Chapter 1 Xu Jingming's Unease

Xu Jingming didn't know that his teacher, Liu Hai, had recommended his name. He had now handed over his work at the martial arts gym. Once the Jiangnan Province team training ended, he could return to his hometown, Mingyue City.

In the afternoon, Xu Jingming was training in the martial arts gym's exclusive room. He held a solid steel rod, four centimeters in diameter and three meters two in length, with both hands. The rod head moved repeatedly, drawing upper arcs, lower arcs, left arcs, right arcs... the trajectory the rod head drew in an instant was only part of a circle.

This steel rod was a common industrial stainless steel solid round rod, weighing 64 *jin* (approximately 77 pounds). It was not suitable for fighting, but it was suitable for training strength and the power of the whole body.

"Didi di..." A sound suddenly rang out.

Xu Jingming put down the steel rod, wiped the sweat from his brow with a towel, and looked at the name displayed on the screen. "Xiao Bai, answer the video call."

A light screen condensed in mid-air, showing a young man.

"A'Shuo!" Xu Jingming smiled happily. "It's rare for you to call me."

The young man in front of him, named Yang Qingshuo, was Xu Jingming's best brother.

They went to the same university and were both on the school's martial arts team. They were roommates in college, and he and Yang Qingshuo had bunk beds.

In his freshman year, Xu Jingming won first place in the National College Martial Arts League, and Yang Qingshuo was seventh!

Xu Jingming entered the national team in his freshman year, and Yang Qingshuo was selected for the national team in his sophomore year.

The bunk bed brothers entered the national team together and stayed in the national team for several years. They practiced together every day and lived in the same dormitory. Their brotherhood was imaginable. They were not blood brothers, but they were closer than blood brothers.

"Can't I call you if I have nothing to do?" Yang Qingshuo smiled, a little shy.

Yang Qingshuo had a very introverted and shy personality, which those who knew him well understood.

"A'Shuo, why do you look like you've gained a lot of weight?" Xu Jingming asked in surprise. Yang Qingshuo used to be very handsome and relatively thin. Now he was a bit plump, and his eyes were not as sharp as before.

"My child will be in elementary school this year. It's normal for me to gain weight," Yang Qingshuo said.

"That's right, your child can already run errands, and I'm not even married yet. You got your marriage certificate as soon as you reached the legal age, which makes us a group of old brothers feel embarrassed," Xu Jingming joked. Who would have thought that Yang Qingshuo, the youngest and shyest member of the national team, would be the first to get married?

Yang Qingshuo smiled and didn't say much.

"What's the matter that you called me today?" Xu Jingming asked with a smile. After many good brothers from university and the national team separated, they were scattered all over the country. It was normal to contact each other once every year or two.

"There are some things." Yang Qingshuo hesitated and said, "Xu Ge, I've encountered some things and need to borrow some money."

"Borrow money?" Xu Jingming felt a knot in his heart.

It wasn't that he cared about the money.

It was that he was worried about A'Shuo. A'Shuo used to be a main player on the national team, and after retiring, he was also in the Hebei Province Sports Bureau, with a good income. How could he be forced to borrow money?

"What happened?" Xu Jingming asked.

"My mother is hospitalized, and the special effects drugs not covered by medical insurance are quite expensive," Yang Qingshuo said.

"How much do you need?" Xu Jingming asked.

"One million," Yang Qingshuo said. "It may take a year to pay you back."

Xu Jingming nodded. "Okay, I'll transfer it to you now."

But he thought to himself, A'Shuo was also a main player on the national team and had also made it into the World Martial Arts Competition once. Although he was eliminated in the group stage, the competition bonus was only the most basic one million. The appearance fee for the competition was not high either, but after struggling for several years, he had saved several million. Now that he was borrowing money from him, he must have encountered a big problem.

When Xu Jingming lent money, he was prepared for the other party not to repay it.

He wouldn't be so generous if it were an ordinary friend borrowing money, but Yang Qingshuo was his best brother since childhood!

While Xu Jingming was on the phone, he operated on the light screen, opened his financial platform, and all the stocks, insurance, deposits... were clearly listed. He quickly completed the transfer.

"Has it arrived?" Xu Jingming asked.

"Received." Yang Qingshuo was also a little excited after receiving the money. Money gave people courage, and it was really difficult to be extremely short of money. "Xu Ge, thanks."

"A'Shuo, I'm going to Beijing on a business trip today. When I pass by your Tianjin, I'll find you to chat," Xu Jingming said. "Give me your address, and I'll go find you."

"Today?" Yang Qingshuo was surprised. "When will you arrive?"

"Probably around five o'clock," Xu Jingming calculated the time and said.

"Then I'm still at work. I'll give you the company's address," Yang Qingshuo gave an address.

Xu Jingming looked at it, Jiaxin Fitness Club, and said in surprise, "Have you left the Hebei Sports Bureau?"

"Yes, I came out," Yang Qingshuo nodded. "Xu Ge, I'm going back to class. We'll chat when we meet later."

"Okay, we brothers will have a good chat when we meet," Xu Jingming said, swiping his hand gently, and the light screen in front of him turned into specks of light and dissipated.

Xu Jingming lost his smile and stood there silently. "A'Shuo doesn't seem quite right. This time, he even left the Sports Bureau and went to a fitness club, not even a famous martial arts gym. He used to be a main player on the national team, but now he's going to a fitness club?"

They were all professional martial arts athletes. How much of their skills could they use at a fitness club?

"Go to Tianjin and see him." Xu Jingming immediately bought a high-speed train ticket. The high-speed train traveled at 600 kilometers per hour, and it would only take two hours to get to Tianjin.

Saying he was going to Beijing on a business trip was a lie. Xu Jingming was worried about his good brother, so he was taking a special trip to Tianjin to see Yang Qingshuo.

...

Online taxi hailing, intelligent dispatch, arrived at the high-speed rail station fifteen minutes later.

Soon, Xu Jingming took the high-speed train straight to Tianjin City in the north.

At 4:53 pm, Xu Jingming had already arrived outside the gate of Jiaxin Fitness Club in Tianjin City.

"Arrived."

Xu Jingming looked up at the fitness club, which occupied a relatively large area, and walked in. The female service staff at the front desk asked with a smile, "Welcome."

"My surname is Xu. I'm looking for Yang Qingshuo," Xu Jingming said. "I have an appointment with him."

"You're looking for Coach Yang? Please sit here for a while." The female service staff at the front desk was very enthusiastic, led Xu Jingming to the reception area, and poured him a glass of plain water.

...

At this moment, on the third floor of Jiaxin Fitness Club, Yang Qingshuo was teaching a group of female members a fitness class.

After finishing a set of boxing exercises, the female members were panting.

"Okay, rest for two minutes," Yang Qingshuo said.

"Coach Yang, I heard you participated in the World Martial Arts Competition?" A female member asked curiously. They signed up for the class because they saw that Yang Qingshuo had participated in the World Martial Arts Competition.

"Martial arts competitions are said to be divided into C-level, B-level, A-level competitions, and the highest World Martial Arts Competition. Only those ranked in the top 32 in the world martial arts積分 (jifen, points) are qualified to participate in the World Martial Arts Competition!"

"Every year, only the 32 strongest martial arts athletes in the world can participate. Coach Yang, have you participated?" The female members were all very curious.

"I participated in the 26th World Martial Arts Competition," Yang Qingshuo nodded with a smile. This was also his most impressive resume for finding a job now.

"Wow."

"Coach Yang, can you teach us some self-defense techniques?"

"Yes, Coach Yang, we weak women have too little ability to resist those unscrupulous men. Do you have any self-defense moves that are easy to learn and can deal with those strong men?" The female members all said.

"Easy to learn? Moves that women with weak physical strength can use to deal with strong men?" Yang Qingshuo thought for a while and smiled. "Okay, then I'll teach you a practical move."

The female members listened carefully.

"First, follow what I say and lift one leg, standing on one leg," Yang Qingshuo said.

All the female members stood on one leg. This was still very easy, but occasionally they would become unstable and the other foot would touch the ground.

"Single leg hop," Yang Qingshuo said, demonstrating a light single leg hop first.

The female members wore soft-soled fitness shoes and hopped easily on one foot.

"Isn't it simple?" Yang Qingshuo asked.

"I jump rope a thousand times a day, so single leg hop is of course easy," the female members said easily, including the fatter female members.

Who couldn't hop a few times?

"Your weight is generally around one hundred *jin* (approximately 120 pounds)," Yang Qingshuo said.

"I'm more than one hundred *jin* (approximately 120 pounds)," a plump woman said with a smile.

"That is to say, everyone's single leg strength can easily bear more than one hundred *jin* (approximately 120 pounds) and can still jump," Yang Qingshuo said. "It's easy to reach two hundred *jin* (approximately 240 pounds) of force instantly when jumping up with one leg."

The female members nodded.

"Now lift your leg and kick out," Yang Qingshuo said. "Single leg hop is kicking the ground downwards! Lifting the leg is kicking straight forward. It's the same muscle force as kicking the ground."

Yang Qingshuo instructed.

"The same force as kicking the ground?" The female members lifted their legs and kicked towards the sandbag in front of them. With a bang, the sandbag shook.

The female members were all extremely surprised.

"When I punched this sandbag before, my fists hurt and my wrists hurt. When I kicked the sandbag, my feet hurt, and the sandbag didn't move. This time, it moved?"

"Kicking the sandbag like kicking the ground?"

"Is the power so great?"

The female members found for the first time that kicking the sandbag was very easy and quite powerful.

"This is called front kick. Don't practice too much every day, just do twenty. After a month, the force will be smooth, and even women can easily kick with two or three hundred *jin* (approximately 240-360 pounds) of force," Yang Qingshuo said. "But this is not what I want to teach."

"Look closely, when you lift your leg and kick out, don't use the entire sole of your foot, use the front of your foot, near the toes!"

Yang Qingshuo kicked out casually, and the front of his foot was like a steel rod piercing the sandbag, making a dull thud.

"Usually wearing sports shoes or high heels! You can use the tip of your toes, at least two or three hundred *jin* (approximately 240-360 pounds) of force, to transmit the force with your toes. The penetrating power will be much stronger," Yang Qingshuo said.

"I understand, with the same pressure, the smaller the contact area, the greater the pressure," a female member said. "Compared to the entire sole of the foot, the pressure of a toe poke may be ten times greater."

"Yes, the pressure is much greater," Yang Qingshuo said with a smile. "This move has the mystery of traditional martial arts *chuojiao* (poking foot), although your feet are not as hard as those of professional athletes. But usually everyone wears shoes, and the soles of the shoes are harder than those of professional athletes! With at least two or three hundred *jin* (approximately 240-360 pounds) of force, a toe poke can be used to poke people... even if it pokes the other person's thigh, it will hurt them terribly."

"If you kick a man's lower body..." A female member's eyes lit up.

Yang Qingshuo said, "You can only do this when facing real danger and for self-defense. This is not an ordinary *liaoyin jiao* (groin kick). Even if it doesn't hit the vitals, just kicking the other person's abdomen will be unbearable for a normal man."

This was actually a 'simplified version' of *chuojiao*!

"People's legs are used for walking every day. Ordinary people can walk for several hours, but no one in the world can walk on their hands for several hours," Yang Qingshuo said. "People's leg strength is naturally much stronger than their arm strength. Even women's leg strength can match the arm strength of strongmen."

"Match the arm strength of strongmen? Those strongmen's arms are thicker than my thighs," a female member said.

"You can stand on one leg for a few minutes. You can even jump," Yang Qingshuo said. "Let those strongmen hold more than one hundred *jin* (approximately 120 pounds) with one hand for a few minutes. How many can do it?"

"Don't underestimate your leg strength. Strongmen's arms are thick, but in terms of muscle efficiency, they can't match the thigh muscles of you women," Yang Qingshuo said confidently.

He was a professional martial arts athlete and knew the potential of leg muscle strength very well. Humans were upright animals, and their legs were inherently much stronger than their arms.

Women, by exerting their leg strength, can easily deal with men who don't know martial arts.

"Coach Yang, there's a guest with the surname Xu looking for you," a fitness club staff member called out.

Yang Qingshuo immediately understood that Xu Jingming had arrived.