Martial Arts Master

Holding back his intense desire to scream and run in the classroom, Lou Cheng lowered his head and revealed the pure joy in his heart to Yan Zheke.

“I feel I can’t calm down anymore. I’m so happy that I want to jump off the classroom building and then swim a few rounds in the lake!”

Yan Zheke used a shy emoji and laughed. “Don’t scare your teacher…”

“Wish I were not in class! I want to shout out loud!” Lou Cheng was delighted to the point of incoherence. His body was so full of joy that it was close to spilling out. He couldn’t help asking, “You… When did you start to like me?”

Yan Zheke replied an emoji of a stunning dog. “When did I say I like you? When did I say yes to your confession? I just wanted you to enjoy for five more minutes!”

“Ahh…” Lou Cheng’s passion died at once as if in an icy cold cave, his heart uneasy and restless.

Yan Zheke continued, “He-heh… To win my heart, you have 81 challenges to pass. There are still many requirements for you to meet beside the prerequisites that I agree to be your life mentor.”

“Phew…” Lou Cheng breathed a sigh of relief and joy once again occupied his mind. His mood went on a roller-coaster ride, rising and falling rapidly and abruptly.

She is just being bashful and playing hard to get…

“No problem. I’m ready for 10,000 challenges!” He spoke out his resolution with no hesitation.

“Don’t you forget what you just said…” Yan Zheke added a shy emoji. “When did you start to like me?”

Possessed by joy and excitement, Lou Cheng opened up with Yan Zheke. “Actually… To be honest, I was secretly in love with you in high school…”

“… I need five more minutes to laugh on the balcony…” Yan Zheke flushed before coming to a sudden realization. “You! It was not a random encounter between two school mates outside the stadium. You came to chat me up! I was so glad to meet someone from the same school, trustworthy and reliable with no bad intention… I wouldn’t have given you my QQ number! Hmm!”

Although Yan Zheke couldn’t see his face in text messages, Lou Cheng scratched his head unconsciously, beaming at all this. “He-heh…”

He continued, “You have no idea how nervous I was so afraid you would see me through and refuse to give me your contact information.”

Yan Zheke chuckled. “What if I didn’t give you. What would you do? Give up?”

“Naive and inexperienced, I wouldn’t have any courage left if I was turned down. However, I might get up on my feet and march on following Little Ming’s advice…” Lou Cheng thought while typing. “No way! I have joined the Martial Arts Club for you. I would certainly enjoy special advantages from this favorable position.”

“You joined the Martial Arts Club for me?” Yan Zheke was genuinely surprised.

“Yeah. I saw you at the Martial Arts Club’s recruitment fair and signed Little Ming and myself up. Well, it’s not a coincidence. It’s fate.” After the confession, Lou Cheng could tell his skin was becoming thicker and thicker. Those loving words he used to imply vaguely now could be said easily.

Yan Zheke sent a emoji of smiling and asked, “Why do you like me? What do you like me about?”

“The true fondness can’t be explained. I don’t know why I like you. I used to walk by your classroom just to admire your beauty. Then your figure started to lock my eyes, and any topics about you stole my full attention. And I would guess your exam results every time. I suddenly realized I like you.” Lou Cheng expressed his feeling with no decorative words.

He continued before Yan Zheke could interrupt, “Back in high school, I simply admired a perfect goddess, putting all my imagination about beauty and sweetness on you. I touched myself and hinted myself. After spending some time with you, I began to see you as a real girl who would feel happy, angry, sad and joyful with her little weak points.”

“The more I know you, the more I like you. I like your lips twisted into a smile. I like your head turning away to cover your emotion. I like your bubbliness and brightness under your elegance and delicacy. I like your passion for martial arts. I like your taking part in my growth. I like your analysis of my enemy. I like your singing and cheering for me. I like your dislike of annoying boys. I like your staying in bed late in the morning. I like your pout. I like your longing to improve your martial arts. I like you very much. All of you!”

Lou Cheng was quite impressed with his own romantic talk after reading it through.

Is it because these words are all from the depths of my heart?

Yan Zheke waited sometime before responding.

“You are bad! My face is so red and hot now. And I have tears in my eyes… My roommates are coming back… I have to wash up now so they won’t notice anything unusual and laugh at me…”

“Okay. Okay. Go!” Lou Cheng could barely hide his joy.

Raising his head, Lou Cheng was shocked by the emptiness of the classroom. Only Cai Zongming and a few students on their study were there.

“The class is over?” Lou Cheng asked, puzzled.

Cai Zongming cackled and said, “Apparently.”

“How come I didn’t notice anything?” Lou Cheng murmured unconsciously.

“Occupied by love, how can you notice anything?” Cai Zongming moved his brows. “I think you are about to get naked and streak. Any breakthrough? I can’t believe just now your face was gloomy like hell… After all, small friction is beneficial to romantic relationships.”

Lou Cheng hastened to share his happiness.

“Yeah! I declared my love and she accepted it!”

“Cough…” Cai Zongming was almost choked by his own mouth water. “You declared your love just like that? On QQ? And she accepted it?”

Lou Cheng was flushed with success. “Yeah… I typed my love on the spur of the moment…”

“Type? Didn’t you calm down a little bit while typing?” Cai Zongming glanced at other students in the room and lowered his voice.

“You know… When you are at the moment, you can’t think thoroughly… My confession was only a dozen words, not an essay. When I calmed down, it was already sent… I was all like ‘How the heck am I? Where the heck am I? What the heck did I just do?'” Lou Cheng explained his mental process.

Cai Zongming was lost for a second and heaved a sigh. “Very normal. Seriously. Puppy love is all about making mistakes and acting on the spur of the moment. Otherwise, we wouldn’t call it pure and hot! Lucky you! You foreshadowed well in advance or you would have been refused brutally!”

“Phew…” Lou Cheng also breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m rather scared when looking back… I wouldn’t have any more chance in case she turned me down…”

Cai Zongming chuckled. “At least you have fear after the confession. Following my advice, you would have at least a 90% chance of holding her hand and becoming her boyfriend within three months. But the outcome of a rushed declaration of love would be hard to predict.”

“If she turned you down… Well, that’s nothing. Sometimes girls say no when they kind of like you but not like you enough to change their life style. All you need to do is to stay closer and try harder.

“Be confident and imprudent and stick around as if no confession ever took place. Do it right, and you may still succeed. The saying ‘A hot girl is afraid of men who pursue and paw without giving up’ makes sense. However, if she became very cold and desolate after your confession and stayed this way for a while, it would be time for you to quit.”

Lou Cheng grinned, his eyes squinting. “Thank God she likes me!”

He suddenly rose up, packed his bag and dragged Cai Zongming, longing to let off his ecstasy.

“Talker, let’s run back!”

“Run?” Cai Zongming was not given any time to finish his sentence. Lou Cheng pulled him and began to run, down flights of stairs of the classroom building, passing several school structures, a long bridge, and the pedestrian walkway all the way to Building Seven of the boy’s dormitory.

“Phew… Phew… Phew…” Cai Zongming was panting hard, close to throwing up. “Damn you… You run… Why drag me? Drag me for what? Bloody hell! I didn’t confess my love…

You ran… And you ran so fast…

Lou Cheng answered with a smirk,

“I’m too excited!”

He pulled out his phone to check on if Yan Zheke had finished washing and cleaning, but saw a few new messages from her.

“Hmm, Cheng, you must be on your way back to your dorm.”

“Here are something I’m too shy to tell you in person. I’ll say it quietly here.”

“You asked me when I started to like you. I realized it when I suddenly decided to wish you a happy birthday at midnight. I realized I had started to feel happy, sad, worried and angry for you.”

“When you brought grilled eggplant for me, I was really happy and thrilled. I turned my head away because I didn’t want you to see my ugly crying face… To treat me to a nice meal, you went to check and try restaurants in person. Your silly earnest made me smile… I was thinking to myself that I’d like you more and more over time. But you suddenly confessed your love to me today…”

“I was very happy earlier. It is something I never experienced before. However, I have hesitation and bewilderment as I’m not ready yet. I haven’t liked you enough to change my current life style and I don’t have enough courage to invite one more person into my life. So I didn’t write you anything until you asked again.”

“I was also asking myself when you asked me. Do I want to miss you? Miss this silly Lou Cheng? I know I’ll be very sad and sorry if I lose you. As I have already started to like you, why don’t I give it a try?”

“Cheng, I think I need a bit more time to accept all the changes, to like you as much as you like me, to overcome my timidness and take the heart of grace to be your girlfriend. Will you wait for me?”

Lou Cheng had tears in his eyes. He nodded heavily though she couldn’t see.

Lou Cheng replied after a deep breath.

“I will. I will wait for you for the rest of my life.”

His heart and soul became lighter and lighter. The earlier ecstasy was replaced by a gentle but everlasting joy and peace as if the lustrous moonlight was shining on the softest spot in his heart.

Different emotions but same beautiful!