Chapter7

The evening glow shrouded the earth in soft tones, and when Qu pushed the door south and came out of the house, he saw Baicao standing outside the house in a daze, as if he had been standing there for a long time.

"It's okay to lose."

A few days ago, he heard the young disciples in the hall talking about the Songbai Daoist Pavilion would hold a selection competition in the hall before the city's gym challenge in the past two days, and he had been worried about whether she might stand out. Looking at her dejected appearance at the moment, he could already guess what the result was.

took her to sit on the long stone bench in the courtyard, Qu Xiangnan patted her on the shoulder to comfort her, and felt a little lost in his heart, but his voice was slightly higher than usual, and said: "As a taekwondo player, it is not a good thing to be too smooth sailing, it will be easy for people to become too complacent and conceited, and only by losing can you know where you need to improve." ”

She listened silently.

How I want to sue Master Sù that she didn't lose! She won, and she was supposed to participate in the Gym Challenge, but she was forcibly disqualified from participating in the tournament! However, what's the use of saying this, after all, he is still not qualified to participate in the Gym Challenge, and saying it will only make Master regretful and sad.

After a whole afternoon of thinking.

She finally figured it out.

Ruobai chose Xiuqin instead of her, in the final analysis, because her strength is not good.

Did she really win the final match of the in-arena challenge? If it weren't for her luck, if Xiuqin hadn't been distracted at the last moment, she would have been the one who lost. Although she could argue with those disciples who did not recognize her victory, it was clear which of her and Xiuqin's strength was stronger or weaker. If she competes on behalf of the Songbai Gym, it will only be a drag. If she meets an opponent like Tingyi in the Gym Challenge......

She said in a hoarse voice:

“…… Master, I have disappointed you. ”

"Silly boy, don't lose faith in yourself because of this failure. You have to believe what Master said, you are a talented and potential taekwondo player, and one day you will shine brightly and stand at the pinnacle of admiration. ”

Gifted and potential......

She felt a pang in her heart and said:

"I'm going to keep practicing hard and try to be able to compete next year. But, Master...... I don't think I have the talent or potential. ”

"How?"

"I just have brute force," she said, biting her lip tightly, "but in a game, brute force alone is far from enough." The opponent seems to be able to see the intentions of each of my attacks, and I can't see the opponent's intentions at all! It's like cat and mouse, I'm the mouse being played......"

Tears condensed in the eyes.

She lowered her head, not daring to let the master see her sadness. Yes, she is a stupid person with only brute strength, who will only attack in the most stupid and naïve way, and will be laughed at by everyone, and will lose miserably when she encounters a higher-level opponent.

Qu Xiangnan frowned, "You call your strength brute force?" ”

What is that not brute force?

She was silent. Everyone laughed at her, and the power that Tingyi kicked on her was so light, but she couldn't avoid it.

"For a taekwondo player, physical strength is the most basic element." Qu Xiangnan paused, "Baicao, you answer me, what is a knockout win?" ”

"A knockout win means that if one team knocks the other out of the match for 10 seconds, the knockout will be awarded the loss, regardless of the previous scoreline." She doesn't have to go through her brain to answer it.

This is the most basic common sense for beginners to taekwondo. Knocking out an opponent is the most desirable win for almost anyone who practices taekwondo. Speaking of which, she also defeated Xiuqin by KO yesterday.

"So, have you ever wondered why there is a knockout tiebreaker rule in an official match?" Qu stared south at her.

She was stunned.

She never thought about it.

"Taekwondo started as a physical sport and was also very powerful in martial arts and warfare. However, as taekwondo gradually became an official competition, as long as the opponent's effective part was kicked to score points, and finally the winner was determined by the number of points, more and more players began to ignore strength and only pay attention to skill. Qu Xiangnan said slowly, "If you can just kick those parts, and don't care about the power of the kick, it is actually not threatening, and if it continues to develop like this, taekwondo will be reduced to a performance of fist and legs, and lose its actual meaning." That's why the KO rule came in. The purpose of this rule is to tell all fighters that only those who have the strength to knock down their opponents are the true winners. ”

"As a female player, there are many people who focus on technique from the beginning, and they are very lacking in strength, and they have lost the foundation of practicing taekwondo." Qu Xiangnan's face was solemn, and he said in a deep voice, "For you, from the beginning of your study of taekwondo, the training of basic skills and strength is your focus, and in the past few years, your body has been much stronger than others. Baicao, this is your most prominent advantage, and it is what you should be proud of! ”

She listened to Master's words.

The heart, which was already a little depressed, suddenly became disordered and dazed again.

"After having solid basic skills and outstanding physical qualities, it is a matter of course to perfect your skills and accumulate experience." As he spoke, Qu Xiangnan's voice was a little gloomy, "Originally, it was time for you to improve your skills and actual combat experience, but Master had no way to let you get the opportunity to fight, nor could he leave you in the Quansheng Gym to guide your skills, which delayed your ......."

"Master!"

She shouted in a hurry.

“…… No, I'm quite comfortable at the Songbai Gym...... They...... They were all very kind to me, and they also let me participate in the in-house selection tournament this time...... It's just that my strength is not enough......" Qiang suppressed the sourness in her heart, she raised her head and squeezed out a smile at the master, "I know that the master doesn't think I'm stupid...... No wonder I didn't qualify for the Gym Challenge...... I'm so happy......"

"Silly child," Qu Xiangnan let out a long sigh looking at the loss and gloom that she couldn't hide even though she tried to smile, "Victory and defeat are common, don't take it too seriously." Master believes in you, next year you will definitely be able to participate in the gym selection competition, stand on the official competition field, and win victory after victory. ”

“…… Yes, Master," she said astringently, looking at Master's prematurely aging face and the faint look of hope in her eyes, "...... I'll let you see that day as much as you can. ”

Walk out of the side door of the Quansheng Gym.

The evening glow has been completely darkened.

She walked step by step.

The lonely figure is stretched long, long.

She couldn't give up.

It's not just because of Master's hope, but if she is defeated by someone in this way, even she herself will look down on her. It's just a small setback, one that all those who practice taekwondo, and she just needs to work hard to improve herself and make herself stronger.

Say this to yourself over and over again.

She thought she had convinced herself.

But when she stood at the intersection, she saw Tingyi walking into the gate of the Songbai Daoist Hall side by side with Chu Yuan from a distance, and looked at the backs of the two like a pair of beautiful people-

A heart sank again.

Master said that as long as she works hard to accumulate skills and experience in actual combat, she will improve.

It's just that she needs to progress to what Cheng dù.

Can we defeat Tingyi?

******

During the morning exercise the next day, Baicao stood silently in the team.

She originally thought that the disciples of the Songbai Daoist Hall would laugh at her, after all, her love was so impulsive yesterday, and she was so miserable to lose to Tingyi in front of everyone.

But......

Xiaoying stayed by her side all the time, and no one around looked at her with strange eyes, and Pingping even tugged at her robe with her hand, showing her a sweet smile when she looked over. Before training, Ruobai only glanced at her lightly, and didn't ask her why she was absent from the training the night before work.

It's like nothing happened.

It's just, after all, what happened, right?

It's like after school in the afternoon, Baicao didn't go back to the gym, and walked down the street alone with his schoolbag. In order to prepare for the gym challenge, Ruobai will take Yifeng, Xiuqin and other disciples to play warm-up matches with other gyms today, and Xiaoying rushed back as soon as she got out of school, saying that she would never let go of any warm-up match, even if it was purely a bystander.

She didn't go with Xiaoying.

She knew that this kind of affection was wrong, and now that she was a member of the Songbai Daoguan, she should regard the honor of the Songbai Daoist as more important than her personal honor. But watching everyone enthusiastically prepare for the Gym Challenge, she still felt an indescribable loss in her heart.

Walking down the street blankly.

Well, it just so happens that the English teacher wants them to buy extracurricular tutoring books, so why don't you buy them today?

"Hey, Baicao, I haven't been here for a long time!"

The owner of the second-hand bookstore, a middle-aged man in his forties, sat in a wicker chair listening to the reviews on the radio, and smiled and beckoned her to find the books she needed. Standing in front of the rows of bookshelves, the smell of old ink lingering in the store, her heart slowly calmed down, and she reached out to take a book off the shelf and put it back in. Almost all of her tutoring books are bought from this used bookstore, which can be much cheaper than new books.

Finding the book she wanted, there were four or five on the shelf, and she carefully selected them. Everyone else likes to buy clean old books, preferably without any handwriting, and she also likes clean ones, but she doesn't like old books without a word. As good as this one, its former owner was supposed to be an attentive person, with hand-annotated notes on each complex and out-of-the-way English word, marked with pronunciation and meaning.

With it in her hand, she was about to go to pay, but her steps stopped—

"Whirlwind Leg Method"!

Among the English extracurricular tutoring books, the appearance of this book seemed particularly strange and out of tune, and she subconsciously pulled it out, but immediately frowned. The book was dirty, with grease stains and something like soy sauce on the cover, the pages were old and yellow, brittle, and the corners of each page were rolled up, and there were scribbling words like wild grass in them.

It's so dirty.

Although the leg pattern drawn above is quite interesting, it seems to be the leg method of martial arts, a gust of wind blows, the pages of the book are turned, and it seems that the people inside are moving, practicing a set of tiger and tiger leg methods.

Baicao's heart moved.

But I'm still very hesitant, even if it's such a dirty book, it costs money to buy it. Although the owner and his wife were kind enough to let her eat and live in the gym for free, the odds and ends of tuition and miscellaneous fees and textbooks were not a small amount for her.

In the past, the master did not allow her to go to work, saying that she was still young and should focus entirely on studying, and practicing taekwondo completely occupied the rest of her time.

Right now......

She bit her lip silently, it was better to find a part-time job.

"Picked a book?"

was sorting out the books that had just been messed up by a student on the bookshelf next to her, and the old book owner saw her walking towards the counter with her head bored, and hurriedly called out to her. Hehe, this little girl is always like this, she can't notice anything else when she thinks of things, he is obviously standing next to her, and she is still walking to the counter.

But he liked this little girl very much, she always put the books back in order, unlike other students who put the books they didn't want everywhere, so that he had to rearrange them every time.

"How much do I buy this one?"

Baicao handed the English tutoring book to the old book owner, and suddenly found that she still had the worn-out "Whirlwind Leg Method" in her hand, and finally hesitated, she decided not to buy it, and said to the boss:

"This book seems to be in the wrong place, on which shelf should it be? I'll help you put it back. ”

"Two pieces and four cents two," according to the old rules, the English tutoring book was given her a minimum of two folds, and the boss glanced at the "Whirlwind Leg Method" and said, "I saw that you flipped it for a while, do you like this book?" That's it, anyway, this book is so dirty, it's hard to sell, you give me two dollars and five, I won't look for your eight cents, you take the book away, how about it? ”

Baicao was stunned.

So the sale was done.

The owner of the old book also deliberately took out an old calendar paper, wrapped the cover of "Whirlwind Leg Method" with the white side, and said with a smile:

"It's much cleaner now. By the way, Baicao, will you participate in the Gym Challenge this year? My wife and I have bought tickets for the finals, and we hope to see you then! ”

Walking out of the door of the used bookstore, it was a narrow alley, but a two-seater sports car with a shiny black park was suddenly parked at the door. She didn't recognize the license plate of the sports car, but she thought it was strange to park in this alley, and it would block traffic. Leaning sideways, she was about to squeeze past the sports car when the window glass suddenly lowered.

"Sure enough, it's you."

The young man lying on the steering wheel of the car smiled at her, the smile was obviously careless, but it was still as bright as the midsummer sun, and she couldn't open her eyes. She stared blankly for a few seconds before she recognized that it was Ting Hao's senior!

"I saw it just now, it seems that you turned into this alley, and you didn't hear you shouting," Ting Hao stretched out his hand to open the car door and said, "Get in the car." ”

Did Ting Hao's predecessor park the car here and wait for her? She opened her mouth, and felt that it was strange to ask this question, and was standing still not knowing whether to get into the car, Ting Hao urged again: "Hurry up, otherwise there will be a traffic jam for a while." ”

“…… Oh. ”

She cramped into the car.

Although she didn't know what brand this car was, her intuition told her that it should be a very expensive car, the seats were soft and comfortable, and there was a nice smell in the car. This is the first time in her life that she has sat in such a car, and in order to save money, she rarely even takes the bus, and most of the time she walks to the places she wants to go.

With his arm over her body, Ting Hao helped her close the car door and fasten her seat belt. She blushed and shrank back, except for taekwondo practice and actual combat, she had almost never had such close contact with a boy.

"Is your face so red and feverish?"

Ting Hao looked at her, stretched out his hand to her forehead, she subconsciously immediately raised her head and wanted to flash his palm, "bang", but her head hit the back of the car seat hard!

"Hahahaha!"

He laughed out loud and started the car, which "boomed" and caused her body to crash into the back of the saddle. Ignoring this, she stared nervously at the front, how could she drive so fast in the small alley, in case there were pedestrians......

There was no danger of driving out of the alley, but Ting Hao slowed down the car, drove slowly in the bustling street, glanced at her without saying a word and looked out of the car window, and asked:

"Where are you going?"

“…… I can go back on my own. ”

"Where to go?" He repeated.

“…… Back to the dokan. "She didn't have anything else to go to but the gym.

"Isn't there a warm-up match between the Shobai Dojo and the Sunrise Dojo this afternoon? Why didn't you go? ”

“……”

"Frustrated because you can't participate in the Gym Challenge?"

“……”

"Since you're already disheartened about taekwondo, why don't you stay with me for a while and don't go back to the gym so early." After saying that, he slapped the steering wheel, ignored her reaction at all, and drove the car straight in a direction that was contrary to the Songbai Gym!

There was no one in the café.

On the seat by the window, Ting Hao didn't look at the menu, and said directly to the waiter: "Give me a cup of black coffee and give her a cup of orange juice." ”

"Yes, please wait." The waiter stepped back.

The shop is exquisitely and beautifully furnished, and the tableware on the table has never been seen before, the porcelain is so white, and the piping is golden. Before she could continue looking curiously, the waiter had already placed the orange juice quietly in front of her. The orange juice smelled fresh, there were a lot of ice cubes in it, and the glass seemed to be more crystal clear than anything she had seen before, and when she stirred it with a straw, the ice cubes and the glass made a crisp soft sound.

It's so nice.

She couldn't help but smile, and she was a little reluctant to drink.

"Why are you laughing?"

Hearing Ting Hao's voice coming from the other side, the smile on the corner of her lips suddenly froze slightly, and she looked up to see that he was looking at her with his elbows on his face, and asked absentmindedly:

"Didn't you just be defeated by Tingyi very miserably? I was robbed of my qualification for the Gym Challenge, so I didn't go to see today's warm-up match in frustration, so why did a glass of orange juice make you happy again? ”

She was stunned.

"No wonder you lose so badly," he took a sip of coffee, "a glass of orange juice can forget the pain of the fiasco and be happy again, how much obsession can you have with taekwondo?" ”

"Ting Hao's predecessors ......"

Baicao was dumbfounded and looked at him blankly. In the past, the knowledge of Ting Hao's predecessors was all in rumors and newspapers, and the Ting Hao seniors she saw in the gym a few days ago were only the people who saw him, and her impression of him always stayed in the appearance of him wearing a white Taoist uniform. The temperament is clear, the sun is dazzling, and there is a kind of king brilliance that shakes people's hearts because of the victory all the time.

But at this moment, the senior Ting Hao in front of her was wearing a black T-shirt, a black casual suit, black white jeans, and dark eyes, but his momentum was a little more powerful than when he was wearing a Taoist uniform. What puzzled her the most was that his love was flickering yin and yang, and when he laughed, he seemed to be the usual Ting Hao senior, but when he didn't laugh, he had a heavy sense of oppression.

Facing her stunned gaze as if he didn't know how to react, Ting Hao's mood suddenly improved again, smiled, he lowered his head to drink coffee, and said:

"Ignore me, I'm not in a good relationship today."

“…… Oh. ”

Still not knowing what to say, she silently began to drink orange juice. He taunted him, but he apologized, uh, but did he apologize like that, well, even if it was. The orange juice with ice cubes was so cold, she drank it one by one, the atmosphere was silent and weird, and the two didn't speak for a long time.

“…… I'm done drinking, thank you Ting Hao. ”

You can go, she picked up her schoolbag and was thinking about whether to pay for this glass of orange juice, but Ting Hao called the waiter and said, "Give her another glass of strawberry juice." ”

She immediately said, "I should go back!" ”

"Go back and do something, the people in your gym have gone to the warm-up match." He refilled his coffee, ignored her explanation of going back to cleaning, and looked out the window at the cars and pedestrians passing by.

Ting Hao's predecessors seem to have something on their minds.

Realizing that he hadn't listened to her at all, Momokusa looked hesitantly at his silent side, and finally sat back down. Like he said, there was no one in the gym anyway, and the warm-up match was probably going on at this point. Ice cubes were also added to the strawberry juice, and it tasted cold, she took a few sips, and then looked up at Ting Hao's seniors, thinking that she would really have to leave in half an hour at most.

The music rings on the phone.

Ting Hao answered the phone, frowned and replied, "Okay, I'll go back immediately." Putting down the phone and looking at her, "I have something to do and need to go first, can you take a taxi back by yourself?" ”

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me." She said quickly.

Ting Hao smiled at her, settled the account and left. She continued to finish the cold glass of strawberry juice and was about to get up when the waiter came to the table.

"It's your change."

It's twenty-eight dollars in total.

She quickly turned her head, only to see through the glass window that his sports car had whizzed out of her sight. She took the change, said thank you to the waiter, and got up and walked out of the coffee shop.

But as she walked, she gradually felt uncomfortable, her body was cold for a while, and her back was sweating.

Black sports cars are speeding down wide roads.

The scenery on both sides whizzed by.

With one hand on the steering wheel, one hand loosely propped up next to his face, and the sound of music echoed noisily in the car, Ting Hao looked at the empty seats beside him, and suddenly remembered the silent and stunned appearance of the little girl just now.

It's weird to be able to stay with that girl who is so silent that she doesn't have a sense of zài for so long. Shaking his head and laughing, he increased his speed to the fastest and drove away!

******

The café was a place that Baicao had never been to before, and it was only after asking the surrounding shops that she found her way back to the Songbai Gym. She chose to walk back, thinking that the slightest discomfort in her body was completely bearable, and there was no direct bus to the vicinity of the gym.

But as she walked, the discomfort of her body made her walk slower and slower. At first, she thought she was eating something too cold and wanted to have diarrhea, but when she went to the public toilet on the side of the road, it was not diarrhea, but a burst of pain in her abdomen.

The journey back to the gym has never been as long as it is today.

It's like there's no going back.

Dragging her feet, she struggled to walk towards the Songbai Daoist Hall step by step, seeing that the surrounding scenery was becoming more and more familiar, and it was not far from the Daoist Hall, and it was obviously not worth taking the bus at this time. Trying to stand up straight, she insisted on walking forward, feeling her breathing getting heavier and heavier, and the cold sweat from the pain soaked her entire back!

The evening wind blew the leaves on the roadside, and the sunset shrouded her, and bursts of cold and pain exploded in her abdomen, and her limbs began to freeze.

Finally......

I saw the vermilion gate of the Songbai Gym......

The slower and slower she walked, she was so painful that she couldn't walk anymore, and the pain began to turn black in front of her eyes, cold and painful, and that pain spread from the depths of her abdomen! Ah, she bit her lip and bent down tremblingly to hug her stomach, feeling cold sweat all over her body, and she wanted to vomit in pain, and her ears were booming.

"What's wrong with you?"

There seemed to be someone holding her, and there was a warmth from the man's hands, and she struggled to look at the man, and in the pain she saw that it was Hatsuhara, and he was looking at her with concern.

"I ...... I ...... pain."

I don't know if it's because of his appearance, or because it's too painful, she snorted and hugged her abdomen tightly, and her tears couldn't help but rush out of her eyes! Hatsuhara frowned, immediately hugged her horizontally with both hands, and hurriedly strode into the gym with her in his arms. She struggled a little, but the pain in her stomach was so great that she had to curl up in his arms.