Chapter 14 – Father-Son Game

“Five churros, fifteen buns, and two bowls of soy milk, please. To go.”

Early in the morning, Lu Yuan, dressed in a black tracksuit, stood at the entrance of a breakfast shop, ordering his breakfast.

Since it was the weekend, there were no students or office workers around, and the shop wasn’t very crowded.

Only a few elderly men in shorts and tank tops, who had come out for their morning exercise, were eating breakfast.

One of them even had a radio with him, placed on the table as he ate, broadcasting a comedy show.

After paying, Lu Yuan picked up the packed breakfast and slowly walked towards home.

It was now 6:45 AM.

He had gotten up at six and had been jogging through the city since then.

His strong physique and youth were evident at this moment.

Despite the intense workout he had the day before, he was still full of energy today, feeling even more invigorated.

“Name: Lu Hui

Gender: Female

Age: 28

Height: 157cm

Local accent from Jiaoyan, wearing a white T-shirt with a red heart on it and black denim shorts, missing since May…”

As he passed by an Internet Cafe, Lu Yuan’s attention was drawn to a missing person notice posted on the wall by the entrance.

The photo showed a young woman with a radiant smile, holding a short-tailed blue cat.

He stopped to take a closer look.

He noticed that there were not just one but four or five missing person notices posted on the wall.

The disappearance dates were mostly concentrated in May and June, all within the past two months.

“It seems like the missing persons’ case is really serious this time,” Lu Yuan thought, frowning slightly.

In an era where surveillance cameras are everywhere, it was chilling to think that so many people could disappear in such a short time and the police had yet to solve the case.

“Could there be a large human trafficking ring operating in Jiaoyan?”

“Kidney trafficking?”

A sudden chill ran down his back at the thought, and his desire for strength grew even stronger.

Although the chances of something like this happening to him were slim, it would be better to be stronger to increase his chances of escaping danger if it ever did.

“I need to step up my game,” Lu Yuan thought to himself.

Unconsciously, Lu Yuan found himself back at his family’s small shop.

Zheng Qiuling had already opened the store.

Lu Yuan helped his mom put away some of the stock that had arrived yesterday.

Due to the recent missing persons’ cases, the neighborhood was on edge, and many more people were coming to buy groceries and oil than usual. The shop’s sales had increased significantly.

After a busy spell, Lu Yuan set up a small table in the shop and had breakfast with his mom, eating the food he had bought earlier.

After running and moving goods, Lu Yuan was famished.

He had a large appetite and ended up eating more than three-quarters of the breakfast.

While eating, Zheng Qiuling suddenly sighed, thinking of Lu Jing, Lu Yuan’s elder sister.

“Lu Jing always complains about not eating or sleeping well whenever she calls. I wonder when she will be able to come back. Why did she have to study archaeology of all things?”

Lu Yuan didn’t say anything.

He thought that although Lu Jing complained a lot during her calls and video chats, there was a sense of enjoyment in her voice.

If she truly couldn’t stand something, she probably wouldn’t even have the energy to complain and would be thinking about flying back home immediately.

At 7:30 AM, after breakfast, Lu Yuan took the bus to the Yuan Martial Arts Gym.

He arrived just before 8:00 AM.

Today, Lin Zhiqin was teaching the basic footwork of martial arts techniques.

Compared to basic fist techniques and basic leg techniques, the footwork seemed much simpler at first glance.

But once Lu Yuan started practicing, he realized it was not that simple at all.

Flexibility is crucial in fighting.

If you can avoid being hit while landing your own attacks on the opponent, your chances of winning increase significantly.

Footwork is especially important.

Lu Yuan continued to study diligently.

Thanks to his Level 2 [Absolute Concentration] state, he mastered the basic footwork even faster than he had learned the fist and leg techniques.

Even Lin Zhiqin couldn’t help but praise him several times.

Among this batch of new students, Lu Yuan was undoubtedly the most focused and dedicated during training.

However, he wasn’t the best performer.

“Yang Jiandong, come with me.”

After teaching all the footwork techniques, Lin Zhiqin immediately called one of the students out.

This student was tall and muscular, with slightly dark skin.

Lu Yuan had a strong impression of him.

When this guy first arrived, he bragged about how he had trained in martial arts for just three months and managed to knock out the coach at his previous martial arts gym.

And indeed, his performance in basic fist techniques, basic leg techniques, and basic footwork was the best.

Lu Yuan even suspected that this guy had already reached Level 3 in all three basic techniques.

Initially, Lu Yuan thought Lin Zhiqin had called Yang Jiandong out to discuss a class change.

However, shortly before the class ended, a student suddenly exclaimed.

“Wow, Coach Lin is secretly giving Yang Jiandong extra training! Not only is he giving him additional practice, but he’s also teaching him stuff beyond the course!”

“How do you know?”

“I’m friends with Yang Jiandong. He just messaged me, bragging about it!”

“Damn, Lin Zhiqin is really a jerk!”

“We need to report this to the martial arts gym.”

A group of students started shouting about the unfairness and demanded to complain.

Lu Yuan felt slightly touched by this.

Along with envy for Yang Jiandong’s special treatment, he also felt a bit of resentment.

“If I can perform even better, wouldn’t I have the chance to be personally coached by Lin?”

Lu Yuan thought to himself that if he could train a bit more, he could definitely catch up to or even surpass Yang Jiandong quickly.

Unfortunately, he was still a student and had to spend five days a week attending school.

“No matter what, I need to become an official disciple of the gym as soon as possible!”

Lu Yuan silently resolved.

“You want to spar with me?”

Cheng Peng blinked, looking a bit stunned at Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan, however, remained calm.

“Yes, I’ve now learned all three basics and feel ready to try some sparring.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Cheng Peng immediately shook his head. “You just learned them, you haven’t even learned the techniques for fighting yet. If we sparred now, I’m not bragging, but I could beat you easily with one hand.”

“I mainly want to get a feel for real sparring in advance. The martial arts gym only has two classes a week, and the pace is too slow. By the time we actually get a chance to spar, it might be the end of the year. If you teach me how to spar, I can master those basics faster.”

“But…”

Seeing Cheng Peng still hesitating, Lu Yuan couldn’t help but act a bit “impatient.” “You’re not scared, are you? You keep boasting about how you’re almost qualified for the rank examination and about to become an official disciple. But when I ask you to spar with me, you chicken out.”

“Scared of you?!”

Cheng Peng, unable to handle such provocation, immediately jumped up.

“I’m more worried about hurting you!”

“Come on, let’s get changed.”

Cheng Peng rolled up his sleeves, saying, “Meet me at the training ground in five minutes.

Father-son game, loser calls the winner ‘Dad!'”

“That’s more like it, good son.”

Lu Yuan nodded with satisfaction.