Martial Arts Master

After submitting the membership fee and snapping a photo, Lou Cheng successfully obtained his Professional Ninth Pin certificate. One could inquire about his rank by searching for his name and number through the official website now.

“Why does my photo look so dumb?” He stared at the photo on the certificate in dissatisfaction.

There wasn’t a single photo among his certificates that was photogenic!

Yan Zheke said with a lively tone,

“This is what they call being practical and realistic~!”

She didn’t give Lou Cheng the chance to speak. She took out her cell phone and said with a little bit of excitement,

“Stand properly. Your coach is going to snap a photo to commemorate this moment. From today onwards, you’re a professional fighter~”

“From today onwards, I’m a professional fighter…” suddenly, Lou Cheng felt a ripple in his heart when he heard this.

From today onwards, I’m a man who can bear the heavy burden of life even if I drop out of university, if my father loses his job again, or if my family experiences misfortune once more!

He didn’t know why, but he could feel himself getting solemn and respectful all of a sudden. He saw Yan Zheke taking a few steps backward and cutely imitating a professional’s pose while bringing him into the camera.

“One, two, three…” the girl shouted clearly.

Click!

The flashbulb lit up, and Lou Cheng’s solemn appearance as he held his Professional Ninth Pin certificate was frozen in the frame just like that. He quietly said in his heart, “I’m a Professional Ninth Pin fighter now, but this isn’t enough. If I want to bear Ke’s life on my shoulders, and if I want to make her live a better life, achieving Danqi State and becoming a Professional Eighth Pin fighter are the most basic requirements I must fulfill!”

Among the thousands and tens of thousands of people in Songcheng including the police department, martial arts school, martial arts club circle, professional tournament club and the medical and insurance company that shared a tight relationship with martial arts, there were only seventy to eighty or Dan stage experts in their prime and old age. If he could step into their ranks, then he absolutely could be considered an elite among the elites!

There were two ways to obtain the qualification of Professional Eighth Pin. The first way was to transform one’s body into a big dan, and cause qi to arise from within the body. As long as a fighter was verified to have stepped into Danqi State, then they could obtain their certification immediately. The second way was to submit proof and data that the relevant fighter had beaten an Eighth Pin expert before and passed through the Ranking Event. Examples like this were few, but not exactly rare. This was due to the existence of supernatural abilities.

Therefore, Songcheng might produce seven to eight newly ascended Eighth Pin experts in a year, or none at all. On average, four Eighth Pin experts would be produced per year in Songcheng. A portion of them came from martial arts school and would leave their hometown to enter the military. The other portion would go to the capital, Huahai, etc. or the domains of schools and forces such as Shangqing Sect or Daxing Temple. Many more fighters who approached equal or higher rank attempted to improve themselves and pursue a higher and further martial arts goals.

Meanwhile, Lou Cheng’s current small goal was to enter into their ranks!

Only then he felt like he could face the Queen Mother and the others with greater calm and confidence.

“Let’s take one more picture, Cheng. Come on, don’t be so serious. Give me a smile~” Yan Zheke seemed to be happier than himself that he had acquired his certificate.

The corners of Lou Cheng’s mouth turned up as he looked at her. The solemnity and respectfulness he assumed before swiftly faded away as he regained his usual cheer.

What came next was the long-awaited May 1st trip!

Back at the beginning of April, the travel guide he made had already been approved by Yan Zheke!

…

In just a few days, it was April 30th already. Geezer Shi lived up to expectations and gave everyone in the special training a holiday, allowing them to reorganize their weary feelings for holding out for so long and welcome the award money split and lot results of the knockout matches after the holiday!

When the final class during the afternoon had ended, and after he had hastily eaten dinner with Yan Zheke, Lou Cheng returned to the dormitory and inspected the luggage from head to toe once more. He confirmed that he had not forgotten the items he should be carrying with him.

He carried the luggage and arrived at the entrance of the dormitory three. He didn’t wait long before he saw a girl pulling an orange-colored, seventeen-inch-long suitcase and exiting the unit’s doorway.

By now Yan Zheke had already changed her clothes into a white T-shirt, faint-colored jeans, green knitted garment and white sports shoes. It was a simple but beautiful attire that made her brim with lively youth.

Lou Cheng didn’t spare any of his loving gazes and took the suitcase from the girl’s hands. He gripped her palm and said with high spirits,

“Let’s go!”

Yan Zheke pursed her lips and smiled. She turned her head to the side.

I’m not talking with this boastful fellow!

They didn’t go to the bus station. Since it was a holiday, there groups of long queues waiting for their turn to get on the bus. There was no way they were getting on the school bus without waiting for more than half an hour.

Naturally, Lou Cheng wouldn’t allow the beautiful trip to become shrouded with unpleasantries. He had booked a car through a software a long time ago. He didn’t mind paying a little more.

When the duo exited the school gates, the car they booked was waiting for them already. Lou Cheng ran back and forth busying himself with things and set all the luggage in place. Then, he sat beside Yan Zheke.

He had just closed the car door when he suddenly heard a ring from his cell phone. He picked it up and saw that it was a phone call from Jiang Fei.

“Fatty Jiang?” He chose to accept it in puzzlement.

Jiang Fei’s familiar voice rang out of the phone. “Cheng, I’m coming over to seek shelter from you!”

“Ah?” Lou Cheng was completely confused. Beside him, Yan Zheke had also looked over in curiosity.

“It’s the May 1st Holiday, isn’t it? I figured I have no places to go, and I don’t want to play games inside my room all day. So I plan to find you and play around Songcheng for two days!” Jiang Fei said in great excitement.

Lou Cheng stared at the bewildered Yan Zheke and chuckled.

“Fatty Jiang, can’t you bring up this kind of stuff a few weeks earlier? I’m not at Songcheng right now! Of course, I wouldn’t have stayed in Songcheng even if you did tell me in advance.”

What a classic Fatty Jiang style of action—acting immediately to his thoughts!

“What the heck, Cheng, are you still my brother?” Jiang Fei said both in annoyance and amusement, “Shouldn’t you be turning around immediately after you received my call? Say, where are you heading? Can you bring me along with you?”

“Do you think it’s fun being the third wheel?” Lou Cheng cruelly turned down Fatty Jiang.

What a joke, he spent a lot of effort setting up this two-person trip. There was no way he was going to add in a third wheel!

“Third wheel…” Fatty Jiang wasn’t an idiot. He immediately came to a realization and said, “You got her? You even got her out on a trip?”

“Hehe.” Lou Cheng could only reply to this with laughter.

“Wow, that’s awesome. You’re the earliest to escape bachelor status out of all of us!” Jiang Fei said in envy and ruefulness, “When are you going to introduce us to your wife?”

“You know her…” Lou Cheng said this on the inside and smiled, “When the chance presents itself.”

Things like this weren’t something that he could decide on his own, and must be approved by the ‘head’ of the family first!

“Fine, I won’t disturb you now. Teach me a few moves when you come back, okay? I want a girlfriend too!” Jiang Fei wailed before hanging up the call.

Yan Zheke had been smiling and looking at him all this time, and it was only now she asked, “Jiang Fei?”

She had heard Lou Cheng bringing up his high school pal several times in the past.

“Yeah, he suddenly decided he wanted to come to Songcheng to play, but was turned down mercilessly by me!” Lou Cheng beamed.

Yan Zheke pursed her lips into a smile and said, “Speaking of him, I remember that girl, Song Li. She complained twice to me that big mouth Jiang Fei caused her relationship with Du Liyu to spread to most of the students in the two classes.”

“We have a part in this matter too.” Lou Cheng exchanged gazes with the girl and smiled.

After chatting idly for a while, the duo tossed the matter of Jiang Fei to the back of their minds and began discussing their itinerary.

Lou Cheng had chosen Yangtai, a less popular spot compared to its surroundings to avoid a massive crowd.

That tourist spot imitated the famous scenic spots within the country and had just recently built up a canyon bridge that was completely made of glass. It looked fascinating and exciting, not to mention that there were fewer tourists since the promotion efforts hadn’t caught up yet.

This was the arrangement they had for the first day. There were eating, drinking and merrymaking to be done later at the ancient town later.

… …

By 8:30 p.m., the duo reached Yangtai on a bullet train.

While waiting for the taxi, Lou Cheng noticed that Yan Zheke’s complexion was a little pale. He hastily asked in concern,

“Are you feeling uncomfortable? Are you carsick?”

“I’m fine.” Yan Zheke shook her head to indicate that she was fine. Then, she extended a hand and held onto Lou Cheng’s free arm.

Sensing that she was maybe tired, Lou Cheng didn’t ask any more questions and simply did his best to hold up her weight with his shoulders.

More than twenty minutes later, the taxi stopped at the entrance of ‘Yangtai Tomorrow Hotel’.

This was the accommodation Lou Cheng had selected with great care. He didn’t want to cause Yan Zheke any grievance during this trip from the bottom of his heart, and he didn’t want her to stay in a cheap place that cost a few hundred RMB. Therefore, he chose the best rooms he could afford with his private money. The two rooms cost about four thousand RMB over three nights.

After grabbing the room key, he beamed at Yan Zheke and said, “Yangtai’s night market is said to be pretty good, and our dinner just now is a little hasty. Do you want to grab supper later?”

“Sure.” Yan Zheke nodded with a smile, “Come and look for me after you put down your luggage. The sooner we eat, the sooner we can go to bed. You have to wake up early for training tomorrow~”

“Alright!” Lou Cheng answered joyfully.

When he found his room, put down his backpack and took care of all personal issues, he returned to the girl’s door and knocked.

After knocking for a few times, Yan Zheke opened the room door looking even worse than before. There was a vague hint of pain in her expression.

“What’s wrong?” Worry clenched Lou Cheng’s heart as he asked anxiously.

He had just said this when an idea flashed across his mind, and he pointed at the stomach, saying, “Is it that time?”

“Mm…” Yan Zheke frowned and nodded.

Lou Cheng hurriedly said, “Give me a moment to grab something!”

After saying this, he ran back in haste to his own room and took out a few bags of items. Then, he returned to the girl’s room once more.

“What’s this?” Yan Zheke asked with curious eyes while clutching her stomach with one hand.

While Lou Cheng was busy washing the electric kettle, he smiled faintly and said,

“Ginger and brown sugar tea. I’ve prepared it specifically for you.”

Yan Zheke looked startled as she asked in astonishment, “You, know that I’m going to have my period for the next few days?”

“Yeah, isn’t it obvious? You had your period during February 14th Valentine’s Day, and the normal menstruation cycle is 26 days. Therefore, shouldn’t the next few cycles be on March 12th, April 7th, and May 3rd? However, your period on April was two days earlier than expected, so it’s likely to happen during these few days this month. That’s why I haven’t arranged any kind of rafting event.” Lou Cheng said with a ‘why would you think I don’t know about this’ expression.

His hands didn’t slow down just because he was speaking. he had already begun boiling water when he smiled depreciatingly at himself and said, “I was actually worried earlier that you wouldn’t be willing to go on a trip because of your menstruation.”

Yan Zheke’s eyes suddenly turned a little red as she watched him work neatly and tightly and heard his matter-of-fact tone. She clenched her teeth once before saying, “Actually, actually it’s because I’m having a period that I agreed to come with you.”

Lou Cheng, who was washing a cup, was startled by this. He turned sideways to look at the girl and asked in half amusement and unexpected grievance,

“What, you’re afraid that I’d lose control during the trip?”

Am I that untrustworthy?

Yan Zheke bit her bottom lip softly and nodded seriously.

“I’m afraid…”

When she said this, she suddenly turned a little agitated.

“The main reason is that you acted especially lustful every time we’re alone for the past few times. You, you make me feel as if I’m just an outlet to vent your desires!”

When she said this, she exhaled as if she had vented every drop of negative emotions she had been accumulating inside her heart.