Chapter 5  : Master Liu Hai

In a towering skyscraper in Penghai City.

Cheng Zihao lay on a gaming chair, wearing a pair of virtual glasses. Suddenly, a knock sounded on the office door.

“Come in.” Cheng Zihao switched his virtual glasses to reality mode and looked at the middle-aged man walking in.

After the middle-aged man came in, he closed the door and said in a fawning tone, “Boss, Cosmos Center in Binhai City has decided to fire Xu Jingming. I used a different account to contact Xu Jingming, but he blocked me again.”

“How decisive,” said the fair-skinned Cheng Zihao with a laugh. “Li Miaomiao blocked me, and Xu Jingming blocked us. The two of them are quite interesting. Is this what they mean by ‘love is thicker than water?’ Hahaha… How interesting. Oh right, where’s Li Yuanping? He’s Li Miaomiao’s uncle.”

“Li Yuanping personally visited Li Miaomiao’s parents, but her parents showed clear approval of Xu Jingming as a son-in-law and chased him out,” the middle-aged man said.

“How useless.” Cheng Zihao frowned slightly. “Li Miaomiao is really different from other singers. Does she not care about fame and fortune?”

“She has already changed live-streaming platforms; her most recent live-stream was done on Microcosm,” the middle-aged man stated helplessly. “Besides, she has never signed a long-term contract with our platform. She only broadcasts once a month and has never cared about earning money from live-streaming. She’s pretty chill. Boss, what do we do next?”

“Li Miaomiao and Xu Jingming are public figures, and they have such a tough attitude. Forget it. There are many things in the world that I like, and I can’t have them all.” Cheng Zihao shook his head. “Let’s put an end to Li Miaomiao’s matter for the time being, but continue paying attention to her… People will change. I don’t believe that she will always disregard fame and fortune.”

“Yes.” The middle-aged man nodded and smiled. “She might be young, and she might not care about fame and fortune in her early twenties, but in a few years, she might realize the importance of fame and fortune after being beaten down by society.”

“I might not like her if she becomes snobbish in a few years,” Cheng Zihao said calmly. “You may leave.”

“Yes, sir.” The middle-aged man left respectfully.

Cheng Zihao switched his virtual glasses to immersion mode. To him, Li Miaomiao was just a mere ripple in his life; he had never taken her seriously.

In immersion mode, a huge projection of stock market charts appeared. The capital market was what he really cared about.

Why did Tiger Shark’s share price drop by 8% today? I didn’t hear of any massive short positions. Cheng Zihao found it incomprehensible since it was rare for Tiger Shark Group’s shares to plummet.

Dad ordered me not to have any of my investments related to Tiger Shark Group as a way of risk diversification. I’ll just let Dad worry about it. Cheng Zihao didn’t think too much about it.

The family’s largest asset was 8.2% of the Tiger Shark Group’s shares, so he was naturally concerned. But according to the family rules, his personal assets had nothing to do with the Tiger Shark Group.

As for the Tiger Shark Group’s shares plummeting? His father, Cheng Liwei, had helmed the company for over three decades; Cheng Zihao trusted his father’s abilities.

******

An old man lived alone in an oriental-styled villa in Beijing—other than a butler robot. This tall and stout old man sat at the dining table, eating a few cloves of garlic and beef in large mouthfuls. He also ate a few mouthfuls of the cooked vegetables.

He was a legendary figure in the world’s martial arts circle—’Tiger’ Liu Hai.

Liu Hai participated in the first World Martial Arts Tournament at the age of 45 and competed with experts from all over the world. It had to be known that only those ranked in the world’s top 32 were qualified to participate! Most of the participants were in their thirties, so Liu Hai was definitely considered an older contestant.

He had entered the tournament five times in a row, and he stood on the podium every single time. He even became world champion in the fifth year! He had been the head coach of the Chinese national team for 20 years!

Of the legendary ones, two martial arts experts in China had matched him in the past 30 years. In terms of seniority, he was the oldest. Most of the top professional gladiators in China had to call him master!

He was in his seventies this year, but Liu Hai still spent half a year in seclusion every year and did tough training.

For example, he ate five meals a day—mainly beef with vegetables as supplements. He needed to do so since eating too little wasn’t enough to provide him the energy for his training intensity.

“Huh?” Liu Hai had a pair of eyes that emitted a domineering aura like a tiger’s. The domineering aura was incredible—it was a powerful field brought about by his powerful physique. He stood at 1.92 meters tall and weighed 110 kilograms. His body and technique had been honed to an astonishing level, judging from how he had reached the podium without suffering any injuries for five consecutive years during the World Martial Arts Tournament’s early days—when the rules were still in their nascent stages.

What is this? Liu Hai looked at the information on the light screen in front of him and widened his eyes. This son of a bitch is bullying my disciple?

“Fang Xinglong,” Liu Hai shouted.

An image of Fang Xinglong appeared in the projection, and Fang Xinglong said respectfully, “Master, I thought about it the entire night yesterday and couldn’t think of any solutions, so I decided to inform you about it. Junior Brother joined the provincial team in high school. He has lived like an ascetic monk for so many years—his mind is focused on martial arts. Who would’ve thought that Cheng Zihao would bully him? Junior Brother refused to say anything in front of me. I’ve asked around, and it seems to be related to Junior Brother’s girlfriend.”

“Love is such an annoying matter. Many young people have ruined their future because of love.” Liu Hai shook his head. He was in his seventies and still confined himself for half a year every year; he didn’t meet anyone.

Love and society would only affect the speed of his attacks!

“Master, do you have a way to help Junior Brother?” Fang Xinglong asked. He knew that his master had a lot of connections.

“It’s a large commercial corporation. What can I do? I’ll think about it; you don’t have to worry about this matter,” Liu Hai said.

“Alright, Master. I’ll heed your instructions,” Fang Xinglong replied immediately.

The projection vanished.

Liu Hai sat there and thought as he chewed on the cooked beef. He felt that the beef in his mouth had lost its taste.

Jingming’s physique is still too weak. If he had trained his physique for three more years before entering the World Martial Arts Tournament… he wouldn’t have broken his leg and ruined his future. Liu Hai sighed to himself. His talent in spearmanship is excellent, but he raised his world ranking too quickly. Entering the World Martial Arts Tournament too early only brought him harm.

He was still too young then, reaching the highest echelons at the World Martial Arts Tournament while only 20.

With his talent, if he had entered the World Martial Arts Tournament at 23 or 24 years of age, he would’ve had a chance of becoming world champion. How glorious would that be? Would he be forced into his current predicament? Liu Hai thought. All he knew was martial arts, so it wasn’t easy for him to help his disciple either.

“Old Guo,” Liu Hai greeted.

A projection condensed in front of him, and a figure appeared on it—it was a white-haired elder sitting in front of a desk.

“Brother Hai, what’s the matter?” The white-haired old man also had a high status, but he was still very respectful to Liu Hai, who was three years younger than him. He even called Liu Hai ‘Brother Hai.’ The two had been friends for decades.

“Old Guo, about that list of people to receive the government’s patronage.” Liu Hai put down the beef. “I have the freedom to recommend one person to that list, right? I thought about it and plan on recommending Xu Jingming.”

“Xu Jingming?” The white-haired elder thought for a moment and said, “You have the right to recommend, but it needs to be reviewed eventually. There are only 20 people on the list! Martial arts masters like yourself take up 12 spots, and the other martial arts schools take up five. There are only three spots left. If Xu Jingming wants to compete for those three spots… To be honest, his CV is a little lacking.”

“Jingming is only 29 this year, and he has great potential. Moreover, he made it into the top eight of the World Martial Arts Tournament despite having a seriously injured leg. If not for the leg injury, he would’ve become world champion,” Liu Hai said.

“We are well aware of what you just said, but I have to tell you that his chances of competing for the three spots are relatively slim. Are you sure you want to recommend him?” asked the elder.

“Most of my best disciples have gone onto the podium and have obtained the title of martial arts master; only Jingming and Xiaotong regretfully didn’t make it. Xiaotong has already given up on martial arts, but Jingming has never given up despite all these years. His character has been the same for years—he’s worth grooming.”

“In that case, quickly write a detailed recommendation letter—the sooner, the better. It’s best if you send it to me today so that I can send it to the selection committee,” said the white-haired elder. “As for whether it succeeds, it will still have to go through the higher-ups’ final review.”

“Okay.” Liu Hai nodded.

When the projection disappeared, Liu Hai continued chewing on his beef and thought to himself, There are a total of 12 people in China who stood on the podium at the World Martial Arts Tournament after all these years! Of these 12, I’m the oldest, and there’s also a disabled person. There are a few who are out of shape, and one even has cancer. However, these 12 people are all on that patronage list. Can the disabled, cancer-stricken, and elderly be groomed?

The higher-ups say that it’s great news, but they didn’t disclose the details. I wonder what great news it is, Liu Hai thought. If Jingming can enter the list, it can be considered a chance.

Liu Hai’s idea was very simple.. So his disciple had encountered trouble? If his disciple became stronger, his troubles would vanish. It might even become the other party’s troubles then!