Cultivating through increasing my stats in America-Chapter 127 - 126: Come Back Before Serving the Dishes
After being urged by Li Yuanhao, Cui Zhongji also started to take the offensive.
"Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!"
Three consecutive kicks hit Wu Song in the leg, waist, and head.
And the speed of each kick was just right, just within the interval where Wu Song couldn’t dodge but could still manage to defend.
Although this young Korean weighed significantly less than the previous one, Wu Song could feel that each kick that hit him felt heavier than the last and that there was no sign of his strength diminishing; in fact, he was even adding more force.
If he wasn’t wearing protective gear, Wu Song estimated his thigh’s skin would have definitely started to bleed by now.
Wu Song, who had been passively attacked, finally found an opportunity. After taking a solid kick, he directly grabbed the Korean’s thigh, and with his other leg, he executed a sweeping leg kick, throwing his opponent heavily to the ground.
"You’re violating the rules!"
Lying on the ground, Cui Zhongji blurted out in Korean before remembering that this was not a Taekwondo match, and such an action wasn’t considered a foul at all.
In official competitions, competitors could only attack using the foot below the ankle joint or punch from the front.
Grabbing, hugging, pushing, and the like were all considered fouls.
Thus, Wu Song had taken advantage of his opponent’s habitual adherence to the rules, launching a surprise attack that yielded unexpected results.
Li Yuanhao, looking at his fallen junior, frowned slightly. He actually hadn’t intended to let his junior participate in the dojo challenge in the first place. This kind of rule-muddled fight, although it could help with his combat awareness, was actually detrimental to his official competition technique.
His face covered in dust from hitting the ground, Cui Zhongji was immediately enraged. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
If he really took it seriously, Wu Song truly was not a match in terms of sheer strength. His opponent was stronger in the force of the blows, the agility in evasion, and the speed of movements. Wu Song had lasted this long solely due to his combat experience and willpower.
"Bang!"
Cui Zhongji concluded the fight with a splendid flying 360° spinning side kick during Wu Song’s brief rigid phase after taking a hit.
Wu Song lay on the ring, gasping for air. An early end was a relief to him as well.
"Does your martial arts school have anyone else?"
After witnessing Wu Song’s strength, the Taekwondo gym manager guessed that it was unlikely this martial arts school had anyone stronger than him.
He manipulated his English, tinged with the smell of kimchi, and ran out to inquire with satisfaction.
"Of course, we have another coach who’s the best fighter, but he just happens not to be here right now."
"Yeah, if Coach Li were here, do you think you could still be so arrogant?"
Wu Song, sitting slumped in a chair, shook his head slightly. Other coaches might not know, but he was aware that Li Ang had been fired by their own martial arts school.
If it were him, he probably would not come back to help under such circumstances either.
The people opposite, facing these remarks, were utterly disdainful, scoffing:
"Who can’t talk big? If he were truly that strong, he wouldn’t have hidden away today."
"I mean, can one be called a contestant if he doesn’t show up?"
"You better send a coach up quickly, otherwise I’ll take it as your concession."
It was at this moment that Yan Tianqi, who had slipped away unnoticed until now, arrived as well, wiping sweat and jogging over.
"Our martial arts school does indeed have one more coach who was delayed by some matters, but he will be here shortly."
In truth, the moment the first coach started losing, he had completely abandoned any hope of winning, sneaked out, and made a phone call.
However, the good news was that Li Ang was in the city and not too far away, but the bad news was, Li Ang wasn’t going to buy his act.
"Look, Director Yan, you can spare me the moral hijacking, alright? This is America; nobody’s going to buy that line here."
On the other end of the phone, Li Ang was frankly speechless at the apologies, the sob stories, and the talk about Chinese martial arts not losing to the Koreans.
If he had left his job of his own accord, he might have helped out a little if he had some free time, especially since Old Master Hua had coached him several times and he’d used quite a few bottles of his medicinal wine.
But since it was a firing, that meant their personal ties had been severed. Although it wasn’t as if there were any grudges, certainly it wasn’t the kind of relationship where one call would bring help.
As Yan Tianqi was about to video call and kneel down, which seemed almost useless, he was as anxious as someone with the runs who couldn’t find a restroom.
In his desperation, he suddenly remembered the videos and live streams of Li Ang he had watched, where last time he even mocked Li Ang for only wanting to make money.
"Master Li, I’m willing to pay you an appearance fee. At most, you’ll only fight one or two matches today."
If you’d said that earlier, we could have saved all this trouble and time, Li Ang thought to himself, asking aloud:
"How much are you offering?"
Yan Tianqi brightened, thinking he had a chance, and immediately named his price:
"Five thousand, how about 5000 dollars?"
But to his surprise, there was silence for a full three or four seconds on the other end of the line. Yan Tianqi then gritted his teeth and doubled the offer.
"Ten thousand bucks, just for two matches, and it will be over quickly. How about that?"
"Deal, I’ll be there shortly."
Li Ang had been doing the math, thinking that with an appearance fee of five thousand bucks, if he could finish the fight in five minutes, how much his hourly wage would be. Then he considered the gas for his car ride over there and whether this payment would match his current value.
But before a few seconds had passed, the number had already doubled.
He knew he could probably haggle and push the number even higher, but that would be kind of like taking advantage of someone in distress, and he wasn’t quite at that point.
"Darling, are you going out? But my food is about to arrive," said the person across the table, Catina, who was holding her face in her hands.
He had planned to go home after shopping, but just happened to run into Catina who was also out shopping, and the two had agreed to meet for lunch.
Li Ang beckoned over a waiter and asked:
"How long will it take for our food to be ready?"
"Good afternoon, sir, it will take about twenty minutes. We’re quite busy today; I do apologize," the waiter replied.
"Twenty minutes."
Li Ang made a quick calculation in his mind and then turned to Catina:
"I’m going to make some quick money. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely be back before the meal is served."
"Okay, I’ll wait for you."
...
Inside the quiet martial arts studio, the Korean participants looked at the time impatiently and asked:
"How long is your coach going to take to get here? Our time is very valuable."
Just as they finished speaking, the sound of a sports car’s engine roared from a distance to nearby, right outside the door of the martial arts studio.
