Martial Arts Master

“Haha, I’ve just worked hard to earn money. Come on, let’s get in the car. Grandpa Si is going to be ready over there in a minute, we can’t make him wait too long.” After seeing Lou Cheng, Erzi put out the remaining half of the cigarette in his hand without any hesitation, startling the still-smoking Lou Zhisheng beside them for a few seconds.

Lou Cheng shook his head. “You’ve worked hard for your money, then have you also shed sweat, blood, and tears to earn money?”

Money earned through true blood, sweat and tears!

At that moment, Lou Zhisheng followed suit by putting out the cigarette in his hand, throwing it in the trash can and sitting along with Qi Fang in the back row.

Erzi waited for Lou Cheng to fasten his seat belt and then started the car, driving towards Lou Debang’s house. Laughing as he drove, he said, “I watched the National Competition from start to finish. Awesome! In every guy’s heart, there’s the hidden dream of becoming a master, and now you’re already a master…”

Along the way, he didn’t talk about anything else, so Lou Cheng complied and chatted with him about all things related to martial arts. Now and then, Mother and Father Lou would fiercely compliment Lou Cheng with a few sentences, making the atmosphere friendly and relaxed the entire time.

In his eyes, it was just that he’d been around in the business for a few years… Lou Cheng had this assessment in his heart, but kept the story from coming out of his mouth, maintaining his manners.

Arriving at Grandpa’s house, Lou Cheng had just finished answering everyone when he was pulled in by his cousin Ma Xi. Her eyes sparkled as she pointed at a pile of magazines and notebooks.

“Brother, you promised me that you’d give my classmates your signature!”

After saying this, she then spoke with both a sense of pride and worship. “You’re the idol of at least half of our class!”

“Well, if they say I’m their idol, then I’ll have to kneel down and sign all of these.” Lou Cheng was in a fantastic mood as he good-naturedly mocked himself. He took a picture of the large pile of magazines and notebooks and sent it to his dear wife, using an emoji hanging its head as he remarked, “The hardships of being famous!”

“Yeesh, it’s just your handwriting.” Yan Zheke said, “Get to it, don’t be so full of yourself.”

Seeing the smile on her cousin’s face, Ma Xi curiously asked from beside him, “My sister-in-law?”

Every person who had seen the finals had been impressed by that final embrace between Yan Zheke and Lou Cheng.

“Yeah, she’s discouraging me.” Lou Cheng nodded with a smile. He took a pen and began to write out his last name, his wrist steady and using moderate strength. The more he traced, the worse it became…

“Finished!” he proclaimed at last, finishing this activity that had shattered his confidence in his calligraphy abilities.

Of course, if he was writing the characters for “before”, “attainment,” and others, he could visualize and match them together, and he could see them in his consciousness.

“Thank you, Brother. You’re the best!” Ma Xi excitedly gathered up the magazines and notebooks.

Once their brothers and sisters came out into the room, they put the two tables together, and delicious meat and vegetable dishes came out one after the other. Their fragrances lingered, different from the previous ones.

“These are the wild animals that my uncle-in-law and I caught in the village. Have a try, it’s good.” Erzi grinned as he gave Lou Cheng an introduction and complimented Lou Zhiqiang, “It’s also because Uncle’s craftsmanship is so good; an ordinary person would be able to prepare these.”

Slightly pleased with himself, Lou Zhiqiang smiled. “The flavor of these wild animals is just like what the cook would make when I was in the army back in the day…”

He unknowingly went on about those years, completely missing the glare on Erzi’s face.

The flavor of these wild animals was just like those…

Lou Cheng, who was to the side listening, wanted to laugh at this man who proved himself capable of offending others merely by opening his mouth. By the time he’d gotten to his seat, he’d already tried a few different flavors, and his heart immediately shot up.

This really wasn’t bad… he’d have to let Ke give it a try…

Right, he had been worrying that he didn’t know what gifts to bring for Ke’s grandparents…

Uncle Yue in the village told me to go and find him if I want to eat wild animal meat… Hehe, I am considered the person who saved his son’s life…

As his thoughts were swirling, he wasn’t ashamed to ask for help from those who knew better than him, and he immediately asked around as to what these delicious dishes were, firmly remembering responses from Erzi and the others.

During this meal, Lou Debang ate quite excitedly, and also made an exception by drinking two glasses of alcohol. He complimented Lou Cheng and again urged Lou Yuanwei to follow Erzi, as he couldn’t fail to live up to the family’s training.

Arriving at this point, Lou Cheng then discovered that his cousin Lou Yuanwei seemed to be putting on airs, and as a result he asked with concern, “Brother, what are you doing now with Erzi?”

He had the intent to ask his cousin this when his mother mentioned it before. But he was too obsessed with Yan Zheke’s heading abroad a year earlier, so he didn’t pay attention to the current situation of his cousin.

Lou Yuanwei didn’t have time to respond when Erzi just laughed and said,

“You’ve obtained the National Tournament Championship and become the favored fighter of the age. You have glory throughout all of Xiushan city! The martial arts atmosphere has flourished, and on top of that, your city organization’s performance preliminaries weren’t bad. It just wasn’t quite good enough to make it to the second stage. There are quite a few supporters, so your city plans to construct a new martial arts arena to form a place for exercise, relaxation, and entertainment all in one.

“When I first came here, my appetite wasn’t that big. I just wanted one piece of the pie, but my manpower wasn’t sufficient, and I wasn’t skilled enough, so I pulled in Yuanwei to help me out.”

Talking to this point, he looked at Lou Debang and said, “Grandpa Si, you can relax, Yuanwei has been great so far in the time he’s been with me.”

While it seemed like Lou Cheng had heard everything, he hadn’t discovered anything. In contrast, the elder members of the family all sighed one after the other at the fact that he had made a name for himself. He was considered a household name in Xiushan, like a celebrity figure. Not only had he directly helped bring out a new fad, but he’d helped change the planning of the city.

A celebrity? Erzi snickered and lightly nodded his head.

Grandpa Si and the other family members were less in touch with the martial arts circle and didn’t have any kind of actual experience. They only knew that Cheng was highly regarded and extraordinary, but as for what specifically was highly regarded and extraordinary and what meaning this had in actual society, they didn’t have the slightest idea. They only thought that he resembled a celebrity.

As a matter of fact, from the viewpoint of himself as the half-insider of the martial arts circle, Cheng would one day become a powerful man in the upper class with reputation and influence.

He didn’t say any of this and changed the topic, speaking briefly about the head of the household in Qingfu county.

As the lively evening meal came to a close, the vindicated Lou Yuanwei winked at Lou Cheng, conveying that he wanted to tell him something.

“I’ll go to the fridge and get some fruit.” Lou Yuanwei was the first to take action as he stood up and headed towards the kitchen, causing his mother, Wang Lili, to feel an urge to wipe away tears.

Lou Cheng made the excuse of having to go to the restroom and then wound through the kitchen. He saw Lou Yuanwei just taking out his phone, unable to keep from smiling as he started to talk with someone.

“My… my girlfriend,” he said with a slight embarrassment to his cousin.

“Oh? Brother, when did you get a girlfriend?” Lou Cheng was shocked.

Hadn’t his cousin not succeeded after a few arranged dates?

“Just a little while ago.” Lou Yuanwei laughed, not looking at him in the eyes. “We knew each other before through a game, but back then, I failed after trying to make a move several times. I didn’t have an ounce of confidence in my entire being, and didn’t have to nerve to pursue her. Recently, now that I’ve been running the business with Brother Erzi, I’ve managed to find a bit of self-confidence and also make some money.”

As he talked and talked, his voice gradually lowered, and he suddenly blew out a breath of hair. Full of hesitation, he said, “Cheng, it’s like I’m in a dream now and I’m not grounded. What do you think? If Brother Erzi’s business doesn’t succeed or if I carelessly offend him, then wouldn’t everything go back to the way it was before?”

Lou Cheng could see that he was worried about his personal gains and losses. As he considered it, he thought back to how he and Ke would only exchange a word or two every once in a while when they were classmates. Putting his own knowledge and personal experience together, he said,

“Brother, you don’t have to be so worried. The important thing from here on out is what you can learn from this experience. You see, one aspect of business is funding, the second is connections, and the third is vision. If you follow Brother Erzi, you’ll surely come into contact with lots of business people and have good dealings with them. Is this not accumulating your contacts?

“Afterwards, you can get a lot of rewards from this project and obtain vision. Even if in the future this doesn’t succeed or you fall out with him, you’ll become a better Lou Yuanwei and you’ll be able to find a way out.”

Lou Yuanwei listened with concentration and his expression gradually relaxed, as if the myriad of issues on his mind were solved.

After a period of silence, he laughed at himself. “Cheng, how is it that I feel you’re much more mature than I am? It’s like you’re the one that’s the older brother. Just then, I was about to call you older brother.”

Lou Cheng pointed at himself and snickered. “Come on, go on then!”

“Smartass!” Lou Yuanwei smiled and turned, taking some fruit from the fridge and starting to rinse and cut them.

After dinner, Erzi suggested that they should take a family photo since everyone was finally gathered together, and he could find a place with a digital printer.

Lou Cheng didn’t feel one way or the other, so he stood to the side of Grandpa, completing the group photo.

After taking the family photo, Erzi again pulled Lou Cheng towards him, saying that he wanted a photo with the favored fighter of the age.

Since it was such a trivial thing, Lou Cheng couldn’t refuse. Taking a cue from his fairy, he pulled back a step and looked into the lens with a slight smile.

After chatting idly for some time and taking the three Lou family members back home, Erzi drove at high speed to Qingfu county. Entering his company, he turned on a computer and printed off the photos.

Taking the photo of the entire family as well as the one with him and Lou Cheng and examining them carefully for a moment, the smile on his face deepened. He rummaged up two photo frames and stuffed them inside. Then he put them on his desk, facing any guests that would come in.

Just then, his cellphone rang. There was a call coming in.

“Hello, Brother He, you’re looking for me this late?”

“I’m at the company, come over. We can talk face to face.”

“OK, OK, OK, I’ll wait for you.”

As he put down his cell phone, the corner of Erzi’s mouth rose and he directed his gaze to the window, staring towards the chaotic environment below.

After a half hour, there was the clamoring of footsteps. A mature, thirty-something-looking man in a western suit pushed opened the doors to Erzi’s office. He saw him sitting behind the desk, slowly twirling a pen with both hands.

“President Lou, so refined,” the man in the suit said with an aloof smile.

At that moment, his gaze swept to the photo frames on top of the desk, seeing the two photos inside.

“Lou… President Lou, you haven’t shown your true colors!” The man in the suit first was startled, then the color slowly came back to his face. His aloof smile brightened.

The corner of Erzi’s, or Lou Yuanchang’s, mouth curled more distinctly.

…

In the Lou house, after his father, Lou Zhisheng, went to take a shower, Lou Cheng once again spoke with his mother, Qi Fang, about which foods Yan Zheke liked to eat.

While idly chatting, he suddenly remembered something and interrupted,

“Mom, do you know Erzi’s real name? It seems you’ve never told me.”

I also never thought about asking before…

Qi Fang was blank for a moment, then responded,

“Lou Yuan… Lou Yuan what? Agh, I don’t remember very clearly.”

Talking to this point, the mother and son looked at each other and smiled, casting this thought from their minds.

It didn’t matter what his name was!