I Can Replicate Martial Arts-Chapter 41 - 34: The Banquet Ends, Departing for School
Although the celebratory banquet was booked at a hotel, it was customary for relatives to gather at Zhao Rui’s home first. They would wait until it was nearly time for the meal before heading to the hotel together.
Xue Wenhui had prepared several platters of fruit early in the morning, arranging them neatly on the coffee table.
The entire house had been cleaned from top to bottom, more thoroughly than the big spring cleaning before the New Year.
A little after eight o’clock, the relatives from Zhao Rui’s maternal grandmother’s side arrived almost all at once. His uncle’s family, his aunt’s family—even his maternal grandparents, who lived back in their hometown, had come along.
Everyone on his grandmother’s side was an ordinary person; none of them had any talent for the Martial Dao. His uncles and aunts came from average backgrounds and were mostly office workers.
The only exception was his youngest aunt’s husband, who worked in a township government office, which was considered a respectable job.
As everyone entered the house, there was naturally a round of warm greetings after their long separation, followed by a shower of praise for Zhao Rui.
His younger cousins, in particular, idolized their older cousin for his Martial Dao talent. Every time they met, they would cling to him, begging to hear stories about his training.
Compared to their paternal grandfather’s side of the family, Zhao Rui and his brother were clearly more familiar and closer with the relatives on their grandmother’s side.
They also had more opportunities to get together. Everyone was on a similar footing, so there was no sense of one person trying to curry favor with another, or of anyone needing anything from someone else.
After the relatives from his grandmother’s side had been there for nearly an hour, there was another knock on the door.
Hearing the knock, Zhao Rui walked over and opened the door. Seeing it was his third uncle’s family, he smiled, ready to greet his uncle and aunt.
But before he could even open his mouth to greet them, a sharp gust of wind rushed toward his face.
Zhao Rui blocked with an angled palm strike and dodged back a step. Unexpectedly, his opponent had no intention of stopping. As one fist missed, another followed right behind it.
Zhao Rui countered each technique with one of his own. He skillfully employed Yong Chun Inquiry, a style well-suited for maneuvering and fighting in tight spaces, and exchanged five or six blows with his attacker in an instant.
"Heh, Wing Chun? You little rascal! No wonder you’ve improved so much."
The attacker launched two more fierce strikes, but seeing Zhao Rui’s defense was tight and his techniques were seasoned, he couldn’t help but pull back his fist and laugh heartily.
"Third Uncle, that was a cheap shot!"
The attacker was, of course, Zhao Rui’s third uncle, Zhao Jinze.
"If I didn’t, how else would I find out how incredible my nephew has become? You’re Level 5 now, aren’t you?"
Zhao Jinze asked, sounding genuinely surprised.
"Yeah, but I only broke through after the college entrance exams."
Zhao Rui smiled and welcomed his third uncle’s family inside.
"After the exams? Don’t you need to be a certain Level to get into the Dongqi University Martial Arts Academy anymore?"
"I enrolled in a different school!"
"Oh."
Zhao Jinze faltered for a moment, a flash of disappointment in his eyes. He quickly masked it with a smile and offered some encouragement.
"Build a strong foundation for a later breakthrough. Don’t slack off!"
With that, he turned and walked toward the living room. As he went, he cupped his hands in apology to the relatives from Zhao Rui’s grandmother’s side, who had already stood up to greet him.
"My apologies, my apologies! My hands just got a little itchy."
"Not at all! We’re all family. Please, come have a seat!"
What could Zhao Rui’s uncles say? They felt nothing but envy and a little bit of awe.
That brief exchange had their hearts pounding in their chests. It was a good thing this was family; otherwise, they would have thought some thug was trying to break in.
The two sides of the family were all familiar with each other. After some polite deference, they all sat down on the sofa and began to chat.
"You’ve gotten taller again, little cousin!"
Only now did Zhao Rui have a moment to properly look at his cousin, Zhao Xin, the Martial Dao genius of his third uncle’s family.
"You’re finally qualified for me to go all out against you in a fight."
"..."
’He’s so smug, he’s just asking for a punch!’
Zhao Rui just smiled and ignored the comment. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw his younger cousins from his mother’s side peeking out of a bedroom doorway, their faces alight with excitement.
He said to Zhao Xin, "Have a seat. Help yourself to some fruit."
Then he walked over to the bedroom and asked them, "Did you enjoy the show?"
The younger kids immediately replied with excitement, "You were amazing, cousin! So cool!"
"I want to be as strong as you someday!"
"Haha, I’ll put on another show for you some other time. Go on, go play in the room."
Zhao Rui chuckled and ruffled their hair before ushering them back into the bedroom.
The oldest of these younger cousins was only in the eighth grade. They were at an age where they loved excitement, so of course they found it all fascinating.
As the living room buzzed with conversation, the doorbell rang again.
Zhao Rui went to open the door again. This time, it was his first uncle’s family.
His first uncle wore a high-quality, black short-sleeved T-shirt with a pair of off-white trousers, and a gold watch adorned his wrist.
He had the look of a typical successful man.
In fact, he looked quite a bit younger than Zhao Jincheng.
His first aunt was also dressed fashionably, and her skin was so well-maintained that you couldn’t tell she was over forty.
Following them were his older cousin, Zhao Yurong, who had already graduated from college and was working at a multinational corporation, and his younger cousin, Bean Buns, who was in the ninth grade this year and was also a Martial Arts Student.
"Ruirui, congratulations! Getting into a good university is a major milestone! This is a gift for you."
His first aunt spoke first, handing a beautifully wrapped box to Zhao Rui.
Zhao Rui took one look and saw it was the latest "Youwei" smartphone. It wasn’t cheap at all.
He was a little stunned. He never expected his normally stingy aunt to be so generous.
"Thank you, First Aunt! Thank you, First Uncle!"
Zhao Rui quickly thanked them and led them inside.
The last time the house had been this lively was more than ten years ago, back when his younger brother, Zhao Ke, was born.
After all, for most family events, everyone usually gathered somewhere other than Zhao Rui’s home.
As the last of the relatives arrived, the time quickly approached eleven o’clock. Zhao Jincheng then invited everyone to head to the hotel for the meal.
"Jincheng, which hotel did you book? This is a big occasion for Zhao Rui, so don’t skimp on it! If you’re short on cash, just let me know."
