Chapter 44 He Just Frightened Me
Min Jinsong, wracked with pain, clutched his head and charged at Chu Tianfeng. With a resounding thud, Chu Tianfeng was rammed into the center of the ring, then landed on the stage with a heavy fall.
A thin trickle of blood seeped from Min Jinsong’s lips, which he spat out with a curse.
Chu Tianfeng lay sprawled on the ground. There was no way he would let such a chance slip by.
Min Jinsong swept toward him like a raging storm and delivered a ferocious kick. Chu Tianfeng rolled aside, barely evading, yet still did not rise to his feet.
Min Jinsong, unwilling to give him any respite, pressed forward with relentless kicks.
Chu Tianfeng continued to roll across the stage.
The fight on the platform was lively, and below, the audience’s cheers rose in waves.
“Finish him!”
“Hurry up! Kill that fool!”
...
Tears finally streamed down Hua Wu’s face. Lin Qian, seeing this, quickly patted her hand in comfort and handed her a tissue. Hua Wu seemed oblivious, her gaze locked on Chu Tianfeng as he rolled across the ring.
At last, Chu Tianfeng rolled into a dead corner of the ring.
“Let’s see you dodge now!” Min Jinsong growled under his breath.
He swung his right leg at Chu Tianfeng, ready to follow with a flurry of kicks from his left.
But just as Min Jinsong’s right leg lashed out, Chu Tianfeng suddenly sprang up from the ground, his right fist smashing fiercely into Min Jinsong.
Min Jinsong was caught off guard; he had believed Chu Tianfeng was utterly powerless to retaliate.
The punch landed squarely in Min Jinsong’s abdomen, forcing a muffled groan from him as his body bent forward in agony.
Chu Tianfeng punched him again, and Min Jinsong howled in pain, his knees buckling involuntarily.
Chu Tianfeng unleashed a flurry of blows.
His right fist hammered into Min Jinsong’s left cheek, and before Min Jinsong could react, his left fist crashed into the right.
Bang! Bang!
Min Jinsong reeled and collapsed onto the ring.
Chu Tianfeng, far from satisfied, kicked Min Jinsong hard in the stomach, sending him rolling across the stage.
Just as Min Jinsong stopped, Chu Tianfeng rushed forward, raising his right foot, about to stomp down.
Tweet-tweet—
The referee’s whistle sounded in time.
Chu Tianfeng, breathing heavily and full of reluctance, withdrew to the side, gasping for air.
The referee knelt beside Min Jinsong and waved his right hand—
Ten, nine, eight...
Min Jinsong tried to rise, attempting several times, but his body failed to answer his will. Every slight movement brought waves of excruciating pain.
Three, two, one!
Min Jinsong still could not stand.
The entire audience was instantly petrified.
They were stunned.
This shouldn’t have happened!
Those who had bet on Min Jinsong’s victory were furious, cursing both Min Jinsong and Chu Tianfeng.
Hua Wu was overjoyed, wiping the tears from her cheeks with a smile.
Those who had wagered on Chu Tianfeng winning felt as if happiness had struck out of nowhere; the joy was so sudden they could scarcely accept it.
Eyeing the angry crowd beside them, they dared not admit they’d bet on Chu Tianfeng, clutching their tickets silently, inwardly blessing his ancestors for generations.
Intermission.
Chu Tianfeng hid in the lounge, counting his money.
Eleven thousand. Not a penny more, not a penny less.
Counting it once with his left hand, once with his right.
His grin stretched from ear to ear, and the young man with the braided ponytail longed to punch him.
Meanwhile, in the large office, the square-faced young man and Master Pei wore complicated expressions.
The square-faced youth had sparred with Chu Tianfeng once; he had thought Min Jinsong wouldn’t be Chu Tianfeng’s match. Yet Chu Tianfeng’s performance in the ring left him perplexed, even suspecting Chu Tianfeng had used some cheat in the clothing store to win.
Min Jinsong’s repeated attacks had no effect; he remained unmoved until Chu Tianfeng suddenly counterattacked and knocked Min Jinsong down, only then did he realize what had happened.
“Cheng Shao, what do you think?” Master Pei sought his opinion.
“Send up the apprentice from Thailand. Let’s see what he’s really made of,” the square-faced youth said, as if he’d been the one defeated, glaring fiercely at Chu Tianfeng on the screen.
“Understood. I’ll arrange it right away,” Master Pei replied.
After fifteen minutes of intermission, the match resumed.
The Thai apprentice stepped onto the stage!
He was still bare-chested, wearing shorts, flaunting his hard-trained muscles.
The referee recited the rules once more and asked if either side had objections.
The Thai apprentice shook his head, indicating none.
Chu Tianfeng raised his hand again—
“I want to place a bet!”
The referee, annoyed, shot him a glare.
Unfazed, Chu Tianfeng walked to the edge of the ring, picked up his bag, and slowly took out the eleven thousand he’d just won, holding it aloft.
He’d noticed on the big screen that his odds were five to one; if he could defeat the Thai apprentice, his eleven thousand would multiply fivefold—no, with principal, sixfold!
Where else could one find such a deal? Only a fool wouldn’t buy in!
The referee waved his hand, and a staff member ran over to take Chu Tianfeng’s money. “Who are you betting on?”
“Of course, on myself!” Chu Tianfeng shouted.
The audience responded with jeers.
Indifferent, Chu Tianfeng performed his slow-motion routine again, slowly putting down his bag and strolling back to the ring.
“Ready?” the referee asked sternly.
“Ready!” Chu Tianfeng replied, exaggerating his nod.
“Lin Feng challenges the second ring master, Thai boxer Tarawan. Begin!” The referee exhaled deeply and blew the whistle.
Ah—
Tarawan, the Thai apprentice, let out a wild cry and charged at Chu Tianfeng.
“Stop!” Chu Tianfeng raised his right hand.
The referee pretended not to hear and signaled Tarawan to continue.
Chu Tianfeng hurriedly dodged behind the referee, shouting, “He’s breaking the rules! Why aren’t you blowing the whistle?”
The referee jumped aside. “Nonsense! What rule did he break?”
“He scared me just now!” Chu Tianfeng yelled.
The audience burst into laughter.
“Fight! Beat him to a pulp!”
“Don’t hold back!”
“I’ll pay fifty thousand—just kill that fool!”
...
Hua Wu’s face flushed bright red again.
Tarawan, not understanding Chu Tianfeng’s words, thought he was being insulted and attacked angrily.
Left hook!
Right straight!
Combination!
Double kick!
Tiger’s heart!
Twin peaks strike!
Each move faster and fiercer!
The audience was fired up!
“Amazing!”
“Thrilling!”
“Fantastic!”
...
Hua Wu clutched her chest, feeling her heart about to burst.
Chu Tianfeng kept dodging; if he couldn’t avoid a blow, he either exchanged punches or simply rolled across the ring.
Tarawan’s storm of attacks proved largely ineffective.
Moreover, after several exchanges, Tarawan’s arms grew sore from Chu Tianfeng’s punches.
Of course, Chu Tianfeng feigned encouragement by spitting a bit of blood.
But Tarawan realized his attacks had limited effect, growing anxious; he slowed his pace and watched Chu Tianfeng’s movements for an opening.
In truth, Chu Tianfeng’s hands were bound in boxing gloves, making it hard to use hand signs, so he simply relied on his usual speed to deal with Tarawan’s assaults.
Tarawan was hunting for flaws; Chu Tianfeng knew it all too well.
He’d left several openings for Tarawan, but the latter lacked the skill to exploit them.
Once, after Tarawan forced Chu Tianfeng to exchange blows, Chu Tianfeng staggered back.
The opportunity was fleeting; this time Tarawan seized the moment, stepped forward, and punched again!
Chu Tianfeng had been waiting for this. He suddenly dropped to the ground, kicking out swiftly!
Tarawan’s right fist struck air, while Chu Tianfeng’s kick landed precisely at his groin.
Boom!
A million wild horses raced through the Thai apprentice’s mind!
He suspected Chu Tianfeng had planned this all along—and feared his eggs had become mush!
Bent over in agony, hands clutching his crotch, face flushed, veins bulging on his brow.
Chu Tianfeng seized the chance!
Left hook!
Right straight!
Combination!
Double kick!
Tiger’s heart!
Twin peaks strike!
Each move faster, fiercer!
The audience realized Chu Tianfeng was copying Tarawan’s moves exactly.
Tarawan had no strength left to retaliate, rolling across the ring until he lay motionless; the referee blew the whistle to halt the match.
The ten-second countdown began.
At eight seconds, Tarawan stirred; many in the audience stood up and shouted.
“Thai guy, get up!”
“Don’t be a coward!”
“Kill that bastard!”
...
But when the count ended, Tarawan had not risen.
The referee helplessly declared Chu Tianfeng the winner again.
The crowd erupted in jeers.
This time, nearly everyone had bet on Tarawan, having witnessed his bravery and Chu Tianfeng’s timidity.
Yet the plot twisted again in the end, leaving their nerves shattered. With victory so close, how did they lose? They couldn’t fathom it.
“Could the Thai guy be throwing the match?”
“No way, the Thai guy was hard to hire for the club.”
“Then Lin Feng must be playing us!”
“Damn, the acting was too convincing—they fooled us all.”
“Damn it!”
...
The audience cursed Chu Tianfeng, then, unsatisfied, switched to cursing Tarawan.
Hua Wu felt as if she’d ridden a rollercoaster with Chu Tianfeng—soaring to the sky, plummeting to the depths, then thrown aloft again.
Now, she was elated once more. Though tears still stained her cheeks, her smile was undiminished.
Or perhaps, only a tearful smile was truly moving.
Lin Qian, full of questions, asked repeatedly, but Hua Wu just shook her head, leaving Lin Qian to roll her eyes again and again.
Another intermission; Chu Tianfeng was once more in the lounge, counting his money.
One hundred, two hundred, three hundred.
Though he had a stack of eleven thousand, he insisted on counting in hundreds.
Two appearance fees, two bonuses, plus his gambling winnings—his fortune soared to seventy-seven thousand, and he was beside himself with joy.
This money was so easily earned, more satisfying than being a stand-in or an extra.
Once, he’d risked his life once or twice a night, earning only four or five thousand a month.
But now, with a little performance—pain, anger, and a touch of nervousness—seventy-seven thousand came effortlessly!
For someone with acting experience, this was child’s play, utterly lacking in challenge.