Chapter 9

At Li Hong's fish stall, of course, the fight didn't happen.

"Brother You, how did you come here?" The few people who were playing cards were surprised to see Zuo Xiaoyou, but they all stood up with smiles on their faces.

Since the time Zuo Xiaoyou went to treat Hong Zhenan, he almost ran over every day to tutor the young girl or tell stories about the Three Kingdoms to the rough men and children. After being influenced by Yi Zhongtian, Zuo Xiaoyou's storytelling about the Three Kingdoms became very vivid and interesting. After Hong Zhenan finished teaching boxing, he and his disciples most enjoyed listening to Zuo Xiaoyou's stories.

Gradually, the disciples came to a consensus that Zuo Xiaoyou would be their master's future son-in-law.

With this relationship, the disciples treated Zuo Xiaoyou almost as respectfully as they treated Hong Zhenan. Zuo Xiaoyou was easy-going and humorous, which made a great impression on the disciples, and they all admired him.

When Zuo Xiaoyou arrived, Hong Zhenan's eldest disciple, Ah Ji, quickly offered him a cigarette.

"No need." Zuo Xiaoyou waved his hand and said, "Did you capture a disciple of Yip Man?"

"How did Brother You know?" Ah Ji was surprised and said, "Yes, that kid was putting up advertisements everywhere, blocking our posters. We tore down the ads, and he even dared to fight back, so we captured him."

Zuo Xiaoyou sighed and said, "The one you captured is my junior brother."

"What!?" Ah Ji and the others were stunned.

Zuo Xiaoyou shook his head and said, "Let's talk calmly. Release him first."

Ah Ji's heart sank, realizing they had caused trouble. He quickly shouted to the others, "What are you standing there for? Release him."

"Oh, right."

The others hurriedly released Huang Liang from the pool, carefully untying the ropes on his wrists and smiling apologetically. Huang Liang, however, remained cold and ungrateful.

Seeing the disheveled Huang Liang, Zuo Xiaoyou asked, "A Liang, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Huang Liang shook his head and asked, "Senior Brother, why did you come? Where's Master?"

"Master is still at the martial arts school." Zuo Xiaoyou asked, "A Liang, what happened?"

"They said they wanted to spar with me, but they couldn't handle me. What's it got to do with me!" Huang Liang said angrily.

"What did you say! I couldn't handle you?" Ah Ji was furious.

Zuo Xiaoyou raised his hand to stop him, "Don't be impulsive. Let's sit down and talk it out."

After saying that, he took out a hundred dollars from his pocket and handed it to Ah Ji, "This is for the brothers to have some tea. Disperse now."

"Brother You, we can't accept this money." Ah Ji quickly refused.

"Take it." Zuo Xiaoyou forced it into his hand and said, "No matter what, this time it was my junior brother who caused trouble. The brothers shouldn't have worked for nothing."

"Then... thank you, Brother You." Ah Ji took the money and said to the others, "Thank you, Brother You."

"Thank you, Brother You."

Zuo Xiaoyou waved his hand, "Get busy. Ah Ji, let's talk."

"Okay."

Huang Liang was already confused, never expecting his senior brother to know everyone here and have such a good reputation. He couldn't help but respect his senior brother even more.

The three of them pulled over a few chairs and sat down. Zuo Xiaoyou listened to Ah Ji and Huang Liang recount the whole story, which was indeed similar to what he knew.

Since Zuo Xiaoyou was involved, Ah Ji didn't press the issue and instead said a bit embarrassedly, "I didn't know Brother Huang was Brother You's junior brother. If I had known, I wouldn't have... sigh! This is really a case of family not recognizing family."

Hearing that Ah Ji had a good relationship with his senior brother, Huang Liang also backed down, "No, I was also too impulsive."

"Good." Seeing both parties back down, Zuo Xiaoyou breathed a sigh of relief and said, "This was all a misunderstanding. It's good to clear it up. Let's do this: I'll treat everyone tonight. At 7 PM, at Yu's food stall. Call all the brothers. A Liang, you also call the other disciples. Let's get to know each other to avoid future misunderstandings."

"Okay." Huang Liang nodded.

"Brother You, this is too much." Zuo Xiaoyou had already given a hundred dollars, and now he was treating everyone to dinner. Ah Ji felt a bit embarrassed.

"It's settled." Zuo Xiaoyou smiled, stood up, and said, "I'll book the seats. Make sure to come tonight."

"Okay, I'll definitely come." Ah Ji stood up to see him off.

"Brother You!" Just as Zuo Xiaoyou and Huang Liang were about to leave, Ah Ji suddenly remembered something and called out to him.

"What is it?" Zuo Xiaoyou turned around.

"Brother You, I heard your master hasn't been approved to teach boxing. Do you know about this?" Ah Ji asked.

"What?" Zuo Xiaoyou deliberately frowned, "Teaching boxing needs approval? From whom?"

"It's like this." Ah Ji quickly explained the rules for opening a martial arts school in Hong Kong, "So Brother You's master must stand up to challenges from other martial arts school masters. As long as he can last for the duration of a stick of incense, he can teach boxing peacefully after paying a monthly fee of a hundred dollars."

"I see." Zuo Xiaoyou nodded, "I'll tell Master. By the way, should we tell Uncle Hong?"

"Of course we should." Ah Ji said with a hint of pride, "The rules of Hong Kong martial arts schools were set by Master. It's not that Master is domineering. Most of the fees paid by each school are used to smooth things over with the foreigners. Without Master's help, they wouldn't be able to teach boxing peacefully."

"How is teaching boxing related to foreigners?" Huang Liang was confused.

"Who's in charge of Hong Kong now?" Ah Ji was a bit helpless, "You don't know how much Master has endured with the foreigners to ensure that we and the other martial artists can earn a living."

"Bowing to foreigners..." Huang Liang's tone was a bit off.

"A Liang, shut up!" Zuo Xiaoyou scolded, "What do you know! When you're under someone's roof, you have to bow. If it weren't for Uncle Hong's mediation, many people would lose their livelihoods. Those who can endure for others are true heroes."

Huang Liang was silent, and Ah Ji was very excited, "Brother You, you really understand Master. No wonder Master always thinks of you as his future son-in-law."

"Son-in-law!?" Huang Liang suddenly looked up, stunned.

"Less talk." Zuo Xiaoyou glared at Ah Ji, who laughed awkwardly.

Zuo Xiaoyou pushed Huang Liang, "Let's go." He turned to Ah Ji, "Please tell Uncle Hong to arrange the challenge for my master."

"Rest assured, Brother You, it's on me."

"Okay."

After leaving with Huang Liang, Huang Liang stared at Zuo Xiaoyou, his eyes darting around. Zuo Xiaoyou, annoyed by the look, coldly said, "No talking, no asking, look straight ahead."

Huang Liang closed his mouth and obediently followed Zuo Xiaoyou back to the rooftop.

"A Liang!" Seeing his disciple return safely, Yip Man was very happy and quickly checked on Huang Liang, asking, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Huang Liang shook his head and said, "Master, I caused you trouble."

"It's okay." Yip Man smiled, turned to Zuo Xiaoyou, and said with satisfaction, "A You, thank you for your hard work."

"It's no trouble." Zuo Xiaoyou shook his head and said, "Master, there's something I need to tell you."

"Oh?" Seeing Zuo Xiaoyou's serious expression, Yip Man told the other disciples, "Continue practicing." Then he said to Zuo Xiaoyou, "Let's talk inside."

In the warehouse, Zuo Xiaoyou recounted in detail what happened at the fish stall and explained the rules for teaching boxing, "Master, that's what happened. I've asked Ah Ji to have Uncle Hong arrange the challenge. Master just needs to prepare for it."

"I didn't expect that girl's father to be a Hong Quan master." Yip Man found the situation quite complicated. His disciple had a conflict with the other side, which led to the rules for opening a martial arts school.

"A hundred dollars a month, isn't that too much?" Yip Man frowned. He only had a dozen disciples, each paying five dollars a month, totaling only a few dozen dollars, far from enough to cover the membership fee.

"Don't worry, Master." Zuo Xiaoyou said, "I'll cover the initial membership fee..."

"A You..."

"Master, listen to me." Zuo Xiaoyou said, "As the saying goes, if the name is not right, the words will not be smooth. Once Master passes the challenge, with Master's skills, many young people will come to learn our Wing Chun. Uncle Hong has over two hundred disciples, and the tuition alone is over a thousand dollars a month. I believe Master is no less skilled than Uncle Hong. If Master can fight to a draw with Uncle Hong on the stage, even if you don't have two hundred disciples, you'll have at least a hundred! That would mean five hundred dollars in tuition a month, and paying a hundred dollars for the membership fee would be easy."

After listening to Zuo Xiaoyou, Yip Man didn't pay much attention to the other details but focused on the part about having a hundred disciples and five hundred dollars in tuition a month.

For a struggling martial arts master, nothing was more important than earning more money easily. Currently, he relied on his disciples for food and lodging. If this worked out, he could be self-sufficient and no longer depend on his disciples' support. After careful consideration, the temptation was irresistible!

"Okay." Yip Man gritted his teeth and said, "I'll accept the challenges from the other martial arts school masters."

Zuo Xiaoyou smiled and encouraged him, "Master, I believe you are the best. Perhaps in the future, your Wing Chun will spread worldwide, and you will become a great master!"

The vision Zuo Xiaoyou painted was too grand and too tempting, even for the introverted Yip Man, who couldn't help but be moved. But as a master, he couldn't show his excitement in front of his disciples, so he masked it with a laugh, "Don't dream."

Zuo Xiaoyou smiled, thinking to himself: Master, this isn't a dream! In the 21st century, there are very few people who don't know about Wing Chun.

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Thank you to 'sam~tang' for the 200起点币 (Qidian coins) tip.