Returning to the county opera troupe in 77

Chapter 108 Exposure

As night fell, the lights in the theater troupe's courtyard began to flicker on intermittently.

In the open space in front of the easternmost row of dormitories in the compound, Chen Xiangdong, dressed in a training uniform, stood in the moonlight by the dormitory entrance, holding a white waxwood stick.

He raised the gun barrel, flicked his wrist, and the tip of the gun immediately swung in an arc.

"No! Is it the timing of the wrist rotation that's wrong, or—"

He put away the white waxwood handle, and the butt of the spear tapped lightly on the blue brick ground.

Chen Xiangdong didn't rush to move. He broke down each of his movements in his mind, trying to figure out where the problem lay.

"Try again!"

He picked up the gun again, took a deep breath, and then flicked his wrist.

This time, the spear tip swung out in the direction he expected, the entire arc was complete and even, followed by five flowers in front of his chest, alternating left and right in front of his chest, the whole set of movements was smooth and natural, as if it were done by nature.

Just as the tip of the gun came to a steady stop in mid-air, a system notification suddenly sounded in my ear.

[Martial Arts Proficiency (Long-Handed Martial Arts/Short-Handed Martial Arts): 35/100 (Apprentice with outstanding achievements in basic skills training)]

Chen Xiangdong couldn't help but grin. He had gained five proficiency points in one go. This wasn't a gradual increase, but rather a positive feedback from the system after breaking through the bottleneck in his gunplay.

He weighed the white waxwood staff in his hand and muttered, "I've already mastered the basics like chopping and backbends to the level of a martial arts apprentice. Now I'm at the same level with somersaults and spear flourishes. If I can break through this barrier, I'll reach the level of a full-fledged martial arts performer—I need to practice these a few more times now to completely etch this muscle memory into my bones!"

He raised the gun again, the barrel spinning in his palm, gradually creating a fine whistling sound.

Liu Benyi strolled slowly over from the cafeteria, carrying an empty bowl.

He had planned to sit for a while by the back wall to digest his food, but as soon as he turned the corner, he heard a strange noise coming from the direction of the dormitory building to the east.

"What's that noise?"

He muttered to himself and took a few steps toward the corner of the wall. He peeked ahead and saw Chen Xiangdong standing at the dormitory entrance, holding a white waxwood stick and wielding it with incredible skill.

The swirling, tumbling motions of the gun made him momentarily stunned.

Liu Benyi slowly opened his mouth wide, his eyes widening in disbelief: Chen Xiangdong can handle a gun?! And he can do it so well!

Chen Xiangdong was twirling his gun repeatedly, completely unaware that a shocked gaze was fixed on him from behind the corner.

"Hiss~"

Liu Benyi gasped, as if he had discovered some earth-shattering secret.

He crouched low and took a few steps back, afraid of making any noise that would alert Chen Xiangdong. Only when he was far enough away did he hurriedly run towards the boys' dormitory.

"Clang!"

The dormitory door slammed heavily against the wall, startling the few people who were lounging on the large communal bed with their legs crossed.

Liu Benyi leaned against the door frame, panting heavily, as if he had just run several miles.

Xue Wei rolled over on the bed, tilting his head to stare at Liu Benyi: "What's wrong? Did you see a ghost?"

Liu Benyi shook his head hurriedly, still panting, unable to finish his sentence. He raised one hand and pointed outside for a long time, but couldn't manage to utter a single coherent word.

Everyone in the room sat up abruptly. Song Linfeng rolled over, jumped off the bed, and stared at Liu Benyi's flushed face: "What exactly happened? Say something!"

Liu Benyi swallowed hard, his throat finally feeling less dry: "Chen... Chen Xiangdong! Right outside his dorm!"

He took a breath: "He was playing with a gun in the backyard! And the way he played with that gun—"

The people in the room were all stunned. They looked at each other, and Liu Guoqi, sitting cross-legged and craning his neck, said, "You mean Brother Xiang Dong knows how to sing opera? Nobody taught him, how is that possible!"

Xue Wei frowned as well: "What nonsense are you talking about? Isn't Brother Xiang Dong learning drums from Master Liu? Do you think he's a god? How can he multitask and learn opera at the same time? If you ask me, you must be seeing things."

"Would I lie to you? Go see for yourselves if you don't believe me!" Liu Benyi said anxiously, pointing eastward. "It's right outside his dorm; he's practicing right now!"

Song Linfeng and his group looked at each other, and Xue Wei scratched his head: "You're making it sound like the truth."

"Come on, let's go take a look!" Song Linfeng waved his hand, jumped off the bed first, bent down and put on his shoes. "If you're lying, you'll have to wash all our socks this month!"

Liu Benyi stiffened his neck: "Fine, I'll wash it! But what if it's really true?"

"Really?" Song Linfeng glanced back at him, grinning, "If it's true, I'll lend you my comic books for a month!"

A group of male students jumped off the bed and shoved each other as they left the room.

Just then, Li Zhangqing, Lou Jingru, and their group of female students returned from their meal. They were carrying their food bowls and chatting and laughing as they walked towards the student dormitory. When they saw this chaotic scene from afar, they were all stunned.

Guan Linlin yelled at them, "What are you guys doing? You're acting like you're throwing thieves!"

Liu Benyi was the last to emerge from the dormitory. He hurriedly gave chase, but upon hearing the shouts, he turned around and yelled at the group of female trainees, "Chen Xiangdong must have learned some tricks from someone; he's showing off his gun in front of his dormitory!"

"What?"

Lou Jingru, Li Zhangqing, and Wu Xiaolian all stared wide-eyed. They were usually quite close to Chen Xiangdong, but none of them had ever heard of him learning opera.

Li Zhangqing quickly ran a couple of steps to catch up, his braid swinging behind him: "You're lying! How could Brother Xiang Dong possibly be wielding a gun?"

"Whoever lies is a dog!" Liu Benyi didn't even turn his head, his legs moved so fast that he caught up with Song Linfeng and the others in just a few steps, with Li Zhangqing following closely behind.

A group of girls stood there, looking at each other in bewilderment. Lou Jingru bit her lip, turned around, and shoved the lunchbox into Guan Linlin's arms: "Hold this for me, I'll go check!"

After saying that, he took off running eastward.

Wu Xiaolian, Fu Xiaoyue, and Han Nongyue quickly followed.

When the group of people rushed to the easternmost row of houses in the theater troupe, the open space in front of the houses was deserted. Only Chen Xiangdong's dormitory room was lit with a dim yellow light.

"Who plays with guns like that?" Xue Wei turned and glared at Liu Benyi. "Are you kidding us?"

Song Linfeng, Li Zhangqing, Lou Jingru, and a group of male and female students all looked at Liu Benyi with hostility. More than twenty pairs of eyes pierced him at once, like needles.

Liu Benyi felt a chill run down his spine, shrank back, and said anxiously and aggrievedly, "He was clearly practicing his shooting here just now! A white waxwood gun! I'm not lying!"

"You're always such a chatterbox, and now you're even lying to your own people?" Xue Wei snorted irritably, turned to leave, but after a couple of steps he turned back: "I still have three pairs of socks I've been saving up for, so I'll leave them to you."

"Why should I?! I—"

Liu Benyi opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but seeing the way everyone around him was turning their mouths down and shaking their heads, he swallowed his words back.

Song Linfeng waved his hand, beckoning the rest of the group: "Let's go, let's go back to sleep, we have to go for a run tomorrow morning."

Lou Jingru and Li Zhangqing followed the male trainees back. Before leaving, Li Zhangqing turned back and glared at Liu Benyi, muttering, "You're really something!"

Liu Benyi stood there, stunned, turning his head to look at Chen Xiangdong's window with the light on, feeling incredibly frustrated.

The thought of a huge pile of smelly socks waiting for him made his head spin.

He glared at the window again, muttering, "Just you wait, I'll be keeping watch here tomorrow. I don't believe I can't catch you!"