Martial Arts Master

The next morning, the noise Xing Jingjing made as she got up roused Gu Shang who did not manage to have fun yesterday. Gu Shuang picked up her phone to look at the time in a daze and complained in a low voice. “It’s only seven. Sister Jingjing, I won’t sleep in the same bed as yours anymore.”

She felt miserable. Why was her group of girlfriends the type who did not love sleeping in?

Xing Jingjing calmly replied, “Ke left for her morning practice at 5.30.”

“Inhuman! None of you are humans!” Gu Shuang cried. As she browsed Weibo and other news websites, she ended up finding a piece of local breaking news:

“The rise of a new martial arts superstar!”

Gu Shuang became more awake. Her finger slid across the screen as she pressed in the news article. She first glanced at the source and found that the news came from today’s provincial newspaper.

Her eyes moved down as she began reading the news.

“19-years-old, Dan Stage, Professional Eighth Pin. He has only been learning martial arts for a year, but is now the champion of Youth Tournament of Xing province. These glorious titles and beautiful words made up the young genius who is as brilliant as Peng Leyun and Ren Li. This genius is Lou Cheng, a sophomore in Songcheng University, originating from Xiu Shan… ”

…

“It has been many years that our province is eager to welcome such a brilliant genius in martial arts, so many years… ”

…

“The road to reach the peak of martial arts is so long. So what stage would this new superstar reach or what kind of glory would he get? Let’s wait and see!”

“Yo, yo, yo… ” An excited Gu Shuang instantly downloaded the e-version of the provincial newspaper. After saving it, she sent the link and the pictures to her close friend. “Ke, look at your boyfriend! He’s on the second edition of the provincial newspaper! He’s on the local hot news of the portals!”

She was basking in some of Lou Cheng’s glory!

…

The morning coolness had faded as sunshine began pouring in, rays of the golden light descending from the sun.

Lou Cheng and Yan Zheke met each other’s eyes and smiled, finishing their tempering of the day at the same time.

The girl took out her phone to check if she missed any important messages or calls, while asking in concern, “How do you feel? Does your head still hurt?”

Cheng said earlier that he did not sleep well last night, similar to the way one would feel too exhausted to fall asleep. He could not meditate either, so he merely closed his eyes and rested. It was two in the morning when he finally fell asleep in a daze. The throbbing pain in his head persisted.

“I feel much better now. I feel alive again after finishing the still stance for half an hour,” Lou Cheng answered with a big smile. “I think I couldn’t sleep last night because no fairy came to massage my temples.”

He could finally feel calm again.

“My fault?” Yan Zheke glared at her boyfriend, both tickled and annoyed. She then looked down at her phone.

Her eyes lit up. “Cheng, Cheng! You made the big news! You’re on the second edition of the provincial newspaper! And the local hot news of the portals!”

She repeated what Gu Shuang texted her.

“What?” Lou Cheng came to her side and wrapped one arm around her waist, reading the news together.

As Yan Zheke was reading the news, she could help suppressing a smile. She was both proud and a little embarrassed as the main character who was getting a lot of praises was currently next to her.

“The write-up is okay, but the photo isn’t good enough! It doesn’t show even one tenth of our Cheng’s good looks!” The girl said, her eyes crinkled and the corners of her mouth upturned.

“Your exaggeration has become better and better.” Lou Cheng laughed.

Yan Zheke pouted and then said with a smile, “As the mentor in your life, I should be better than you in all aspects. And after I got used to your looks, I think you’re much more handsome than those hot guys!”

“Beauty is the eyes of the beholder!” Lou Cheng made a conclusion with great satisfaction.

“Tsk… ” Yan Zheke blushed and turned to face the other side. She seemed to have thought of something and turned towards him again, her eyes bright as she said, “Hello, Beauty Lou!”

“W-What are you thinking… ” Lou Cheng smiled as he wiped his sweat. He recalled he had not look at his phone yet and checked it, unexpectedly finding a new message from a stranger.

“Hello, Mr. Lou Cheng. I am Little Zhao from the TV station of Xing province. Do you have time today or tomorrow to join our Apotheosis of Fighters in the Youth Tournament of Xing province recording for a couple of hours?”

“Oh, it’s time to record this program. I’m looking forward to your nickname!” Yan Zheke smiled, having read the message with him.

Smelling the subtle smell of sweat off the girl, Lou Cheng glanced at her. “Why do you look like you’re gloating?”

“Well, not really… ” Yan Zheke chuckled. “I always thought the fact that no one was hurt or killed the group of people in charge of making up nicknames in the program is proof of the self-restraint and grace of our province fighters.”

“Are you implying that my nickname will be weird and strange?” Lou Cheng naturally did not miss the implication of his girlfriend’s words.

Yan Zheke snickered and began praising him. “You understand me more and more!”

“Today we’re going on a date. I’ll tell him I’ll go tomorrow.” Lou Cheng was asking the fairy for advice.

Yan Zheke pursed her mouth and laughed. “Just go today. I’m really curious about your nickname. And if we delay it, we’ll just think about it and can’t enjoy our date.”

“You’re right. I’ll go there later and we can have our date in the afternoon. But the weather is so hot. Where should we go? The water amusement park?” Lou Cheng suggested.

“Next time. I didn’t bring my swimsuit… ” Yan Zheke hesitated to answer.

Though she could buy one in the mall later, she was embarrassed to wear one in front of Cheng. She was not ready for that yet.

Without waiting for Lou Cheng’s reply, she said, “How about playing the board game? I’ll show you what the IQ of a genius means! We can have dinner with Shuang, Sister Jingjing, and the rest tonight. Oh, but there’s usually a post-competition gala. Then we can have dinner tomorrow… ”

After discussing their plans, Lou Cheng responded to Little Zhao from the TV station.

“Can I come to the station at 9:30 a.m?”

“Yes, I’ll pick you up at the door. This is my phone number. Sorry to bother you, Mr. Lou Cheng.” Little Zhao’s response was quick.

Yan Zheke burst into laughter seeing Lou Cheng making plans with such a serious attitude.

“To be honest, the thing I want to do most is bringing my textbooks and finding a place to study with you. It doesn’t matter if the place is air-conditioned or not. I’ve a walking air condition by my side anyway!”

“We can do that after returning to Xiushan! How about coming to my home then? I still haven’t shown you my photo albums. My parents won’t be around in daytime except for lunch,” Lou Cheng proposed happily.

Yan Zheke thought it over and agreed as she could not restrain her curiosity.

“Okay.”

What would Cheng look like when he was young?

The bed that he slept on for many years, the house he lived in for many years home, what would they look like?

…

After deciding with Yan Zheke where to meet later, Lou Cheng first dropped her outside his parents-in-law’s house in Gao Fen. He then took a taxi to the Xing Province Satelitte Television.

On his way there, he received a message from the bank. It said that the after-tax bonus of 600,000 yuan had been credited into his account.

He could not help counting the figure several times, unable to hide his joy.

That was the largest sum of money he had ever seen!

His last deposit was not even one-tenth of the bonus!

After becoming a fighter of Profession Eighth Pin and entering the martial arts circle, things had truly changed for him. His income had even increased by several times.

Lou Cheng had received the payment for his coaching in July. He added that figure along with 10,000 yuan in his bank, and the 9,000 yuan security fees he received from Director Xing, and over 9,000 yuan of personal coaching fees. After deducting what he spent on medicinal herbs, dating, occasional gifts for Ke, and food, he had 54,000 yuan remaining. That was indeed less than one-tenth of 600,000 yuan.

He wondered what kind of gift he should buy for Ke and his parents. He also needed to get something for his three cousins. This he had to ask advice from his life mentor, Coach Yan!

There were only two bedrooms and one living room in his house, so it was more and more inconvenient. Plus, the house seemed too old. Should he get a bigger house?

For himself, he was content with just buying a good computer!

Of course, he could not waste the money as matches set for his level with such great bonus were rare. They were usually held every couple of years. What was more, after reaching the Dan stage, the martial arts practice had be accompanied with medicine soup and red pellets. In addition, dating was permanent!

All kinds of thought crossed Lou Cheng’s mind. As he was dreaming of the future and joyfully imaging how to spend the money, he arrived at the TV station. He saw a young man with messy hair waiting for him.

Seeing Lou Cheng, he raised his phone and waved.

“Mr. Lou Cheng, I’m Little Zhao!”

“Hello,” Lou Cheng replied politely.

Little Zhao glanced at him. “We don’t have much time. First come with me to put on your makeup.”

“Sure.” Lou Cheng knew nothing about the recording process, so he did not raise any objections.

In the dressing room, he finally remembered what his girlfriend mentioned as he was getting powdered. He asked Little Zhao the question.

“Excuse me. Could you tell me what’s my nickname in the Apotheosis of Fighters? I’m thinking if I can prepare myself first, I won’t make mistakes during the recording.”

Little Zhao swallowed with great difficulty.

“S-Sure. Your nickname is, uh… Our leader came up with it… Sky Shaking Roar… ”

“Huh? Sky Shaking Roar?” Lou Cheng was initially at a loss, then he instinctively raised his voice and asked again.

Little Zhao was so scared he could barely stand. He leaned against the wall and explained, “Yes… Sky Shaking means to shock the heaven, and Roar means to roar like a beast. I think… I think it sounds powerful.”

“Yes, it’s powerful… ” Lou Cheng did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Their aesthetic concept was so twisted!

But it was much better than the nicknames in the past two sessions!

There was the briefest of moments where he wanted to kill everyone in this TV station…

When his makeup was done, he told Yan Zheke his nickname with a lost emoji.

“Sky Shaking Roar… ”

After one long minute, the girl replied.

“Hahaha, I laughed myself into convulsion… Hahaha, every time I see this nickname, I’ll imagine a husky howling to the moon… Sky Shaking Roar… Hahaha… ”

“Just laugh. Laugh. Enjoy laughing… ” Lou Cheng helplessly buried his head in his hands. Little Zhao was nervous to see him like this.

He cautiously said, “You can enter the studio now.”