Martial Arts Master

Yan Zheke’s grandparents kept her at Zhengque County a couple days longer. This meant, Lou Cheng could only have his days extended one at a time. All he had was his usual schedule of medicine, morning training, special breakfast training, shower, and QQ chat. In the meantime, Qi Yunfei happily went out on dates.

Just as he was thinking of not having seen Ke for two days, he heard hard knocking on the door.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

“Who’s there?” Lou Cheng asked.

He could guess who it was according to the style of the toes.

“Me!” Jiang Fei replied at the top of his voice. He didn’t consider if anyone would understand what and who “me” would’ve been. His answer was better off not given.

Lou Cheng walked to the shoe cabinet and put on his slippers. He pulled open the main door and saw, a neither fat nor skinny, Jiang Fei at his door. His laptop bag slung over his shoulders, looking suspiciously into the home. Behind him was the gossipy Cheng Qili.

“What are you looking at?” asked Lou Cheng as he scolded and laughed at the same time.

Jiang Fei sniggered and said, “You’re afraid that I’ll spoil your plan right? Hmm, but that’s not right either, now you’re an unfortunate guy in a long distance relationship.”

With great familiarity, he entered the house and changed into slippers. Just as if he’d arrived in his own home.

“Cheng, you’re such a terrible buddy! How could you not tell me you got a girlfriend?!” Chen Qili combed his 3-7 hair parting.

“So, what if I had told you guys? Not like the experience could help you get your own partner.” Lou Cheng argued unreasonably.

Chen Qili was speechless for a moment. After a good pause, he said, “We could have been happy and celebrated for you. We’re buddies, aren’t we? What’s there to hide between us? Unless it’s not a happy matter.”

“I didn’t think about it; I thought that once Fatty Jiang knew about it, everyone else would know too.” Lou Cheng shut the door behind him and followed Chen Qili to the living room.

Jiang Fei had already gone and made his round in Lou Cheng’s bedroom. He made a weird sound and shouted.

“Cheng, you brought a girl back to your room!”

“Did you just bring her to meet your parents? As a freshman? You’re the man, the man!”

Lou Cheng glared at him and said, “Have you lost your mind? My cousin came to Xiushan for a short while. I was chased out of my room and was sleeping in the living room. Qi Yunfei, you guys have met her.”

Jiang Fei seemed a little disappointed. He just made an oh sound and then continued to joke, “Is it the one who’s cute? She should be in her first year of high school now, right? Does she have a boyfriend yet? Cheng, suddenly, I feel that you would be a great Brother-in-law!”

Half mad, half amused, Lou Cheng said, “Now you decide she’s pretty? Too late! She already has a boyfriend. From ages back!”

Jiang Fei sucked in a deep breath of cold air. “Kids nowadays! Having a boyfriend in their teens… ”

Older brother, I am still single!

This is such a sad thing…

“Cheng, you said that you were still in the process of wooing your girl during the winter holidays. So when did you manage to get her?” Chen Qili was rather curious and dragged all of them back to the original topic.

This, he couldn’t keep to himself. While trying to hide a smile, Lou Cheng said, “After the winter break, when the semester had just started.”

Cheng Qili was speechless once again. He gave a thumbs up and said,

“You’re my idol!”

There was that one moment where Lou Cheng saw himself in the eyes of Chen Qili. The Lou Cheng who once admired Little Ming so much.

“Come, come, come, introduce your girl to us. You’ve her photo, right? I’m sure!” Jiang Fei put down his laptop bag and went over to Lou Cheng and Chen Qili smiling cutely.

Lou Cheng looked up and down at him. He grinned and said, “Hmm, why would you be interested in a photo of your buddy’s girl. If you have the time, why don’t you look for a girl that you like and have a chat with her!”

“Stop your crap! Are you not willing to let us see!” Jiang Fei was not one to be fooled. He had Lou Cheng in a hold.

Lou Cheng laughed and said, “Yes, really. I’ll buy you guys a meal with her; it’s kind of weird just to show you her photo.”

If Fatty Jiang finds out that it is Ke, then everyone in the class is going to know. Once the whole class knows about, it is almost as good as the whole standard knowing about it. Sooner or later, it is going to travel to Ke’s dad’s ears!

“What’s weird… Playing mysterious… ” Jiang Fei was not someone with a Low IQ. He could sense the insistence in Lou Cheng’s words so he just grumbled once more and stopped asking. Instead, he switched the topic, “You better keep your promise. So when are you going to bring your girlfriend to have a meal with us? I will rush over whenever and wherever. Even if you want to have it at Songcheng!”

“Ok, so wait till the dust has settled, alright?” Lou Cheng promised, then he changed the topic. “So, how’s it going with you and Ban? Any progress?”

He was too busy the previous semester and did not have time to update Chen Qili on this matter.

“Ay, still the same.” Chen Qili sighed. “Lin is always busy with either class or student council matter. We hardly have time to chat.”

“Woah, calling her Lin already huh.” Lou Cheng poked fun at him.

Jiang Fei shook his head, “She’s still the same. Never changed, always taking part in this and in that, and dominating with a strong intention to control. Buddy, you better proceed carefully.”

“I, I just like her the way she is.” Chen Qili answered weakly. “I feel like I have no space and time in her life… ”

“Aren’t you both in the same school? Plus you’re a complete otaku who hates class and student council staff. If you want to enter her life, it’s going to be challenging.” Lou Cheng frowned. “It’s ok. Let me help you seek expert advice.”

The trio chatted for a while before they took out their laptops, arranged them in a row, and started to play games. Jiang Fei and Chen Qili noticed that Lou Cheng would look at his phone from time to time and respond to messages. With these actions, they were even more confident that he was in a relationship and not just boasting.

This made them more and more suspicious. What’s there to hide about being in a relationship. Especially if he is the guy. Even if his parents found out, they would likely be approving, right?

After gaming for a couple of hours, two of them packed their computers, slowly walked from Lou Cheng’s place and got into Fatty Jiang’s car.

While he put on his seatbelt, he thought about Lou Cheng’s attitude. He then exclaimed loudly,

“Aiya! Buddy! I know what’s so strange already!”

I can smell the scent of gossip!

“What’s so strange?” Chen Qili was not very sensitive about such matters.

“Buddy, think about it. We all know that Cheng is in a relationship, right? There’s absolutely no need for him to hide who his girlfriend is.” Jiang Fei pointed out the problem in this whole matter. “If his girlfriend is from somewhere else, we all don’t know her, even if we see the photo, there’ll be no impact at all. No gossip will travel that far!”

“You mean?” Chen Qili somewhat caught the hint in Jiang Fei’s words.

“So, this means that we know his girlfriend! That’s why he wants to hide her!” Jiang Fei said proudly. “Someone we know? It wouldn’t be our classmate, Ban, right?”

“Pfft! This sh*t mouth of yours!” Chen Qili scolded Jiang Fei.

Jiang Fei turned his key and started his engine. He said casually, “I was just guessing. Ay, do you think she’s Cao Lele? They were sharing a desk for the longest time. They’re both not studying here. Maybe they’re lonely in their places and started to chat on QQ, then finally got together?”

“That’s possible… ” Chen Qili answered seriously.

“Then it could also be Li Mengjie; she’s studying in Donglin. That’s closer to Cheng.” Jiang Fei continued to guess.

Chen Qili laughed, “Close? There’s someone even closer. Yan Zheke is in Songcheng University man!”

“How could that be?” Jiang Fei chuckled subconsciously. But suddenly, his hand froze on the handbrake.

It can’t be…

This is completely unimaginable…

…

This is the third day since I’ve seen Ke…

Lou Cheng finished his morning training, had his morning breakfast, washed up and changed clothes. He picked up his key pouch and his clean martial arts suit. He grabbed his phone, stepped out of the house and flagged down a cab. He went all the way, straight to “Gushan Martial Arts School”.

Today’s Monday!

If there weren’t any surprises, he could transfer the first 10,000 yuan to himself today.

Since this was the first time, Chu Weicai, Dai Linfeng, and Qi Rui had all came to accompany him to the VIP class’s training ground.

Lou Cheng glanced around and realized that most of them were children. The oldest was probably 17 or 18 years old. The youngest was maybe 12 or 13 years old. Six boys and four girls. All dressed cleanly and from every detail, anyone could see that they were from good families.

To be honest, although Lou Cheng was only 19 and a half, and was not that much stronger than the strongest amongst the students. Plus, with his current mental state, everyone really just looked like children to him.

Dai Linfeng introduced Lou Cheng. “Students, this is Lou Cheng. The martial arts center has specially invited Coach Lou to teach you. He is a real Professional Ninth Pin, much stronger than me. From today, he will teach you all.”

A 14, 15-year-old girl giggled. “Really? Is he better than Coach Dai? How about you both have a round and let us take a look?”

Her eyes were shining, filled with curiosity and excitement.

The new coach looked cool and strong. What would he be like if he really fights? How much stronger is a Professional Ninth Pin compared to an Amateur First Pin?

“Wu Ting, stop fooling around. Coach Lou will punish you and make you run ten rounds later.” Dai Linfeng laughed.

Lou Cheng took a step forward and smiled gently.

“Hello everyone, I’m Lou Cheng. Earlier on Coach Dai and the rest were telling me that since I just started teaching, I should show you all some great stuff to keep you all in line. This way you all will be easier to teach in the future. I was just thinking, how should I do that?”

His honest words made the older students laugh out loud.

The new coach looked interesting!

Wu Ting, with two ponytails, said in a lively manner,

“Crush a large rock on your chest! Coach Lou, I support you!”

Lou Cheng laughed. “This doesn’t require much technique. Hmm, Master Chu, may I borrow your sandbag?”

He pointed at a boxing sandbag that was not too far away.

“Sure. Don’t need to pay even if you break it.” Chu Weicai said and smiled.

Qin Rui and Dai Linfeng were interested and stayed back to watch how Lou Cheng intended to “play” with the sandbag.

Just using the sandbag? It would not be easy to impress others with sandbag play!

Wu Ting and the rest of the students’ eyes followed Lou Cheng. They saw him walk to the side of the sandbag and push the sandbag to get a sense of its material and weight.

Was coach Lou going to punch the sandbag and break it immediately?

That did not seem too difficult.

Lou Cheng took a step back and started to adjust his muscles and tendons. He made them move in the rhythm of the body’s five viscera and six bowels.

This was the preparation for “Severe Warning”!

However, Lou Cheng had no plans to match the expectations of visualization. He just wanted to impress the students, so there was no need to be too serious. He was preparing to use the front position of “Severe Warning” to channel the force such that it would be faster than the swinging movement of the sandbag. This would make the sandbag lose its swinging rhythm and finally, as usual, he would use the “Thunder Roar Zen” to make an explosion.

He took in a deep breath and all his back muscles swelled. His shoulders exploded with force, throwing his right arm out. With a “Deep Heart Pound”, his arm blasted towards the sandbag.

Bam!

There was a deep muffled rumble. The sandbag didn’t move an inch.

What’s this? The students were baffled.

Dai Linfeng and Qin Rui were also baffled by Lou Cheng’s action. Only Chu Weicai, only his iris started to contract quickly and suddenly.

Poom!

In a split second, the sandbag in front of Lou Cheng exploded like it had a bomb inside. It broke into countless pieces!

The training area was showered with fine sand grains. Everyone was stunned.

There was very little sand on Lou Cheng. As though nothing big had happened, Lou Cheng walked back towards the students slowly.

He had made the sandbag explode, not just explode in figurative terms, but like a true explosion… Wu Ting and the rest had never seen anything like this. They only knew this was way cooler than just breaking the sandbag.

Coach Lou was terrific!

Chu Weicai looked at Lou Cheng who was walking back and sighed heavily. “The next generation just gets scarier and scarier… Teach well, we’ll get going!”

“Alright,” Lou Cheng replied cheerfully as he nodded.

Qin Rui and Dai Linfeng had not recovered from what had happened. They just followed Dai Weicai out and up the stairs. Soon they were on the third floor.

Then, finally, Qin Rui laughed and said,

“That bunch of kids probably wouldn’t understand the punch that Lou Cheng delivered just now, right? He was just fooling around! They’ll at most feel that it’s so cool and amazing; Doubt they’ll be impressed… ”

Dai Linfeng took a deep breath and secretly looked at his master. Bitterly smiling, he said,

“I think, we’re the ones that will be done in… ”