Martial Arts Master

“Why did the video call break off just now?” Yan Zheke asked without thinking.

Lou Cheng, who had completely vented his feelings and no longer felt stifled, said somewhat happily, “My classmate called me just now, you know, the one from Gushan Martial Arts School? He said that Le or something had run away and that Third Jian had been caught. No one among the local underworld would care about what happened in the past now.”

Yan Zheke’s mouth was half-open as she displayed a cute expression of realization. “No wonder you look so much more relaxed. Uncle Xing works pretty efficiently I see; it hasn’t been an hour or two that he had already done cracking down on illegal activities.”

“Cracking down on illegal activities…” Lou Cheng subconsciously repeated her words.

Yan Zheke’s beautiful face straightened as she said,

“This is a big case where four or five human lives are involved and guns are shot in the city area. How can they possibly justify things to the city hall and provincial higher-ups, and eliminate societal effects otherwise? If Uncle Xing hadn’t adapted fast enough, even if you sought out Coach Shi beforehand, even if the other party had deliberately committed murder after self-defense was no longer justified, and even if the witness’ statements were advantageous to you, you still would have to enter the police station and hang around between several days to half a month.”

“What would your parents think then? You’ll scare them to death, you know? Do you understand the consequences now? Do you still dare to act this impulsively anymore?”

Lou Cheng was truly scared and regretful after the incident, and he hurriedly nodded his head saying, “I know. I won’t dare to act this impulsively anymore.”

According to his shallow knowledge of the law, if Director Xing didn’t endorse and adapted accordingly to deal with this incident, then he would be in serious trouble this time.

At the time, Wang Xu and another hatchet man had been poured with boiled water and were rolling on the floor. They had tossed away their guns, and their assault could be considered to have stopped there and then. The fact that the other party had caught up to them and acted to kill them could not even be considered as excessive self-defense and was a standard act of murder. However, Lou Cheng had communicated with Wang Xu earlier, and it was possible that he might be mistaken as part of Wang Xu’s group, seizing the opportunity to attack the other party only after a couple of human lives had been wasted. In that case, while he might not necessarily be given a sentence, the fact that he would be taken into custody until the matter was clarified was a big matter that would cause worry and headache to his family.

With Director Xing’s endorsement, not only did he become a good citizen who was commissioned by the police station for assistance and acted heroically for a just cause, his communication log with Wang Xu could also be considered as a meritorious act where he reported the incident to the police. The penalty would become much lighter.

The difference of treatment was like heaven and earth!

Impulsiveness and recklessness were truly unacceptable!

While reflecting, Lou Cheng suddenly thought of something as the words slipped out of his mouth. “Uncle Xing?”

He didn’t even notice just now that Yan Zheke had addressed Director Xing as Uncle Xing!

Yan Zheke pursed her lips into a smile with faint dimples on her cheeks. “If you had chosen to come to me for help, it would have gone to Uncle Xing all the same. He is good friends with my father and mother.”

“I see…” Suddenly, Lou Cheng was glad that he had come clean. Otherwise, there would be serious consequences if one day Director Xing casually brought up even a line of the topic before Yan Zheke or her parents. It would be more serious than the mistakes he made to save a life. Even if they had gotten together afterward, they might break up because of this!

Yan Zheke pulled at the black hair hanging down beside her ears while her spirited eyes moved upwards as if she was pondering something. She quickly said, “In my opinion, you should meet up and thank Uncle Xing officially. He may have helped you only because of Coach Shi’s entrustment, but there’s no denying that he helped you and resolved a lot of your troubles. A mere word of thanks is not sincerity enough.”

“That makes sense,” Lou Cheng agreed that he should thank Director Xing properly. His master was one thing, and he was another. They could not be mixed together. “Didn’t I say that I was feeling a little dumb and stifled as of late? That’s why I didn’t recall to do this at all. Coach Yan, how do you think I should thank him to show enough sincerity?”

“You should show him your attitude; the important thing is your attitude!” Yan Zheke nodded in satisfaction. “Give Uncle Xing a call at night and ask him when he’s free. Tell him that you wish to pay him a New Year visit and bring a small gift when you do. Sit there for a while and give him solemn thanks, and he’ll know that you’re a person who values relationships. If you ran into any other troubles in the future, you could skip past Coach Shi and look for him directly then.”

“Is a small gift enough?” Lou Cheng asked with his shallow social knowledge.

“You don’t believe me?” Yan Zheke purposely put on the fierce expression of a scowl and a glare to smoothen Lou Cheng’s emotions. “A valuable gift at such an occasion will actually be counterproductive instead. First, it’ll make the two of you seem distant, and second, Uncle Xing wouldn’t dare to accept the gift. What would Coach Shi think if he accepts your valuable gift? As for the third, imagine you sending him a valuable gift right after he endorsed you. It’s like he’s asking for someone to gain leverage over him.”

Lou Cheng nodded with a pondering look. “Coach Yan, why do I feel like you know a lot more than I do, especially regarding interpersonal relationships?”

“Of course. Girls mature earlier than boys.” Yan Zheke’s lips curled upwards, and her pink lips opened slightly to reveal a small, clean and tidy row of white teeth.

After chatting for another moment, Lou Cheng heard a girl’s voice shouting ‘Keke’ from the other side of the phone.

“Is someone looking for you?” he asked.

Yan Zheke took out her hair clip, and her black hair hung down naturally like a falling waterfall. Her gentle, delicate, and beautiful womanly charm caused Lou Cheng’s heart to palpitate as he stared at her dumbly and blankly.

“Yeah, my mum’s calling me. I have to pay a New Year visit to my cousin’s (older female cousin via female line) house.” Yan Zheke looked at the mirror beside her while tidying her hairstyle, “It’s very annoying to celebrate Chinese New Year here at Jiangnan. When we pay a New Year visit to our relatives, we must visit everyone of them. Then, we have to greet different relatives in our own homes too. The whole process can last from the first day of the lunar year to the fifteenth day. Moreover, the meals we cook to treat our guests are almost all the same, so by the end of it you’ll be fed up with the food already. Every time I celebrate Chinese New Year here, I would grow much thinner.”

Lou Cheng said with an absentminded smile, “It’s very relaxing here at Xiushan. Take my family for example, we have a family reunion at my grandfather’s place, and another family reunion at my maternal grandfather’s place. Then we’ll visit the few relatives we share the best relationship with. It’s fine if we don’t visit the unofficial ones.”

“You speak as if I’m not from Xiushan too!” Yan Zheke rolled her eyes at him, and the movement of her eyes made Lou Cheng feel as if he had been shot by an arrow.

“I really miss the easiness of celebrating Chinese New Year at Xiushan…” she continued to speak, “I’m hanging up the video call now.”

Lou Cheng was just about to say ‘Okay’ when a question floated on top of his mind. After pondering for a moment, he said,

“Coach Yan, I made a mistake today. Have your impression of me turned very bad?”

He shouldn’t be asking such a question directly. He should have discerned the situation and filled in the blanks later. But he wasn’t able to hold himself back this time.

Yan Zheke bit her bottom lip with her teeth, and suddenly her mouth curled upwards and drew faint pimples on her cheeks. “Seeing that you’ve confessed honestly, I guess I’ll force myself not to think badly of you~”

After she said this, she withdrew her smile and said with more serious looks, “A Cheng who knows how to repent is still a good Cheng. When you feel impulsive in the future, think of your parents, your friends, and your own future. Don’t act recklessly without considering the consequences. You’re lucky nothing serious happened this time.”

“Mm mm, I’ll keep the coach’s instructions in mind!” Lou Cheng put on a vowing pose before he added, “But this’s murder. This’s a real, human life…”

Upon saying that he could barely restrain himself from slapping his own face. What was the difference between this and mentioning the pot that doesn’t boil? What if he spoke too much that he left a shadow in Yan Zheke’s heart?

When Yan Zheke was thinking, her eyes would drift slightly upwards. It looked very cute. After pondering for a moment, she said, “Actually, I’m far less unhappy about the fact that you accidentally killed that Professional Ninth Pin than you getting involved in the conflicts of the underworld.”

“From the first time you mentioned that he attacked the bar, I was already cursing on the inside: That despicable fellow; how dare he cause trouble in our Xiushan and shatter our peace. I wish that there would be a chivalrous hero or a police who would punish him. But I never imagined that it would be you, my ‘young swordsman’, who would deal out the punishment. Anyway, he was dead in my heart since a long time ago.”

She teased young swordsman Lou once before continuing on her own. “Maybe my way of thinking has something to do with my family. I often heard about my grandfather talking about similar things, so I thought that it sounded pretty normal. Who else would have had the heart to enlighten you otherwise?”

“Mm, my grandfather always say that a person’s growth from a normal person to a fighter is not confined to just their constitution and their rebirth of mentality when facing an enemy. Their everyday’s psyche has to keep up as well. A lot of people are especially hot blooded and eager when they just master a good martial art, and they’ll often accidentally break the law with it. I guess this’s a common failing for many fighters. However, some people’s mistakes are minor and don’t go so far as to affect their future. Once this period has passed, and their psyche has caught up with reality, they’ll return to the mainstream once more. But some people make one misstep and can never turn back.”

At this point, she swept a glance at Lou Cheng. “Thankfully, yours fell under the hopeful category. Otherwise, I’d not care about you at all.”

Lou Cheng’s heart leaped wildly at her sweeping glance as he beamed.

“Please do your best to save me, Coach Yan!”

After listening to Yan Zheke’s analysis, he reflected upon himself once more after hanging up the video call. He would not have a similar impulse in the future after this lesson.

Once bitten, twice shy!

When it was almost afternoon, he had completely sorted out his own feelings, and he was finally ready to face dad and mum.

However, his phone suddenly rang at this moment. The number looked a little familiar. He vaguely remembered that it belonged to Director Xing.

“Hello, is this Little Lou?” Director Xing’s candid voice rang from the other side of the phone.

“Yes. Good day, Director Xing. I am seriously thankful for your help in this incident.” Lou Cheng sat back on the edge of the bed.

“Haha, it’s nothing. It’s what I should do.” Director Xing lowered his voice a little and said, “The hospital gave me a call just now. Three people had died on the spot, one couldn’t be rescued in time, and one more is practically disabled. Wang Xu is the only one who can be considered doing Okay.”

“Sigh. This makes four deaths and one disabled. I seriously can’t suppress a case like this. Wang Xu is most definitely being sentenced for attempted murder with a gun, but he didn’t deal any real damage and he isn’t the mastermind. We can talk a little on his active intention to report the police and take another few years off his sentence, but no matter what it has got to be at least five years. I’m telling you so you’ll be mentally prepared. You may have to testify on court covertly as a witness. I’ll tell my men to keep an eye on him and protect him from being bullied when he’s in jail.”

Lou Cheng’s feelings were not heavy. This was a predictable outcome after he had listened to Yan Zheke’s analysis. He said sincerely, “This is nothing. Wang Xu is only nineteen years old, and if he performs well in jail and gets a little of his sentence reduced, he would only be twenty-two or twenty-three years old by the time he comes out. He still has a long future ahead of him. This outcome is better than dying on the spot no matter what. At any rate, thank you, Uncle Xing.”

He stealthily changed the way he addressed him.

Director Xing laughed and said, “I’m at ease now seeing that you’ve come around. Mm, we’ve just launched an illegal activity sweeping operation, and we’ve captured Third Jian and Zhang Mingle’s left and right hands. Zhang Mingle himself had escaped, but he’ll never be returning to Xiushan any longer. There won’t be anyone who would come and harass you and your family.”

“Little Lou, I’ll say one more thing as a senior. The underworld is something that’s better kept under the table. Even if they had some real abilities, they were just the dogs of important figures. They had to sway according to the times, and answer to every command. Don’t envy them just because they look imposing and impressive in the norm.”

“Don’t worry, Uncle Xing. I have a bright future ahead of me, and I’ll definitely not walk a path that’s destined to have no future.” Lou Cheng said without hesitation.

He vaguely sensed that Director Xing’s attitude had changed a little. In the past, everyone of his sentences contained something about his master, but now he valued more of what he really was.

Seizing this opportunity, he smiled and said, “Uncle Xing, when are you free? I’d like to pay you a New Year visit.”

Director Xing immediately let out a candid laughter. “Sure you can. I’m on duty during the second and third day of the lunar month, and I’d have to visit my relatives later. Make it the seventh day. I’d be around during the entire time during the seventh day. You can come over whenever you like. My address is 9, Champion South Street, Mingshan Small District, 2nd unit on the 9th floor of the 3rd building.”

Hanging up, Lou Cheng pulled the window curtains that he had forgotten to open all this time. The dark clouds outside had already dissipated, and the warm sun hung high up in the sky during a winter day. Wisps of bright sunlight shone into the room and illuminated everything brightly.

This was a bright world.