Martial Arts Master

A week later, although it was already 1:00 a.m., the night was hardly peaceful near the Songcheng University Hotel.

Wearing the special exercise clothes and pinning the walkie-talkies, Lou Cheng and Cai Zongming stood guard by the door. Behind them was the hotel lobby that remained as brightly lit as ever, scattering silhouettes and shadows of the security department, student council and other club members who stood around.

“The school is stingy. They make us do overnight guard duty, and all they provide is a set of martial arts suit.” Cai Zongming tugged his martial arts suit and said grudgingly, “If it weren’t because my darling likes Liang Yifan and wants his autograph, I wouldn’t even care enough to be here.”

Lou Cheng shot him a death glare. “Talker, that was not what you said. You said we are sworn brothers for life, and ‘Cheng, if you couldn’t depend on me, who else could you depend on…’ Though I am also doing this and trying so hard to get the autograph for Yan Zheke!”

“Ha-ha,” Cai Zongming laughed dryly. “If I only wanted the autograph, I could just ask you to get it for me. Didn’t Qin Mo say that if you could get him an autograph, he would pay for your meals for a week? If it was not because of our brotherhood, why would I bother to burn the night and accompany you? Where’s that Liang Yifan? ”

“The flight was supposed to arrive at 12:05 a.m.. It has been more than 40 minutes already, right? Flights are seldom late.” Lou Cheng looked outside, only to see people everywhere, mainly young ones. There were people walking to and fro, people holding banners, people whispering, people holding cameras, people excited, and people just simply squatting around.

Cai Zongming looked around in awe and said, “It’s already the wee hours of the morning, and we still have a few hundred fans waiting here. The appeal of a First-Pin expert is incredible.”

“Plus, this is only what is within our sight.” Lou Cheng sniggered, “Lucky for us, I managed to pull some strings with Geezer Shi. Else, we would not even get this near the door. See, the student council and security department are turning green with envy. ”

It was a great position to be close enough to the star!

“Cheng, yes, yes, I will say many good things about you!” Cai Zongming gave a thumbs-up. “So, after we end our shift in the morning, are you still going for martial arts practice?”

Lou Cheng could hide his 5 a.m. mornings from everyone except his roommates. He had explained that the extra training was mere to strengthen his martial arts.

“I must go. Sleep comes after training. If I skip training because of small matters like this, I will lose discipline and start to slack,” Lou Cheng answered matter-of-factly. It was not a tiring chore to him. It was something he had to do anyway.

As they talked, the scene outside began to become restless. Three black sedan cars rolled into view.

As the cars approached, the crowd exploded into continuous screams, cheers and the people started to chant.

“Liang Yifan! Liang Yifan! Liang Yifan!”

Banners were lifted, partly hidden and partly visible under the lights of the hotel, matching with the fluorescent light. The characters “Liang Yifan Songcheng Fan Club” on the banners were distinct and added a heated atmosphere to the chaotic spot.

“Hey, hey, hey. You, at the door, move! Make sure you block off the fans and the reporters,” the walkie-talkies hanging on Lou Cheng and Cai Zongming started to buzz loudly.

The pair was a little taken aback by the chaotic scene and only regained senses when they met each other’s eyes. In quick strides, the pair joined the other security guards at the door of the car that just came to a stop. Together with the professional security officers, they locked their arms and formed a huge circle like a fence against the frenzied fans and sneaky reporters.

It was almost rhythmic, like strong tides crashing on the shore, wave after wave. The human fence almost could not hold its form. Fortunately, Cai Zongming’s Amateur Fifth Pin’s strength and Lou Cheng’s internal coordination had strengthened enough to help the fence hold it together. Frustrated fans who had been unable to get any closer to their idol could not help but shoot angry glares at them.

“Who knows? Maybe we are on a live broadcast on the Xinghai Club or Liang Yifan fan forum, and have all the people there scolding us, calling us hooligans or unreasonable guards. What do you think?” Despite the squeeze, Cai Zongming could not restrain himself and found an opportunity to talk to Lou Cheng.

Lou Cheng held on to his position tensely, and replied distractedly, “Perhaps they would even accuse us of hitting people and make use of the messy situation just to stir some trouble and create news.”

Just then, the car door opened. From the even more intense screams of the fans, Lou Cheng could tell that Liang Yifan has appeared. It was a pity that his back was facing Liang Yifan. He could not catch a glimpse of the star at all.

The rhythmic waves of the crowd grew stronger and faster. The screams of the fans became louder and shriller. Just as Lou Cheng felt that his arms could no longer hold off the crowd, a crisp and mellow voice said, “Everyone, please calm down. I am honored to receive such generous love from all of you, but it is already late in the night. We can’t be selfish and affect other people’s resting time. Please be quiet. I am here with all of you.”

In such a rowdy environment, though his voice was just like any other, the crowd actually fell silent. People stopped pushing, and the area outside the hotel went back to being quiet like how it should be at such hours.

Lou Cheng and Cai Zongming turned toward the voice. On the stage, outside the hotel main entrance where all the lights were shining on, stood an average-built male who was approximately the same height as Lou Cheng. In a dark blue traditional martial arts suit, the figure’s presence was strong, with an indescribable aura, an aura so strong yet calm, that no one cared that he had the most ordinary-looking facial features.

“That’s the real Liang Yifan…” Cai Zongming mumbled softly.

Liang Yifan was 30 plus years old, the perfect age when men were most mature and yet still didn’t look too old. While facing the fans’ stares of admiration, he smiled gently and said, “I am always thankful, and I can never repay the love that you all have given me. So, I decided that I will sign an autograph for every single one of you here, until there is no one without my signature. So, please be orderly and line up. We are learned people, so as long as we do not get too loud, I will continue signing till the last fan standing.”

His words moved the fans. Some girls were even weeping and exclaiming how good Liang Yifan was.

The walkie-talkies of Lou Cheng and team buzzed again, “Keep them in order. Let them line up without noise.”

With the change of their duties, Lou Cheng and Cai Zongming started to get busy again. They guided the fans into a line and stopped those who were trying to cut the queue. One by one, the fans went up the stage to receive his autograph and the reporters at the side clicked away, capturing the moment.

As the night turned quiet, Cai Zongming started to observe the figure who was continuously signing autographs under the lights, and then turned to watch the fans and reporters who were in the queue. With an unexpected twist of his head toward Lou Cheng, Cai Zongming said in a low tone, “Cheng…”

“What?” Lou Cheng responded, seemingly uninterested.

Cai Zongming took a deep breath and with the seriousness he never had, he said, “I want to join the special training now.”

“Uh…” Lou Cheng looked at him intensely and pursed his lips, as though he could read Cai Zongming’s mind.

He did not say anything else while they continued to maintain the order of the crowd. Time passed, and soon it was 3 a.m. There were not many left in the autograph queue, but many still lingered around, reluctant to leave.

Seeing that the queue was getting shorter and about to end, Lou Cheng heaved a sigh and stepped out of the security team formation. Relying on where he already was, he took a couple of steps and was already at the end of the queue, with only three fans before him.

“Hey, you there! What are you doing? Return to your position!” the walkie-talkie blasted.

Without hesitation, Lou Cheng flicked his walkie-talkie’s switch off and felt exceptionally manly for doing so.

“They can’t punish me for such a minor matter, right? Even if they do, I will be happy to accept it!”

Cai Zongming’s jaw dropped. He came out of his dazed state rather quickly and jumped right behind Lou Cheng, turning his walkie-talkie off at the same time.

“Cheng, you have my respect today!” he said softly.

Lou Cheng was already in front of Liang Yifan. He took out a small, cute looking notebook and said nervously,

“Mr. Liang, my friend and I admire you very much. I hope you could sign here for me.”

Liang Yifan smiled gently, “Of course, no worries at all. I know and I can see that the team has worked hard tonight. Just spill into batches to come and get your autographs.”

Though he did not announce it loudly, the news spread quickly. All the students who had volunteered to be security personnel cheered quietly.

Upon seeing Liang Yifan flip and sign on three pages of his notebook, Lou Cheng was overwhelmed.

“Thank you, thank you!”

…

Half an hour later, at the hotel entrance.

“We are lucky that nothing happened this time. You cannot even afford to take the responsibility if anything went wrong because of your reckless behavior! It wouldn’t even be unreasonable of us to fire you two…” the deputy head of the security department hollered furiously at Lou Cheng and Cai Zongming.

After a long pause, he said reluctantly, “I will be reporting this incident to your department head. Whether you will receive a disciplinary order will depend on whether you admit and have reflected on what you have done wrong.”

“Sir! You are right, absolutely right. We have done wrong. We were too hot-headed and impulsive.” Cai Zongming glibly apologized for their mistake, and Lou Cheng followed suit. It did not bother the pair in any way since they had already got the autographs they wanted!

If the matter went back to their school, it would be better for them. There would be more space for negotiation and they could probably wiggle their way out of trouble since covering up for each other had always been a great tradition of every team.

After greeting goodbye to the deputy head, Lou Cheng let out a sigh of relief. “He’s really something. Indeed someone who had been a Professional Seventh Pin. Even after all these years of sitting in an office, his yelling had such an impact. I almost couldn’t keep my spirit and Qi steady.”

“You were in a still stance just now?” Cai Zongming looked at Lou Cheng with curiosity.

“Of course, it was too boring,” Lou Cheng answered matter-of-factly.

It was almost 5 a.m.. The crowd was dispersing, and the hotel’s surroundings had become strangely peaceful. With the gentle autumn breeze ruffling their clothes, Cai Zongming and Lou Cheng subconsciously fell silent.

After noticing the lights in the hotel lobby and feeling the chilly winds of autumn, Lou Cheng suddenly said, “Talker, are you serious about joining the martial arts special training? Don’t you care that you wouldn’t have time for your girlfriend? Or have time to sleep or play games?”

Cai Zongming said determinedly, “My girl has always been tops in studies. I will persuade her to take a second major. The time for games? I will use that to video call her. My plan is to make a trip to the Capital during Christmas and spend some time on the New Year’s Day with her, so I got to make some money now.”

He was from a decent family and received twice the pocket money that Lou Cheng did. Although he had at least 3,000 yuan a month, he was quite a spendthrift too, never leaving any by the end of the month. As for classes, since many helped to report in for his attendance, and excluding holidays and the weekends, he probably only skipped three or four days of class.

Not waiting for Lou Cheng to respond, Cai Zongming continued to talk,

“I kinda thought it through. After graduating, we will have to step into the real society. We will not have the energy and time like now. We will not have the passion and free spirit to do what we like now. I’ve always liked martial arts. Although I’m a little lazy, sometimes I do fantasize. If we have no ideal or dream, how different are we from a walking dead? I don’t really want to spend four years in college just in classes, exams, and games.

“I think I have some talent. Since I am already at Amateur Fifth Pin, I probably have some hope to enter the professional martial arts community. No harm trying anyway, who knows… Maybe I’ll make it? Just like how you are chasing your goddess. Maybe I’ll just be lucky enough to hit the jackpot?”

Lou Cheng glared at Cai Zongming. “You can go on being all sentimental and romantic about your dreams, why do you have to add in those few lines of sarcasm?”

“Used to it,” Cai Zongming answered with a smirk.

They looked at each other and grinned, then, at the same time they said, “Life is short, you live only once, why not try?”