Chapter Seventeen: The Master Returns

  The arrival of the winter vacation made Ji Xin'an have no time to think about those things anymore. She arranged every day to be full, except that she changed her usual weekend daytime classes to every day now, and also used that free afternoon to find an interest class in painting outside, and the time going to Guo Rong's place in the morning and evening was also extended.

  Zou Ze didn't know that Ji Xin'an had to train every day, but seeing her usual study schedule, he was surprised and asked her, "What's the hurry? You're not short of time, take it easy!"

  "You don't understand!" Ji Xin'an didn't know how to respond, she just quietly sighed, realizing that her current thoughts were so different from theirs. The current them and the past her were so alike, always thinking they were still young, with plenty of time, but now she felt like there wasn't enough time, wishing for a few more hours every day.

  Anyway, Ji Xin'an persisted with her own plan and after a semester of training, her physical strength was much better than before. Now she can run five kilometers easily, but Guo Rong still didn't give her more workload because he thought she was too young.

  Ji Xin'an could clearly feel the difference in his body compared to his previous life. His physical strength was much better, and his body's potential was greater. Although he would still pant and get stomach cramps when running at first, just like before, after a period of adaptation, it became very easy for him. In his previous life, even thinking about running five kilometers in a semester, or even a year, was unthinkable.

  In other areas, progress is also rapid. Now, she fights with the trainees in the training ground every day, and most of these trainees are female police officers who have just joined the army or graduated from school. The number of games she wins is also increasing. So now, Guo Rong often asks her to be a sparring partner, or sometimes the instructor will give her some special training alone.

  That morning, Ji Xin'an came to the training ground as usual. As soon as he entered, he saw someone standing at the entrance, looking around. Upon closer inspection, wasn't it Zou Weiguo?

  Ji Xin'an rushed over excitedly and threw herself into Zou Weiguo's arms, "Master!"

  "Alright, alright! Come down now, such a big girl still throwing a tantrum!" Zhou Weiguo was indeed somewhat embarrassed by her hug.

  "Master, when did you come back? Why are you only visiting me now?" Ji Xin'an got down from his body, excitedly smiling and still complaining that he hadn't returned for so long.

  "I came to see you as soon as I got back, and you're still complaining." Zou Weiguo was also infected with her emotions, smiling lightly.

  "It's still better with Master, you weren't here during this period and I made a lot of progress, don't believe me ask Instructor Guo." Ji Xin'an was indeed somewhat arrogant.

  "I know, Officer Guo has already told me. But don't be too proud of yourself!" It seemed that before Ji Xin'an arrived, she had been chatting with Guo Rong for quite a while.

  "Of course, I will continue to work hard and strive to defeat Master one day." Although Zhi Xin'an said this with her mouth, in her heart, she had never really held such hope. She knew just how formidable Zhou Weiguo's skills were.

  "Hey!" Although he was already very familiar with her personality, he still looked helpless. He turned his head and suddenly found that Ji Xin'an was standing beside him, surprisingly taller than him by a lot, "Little girl has grown up!"

  "Of course! Now if you don't grow any taller, then you'll never get any taller. But haven't you noticed that you're even more beautiful than before?" Ji Xin'an deliberately spun around in front of him.

  "It's pretty now, but An An, if you want to be a soldier, you can't keep your long hair." Zou Weiguo looked at Ji Xinan who had grown out his long hair, and indeed it did look much better.

  "Just because being a soldier can't have long hair, so I want to make myself look beautiful before the college entrance examination, or there will be no chance later." Ji Xin'an touched her hair, which had been tied up since the evening party and hadn't been let down yet. In her previous life, she didn't tie up her long hair until after she started working, and during school, she always had short hair. If it's like this again, then after becoming a soldier, she might not have the chance to have beautiful long hair for the rest of her life.

  "You really have made up your mind, even thinking of this. I just don't understand, An'an, you're still so young, why do you want to be a soldier? " Zou Weiguo truly admired her more and more, having such perseverance at such a young age was indeed rare.

  "I know you must be thinking, 'An An is still so young, now she's arguing about taking the military school exam, maybe in a few days she'll change her mind, right?' But this really is my dream, an idea that has been with me since I was born. Although I'm still young now, I believe I can persist and ultimately achieve it." As soon as Ji Xin An mentioned these words, her eyes were filled with brightness.

  "I'm actually lucky, Master. Not everyone can do what they want to do without any worries. Many of us have dreams when we're young, but there are people who will stop them and tell them that their ideals are wrong, all in the name of doing it for their own good. Maybe these things are right, but sometimes what's right isn't necessarily what we want. Perhaps the life you've planned out seems beautiful and smooth-sailing, but when they reach middle age and think back to those passionate dreams of their youth, all they can do is sigh.

  Xin An suddenly thought of her 29-year-old self, and when she saw the female soldiers' formation during the National Day parade, the envy and jealousy that made her feel a pang in her heart was something she didn't want to experience again."

  "An An, these words don't seem like something a child of your age can say." Zou Weiguo looked at An An and felt that he wasn't talking to a kid, but rather an adult.

  "In fact, people of our age think about more than these things, it's just that some people are not good at communicating with their elders, so they always produce misunderstandings. Master, do you have children too?" Ji Xin'an sighed, she was like this in the past too.

  "Ah, about your age." He thought of his own son and felt a headache coming on. In his heart, he was thinking that if his son could be even half as good as Ji Xin'an, he would be satisfied.

  "You must want him to become a famous soldier like you in the future!" Ji Xin'an smiled, because Zou Weiguo's concerns were all written on his face.

  "How did you know?" Zou Weiguo looked at her in surprise.

  "Of course I know, and I also know he must be unwilling, and the conflict with you is not small." Ji Xin'an winked at him, seeing his eyes widening even more, and continued. "Master, actually sometimes adults are not always right."

  "What's wrong with being a soldier? You're not the one who insisted on taking the military academy exam to become a soldier, are you? His conditions and opportunities are much better than yours, so what's wrong with me letting him join the army?" As soon as Ji Xin'an heard that he was wrong

  "But when being a soldier is your dream, my dream, but not his, each of us is an individual, others should not replace him to decide his life." Ji Xin'an suddenly wanted to do something for this poor child.

  "I'm his father, I let him join the army." Zhou Weiguo's tone suddenly rose a lot, this was something he had been certain of for many years, how could it be wrong?!

  "Master, don't be angry. You said if my parents strongly opposed me going to a military school and insisted I do something else, how would I feel? I would be very unhappy. Even if I became successful in other places later on, I would still be unhappy because I would have regrets in my heart." Zhi Xin'an knew that for the time being, he couldn't accept what he had just said, it was just his own thoughts.

  "Alright, thank you for telling me these things, I'll think about them carefully." Zhou Weiguo now really felt that this conversation was like two people of the same age talking heart to heart, rather than a senior and junior talking.

  "Master, there's a sentence I especially like, and I want to tell you, dreams are just like classics, they will never fade with time, but instead become more precious. Whether it's about love or the future!" This is a line from the movie "Old Boy", which Ji Xin'an particularly likes.

  "Did you say that?" Zou Weiguo looked at her in surprise, these words were more like something a seasoned person would say, rather than something a girl in the bloom of youth could come up with.

  "Of course not, I heard it from others, but I really like it, maybe I said too much, okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Master, are you going to spend the New Year at home this time?" Ji Xin'an thought that she might have said too much today, so she changed the subject.

  "I won't be able to stay for long, I'll have to go back in a few days." Not being at home for the New Year seems to have already become a habit, so when saying these words, there was no feeling of anything out of the ordinary.

  "Master, before you leave this time, can you grant me one thing?" Ji Xin'an looked like he wanted to say something but didn't dare.

  "Go on and say it! This isn't like you." He found her hesitant manner quite amusing.

  "Hehe, Master, can...can you take me to touch a gun?" Ji Xin'an had wanted to hold up a robbery for a long time. Ji Xin'an had touched a real gun once before, when he was very young. His father's friend was a police officer who often came to their home to play, and one time he took out his gun to let Ji Xin'an play with it. That was the first time Ji Xin'an had ever held a gun, and he didn't even have the strength to lift it up.

  "Want to touch a gun? Easy, one day I'll bring a few over and you can touch them however you want." Zou Weiguo teased her.

  "Oh no! Master, you know I didn't mean it that way!" Ji Xin'an was even more embarrassed by his words.

  "Hehe, want to go to the shooting range?" Zou Weiguo stopped teasing her. In fact, he also intended to take her there, but didn't expect her to bring it up first.

  "Yes, is there a way?" Ji Xin'an asked anxiously, tugging on his sleeve.

  "Look at you, I'm leaving again this time and it's uncertain when I'll be back, so I originally planned to take you out for a try before I leave, but before that, you must train well with me, no distractions allowed." Zou Weiguo said as he stretched out his hand to poke her forehead.

  "Yes, Master." Excited, Ji Xin'an stood at attention and gave a standard military salute.