Chapter 34: Chest Plank Boulder Break
T/N: Remember this chest plank boulder break thing is very real. In fact, Russian and North Korean Special Forces still do it. You basically put a rock slab on a guy’s chest. The guy is held up by his head and feet (in the extreme version) or he’s held up in a less straining manner. And then another guy swings a huge hammer and breaks the rock on his chest/abdomen.
The person sparring with Li Yundong was a fourth year senior of the Physical Education department. His physique was herculean. In the Taekwondo Society, he was only third to Zhao Yujian and Zeng Qing.
Li Yundong could easily perceive rejection and hostility on his face. Obviously, this fellow did not want to partner with him.
However, Li Yundong’s previous performance at the Taekwondo Society had already intimidated him. Furthermore, this was for the sake of the Taekwondo Society’s reputation, he could only brace himself and do his best.
While Li Yundong had not trained seriously in Taekwondo for even a day, his body had already been remodeled by the Human Origin Gold Pill. Similar to Zhang Wuji’s state after practicing the Nine Yang Divine Skill and the Heaven and Earth Great Shift, the martial arts of this world did not present any obstacle or mystery for him.*1 Just by casually fiddling around, while there may be some disparity in how he exerted his strength, there were definitely no discrepancies that could be detected by an observer.
Li Yundong and the fourth year senior bowed to each other, then they each took a stance and started sparring.
This type of sparring was actually a type of partner drill. While the spectators in the audience watched excitedly, in reality, neither of the two participants had even suffered a scratch.
It was just that each and every one of Li Yundong’s movements contained great power, especially when punching. The wind from his fist made whooshing sounds. The senior who was sparring with Li Yundong was secretly scared witless. He was afraid that if he were careless and let a punch land, then he would be forced to keep Zhao Yujian company in the hospital!
‘Damn it. This kid is a monster!’ the senior cursed to himself, ‘Just two days ago, he was like a newbie who never practiced taekwondo. Now, his every move looked more flawless than the coach!’
As they say, ‘when an expert shows his skill, you’ll know if he’s the real deal.’
When Li Yundong showed his skills, that vast strength and majestic energy contained in every single punch and kick definitely could not be faked. The students and teachers who were watching the rehearsal in the auditorium all nodded to themselves.
The eyes of the girls among them lit up. Some of the girls sourly gazed upon Su Chan, harboring resentment in their hearts. Why did they not discover Li Yundong, the hidden gem, back then? And now, everything ended up benefiting this vixen as a result.
Zhuang Hui watched the valiant and heroic Li Yundong spar with his partner from the backstage. During the spar, Li Yundong would let out loud shouts, his majestic masculine voice resonating like roaring thunder. The sound of every shout would cause her heart to skip a beat.
Zhuang Hui involuntarily turned her head to glance at her dancing partner who she used to find incredibly handsome. She felt great regret. ‘Why did her dancing partner seem so unbearably effeminate now? Truly, when comparing goods, junk deserves to get thrown away, and when comparing people, trash deserves to die! Why did I use such unequivocal language earlier? Feng Nuo only needs to say a few negative things about me in front of Li Yundong, then I will stand no chance at all.’
However, Zhuang Hui was also a proud girl. She thought, ‘If I have no chance then that’s that. What’s the big deal? There are tons of handsome guys and awesome men in this world!’
Even though Zhuang Hui thought like that, there was a tightness in her heart that was difficult to bear, for a time her eyes brimmed with tears.
When Li Yundong and his senior finished their spar, applause resounded throughout the entire auditorium.
After Li Yundong had a chance to stretch his limbs, the meridians of his entire body limbered up in response, making his entire person look increasingly more spirited and compelling. His qi was stable and his spirit calm. Conversely, his sparring partner, the senior, had his hands and feet tied from excessive caution, and ended up exhausting himself as a result.
"Truly, you can’t judge people by their appearance." Ding Nan secretly shook her head from her position in the audience. "I didn’t expect that fellow to be an actual expert with such deeply hidden skills!"
Zhou Qin finished watching the performance. Suppressing the excitement and curiosity boiling deep in her heart, she spoke in an indifferent tone, "Let’s leave."
Ding Nan said, "Ay, there’s still more to come!"
When she finished speaking, a female host stepped forward holding a microphone. As she clapped, she said to Li Yundong with a smile, "That was great. Really great. You are surely a martial artist, right?"
Li Yundong shook his head, "I’m not."
The female host shot him a rather surprised glance. She concluded he was being modest, so she simply smiled and looked toward the program schedule. Suddenly an odd expression appeared on her face. "Next, classmate Li Yundong will present to us a very special, very traditional program."
Li Yundong gave a start. He turned to look at Feng Nuo and said, "How come there’s more?"
Feng Nuo was feeling slightly guilty on the inside. However, the moment she thought of how she lost face in front of Li Yundong, she bit down and forced herself to say, "Of course, if it were only the bit before, who would want to watch?"
Li Yundong thought about it and decided to himself, ‘That’s right. When he watched shows on TV, were there any performances that lacked chopping through tiles or kicking through wood planks?"
At this time, Li Yundong only felt an inexhaustible energy flowing throughout his entire body. He also wanted to see if he could chop through tiles or rather how many tiles he could chop though. So he very bluntly said, "Fine, what will come will come. Who’s afraid of whom!"
The female host’s expression became more interesting. She looked at Li Yundong with both admiration and amusement. "Alright. In that case, allow us to welcome this traditional program brought to us by classmate Li Yundong: chest plank boulder break!"
The moment she finished saying those words, Su Chan who was drink milk tea at the time went 'pfft' and choked. Some milk tea even sprayed out of her nose.
Li Yundong was pressing down on his foot to perform a thigh stretch. When he heard those words, he toppled over, his butt landing on the ground. An embarrassed and frustrated expression appeared on his face.*2 He shouted out, "What? Can you repeat that?"
All the students and teacher on and off the stage were all dumbstruck. A moment later, the entire auditorium resonated with laughter.
Zhuang Hui who was secretly dispirited at the time heard and could not help but burst out into laughter, turning sorrow into joy. Zhou Qin, who had turned turn in preparation to leave, paused in her stride. The corners of her mouth twitched. She hid her mouth with her hand as if trying to suppress her laughter, causing her back to shake and convulse.
Li Yundong raised his head to look at the host, "Did you read that wrong?"
The host blinked her eyes and replied with an innocent expression on her face, "I didn’t. If you don’t believe me, you can look for yourself!"
Li Yundong accepted the program schedule and took a look. As expected, the final program turned out to be his special program, chest plank boulder break!
"This must be a mistake!" Li Yundong did not know whether to laugh or cry. He turned his head and glanced toward Feng Nuo, only to see her and Cheng Cheng, the two of them, hugging their sides and laughing their head off.
Li Yundong knew what was going on. ‘God dang! This girl actually got me! Very well. You’ll get yours!"
Li Yundong grabbed the program schedule and made his way to Feng Nuo. He shook the schedule wildly and shouted, "What the heck is this supposed to be?"
Feng Nuo suppressed her laughter. Straightening her stance she said, "What do you mean? Isn’t this something you asked for?"
Li Yundong said flabbergasted, "Something I asked for?"
Feng Nuo said, "I asked you what you would perform. You said chest plank boulder break!"
After she finished speaking, she turned to Cheng Cheng and asked, "Hey, that’s what he said, right?"
Cheng Cheng rubbed her belly, forcibly resisting the urge to laugh. She did not even dare to look at Li Yundong’s face. She was afraid if she saw Li Yundong’s exciting expression, she would injure her sides from laughing too hard. "Of course. Of course. I can act as the witness."
Li Yundong was so mad, to the point it felt like his soul was leaving his body.*3
‘Aren’t they treating me like a fool to play around with?’
"Hey! Do you think I’m a retard?" Li Yundong angrily said, "What year do you think it is? Are there still people who perform chest plank boulder break these days?"
After saying those words, everyone on and off the stage, all the members of the bystander sect once again starting laughing uproariously.*4
Feng Nuo said in a dead serious manner, "Do not forget our agreement! I helped you settle your issue. Now you must help me settle mine."
Li Yundong was hopping mad, "Even so, you can’t mess with me like this!"
Feng Nuo spoke with an expression full of awe-inspiring righteousness, "Who is messing with you? Don’t you know chest plank boulder break is our nation’s—our people’s—special traditional performance and cultural heritage? For our exchange meeting with Bincifaneya University, in my opinion, this kind of interesting and cultural performance passed down from our ancestors is the best possible choice!"
The corners of Li Yundong’s eyes twitched. His heart was full of grievance. He turned to glance at Su Chan, hoping to find backup, only to see the girl had already laughed herself into a crouch. She repeatedly rubbed at her cheeks, which were rather sore from excessive laughter.
‘That girl, has she no conscience?’ Li Yundong cursed to himself.
"Fine. What will come will come!" said Li Yundong who had firmed his resolve. He had an air of someone unafraid of the mortal winds or tests of rain and cold. However, his next words quickly exposed his unease, "But I never agreed to perform with a big rock on my chest!"
Feng Nuo saw that Li Yundong wanted to shamelessly escape, so she bluntly said, "Okay. In any case, I’m just swinging the hammer. Whether you perform with a rock slab on your chest or perform with just the hammer, you can take your pick!"
The students in the audience, who wished the world to be more interesting and more chaotic, nearly laughed themselves to death. Li Yundong only felt so depressed that he wanted to vomit blood. He was starting to regret treating this senior rudely back then in the classroom. ‘Damn it, who said only women and petty folk were difficult to keep? Was it comrade Confucius? Great Confucius, this one worships you! Your words are wise, too freaking wise!’
Women must not be offended, especially beautiful women!
Li Yundong learned a very profound lesson from this event. He decided to surrender. "Okay. You win! I will perform with a rock slab on my chest!"
Feng Nuo had a prideful look on her face. "That’s for the best!"
Li Yundong steeled his heart. He shouted, "Bring out the metal hammer! I don’t believe you really prepared a metal hammer!"
Feng Nuo laughed once and said to Cheng Cheng, "Go bring out that fellow!"
Cheng Cheng had one hand on her belly and her other hand rubbed at her cheek. She lightly jogged to the backstage. Then using both hands, she dragged a large metal hammer and walked over with a series of banging sounds.
Everyone saw Cheng Cheng return with a giant metal hammer and they immediately collapsed in laughter.
In the audience, Zhou Qin who had up until now resisted the urge to laugh was nearing her limit. From the corner of her tightly pursed lips, a 'pfft' sound occasionally slipped through. At her side, Ding Nan had long since laughed herself silly. Sometimes, she would pound on her seat. Other times, she would use her fingers to whistle. She looked super high.
Li Yundong stared dumbstruck at the metal hammer Cheng Cheng dragged out. He shouted out in alarm, "Damn. Aren’t you too harsh? Which construction site did you steal that hammer from? How is it so big?"
On the stage, Feng Nuo laughed herself into a crouch. "Nonsense, I especially went to a hardware store to buy this."
Li Yundong raised his thumb. "Good! Very good! Super duper good! Then where’s the rock? I don’t believe you can buy that too!"
Feng Nuo forcibly repressed her laughter and snapped her finger at Cheng Cheng. "Why would I need to buy that? There’s rocks everywhere. You can casually find one!"
Li Yundong listened skeptically. He thought, ‘Where would you find such large rock slabs that you can casually take? But this girl has shown that she had definitely came prepared. Just in case she really drags out a large rock slab, can I endure it?’
Having thought that, Li Yundong could not help but smile apologetically at Feng Nuo. "I say, senior sis. If something can’t be found when looking up, it can be found by looking down.*5 There’s no need to be ruthless, right? If this rock slab is too big and too heavy, I won’t be able to lift it!"
Feng Nuo put on a benevolent expression as if bringing salvation to the world through great compassion and great sorrow. "Fear not. I especially helped you prepare a small one!"
Having said such, Cheng Cheng ran out from the backstage. Everyone’s gaze gathered on her hand, only to see discover her hands were empty, she was not carrying anything at all. Just when everyone was baffled and puzzled, they saw Cheng Cheng ran to Li Yundong’s side. Forcibly repressing her laughter, she stuffed something into Li Yundong’s hand and said, "There you go. The rock is here!"
Li Yundong looked at the rock he just got and immediately wanted to vomit three liters of blood. He raised the rock in his hand and said loudly, "Dear senior sister, if you want me to perform chest plank boulder break, I’m fine with that. For better or worse, you should get ahold of a proper rock slab! Okay, if you really can’t get a proper rock slab, that’s fine too, but for better or worse, you can still scrounge up something more appropriate, even a stone slab from the sewer will do! Okay, if you can’t even get that, I can still endure. So long as you get some bricks, that’s fine too. And now, you didn’t even manage to get some bricks, you got me a single river stone. What’s your intention here?"
After those words were said, the entire auditorium, regardless of whether they were a student or teacher, laughed so hard that they nearly went to the afterlife. Zhou Qin, who had managed to suppress her laughter up to this point, finally could not resist anymore. She burst into laughter, her figure swaying delightfully.
~~~
*1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Wuji
*2 囧face
*3 一佛升天，二佛出窍– lit. one Buddha ascending and two Buddhas departing: So all three of these Buddhas die. These Buddhas are a reference to soul. Humans have 7 parts to their soul… 3 hun and 4 po. The 3 Buddha refer to the 3 hun. So angry his 3 hun fled his body. It’s an odd reference. There is a similar expression that is one Buddha dying, two Buddha born… it mean the person is so bad, they die and are born again.
*4 swaying back and forth is the chinese expression. I’m half tempted to put laughing their asses off.
*5 basically even if people aren’t little when you’re arrogant, they are willing if you bow down.
35
Chapter 35: Accepting a Challenge in Public
T/N: there you go, a real chest plank boulder break.
By this time, everyone could tell that Feng Nuo was making fun of Li Yundong. Even though they did not know what had happened between the two of them, but they had to admit, the farce just now was very comedic and delightful. It made everyone laugh until they were low on air.
Some of the teachers who disapproved of Li Yundong’s behaviour also could not help but wipe away their tears even as they laughed and said, "Alright. Alright. Whatever you guys were going to perform, perform it normally, don’t mess around. Messing around like this will not be tolerated at the exchange meeting."
Feng Nuo also knew to quit while she was ahead. She turned to the teachers and let out a silly laugh, "I was just joking with my junior!"
Li Yundong did not know whether to laugh or cry. "You call this joking?’
Feng Nuo pulled a mischievous face at him. "Whose fault is it that you offended me?"
Li Yundong felt helpless. He could only put his palms together and say, "Benefactor, this one has eyes, but could not see. The great you should just forgive the lowly me!"
Feng Nuo also returned his greeting in a dead earnest tone, "May the lord Buddha preserve us! Buddha once said, ‘the sea of bitterness has no bounds, turn your head to see the shore.’ That you have decided to turn your head, we must really thank Heaven and Earth. All the gods and Buddhas above are likely shedding tears of emotion!"
The two of them exchanged words before looking each other in the eye. Then they both broke down laughing.
Even though Li Yundong had made a fool of himself and lowered his head onstage due to this farce, a lot of the girls in the auditorium gazed upon Li Yundong with even brighter eyes.
Who does not like a handsome man with a sunny disposition, who also happened to be funny?
Some girls secretly whispered to each other.
"Sigh. If only I had such an amusing boyfriend!"
"Dream on. Didn’t you say you didn’t like game addicts?"
"For a game addict as amusing as this, then I would still consider it!"
"Tch. You’re a bitch who likes to judge people by their appearance. You’re just saying that because he’s pretty handsome!"
"Sigh. Handsomeness suits my desire true, yet charm also suits my desire too!"
"Ptooey! Did you not look at the beauty that is with the guy? Look at her! Aren’t you worried about feeling inferior?"
How could Li Yundong know that these girls were privately discussing him? He looked at Feng Nuo and said, "Hey, let’s be serious here. Is there anything else that you need me to perform? If there is nothing else, I’ll be leaving first!"
Feng Nuo saw that Li Yundong was turning around and preparing to leave. She hurriedly grabbed onto him and said, "Hey, hey! You still need to perform chopping roof tiles and kicking wood planks!"
Li Yundong let out a sigh. "If it’s good fortune then you don’t need to run. If it’s misfortune then you can’t get away anyways! What else do you need? Hurry up and tell me in one go. I won’t reject it, alright?"
Feng Nuo smiled and said, "There’s no more. It’s just this. Did you think you needed to challenge the Shaolin 18 brassmen gauntlet?"*1
Li Yundong laughed it off, "18 brassmen? You really know how to joke. Don’t tell me you’ll go to the Shaolin temple and invite someone over? Even if you want to, can you really get them to come?"
Feng Nuo smiled faintly and said, "Oh? You’re serious then? You really want to challenge the 18 brassmen?"
Li Yundong saw the foreboding look in her eyes. He thought, ‘If these crazy girls actually managed to invite 18 bronzemen like the ones in the movie ‘God of Cookery’, and they indiscriminately smashed him with folding chairs and mops, he wouldn’t be able to take it either!’*2
Li Yundong hurriedly said, "Okay. Okay. You win, alright? I’m afraid of you already!"
Feng Nuo was immensely proud of herself, "It’s good that you’re aware."
Soon after, Cheng Cheng led a bunch of people carrying tiles from the backstage. They piled up the tiles one piece at time on the stage.
Everyone could clearly hear the sound of tiles colliding against each other. They secretly whispered to each other, "These tiles seem real. Will this be fine?"
Li Yundong had never chopped through roof tiles before. He was somewhat apprehensive on the inside as well. He subconsciously walked to the edge of the stage. Kneeling down, he asked Su Chan who was by the stage, "Sigh. Will I be fine?"
Su Chan waved her hand unconcerned, "No problem. This is just a trifle!"
In truth, Li Yundong was just asking casually, but when he heard Su Chan’s response, his heart was filled to the brim, as if he had grown a bit stronger.
He stood up and took a deep breath. His body also seemed to grow a bit bigger. He walked to the front of the stack of roof piles and practiced a couple swings of his fist.
On the side, Feng Nuo knew this matter was no joke. She appeared nervous and could not resist asking, "Sigh. Will you be fine? If you can’t do it, I can find someone else. It’s not a problem. Don’t overdo it and hurt yourself."
Li Yundong turned around and smiled at her. "It’s fine. No worries!"
Li Yundong thought, ‘When I suffered qi deviation, I even shattered the incredibly tough marble sink. There’s no reason for me to fail in breaking a couple roof tiles, right?’
Feng Nuo was still a bit worried. She spoke up once more, "Remember, when punching, you have to keep your fist straight. You need to be resolute and unfaltering!"
Li Yundong did not speak again. He gathered his concentration and just as he was about to smash his fist down, a voice interrupted from the side, "What kind of skill does breaking roof tiles demonstrate? Something like that won’t excite the audience. Why don’t you spar with me instead?"
Li Yundong turned his head, only to see two people standing there—Zhou Yu, the guy who was trying to pick a fight with him at the school gate, and another young man of medium build, dressed in a navy blue short sleeved Tang suit and a pair of tough soled cloth shoes.*3
Feng Nuo knit her brows, "Zhou Yu, what are you doing?"
Zhou Yu gave her a glance and waved his hand, "Nuo Nuo, this is none of your business. Get out of the way."
Li Yundong noticed both of newcomers had their eyes on him. Clearly, he was their target. He frowned to himself and got out of his stance. With a grave expression, he asked, "What do you guys want?"
Zhou Yu pointed to the young man by his side and said, "This is my senior brother, the fifth generation heir of the Guangdong Lin family Iron Wire Fist, Lin Fei!"
Lin Fei was not particularly tall. He was only around 170 cm. His skin was dark and he possessed the characteristic appearance of Cantonese people. However, his arms were very thick, especially his forearms, which were not covered by the fabric of his sleeves. The muscles of his arms were like a bunch of steel bars, intimidating to look at.
From the moment this young man saw Li Yundong, his gaze unwaveringly locked on without blinking even once, like a wild beast that had locked onto its prey.
Lin Fei’s gaze was almost like a physical force. In response to that stare, Li Yundong’s hairs almost stood on end. Subconsciously, all of Li Yundong’s pores opened and Gold Pill internal qi started to rapidly circulate, automatically protecting his body.
Once his qi started to circulate, Li Yundong’s entire ambiance instantly changed!
A while ago, everyone in the auditorium on and off the stage felt that Li Yundong’s body radiated a mighty aura, but this aura only felt masculine and cheerful, not at all overbearing.
However, the current Li Yundong who stood before them had his brows tightly knit. When his electric gaze met with that of Lin Fei, the air around him seemed to ignite, blazing with unseen pressure.
This was the purest primordial yang qi in this world!
In the audience, Su Chan could not help but praise Li Yundong in her heart. ‘Perhaps Li Yundong has exceptionally good fortune on the path of cultivation, his luck was astonishing. His personality was soft on the outside and firm on the inside. When dealing with others, he was mild like flowing water, but he has his own conviction defining Heaven and Earth. If he meets a powerful enemy, he would neither be discouraged nor show cowardice, instead he would step forth and face his enemy!
With this kind of personality, in addition to his pure primordial yang qi, his path of cultivation would naturally be half the work for twice the effect, successful in every endeavor.
Feng Nuo could keenly detect the scent of conflict in the air. She sneered and said, "Zhou Yu, you’re really capable, aren’t you? How come I never noticed before? After you found you couldn’t defeat Li Yundong, you actually invited your senior brother to help out!"
Zhou Yu sneered, "Me? Can’t beat him?"
Having seen Li Yundong achieve victory against many opponents by himself at the school gate, Zhou Yu had been intimidated by Li Yundong’s imposing presence back then, so he did not dare to start a fight. Afterward, he found himself feeling more sullen whenever he thought about it. He ended up telling his senior brother about this matter, and his senior brother Lin Fei immediately pointed out, "You must defeat this person. Otherwise your mental state will break because of him and your martial arts will never be able to improve again!"
Zhou Yu was flabbergasted. Due to this, he came up with the idea of defeating Li Yundong in public. He also wanted to take this chance to ruthlessly humiliate Li Yundong. He and his senior brother Lin Fei secretly deliberated and exchanged pointers taking Li Yundong’s unnaturally big strength into account. Only because they managed to create a strategy for dealing with Li Yundong, did they decide to challenge Li Yundong at the dress rehearsal.
Zhou Yu pointed to Lin Fei and said, "I only invited my senior brother to act as the witness."
The vice-chancellor, who had always been offstage, serving as a member of the judging panel for the rehearsal, suddenly interrupted angry and appalled, "What are you doing? Do you think the school is a martial arts dojo? If you want to fight, then fight elsewhere. This is a school!"
Zhou Yu turned around and spoke to the vice-chancellor frankly with assurance, "Chancellor Ke, since our exchange with the Bincifaneya University is for promoting our nation’s culture, and promoting Tiannan University’s culture, then why is the Taekwondo Society allowed to perform and not us?"
Chancellor Ke stomped his foot in anger. "Nonsense. Preposterous. Do you think the exchange meeting is for fun and games! The Taekwondo Society is an official club registered at the school. Are you an official club?"
On the side, Director Qian who had acted as a detached bystander suddenly had an idea. He leaned closer and said, "Chancellor Ke, our school really does have a Wushu Society."
Chancellor Ke’s expression stiffened as if someone had slapped him in the face. He turned his head around with gazed upon Director Qian unkindly. "Oh? How come I don’t know?"
Even though Director Qian was only the disciplinary director, he was not afraid of the school’s deputy leader. He simply smiled and said, "That Wushu Society was established by the students and could be considered an unofficial club. A year ago, it was registered officially with the school, but due to bad management, it was later disbanded."
Cancellor Ke turned his head back and said, "It is still not allowed. A friendly exchange between two universities should remain within the guidelines of a friendly exchange. Fighting back and forth is inappropriate. What if someone gets injured? Who will take responsibility?"
Zhou Yu hurriedly said, "Chancellor Ke, our actions can be considered meeting friends through martial arts. We can control our attacks. There definitely won’t be a problem! If there is a problem, I am willing to withdraw from the school of my own accord!"
What Zhou Yu originally wanted was to prove himself stronger than the recently popular Li Yundong in front of a crowd. That was why he had no intention of hurting or crippling Li Yundong. He simply wanted to win in an ostentatious manner.
Chancellor Ke completely enraged planned on refusing. On the side, Director Qian heard Zhou Yu’s words and his eyes lit up. A very devious plan appeared in his head. He spoke advocating Zhou Yu’s plan. "Chancellor Ke, what student Zhou Yu said does have some reason. Think about it. A sparring competition between Taekwondo and Wushu, if we announced that, it would sound much more interesting. Furthermore, they’re all grown up and practitioners of martial arts. I’m sure both of them will take care to hold back appropriately."
Chancellor Ke fixed his gaze on Director Qian. "It sounds nice, but if there’s a problem. Will it be your responsibility or will it be my responsibility?"
Director Qian faintly smiled, and said like a wily old fox, "What are you worrying about? Isn’t deputy mayor Zhou coming on that day? He’s been put in charge of education. So long as he’s there, what would you need to take responsibility for? Even if the sky falls, aren’t there taller people to pick up the burden? Moreover, I don’t think there will be any problem. On the other hand, if the higher-ups appreciate our performance, you could also receive some benefit, no?"
Chancellor Ke thought of something. He looked toward Director Qian with a profound and meaningful gaze.
Then he turned around and looked back at Zhou Yu, "Can you give me your word?"
Zhou Yu was overjoyed when he saw that Chancellor Ke seemed close to agreeing. According to his plan, if the chancellor did not agree to his plan, he was prepared to exchange blows with Li Yundong here and now. However, if the chancellor agreed, then that was better. He wanted to make Li Yundong lose face in front of the entire school.
Zhou Yu smiled like a petty man who had just achieved his plan. "Of course I can give my word, Chancellor Ke!" He turned around and looked toward Li Yundong, "I believe my junior and I are simply meeting friends through martial arts. Isn’t that right, Li Yundong?"
Li Yundong’s gaze was solely fixed on Lin Fei, without even glancing at Zhou Yu who had been doing this and that, he calmly said, "Let your senior brother challenge me, you are not my opponent. Since we are meeting friends through martial arts in front of our foreign friends, we should at least have two evenly matched competitors to make the show interesting. If the spar is finished in two or three blow, wouldn’t we be making fools of ourselves in front of our foreign friends?"
These words were tantamount to a slap, which landed heavily on Zhou Yu’s face.
"Ha!" laughed Feng Nuo from the side, who had been really annoyed up until now.
~~~
*1 18 Brassmen of Shaolin - they are from Jin Yong’s novels. You challenge them for training.
*2 18 Brassmen of Shaolin - slightly different from the challenge, they are 18 brass looking monks in the movie God of Cookery, which is a cringy corny HK film with the silliest plot and special effects https://youtu.be/l8_Mk3-sZsQ?t=4473
*3 Tang suit - a style of traditional Chinese clothing from Tang.