Flat running shoes, designer casual wear, approachable yet understated, hair flowing freely...
The girl's departing figure attracted the attention of many boys, who followed her all the way until she disappeared through the door. Many couldn't help but sigh with disappointment. But then, even more mocking glances were directed at Chen Xiao.
"Hahaha! You overconfident brat!"
"Bicycle prince, a beauty like that is not someone you are qualified to touch! Hahahaha..."
Amidst the sharp mockery, Chen Xiao showed no anger whatsoever—this had always been his nature; he never cared how strangers treated him. If one had to attend to the attitudes of every Tom, Dick, and Harry, wouldn't one be exhausted? It was enough to care about those who genuinely cared for him.
Amidst the mocking laughter, Chen Xiao put away the chewing gum bottle, his expression unchanged, and calmly walked out of the library.
Is she... really a phoenix?
They share the same birthday... but could they really be twins?
Chen Xiao shook his head. It couldn't be such a coincidence. Besides, even twins wouldn't look this alike!
There was no point in staying in the library any longer. After leaving, Chen Xiao thought for a moment and then turned around and headed towards the sports hall.
I haven't been to the karate club for several days. Since I have nothing to do now, I might as well go and take a look.
The karate club is a very popular club at Kidd Academy. This is largely thanks to Chen Xiao and Xu Ershao, two handsome guys at Kidd Academy.
Xu Ershao, needless to say, is young, rich, handsome, from an impressive family, and a Casanova, naturally attracting many girls. Chen Xiao, with his dashing appearance and pitiful background, possesses a certain inspirational charm, earning him the nickname "Fallen Prince." Every Valentine's Day, he receives even more chocolates than Xu Ershao!
Because of the two of them, the school's karate club attracted countless girls to sign up. Suddenly, the club was overwhelmingly female, with female members making up over 70% of the membership.
He walked into the gymnasium and arrived at the entrance of the karate club. As soon as he pushed the door open, a group of girls inside gasped in surprise.
"Wow! Chen Xiao! Chen Xiao is here!"
"Ah! It's him! He's here! Look!"
Chen Xiao sighed, suddenly remembering the girl in the library earlier—it was indeed unpleasant to be watched by others, no wonder that girl spoke to him so rudely.
However, upon entering, one discovers that the atmosphere is somewhat off.
The karate club is a large sports club in the school. It occupies a separate hall in the sports hall, which has changing rooms and showers for men and women, as well as three spacious training grounds.
At this moment, in the very center of the training ground, the hundreds of students were clearly divided into two groups. One group, dressed in white training uniforms, was naturally from the karate club. The other group, consisting of only seven or eight people, was led by a young man wearing a tight-fitting elastic vest that revealed his muscular physique. He glared at the people from the karate club with a fierce expression.
"What's going on?" Chen Xiao walked over and couldn't help but ask a bespectacled girl next to him.
The girl looked at Chen Xiao with shy eyes, but didn't seem to care: "What else could it be? Challenging the competition."
"Hmph! Today I'll show you that karate is nothing compared to authentic martial arts!"
The male trainee wearing a tight vest looked like he had a deep grudge.
A challenge?
A martial arts club is challenging a karate club?
Chen Xiao shook his head... That's interesting.
For most people, seeing a martial arts club come and challenge a karate dojo would be incredibly exciting...
Why? Because one big label after another is being imposed—"Patriotism!" "Promoting national cultural heritage!" and so on...
But to be honest, Chen Xiao felt that this approach was... how should I put it, very boring.
Take Chen Xiao himself as an example. He didn't mean to look down on Chinese martial arts. On the contrary, he genuinely believed that Chinese martial arts were more profound and extensive than things like karate and taekwondo.
Those Japanese tricks aren't even qualified to compete with traditional Chinese martial arts.
But why did Chen Xiao choose to practice karate instead of martial arts?
The reason is simple: everyone knows that practicing martial arts is very difficult! Chinese martial arts are extremely profound, and to truly master them, one must put in tremendous hard work! Regardless of whether it's a Southern or Northern style of kung fu, just practicing the basics, such as the most basic horse stance, requires at least ten or eight years of practice before you can expect to achieve anything significant!
Those who truly practice martial arts all begin their training rigorously from a young age, enduring the sweltering heat of summer and the freezing cold of winter. Their skills are the result of hard work and dedication!
However, the more this is the case, the more difficult it is to promote martial arts... Modern people live at a fast pace, and most people do not have the energy or time to spend so much energy learning martial arts!
But Chen Xiao didn't really think much of things like karate and taekwondo. However, these things were easy to promote—why? Because they were simple to learn!
You can find a coach at any gym to teach you. If you practice in your spare time for a year or two, you'll be able to do a decent job.
Most Chinese people who practice Taekwondo or Karate don't really see these things as sacred or noble—they simply treat them as fitness activities. They exercise, sweat it out, and for girls, it can even help with weight loss and body shaping. To put it more bluntly: it's just entertainment and relaxation.
For many people, learning karate or taekwondo is just a regular recreational activity. In most people's minds, it's no different from playing mahjong or doing gymnastics. It's all about one word—"play"!
It's not that people don't want to practice martial arts... Firstly, they don't have that much time to study it in detail, and secondly, you need a famous teacher to practice martial arts! Where can you find so many masters?
As for the karate club at Kidd Academy, frankly, it's just a group of students who created it to pass their free time, exercise, sweat it out, and treat it as a form of entertainment and leisure.
That's why Chen Xiao has always been somewhat dismissive of these kinds of challenges that use the guise of patriotism to disrupt the competition.
Is challenging a martial arts club patriotic? There are so many gyms and clubs in K City, and plenty of karate and taekwondo dojos! Are you going to challenge them all? If you really want to challenge someone, go find some karate masters to fight—what kind of skill is it to come and cause trouble in an amateur club at a school?
Besides, Chen Xiao knew all the guys who came to challenge him today—the school's martial arts club was basically just a bunch of bored students who set it up for their own fun. The leader wasn't a real martial arts expert either; he'd only practiced hand-to-hand combat for a couple of years, not even third-rate.
That guy in the tight vest didn't have a good reputation in the academy either; he was just a rich kid who bullied others.
The reason they came to challenge the club is probably because they are envious of the large number of people in the karate club—especially the large number of girls—while their own martial arts club is not popular. It's just jealousy and envy.
Does deliberately using the banner of "patriotism" and "promoting national heritage" make one seem noble?
"Pretentious," Chen Xiao thought to himself, but simply walked to the side and quietly prepared to watch the show.