took a step forward, the blade close to his body—

Thrust!

"Hi!"

Another bamboo sword, wielded with tremendous force, struck the bamboo sword, causing Chu Zihang's blade to veer off course, sending him tumbling to the ground. Lu Mingfei slowly calmed his breathing and helped Chu Zihang up: "Why were you fighting so fiercely today? It was like you were fighting to the death."

Chu Zihang didn't say much, simply putting away the bamboo knife and sitting down to calm himself. Seeing this, Lu Tianming patted Lu Mingfei on the shoulder: "Mingfei, come on, let's talk."

The two left the room where Chu Zihang was, which was covered in foam, and came outside. Just as Lu Mingfei had expected, this was indeed a special room separated from the underground parking garage. They only had to push open a door to see the Maybach that often carried Chu Zihang. The logo of two overlapping M's forming a mountain shape was very eye-catching.

"Mingfei, why did you learn to use the katana?"