Martial Arts Master

Several minutes later, Lou Cheng jogged slowly through the front gate of Xiu Shan High school. Along the familiar path, he saw many future senior students who were still attending class. He found the dumpling cart and spoke to the owner with familiarity,

“Three white dumplings, two with spicy sauce and one with sugar.”

“Ok!” The vendor was a middle-aged man whose right foot was a little lame. He gave Lou Cheng a very agreeable smile, and it seemed obvious that he didn’t recognize Lou Cheng.

Lou Cheng used his phone to take some pictures to send to Yan Zheke, “I’m on it!”

“I’m looking forward to it!” Yan Zheke replied with a drooling sticker, “I’m waiting for you!”

After reading her reply, the corner of Luo Cheng’s mouth curled into a smile. He quickly paid the vendor and ran to the Back Water Lake with the dumplings in his hands, skipping taking a cab.

It happened to be rush hour in Xiushan and there would inevitably be a traffic jam. This was because of the fast economic development over recent years. Many citizens had bought new cars, so the old municipal roads could not meet the demand of this sudden surge in traffic. Like Qin Rui had said before, the views of Xiushan are changing every six months due to the high speed of the road construction, and urban development could be seen in many places within the city.

Given the time of day, Lou Cheng decided sprinting the distance would be faster than taking the No. 11 bus.

A combination of training and recreation!

Not even out of breath he arrived outside of the villa district where he stopped and sent a message to Yan Zheke.

“Personal delivery!”

Even though she was dripping from her workout Yan Zheke was afraid that she would miss his message and keep him waiting, so she resisted the urge to take a shower and just waited for him instead. At the first sign of a message notification, she unlocked her phone immediately and looked at the screen.

Suddenly, smiling like a blooming flower, she read what he wrote and replied,

“Five-star rating!”

She raised her head and looked at Liu Xiaolin, who was eating some hot porridge. Pursing her lips, Yan Zheke plucked up her courage and said with determination,

“Aunt Liu, Cheng brought me something here and I need to go out to pick it.”

Aunt Liu knows about my stuff, so I have to be honest with her!

——Yan Zheke’s dad had been on duty last night, and he still hadn’t arrived back home yet. Liu Xiaolin’s husband went to work after having some breakfast, and her child was still snoozing on their bed, so it was just two of them in the big empty living room and dining room.

“Cheng?” Liu Xiaolin put down her hot porridge and replied with the question.

All of sudden Yan Zheke blushed, “Yes, it’s Lou Cheng, my… my boyfriend.”

It was the first time that she had referred Lou Cheng as her boyfriend. At first, she had a guilty conscience, but later she felt confident and joyful as she mentioned him more.

Liu Xiaolin slowly realized what Yan Zheke had just said and then fixed her eyes on her for several seconds, discovering that she neither evaded nor flinched from her watchful eyes.

“I’ll come with you.” Liu Xiaolin nodded slightly and added, “It’s just a few days.”

Ke is very similar to junior master when he was younger. The only difference might be that one looks so stubborn on the outside and the other is an iron fist in a velvet glove. Liu Xiaolin thought to herself. 

However, at that time I was just a little kid and that lacked understanding. Now, I’m a mother and a wife, so I grasp a better understanding.

“Ok,” Yan Zheke nodded in an obediently and said, “Thank you, Aunt Liu.”

They walked outside of the gate to the neighborhood and crossed the street. Liu Xiaolin stopped a few steps back and didn’t get any closer.

Under the gaze of the elder, Lou Cheng and Yan Zheke both felt stressed and ill at ease.

Lou Cheng restrained his desire to hug the girl and touched her hands instead. He passed the dumplings to her as he tried to ignore the presence of Liu Xiaolin, and said, “Little fairy, this is your delivery.”

Fairy… Yan Zheke felt so guilty and she looked back at Liu Xiaolin. Her fair-complexion instantly turned a bright red.

How would Aunt Liu react if she heard this pet name? How would I ever talk to her again?

Liu Xiaolin stood there quietly and looked around, observing the surroundings with no response on her face.

Phew… Yan Zheke felt relieved. She took the dumplings from Lou Cheng and whispered, “That’s so cheesy! What would we do if Aunt Liu heard this?!”

“Whatever, I don’t care. I just spoke the truth!” Lou Cheng took this chance to be honey-mouthed.

Yan Zheke rolled her eyes at him, and, all of sudden, she felt a swell of emotion and a strong attachment to him. “I should go back… Everything will be better in a few days.”

A moment after she said that, she heard a low and deep thunder vibrating inside Lou Cheng’s body.

“You can do shock force training, even like this?” Yan Zheke blurted out. She found Lou Cheng blushing and embarrassed.

Eh…  She realized something and she sniggered abruptly, keeling over with laughter.

“Are you hungry?”

Hungry like a wolf! He thought.

“Yes,” Lou Cheng replied.

All I thought about was how I was going to give her the dumplings as quick as possible, but I forgot to buy some for myself…

Yan Zheke pursed her lips to hold back her laughter as she asked, “Why didn’t you buy some for yourself when you bought me the dumplings?”

“I forgot… Empty brain.” Lou Cheng laughed at himself.

“Forgot… ” Yan Zheke repeated this word quietly to herself and looked at the dumplings that he had given her with a tender and soft sentiment rising up in her heart, and a twinkle in her eyes.

She looked back again and found that Aunt Liu was still observing her surroundings carefully. It appeared as if she wasn’t paying any attention to her or Lou Cheng. Therefore she took out the disposable chopsticks and picked up a piece of dumpling. She dipped it in some sauce before bringing it to Lou Cheng’s mouth, as she said,

“Here is your reward!”

As he chewed, she turned her head away and looked at the trees lining the sidewalk.

Surprised and grateful, Lou Cheng gobbled it up in one gulp. “Yummy!” he said happily.

“Don’t talk! Just eat!” Yan Zheke spoke as her face blushed. She quickly kept feeding him.

Luckily Aunt Liu didn’t look this way!

After neatly and quickly finishing, she pursed her lips and gave Lou Cheng a gentle look before walking back towards Liu Xiaolin.

Lou Cheng watched her walk back into the neighborhood as he held back his desire to ask her to stay.

But, at that moment, Yan Zheke felt so guilty that she didn’t dare to look Aunt Liu in the eyes as she babbled about something irrelevant.

How could I be so audacious just now! Feeding Cheng in broad daylight, with everyone looking! She thought with embarrassment.

Liu Xiaolin listened to her quietly with a smile and responded from time to time. It really seemed that she hadn’t paid any attention to what they did.

Hmm… Aunt Liu probably respects people’s privacy more so she ignored us deliberately… Yan Zheke felt relieved in secret and said, “Aunt Liu, I’m going to take a shower now!”

Liu Xiaolin nodded as she sat on the chair. Very confused, she asked,

“Since your dad and your mom are not here, why didn’t you just invite him to come in the house? It wasn’t appropriate to behave like that in public… ”

Behave like that… behave like that… Yan Zheke covered her face with her hands and she dashed into the bathroom.

I’m an ostrich! I’m an ostrich!

When Liu Xiaolin heard the sound of water running in the bathroom, she showed a faint smile on her face and whispered to herself,

“Fairy… ”

“The youngsters these days… ”

…

Around 8 pm, Lou Cheng chatted with Yan Zheke on the phone while browsing the forum. Suddenly he received a call from Director Xing.

“Hello? Uncle Xing?” He was wondering what he could be calling about and an idea came to his mind.

Is this about the case of Wang Xu yesterday afternoon? Or about Zhan Xuming?

Director Xing, Xing Chengwu, sighed, and spoke directly, “Lou, I called you because I need your help.”

“With what? I’ll help you as much as I can.” Lou Cheng always kept other people’s matters in mind.

“Have you seen the arrest warrant?” Xing asked.

As expected, it’s about Zhan Xuming… But, how can I help him with this?  “I saw it. I also asked the others so I know what he did and what mistakes he made,” Lou Cheng replied honestly.

Knowing about the position of Lou Cheng’s master, Director Xing felt no surprise, and he chuckled, “Someone called the police saying that they saw Zhan Xuming on Bar street. After being verified by our stuff, it turned out to be true. But, the stuff of high-ranked Dan Stage who is in charge of tracking him down and other team members can only arrive after midnight.”

“Uncle Xing, do you mind if I am completely honest? I really want to help you but Zhan Xuming is of Seventh Pin. Me, I haven’t even reached a Dan Stage… I couldn’t help you even though I want to, and plus, I might drag down your work,” Lou Cheng was very shocked.

Zhan Xuming is outside Xiushan now!

In the past, Lou Cheng had not known how to refuse people, but now with more experience and maturity, Lou Cheng was no longer that same person. Now he helped others as long as he could, however, when he knew there was nothing he could do, he was now brave enough to say it out loud.

“Don’t worry, Lou. How could I let you confront Zhan Xuming? If an accident occurred your master wouldn’t forgive me.”

“So, what do you mean then?” Lou Cheng calmed down.

“Zhan Xuming is mentally unstable right now and we believe that he is going to continue fighting with the fighters’ families, becoming more and more violently. However, he is aware as well. The moment the task force arrived, he immediately escaped,” said Director Xing seriously, “So, we now have a list of people needing protection, and I’m in charge of this personally. Lou, you know, a small place like this, there aren’t many high-ranking experts. Even though the police system is a bit stronger than the one at the martial arts club, we still aren’t strong enough. According to the list, I even invited two seniors, but the number of high-ranking experts is still not enough.”

“You want me to join in as well? Help to protect them?” Lou Cheng asked with doubt.

Xing Chengwu nodded and said, “You’ll be divided into groups and protect these people in their homes. You would be responsible for one group. Don’t worry. I will send you four shooting special Amateurs to coordinate with and approve the use of large diameter firearms and alerting equipment. At that moment, if you encounter Zhan Xuming, as long as you don’t show him your weaknesses, he will certainly run away. Besides, if you do engage with him, he wouldn’t be at an advantage”

“I’ll be responsible for the support group and we’ll be waiting. If anything dangerous happens, I’ll rush over to you immediately. Honestly, I can assure you that if the situation gets really dangerous, you don’t have to protect anyone and you can just escape. Zhan XuMing will not waste time chasing you.”

There were four policemen who were good at shooting Amateurs with large-caliber firearms. These were unfavorable to a professional Seventh Pin. But, of course, the point is a timely response… Lou Cheng thought about it for a moment before he asked, “Uncle Xing, why don’t put the people together in order to provide better protection? They can live in the auditorium, and you take the lead. Placing the other masters on patrol Zhan Xuming simply would not have the opportunity then.”

This is the safest and most appropriate way.

“I’ve thought about it as well, but, the thing is, once it gets dark, I’m afraid that Zhan Xuming would take the advantage during the shift change and make a sneak attack on the halfway. Secondly, we don’t want to look like we are afraid of him and useless. That would be disgraceful… and the social impact wouldn’t be good. They’re all important figures in our society,” Secretary Xing Chang forced a smile.

Lou Cheng evaluated the degree of danger, took a breath, before speaking solemnly,

“I’m ok with that. Which family am I to protect?”

There is Aunt Liu on Ke’s side, plus the support of the police. If Zhan Xuming is really going to attack there, they should send me there.

“You are going to Guo Min’s. You’ll be on duty tonight.” Xing Chengwu had already made his plan, “Thank you very much in advance.”

Guo Min? Isn’t he the head boss of my dad’s factory? Lou Cheng was momentarily stunned.