Publishedat 14th of June 2019 06:27:50 AMChapter 2
Chapter 2 . 1: Incense Outside the Wall
“Hmm, let’s fight in actual combat,” Josh said affirmatively . “Not that kind of arena fight, but a real fight . When you were faced with a vicious enemy pouncing at you that year, all your skills were useless, completely useless . Your brain was empty as you fought with your bare instinct to tear and shake your opponents with your fists alone . Only when you’re trained to the point of being able to face a vicious enemy calmly will you have the chance to use your skill . Of course, that isn’t to say that you can’t start in an arena compet.i.tion first . What is this called in Chinese Kung Fu? Let me think…”
He patted his head and suddenly thought of something .
“Oh, this is called: One Courage, Two Power, Three Kung Fu . If you don’t have the guts, you’re going to be out of control with everything, with your power, with your environments, with your surroundings . ”
“I only have two months left . Soon as I realize, summer vacation had ended, and I’ll have to go back to school . Josh, what can I learn in two months?” Su Jie wished to absorb knowledge and experience like he was on a suicide mission .
This foreigner, he was indeed something . He could help Su Jie gain fighting experiences and help him avoid going astray .
Josh had studied Chinese Kung Fu meticulously, traveling thousands of miles across the ocean to come here . This spirit and thirst for knowledge were both worth learning from .
“Oh? Two months? Su Jie, you’re not joking, right?” Josh jumped in shock . “I can’t even train my muscles in two months . You know, I’ve been practicing for seven or eight years . You really have no choice . Unless you train with the bullets… Then…”
Su Jie’s lips tightened . He did not say anything . He knew if he wanted to learn fighting techniques and become an expert, he would have to go through it slowly . Achieving anything within two months was nigh impossible .
Life was neither a novel or a movie . He would not magically be able to consume a pill and instantly learn a skill worth a hundred years, or learn of a spiritual technique to strengthen one’s bone marrow .
“That guy has been practicing for many years . He’s an expert in fighting, wrestling, and all sorts of fighting styles . If I were to learn fighting techniques from him, I’d definitely be able to learn something . I can’t continue to let that guy hara.s.s my sister!”
Su Jie thought of the humiliation he had suffered . Fury immediately wrought his face . This was the reason why he attended a traditional martial arts cla.s.s rather than going to a facade martial arts school for kickboxing .
The Minlung Martial Arts School had many combat training courses . On the contrary, there were very few who signed up for the traditional martial arts cla.s.s . And if they did, most were foreigners at best .
“This really is the fragrance of flowers blooming from within the walls,” Su Jie commented wryly .
The day of hoeing and digging and turning the soils over pa.s.sed just like that .
In the last nigh hour, Coach Gu Yang explained the exact posture of digging, flipping, knocking, lifting, and falling .
Other than that, he did not teach them anything, much less any martial arts moves or fighting techniques .
“Coach, aren’t we here to learn martial arts? When will we start training in combat?” At this moment, a student could not help but ask .
“If I’m going to tell you how to earn money, do I have to teach you how to spend money too?” Coach Gu Yang replied coldly, causing the student to choke his words .
Su Jie then understood that Coach Gu Yang might only be able to teach him a few ways to train his strength . As for the rest, he would have to figure out himself .
Thinking about it, the students here were all in some form of short term martial arts training, so they could not truly learn anything deep and profound .
“It’s not that it’s useless . On the contrary, digging and hoeing is very useful . If I just practice like this for two months, no doubt my strength would increase by a hefty amount . Maybe the coach will teach us something more profound thereafter in the future?”
Soon, the day had ended .
All the students ran past Gu Yang and straight back to school, the length of their run a few kilometers long . They panted like a dog in heat . Then, they sat in the dormitory to rest for a short while before beginning to eat their meals . The school cafeteria’s food was edible, to say the least . The prices listed were fair, and the meat was plentiful .
Of course, there were also various sets of nourishing medicinal meals . However, if one wanted to reserve one in advance, the price would be expensive .
Su Jie subconsciously counted the amount he had on his bank card and silently ordered an ordinary dish .
His family conditions was neither good nor bad . His mother was a university professor and his older sister, Su Muchen, was a research specialist in artificial intelligence in a large wealthy venture company . Her salary was high, and she would often give Su Jie some pocket money from time to time . And his father, his father was the security chief of a company, his salary much lower than Su Jie’s mother .
His mother was a university professor and his father a security guard . The two were at two different spectra of social status, and many wondered how the two fell in love, married one another, and bore two children of their own .
In truth, Su Jie had this question dawning on his mind back then . But after he asked his father, he was beaten . He did not dare to ask anymore after that .
Chapter 2 . 2: Incense Outside the Wall
When Su Jie left home, he did not ask for money from his parents . Instead, he saved up money from tutoring students .
He was still in high school . Because his grades were good, some parents allowed him to teach their children . Since young, he had acc.u.mulated quite a bit of pocket money .
He was very thrifty . He did not play games like other students––did not like toys, did not like chasing stars, or buying anime figurines . Like this, he saved up money bit by bit .
However, registering for this cla.s.s, it was quite expensive . He paid 30,000 yuan for two months worth of lessons . He had spent most of his meager savings .
“Where is my ginseng milk?”
Josh arrived at the VIP dining hall and called for Su Jie to come in and have a meal with him at his table .
The chef in the VIP restaurant brought a pot of soup with a scented milk fragrance . There were also a few ginseng, mushrooms, chicken, vegetables, fresh fruits, beef, and other rich, savory food sprawled on the table .
“Oh, this ginseng milk is stewed with the chicken . The ginseng inside is a wild one . A hundred years old ginseng… A thousand years old ginseng is the best . Your strength would increase by leaps and bounds . And the milk, if it were breast milk, it’d be even better . ” Josh shook his head, somewhat unsatisfied .
“I didn’t expect a foreigner like you to know about Chinese recipes . ” The chef’s interest was piqued . He leaned forward and asked in Chinese, “However, this dish is only worth 1,000 yuan . Although the ginseng inside is grown and may not be of luxurious quality, it’s quite ripe and has seen six years worth of life . As for breast milk, do you think that it came from the n.o.ble family in the Qing Dynasty?”
The n.o.bility during the Qing Dynasty liked to drink milk . Ah, that’s right . They had a group of nurses that would squeeze out breast milk, heat it, and add in sugar .
As the saying goes, to strengthen one’s own self, one had to drink milk . This meant that the longer a child suckled on a female breast, the more strength they would have .
T/N: ∑（｡･Д･｡）??? Wait… What…?
“You are a foreigner, Josh, and you believe all this? Ginseng plants are no different from those grown in the wild . They are the strongest in their sixth year . At that time, they have the most saponins . A hundred-year-old ginseng turned into wood is almost no different from a block of wood . However, breast milk is indeed much better than regular milk . The various substances breast milk contains are not even found in regular milk . It is true that infants who drink breast milk longer grows up to be smarter and stronger than those who drink regular milk . ”
At this time, it was Su Jie’s turn to display the knowledge he had learned in biology and history cla.s.ses .
In addition to the knowledge he learned from the textbooks, he had also learned many extracurricular knowledge .
His physical education cla.s.ses were good such as running, high jumps, long jumps, rope jumping, playing ball, javelins, and so forth . Although he could not compare to the try-hard students in physical education cla.s.ses, he was much better than those who played games on the screen and slept all day long .
Of course, there were no fighting techniques taught in those cla.s.ses, so they knew very little of martial arts and martial arts skills .
“Okay, okay, eat . I especially ordered two servings today . It would be more interesting if we ate together . I don’t like eating alone,” Josh said .
“Josh, you’re treating me to a meal . Is there something you need my help with?” Su Jie asked half jokingly and half serious .
“Of course . Be my punching bag . I still need to train tonight! But I won’t be taking advantage of you . This will also be good for you,” Josh said . “Didn’t you want to become an expert in two months? Although this kind of training won’t help you become an expert, you should at least be able to gain something from it . ”
“Why do you want me to be your punching bag? You know I’m not up to your level . You should find someone that can match you,” Su Jie asked curiously .
“No, no, no . It’s because you are weak that I can control you . You are a moving target, and if the two of us were to fight against an opponent similar to me, you’d likely be injured . Remember, you’re not supposed to get injured during training .
“A lot of times, even professional fighters get hurt during training . It would be tough to recover for their next match . At extreme times, they would have to retire, their careers dead . On the contrary, professional referees are very rigorous in abiding by the strict rules . Fighters are careful to avoid breaking the rules, so there are very few who get injured . So, every time you train, you have to take it seriously . You can’t forcefully train and endure the pain . It’s a self-mutilation behavior . ”
“Understood . ” Su Jie once again gained an enlightenment and silently memorized what he had just heard in his heart .
“This chopstick is so troublesome . ” Josh grabbed his chopsticks . He had a bit of trouble with it . His fingers were awkward and clumsy . He picked up a piece of chicken with chopsticks and was about to put it in his mouth, but somehow, he did not have the chance to do so .
Bada!
The chicken fell to the ground . Josh was so angry that he threw the chopsticks on the ground .
“There are knives and forks . ” Su Jie quickly pushed the knife and fork over .
Chapter 2 . 3: Incense Outside the Wall
“You Chinese are magical . Using chopsticks is such a difficult task . ”
There was nothing Josh could do . He wanted to eat with his chopsticks, but he could never master its dao . His strength was great, his physical fitness impeccable, and his chopsticks exquisite, but no matter how much power he used, it was useless .
“We’ve been using chopsticks since we were young, so of course we know how to handle it . ” As Su Jie spoke, he suddenly became silent . It was like he had thought of something .
“Why aren’t you speaking?” Josh asked vaguely, swallowing his food hard .
“I was thinking… You Westerners are born strong, so you use knives and forks to make up for it . We Asians are relatively thin, so we have to use skill to make up for it . Perhaps I can see some logic behind Kung Fu…”
Su Jie appeared to have a different mindset from his peers .
After dinner, the two went back to the dormitory room to rest . It was a double room, but there was no separate bathroom . Instead, they had a public bathhouse . Overall, the conditions of the bathhouse was neither good nor bad .
From Su Jie’s point of view, the lodging conditions were unfair to the amount he had to pay .
Su Jie laid on the bed and began to write on his diary, summing up the events of the day, then reflecting on what he had done wrong, what he had learned, and what he needed to improve upon .
This was his habit . It had been like this since primary school .
“On the second of July, I learned a bit about digging and hoeing . I never knew farming could be so hard, but who knew that there a profound skills and methods to it . This is an essential training in traditional martial arts, and I think it’s like that too because in Ancient China, farmers had to do a lot of physical work . There was a shortage of supplies in the countryside, and there were frequent gang fights…
“There are many examples in the historical textbooks where two villages fought over water resources and dug ditches . Both would suffer from ma.s.sive gang fights and heavy casualties…
“The idea that a man is valued more than a woman in Ancient Times was because if a family did not have any men, or if there weren’t many men, the family clan was doomed to be eradicated––bullied to death by their neighbors, villagers, and tyrants if no one strong was there to protect them…
“In Ancient Times, a chicken, a tree, and even several catties of rice were all important a.s.sets . If a family did not have any men, most likely their a.s.sets would be robbed and stolen . If there are many men in the family, and they knew martial arts, chances of their survival were high . Such patriarchal mindset was forced upon because of survival . There was no other way…
“Josh said that only by fighting in actual combat would one have the courage . I agree with him . It’s just like learning . You can question it, but you’ll lose your mind without learning anything . Your mind will be blank if you know nothing . It’s kind of like a test . If you know nothing, your mind is empty . Testing is a bit similar to fighting I guess…
“The next thing I need to do is to practice my movements, and learn how to use it in actual combat…”
After he finished writing the summary of the day, Su Jie closed his eyes and heaved a deep breath, feeling full of vitality again .
He was young . Only sixteen or seventeen years old . His ability to recover from setbacks was strong too .
He then opened his eyes and added an additional sentence at the end of the page on his diary .
“To improve my oral English, I need to talk to Josh in English . ”
Chapter 2 . 1: Incense Outside the Wall.
“Hmm, let’s fight in actual combat,” Josh said affirmatively . “Not that kind of arena fight, but a real fight . When you were faced with a vicious enemy pouncing at you that year, all your skills were useless, completely useless . Your brain was empty as you fought with your bare instinct to tear and shake your opponents with your fists alone . Only when you’re trained to the point of being able to face a vicious enemy calmly will you have the chance to use your skill . Of course, that isn’t to say that you can’t start in an arena compet.i.tion first . What is this called in Chinese Kung Fu? Let me think…”.
He patted his head and suddenly thought of something
“Oh, this is called: One Courage, Two Power, Three Kung Fu . If you don’t have the guts, you’re going to be out of control with everything, with your power, with your environments, with your surroundings . ”.
“I only have two months left . Soon as I realize, summer vacation had ended, and I’ll have to go back to school . Josh, what can I learn in two months?” Su Jie wished to absorb knowledge and experience like he was on a suicide mission
This foreigner, he was indeed something . He could help Su Jie gain fighting experiences and help him avoid going astray
Josh had studied Chinese Kung Fu meticulously, traveling thousands of miles across the ocean to come here . This spirit and thirst for knowledge were both worth learning from
“Oh? Two months? Su Jie, you’re not joking, right?” Josh jumped in shock . “I can’t even train my muscles in two months . You know, I’ve been practicing for seven or eight years . You really have no choice . Unless you train with the bullets… Then…”.
Su Jie’s lips tightened . He did not say anything . He knew if he wanted to learn fighting techniques and become an expert, he would have to go through it slowly . Achieving anything within two months was nigh impossible
Life was neither a novel or a movie . He would not magically be able to consume a pill and instantly learn a skill worth a hundred years, or learn of a spiritual technique to strengthen one’s bone marrow
“That guy has been practicing for many years . He’s an expert in fighting, wrestling, and all sorts of fighting styles . If I were to learn fighting techniques from him, I’d definitely be able to learn something . I can’t continue to let that guy hara.s.s my sister!”.
Su Jie thought of the humiliation he had suffered . Fury immediately wrought his face . This was the reason why he attended a traditional martial arts cla.s.s rather than going to a facade martial arts school for kickboxing
The Minlung Martial Arts School had many combat training courses . On the contrary, there were very few who signed up for the traditional martial arts cla.s.s . And if they did, most were foreigners at best
“This really is the fragrance of flowers blooming from within the walls,” Su Jie commented wryly
The day of hoeing and digging and turning the soils over pa.s.sed just like that
In the last nigh hour, Coach Gu Yang explained the exact posture of digging, flipping, knocking, lifting, and falling
Other than that, he did not teach them anything, much less any martial arts moves or fighting techniques
“Coach, aren’t we here to learn martial arts? When will we start training in combat?” At this moment, a student could not help but ask
“If I’m going to tell you how to earn money, do I have to teach you how to spend money too?” Coach Gu Yang replied coldly, causing the student to choke his words
Su Jie then understood that Coach Gu Yang might only be able to teach him a few ways to train his strength . As for the rest, he would have to figure out himself
Thinking about it, the students here were all in some form of short term martial arts training, so they could not truly learn anything deep and profound
“It’s not that it’s useless . On the contrary, digging and hoeing is very useful . If I just practice like this for two months, no doubt my strength would increase by a hefty amount . Maybe the coach will teach us something more profound thereafter in the future?”.
Soon, the day had ended
All the students ran past Gu Yang and straight back to school, the length of their run a few kilometers long . They panted like a dog in heat . Then, they sat in the dormitory to rest for a short while before beginning to eat their meals . The school cafeteria’s food was edible, to say the least . The prices listed were fair, and the meat was plentiful
Of course, there were also various sets of nourishing medicinal meals . However, if one wanted to reserve one in advance, the price would be expensive
Su Jie subconsciously counted the amount he had on his bank card and silently ordered an ordinary dish
His family conditions was neither good nor bad . His mother was a university professor and his older sister, Su Muchen, was a research specialist in artificial intelligence in a large wealthy venture company . Her salary was high, and she would often give Su Jie some pocket money from time to time . And his father, his father was the security chief of a company, his salary much lower than Su Jie’s mother
His mother was a university professor and his father a security guard . The two were at two different spectra of social status, and many wondered how the two fell in love, married one another, and bore two children of their own
In truth, Su Jie had this question dawning on his mind back then . But after he asked his father, he was beaten . He did not dare to ask anymore after that
Chapter 2 . 2: Incense Outside the Wall.
When Su Jie left home, he did not ask for money from his parents . Instead, he saved up money from tutoring students
He was still in high school . Because his grades were good, some parents allowed him to teach their children . Since young, he had acc.u.mulated quite a bit of pocket money
He was very thrifty . He did not play games like other students––did not like toys, did not like chasing stars, or buying anime figurines . Like this, he saved up money bit by bit
However, registering for this cla.s.s, it was quite expensive . He paid 30,000 yuan for two months worth of lessons . He had spent most of his meager savings
“Where is my ginseng milk?”.
Josh arrived at the VIP dining hall and called for Su Jie to come in and have a meal with him at his table
The chef in the VIP restaurant brought a pot of soup with a scented milk fragrance . There were also a few ginseng, mushrooms, chicken, vegetables, fresh fruits, beef, and other rich, savory food sprawled on the table
“Oh, this ginseng milk is stewed with the chicken . The ginseng inside is a wild one . A hundred years old ginseng… A thousand years old ginseng is the best . Your strength would increase by leaps and bounds . And the milk, if it were breast milk, it’d be even better . ” Josh shook his head, somewhat unsatisfied
“I didn’t expect a foreigner like you to know about Chinese recipes . ” The chef’s interest was piqued . He leaned forward and asked in Chinese, “However, this dish is only worth 1,000 yuan . Although the ginseng inside is grown and may not be of luxurious quality, it’s quite ripe and has seen six years worth of life . As for breast milk, do you think that it came from the n.o.ble family in the Qing Dynasty?”.
The n.o.bility during the Qing Dynasty liked to drink milk . Ah, that’s right . They had a group of nurses that would squeeze out breast milk, heat it, and add in sugar
As the saying goes, to strengthen one’s own self, one had to drink milk . This meant that the longer a child suckled on a female breast, the more strength they would have
T/N: ∑（｡･Д･｡）??? Wait… What…?.
“You are a foreigner, Josh, and you believe all this? Ginseng plants are no different from those grown in the wild . They are the strongest in their sixth year . At that time, they have the most saponins . A hundred-year-old ginseng turned into wood is almost no different from a block of wood . However, breast milk is indeed much better than regular milk . The various substances breast milk contains are not even found in regular milk . It is true that infants who drink breast milk longer grows up to be smarter and stronger than those who drink regular milk . ”.
At this time, it was Su Jie’s turn to display the knowledge he had learned in biology and history cla.s.ses
In addition to the knowledge he learned from the textbooks, he had also learned many extracurricular knowledge
His physical education cla.s.ses were good such as running, high jumps, long jumps, rope jumping, playing ball, javelins, and so forth . Although he could not compare to the try-hard students in physical education cla.s.ses, he was much better than those who played games on the screen and slept all day long
Of course, there were no fighting techniques taught in those cla.s.ses, so they knew very little of martial arts and martial arts skills
“Okay, okay, eat . I especially ordered two servings today . It would be more interesting if we ate together . I don’t like eating alone,” Josh said
“Josh, you’re treating me to a meal . Is there something you need my help with?” Su Jie asked half jokingly and half serious
“Of course . Be my punching bag . I still need to train tonight! But I won’t be taking advantage of you . This will also be good for you,” Josh said . “Didn’t you want to become an expert in two months? Although this kind of training won’t help you become an expert, you should at least be able to gain something from it . ”.
“Why do you want me to be your punching bag? You know I’m not up to your level . You should find someone that can match you,” Su Jie asked curiously
“No, no, no . It’s because you are weak that I can control you . You are a moving target, and if the two of us were to fight against an opponent similar to me, you’d likely be injured . Remember, you’re not supposed to get injured during training
“A lot of times, even professional fighters get hurt during training . It would be tough to recover for their next match . At extreme times, they would have to retire, their careers dead . On the contrary, professional referees are very rigorous in abiding by the strict rules . Fighters are careful to avoid breaking the rules, so there are very few who get injured . So, every time you train, you have to take it seriously . You can’t forcefully train and endure the pain . It’s a self-mutilation behavior . ”.
“Understood . ” Su Jie once again gained an enlightenment and silently memorized what he had just heard in his heart
“This chopstick is so troublesome . ” Josh grabbed his chopsticks . He had a bit of trouble with it . His fingers were awkward and clumsy . He picked up a piece of chicken with chopsticks and was about to put it in his mouth, but somehow, he did not have the chance to do so
Bada!.
The chicken fell to the ground . Josh was so angry that he threw the chopsticks on the ground
“There are knives and forks . ” Su Jie quickly pushed the knife and fork over
Chapter 2 . 3: Incense Outside the Wall.
“You Chinese are magical . Using chopsticks is such a difficult task . ”.
There was nothing Josh could do . He wanted to eat with his chopsticks, but he could never master its dao . His strength was great, his physical fitness impeccable, and his chopsticks exquisite, but no matter how much power he used, it was useless
“We’ve been using chopsticks since we were young, so of course we know how to handle it . ” As Su Jie spoke, he suddenly became silent . It was like he had thought of something
“Why aren’t you speaking?” Josh asked vaguely, swallowing his food hard
“I was thinking… You Westerners are born strong, so you use knives and forks to make up for it . We Asians are relatively thin, so we have to use skill to make up for it . Perhaps I can see some logic behind Kung Fu…”.
Su Jie appeared to have a different mindset from his peers
After dinner, the two went back to the dormitory room to rest . It was a double room, but there was no separate bathroom . Instead, they had a public bathhouse . Overall, the conditions of the bathhouse was neither good nor bad
From Su Jie’s point of view, the lodging conditions were unfair to the amount he had to pay
Su Jie laid on the bed and began to write on his diary, summing up the events of the day, then reflecting on what he had done wrong, what he had learned, and what he needed to improve upon
This was his habit . It had been like this since primary school
“On the second of July, I learned a bit about digging and hoeing . I never knew farming could be so hard, but who knew that there a profound skills and methods to it . This is an essential training in traditional martial arts, and I think it’s like that too because in Ancient China, farmers had to do a lot of physical work . There was a shortage of supplies in the countryside, and there were frequent gang fights….
“There are many examples in the historical textbooks where two villages fought over water resources and dug ditches . Both would suffer from ma.s.sive gang fights and heavy casualties….
“The idea that a man is valued more than a woman in Ancient Times was because if a family did not have any men, or if there weren’t many men, the family clan was doomed to be eradicated––bullied to death by their neighbors, villagers, and tyrants if no one strong was there to protect them….
“In Ancient Times, a chicken, a tree, and even several catties of rice were all important a.s.sets . If a family did not have any men, most likely their a.s.sets would be robbed and stolen . If there are many men in the family, and they knew martial arts, chances of their survival were high . Such patriarchal mindset was forced upon because of survival . There was no other way….
“Josh said that only by fighting in actual combat would one have the courage . I agree with him . It’s just like learning . You can question it, but you’ll lose your mind without learning anything . Your mind will be blank if you know nothing . It’s kind of like a test . If you know nothing, your mind is empty . Testing is a bit similar to fighting I guess….
“The next thing I need to do is to practice my movements, and learn how to use it in actual combat…”.
After he finished writing the summary of the day, Su Jie closed his eyes and heaved a deep breath, feeling full of vitality again
He was young . Only sixteen or seventeen years old . His ability to recover from setbacks was strong too
He then opened his eyes and added an additional sentence at the end of the page on his diary
“To improve my oral English, I need to talk to Josh in English . ”.