At this moment, two images flashed past the minds of Guo Min, Guo Huairou and the rest. A young man in a white martial arts suit with black trimmings looked towards the peaceful windows and shouted loudly but calmly, "He's here!" Then he announced again with the same calm tone, "He's gone!"
He came, he left... This was real!
The crowd gathered by the windows and subconsciously looked towards the door. Somehow the image of the young boy in the white martial arts suited with black trimmings and it seemed to appear and then disappear in front of their eyes.
"The real man never boasts... " After quite a while, Guo Min sighed.
On the other hand, Guo Huairou took a deep breath and from the bottom of her heart the words, "like a true expert" floated up.
"Captain Niu, do you know who that was?" Guo Min asked curiously.
Niu Zhen shook his head with a blurred face, he said, "Director Xing only gave me a phone number... "
No one could catch the full of the mysterious dragon!
During morning training, Lou Cheng followed his regular regime of drinking the medicinal brew and practicing the finer inner details. He polished his forces and at the end, used the Jin Dan to try and experience the feeling of "to keep". Again, he gained a different experience from yesterday.
Different every day, refreshing every day!
After breakfast, he reached the training center and soaked himself in the Strength Training Gymnasium for half an hour. Then, Lou Cheng saw Wu Ting entering the center, yawning and sporting dark eye rings.
"Coach Lou, I think I didn't get a good night's rest. You should know it, that matter. So, could you please reduce a little bit of the training later?" Wu Ting pleaded with him pitifully.
Lou Cheng looked at the other students and smiled. He said, "I'm aware. Today, your training will be reduced by two-thirds. When you're free to help me keep watch on the other students and correct their movements."
Both the student and teacher would benefit from such a lesson.
"Great!" Wu Ting did not expect that her pleas would be heard so easily. Plus the surprising task of a "teaching assistant". She was happy and excited.
When training was about to start, she realized something and asked Lou Cheng curiously, "Coach Lou, you were also invited right? How could you still be so energetic and alert?"
Protecting someone is more tiring than being protected!
She did not have a good rest, but Coach Lou probably did not even get to rest!
"Yes, I was invited." Lou Cheng replied with a wide smile, "But, I also slept a whole night."
"Coach, you must be lying!" Wu Ting didn't believe his words and started to laugh.
Yao Ruiwei, Zhang Qiufan and the rest of the students looked at them, having no idea what they were talking about and thus deciding to ask Qiu Ting during break time.
So what happened last night?
At 2 p.m. after a round of pound training, Lou Cheng left Gushan Martial Arts School and made a turn to the crossroad at the side, where he got into Xing Chengwu's SUV.
"Lou, yours." Xing Chengwu stretched out his hands and passed a thick envelope to Lou Cheng.
"Uncle Xing, what's this?" Lou Cheng asked, perplexed.
Xing Chengwu answered brightly, "The reward for last night. No need to reject, it's from the country, not from my pocket. Because it was somewhat dangerous, so they've given quite a lot."
Lou Cheng pinched to estimate the thickness of the envelope. It was about 8000 to 10000 yuan. For a top Professional Ninth Pin, just one night of being a bodyguard, this was a crazy amount. But then again, thinking about the fact that the enemy that he faced was someone with Seventh Pin Dan stage, the amount sounds reasonable again.
This money was made in exchange for his life. Why should he be humble about it?
Lou Cheng opened the envelope and took out the red notes. He used his phone to take a photo of them and sent them to Yan Zheke who was taking an afternoon nap to recover from the night. He wrote with a snigger emoji.
"We're also earning money from the country!"
Although he could not talk as and when he wanted, but he always wanted to share what he had experienced with his girlfriend.
Director Xing, of course, could understand the photo taking the habit of the young ones. He did not say anything else, and just started the car. They drove towards the courts in the east.
After driving for a while, without any other intention, he asked, "Lou, how did you guys managed to scare Zhan Xuming yesterday?" He looked out of the window for at least a minute before continuing his words, "Niu Zhan, that kid, was not clear at all with his explanation."
"Uncle Xing, do you know about the Ice Sect's Enemy Heart Freezing Move?" Lou Cheng was already rather matured in handling such questions, so he returned the question.
"Yes." Xing Chengwu somewhat understood what Lou Cheng was driving at. "You've finished the training its skill?"
Lou Cheng gave a dry smile and said, "I can't consider that as complete training because I can't use it at all during a fight. Only when I'm in full meditation, I can somewhat make it work. Yesterday, thanks to it, we managed to detect Zhan Xuming getting closer. So we had time to prepare once we have informed everyone. This made Zhan Xuming feel that he had no chance so he just retreated. Uncle Xing, don't tell anyone, I still want to have the card hidden."
"Ok, understand! No wonder Niu Zheng that kid said that you were sleeping the whole time. Haha, truly, generations to come are really to be feared!" Director Xing shook his head and exclaimed. He changed the topic. "Lou, you didn't tell Guo Ming your name yesterday?"
Lou Cheng paused for a bit before he suddenly realized what Xing Chengwu was referring to. "Uncle Xing, you know?"
He knew that Guo Min was Lou Cheng's dad's boss, so the arrangements yesterday were intentional!
"Habit from the profession, habit." Director Xing laughed. "Your master told me to take care of you. If I don't even know your family background, how would I be able to do so? However, seems like you're unwilling to let Guo Min know who you are?"
"I just feel that it is not necessary for me to purposely mention so. It would only make it weird. Plus, if Mr. Guo knows about this layer of relationship, I would probably have problems commanding the operation yesterday." Lou Cheng responded honestly.
"That's true," Xing Chengwu laughed. "Good thing I only called Niu Zheng and did not mention your position. I thought that you would mention if you're willing to."
Uh... Lou Cheng was surprised. It was only after he thought through the statement before he understood how cunning and sly Director Xing was. No matter he looked at the matter, Director Xing had everything planned out.
The true experienced master!
After ten over minutes, Xing Chengwu drove into the courts and stopped his car at the block at the back. There was no one around them.
He brought Lou Cheng directly into the building. They passed a VIP elevator. At level four, they went all the way up, without see anyone else random.
"Go in, there are no outsiders." Xing Chengwu pointed to a room right at the end of the hallway.
For a moment, Lou Cheng recalled the fate of Wang Xu and his heart sank and subconsciously he exhaled deeply.
"Don't worry, to be honest, Wang Xu will not get too heavy a sentence." Xing Chengwu patted him on his shoulders.
Lou Cheng gave a small nod and knocked on the door. After waiting for a moment, he used some force to push the door open.
The process of giving his statement was about the same as he expected. There was no other person, only the required and relevant judges and legal personnel. Through questioning, Lou Cheng described the whole situation once.
Lou Cheng always kept this in mind — that — he rushed over because he was sent by Director Xing to stop the crime. As for any other matter, he did not hide anything else.
For what it seemed forever, he finally heard the announcement that he could leave the room.
After leaving the room, what first entered his eyes was the bright afternoon sun rays of July. It was completely different from the room.
He quietly followed Xing Chengwu back to the SUV. While doing so, Lou Cheng saw the parents of Wang Xu who was about to be heard in court. They seemed to have aged much as compared to half a year ago. They were about the same age as his parents, but now they looked almost 60.
"Hai... " Lou Cheng sighed and leaned back in the passenger seat next to the driver. He said earnestly, "Uncle Xing, could we stay here for a moment before we leave?"
"Sure." Xing Chengwu did not say anything further. He just picked up his phone and started to settle some work stuff.
With the A/C blowing a breeze, Lou Cheng's thoughts raged, and could not stop for quite some time.
The current Wang Xu was probably just one or two walls away from him, but their fates seemed to have been fixed on two different occasions like the bright sunshine today and the gloomy day of the first day of the Lunar New Year.
This is life.
As the clock ticked, Xing Chengwu picked up a call and turned to Lou Cheng. He smile and said,
"Court declared, sentenced five years."
"That's not too bad... " Lou Cheng heaved a sigh of relief.
"I'll get someone in the prison to take care of him. If he has good conduct, he could be put on parole in three years. At that time, he would only be 23, so much more time in front of him." Xing Chengwu started the engine.
"Thank you Uncle Xing," Lou Cheng thanked him sincerely.
Xing Chengwu laughed heartily and said, "What are you thanking for? We are just in time for dinner. How about you come over to my place for dinner? I haven't had the chance to treat you to a good meal."
"Yes, alright." Lou Cheng did not reject the offer, neither did he raise the issue of Xing Jingjing. He only called his father to inform that he would return home after dinner.
He could not afford to mention the pot that doesn't boil; talk about one's weak point!
Xing Chengwu had already made the necessary arrangements. After the phone call, he just went straight for South Scholar Street. When he brought Lou Cheng through his home door, the dishes were already almost ready.
"Mum, they're back. We can have dinner." Xing Jingjing, standing tall with her hair pulled back into a ponytail turned towards the kitchen to announce her mum.
Lou Cheng changed into home slippers and politely said, "Hi, Senior."
At the same time, Xing Chengwu put himself between the two young ones and used his greatest efforts to try to appease his daughter.
Xing Jingjing looked towards Lou Cheng with less irritancy and annoyance as compared to last time. She said coldly,
"Ke mentioned you once."
"That's good to know, that's good to know... " Lou Cheng did not know what he was talking about.
This was the treatment of a best friend's boyfriend?
Seeing that his daughter's reaction was not too big, Xing Chengwu secretly heaved a sigh of relief. He quickly asked her to go and help take out the dishes. It was not being he was being a male chauvinist and did not want to do so. He just felt that if he had left his daughter and Lou Cheng alone in the same room, the peaceful situation will probably turn into a war later.
Dinner started not long after. The missus of Director Xing, Miss Ding, was rather passionate towards Lou Cheng, always asking about different things, praising him all the time, about everything.
Xing Jingjing quietly had her meal and in the midst of the lively atmosphere, she said blandly,
"He has a girlfriend... "
"... How did you know that?" Miss Ding was shocked before she regained her composure and started to ask.
When did this girl get familiar with Lou?
Lou Cheng was shocked. He was terrified that this lady here would spill the beans about Ke and him if she was just slightly unhappy!
Xing Jingjing turned her face and said,
"Ke said."
Lou Cheng's heart almost popped out, then he heard Guo Jingjing add another line,
"They're schoolmates."
"I see... " Xing Chengwu and Ms. Ding somewhat felt relieved, but at the same time, they were disappointed.
Just at this moment, the doorbell rang and the tinkle of the doorbell echoed through the whole house.
"Who would that be?" Xing Chengwu was already used to sudden visitors. He shook his head and walked to the door. Lou Cheng subconsciously turned to look at the door.
The door opened and he saw two familiar persons. They were his dad's childhood friend Zhao Zijun and his wife.
He was a deputy chief at the police station, so visiting Uncle Xing was a normal event. Lou Cheng turned back as these thoughts swirled in his head.
Zhao Zhijun looked inside and he laughed, "Such a timing! You're having a good dinner, Director?"
"What do you mean by that? It's a great timing! Come Zhao, together!" Director Xing warmly welcomed him to the table.
Zhao Zhijun's eyes scanned the dining table. He was about to say something when he noticed someone else at the table. He quickly held his tongue. It was only when his wife, Huang Qun pulled him, then he snapped back. He smiled and said, "No need, no need. We had our dinner already. We just thought that we haven't seen our old leader so we decided to come visit. We'll leave soon."
"Haha, as long as you did not forget your old leader — I." Xing Chengwu wanted to bring them to the sofa to sit down, but seeing that Zhao Zijun had mentioned something else, his expression darkened. "Zhao, what do you mean by this?"
"I, I... " Director Xing was authoritative and for a moment Zhao Zijun could not say anything.
Xing Chengwu's face loosened a little. "Zhao, take these stuff back. I know about your matter, you are my old teammate, I will help you."
"Yes, yes, Director Xing." Zhao Zijun and Huang Qun heard the message and did not dare to extend their stay. They bid their goodbyes and left.
Xing Chengwu did not try to make them stay. He sent them off and then went back to the dinner table. He gave a dry smile and said, "The station master of Fei Xia Road station has retired. So Zhao has some thoughts. Ay, that time when I was at the branch, he followed me for quite some years. He has some good abilities, of course, I would think about him."
Lou Cheng just smiled without saying anything else.
After they stepped out of Director Xing's door, Huang Qun looked at what she was holding. Nervously, she said,
"Zhao, this is it?"
"Yup, Director has always been a man of his words. Since he has already spoken, he will do something." Zhao Zijun's mind was still filled with the person that he just saw. He frowned and said, "Did you see that person that was having dinner with Director Xing and his family?"
"I didn't dare to look too close... " Huang Qun shook her head.
Zhao Zijun took in a deep breath. "That should be the kid from Lou Zhisheng's family."
Why is he at Director Xing's home?
Plus such a feast!