Chapter 61: An Incident in Nanye City, Peng Fei Crushes Zhang Qingping with His Fist
Nanye City.
Half-awake, Qin Yao heard shouting from outside.
“Qin Yao, go buy some pork. Today, I’ll make twice-cooked pork for you!”
Ma Cheng’s voice called from beyond the door.
Having just graduated, Qin Yao had lived alone before Ma Cheng arrived in Nanye City. Not only was twice-cooked pork beyond her abilities, even boiling noodles was a challenge—she could easily undercook them. Ma Cheng had experienced this firsthand over the past few days.
“Twice-cooked pork?”
Sleepy moments ago, Qin Yao sprang from bed at Ma Cheng’s words.
“Brother-in-law, you know how to make twice-cooked pork?”
She burst open the door, rushing to interrogate Ma Cheng, entirely unaware of how revealing her nightgown was.
Ma Cheng was standing at the doorway, and the two collided squarely.
…
With Ma Cheng’s mobility limited and Qin Yao’s craving undeniable, she quickly dressed and headed downstairs to buy pork. Ma Cheng, left at home, was still distracted, lost in some lingering memory, until a sudden, urgent ring from the phone startled him.
“Sis… Brother-in-law—”
“Hurry up!”
“Someone’s dead!”
…
Anqing Martial Affairs Bureau.
“Beep—” The speakerphone crackled from the phone, making Cai Hu furrow his brows and stare, anxiety gnawing at his heart. At Zhang Ze’s urging, he had no choice but to follow the group toward the competition arena.
“By the way, our martial arts academy contestants can bring family and friends to watch, right?” Qian Qian suddenly piped up as they walked.
Everyone shook their heads or frowned.
“My family’s busy harvesting crops—no way they’d come watch me compete,” Peng Fei replied, unconcerned.
“Heh—” Zhang Ze shrugged off Qian Qian’s words. “I don’t need to say anything about mine.” He shot back, “What about you? You didn’t bring Qingxue or your stepmother either.”
Qian Qian shrugged, “My dad’s not back yet. He said matters between him and Qingxue’s mom will wait until he returns.”
The group chuckled.
Qian Qian didn’t mind, and turned to Cai Hu, “How come your parents didn’t come?”
Cai Hu shook his head, unable to hide the worry etched between his brows.
…
Chatting idly, they soon reached the training field. Within moments, martial artists from various academies gathered as well. Judging from their expressions, it was obvious everyone knew the two groups from Jiuhua Gate had suddenly joined the fray.
Not long after, Zhao Jinghong appeared before the leaders’ seats. Beside him, apart from the mentors who attended yesterday, were two middle-aged men. Through Qian Qian, Zhang Ze learned one of them was Hu Guanghui, head of Huizhou Logistics. The other, evidently, was the Jiuhua Gate representative.
Knowing who these two were, the young martial artists felt even more indignant. They were all in their teens or twenties—what other interpretation could there be? Jiuhua Gate and Huizhou Logistics clearly looked down on the academy students! Everyone present felt the same.
…
“The group stage has two rounds, morning and afternoon. Each round has four groups. Now, the sixty-four young contestants who persisted yesterday, please come forward for the draw.”
Without concerning himself with their feelings, Zhao Jinghong strode onto the field and spoke in a deep voice.
With his command, the drawing proceeded swiftly. In three minutes, the morning’s group stage schedule was set.
Notably, Zhang Ze drew Group 8, Number 8—meaning he had nothing to do in the morning matches. As for the others from Yongsheng Martial Arts Academy, Peng Fei was in Group 3, Yu Qian and Qian Qian in Group 4, and Cai Hu in Group 6.
While Zhang Ze and the others were unhappy with Jiuhua Gate’s actions, as the matches began, they realized few contestants truly mastered martial arts. Perhaps it was simply because it was the first round.
Worth mentioning, Peng Fei was the first from Yongsheng to take the stage. On Ring Three, the second match featured him.
And his opponent was an old acquaintance.
…
“You?” Zhang Qingping was surprised to see Peng Fei.
Though perhaps the one most speechless was Peng Fei himself.
“I didn’t want this either—” he shrugged and spread his hands.
Recently infatuated with Leng Bingbing, and with Zhang Qingping being her close friend, he was stuck between fighting and not fighting.
But Peng Fei quickly realized he was overthinking—Zhang Qingping was holding back from the start!
…
At the referee’s signal, their bout officially began.
“Ha—” Zhang Qingping attacked with a swift, light cry, moving fast despite being unarmed; her fists were anything but soft.
“Go easy on me, won’t you?” Peng Fei hurriedly blocked, muttering as he defended.
“Bang—”
“Bang—”
With Zhang Qingping exerting her full strength—her power over 200S—she soon took the advantage.
At the sidelines, Zhang Ze could see Peng Fei wasn’t trying to win. Although his upper limb meridians weren’t fully tempered, the system showed his power exceeded 190S. If he went all out, he wouldn’t be so hapless.
Seeing through Peng Fei’s intentions, Zhang Ze stopped paying attention, letting his gaze wander among the other rings.
…
During this, he spotted Jia Zhengyi. Having broken through as a second-rank martial artist, with power over 200S, he easily dominated a first-rank opponent. In just a few moves, he ended the fight.
“That guy’s in Group One—wonder if he’ll make it through,” Zhang Ze muttered, then searched for Li Tian.
Finally, he spotted Li Tian in the Mengyang County Martial Arts Academy’s rest area. Whether he had been eliminated in the first round or assigned to the second, Zhang Ze couldn’t tell.
…
“Ah—”
“You’re courting death!”
Glancing around, Zhang Ze suddenly heard a startled cry from the ring. The next instant, he saw Peng Fei’s right hand paused in front of Zhang Qingping’s chest.
His eye twitched: “Peng Fei’s really pushing his luck now!”
…
“Sis, calm down—”
“This is definitely a misunderstanding!”
“I didn’t mean to grab you there…”
Peng Fei stammered, desperate to explain to Zhang Qingping, while sneaking a glance toward Leng Bingbing, worried she’d misunderstand.
“I’ll kill you!” Zhang Qingping, fiery-tempered, wasn’t about to hear him out. In a martial contest, assaulting a girl’s chest was inexcusable.
Peng Fei felt utterly wronged—he hadn’t meant to grab her, it was just instinct, a habit…