House Dad's Literary Life

Chapter 105 – Xixi Practices Martial Arts

“Xixi, it’s time to get up!” Yang Yi gathered the curtains together, and the slightly dazzling morning sun shone in, just over the little girl’s arched little behind exposed outside the quilt – wrapped in small underpants and pajamas, of course.

Xixi didn’t move. Obviously, there was no way that much of sound could wake up the sleeping baby. Yang Yi smiled and walked over, held the little girl’s waist, and gently forced her to turn over.

Right now, Xixi couldn’t get back to sleep, and her eyes were blinded by the sun[1]. She immediately pouted her mouth and turned over again: “Oh, no, I want to sleep.”

Every time the little girl woke up, she has a little temper[2]. Not to mention that Yang Yi asked her to get up half an hour earlier today.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to practice martial arts yesterday? You said you wanted to see Papa play with swords!” Yang Yi leaned to her daughter’s ear and whispered, “If you don’t get up, you’ll be basking in the sun!”

After a while, two figures, one big and one small, came slowly on the lawn in front of the flower bed at the entrance of the coffee shop.

Xixi was wearing a lovely pink training suit, which was specially customized by Yang Yi. It was different from the ordinary style. Because of the hot weather, the training suit has been changed into short pants and short sleeves. The little girl’s attire revealed her slender arms and slender legs. She looked particularly valiant!

At first, Xixi didn’t want to!

She wanted to wear a skirt, but when she saw that it was the same style as her father’s white training suit, the little girl liked it again.

When he came out, Yang Yi was carrying two swords, one of which was a steel sword he had made for himself. Of course, it hasn’t been sharpened yet. The other was a small wooden sword for Xixi, who was holding a bottle of milk and drinking it sweetly.

She didn’t eat breakfast in the morning in order to practice martial arts, but milk was a must!

“Do you want to see Papa’s martial arts?” Yang Yi smiled at her daughter.

With the teat[3] of the baby’s milk bottle in her mouth, Xixi raised his small head and nodded vigorously.

“Then go under that tree and remember, don’t run around. Papa’s sword is very powerful! If you come over and brush it, your hair will fall off!” Yang Yi frightened the little girl.

Xixi, who likes to look good, in order to protect her beautiful hair, naturally, dare not come over. She obediently stood under the tree to drink her milk, and then opened her big eyes wide. She didn’t even want to blink. She wanted to see her father’s martial arts.

Yang Yi stood in the middle of the lawn with his sword. There was no one around. It was very quiet. One could only hear the wind rustling through the leaves. His expression became serious.

Suddenly, Yang Yi moved. The man was like a willow and the sword was like a leaf. From a slow and mellow start, he quickly turned into a furious storm attacking the beautiful scenery. Sometimes he brandished, sometimes he spanned, sometimes he leaped. The silver light of the sword seemed to split the space…

And then suddenly, the wind and rain stopped. The rain’s over; the clouds have scattered. Yang Yi stood in the same place with his sword, as if nothing had happened. The wind was still lazily blowing the leaves, causing the light and shadow on the grass to be mottled and swaying.

“How is it?” Yang Yi walked towards his daughter with a smile. In fact, he didn’t have to ask this question.

Xixi forgot to drink her milk. The look of surprised and worship in her eyes told her father the answer.

“Papa is so fierce!” Xixi held the bottle in her left hand and swung her right hand. She tried to describe it as “Fiercer than Brother Kirby’s Papa!”

Brother Kirby was a small cartoon character that Xi Xi watched some time ago in a domestic cartoon similar to Superman and Spider-Man, who often fought with justice, and his father was a famous kendo martial artist.

Hearing his daughter’s praise, Yang Yi smiled, neither sad nor happy.

Honestly, how could the swordfights in TV show compare to real life? Yang Yi’s real swordsmanship was an assassination technique. With the draw of the sword, it was an all-kill. It wasn’t gorgeous at all, but none of the people who underestimated Yang Yi survived!

Of course, that swordsmanship was too cruel and not suitable for children. So, what Yang Yi performed to Xixi just now was the Wudang Eight Immortal Sword. When he used to learn from others to perfect his unique skills, he followed a drunk Taoist and learnt it from him. It was regarded as a more interesting kind of practical swordsmanship.

“Do you want to learn it?” Yang Yi asked.

“Yes!” Xixi responded briskly. The little girl patronized and thought it was beautiful, but she never thought that she has fallen to her father scheme.

After a while, Xixi naturally began to practice under her father’s guidance, and she understood.

“…… To learn swordsmanship, you must first understand the sword. We generally call this part as the tang[4]. This is the handle, frame, body, spine, blade, and tip. Both the blade and tip of the sword are dangerous. Unless it’s necessary, Xixi, you must remember, never point them at others!” When Yang Yi began to teach, his expression was very serious. “Stand up!”

This was also the first time that Xixi saw her father’s “fierce” appearance. She wanted to be lazy just now, but she was immediately discovered by her father. After she had a drink, she hurriedly stood in a half-bow stance[5] in accordance with her father’s request.

The little girl was very aggrieved and she couldn’t help complaining, “Papa, my leg hurts so much.”

Let a four-year-old girl do a half-bow stance and hold a sword!

Although it wasn’t a horse stance, how could Xixi endure this kind of pain? She was already swaying after a few seconds.

Although Yang Yi felt a little distressed, he still walked over to help Xixi correct her posture and said half-stern and half-gentle, “Stand up! Just stand for another two minutes!”

To train his daughter, Yang Yi naturally couldn’t make Xixi work as hard as he did before. He lowered the standard again and again until he was not sure whether it would be effective or not.

But even so, Xixi still couldn’t hold on, and after a while she began to sway. She pouted her mouth and cutely said, “I can’t, it’s not okay yet?”

“One more minute, hang on!” Yang Yi found that under her daughter’s acting cute, he couldn’t pretend to be fierce. He encouraged her in a gentle voice “Xixi is already great. Come on!”

Xixi still has a great potential. Despite her swaying, she still tried to hold on to the time her father asked her to hold on.

“That’s great! Xixi, you surprised Papa so much! ” Yang Yi was not stingy with his praise, which made the little girl feel a little embarrassed. She felt her strength come up again.

“Next, Papa will teach you how to hold the sword correctly.” Yang Yi looked at her daughter’s two hands holding the handle of the sword. He lifted the long sword in his hand. “first of all, fully hold it. Look at Papa’s hands. The five fingers of the right hand are shaped like clenched fists, and the front of the hilt is more firmly gripped. The sword is slightly at right angles to the forearm.”

Of course, Xixi could not understand these jargons, and still needed Yang Yi to come forward and teach them by hand.

This morning, she practiced three bow stance and was taught three postures of holding a sword, but even so, it was a struggle for half an hour. After all, she was too young. The little girl was so tired that she asked her father to carry her back.

“Papa, when will Xixi be as powerful as Papa?” Lying comfortably on her father’s broad back, Xixi poked out her little head, and her ponytail hung down to her father’s neck.

“Well, it’s still early! However, as long as Xixi studies hard, she will certainly be more powerful than her father!” Yang Yi smiled and gave her something to look forward to.

In fact, Xixi’s performance today made Yang Yi satisfied and even surprised.

Although she occasionally acted spoiled, the little girl was not as delicate as Yang Yi imagined. As long as her father gave her some encouragement, she would clench her teeth and stick to her father’s required courses, and she learned very seriously and quickly! She was a very clever little girl!

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[1] Not literary blinded her. It’s like when sunlight hit your eyes. She just couldn’t open her eyes because of the sun.

[2] this was hard to translate as it is referring to the temper of one who just woke up. Like when a person just woke up and don’t want to move for a while or wanted to sleep five more minutes. That kind of temper.

[3] Teat – the flexible part of the bottle that the baby will suck from.

[4] Here’s a picture to show you where it is. HERE.

[5] Here’s what at bow stance looks like. The one in red: HERE.