Martial Arts Master

Haha, haha!

When Yan Zheke learned about Lou Cheng’s awkward incident, she laughed so hard that she rolled back and forth on the bed. The only thing she regretted was not being able to watch the scene herself.

That’s what you get for committing vandalism!

That’s what you get for committing vandalism!

After a long while, she finally calmed down and wiped the tears that came out of her eyes due to laughter. She looked up and watched the dark sky outside the window.

It’s almost been four days since I saw Cheng…

There were plenty of vague emotions in play that weren’t made clear when they were able to meet every day and hang around each other whenever they were idle. It was only when they were separated suddenly by a distance that was so close, yet so far apart that the minute details of their everyday life appeared from memory and filled her surroundings.

When her grandmother had purposely cooked crabs for dinner last night, she had subconsciously picked up one and shell it until even the meat in the legs could be sucked out directly. But when she finished her work and attempted to pass it out, she finally discovered that that figure she was thinking of wasn’t there. In the end, she could only present it to her grandfather and feel a sense of loss on the inside…

When she accompanied her grandparents on a walk and took a rest halfway, she took out a napkin but stood blankly beside a road chair. It was because a certain idiot would take the napkin on his own accord and wipe away her sweat carefully in the past…

When she encountered something amusing, and turned around wanting to share it with someone; when she felt wronged and wanted someone to spoil her; when she missed the local delicacies, and had to be mindful of her grandparents’ age; when a wind brushed by, and her palm was empty; when she was chatting happily on QQ, but could not feel his warmth…

Yan Zheke turned around and sat up, listening to the howls of the wind outside the wind and sensing the pressure of an upcoming storm, she pursed her lips and sent a message to Lou Cheng. She didn’t use an emoji,

“I want to go back sooner… “

I’m starting to miss you a little…

…

“I want to go back sooner… ”

When Lou Cheng saw this message, he had just finished tutoring Qin Rui on the still stance for an hour and sat on Jiang Fei’s car.

His heart throbbed suddenly at the message, and Yan Zheke’s bright eyes that told volumes of stories instantly appeared before his eyes. He felt as if he could hear her soft words beside his ears, and catch a whiff of her familiar, sweet fragrance from his nose.

“What is it?” Jiang Fei noticed that Lou Cheng had drifted off.

Lou Cheng cast him a glance and sighed, “You’ll understand once you have a girlfriend.”

“Can you not put a knife to my heart? I’d rather die than be disgraced! Even a bachelor has dignity, okay!?” Jiang Fei wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry when he said this.

Not only did you take away my goddess, you’re even ridiculing me for not having a girlfriend! What kind of a friend are you!?

The duo poked fun at each other until they reached just beyond the neighborhood where Lou Cheng’s home was.

“Do you want to visit my home? I can treat you to a glass of plain water straight out of year 1983!” Lou Cheng randomly cracked a joke.

“A glass of Meng Po Soup, you mean?” Jiang Fei let out a laughing abuse before saying seriously, “Nah, I’m fine. Just look at the weather; it’s obvious that it’s going to rain cats and dogs soon.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Drive carefully.” Lou Cheng waved goodbye, turned around and walked into the estate while holding his backpack.

The wind let out a piercing howl, billowing until the trees were swaying and the leaves separating from its branches from time to time. The dark clouds hung low; an invisible pressure that pressed down heavily on everyone’s heart. It made Lou Cheng, a person who seldom felt sullen or downtrodden involuntarily experience a great sense of loneliness. Right now, he was missing a certain someone more than ever before.

He climbed up the stairs and opened his house’s entrance. It was quiet inside, and no one had returned home just yet.

He took out his cell phone and sent a message to Yan Zheke. He ‘laughed with tears’ and said,

“I feel like I’m a left-behind child right now!”

“In that case, am I the parent working hard outside?” Yan Zheke replied with a ‘snigger’ emoji.

After chatting idly for a moment, Yan Zheke went away to help her grandma with some chores. Meanwhile, Lou Cheng scrolled up their chat log by force of habit and reflected on every word they exchanged with each other previously.

“I want to go back sooner… ”

When he saw this message again, Lou Cheng fell into a daze again. He felt as if something was bursting from inside his heart.

Abruptly, he got off the sofa and charged into his own room. He rummaged through his stuff and picked up his high school backpack and the thermos cup Yan Zheke had gifted him.

Thump thump thump. Without pausing his footsteps, he ran into the kitchen, washed the cup and ran back into the living hall. He pulled open the refrigerator and took out one of the two extra bowls of healing soup cooked yesterday and poured it into the thermos cup. He sealed the thermos cup shut tightly and stuffed it into his backpack together with a clean change of martial arts suit and boxer briefs.

Thump thump thump! He carried the backpack on his back and got out of the house. When he passed through the unit’s entrance and hailed a car online, he immediately gave Jiang Fei a call.

“Hey, Cheng. What’s up?” Jiang Fei accepted the call through his bluetooth headset.

Lou Cheng ran against the wind towards the neighborhood’s main entrance. He lowered his voice and said,

“Fatty Jiang, if my mum gives you a call tell her that I’m sleeping at your place tonight!”

“Ah, sure! Where are you going?” Jiang Fei asked out of curiosity.

Lou Cheng inhaled and said,

“I’m going to the train station!”

No, he was not heading to the bullet train station.

“Why are you going to the train station? Is there an urgent matter?” Jiang Fei felt as if he couldn’t keep pace with Lou Cheng at all.

Lou Cheng spat out the words that had been clogging up his lungs just now,

“I’m going to Zhengque County!”

I’m going to see Coach Yan!

If she can’t come back sooner, then I’ll head over to her place myself!

Why should I wait here like a fool?

“Zhengque County? Why are you heading to Zhengque County?” Jiang Fei was completely confused by Lou Cheng’s reply, but he didn’t get an answer to his puzzlement. It was because Lou Cheng had already hung up.

Zhengque County… Zhengque County… suddenly, a memory flashed into his mind.

Yan Zheke’s registered birthplace was Zhengque County!

Oh my god, I’ve known Cheng for so many years, but it is only today that I learned that he’s a man of action…

Suddenly, Jiang Fei thought that the fact that Lou Cheng had won Yan Zheke’s heart wasn’t without reason.

…

It was incredibly dangerous to ride a car during a storm, but although no bullet trains were linking Xiushan City and Zhengque County, there were regular and express trains. Wisely, Lou Cheng chose the latter option. He had already booked a 6 p.m. train ticket while he was sitting inside the car he hailed online. The entire journey would take only 35 minutes.

It was only now that he gave his mother Qi Fang a call. He told her that he was going to visit Fatty Jiang and not coming home tonight.

“Really, it’s been several days since you came home already, but you’re always heading out and you haven’t even paid your grandfather a visit yet… ” her son was an independent and strong adult now. That was why Qi Fang hadn’t said much despite complaining for a bit.

A dozen or so minutes later, Lou Cheng reached the train station. At the same time, thunderclaps were booming louder and louder across the sky. The lightning that flashed across the sky caused everything within a dark environment to become illuminated in white.

“Please don’t… The train won’t be delayed because of the storm, would it?” Lou Cheng was deeply worried by this.

Originally, he planned to reach Zhengque County before the storm showed up. After that, he would find a hotel to stay in and plan whatever that comes next after he learned of Yan Zheke’s exact circumstances.

But he didn’t think that the storm would arrive faster than he predicted!

Murphy’s Law dictated that anything that there was a high likelihood that whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. Unsurprisingly, Lou Cheng heard the notice of delay after he got through the safety check.

Splash.  The storm rained cats and dogs. The delay stretched for a very long time, and many people canceled their plans to head out right away because of this.

Lou Cheng continued to wait patiently at the train station. He revealed nothing while chatting with Yan Zheke. After all, if he really couldn’t make the trip then he would be disappointing her, wouldn’t he?

He ate dinner at the train station. From time to time he would check the latest news and pray that the storm wouldn’t cause a flood.

…

Rain fell like it was pouring outside the house, beating against the windows and creating an unusual atmosphere of silence inside the room. Yan Zheke chatted with Lou Cheng while reading her classmates’ rueful exclamations at the downpour and certain areas that had been flooded by water.

“Phew. Thank goodness I didn’t ask Empress Dowager to come and fetch me…” she quietly exhaled.

…

It was 11 p.m. at night, and Lou Cheng was still waiting for the train. It felt like it was never going to arrive. Yan Zheke had fallen asleep by now.

He closed his eyes, concealed his spirit and qi and slept on his seat, preserving his own spirit.

Time passed slowly. When it was 2 a.m. in the morning, a thief who saw that most of the travelers were sleeping stood up and began rummaging through people’s bags and pockets in practiced fashion.

He arrived next to Lou Cheng and extended a pair of tweezers into his pockets while half concealed.

It was at this moment a tightness suddenly grabbed hold of his wrist. He was caught red handed by someone!

He subconsciously tried to withdraw his arm, but the person’s grip felt as strong as a pair of iron pincers. It didn’t relent no matter how hard he tried to pull away.

Then, he saw a pair of deep and calm eyes.

…

After turning the thief to the station’s police, Lou Cheng shook his head while wearing a puzzled look on his face.

He had awoken from his dreams almost the instant the thief had extended his tweezer over. He had stretched out his hand and caught him instinctively.

Am I getting close to “Absolute Reaction” already?

But I’ve only started consuming the healing soup and refining my body for two or three days. I’ve only been able to execute martial arts in minute detail recently. There’s no way it can be that quick, can’t it?

Is it a combination of great attainment in meditation and the ability to execute martial arts in minute detail?

Lou Cheng didn’t waste too much time thinking about it, planning to test it when he had the time later. He fell back into sleep once more to maintain his well-being.

When it was slightly over 4 a.m. in the morning, the train that was delayed for a very long time finally arrived. A bit over thirty minutes later, Lou Cheng arrived at Zhengque County’s train station. It was dark outside, and the storm had stopped. The air was filled with the thick scent of moisture.

He immediately saw a bunch of illegal taxis the second he got out of the station. He was surrounded by a lot of taxi drivers shouting their prices at him,

“Are you leaving or what? It’ll only be 200 to head into the city!”

“Ask a few people to join you, and It’ll cost you only 100 to get the city!”

“You may as well go rob someone!” Lou Cheng couldn’t care less about them. He unlocked his cell phone, activated a navigation program and entered the two words Zhengque County.

While chatting idly with Yan Zheke for the past few days, he learned that Yan Zheke’s grandparents were high school teachers who lived in the county’s dependent special district.

After he confirmed the route, Lou Cheng stretched his legs and began running with his backpack.

“Yo, this kid’s got a loose screw, hasn’t he?”

“Is he stupid?”

“Is he planning to run into the city?”

For a while, the illegal taxi drivers were all slightly dumbstruck by his actions.

Lou Cheng checked the navigation app, corrected his course and quickened his pace.

It’s only ten or so kilometers. This is nothing!

…

Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle all the way… Yan Zheke stretched out reluctantly from her warm blanket and turned off the alarm clock. Then, she mustered the strength to pull herself out of bed and rub her hair.

After staring blankly into the air for a few minutes, her mind finally cleared up as she put on the martial arts suit she prepared beforehand and sent Lou Cheng a message. Using the ‘high-brow smile’, she said,

“I woke up, regardless of rain, hail or shine!”

In just a dozen or so seconds, she received Lou Cheng’s reply, “I woke up early today!”

The corner of her lips stretched upwards, and her dimples deepened. She felt like Lou Cheng had appeared right before her eyes. First, she put down her cell phone and tidied her appearance. A while later, after she waited until her grandfather, who woke up early just like her to practice Taichi, they got out of the main entrance and slow jogged away from the dependent special district.

Right now, the sky was still dark, and road lamps were lit everywhere. Yan Zheke had just jogged out of the district when she suddenly saw a familiar figure. It was a figure that should’ve been at Xiushan!

The dark, yellowish light of the lamps soaked into his tall and sturdy figure. It painted sheen of light on his countenance, silhouette, and familiar smile on his face.

“Cheng… ” Yan Zheke thought aloud with a near murmur. Then, she covered her mouth with her hand in fear that she would startle her grandfather jogging before her.

Then, she rubbed her eyes again and again until the rims were red and the corners were wet. She couldn’t believe that she saw Lou Cheng.

Why – how – did he suddenly come over?

It was raining so heavily last night!

It was at this moment her grandfather looked backward. He was puzzled why his granddaughter had suddenly come to a stop at the estate’s entrance.

Yan Zheke turned her head to the side to conceal her own expression. She renewed her jog once more, and when her grandfather wasn’t paying attention took out her cell phone and sent Lou Cheng a message with a ‘Dodge’ emoji,

“Why have you come?”

While wearing a gentle smile on his face, he replied on his cell phone,

“I miss you too. That’s why.”