Lu Xiaoxiao got anxious, glared at Chen Xiao, and said angrily, "What are you still hesitating about! I've given you the highest salary standard... Hey, at worst, I'll take a loss and I'll allow you to date me!"
These words truly left Chen Xiao speechless...
Soak, soak, soak you?
He swallowed hard, staring dumbfounded at Lu Xiaoxiao's "four eyebrows".
"Hmph, plenty of guys want to date me!" Lu Xiaoxiao glanced at Chen Xiao: "I'll give you a chance to get close to me because you're good at fighting! What's wrong? Aren't you satisfied yet!"
Chen Xiao naturally believed that although Lu Xiaoxiao's appearance was a bit lacking, with her family background, there would definitely be plenty of men willing to pursue her—as long as he could become Lu Bancheng's son-in-law, he could avoid decades of hard work!
However... although there are many such people, Chen Xiao is not one of them.
"Well... that won't be necessary." Chen Xiao chuckled awkwardly, then quickly coughed before speaking seriously, "My kung fu isn't something I can easily teach, but seeing how sincere you are, I can agree to try. However..."
Lu Xiaoxiao patted her chest vigorously and grinned, "Haha! As long as you agree, any conditions are fine! Also, from now on, as long as I, Lu Xiaoxiao, am around at school, absolutely no one will dare to mess with you! If anyone dares to mess with you, just say my name! Hmph, in Kidry, no one has ever dared to touch my people!"
Uh... why does this sound so strange? Listening to Lu Xiaoxiao's words, Chen Xiao felt as if he had become a gigolo being kept by a rich woman.
...
In the afternoon, Cabbage Girl also came to visit Chen Xiao, and she even brought her homemade dinner: dumplings.
And it's filled with cabbage and pork...
Chapter 58 of the main text [Four Hundred Years of Time]
"No way, you don't actually have feelings for Lu Xiaoxiao, do you?"
Upon hearing that Chen Xiao had decided to teach Lu Xiaoxiao kung fu, Xu Ershao exclaimed in surprise, staring intently at Chen Xiao as if a flower had sprouted from his nose.
Chen Xiao shook his head: "I naturally have special reasons, but... it's not appropriate to explain to you right now."
Xu Ershao thought for a moment, then waved his hand: "Forget it! Since you have your reasons, I won't ask. But you should be careful. Lu Xiaoxiao is not a girl you can just pick up casually. My family and the Lu family have a very good relationship. Old Master Lu is very shrewd. If anyone dares to have ill intentions towards his daughter, he will definitely throw them into an iron can, seal it with cement, and throw it into the sea."
Xu Ershao's injuries were much less severe than Chen Xiao's; he had only sprained his ankle from that flying kick. Chen Xiao, on the other hand, was covered in bruises, his once pretty face was swollen and bruised, one eye was swollen, and his chin was cut. Xu Ershao originally wanted Chen Xiao to stay in the school clinic, but Chen Xiao, thinking of Ya Ya at home, insisted on going home.
The aftermath of this challenge was that for the next two days, Chen Xiao was met with strange looks and whispers from everyone around him, no matter where he was in the school. Chen Xiao didn't need to listen to hear what they were talking about; they were probably saying he was a monster with superhuman strength…
Xiao Qing, on the other hand, seemed unaffected by her "defeat" at school. Within a week of enrolling in Kidd, she was already hailed as the number one beauty by more than half of the male students. Wherever she appeared on campus—the library, the gymnasium, the classrooms, the cafeteria—a group of boys would inevitably follow her.
In just one week, the beautiful Xiao Qing broke a new record since the founding of Kidd Academy: the sales of four flower shops around the school quadrupled in a week! In the girls' locker room, Xiao Qing's locker was filled with all sorts of gifts almost every day: flowers, presents, chocolates, and so on...
There were even rumors that a wealthy young man, utterly captivated by Xiao Qing's beauty, impulsively spent a fortune on a luxury sports car, intending to gift it to her and then invite her to spend the night with him...
As a result, in full view of everyone, the beautiful Xiao didn't say a word to the rich kid. She just turned around and ran to the school's sports equipment room, picked up a baseball bat, and then smashed the sports car worth nearly a million into scrap metal in front of everyone!
According to Xu Ershao, who was present at the time, he could feel Xiao Qing's explosive energy from ten meters away. When he saw Xiao Qing come out with a baseball bat, he was worried that she would kill someone in a fit of anger—fortunately, she only smashed the car.
The rich kid looked at the sports car, now a complete scrap metal, and almost cried. Xu Ershao, however, kindly patted him on the shoulder and offered a comforting remark: "Next time, don't give him a sports car, give him a tank instead. Tanks aren't as easy to smash."
Chen Xiao has had a very fulfilling few days. His first significant progress was that he finally taught Ya Ya to sleep in her own bed—relieving Chen Xiao of his worries that he would eventually have a stroke or turn into a berserk werewolf if things continued like this.
Secondly, Chen Xiao began to consult Uncle Tian—of the three unscrupulous bosses on the abandoned street, Chen Xiao was currently most familiar with Uncle Tian, and Uncle Tian's personality was somewhat like that of a good-natured, easygoing person. So, after a few days of interaction, Chen Xiao had a general understanding of Uncle Tian's background:
This ancient monster, over four hundred years old, was born during the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty. He was originally a martial arts master, skilled in swordsmanship, and his swordsmanship was incredibly fast...
Well, Chen Xiao admitted that at first, after hearing these descriptions, he was very skeptical about whether Lao Tian's real name was "Tian Boguang".
Old Tian's superpower is somewhat special. Due to some inexplicable genetic mutation, his lifespan has become extremely long, and it seems that his metabolism has changed, which has greatly slowed down the aging process.
Actually, Lao Tian doesn't have any other special abilities: he just lives longer than ordinary people.
But... he was, after all, a martial arts master! A normal martial artist, even if they practiced their entire life, would only have mastered the art for a few decades. Four hundred years of arduous training—even if you weren't practicing the Nine Yang Divine Skill, but something like breaking a boulder on your chest—would be enough to create the greatest martial artist in the world!
In Lao Tian's words, when he was a hundred years old, he still looked like a boy not yet twenty. At that time, he had already mastered all the martial arts masters in the world and was almost invincible! When he was one hundred and fifty years old, the word "almost" could be erased. From then on, he had no interest in challenging anyone to a duel and instead focused his attention on collecting various martial arts manuals...
Until the late Qing Dynasty, firearms became the mainstream weapon, essentially ending the era of cold weapons—and from that time onward, martial arts declined.
"There's nothing we can do about it," Old Tian said with a hint of helplessness. "Ten years of training can't compare to a single bullet. Under these circumstances, not many people are willing to put in the effort to practice these hard skills."
Upon hearing this, Chen Xiao thought for a moment and couldn't help but ask Lao Tian a question: "You said that ten years of training is not as good as a bullet, so what about you... after training for more than four hundred years? Could you catch a bullet?"
Old Tian's answer at that time made Chen Xiao break out in a cold sweat.
Old Tian thought about it seriously: "If it's a gun with a normal rate of fire, catching the bullet shouldn't be a problem. But if it's a gun with a very high rate of fire... that would be a bit difficult." He paused, then added, "If I really can't catch it, I can dodge..."
Dodging bullets… Chen Xiao immediately thought of a classic scene from the movie The Matrix: the seemingly honest Old Tian, wearing Keanu Reeves's stylish black coat, making the same backward bend motion as in the movie when dodging bullets…
Chen Xiao couldn't help but ask Lao Tian another question: Having lived for over four hundred years, would he be able to directly "enter the Dao through martial arts," attain immortality, and enter the level of "cultivation"?
Old Tian gave Chen Xiao a disdainful look and simply patted Chen Xiao on the shoulder, saying, "Read less fantasy novels in the future."
With such a top martial arts master by his side, Chen Xiao naturally turned to Lao Tian for help: ever since he agreed to teach Lu Xiaoxiao kung fu, this young lady had been urging him almost eight times a day, asking when he could begin imparting his divine skills to her. Chen Xiao was racking his brains for an excuse; if he kept putting it off, he was afraid he would be exposed.
Old Tian smiled slightly after hearing Chen Xiao's request and first taught Chen Xiao a breathing exercise. Don't misunderstand, it's not some magical internal energy cultivation technique, but a simple breathing exercise. It's not a martial art, but an ancient health preservation technique that has been lost.
It is said that practicing this can prolong life, and has significant effects on heart disease, high blood pressure, insomnia, anxiety, and so on. It can also improve cardiopulmonary function and has beauty benefits for girls.
Chen Xiao shamelessly taught Lu Xiaoxiao this breathing technique, lying to her that it was a supreme divine skill he had cultivated, and that once mastered, a single palm strike could shatter stone tablets. Lu Xiaoxiao, having witnessed Chen Xiao "throwing living people around," didn't suspect a thing and happily went back to practice it.
In addition, Uncle Tian taught Chen Xiao a set of boxing techniques, which were specially designed for Chen Xiao.
"Your superpower is strength, but unfortunately, having strength without skill is useless against a master of martial arts. Take Xiao Qing from the school, for example. From your description, she must be a trained fighter. If you encounter an opponent like that, no matter how strong you are, it's all for naught if you can't hit them. Not to mention Xiao Qing, even that guy you defeated who practices Hung Kuen, if he hadn't underestimated you and had actually used his skills to fight you, you might not have been able to beat him."
Chen Xiao understood this principle; he was like a three-year-old child wielding a heavy iron sledgehammer—having strength alone was not enough.
Therefore, he obediently learned that set of boxing techniques from Lao Tian. This set of boxing techniques was not complicated. Lao Tian took into account Chen Xiao's foundation and also chose a set of simple moves that were most suitable for making full use of strength.