Martial Arts Master

Bang!

It was unnaturally quiet. Once Lou Cheng saw the wheels stop spinning, he let go of the car. The damaged car hit the ground hard. The driver, who was above age 30, was shocked and frightened.

When Lou Cheng was about to step forward and drag the drunkard out so he could beat him, some neighbors rushed over and asked,

“What happened?”

“What have you done?”

“What’s going on?”

At this moment, the kids who were struck dumb with fear, started to cry out. What a mess!

Mr. Yue, the middle-aged man, finally recovered. After gazing at Lou Cheng from behind for a while, he barely managed to swallow his saliva while trying to concentrate on what really mattered.

Suddenly, rage filled his heart. He held his kid and shouted loudly,

“That drunk bastard was driving and almost hit Junfei and his friends! If it was not for that young man, the kids would already be dead!”

Infuriated, the neighbors began swearing as they rushed toward the black car while the kids were still crying.

“Damn you!”

“You bastard!”

“I want to strangle you!”

Amid shouts of cursing, the crowd went around Lou Cheng and opened the door of the car, dragging the driver out to the river bank nearby. The driver received a good beating from the crowd.

“Ah! Help!” The driver gave piteous cries. Lou Cheng’s lips twitched as he stepped back, pretending he did not hear the shouts. The drunkard deserved to be punishment.

Honestly, Lou Cheng was also shocked by the indignant feelings of the public, so he missed his chance to give the driver a bitter lesson.

As the saying goes, “One cannot afford to incur public wrath”.

“Help …” The driver was pushed into the river and began choking on a mouthful of water. After he was dragged out, he finally sobered up a little. He started to understand the situation he was in, so he shouted out in a sobbing tone, “Call the police! Now!”

Again, he was pushed into the river and beaten some more. Due to venting their anger, everyone seemed calm now. Mr. Yue came back to his senses first and tried to stop the other villagers from doing anything that might kill the driver.

In light of the situation, the driver was beaten by the crowd for a good reason, so the law and the police might overlook them. However, if the case involved the loss of human life, it would be a whole different story.

The driver rolled himself into a ball and called the police. Then Mr. Yue walked over to Lou Cheng. Seeing the indentation in the surface of the black car and the tire marks on the ground, he was still filled with horror. “Thank you. If you had not stopped him, they would have probably died!”

“I just wanted to help you out,” Lou Cheng replied politely.

Recalling the young man lifting the car, Mr. Yue had nothing left to say.

It was as easy as lifting a hand …

“You are one hell of a fighter!” Mr. Yue did not know how to praise him. Then he asked, “Would you mind coming to the police station with us as a witness?”

“Do you need me to go?” Lou Cheng asked in reply.

Lou Cheng hated going through the processing, and he had to join his family for lunch as well as the tomb-sweeping.

“Fine. I believe we have enough witnesses.” Mr. Yue imitated the tone of an actor from a TV show, saying, “The police will not make things difficult for a fighter who stopped a runaway car. You just stood up and bravely protected their lives. As for that bastard, he is going to jail!”

“Of course. If you do need me as a witness, call me.” Lou Cheng left him his phone number and his name.

Mr. Yue wrote it down and replied back, “I am Yue Zhong. When we are done in the police office, I will find you in your ancestral hall and thank you personally!”

“I appreciate your kindness. It’s no big deal really.” Lou Cheng waved his hand.

Yue Zhong replied, “Well … If you would like to try some of the animals and birds we hunt, give me a call. As long as it’s not a protected species, I will definitely find it. I promise.”

“Okay.” Lou Cheng found it difficult to refuse.

While gazing at Lou Cheng and his friends going homeward, Mr. Yue touched his kid’s head and the fear still lingered. The image of Lou Cheng stomping the ground and lifting the car flashed before his eyes.

Hell, what did I intend to tell him when I first saw him?

I was about to say, “Young man, you look pale. You should exercise more often…”

…

On their way back to the ancestral hall, Lou Cheng coughed and took out some “Six Life” pills to ease the coughing.

Ma Xi, who had remained silent since the incident happened, was roused by Lou Cheng’s coughing. She stared at her cousin, sighing with all sorts of feelings, and said,

“Brother, you were like a Gundam, a robot warrior…”

“Absolutely …” Lou Yuanwei agreed.

Most people could not tell how formidable a fighter was by his performance in the fight ring, but what just happened proved Lou Cheng’s capabilities!

…

As they returned to the ancestral hall, the relatives were busy enjoying their gossip. But their topic had been changed to the story of Lou Cheng’s grandfather and his grandfather’s generation.

Lou Cheng, Lou Yuanwei, and Ma Xi sat in a corner and enjoyed their conversation. After a while, they began to talk about the incident and everyone condemned the act of the drunken driver unanimously.

Since Yue Zhong was in the police office as a witness, the rest of the villagers only knew that there was a young man who helped save the children. But they had no idea who the young man was and how he had successfully saved them, which happened to save Lou Cheng some trouble.

It was almost time for lunch when Lou Zhilin, driving his Benz and bringing his wife, joined his relatives in the ancestral hall.

Lou Zhilin, Lou Cheng’s father, and his uncle all looked alike. Though Zhilin wore glasses, he was uncouth and fierce-looking. He had built up a family fortune from construction and decoration, so he had to be ruthless to win over his subordinates in such a business.

“Dear Uncle, at last, we meet. I have been telling my wife and my son that among my elders in the family, you adored me most, even more than my father did.” Lou Zhilin was quite enthusiastic, but no one knew whether he meant it or just said it for show.

Lou Debang was pleasantly surprised with tears flowing from his aged eyes. “You are the eldest son in this branch family. You are the future of the family!”

After Lou Zhilin met with Lou Zhisheng and Lou Cheng, Lou Deguang asked, “Where is Erzi? Has he not come back?”

“My dear Uncle, I am so sorry. He and his partners formed a battle team named ‘Bat’ and the leadership of municipal administration thought highly of it. They have a match today, so they could not make it. He asked me to send his regards to you,” said Lou Zhilin, holding Lou Debang’s hand.

“It doesn’t matter. Business comes first.” Lou Debang did not mind.

A battle team named Bat … Lou Cheng held back his laughter.

Afterward, while sitting with everyone at the table, Lou Zhilin made sure to pay attention to everything. He never ignored those of his generation or his elders, all while still paying ample attention to Lou Cheng and his cousins. He asked Lou Cheng about his studies, showing his high esteem for a college student.

After lunch, they took a rest. Zhilin accompanied the whole family on a visit to the mountains and swept the tombs of ancestors.

At 4:30 P.M., Lou Zhisheng, Lou Cheng’s father, wanted to call it a day and leave, although the rest of the family urged them to stay repeatedly. Lou Zhilin went with them to the entrance of the village, while Lou Debang and his wife joined them for the drive home.

The car sped past. Lou Cheng recalled what he had experienced today and found that the only relatives he recognized were Lou Deguang and Uncle Zhilin. The impressions of his other relatives became dim because Lou Cheng had a huge family.

I really am bad at remembering faces…

But none of that was important. They were heading to Qingfu County for its famous Tofu banquet. All the dishes were made out of Tofu!

…

At 8 o’clock in the evening, a Maserati pulled up in the driveway of the old residence of the Lou family at Liang Tian Village.

“What took you so long?” asked Lou Deguang at the gate, putting on a stern face.

The side door of the fancy vehicle opened and a man in casual clothes appeared. He was less than 30, with dense hair, a round face, and regular features.

“I’ve got to take care of my business, don’t I?” He played with his keys.

“Your granduncle, Lou Debang, has left already.” Lou Deguang pointed out with regret.

Erzi smiled, saying, “Fine. I am here to ask Uncle Yue for some venison. There is a friend of mine who wants to try some.”

“Everything is a joke to you.” Lou Deguang slipped into the house.

Lou Zhilin smiled by the side. “Erzi, show some respect for your grandpa. Your granduncle is a rare visitor. At least you should pretend to take this seriously.”

“Yes, Sir,” said Erzi, half-jokingly.

When he entered the room, he saw the red envelop on the table, so he asked, “My granduncle made a donation?”

Did they donate the money for revising their family records?

“Of course. You granduncle really cares about the family records,” said Lou Deguang with an impatient look, smoking his long-stemmed pipe.

Erzi said nothing. In a quick glance, he noticed three characters, “Lou Yue Qi”, written in black ink on the red envelop.

Lou Debang… Lou Zhisheng… Lou Cheng… Lou Cheng? Erzi raised his head suddenly, with his eyes wide-open, and asked his grandpa,

“My granduncle and others, are they from Xiushan?”