Qingjian City.
In April, the fine rain, like the rustling of silkworms eating mulberry leaves, permeated the glass curtain walls of the surrounding buildings, turning them into a frosted texture.
The asphalt road surface, slick with water, reflected a leaden, cold light, and the red and green of the traffic lights blurred into a swamp of color blocks on the wet road, while the bustling streets were filled with pedestrians hurrying by, umbrellas in hand.
Fang Qingyu stood beneath the Jinggong Road sign.
The pure black umbrella was pressed down to his brow bone, and his gaze swept over the white words above the heads of the pedestrians coming and going on the street, passing the time.
“Didi driver also works at Nightfall Bar.”
“Legal consultant also works as a streamer.”
“Blockchain developer, also a kidney introducer.”
“...Duck.”
In this day and age, it’s truly difficult to survive without one or two side jobs.
It’s just that you can never imagine what kind of side jobs other people have.
Rumble~
Thunder rumbled in the sky, and Fang Qingyu looked up; the weather these past few days was a bit strange...
Fortunately, the person he was waiting for arrived.
“Qing Zi, sorry, sorry, I’m late.”
In the distance, a young man with a vest clinging to his muscular physique jogged over.
“It’s fine, I just got here too.”
Fang Qingyu turned around, a slight smile on his face.
The young man’s name was Qi Hao.
He was Fang Qingyu’s high school classmate, and the only thing they had in common was that after graduating high school, neither chose to go to university.
It’s just that one became an Ordinary Class student at a Martial Arts Hall, while the other entered society.
Actually, Fang Qingyu could find many reasons.
For example, his memory was naturally inferior to his peers, and what he memorized might be forgotten the next day, or he would occasionally suffer from sudden headaches.
But as an orphan, these things were meaningless; if he didn't get in, he didn't get in.
And Qi Hao, having recently learned of Fang Qingyu’s desire to get fit, arranged to bring him to the Martial Arts Hall where he usually trained today to take a look.
“Come on, let’s go in, I’ll show you around first.”
Qi Hao greeted him enthusiastically.
Fang Qingyu followed behind him, looking up at the sign above his head.
Chenfeng Martial Arts Hall.
Carved in an ancient style on a huge plaque, it hung at the very top, looking quite grand.
What was even more commendable was that there were no miscellaneous enrollment advertisements around it.
It gave a very clean impression.
“How about it, pretty impressive, right?”
The entrance to the Martial Arts Hall resembled the gate of an ancient wealthy family; anyone standing there would first see the huge screen inside.
The character “Martial” was carved on it.
Fang Qingyu nodded in agreement.
The Martial Arts Halls in this world were indeed very different from what he had imagined.
Passing beyond the screen.
The sound of the heavy rain outside was suddenly pulled away from his ears.
The sprawling area before him was as large as two football fields, with a seven-meter-high domed ceiling embedded with a honeycomb-shaped LED matrix, casting a uniform, cool white light like moonlight.
Dozens of Stance Training piles were arranged in a formation, and in front of each pile stood a student in a black training uniform.
The students listened to the coach’s commands, bent their knees slightly, stood in a horse stance, and vigorously struck the Stance Training pile in front of them.
They let out shouts of encouragement and exertion.
It looked quite lively.
“This is where you build your foundation; if you just signed up, you’d also train here with them, starting with Stance Training.”
“How about it, not bad, right?”
Qi Hao said, a hint of pride on his face.
For newly joined students in a Martial Arts Hall to have such spirit and demeanor, it could be said to be very good.
Fang Qingyu listened, his face betraying no emotion, but instead looked at the white words above their heads.
“【Student】,” “【Programmer】,” “【Bank Teller】”...
They were all ordinary people.
Including that coach.
The professional title above his head was merely “【Stance Training Coach】.”
The training ground here was indeed quite good, but... it seemed to be just an ordinary Martial Arts Hall.
Fang Qingyu was a little disappointed.
After all, the registration fee here was eighteen thousand... which was equivalent to all of his current savings.
If it was just an ordinary Martial Arts Hall, he might as well just work out at home.
“It’s okay, let’s keep looking.”
Seeing Fang Qingyu remain silent, Qi Hao suddenly became anxious and pulled Fang Qingyu to walk to the side.
He was one of the few who knew and believed that Fang Qingyu had memory problems and a brain disorder.
Because he had previously tried to teach Fang Qingyu some moves and some rudimentary striking techniques.
And Fang Qingyu’s learning speed was quite astonishing.
Although he sometimes forgot the next day, if this type of martial arts was practiced for a long time, it would form subconscious reactions ingrained in the muscles.
It had nothing to do with memory in the mind.
That’s why he was so enthusiastic about bringing Fang Qingyu to sign up.
“This is the weapons area. After building your foundation, you can choose to learn boxing or various weapons. I’m learning boxing.”
They walked to another area.
The metal racks in the weapons area fanned out, and hundreds of unsharpened steel weapons gleamed coldly in the cool white light.
Here, a female coach, Zheng Jiao, was swinging a nine-section whip, instructing students.
“How many times have I told you! Hold with three fingers and leave two fingers loose to absorb force!”
“She is Zheng Jiao, an Ordinary Class coach at our Martial Arts Hall. She’s very powerful, teaching both weapons and boxing. I can’t beat her at all.”
As he said this, Fang Qingyu looked at their physiques with slight surprise...
If Qi Hao wasn’t deliberately exaggerating.
Then this coach might really have something.
But not much.
Whether it was the students or coaches in the weapons area or the boxing area, their professional titles were all quite ordinary.
A weapons coach, a combat coach.
They could probably all be called experts in fighting.
But it wasn’t enough for him to spend all his current savings to study here.
“I’ll think about it.”
Although this area was large, there weren’t many people, and Fang Qingyu, having seen everything at a glance, decided to leave.
“Alright, Qing Zi, think about it carefully. I really think you have a lot of talent.”
Having not seen Fang Qingyu show any sign of interest from beginning to end, Qi Hao knew that he probably wouldn’t sign up.
After all, he also understood Fang Qingyu’s situation.
This expense was indeed a burden for Qing Zi.
“I will consider it.”
Fang Qingyu nodded seriously.
But that would be when he had more disposable income in the future.
Qi Hao saw Fang Qingyu to the door, where a mother and son stood outside, seemingly also there to sign up.
“How about it, son, want to go in and take a look? Don’t you love wuxia novels the most? Practicing martial arts here can also strengthen your body...”
Fang Qingyu glanced at them, then was about to say goodbye to Qi Hao.
Another middle-aged man walked in from outside the door.
Seeing him, Qi Hao quickly bowed and greeted him.
“Hello, Lin Jiao.”
Lin Jiao nodded and grunted in response, then entered the Martial Arts Hall on his own.
However, before going in, he glanced at Fang Qingyu, who had been staring at him.
At that instant...
Fang Qingyu felt all the goosebumps on his body erupt!
It was as if he was standing on the edge of a deep abyss, with his back to it.
If the other person wished, he would fall into the abyss at any moment.
“He... who is he?”
After a long while, Fang Qingyu recovered and looked at Qi Hao.
“We all call him Lin Jiao, the Elite Class coach at the Martial Arts Hall, super strong!”
“I once personally saw him kick a 200-jin Stance Training pile seven or eight meters away...”
Qi Hao had originally given up hope, but hearing Fang Qingyu’s voice, he quickly leaned in to explain.
Coincidentally, the mother and son nearby were also arguing.
“Martial arts?? Not even dogs...”
“Train!!”
Fang Qingyu suddenly pulled Qi Hao and walked back into the Martial Arts Hall.
“It is martial arts that I will train. Take me to sign up.”
Qi Hao was a bit confused at first.
However, even though he wasn’t sure why Qing Zi suddenly changed his mind, his willingness to sign up was a good thing.
“You definitely won’t regret it, Qing Zi.”
Saying this, he took Fang Qingyu to the front desk to pay.
Eighteen thousand almost emptied all the money Fang Qingyu had saved over the years.
Only 652 remained.
However, Fang Qingyu truly would not regret it.
The strong are divided into two types.
One type needs to constantly climb upwards to prove themselves.
But there is another type...
Just standing there is enough.
That middle-aged man was exactly like that.
What’s more, his professional title...
Fang Qingyu had never seen it before!!!
“【Martial Artist】”!
And the color was red!