Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
After a tumultuous trip because of delays, Lou Cheng arrived at Songcheng three hours after the estimated time. When he got back to school, it happened to be dinner time. The entire dormitory room was empty without a single trace of people.
He put down his bag and headed for the cafeteria carefreely. When he reached the ordering window of the stall, he ordered fish flavoured shredded pork, boiled meat slices and a series of dishes. After placing them neatly, he took a photo and sent it to Yan Zheke.
The cafeteria was full but he finished his meal alone. After eating, he headed towards the Martial Arts Gym for a stroll and to aid in digestion. Along the way, the setting sun shone on the lake and seemed to have covered the lake in a layer of golden red.
Approaching the gym, Lou Cheng suddenly saw a familiar figure walking out. Wearing a high-necked sweater with a casual jacket, squarish face and thick eyebrows, Li Mao, who was in his second semester of the fourth year in university approached.
“Hi Senior Li Mao. Additional practice?” Lou Cheng took the initiative and said hi.
Li Mao smiled happily and answered, “Nope, I have a round of practice in the morning. If I have another round, I would likely end up injured. I was settling things about my offer just now and I signed a three parties agreement. I felt a little... Hmph... How should I put it? To put it simply, I just came here to take a look and have a walk.”
As he spoke, he couldn’t help but sigh.
“Settled? I thought you were still hesitating about which offer to take?” Lou Cheng didn’t continue with emotional subjects and instead asked him about something happy.
“Yea, I have decided to go to the Capital to try to make a name for myself while I’m still young!” Li Mao’s eyes were filled with ambition. After a while, he laughed and mocked himself, “After a few years I really wouldn’t be able to afford a house in the Capital, and then I would bring the money I earned back to the city where I’m from, start a martial arts gym and get a wife.”
He had the strength of a top class ninth-pin, and his results for his specialization were above average. He was well received by the companies that came to the school for recruitment and had received several offers.
“You are insulting the Capital again!” Lou Cheng said teasingly.
Li Mao was intending to continue with the jokes but when he opened his mouth, he couldn’t say anything. Various memories and feelings started to gush out from his heart and overwhelmed him, making it hard for him to contain them.
He took a deep breath before continuing with a smile,
“Cheng, I really have to thank you, Coach Shi and the group. If it wasn’t for you guys not giving up on me and always encouraging me, I would have left the martial arts club long ago. I would have been a coward for life. When I faced a challenging environment, I would have definitely been nervous and uneasy and have abysmal performance...”
“You don’t have to. Senior Li Mao, these kind of things were mainly dependent on your own hard work to overcome the devil in your heart and walk out from it. All we did was shout praises. Lou Cheng did not claim the credit and just waved his hand.
Li Mao burst into laughter but then heaved a long sigh,
“Two years ago, I would never have dreamed about becoming a professional ninth-pin or holding the champion trophy for the Nationals. The last two years have really been like a dream to me...”
After chatting for a while, their topic changed to the Nationals in April. “I still haven’t understood the concept of “withdrawing”. It is the same for Talker, Deng Yang and the rest. At that time, you don’t have to consider putting me in the match. Instead, give the freshmen more opportunities for exposure.”
“You don’t have to worry about the Dan stage. Think about it, Lin Que had the standards of a professional ninth-pin when he enrolled. He only managed to achieve a breakthrough towards the end of his first year. It had been less than a year since you guys honed your body well. What is there to be anxious about? Could it be that you guys feel that your gifts, inheritances, hardwork and willingness risk your life were better than Lin Que?” Lou Cheng pointed out as he tried to encourage Li Mao to not be so anxious.
To reach Dan Stage in a year from professional ninth-pins was enough to make one a candidate to become a Heavenly Son of the era!
As to him achieving it in half a year, it was because he had a cheat and others couldn’t be compared to him...
Li Mao nodded his head gradually and laughed, “That makes sense. After hearing what you said, we are still quite a distance from it... Sigh. Previously we tried to make it for the Nationals to relieve the pressure on you. Everyone was so motivated and tried their best.”
“You guys don’t have to do that. The goal for us this year is to have no goal...” Lou Cheng laughed and described the practical situation to him. “Relax yourself a little. It is very normal to take three to five years to progress from top-class ninth pin to the Dan stage. Even eight to ten years isn’t considered long. There are many people who still couldn’t meet the requirement after ten to twenty years and could only see themselves losing vitality and hope.”
“We shouldn’t be looking for individuals or exceptions for this kind of matter. What’s the point at looking at me and Lin Que. You should be looking at the aggregated statistics!”
“Hmph...” Li Mao took in a deep breath.
He knew that reaching the Dan stage would be very difficult. However, he had not practically researched how difficult it would be. All he saw was the teammates around him succeeding in a year or less and the many new talents that had broken through in Shanbei, Huahai, Capital and other various martial arts clubs.
“Luckily I do not have the determination to continue walking down the path of martial arts...,” sighed Li Mao. “In that case, I will set the deadline of ten years. No, five years! I will lose my edge if it is too long.”
Speaking of this, he suddenly asked curiously, “Cheng, how many people from our martial arts club do you think will reach Dan stage in the next two years?”
“Deng Yang is a rather safe choice. He will at most take a year or at least half a year more to achieve it. As for the others, excluding the juniors from the next batch, there will at most be two reaching the Dan stage. I wouldn’t be surprised if there aren’t any either. In fact, the probability of this isn’t low. Lou Cheng knew Li Mao’s personality and told him honestly about his judgement.
This is a university martial arts club and not a top class power or a high-end martial arts school with various talents.
Li Mao listened on with a serious look. He didn’t continue on this topic and started to talk about random things that had recently happened in the martial arts club. Until the end, he forced a smile and bitterly said, “I suddenly don’t feel like graduating anymore and wish to remain like this in the university...”
After hearing what he said, a lot of emotions and memories suddenly gushed out. Yeah, the last two years had been amazing and memorable. I’m a little unwilling to leave this place now!
Although he was feeling emotional, he was still adhering to the characteristics of the talker, “Senior Li Mao, you got to think about this carefully. If you remain in university, you will continue to not have a girlfriend.”
Li Mao was stunned for the moment and couldn’t find the words the reply. He could only wave his hands and bade goodbye with gritted teeth.
That’s too much. Did he really have to make two guys teary? Lou Cheng looked at the back view of Li Mao and complained. After which, he made another round before heading back to his dormitory.
When he pushed open the door, he saw Cai Xiaoming sitting on the simple sofa with his legs opened. Although the TV was switched on, he was focused on playing his phone.
Hearing something, he immediately lifted his head and said, “You are back? If it’s about perseverance and resilience, I’m convinced!” Not waiting for Lou Cheng to reply, Cai Zongming looked around, paused for a moment before asking, “Cheng, I got something to ask you and you’ve got to answer me honestly.”
“I admit! Is it not enough that I admit to it? I was the one who ate the beef jerky you left on the table.,” laughed Lou Cheng with his hands up.
Moving his ankle back, he closed the door.
“I knew it was you who did it!” Cai Zongming wriggled his finger angrily. After pausing for a while, he suddenly recalled that the question he wanted to ask wasn’t about this. He pondered for a few seconds before asking, “Cheng, what do you think are the chances for me to understand the concept of “withdrawing” and reach Dan Stage before I graduate?”
Seeing that Xiaoming was so serious when asking, Lou Cheng gave up on his teasingly answer. He thought about it seriously and continued, “It’s hard to say. These type of things are dependent on talents, chance, and more importantly your own understanding. If you can find the strength that motivates you and the reason why you fight, it might be difficult this semester but there are some hopes to achieve it before your fourth year. The truth is that you don’t have to be too anxious about it. You are older than me by half a year. Let’s not talk about forty years old. You still had more than seven years before twenty-nine years old. Take one step at a time and your chances of reaching the Dan stage will not be low.”
“Damn it. It’s like you haven’t said anything.” Cai Zongming shook his head slightly with a complicated smile on him.
“Uhh. I remembered that you have wanted to pursue the path of martial arts so that you don’t have to repeat the life of your father and return to a small and dead city. You do not wish to be able to foresee how your life will be at thirty years old, forty years when you are only twenty-three or four. Try to think about such impulses and see if you can get some strength from it.” Lou Cheng continued as he thought and given his best friend some advice.
After hearing what Lou Cheng said, Cai Zongming suddenly leaned back onto the sofa, close his mouth, and said with a monotonous tone,
“My father had an acute myocardial infarction over the new year and was almost unable to resuscitate... The doctor said that he was too tired and had worked too hard. His mind was too tense and had to take better care of his health in the future...”
“After this incident, his body has weakened a lot. As for the company, not only is it the property of my family, but it also concerns the rice bowl of many relatives from both families. We can’t just say that we want to sell it. We thought about finding a professional manager but he is worried that he might not be able to control that group of people. Tsk. People...”
“If I can’t reach Dan stage before I graduate, I don’t think that I can tell my parents that I want to go to the Capital as a professional ninth-pin...”
He described it in a calm and composed manner and didn’t reveal any emotions. As a result, Lou Cheng find it hard to console him and could only pat on the shoulders of Xiaoming and said,
“So you have to work hard for it now. At times like this, the strong will go against the will of heavens and rewrite their own fate!”
“Screw you! Can’t you be more serious?” laughed Cai Zongming. He was clearly looking better and didn’t talk about the previous topic. He changed the topic and continued, “I don’t have high chances of reaching the Dan stage by this semester and I could only rely on you for the Nationals. If you can finish off Peng Leyun and Fang Zhirong, Deng Yang and I will definitely be able to defeat that “explosive maniac” together.”
Lou Cheng was shocked and his mouth was twitching. “You really have so much confidence in me...”
“If you could exhaust Fang Zhirong substantially, we could still make it if we try harder.” Cai Zongming continued with his secondary suggestion.
“I’m not a reincarnated Buddha. I might not even be able to win against Priest, not to mention challenging Fang Zhirong afterwards.” Lou Cheng answered honestly.
“Priest? Damn, you even gave Peng Leyun a nickname? Tsk. Your standards in giving others a nickname really couldn’t make it. It isn’t funny at all...” Xiaoming quickly diverted the attention and regained his vitality. He suddenly recalled a line by someone and said, “Cheng, you are really exaggerating things. My birthday is on the second of June and I’m at most four months older than you. Yet you actually said half a year!”
“I rounded it off!”
“Yeah, you rounded up “four” and just take half!”
...
While the group of students at Songcheng University continued working hard, Lou Cheng went and returned from America another time. April arrived soon after. The new Inter-University Martial Arts National Competition would officially be held at Huahai.