A fierce wife enters the house: She helps up a house full of spineless people.

The afternoon sun was scorching. After a round of bayonet practice, the recruits were all exhausted and collapsed on the ground, panting heavily. Wang Tianfang found a shady spot against a wall, sat down, and took a big gulp of water from his water bag.

He had just put the water bag down when a shadow fell over him.

Wang Tianfang looked up and saw Li San and his henchmen swaggering in front of him.

Li San crossed his arms and looked down at Wang Tianfang, his chin held high.

"Hey, you country bumpkin," Li San said, his tone full of provocation. "Just because Captain Zhang praised you a couple of times, you really think you're something special?"

Wang Tianfang ignored him, tightened the water bag stopper, put it aside, closed his eyes, and leaned against the wall to rest for a while.

Seeing Wang Tianfang's dismissive attitude, Li San's anger flared up instantly. He had always been fawned over wherever he went since childhood, but today he was being ignored by a peasant.

"Stop playing dead!" Li San raised his foot and kicked Wang Tianfang's shoe. "What kind of assassination is that? It's just blindly stabbing with brute force! If you were on the battlefield, someone like you who only knows how to use brute strength would be the first to get their head chopped off!"

The henchmen nearby immediately joined in the commotion.

"That's right! Third Brother has seriously practiced the family's traditional marksmanship, who do you think you are!"

"Hurry up and kowtow to Third Brother to admit your mistake. Maybe if he's in a good mood, he'll teach you a couple of real skills!"

Wang Tianfang opened his eyes and stared at Li San. His gaze was calm, without anger or fear, as if he were looking at someone who was being unreasonable.

"Are you done talking?" Wang Tianfang patted the dirt off his legs and stood up. He was half a head taller than Li San and had a sturdy build, so his imposing presence was immediately apparent when he stood up.

Li San instinctively took a half step back, but then felt he had lost face, so he stubbornly retorted, "What? You're not convinced? If you're not convinced, let's have a match!"

"No time." Wang Tianfang bluntly said, turning to leave. He didn't want to cause trouble; Jinzhu had told him to avoid trouble in the military camp.

"You coward!" Li San yelled from behind, "You don't even dare to fight me, what kind of man are you! With your strength, you're only fit to go home, hug your wife, and have kids!"

As soon as he said that, all the new recruits resting nearby gathered around to watch the excitement. They were all already exhausted and annoyed, but now that there was something to see, they all perked up.

Wang Tianfang stopped in his tracks. He turned around, looked at Li San, and frowned. He could scold him, but mentioning his wife was unacceptable.

"How do you want to train?" Wang Tianfang asked.

When Li San saw that he had agreed, he was overjoyed. He had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time; he wanted to beat this country bumpkin who had stolen his thunder in front of everyone.

"Use wooden sticks!" Li San walked to the weapon rack, pulled out two short wooden sticks he usually used for sparring, and tossed one to Wang Tianfang. "Whoever falls down first and can't get up loses!"

Just then, Zhang Kui walked over from not far away with a dark face, carrying that deadly whip in his hand.

"What are you doing! Gathering together to incubate the eggs!" Zhang Kui shouted loudly, and the recruits were so frightened that they quickly scattered, leaving a large open space in the middle.

Zhang Kui walked between the two men, looking at Li San and then at Wang Tianfang.

"Reporting, Captain!" Li San shouted, "We'd like to have a friendly martial arts spar!"

Zhang Kui sneered, "A friendly spar? Sure! I love watching people fight! Private duels aren't forbidden in the military, but there's one rule: no killings, no maiming! Otherwise, fight however you want!"

He took two steps back, making room for them: "Let's begin! Let me see what you're really made of!"

Li San gripped the wooden stick tightly and assumed a neat starting stance. He nimbly jumped twice in place, his movements appearing quite methodical.

Wang Tianfang stood there stiffly, holding the ends of the wooden stick horizontally in front of his chest. The posture was not elegant at all, even a bit clumsy.

Li San sneered, "Get ready to get beaten up!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li San suddenly lunged forward, the wooden stick in his hand whistling through the air, and chopped down directly at Wang Tianfang's shoulder.

The wooden stick came down so fast that the surrounding recruits gasped in shock, unable to imagine how painful it would be if it hit them hard.

When a wild boar charges at you in the mountains, the more you try to dodge, the more fiercely it will chase you. The best approach is to meet it head-on, find its weakness, and strike it dead in one blow.

Just as the wooden stick was about to hit his shoulder, Wang Tianfang suddenly took a big step forward and crashed directly into Li San's arms.

Li San's wooden stick missed its mark, grazing Wang Tianfang's back as it struck. He hadn't expected Wang Tianfang to use such a reckless fighting style, and was completely stunned.

Before Li San could react, Wang Tianfang had already slammed the wooden stick in his hand into Li San's stomach.

"Ugh!" Li San groaned, his stomach churning violently, and his face turned pale with pain.

Wang Tianfang gave him no chance to catch his breath. He threw away the wooden stick in his hand, grabbed Li San by the collar, and slammed his right knee into Li San's stomach.

After a few moments, Li San's legs went weak, and he knelt down on the ground.

The battle ended too quickly, in less than three breaths, leaving all the new recruits around dumbfounded.

Wang Tian released his grip and looked down at Li San, who was kneeling on the ground, clutching his stomach and dry heaving.

"You lost." Wang Tianfang said calmly, without boasting or mockery.

Li San was in so much pain that he broke out in a cold sweat. He raised his head and stared intently at Wang Tianfang. He knew in his heart where he had lost, but he just wouldn't admit defeat.

"You...you're cheating!" Li San gritted his teeth and squeezed out the words, "What kind of messed-up fighting style is this! You have no rules at all!"

Wang Tianfang ignored him, turned around, walked to the base of the wall, picked up his water bag, and sat down again.

Zhang Kui burst into laughter. "Rules? Who the hell talks about rules on the battlefield!" Zhang Kui walked over and kicked Li San in the butt, sending him sprawling to the ground. "When the enemy is chopping off your head, do they even give you a heads-up? Let me tell you, the only good move is the one that lets you survive!"

Zhang Kui pointed at Wang Tianfang and shouted to everyone, "You all better learn from this! This kid's ruthlessness is what you should all learn! Fancy moves are for theatrical performances!"

Li San got up from the ground and dusted himself off. His face was flushed, and he limped back to his seat, not daring to lift his head the whole way. His followers quickly surrounded him, offering words of comfort, but he pushed them away.

He sat on the ground and secretly glanced at Wang Tianfang. Wang Tianfang was resting with his eyes closed, completely ignoring him.

Li San clenched his fists, feeling incredibly aggrieved. This was the first time in his life he'd been beaten so badly, especially by a country bumpkin he despised.

"Fine, you're ruthless. I admit defeat." Li San cursed inwardly, leaning against the wooden stake and panting. But he still kept a straight face, refusing to show any sign of weakness.

In the following days, the atmosphere in the recruit camp changed.

No one dared to provoke Wang Tianfang anymore. A hint of awe filled their eyes when they looked at him. Even at mealtimes, people would offer him their seats.

Wang Tianfang didn't care about these things. Every day, besides training like crazy, he would sit in a corner in a daze, touching the breastplate on his chest and thinking about Jinzhu who was far away in the prefectural city.

A month passed by in the daily grind of sweat and curses.

That morning, Zhang Kui didn't have them run laps, but instead gathered everyone on the training ground.

Zhang Kui stood on the high platform, holding a roster in his hand, his expression serious.