The next day, at the Shanghai Chinese Martial Arts Association.
In the run-down classroom.
“You have to lift your hands higher and keep your leg closer to your body.”
“You have to stay upright and firm, like an unbreakable metal board.”
“The leg in front must be hooked inwards. That’s right, just like that. Remember this.”
Lin Fan came over to the place right after selling ten pieces of scallion pancakes. He had reached at about 9 am, but the students had already been there since 7 am.
They were very serious and determined. He could see from their eyes that they were extremely eager to perform in the annual show. They hoped to perform well and Lin Fan wanted to fulfill their dreams.
After practicing for an hour, Lin Fan let them take a break. Then, they sat in a circle and Lin Fan started to explain about Ba Gua Zhang to them. As a result, he got six Encyclopedic Points. Along with the points he had accumulated from selling scallion pancakes, he had 78 Encyclopedic Points in total.
There were 14 days to go to the annual show and they had been learning some simple moves which looked good but weren’t practical. Lin Fan was still trying to correct their posture. It was practically impossible to learn it fully in such a short time. He could only familiarize them with the movements and actions. At the same time, he wanted to make them execute the movements gracefully. After all, they weren’t going for a fight. They only had to look like they knew what they were doing.
“Instructor Lin, we’ve rested for some time, let’s continue,” Zhang Tao smiled and said.
Lin Fan smiled as well and said, “I like how you’re not complaining of fatigue. Ask the rest if they’re tired.”
“Instructor Lin, we’re not tired,” the others said at the same time.
“Alright, let’s continue then,” Lin Fan was elated when he saw that they were so hardworking and determined.
Although they had only interacted for a few hours, he understood from them that some of them were born handicapped while there were some that fell when they were young. Furthermore, they didn’t have rich family backgrounds, so they joined the Association of the Handicapped to learn some skills so that they could earn some money using the skills in future.
At 11 am.
“Guys, let’s stop. I’ll bring you out for lunch,” Lin Fan said.
Upon hearing that, Liu Ming Ming lit up and said, “Instructor Lin, let’s go to the food hall for our meal. The food there is awesome!”
“Alright, let’s go!” Lin Fan said.
At the food hall.
Most of the people from the Chinese Martial Arts Association were having their meals there.
Zhang Tao came over and said, “Instructor Lin, we’ll treat you to lunch!”
Lin Fan waved his hand and said, “No, I have a card.”
Zhang Tao just said, “Okay.” Then, he took out his card and said, “The six dollar meal, please,” before swiping at the machine.
What could a six dollar set meal contain? He took a glimpse and saw a piece of cabbage, a small plate of spicy tofu and two to three pieces of fat meat. That was all he was eating. Then, he looked at the plates of the other students. They had also ordered the six dollar set meal, which was simple and not very nutritious.
When they returned to their seats, Lin Fan looked at the chef and said, “Could I have three plates of fish, three plates of chicken, six plates of beef and six bowls of steamed eggs?”
Lin Fan didn’t know how their families were doing but from the looks of their lunch, perhaps they weren’t doing too great. Then, he took some of the plates and went over to join them.
Zhang Tao was shocked and he said, “Instructor Lin, this…”
“Don’t just look. Quick, come over and help me. Do you want me to make a few trips just to bring all of them over?” Lin Fan smiled and said.
“Ah, of course not.”
They all hurried to the counter and took the food.
When all the dishes had been carried to the table, Lin Fan smiled and said, “Eat quickly, we’ll continue practicing after this.”
Liu Ming Ming looked at the scrumptious spread on the table and was extremely happy. She quickly thanked Lin Fan, “Thank you, Instructor Lin.”
The food at the association’s food hall wasn’t very delicious, but he ate a little bit and went to the toilet. He saw Chairman Wang whose face was extremely red. His body stunk of alcohol as he walked out of the cubicle.
Lin Fan glanced at him and went into the toilet. This man didn’t seem to like Lin Fan and hence, Lin Fan ignored him.
Wang Yun Jie saw that Lin Fan didn’t greet him and was a little unhappy. Then, he chided, “This new person doesn’t seem to know the rules here. He didn’t even greet me after seeing me.”
“Brother Wang, who was that?” the Chairman of Muay Thai, Yuan Guang, asked.
“An inexperienced fool. I wonder what the headquarters were thinking to have requested for this man to join the association. It’s just Han Lu. I could beat ten of him if I wanted to,” Wang Yun Jie said as he continued to drink his beer.
Yuan Guang said, “That’s normal, don’t be bothered by him.”
“Yeah, let’s go to the opposite side to shower,” Wang Yun Jie said.
He walked with a swagger and everyone avoided him. They all knew that he was Chairman Wang and he was infamous in the Chinese Martial Arts Association. Most people didn’t dare to offend him.
Meanwhile, Zhang Tao and his friends all felt extremely blessed as they had such a good meal. They carried the trays to the tray return area. Liu Ming Ming was extremely happy.
Then, Wang Yun Jie bumped into Liu Ming Ming’s tray and the leftovers in the plates stained his clothes.
Wang Yun Jie was infuriated when he saw that his clothes had been stained. Then, he said, “You must be blind!”
Liu Ming Ming was frightened when she saw that it was Chairman Wang, she quickly bowed and apologized, “I’m sorry, Chairman Wang, I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Wang Yun Jie’s face was really red and his breath smelled like alcohol. He said, “You guys walk without looking at where you’re going. Did you lose your eyes as well as your arms?”
The people around him who hadn’t finished their food were extremely angry when they heard his words. They felt that Chairman Wang had gone overboard with his words.
But they didn’t dare to offend Wang Yun Jie and they just lowered their heads.
Yuan Guang wasn’t really drunk and felt that Chairman Wang was being really rude. Then, he said, “Brother Wang, forget it, they’re just kids. They don’t know what they’re doing.”
Although Wang Yun Jie was a little drunk, he wasn’t angry because of such a small thing, he was angry because of Lin Fan. He felt that the guy had stolen his limelight. So what if he had beaten Han Lu? Could he rise up to the heavens?
After all, he had entered the association based on his own abilities years ago. Now, a person without any experience or achievement had entered the Association just like that and even became a Chairman too. What rights did he have to attain such a high position?
The thought of Lin Fan not greeting him infuriated him.
Zhang Tao went in front of Liu Ming Ming and said, “Sorry, Chairman Wang, please forgive her.”
As he saw that more people had surrounded them, Wang Yun Jie shouted, “Watch where you’re going in future. A bunch of stupid handicapped people shouldn’t even be trying to learn Martial Arts.”
Then, Yuan Guang held onto him as they walked towards the door.
Liu Ming Ming and her friends all felt like crying as their eyes turned a little red.
“Wang Yun Jie, you motherf*cker. You better not move,” Lin Fan came out of the toilet and shouted. He had only managed to hear his last sentence clearly.
What did you mean by a bunch of handicapped people shouldn’t be learning Martial Arts? You can’t go about humiliating people like that.
The people around them were shocked at what was happening.
“Instructor Lin,” Zhang Tao and the rest were looking at Lin Fan.
Lin Fan nodded and said, “Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”
Wang Yun Jie was already at the door but when he heard what Lin Fan said, he turned back and pointed at Lin Fan, “What did you say?”
Yuan Guang tried to pull Wang Yun Jie back as he said to Lin Fan, “How could you speak to Chairman Wang like that? Apologize, quickly!.”
Lin Fan was extremely angry. A Chairman of such an old age dared to say such hurtful words to a bunch of teenagers. Even if he was drunk, he couldn’t be forgiven.
“Apologize to my students now, for your words earlier,” Lin Fan demanded.
Wang Yun Jie shouted, “Who the f*ck do you think you are?”
Lin Fan was extremely furious and he said, “I finally understand everything now. Just one person like Han Lu made all of you turn into cowards. It’s all because of people like you who are in the organization.”
“What did you say?” Wang Yun Jie was infuriated.
Yuan Guang tried to hold him back but failed. It wasn’t easy to hold back a drunk man.
“Don’t ask me to repeat my words. I only said one thing: apologize to my students now,” Lin Fan said.
“Dream on, what can you do to me?!” Wang Yun Jie shouted.
Lin Fan smiled and said, “If you don’t apologize, I will turn you upside down and throw you out of this place.”
Wang Yun Jie was furious at his threatening and said, “You dare?”
Lin Fan immediately raised his arms and slammed the stainless steel table. There was a loud bang and the table broke apart. Then, he shouted, “You’ll see if I dare or not.”
It was the angriest Lin Fan had ever been. Even when he had been arguing with Ying Jin, he had only done it for fun, but things were different now.
His slam stunned everyone. That was the true power of kungfu. It was a stainless steel table and it broke apart with just one blow. Who else could’ve done that?
Even Wang Yun Jie became a little soberer.