Martial Arts Master

“Sure, wait for me, I’ll come over to pick you.” Jiang Fei replied with “laughter”.

Lou Cheng went blank and then asked, “Pick me?”

“Hoho, you’ll know later. Ask Old Cheng as well, see if he can join?” added Fatty Jiang as he mentioned another pal, Cheng Qili.

Lou Cheng replied him with a despised emoji, “I will call him out to beat him into a pulp, even if you didn’t say!”

After saying, he started a conversation with Cheng Qili, whose nickname was “I Love Advanced Mathematics” on QQ, “Are you there, Old Cheng? I am back!”

Lou Cheng waited for a few minutes and saw no response. He then simply dialed Cheng Qili’s mobile number, which was issued in other province. He was not sure if the number had changed.

The “Divine wind” ringtone sounded for a while, then came a familiar yet husky voice from the other end of the phone.

“Cheng?”

“What’s up, Old Cheng? Are you ill?” Lou Cheng asked with concern.

Cheng Qili chuckled and said, “No worries. Some relatives came over today and insisted that I should drink because I am an adult, considering that I am in college now. Hence, they poured me several glasses of alcohol. I ended up getting drunk and I’ve slept the whole afternoon. I am not even sure when I could wake up if not for your call. Eh, your voice don’t seem quite right either, Cheng. It’s kind of nasal. Catching a cold?”

“Yeah, but almost recovering. I am back to Xiushan, so I intend to ask Fatty Jiang out for barbecue, you joining?” Around Cheng Qili, Lou Cheng need not be formal and polite, so he asked him directly.

Cheng Qili sighed and replied, “Can’t get out, there’s a relative gathering at home, seriously damn busy during New Year. Guess I’ll find you either tomorrow or the day after?”

“Sure, let’s discuss by then.” Lou Cheng hung up the phone, responded to Yan Zheke’s message, and swiftly tidied up the luggage. He sorted his unwashed clothing into two separate baskets and placed his laptop on the desk in his room.

By now, the sky had darkened and it looked like the night had fallen despite the clock had yet struck six. The lights in the house created a cozy and bright environment. Lou Cheng glanced around the house and felt a slight sense of unfamiliarity in a place where he had slept for almost ten years.

On his left side was a one meter long and a half meter wide bed, with a brand new four-piece bed sheet fitted on it. He guessed that it was his mother’s work while counting the days, which saved him a lot of efforts. On his right-hand side were a bookcase and a wardrobe. The former was shelved with all kinds of martial arts magazines, novels, comics, as well as body refining secret books such as “Shushan Twelve Chapter Brocade” and “Tai Chi Stance Skill” which he had purchased when he was still naive. He was hoping to master them through self-taught and to shock the whole school as a No. 1 Expert in martial arts. Unfortunately, though the contents were real, because there was no guidance, and no time for commitment, thus they ultimately did not have any effect on him.

The desk was placed between the bed and the bookcase. On it, there was desk lamp, hanging calendar, pen holder and a piggy coin bank. The desk drawers on both sides were locked with his school yearbooks, as well as photographs that were taken with his primary school, junior high school and high school classmates. He once thought that it was quite a pity that there was no group photos taken at that time due to a large number of classes. If not, he could have kept a photo with Yan Zheke in it. Well, it did not matter now. A man should always seek for a higher goal!

Right after the clean-up, which had helped in reducing the slight sense of unfamiliarity around him, Jiang Fei sent a message on QQ. “Come down, Cheng. I am at the entrance of your district.”

“Okay,” replied Lou Cheng. He took his wallet and thought for a moment before pulling out seven to eight pieces of notes from the 10-thousand-dollar stack that was hidden deep within the drawer. He rushed out of the door excitedly and came to the district entrance.

He glanced left and right, trying to look for Fatty Jiang, but he saw no familiar face on the chilly road.

Honk! Honk! A car horn suddenly sounded. Lou Cheng subconsciously looked in the direction of the sound and saw a white Ford car park at the district entrance with its window rolling down.

“Cheng!” A deep yet slightly pleased voice came from the inner of the car. It was Jiang Fei.

Lou Cheng chortled as he walked over and opened the car door near the co-driver seat. “Not bad, you can even drive now!” he remarked.

It was only now he recognized that the car belonged to Fatty Jiang’s father, which was neither expensive nor cheap. It was just like the situation in his family, which was worse off than some yet better off than many.

Jiang Fei was wearing a dark blue down jacket, with a black high-necked sweater inside, which was revealed as he stretched his chest. His round face grew bigger than the last time when he saw him at the end of August, with three layers of fat under his chin. His bulging belly made him looked as if he was five or six months pregnant. He grinned and replied. “Though I didn’t manage to get a girlfriend this semester, I managed to get my driving license. Our school allows us to use it as credits to exempt ourselves from an elective module.”

“Tsk, indeed, you can’t judge a book by its cover. I thought you would shut yourself in the room for the whole semester playing games.” Lou Cheng sat down, shut the door, and fastened his seat belt. Comparing to the chilly weather outside, the inner of the car was heaven.

Jiang Fei released the handbrake, shifted the gear lever and said joyfully, “Nowadays, knowing how to drive is a basic skill. It will consume too much time to take the exam after graduation from college. You should take it now if you have time.”

“Provided I have the time… ” said Lou Cheng as he thought of his daily training.

He took out his phone and sent Yan Zheke a snickering emoji, “Off I go, together with my classmate Fatty Jiang to Old Liu Barbecue!”

Yan Zheke replied with an “I will murder you with my eyes” emoji and added, “Seems like someone is getting more and more fearless that he even dare to provoke me now. Though you mentioned that you will never forget to repay me with your gratitude?”

“My mistake, Coach Yan! I beg for your forgiveness!” Lou Cheng replied with his face filled with happiness.

Jiang Fei took a glance at him and looked in front. While driving, he laughed and asked, “Who are you chatting with, Cheng? Look at that filthy smile on your face, is that your girlfriend? You never mention before!”

“Not yet, still working hard on it.” Lou Cheng did not conceal.

Jiang Fei gasped with admiration and said, “Not bad! I never thought that you will take the initiative to pursue someone. Indeed, still waters run deep. Perhaps you will be the first to get attached among the group of us. Is that girl your schoolmate at Songcheng University?”

“Yup.” Lou Cheng answered with a nod.

Not only that, she was also my high school schoolmate…

“Sigh, Songcheng University indeed has a balance in the quantity of men and women, unlike ours. Oh yes, do you know that Yan Zheke is also in Songcheng University, Cheng?” Jiang Fei suddenly added.

Lou Cheng went blank, then replied, “Yes, I know, we’ve met.”

And we are also meeting each other every day…

“I despise you. How could you not mention it to me at all?” Jiang Fei commented as he focused on his driving, eyes looking at the road ahead.

Without waiting for Lou Cheng’s reply, he added, “Recall that time when class began after the freshman year military training? Many guys were spreading the news that there was a great beauty, who was prettier than a celebrity, in Class 3. We had even made a detour to the toilet near Class 3 just to take a peep. After that, we often discussed her private. Every time during the mass martial arts training, we will always think of means and ways to get closer to Class 3 students, and from time to time pretending to pass by Class 3 entrance… ”

“At that time, we really did not think of pursuing anything, but simply felt delightful just by looking at her. Why, this is probably my best memory about girls in junior high school, O my youth!”

Lou Cheng listened and remembered those times with emotions. That young, pure and unrequited love.

“There were many people pretending to walk pass that time and very often, we would meet familiar faces, whereas the boys at Class 3 just blatantly made fun of us,” said Lou Cheng as he recalled.

At the same time, both his hands were busily typing on the phone keyboard, sending a message to the direct party, Yan Zheke, “Recalling high school memories with Fatty Jiang now. You still remember last time people often walked pass to take a peep at you during our freshman year at high school?”

Jiang Fei sighed, shook his head and laughed. “Now come to think of it, we were pretty silly. We don’t even know if Yan Zheke noticed it in the first place, and how she viewed us?”

Beep, Yan Zheke replied Lou Cheng with a “Messy in the wind” emoji and added, “Yeah, I do… I felt as if I was a panda in the zoo, being consecutively visited by visitors, so I had to bend over the desk and pretended to sleep. Haha, were you one of those ‘visitors’?”

“Well, I doubt she’ll remember passers-by like us.” Lou Cheng shattered Fatty Jiang’s fantasy with a factual description, then grinned and replied Yan Zheke, “Yeah, pretended to walk pass for several times! Unfortunately, I was just one of the passers-by at that time, you most probably won’t remember.”

Yet another ambiguous flirting sentence.

Yan Zheke sent an evil grin emoji without any elaboration.

By this time, they had arrived at the nearby Old Liu Barbecue. Jiang Fei, who seemed unfamiliar with parking, took quite a while and some efforts before the car was finally parked. As he was stopping the engine and locking the car, he said to Lou Cheng,

“You are right, how would she remember passers-by like us? Not only was she prettier than a celebrity, her studies were extremely good as well, and it was also said that she had a great character. I bet if all her pursuers were to each spit at us, we would probably drown in their saliva. But I guess a person like her will definitely has a high standard. Since there are still no rumors about her relationship, I suppose she’s the kind that focus on her studies. Eh, why do you think she will go for Songcheng University? Isn’t going to Capital or Huahai a better choice?”

Lou Cheng gave a serious thought before answering, “Might be due to family reason.”

“Haha, stop wild guessing, I doubt it’s accurate. Wait till I find out from Du Liyu, since Song Li and Yan Zheke are good friends.” Jiang Fei mocked at his reply.

Nowadays, no one believes you even if you are stating the truth… Lou Cheng looked into the sky without saying a word, a sense of unknown satisfaction filled his heart.

Meanwhile, both of them entered Old Liu Barbecue. The shop had just opened, operating only in the evening and at night.

“Twenty pork belly skewers, twenty steak skewers, twenty pork ribs skewers, twenty chicken feet soft bone skewers, twenty mutton skewers, twenty chicken butt skewers, ten chicken wings skewers, ten kidney skewers, ten potato skewers, ten green beans skewers, a portion of leek, a grilled fish and four roasted eggplants.” Lou Cheng was very familiar with the dishes that he could just order them without even taking a look at the menu.

As Xiushan was situated inland, the barbecue shops generally did not serve seafood.

Jiang Fei was shocked and exclaimed, “So much? You better finish them all!”

In the past, they had ordered only a third of the current amount for two people – even if the share per skewer in Xiushan was much smaller than the one in the Northern region, it was also pretty terrifying to order this much.

“Maybe we’ll order much more later. I am now practicing martial arts, so I have a bigger appetite.” Lou Cheng chuckled and replied.

Under the light in the shop, Jiang Fei looked skeptically at Lou Cheng, “Martial arts? Then again, Cheng, you looked slightly mature now.”

“This is temperament.” Lou Cheng replied in a joking tone, “What do you want to drink?”

“Beer, of course! Let’s have a few glasses. I’ll get someone to drive us later,” replied Jiang Fei as he turned to young waitress at the side, still considering the number of bottles he should order.

Lou Cheng waved his hand, smiled and said, “I’ve already quit drinking for the sake of martial arts. Moreover, I am having a cold now, so a bottle of mineral water will do.”

It is foreseeable that he would need to repeat this sentence for numerous times, but since he chose to practice martial arts, he should preserve on. Neither can he slack down nor fear to reject such offer.

Jiang Fei stared at him with a puzzled look and asked, “Seriously?”

Lou Cheng nodded and responded seriously, “Why should I lie to you?”

The tone in his voice expressed his determination.

“Well then… since no one is accompanying me to drink and I still need to drive, forget it, give me herbal tea.” Jiang Fei rubbed his hand and did not push further. “Oh yes, Cheng, since you are practicing martial arts, do you know of any local martial arts club or gym?”

“Nope, why?” Lou Cheng asked, looking puzzled.

A forced smile crossed Jiang Fei’s face as he replied, “I f*ucking put on weight again, so I thought of losing weight through exercise, else I am going get even fatter after the New Year. At least I thought I should maintain my weight, but New Year is around the corner, both club and gym are closed for the break. I can’t even find one.”

Lou Cheng smiled and commented. “This kind of thing is dependent on your consciousness and determination, uh, if you really want to lose weight, you could join me for my daily morning practice. I am now determined to practise martial arts every day.”

Jiang Fei took a breath and said, “It’s unbelievable that you are so hardworking, Cheng! Isn’t there a quote saying that ‘the old having the same ambition and passion as a youth’?”

The young waitress returned with herbal tea and a bottle of mineral water, opened each of them and poured them into two separate cups, filling them to the brim.

“Are you sure you know how to use poetry quotes… ” Lou Cheng shot a glance at him, and added, “So are you joining?”

Jiang Fei pondered for a moment before answering, “Okay, I’ll try, what time in the morning?”

He raised his cup and gulped his herbal tea.

“I’ll meet you at a later time. I’ll run to your house and wake you up at 6.10 a.m.” Lou Cheng thought for a while before replying.

Pfft! Jiang Fei spurted the herbal tea from his mouth and Lou Cheng, being sharp and agile, immediately raised his arm to block it, which almost hit his face.

“6.10a.m.? 6.10a.m. on a winter day?” Jiang Fei wiped his mouth as he spoke.

Lou Cheng shot a despised look at him and said, “This is the time to test your will for losing weight, so if you’ve promised me yet don’t get up, I might break your house windows. Hoho, I’ve been waiting for that moment for a long time, so is my slingshot!”

“Let’s try it first for two days.” Jiang Fei promised, with hesitation.