Rules of the Strange: I Can See Through All the Weird

Chen Jie paused for a moment, then smiled, walked back to his seat and continued eating his meat.

In the end, the fire on the baking tray gradually died down, leaving only a few empty plates and half a pot of cooled barley tea on the table.

Qi Tong leaned back in her chair, touched her stomach, and sighed.

"Oh no, I'll have to do a hundred sit-ups tonight."

"You said you were going to work on your abs last time, but you only lasted two days," Xu Ning teased from the side.

"...One of those two days was rainy."

"What does rain have to do with abs?"

Qi Tong paused for a moment, then said seriously, "People are more prone to sadness on rainy days. When you're sad, you don't feel like exercising."

Qin Yu looked up at her and commented, "Well-made-up excuse."

Chen Jie, standing to the side, couldn't help but chuckle.

That sound was louder than the last one, and my shoulder trembled.

Qi Tong glanced at him, and the corners of her mouth curved up.

The waiter came over, cleared away the empty plates, and placed the bill on the corner of the table.

Chen Jie reached out to take it first, and Qi Tong didn't stop him, but just leaned back in her chair and watched him.

Do you have any points? If not, I can lend you some.

"Yes." Chen Jie glanced down at the bill, his tone much softer than when he sat down. "It's enough to treat this meal."

As he got up to pay the bill at the front desk, Xu Ning whispered to Qi Tong, "He seems much better than when he first arrived."

"When it comes to barbecue, nobody turns down meat."

Qin Yu stood up, draped his coat over his arm, and walked to the door to wait.

Xu Ning also stood up and glanced back at Chen Jie, who had just turned around from the front desk and was walking towards them.

As the four of them walked out of the barbecue restaurant, the night wind blew in their faces, carrying with it the indescribable smoky atmosphere of the streets of Wanwu City, mixed with the lingering aroma of charcoal from the barbecue restaurant, and clung to their clothes.

Qi Tong stood at the door, stretched, and then turned her head to look at Chen Jie.

"Will you come here again next time?"

Chen Jie thought for a moment, then his tone became much calmer than before: "Changing to another one is fine. I know a few good ones."

"Okay." Qi Tong nodded. "Then you can choose the place next time."

Chen Jie paused for a moment, as if he hadn't expected her to hand over the "decision-making power" so naturally, and then nodded very lightly.

"it is good."

The four people said their goodbyes under the streetlights.

Qin Yu went to the right, Xu Ning went to the left, and Chen Jie stood still and waited for them to go first.

Qi Tong walked for a while, then looked back.

Chen Jie was still standing under the streetlight, his hoodie hoodie pulled up, exposing his entire face. He was looking down at his phone, the light from the screen illuminating his face, making it difficult to see his expression.

But the shoulders are relaxed.

Qi Tong looked away, put her hands in her pockets, and continued walking forward.

After walking for a while, her phone vibrated. She took it out and saw it was a message from Chen Jie:

Night Walker: Thank you for tonight.

She stared at the message for two seconds, then typed two words and sent them:

Get rich quick 666: The meat is good.

Then I turned off the screen, put the phone back in my pocket, and slowly walked forward in the night breeze.

The 666 in her mind kept chattering away, and Qi Tong responded from time to time as she led it back to their home.

The next few days went by as usual. No more meals were arranged, and the group chat remained quiet.

We'll meet again next Wednesday at the combat training class.

Qin Yu spent 100 points a few days in advance to rent a training ground for a month.

He was already standing in the venue waiting early Wednesday morning.

When Qi Tong arrived, Qin Yu was already standing in the center of the field, holding a black timer in his hand, his thumb resting on the button, as if ready to press it at any moment.

The venue was larger than Qi Tong had imagined.

The four walls were covered with gray cushions, and the floor was marked with white lines, dividing it into several squares.

In the corner stood several tall training dummies, their bodies wrapped in duct tape, looking like they had been beaten up quite a bit.

Qi Tong stood at the door, glanced down at her own sweatpants and T-shirt, then at Qin Yu's smart black tight-fitting training suit, and remained silent for two seconds.

"...You're dressed like you're about to go on a match."

Qin Yu glanced at her.

"You're dressed like you're about to go to sleep."

"These are sweatpants. They're very expensive."

"Expensive pants won't help you avoid punches."

Qi Tong choked for a moment, then decided not to argue with him.

She walked into the area and stepped on the mats under her feet. They were soft enough that she wouldn't feel too much pain if she fell.

She found a corner, sat cross-legged, and took out her phone. The group chat was very quiet.

Xu Ning arrived about ten minutes later; Chen Jie arrived a step earlier than her.

When Chen Jie pushed the door open, he had changed into a dark gray tracksuit. His hair was neater than it was at the barbecue. He wasn't wearing a hat, and his whole face was exposed.

He paused at the door, his gaze sweeping across the area before finally settling on Qin Yu.

"...I'm not late, am I?"

"Two minutes left." Qin Yu glanced down at the timer.

Chen Jie didn't say anything more. He walked in, sat down next to Qi Tong, one person's distance away, and retied his shoelaces.

Xu Ning arrived almost right on time.

He was still panting when he pushed open the door, holding a thermos in his hand, with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead.

"Did you run here?" Qi Tong asked.

"I walked here, but I ran up the stairs."

Xu Ning sat down on the other side of Qi Tong, unscrewed the thermos, took a sip, and then whispered.

"The last time I passed by here, I heard screams coming from inside."

Qi Tong turned to look at Qin Yu.

Qin Yu didn't respond, but simply pressed the timer in his hand.

"Everyone's here. Let's warm up first."

Qin Yu led the team through several sets of stretching and joint exercises, his movements so precise they resembled a step-by-step instructional video.

After the warm-up, Qin Yu called the four people to the center of the field and had them stand in a row.

"The combat training course is divided into three parts." He said this in the same flat tone as when he was announcing the training subjects.

"Basic physical fitness, reaction training, and simulated combat. This is Chen Jie's first lesson today; I want to assess his foundation."

He dragged four training dummies from the corner of the wall and placed one in front of each of them.

"Each person should perform one set of movements. Two punches, two elbows, two knees, and two kicks. There's no need to be perfect; just do what you know."

Surprisingly, Chen Jie's movements were quite nimble during his first training session with Qin Yu.

The punches were heavy, the elbows were fast, and when the knees struck, the back and waist were very straight. When the legs swept out, the dummy wobbled twice.

Qin Yu glanced at him again and then made a note in his notebook.

In the first thirty minutes, Qi Tong and Xu Ning swung their fists countless times in front of their respective mannequins.

Qin Yu walked back and forth in the middle of the field, occasionally stopping to point out the angle of Qi Tong's elbow joint, or squatting down to adjust Xu Ning's standing posture.

During the break, the four of them sat against the wall and drank water.

Qi Tong's hair was wet with sweat and stuck to her forehead. She brushed it away with the back of her hand, leaned against the wall, and let out a long breath.

Chen Jie stood to the side, head down, wiping the sweat from his neck with a towel. Halfway through, he suddenly spoke, "How long were you standing next to my mannequin?"

Qin Yu screwed the lid on his water bottle. "Thirty seconds."

"What did you write down?"

"The knee is positioned two centimeters too low, causing the center of gravity to shift forward when the leg is swept out, increasing the likelihood of being tripped."

Qi Tong, who was listening nearby, couldn't help but glance at Chen Jie.

Chen Jie didn't say anything else, just nodded, folded the towel, and placed it on his lap. "I'll be more careful next time."

Qin Yu glanced at him. "No need for next time. Three more groups, I'll stand next to you and watch."

"Now?"

"Thirty seconds left until the end of the break."

Qi Tong leaned against the wall and sighed, but she still managed to stand up by pushing herself up from the ground.

Xu Ning slowly stood up beside her, shook her wrist, and whispered, "I probably won't be able to get up tomorrow."

Qi Tong answered her softly.

"If you can't get up tomorrow, I probably won't be able to sleep tonight!"