022 I Believe in the Light Once More

Xinwu said to his uncle, “Uncle, the way you fell just now was so cool! I think you really know martial arts. You could definitely do twenty push-ups without any problem.”

Chen Xinwu was only a boy of about ten, and his grandparents hadn’t told him what had happened with Chen Anquan in the past few days; otherwise, he surely wouldn’t have been surprised.

“Only twenty? You underestimate me!”

“Bragging…”

Chen Anquan withdrew his gaze, staring at the cement floor ahead. “Watch closely.”

With those words, his arms began to bend, his body, like a plank, slowly descending under the guidance of his shoulders.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, Chen Anquan felt a wrenching pain in his arms, as if struck by electricity.

He hurriedly propped himself up and looked at Xinwu and the others. “Xinwu, I forgot to warm up!”

These past days, Chen Anquan had been under intense training. Each night, his whole body ached, but after a hot shower and a good sleep, he would recover by morning.

He couldn’t understand why, today, as soon as he started exercising, he felt something like a strained muscle.

Xinwu was speechless. He hadn’t expected his intimidating uncle to fail even one push-up. “Uncle, you were bragging! You didn’t even do one!”

The boy with a runny nose jeered, “Exactly. Xinwu, your uncle’s useless!”

The boy with the missing tooth chimed in, “Uncle, you’re too fat. Really not up to it.”

“Let’s go play basketball,” Xinwu suggested to his friends, feeling embarrassed to stay with his uncle.

Thump, thump, thump!

The sound of the basketball bouncing echoed from the court as the three boys ignored their boastful uncle.

Chen Anquan glanced at the trio, amused. Had they not seen how his whole body had just been like a steel slab, brimming with masculine energy?

That movement, that aura—ordinary people couldn’t achieve it!

He jogged in place, stretched his arms and legs, widened his chest, and twisted his waist.

After five minutes, feeling a slight warmth in his body, Chen Anquan leaned forward again and dropped to the ground.

The boy with the missing tooth, holding a battered basketball, glanced at him, muttering, “That fat uncle is pretending again…”

He tossed his basketball towards the distant hoop.

Bang!

The ball and Chen Anquan’s hands collided almost simultaneously, producing a deep thud.

“One, two, three, four…”

Chen Anquan’s voice rang out loud and clear, like a drill instructor during military training, commanding respect.

Xinwu and his two friends all jumped at the shout. Turning around, they saw Chen Anquan’s rhythmic movements, like a soldier in service, his expression utterly calm, betraying no sign of pain.

Smack!

The basketball bounced off the backboard and rebounded, hitting the boy with the missing tooth on the back of his head.

“Ah!”

He rubbed his head, staring with wide eyes at Chen Anquan as if facing a strongman, a little intimidated.

Standing beside someone two heads taller than you creates an invisible sense of pressure.

It makes you instinctively want to distance yourself from such a giant.

Xinwu was the first to approach, crouching down and tilting his head to study his uncle’s face. “Uncle, don’t push yourself too hard!”

Many people, after being challenged, can force out ten or so substandard push-ups, but their stamina fails quickly, and their weakness soon shows.

Chen Anquan maintained a steady pace of two push-ups per second and said lightly, “Xinwu, how many do you think I can do?”

“Uh…”

Xinwu hesitated. Since his uncle started, he’d already completed two or three dozen push-ups without showing a hint of fatigue, each movement as precise as ever. Xinwu realized his uncle was the real deal.

The boy with the missing tooth and the boy with the runny nose, recognizing their mistake, quickly changed their tune. “I think you could do a hundred, Uncle!”

Only a hundred? Chen Anquan thought they were underestimating him; his abilities far surpassed that.

“I think Uncle can do two hundred!” Xinwu declared, proud to discover his uncle’s prowess, eager to boast.

“Watch closely,” Chen Anquan replied calmly. The initial push-ups were only a warm-up; now the real challenge began.

His biceps contracted, revealing nearly perfect arms, his latissimus dorsi rising like twin peaks.

At this moment, Chen Anquan was, without exaggeration, as fit as a soldier.

His push-up speed suddenly soared, reaching three per second.

Chen Anquan had once seen a soldier on a short video perform over two thousand push-ups at once, each movement flawless.

Now, he knew that maintaining this pace, he could continue until nightfall without even losing his breath.

“So fast!” the boy with the missing tooth exclaimed, “That’s the fastest push-up I’ve ever seen!”

“Me too!”

At three push-ups per second, it was like a whirlwind—blink, and he’d done five or six more.

Yet, this wasn’t his limit; he could go even faster.

“Watch, I can go even faster!” Chen Anquan accelerated, reaching four push-ups per second.

Though it was only an increase of one per second, his body became a blur.

Like Bolt sprinting past, you could only catch a fleeting shadow, unable to see any facial expression.

Chen Anquan didn’t intend to push further, knowing that push-ups engage multiple muscle groups—some suited for explosive strength, others not. If he went any faster, he risked injury.

There was no need to show off and hurt himself.

His voice continued, “Three hundred, three hundred and one, three hundred and two…”

Unknowingly, he had surpassed a thousand.

Now, the three boys were utterly awed by his extraordinary abilities.

Chen Anquan gradually stopped, stood up, and looked at Xinwu’s excited face. “See, Xinwu? Uncle wasn’t bragging!”

Thin and short, skin dark, dressed in a slightly dirty school uniform, Xinwu’s big eyes sparkled, his little head nodding vigorously as he shouted, “I believe in miracles again!”