Chapter 4: F-Class Martial Arts

  Begging for votes.

  When Shangguan Nengren arrived home, DanDan was no longer in pain. It seemed that the force of his previous kick to Beibei had been well controlled. Although Shangguan Nengren was in great pain, it did not affect their future sex life.

  All the way, Upper Official was also thinking about where to absorb this martial arts project. Huabei City is not a city of martial arts, nor does it have any martial arts schools, but there is a Taoist temple, and Niu Bizi Lao Dao is very powerful in Wuxia, even more so in Xianxia, but in reality, it's all over, probably just a Jianghu scammer, making many young people who have fantasies about martial arts and cultivation feel like they've been scammed to the end.

  Arrived home, mother was still watching TV in the living room as usual, but father was nowhere to be found.

  "Welcome back!" said her mother.

  "Hmm, where's my dad?" Officer Neng Ren sat down beside his mother, who was watching a Korean drama on TV. It was the same old thing every time, very boring, but for some reason, those idle and annoying Chinese housewives just loved watching it, and his mother was no exception.

  When someone asked about her father's whereabouts, her mother's expression changed slightly and she forced a smile: "Your dad is a bit tired today, he went to bed early."

  "So early?" Shang Guan Neng looked at his watch: "It's not even half past eight yet!"

  "Uh-huh, you've been in the hospital for a day, your dad is worried too, mom is fine, took time off to take care of you, but your dad still has to go to work to make money."

  The words of his mother made Shangguan's heart uncomfortable and his expression gloomy.

  Her mother smiled and said: "It's okay, your father will be fine after a nap. I'm also a bit tired, go to sleep first. You just got out of the hospital, you should get some rest too!"

  Her mother's smile was still kind, but she, who was less than 40 years old, already had wrinkles. The pressure of life can easily take away a person's youthful appearance, and her mother was one of them.

  "Mom, I know, you go to sleep! I'll be sleeping soon too." Shang Guan Neng's lips pursed, his mood somewhat down.

  The mother may have had her mind on something and didn't notice the abnormality of her son, nodded slightly tiredly, got up and went back to the bedroom.

  Shangguan Nengren switched the TV to a sports channel, as the Olympics are about to start in a few days. The sports channel is now almost all-day reporting on Olympic-related news. However, with the 2008 Beijing Olympics being so impressive, I wonder what kind of opening ceremony London will have this year?

  This summer, I also browsed many forums, and many of them had news from local British Chinese communities. From these reports, it's clear that the British people lacked confidence in the London Olympics opening ceremony. Thinking about it, the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony was indeed too grand and magnificent, no previous Olympic Games could compare to it, so naturally the British were worried about their own opening ceremony.

  As a Chinese, it is only natural to pay attention to the performance of the Chinese Olympic team in London. Recently, Shangguan has also been putting a lot of effort into the Olympics, and this Olympics is also the last chance for Shangguan to relax before entering his senior year of high school. Once he enters his senior year, the school will implement closed management, with the excuse being the damned college entrance rate. If you don't want to be smeared by the school, either accept the school's closed management or roll up your bedding and get out of here - this is China's education system, making all diligent students feel like they're going crazy.

  The program is going on, but Shang Guan Neng's thoughts have drifted far away. Today's events were really too much for him to handle. The appearance of the all-around athlete made Shang Guan Neng see a bright future ahead, but after all, that was still in the future. For now, he was still just a small-time local celebrity and needed to continue growing.

  Currently, the decathlon has absorbed three major items and there are seven remaining, with martial arts having been kicked out by Bei Bei, leaving six major items, and Shangguan is still considering carefully.

  It's really annoying to say that these ten all-around abilities are also a headache for the superior officer, and they must all reach the same level in order to be promoted to the next level. This undoubtedly adds great difficulty to the superior officer, and the key is still the need to absorb ability by touching other people's skin. How can this be good? Do you have to squeeze onto the subway every day? But there is no subway in Huabei City! There are bus stations and train stations, and there are also airports, but the superior officer has never taken a plane in his life, it's too luxurious.

  If it's a man, that's okay, at most he'll just get goosebumps, but if it's a woman who touches him without reason, she'll definitely be slapped in public and from then on can bear the shame of being called a 'pervert' for the rest of her life.

  Terrible, too terrible.

  Shangguan couldn't help but shiver at the thought, this wouldn't do, after some deliberation, it seemed that a large shopping mall was the best choice, that place is crowded, people rubbing against each other isn't anything new, and now is the peak of summer, no matter male or female, everyone's wearing very little, providing the best natural conditions for skin contact.

  "Right, tomorrow I'll go to the mall and take care of those ten abilities. I don't believe so many people can't absorb the remaining six abilities." Shang Guan Neng had temporarily decided on this plan, but then he thought about his "date" with Xiang Bei Bei at noon tomorrow. He recalled the words she left him with before leaving, and his heart skipped a beat as he wiped away the cold sweat from his forehead, his face twisted in bitterness: "Who did I provoke?"

  At night, when lying in bed, Shang Guan Neng still had a lot on his mind and couldn't sleep. Of course, it's also possible that after sleeping for a day and a night in the hospital, he was full of energy and lay awake all night.

  The second day, just after dawn, Shang Guan Neng Ren sat up from bed with a slight headache, looked at the time, and it was not yet five o'clock. Compared to his usual habit of never getting out of bed before 12 noon, today was indeed an exception.

  "Can't sleep! Headache! I'm so hungry!" Director Nengren's eyes were bloodshot, got out of bed, dressed, washed his face and brushed his teeth, tidied up his messy hair, and then put five dollars in his pocket before leaving the door.

  It's too early, and my mother hasn't gotten out of bed to cook, so I'm starving. I don't feel like cooking myself, so I can only go out to the street food stall to grab something quick. Besides, the things they make at the street food stall are much better than my mom's subpar cooking skills. Buying two shaobing and a bowl of wontons only costs four yuan, which is affordable and tastes pretty good. Compared to KFC or McDonald's, the traditional foods passed down by our ancestors are still the best - delicious and not expensive, the favorite of ordinary people.

  Nutrition? Do you think KFC and McDonald's Western fast food is nutritious? We poor common people can't compare to those well-off white-collar workers! It's really heartbreaking!

  The weather is quite good at this time, the air is fresh and cool, walking on the street, you can't see many pedestrians, but the small stalls selling breakfast have already started a new day of business. When passing by the gate of the pancake shop, you can smell the crispy pancakes, as well as the aroma of old tofu, wheat porridge, and soy milk.

  "Hmm~~~" Officer Nang Er rubbed his belly and walked into the pancake shop.

  Shangguan Nengren got up too early and was the first customer in the store today, but the boss didn't give him any discounts just because he was the first customer. It's a small business, not as generous as a restaurant or nightclub.

  Above Officer Neng's usual meal, two baked buns and a bowl of old tofu would be enough, adding up to only two yuan. But today, for some reason, after eating the two baked buns and a bowl of old tofu, Officer Neng still felt hungry. He quickly ordered another serving. After finishing this serving, he realized he was only 60% full. However, Officer Neng didn't dare order another serving as he had only brought five yuan out with him today and had already spent four yuan on the two servings, leaving him with one yuan left. In the end, Officer Neng ordered two baked buns to take away, eating them on his way home.

  Shangguan Nengren couldn't understand why his appetite had suddenly increased so much. Was it because he had become stronger? But yesterday, after returning from the hospital, he had already eaten two meals, and those two meals were of normal size! Why did he turn into a rice bucket today?

  Shangguan Neng naturally wouldn't understand the reason, but in fact, after a night's rest, Shangguan Neng's body had entered another brand new stage of growth and development. If he were to measure his height, he would find that it had increased by 1 centimeter overnight, and this 1 centimeter required nutrition was all in the breakfast.

  1 centimeter, it's really hard to notice with the naked eye. After all, almost everyone has experienced a situation where their height is 173 cm in the morning and 171 cm at night. It's like watching a child grow up every day, you don't feel much change until you measure their height after a long time and suddenly realize, oh? The child has grown so tall already.

  On the way, eating a roasted bun, I unknowingly passed by a park square. The last time I passed by, there was nothing, but this time, there were rows of weapons on the square. Two old men in their 70s, with very strong bodies, were kicking legs and punching fists, dancing knives and wielding clubs. Watching them move one by one, although slow and gentle, they had a clear rhythm, like a master's son.

  "Huh?" Although Officer Wang had seen these old men exercising in the morning before, he hadn't paid much attention to them. After all, their movements were slow and gentle, and they didn't seem to have any killing power at all. Officer Wang thought that these old men were just exercising for health, like Tai Chi, which wasn't meant for fighting but for nourishing life.

  Furthermore, I've never heard of any retired martial artists in Huabei City. These old men, although spirited and robust, don't have the slightest hint of a heroic or extraordinary air about them. On the contrary, they look more like old farmers from the countryside, with dark, weathered skin that's as dry as old tree bark. Even someone who doesn't judge people by their appearance wouldn't believe these old men are skilled martial artists.

  Shangguan Nengren didn't believe it either, but considering his current F-level strength, Shangguan Nengren actually wanted to see if the martial arts foundation of these old men was also only at a trashy F-level. If that's the case, then the martial arts category would also have a conclusion.

  He stuffed the pancake into his mouth and walked away with a swagger.

  These two old men, one practicing boxing and kicking, the other playing with a ball, are each skilled in their own way, and it's quite interesting to watch.

  Two old men who were practicing martial arts saw young people watching and seemed to have gained momentum, practicing more vigorously, especially the one practicing knife dance, with a majestic and powerful aura, as if he had a knife in his hand, with an air of dominance, making the onlookers' mouths water.

  The two old men were very satisfied with the enthusiastic reaction of Shangguan Neng, but after all, they couldn't play for too long because of their age. After three to five minutes, the old man who was practicing his sword stopped and pulled down a towel from the weapon rack to wipe the sweat off his head. Seeing Shangguan Neng looking at him with admiration all over his face, he felt refreshed and smiled: "Young man, do you know how to play?"

  Shangguan Nengren hastily shook his head and said, "Sir, I don't know martial arts, but I can see that you two are quite skilled. You must have been martial artists in the past!"

  At this time, the old man who was practicing boxing also stopped and smiled: "What martial arts master! We two are at most martial arts enthusiasts. When we were young, there was a martial arts school on our side, and we both practiced for a few years. However, the school didn't do well and closed down. After that, my brother and I put down martial arts and only occasionally practiced. In recent years, after retiring and getting older, we just exercise early in the morning when we have nothing to do."

  Maybe it's because there are fewer and fewer young people who like to practice martial arts these days, so when the two old men saw that Officer Neng had an interest in martial arts, they came over to chat with him. They chatted on and on for half a day, all about some interesting things from their youth when they practiced martial arts. Officer Neng listened with great relish, and the two old men were so old that even the background of their youth was novel enough for him.

  But Upper Official was able to take advantage of the situation and managed to grope both old men (sweat, how does that sound so evil?).

  "Found F-class Fist and Footwork, will you absorb it?"

  "Found F-class soldier's Kung Fu, will absorb?"

  Shangguan Neng was overjoyed in his heart, it's really a pillow coming to send a nap! The two old men's martial arts are indeed F-level garbage, but at their age, having an F-level martial art is already not bad.

  "Absorb!"

  "Absorption successful, host possesses F-grade Fist and Footwork. As Fist and Footwork belongs to the sub-item of 'Martial Arts', the fourth major item 'Martial Arts' is unlocked."

  "Absorption successful, host possesses F-class martial arts skills. Since martial arts skills belong to the sub-item of 'Martial Arts', unlock the fourth major item 'Martial Arts'."