"Ah?" Caught off guard, Yan Zheke had a dumbfounded look.
She was not at all prepared for Lou Cheng's sudden confession, so she neither felt embarrassed nor glad. In fact, there was more confusion and shock.
Why did Cheng make a sudden phone call to say he loved her?
Lou Cheng was excepting such response from the girl's response. With a thick face, he cheekily said, "I was suddenly inspired while practicing." His tone was cheeky, yet tender.
"Oh, okay... " Yan Zheke still found the confession baffling.
When the atmosphere did not feel right, words that sounded like proposals would still be embarrassing even between couples.
A little smile appeared on Lou Cheng's face, the image of the girl's silly expression emerging in his mind. He coughed twice and said, "I'm going to continue practicing. Have fun chatting with Song Li and the others."
"Okay." Yan Zheke put down her phone. She noticed the playfulness in her best friends' expressions.
Song Li was still touched and envious that Lou Cheng went out of his way to bring her best friend delicious Xiushan delicacies. She also thought that her boyfriend, Du Liyu, was not up to par. Song Li teased, "That must be Cheng. You two didn't even separate that long, but he's already missing you enough to call you."
Yan Zheke wrinkled her nose and snorted.
"Can't it be that there's something he needs from me?"
Cheng found his martial arts will for the first time!
Thinking of this, she was momentarily stunned and their brief conversation earlier began to echo in her ears.
"... I seem to have found my own martial arts will... "
"To protect."
"I love you."
"I got inspired while practicing martial arts."
In that instant, Yan Zheke's head rose and her eyes were wide open. After connecting the dots, she suddenly understood why Lou Cheng told her, "I love you." She also understood the deep meaning behind those words.
"I love you… "
"To protect... "
Unfamiliar emotions seemed to explode in her heart. Involuntarily, she pressed the pillow closer to herself. She felt a strong urge to call Lou Cheng and tell him the feelings she kept a secret. She wanted nothing more than to immediately rush to Gushan Martial Arts School to feel his warmth.
Watching her expression, Song Li, Gu Shuang, and others felt there was no need to ask anymore. The answer was very obvious.
After a minute, Xing Jingjing abruptly made an announcement.
"I'm joining the Youth Tournament at the end of this month."
"Ah?" Yan Zheke snapped back into focus. "Why, sister Jingjing?"
Xing Jingjing only nodded. "I need to check if he can protect you."
Yan Zheke was momentarily speechless.
Jingjing not only developed a strong hatred for men after that incident, but she also awakened a fearful ability in her. She was now only a new Professional Ninth Pin, but she was obviously formidable enough to be respected in Huahai University, known for its strong martial arts students.
Peng, peng, peng. The air around Lou Cheng exploded constantly. The bones and joints in his body also crackled when they met each other.
He was only willing to end his afternoon practice when he had attempted the withdrawal driven by Jindan. He would have to improve his abilities step by step in the future to master the subtle points of martial arts thoroughly. He needed to make the force in his whole body was unified.
If he only talked about discipline, everything would only be virtual. Only when he put it into reality and practiced it his daily life, it would really become his source of strength.
This cannot depend on the sudden epiphany of a moment!
Lou Cheng picked up the towel he prepared and wiped the sweat off him. At the same time, he checked his phone and saw that there was a text from his girlfriend a long time ago.
"Fool... "
Yan Zheke only sent one w
ord, but she paired it with a shyly smiling emoji. He understood all the emotions in her words.
The corners of Lou Cheng's mouth lifted. There were warmth and sweetness in his heart.
This was what he wanted to protect. She was the source of his strength.
He walked out of the practicing court. When he was walking towards the locker room, he saw a familiar disciple got in his way.
"Cheng, no, Bother Lou. Do you have time?" Xu Rongfei asked, smiling.
Lou Cheng did not answer directly, but asked with some surprise, "What's the matter?"
Xu Rongfei seemed to be full of reverence. "I want to ask if I could have two hours of one-on-one lesson from you. Earlier, I noticed Qin Rui seemed to have really improved in his practices."
"No problem. Tomorrow afternoon, then." Lou Cheng agreed without hesitation.
Tomorrow Empress Dowager will be back in Xiushan. Ke and her parents would be going sightseeing. Since he would be free anyway, he might as well.
As for the one-on-one lesson fee, he naturally will not offer any discounts!
Having satisfied his ego as a teacher to have coached his disciple, Geezer Shi began drinking in a cheerful mood. He suddenly stopped, startled. He then mumbled to himself.
"Wasn't the brat trying to fuse Cultivation knowledge? Why is he asking about the martial arts will so soon?"
"Did he perhaps gave up and decided to take the simple path of combining supernatural ability with martial arts?"
Geezer Shi's heart was suddenly itching with curiosity. He wanted to know what situation his apprentice was in at the moment and what progress had been made.
But, as a master, where was the logic if he took the initiative to ask his disciple about it? He coughed twice and decided to wait for Lou Cheng reporting his good news or asking questions. But he ended up waiting for a long, long, long time...
After Yan Zheke had dinner with Yan Kai in the evening, they watched TV and chatted for a while. Yan Zheke finally felt relieved enough to put away her uneasiness.
Judging from his father's usual behavior, it seemed like he did not notice the abnormal actions back time or Cheng who was in the kitchen!
She mentally exhaled a sigh of relief. She thought it was a narrow escape and that she was going to ask him to stay only in her room.
She then anticipated Dirty Tong's reaction to her thoughts. That girl will definitely tell Yan Zheke her thinking was wrong because the logical conclusion ought to be not let Cheng come to her house secretly ever again...
After Yan Kai finished watching the news, he walked into his study. He came out when it was almost 10, and still he felt it was not enough. Habitually, he picked up his phone to call Ji Mingyu to tell her about his day.
In their conversation, he happily informed her, "Ke has grown up. She even knows how to surprise us by learning how to cook!"
Ji Mingyu was sliding her finger on the touchscreen of her computer when she heard this. She asked in surprise, "She's learning how to cook?"
She wondered why she had never seen that side of her daughter.
"Oh, I accidentally discovered it. This morning when I passed by Qingyuan Street, I remembered the bread made by old flour Ke likes so I bought some. Then I saw her making egg fried rice and mixed vegetables. They're pretty nice, to be honest. The vegetables were so-so but the fried rice was very delicious... " Yan Kai explained, recalling the surprise he received this morning.
A startled Ji Mingyu replied, "You went back on the spur of the moment and accidentally came across this scene. The vegetables were so-so while the fried rice was quite delicious?"
"Yes. If not for today, I think I probably won't see this until my birthday, if we go by Ke's character," said Yan Kai, trying to console her.
Ji Mingyu covered her eyes with her hand, wanting to cry for her silly husband.
His little white cabbage was about to be stolen by others!
Yan Zheke put her legs on the doll and played on her phone in a leisurely posture. She was chatting with Lou Cheng, so the corners of her mouth were permanently raised in a smile.
Her ringtone suddenly rang and the phone began vibrating. She was surprised to receive a phone call.
"Empress Dowager... " She became very nervous.
She thought she had already called Empress Dowager before dinner.
Yan Zheke tried to calm herself and answered the call in a neutral voice. "Mom?"
"Ke, I heard from your dad that you tried to cook at home today, even making egg fried rice and cold mixed vegetables?" Ji Mingyu asked with a faint smile.
Yan Zheke shivered. Hundreds of thoughts floated in her mind.
In the end, she chose to tell her mother the truth. Stammering, she explained, "Mom, t-that was made by Cheng, no, Lou Cheng. I was the one who cooked the vegetables. He didn't do anything other than cooking and showering... "
With Empress Dowager's wisdom and experience, coupled with the facts at her hand, she must have already noticed something was off!
Ji Mingyu felt much better after hearing her daughter's confession. She sighed, but added with a smile. "Your dad sounded so happy, it was as if he was in heaven thinking this was the surprise you prepared for him. You have to practice more and really cook for him in the future. You can't let him be happy in vain."
She felt sorry for her husband!
"I practiced cooking the egg fried rice especially for him the whole afternoon!" Yan Zheke immediately made clear her stance.
She felt very guilty about her dad.
Ji Mingyu returned to the topic at hand. She smiled and asked, "Did Lou Cheng neglected my words and told you that we've already met?"
Otherwise, Ke would not have confessed so easily just now!
That kid seemed to be a guy who would fear his wife...
"Yes," replied Yan Zheke. She then argued for Lou Cheng. "This is the most basic honesty between couples."
"Huh. You're not even married to him but you're already arguing with him?" Ji Mingyu was annoyed, but also found her daughter ridiculous. "You said he stayed the whole morning. Did he do nothing else other than showering and cooking?"
"Mom!" Yan Zheke naturally understood what Empress Dowager was asking and blushed instantly. "He only taught me how to cook egg fried rice! We know the limits!"
"I won't say anymore. You're more stubborn than me and I believe you know the limits. But as for him, well, few men could restrict themselves from sex? If ke keep begging you and take it step by step, will you stay strong and never compromise?" Ji Mingyu decided to openly talk to her daughter about this so she would not end up hurt by her ignorance.
Ji Mingyu was an atypical parent. She was more open and preferred honest communication. Yan Zheke was similar in this aspect.
Yan Zheke was embarrassed. "Mom, why do you keep talking about this? And Cheng isn't the kind of person you're talking about!"
"Fine, fine. I'll stop. I'm only reminding you to love yourself and think twice before doing anything," Ji Mingyu helplessly replied.
Going by what Yan Zheke said just now, she could tell that her daughter had fallen deeply in love with her boyfriend...
On the morning of July 22nd, Lou Cheng was tempered by the lake in People's Park. He had drawn power from past emotions and all kinds of beauties in his life, embodied the will, practiced Tremor Force within his body, and mastered the subtle points of martial arts with the help of drug soup in the past two weeks. With just a little effort, he would be able to unite all the forces in his body.
In that two weeks, Yan Zheke first went on a four-day sightseeing trip with her parents. She then accompanied her grandparents who were in Xiushan for a week. And thanks to Empress Dowager's sporadic plans, she had only a little time to temper, date, or meet Lou Cheng. Their longing for each other were completely unfulfilled.
When that feeling piled higher and higher, she was forced to fly south. She was congenitally deficient and her family was worried something might happen to her while practicing. So they made her follow her grandparents' home and practice with them to pass the initial awkward stage.
This meant she would be gone for at least 10 days.
Lou Cheng had to work his longing into his attacks. He had to rely on QQ, phone calls, and video calls to resolve his longing. When he was free, he would surf the Internet, reading forums, or meet up with Jiang Fei, Qin Rui, Cheng Qili, Tao Xiaofei, and the others.
When it came to his teaching in the martial arts school, he had given one-on-one 12-hour lessons to five disciples, thanks to Qin Rui's success case. Students like Wu Ting had also become healthier and stronger, with more agile legs.
Now, the Youth Tournament was about to start!