blueteamnovel Chapter 2: Fists fear youth and strength, money emboldens the timid.
Chapter 2: Fists fear youth and strength, money emboldens the timid.
As soon as he stepped out of the Deyun Tea Garden, a gust of cold wind cleared Lu Cheng's feverish mind considerably.
The ten silver dollars tucked in his pocket felt heavy and warm against his heart.
These days, that's just fate.
Passing by the "Two Meat Shop" at the alley entrance, Lu Cheng paused, bought two catties of braised beef, and then went to the pharmacy to get three doses of the best "Warm Lung and Stop Cough Powder".
This medicine is expensive. I used to only dare to take half a dose mixed with herbs. Today, I'm taking the whole dose!
Carrying his things, Lu Cheng walked quickly.
His family lived in a slum in the southern part of the city, a large, dilapidated tenement.
As soon as I entered the alley, I heard a commotion.
"Old man, stop complaining about being poor."
"If you can't come up with the payment today, you can forget about pulling this cart; you'll have to leave one leg behind!"
Upon hearing this voice, Lu Cheng's expression darkened.
It's Lai San.
The local thugs, relying on their connections with the police station, specifically bully the poor rickshaw pullers.
They call it collecting "vehicle rental fees," but it's actually outright robbery.
Lu Cheng walked quickly to the gate of his own yard.
By the light of the kerosene lamp, the scene before him infuriated him.
On this freezing day, his father, Lu Laogen, wearing a tattered coat with exposed cotton wadding, was kneeling on the ground, desperately protecting the rented rickshaw behind him.
Lai San was wearing a black silk jacket, followed by two shady-looking idlers carrying sticks, one of whom was standing on Lu Laogen's shoulder.
"Third Master Lai, Third Master Lai, please have mercy."
Lu Laogen's weathered face was pressed against the frozen ground as he pleaded.
"Chengzi's mother is seriously ill, and all the money has been spent on medicine. We really have no money left this month. Please give me two days, just two days."
"To your liking?"
Lai San spat a mouthful of thick phlegm onto Lu Laogen.
"Your dead wife isn't going to live much longer anyway, why bother with her medicine? You might as well save it to give to your grandfather!"
The sound of my mother coughing violently came from inside the house; it was heart-wrenching, as if she was coughing up her lungs.
There were many neighbors around, all huddled at their own doorways watching, no one daring to make a sound.
These days, everyone minds their own business; if you offend Lai San, your whole family will suffer.
"Get to work, take off a wheel!" Lai San waved his hand impatiently.
Lu Laogen closed his eyes in despair.
This car belongs to the dealership. If it breaks down, even if he had to dismantle his old bones, he wouldn't be able to afford to pay for it.
Just then.
call!
A dark figure rushed into the crowd with a whoosh.
Before Lai San could react, a rough and powerful hand, as big as a coin, grabbed his wrist.
"Who the hell...?"
Lai San was about to curse, but the words got stuck in his throat.
Because that hand was like an iron clamp, tightening its grip more and more.
Click!
A crisp sound.
"ah!!!"
Lai San's pig-like screams pierced the alley.
Lu Cheng remained expressionless, his eyes cold.
He didn't let go, but instead slightly lowered his waist and hips.
Full power!
The ten years of skill he had just acquired were now being used instinctively.
The feet grip the ground, the power originates from the ground, passes the knees, is controlled by the waist, and originates from the spine.
In that instant, Lu Cheng's spine twisted like a giant python turning over.
"roll!"
He gave a low shout and his arm twitched.
This seemingly simple tremor contains terrifying explosive power.
Lai San, who weighed 140 or 150 pounds, was thrown away by Lu Cheng like a tattered sack.
boom!
Lai San slammed heavily against the wall two meters away, the pain so intense he couldn't even scream. He clutched his broken wrist and rolled on the ground.
Quiet.
A deathly silence.
The two idlers who had originally intended to step forward were terrified, frozen in place with their sticks in hand, unsure whether to retreat or advance.
Lu Laogen, lying on the ground, forgot to cry and stared at the scene before him with his mouth agape.
Is this his son?
Is this Chengzi, who gets scolded for being weak even when she sings opera, and is usually so honest?
Lu Cheng turned around, not looking at Lai San, but reaching out to help his father up from the ground.
"Father, get up. The ground is cold."
The two idlers exchanged a glance, their hearts pounding with fear.
"Let's go, hurry up!"
The two men carried the half-dead Lai San away without uttering a single harsh word.
This is the rule of the martial arts world.
The soft fear the hard, the hard fear the ruthless, and the ruthless fear the reckless.
That "throwing" move just now, experts can see the skill involved.
That's a "master" who has honed their strength to perfection!
Lai San is a thug who can bully ordinary people, but if he encounters someone who actually has kung fu skills, he wouldn't dare to mess with them even if you gave him the guts.
"Makoto, Makoto?"
Lu Laogen stood up shakily and looked his son up and down.
"You...you know kung fu?"
"I learned it in the opera troupe, but I hadn't practiced it properly before. Today I finally got it."
Lu Cheng made up a lie on the spot and helped his father into the house.
"Dad, no one will dare to bully our family anymore."
We went inside.
The room was as cold as an icebox, except for the kang (heated brick bed), which was still a little warm.
The mother, Wang, lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) with a sallow complexion. When she saw the father and son come in, she hurriedly tried to sit up.
"Old man, what's going on outside? Are the debt collectors here?"
"It's alright, Mother."
Lu Cheng placed the things he was holding on the eight-immortal table with a missing leg.
First came a package of braised beef wrapped in oil paper, its aroma instantly filling the room, which was filled with the smell of medicine.
Followed by.
Whoosh!
Lu Cheng took out the remaining few silver dollars from his pocket and slammed them heavily on the table.
In a poor family, the sound of silver coins hitting the table was the most beautiful music.
Lu Laogen and Wang Shi stared wide-eyed at the gleaming silver dollars on the table.
"This...this is?" Lu Laogen's hands were trembling.
"You saved the day and sang the finale, so here's your reward."
Lu Cheng spoke as he lit the stove and brewed the medicine.
"From now on, I'll be the top performer in the Qingyun Troupe, and I'll get a monthly salary of thirty yuan."
"Thirty yuan..."
Lu Laogen swallowed.
He pulled a rickshaw for a month, working himself to the bone, and could only earn four or five dollars.
"Dad, after a while, I'll save up some money and go to the car dealership to buy this car."
Lu Cheng turned around and looked at that aged face. "From now on, we'll drive for ourselves. We'll drive when we feel like it, and stay home when we don't."
"Please enjoy this braised beef while it's hot."
The flames in the stove leaped up, and the room gradually warmed up.
Holding a piece of braised beef in his hand, Lu Laogen looked at his son who was busy brewing medicine and suddenly felt that his son's back had become incredibly broad and kind.
That silly boy who only knew how to practice his skills in silence and dared not utter a sound even when he was wronged is gone.
Now, this is the pillar of the family, a big tree that shelters the family from wind and rain!
Lu Laogen's eyes reddened, tears fell onto the beef, and he took a big bite.
So fragrant.
……
Late at night.
After helping his parents to bed and listening to his mother's much calmer breathing, Lu Cheng went into the courtyard.
The moonlight, like water, spilled onto the frozen, hardened earth.
Lu Cheng took a deep breath, his body suddenly sank down, and he wrapped his arms around himself.
The posture looked somewhat clumsy, like an old black bear that had just come out of its den.
Xingyi (形意), Bear Form!
Lu Cheng recalled the image of his strict old teacher whipping him with a rattan cane when he was learning his craft.
"Chengzi, you're slow-witted and stubborn. You can't master that agile swallow form or the darting hawk form."
"You just train like this, train like a bear! Train like a tiger! A stupid person trains with brute force, and if you develop this arm strength, you can kill someone by crashing into it."
Previously, when Lu Cheng practiced this bear-like form, he only focused on being "clumsy," not "heavy."
But now, the "ten years of cultivation" rewarded by the system is circulating within his body.
These ten years didn't come out of thin air.
It's as if Lu Chengzhen, in the gaps of time and space, without eating, drinking, thinking, or longing, repeated these simple "bear form" and "tiger form" countless times, practicing them to the very core of his being.
boom!
Lu Cheng took a step through the mud, leaning his shoulder against the ground.
A resounding vibration was heard in the air.
The originally stiff movements now exuded a sense of weight and gravitas.
Bears have the strength to lift their heads and can uproot trees and shake mountains!
If that leaning had hit someone, even Lai San from before, it would have shattered them into dust.
Immediately afterwards, Lu Cheng's demeanor changed.
With a twist of the waist and hips, the spine trembled violently, and the hands suddenly stretched forward, the ten fingers like hooks.
Tiger shape!
Like a tiger pouncing on a flock of sheep, it advances relentlessly and forcefully.
The move was still not sophisticated, straightforward, but when he used it, it carried a foul stench.
Lu Cheng withdrew his attack.
He looked at his hands, which were covered in calluses and extremely rough.
He's not a martial arts genius, not before, and not entirely now.
But with the help of ten years of hard work, he finally mastered that "clumsy strength".
Stupid effort?
In this chaotic world, fancy martial arts skills won't save your life.
On the contrary, this kind of reckless, brute-force, and clumsy skill is the most deadly weapon!