Chapter 283: Undercurrent

Translator: Transn Editor: Transn

While feeling a bit nervous about meeting other disciples from different schools, Lou Cheng picked up Yan Zheke and arrived at a reputed restaurant where he made reservations. The restaurant was famous for cooking many kinds of beef, such as fried beef, steamed beef, stewed beef, griddled beef and so on.

After ordering, the girl grabbed something from her orange satchel that looked a lot like tissues and handed it to Lou Cheng. “Clean your face,” said Yan Zheke.

“What’s this?” Lou Cheng asked with a dumb look.

“Makeup removing wipe. You wore makeup for this program recording, right?” Yan Zheke said while smiling.

“Makeup removing wipe… Never heard of it… ” Lou Cheng answered in embarra.s.sment.

Yan Zheke tilted her head slightly and could not help smiling when she said, “Silly, you should know what it is by its name. Use this tissue to wipe your face. It will be easier. When you remove everything yellow from your face, you are done with the facial cleansing.”

“But… But I washed my face after the show.” Lou Cheng explained in puzzlement.

“I knew you would say this. You can’t clean your face with water when you wear so much makeup. Why do you think girls prepare makeup removing lotion as well as cleansing oil? That’s the reason. And I think you should feel uncomfortable with your level of sensitivity and skin control.” Yan Zheke said and then smiled at him gently.

“Oh, I see… No wonder I did not feel refreshed. I a.s.sumed I had washed my face too quickly, so I planned to take a bath before the dinner party tonight.” Lou Cheng said after he finally came to the realization.

If it were not for the protection of the brain, he would use vibration from the Internal Training Methods to cleanse his skin. But the brain was a forbidden area, even for Mighty Ones with Physical Invulnerability.

While speaking, he took a piece of tissue and started was.h.i.+ng his face. Something yellow came off immediately.

“So… Did you learn something new again?” Yan Zheke said while raising her head and curling the corner of her lips. Obviously, she was proud of herself.

“Thank you, Coach Yan. No, you are my life mentor. I have learned so much thanks to you!” Lou Cheng said and then gave an honest smile after the clean-up.

Yan Zheke suddenly let out a sigh. “Cheng, we might not be able to go on a date tomorrow. My parents are going to visit a friend and they are forcing me to go with them. Gee, I hate these types of social activities. If I know their friend, I would be fine with it. But if I don’t, it makes me feel very uncomfortable. What am I supposed to talk about with a guy who I only see three or four times in a year? And I have to sit tight and pretend I actually care about what they are saying during the whole d.a.m.n conversation. Sometimes they make me answer questions that I do not like. And that isn’t even the worst part. If I meet some naughty kids there, the chaos is, is beyond my imagination… ”

When Yan Zheke went on with her complaining, she noticed Lou Cheng was smiling at her attentively. She pouted as she said, “Why are you staring at me? Are you disappointed in me? Will you ever get tired of my complaints?”

“Nope, never. Actually, I’d love to see you complain more. You looked super cute,” Lou Cheng said with a smile, and added, “To me, it makes you more of a person and draws us closer together.”

Yan Zheke rolled her eyes at him, smiling, and said, “So what are you saying? I was not a normal girl to you back then or is it that I didn’t have the bearing of a normal girl?”

“Yep, you definitely had the bearing of a fairy.” Lou Cheng wore a serious look on purpose.

Puff. Yan Zheke laughed, curved her lips and turned sideways, “What could I do? I feel like I was tricked! You know, last year when we got to know each other, you weren’t like this. And at that time, I did not expect to have a conversation like this with you.”

“People grow up, so have I. Plus, I have a good mentor.” Lou Cheng answered without blus.h.i.+ng.

“Yep. Somebody’s skin indeed grew thicker,” said Yan Zheke gruffly.

Lou Cheng chuckled. He held her hand, helped ma.s.sage her acupuncture points, and changed the subject. “Ke, will you attend the Celebration Party for the Youth Tournament tonight?”

He heard from Zheke that Empress dowager had received an invitation as well.

“Nope,” Yan Zheke said, shook her head, and continued, “I am afraid that somebody is going to talk to me if I go. And, If my dad finds out about our relations.h.i.+p, em… ”

When two people in love attend the same party, people will notice something from their words, their body language, and their eyes, unless they maintain a certain amount of distance from each other.

Can her boyfriend keep his distance? She didn’t think so because she doesn’t have confidence in herself either.

“Ugh,” Lou Cheng sighed with regret and said, “I thought I would get to see you in an evening dress.”

“You pervert,” Yan Zheke cursed jokingly. “But I hate attending those types of parties and banquets. Although I can put on beautiful dresses, I also have to talk with a bunch of people who I am not familiar with. My face freezes because I smile too much… Anyway, it’s super boring. I might as well use the time to do more papers.”

She complained about all kinds of boring stuff on this occasion. The more excited she got, the gentler Lou Cheng smiled.

When the dishes were being served, Lou Cheng suddenly remembered something and said, “Ke, actually I can’t go out either. I think I am kind of famous now because I got the Champion in the Youth Tournament. Master told me to go to Wuyue for my apprentices.h.i.+p acknowledgment.”

“Formal acknowledgment of your apprentices.h.i.+p?” Yan Zheke said, not hiding her joy. She was happy for him from the bottom of her heart.

“Yep. It was so sudden that I am a bit nervous. I don’t know which sect I belong to and what my peers will be like.” Lou Cheng said, honestly sharing his feelings and expecting some advice from his girlfriend. After all, she was born in an aristocratic family of martial arts.

Yan Zheke looked up and continued after a moment of silence.

“Cheng, you should be nervous. Do you honestly expect your fellow disciples to be nice to you? It’s not a sure thing even if your master is a Mighty One with Physical Invulnerability, or even if he is one of the leaders that control your sect.”

“How come?” Said Lou Cheng. Obviously, he knew nothing about surviving in a sect.

Yan Zheke took back her hands and seriously explained the situation to him. “A sect is like an interest group. The distribution of interest was settled before you appeared. But when you show up as the champion of this Youth Tournament, not to mention you are going to be a Professional Eighth Pin or a Seventh Pin in the following year, you definitely break the balance. Of course, we are not just talking about the benefits you will receive. Your problem lies in your growth speed. The disciples who are raised to be the next leader of your sect are around your age, but they can’t compete with you. In the future, who will be the leader, who will be the a.s.sistance? They know pretty well. Now, do you still think they will be nice to you?”

She recalled things her grandfather and uncle used to talk about, as well as certain books she read, and then she retold all of it to Lou Cheng in an incisive and cold tone.

“… Cutting off their money is like murdering their parents.” Lou Cheng concluded with a proverb after thinking about it for a moment.

His fellow disciples spent so much time together practicing martial arts from childhood. Of course, they were close. He was different. He was an outsider. They, for sure, would reject him, isolate him, and hate him.

Seeing her boyfriend change into a serious look, Yan Zheke chuckled and said, “It’s not that serious. You are under your master’s protection. They won’t go too far. They might provoke you, trying to give you a little taste of humility. But don’t get mad at them. Follow the rules and everything will be fine.”

“OK.” Lou Cheng replied, nodding with an occupied mind.

“Also, don’t trust the pa.s.sionate fellow disciples. People who confront you directly aren’t the worst. Mind those who fight dirty. They will accompany you, bringing you out to eat and drink, to trick you and make you fall from virtue. Once you form a bad habit, you will only have yourself to blame. My grandpa has a martial nephew whose talent was wasted like that. he made bad friends and did bad things, so he had to suffer on his own.” Yan Zheke said, then pursed her lips.

She knew Cheng would not screw around in nightclubs, but she feared he might be too embarra.s.sed to turn down others’ invitation.

Lou Cheng listened in a trance. After quite a while, he spoke in relief, “Everything gets complicated when there are people around… ”

…

Around 6:50 p.m., Lou Cheng, wearing a white and black-edged martial arts suit, came to the venue in high spirits. The Celebration Party of the Youth Tournament was about to start.

A long red carpet was already on the ground. Fans were there too. They held various cameras and signs, which reminded him of the day he and Zhang Zhutong first met.

When his gaze swept across those fans, he found signs and bands that actually had his name on it. He finally understood how many fans he had gained on the forum in the last two days.

He took a breath, put on a small smile, stepped on the red carpet, and walked toward the entrance with his head up.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

People kept screaming Lou Cheng’s name. Under the flas.h.i.+ng lights came tonight’s leading character.

He enjoyed everyone’s admiration while he was on the red carpet. Once he entered the venue, before he could look around, an old man with white hair walked toward him. He was meticulously dressed.

“I will call you my nephew since your master and I are friends for years.” The old man laughed, “Well, this old man forgets things. And I haven’t introduced myself. I am the former director of the provincial police agency. But, since I retired, I am only She Dawei, an old man who hasn’t died yet.”

“Uncle She, nice to meet you. Thank you for helping me so much before.” Lou Cheng greeted him according to the seniority of his master.

Geezer s.h.i.+ turned to Director Xing for help with what happened to w.a.n.g Xu through this connection.

She Dawei let out a big laughter, “Just a small favor. Stop mentioning it. Come on, I will introduce some elder masters to you.”

He led Lou Cheng to Yin Huaming and started introductions again, “This is Little Yin. He is the chairman of the Martial Arts a.s.sociation in our province. According to seniority, you can call him Brother Yin. But considering his age, just call him uncle Yin. In this martial circle, we don’t mind such things.”

“Uncle Yin, nice to meet you.” Lou Cheng said, almost failing to hide his smile. He greeted Yin Huaming as instructed.

Yin Huaming shook his head with a big smile and said, “Martial uncle She, I am only ten years younger than you.”

Calling him Uncle Yin indeed brought them much closer, after this reintroduction.

“Who told your master to accept apprentices at the age of 20?” She Dawei cursed jokingly.

Next, he introduced Lou Cheng to several other people. There was Luo Zhong, vice governor in charge of martial affairs; Yu Hong, vice princ.i.p.al of police school, who was also the boss of Divine Fire Club behind the curtain, and 60-year-old Gao Jianxi, a Mighty one of Professional Fourth Pin. She Dawei introduced almost all the big shots in Xing martial arts circle to his martial nephew.

One stranger after another, one greeting after another, Lou Cheng finally knew what it was like when he smiled too much.

After another round of greetings, he excused himself by going to the restroom and snuck onto the balcony, where he hid in the corner complaining to his girlfriend by writing, “… I guess this is the trouble of being famous. I’d love to study in the cla.s.sroom with you rather than spending time in parties like this.”

Before Yan Zheke could reply, Lou Cheng saw a tall man carry a bottle of red wine into the balcony. He was a lean man under 40. Lou Cheng could sense the tiredness behind his eyes, yet he looked so energetic from his appearance.

“Lou Cheng?” The man said, raising his bottle with a gentle smile.

“h.e.l.lo,” Lou Cheng answered instinctively, raising his bottle of water as well.

“I’m w.a.n.g Zhou,” He said and smiled. “Last night, I received a message from the underworld. Somebody paid 30 million for your life.”

“What?” Lou Cheng said, both surprised and puzzled.

Who would want to set me up?

w.a.n.g Zhou sipped his wine and added leisurely, “But there was no follow-up after the message. People who have the ability to kill you would not risk their stable life for that amount of money. Right now, our society is stable and harmonious. Even if somebody got the money for doing the job, they might not survive long enough to spend a penny of it. You don’t have much to worry about. The message only means that somebody doesn’t like you, for now.”

“How did you get this information?” Lou Cheng thought for a while before asking.

w.a.n.g Zhou gently shook the bottle, turned his back, then walked away and said.

“People in this circle normally call me Master Ba.”

“Master Ba? Master Ba from the Virtuous Hall… That makes senses now…” Lou Cheng thought, then exhaled and once again felt how this champions.h.i.+p had changed his life.

What will happen when his apprentices.h.i.+p is acknowledged?

Inside the venue, Gu Shuang, in a black evening dress, peeked at the balcony and then texted Yan Zheke.

“Hey, Ke, your man is so honest. He won’t even look at those debutantes. You know they flirt with men all the time, but he leaves them completely disappointed.”

“Why should you care!” Yan Zheke replied, annoyed and amused at the same time. “Right, bring me four bottles of Ningshui hard liquor. Original-proof spirits, please! Cheng will visit his master tomorrow and he is not going empty-handed.”

…

The next day, Lou Cheng grabbed his luggage and headed toward the airport. For him, it was a new journey.

The destination, Wuyue Province!