Chapter 39: Fighting Is Part Of The Process
The dormitory guard went up to Chen Chuan when he got close. “Your student ID, please.”
Chen Chuan took his student ID out of his pocket and handed it over.
The guard inserted it into the printer beside him, and the display light lit up. Then, the printer whirred, and a form with Chen Chuan’s name on it slid out.
The security guard handed the student ID and form to Chen Chuan. “This is your entry-exit record for the day. Please keep it with you. You’re in Dorm Four, Area One, seventh floor.”
Chen Chuan thanked him and headed to the stairs, only to find that there was an elevator. Since no one seemed to be wandering about, Chen Chuan went over to press the button. The elevator opened up with the metal screeches unique to grille doors. He walked in and pressed the button for the seventh floor. With a tremble, the elevator moved up.
After a while, the rotating panel flipped to seven, and the elevator made a small dip before stopping. The grille door opened, and Chen Chuan walked out.
Before him was a hall that went on for hundreds of meters. There were arrows near the top of the walls showing what areas were where. Areas three and four were to the left, while one and two were to the right. Chen Chuan headed right to area one. The corridor was wide and carpeted with doors facing each other on each side.
Chen Chuan found his dorm at the end of the corridor and opened it with the key. A floor-to-ceiling window caught his attention right away. The curtains were drawn back, so the light from the noon sun shone in.
Chen Chuan set down his luggage and walked over to draw the curtains even further back.
Below the dorm was an aquamarine lake with willow trees planted around it. Chen Chuan had looked at the campus map earlier and recognized it as the famous Spring-Autumn Lake. A student-packed running track encircled it, and sitting across from it was the university’s administrative office building.
After looking outside for a while, Chen Chuan started checking out his room.
It was a single dormitory room that was about ninety square meters big. Aside from a bedroom and a living room, it also had a clothes drying area, a bathroom, and a training room. Water and electricity were provided 24/7. There was also a lost and found notice board, a public phone, and an internal mailbox outside.
A book with the dormitory’s guidelines lay on the table. Every day, housekeepers would clean up his room, change his bedsheets, etc. He could also send his clothes to the laundry room downstairs and have the staff there clean them for him. However, he was not allowed to bring food into the dorm, drink alcohol or smoke inside, or put posters on the walls.
There were quite a lot of rules.
After reading them for a while, Chen Chuan got the general gist and decided to go to the cafeteria to eat. He’d deal with everything else later.
Knock, knock, knock.
Just then, he heard knocking on his door. Since he had not shut his door completely, when he turned around, he saw a person who appeared to be around two or three years older than he was wearing a student’s uniform. He was glaring at Chen Chuan.
“How may I help you?” Chen Chuan asked.
“You’re Chen Chuan, aren’t you?” the upperclassman asked somewhat abrasively.
“And who might you be?”
The upperclassman showed him a form and said resentfully, “I’m Shu Han, the one who was supposed to help you settle into the dorm. I waited for you the entire morning, but you never showed up. You made me into a laughing stock, you know? I’ve been here three years and never met a freshman this arrogant.”
“Sorry, Shu Han. The university sent me on a mission this morning, and I didn’t have the time to inform you,” Chen Chuan apologized.
The university management had clearly not sent word about it to the students in charge of him. Perhaps it was due to negligence, but it could also be intentional. But the deed was already done, so Chen Chuan decided to show his travel authorization form to resolve the misunderstanding.
Shu Han sized him up and rolled his wrists. “Alright, since you’re here, talking more about this is meaningless. As the person in charge of helping you settle in, I need to test your abilities to understand your situation. I’ll then be able to give a more detailed report.”
“Oh? That’s part of settling in?”
“Enough with the questions. I’m the upperclassman here. I know more about this than you do.” Shu Han looked annoyed, but his eyes were shifty.
Chen Chuan smiled and observed him a little before saying, “Sure.”
Regardless of whether this was really part of the process or not, he was curious about Shu Han’s strength.
He had seen Wei Changan’s abilities. He was really strong and lived up to his status as a senior. From what he did in the phone booth, it was highly likely that he had learned refined force, though according to Yu Gang, such people were considered elites in Martial Valor University.
Unfortunately, they did not have the time to spar. As luck would have it, though, Chen Chuan could learn a thing or two from Shu Han, who was also a first-class student.
Shu Han glanced around the room and said, “We won’t be able to fight to our hearts’ content here. Come with me.”
Chen Chuan agreed and went to an empty room on a lower floor. It was a martial arts training room, which was more than five hundred square meters big. It was big enough for people to fight and for others to spectate.
Before they entered the room, Chen Chuan saw an upperclassman leaning against the wall in boredom. The moment he saw them, he smiled and asked, “Going through that part of the process?”
Shu Han grunted as an answer.
After all, all martial artists had a bit of a temper, yet some freshmen came with inflated egos the size of the sun and looked down on everyone. When the upperclassmen helped them settle, these freshmen often mouthed off, which inevitably led to conflict. At such times, communication became useless, and they had to let their fists do the talking.
Hence, this unofficial part of the process was something the students had come up with on their own. Usually, troublemakers behaved after being beaten up, so the upperclassmen could then reason with them calmly.
Chen Chuan was a special case. He was polite and might have been late for a reason, but he did make Shu Han wait an entire morning without giving him an update about where he was, which annoyed him. That was why he wanted to take Chen Chuan to a ring.
Also, he had heard that Chen Chuan defeated Zhong Wu during the follow-up exam, which made some of the freshmen compare him to someone Shu Han had admired in the past. He couldn’t accept the comparison and wanted to see for himself how strong Chen Chuan was.
The other upperclassman was interested as well and went over to Chen Chuan to shake his hand.
“You must be Chen Chuan. Hello, I’m Shen Shao. I’ve heard about you. I’m sure you don’t know this, but you’ve become really famous, even a senior like me has heard about you. I’m impressed you beat up a monster like Zhong Wu. Be nice now. Don’t give Shu Han any crippling injuries. He’s actually a pretty nice guy. He’s just angry because you didn’t arrive on time, and he got his heart broken a few days ago, so go easy on him, okay?”
Shu Han got a little upset. “What on earth are you saying? Why did you have to say all that unnecessary stuff to him? Why would I need a freshman to go easy on me? Also, I told you that I didn’t get my heart broken. We rejected each other, get it?”
“Yes, yes. I know. She rejected you, and then you rejected her, right?”
Feeling ashamed and angry, Shu Han hissed, “Want me to take you through that part of the process as well?”
“Fine. I’ll stop talking. Be careful now. The new semester has just started. Don’t hurt each other. It’s not worth it,” Shen Shao cautioned.
Chen Chuan could tell the guy liked stirring the pot, but that was fine. In the past, he could only spar with Lu Ke, while after that he had to go to martial arts schools to look for sparring partners. A free sparring partner was more than welcome to challenge him any time.
If he lost, Chen Chuan could review his mistakes to improve. If he won, his second self would improve. There was no reason to not fight Shu Han.
Chen Chuan went to the side to warm up. When he turned around, Shu Han was already waiting for him.