Chapter 5

"Whaddya mean?" Deng Zhiyong stood on the street, looking at Huo Dongjun and Liao Zhizong and asked.

"I have ten thousand yuan, I'll go get it from my mom later." Liao Zhizong patted Xi Rong's head and said, "I'll try to figure out the rest."

Deng Zhiyong lowered his head and said, "Apart from high-interest loans, I can't think of any other way out."

Huo Dongjun handed Xi Rong to Liao Zhizong and said, "I'll call my master. I'll figure out this money. Six months, forty thousand yuan, it's not a lot."

"Not a lot?" Deng Zhiyong's eyes widened. "I've been working for so long, and the senior brother even longer. Even in a year, we've never seen forty thousand yuan!"

Ignoring the frustration and helplessness in Deng Zhiyong's words, Huo Dongjun took out a coin and walked to a nearby public phone booth, dialing the number his master had left before leaving.

"Hello?"

Hearing the call connected, Huo Dongjun let out a light breath. "Hello, I'm looking for Li Jianqing. I'm his disciple, Huo Dongjun."

"Li Jianqing's disciple? Hold on." An elderly woman's voice called out to someone in the distance. Soon, the phone was taken over by a cold and hard voice. "Ajun?"

Hearing his master's voice, Huo Dongjun explained Xi Rong's condition and the cost of the surgery. After listening, Li Jianqing's tone remained unchanged:

"Sell the school."

Huo Dongjun took a deep breath. Although Li Jianqing's tone was cold and hard, these two words were spoken without any hesitation, with a clear conscience. Meeting such a master in this life was worth being reborn. Selling the martial arts school to raise money for a disciple was probably something only Li Jianqing in Hong Kong would do. However, Li Jianqing had misunderstood the purpose of Huo Dongjun's call, so Huo Dongjun said:

"Master, I didn't mean to sell the school. Besides, the school is in Dakan Village; who would buy it? I was thinking, when you return to the mainland through Shenzhen, are there many electronic watches and nylon umbrellas being sold in Shenzhen? In six months, I want to buy some electronic watches and smuggle them to Shenzhen to sell."

Huo Dongjun couldn't recall anything from the 1980s that could make a lot of money quickly. The only thing he remembered was that electronic watches, nylon umbrellas, and tape recorders were popular in mainland China in the 1980s. This was something he had heard from an old man in his previous life. The old man's son went south in the 1980s and brought back many electronic watches and tapes, making over a thousand yuan in one go.

So Huo Dongjun thought of the business of selling electronic watches. Although it was not very honorable for a martial artist, he had to do it to save a life.

"Hong Yihai's disciples don't engage in illegal activities. No more talk. I'll call your aunt, and she will buy the school." Li Jianqing hung up the phone decisively.

Seeing Huo Dongjun return with a dazed look, Liao Zhizong asked, "What did the master say?"

"Master said he would call Aunt Jianping to sell the school." Huo Dongjun looked up and said to Liao Zhizong, "I wanted to sell electronic watches to the mainland to make money, but the master didn't allow it."

"Sell the school? And to that old woman, Qiu Jianping? Of course not!" Deng Zhiyong, hearing Qiu Jianping's name, called out in frustration, "Isn't that like the master putting his face in front of Qiu Jianping to be slapped? I don't care. I just learned boxing from the master, not formally apprenticed. Should I go sell electronic watches? But will it make money?"

"Master never changes his mind once he speaks. He probably has already called Aunt Jianping, and she is preparing to bring the money to the door." Huo Dongjun said, his lips pressed together. Selling the school would leave him with a home he hadn't returned to for years, but Master Li Jianqing would have no place to stand in Hong Kong.

"I don't want to be treated, I don't want the master to sell the school." Xi Rong grabbed Huo Dongjun's sleeve, her other hand rubbing her eyes. "Don't let the master sell the school, it's not good..."

Liao Zhizong pondered for a moment, then looked up and said, "I am the senior brother, I will handle this. The school must not be sold. Selling the school is like forcing the master to die. When the master crossed the sea to Hong Kong, he told the grandmaster that if Hong Yihai didn't become famous, he would never return to the mainland. Selling the school now is like making the master jump into the sea. Dongjun, take Xi Rong back to the school. I will go with Zhiyong to raise money. No matter what, Xi Rong's illness must be treated, and the master's school must not be sold."

Huo Dongjun looked at Liao Zhizong, "Senior brother, you're not going to see the second brother, are you?"

"See him? The master would beat me to death. Don't worry, I know my limits and won't break the master's rules. You go back to the school and hold off Qiu Jianping. I'll be back soon."

Liao Zhizong finished speaking, then squatted down and pinched Xi Rong's tear-streaked face. "Be good, Xi Rong. Senior brother will handle it, everything will be fine. The master's school won't be sold, and Xi Rong's illness will be treated. Go back to the school with your second brother."

...

When Huo Dongjun brought Xi Rong back to Dakan Village by minibus, Aunt Qiu Jianping was already at the school. Chen Zhiwei and a few other young disciples looked at Qiu Jianping sitting in the school hall as if she were an enemy, their faces full of anger. Qiu Jianping was accompanied by her nineteen-year-old daughter Tang Qianling and her senior disciple He Shihui.

Qiu Jianping, like Li Jianqing, was a fifth-generation successor of Choy Li Fut, and the daughter of Qiu Bichi, one of the four great kings of the fourth generation of Choy Li Fut. She ran the Hong Sheng Choy Li Fut Qiu Jianping Martial Arts School and a Qiu Jianping Bone Setting Clinic in Kowloon's Yau Ma Tei. At this time, she was the president of the Choy Li Fut Hong Sheng Association's executive committee, overseeing forty-seven branches, almost all of the Choy Li Fut Hong Sheng schools in Hong Kong outside of Hong Yihai.

At forty-six, Qiu Jianping was well-maintained, sitting in the school hall more like a businesswoman than a martial arts heroine. She was flipping through a magazine, her designer clothes and the car keys casually placed on the table all indicating her wealth.

Chen Zhiwei and the other disciples stood to one side, their faces gloomy. Seeing Huo Dongjun return, Chen Zhiwei hurriedly ran up and whispered in his ear:

"Second brother, this woman suddenly came to the school, saying the master wants to sell Hong Yihai to her."

Huo Dongjun handed the tear-streaked Xi Rong to Chen Zhiwei, asking him to take her outside to wash her face. He then walked over and politely greeted Qiu Jianping:

"Aunt."

He then looked at Tang Qianling and He Shihui: "Sister Tang, Senior Brother He, hello."

Tang Qianling reluctantly nodded with a hint of arrogance, while He Shihui smiled calmly at Huo Dongjun: "Dongjun, long time no see."

Dongjun was Huo Dongjun's name in Hong Yihai.

After greeting, Huo Dongjun and Qiu Jianping fell into silence, without even a polite conversation.

After sitting for about twenty minutes and finishing the magazine, Qiu Jianping picked up her handbag and said coldly, "Your master called me, saying he wants to sell the school. Five thousand dollars. I've brought the money. The contract can be signed when your master returns, but I want to take the 'Yihai Canglong' plaque and the Three Ancestors Lion Head today."

Huo Dongjun looked up at the black plaque, the four characters 'Yihai Canglong' were exchanged by Li Jianqing for a leg in the Choy Li Fut Three Victories Conference in Hong Kong. The permanent advisor of the Chinese Martial Arts Association, Huang Xiaoxia, personally gave these four characters to Li Jianqing, recognizing his martial arts skills as derived from Choy Li Fut.

The lion head, on the other hand, was left by Chen Yaohui, the third-generation successor of Choy Li Fut, to his disciple Song Tianyang when he came to Hong Kong in his later years. Song Tianyang then left it as the treasure of Hong Yihai.

"Master hasn't returned yet. The Three Ancestors Lion Head and the plaque cannot be moved lightly. Aunt, why don't we wait for the master to return and discuss it in person?" Huo Dongjun said, his gaze returning from the plaque and the lion head.

Qiu Jianping, who had been the president of the Hong Sheng Association in Hong Kong for many years, spoke with a tone of authority:

"This time, I came because your master asked me to buy Hong Yihai, not because I wanted to. Whether to remove the plaque and the lion head, you and your disciples can do it, or Tang Qianling and He Shihui can do it. You can choose, but other matters, even if Liao Zhizong is here, he has no right to say I can't remove the plaque and the lion head, because..."

"Bang!" A black suitcase was thrown into the hall from outside. The suitcase's clasps were not closed, and when it hit the ground, a corner of the suitcase was exposed, revealing a pile of Hong Kong dollars. Three people walked in, one of them speaking with a defiant tone:

"Who said my senior brother in Hong Yihai doesn't have the right to speak?"

Hearing this voice, Huo Dongjun, who was facing away from the hall door, turned around with a strange expression. Outside, Liao Zhizong, Deng Zhiyong, and a tall, muscular young man walked in. Seeing Huo Dongjun turn his head, the young man smiled: "Dongjun, long time no see."

His words were identical to what He Shihui had said to Huo Dongjun, but the young man's tone was sincere, and the words "long time no see" made Huo Dongjun slightly dazed.

Qiu Jianping, meanwhile, looked at the young man with surprise: "You are... Luo Zhiming, who was expelled from Hong Yihai?"

"Second brother." Huo Dongjun looked at the young man and said.

Liao Zhizong gently shook his head at Huo Dongjun, indicating that he had not notified the expelled second brother, Luo Zhiming, to come.

Unlike the ordinary and even cheap clothing of Liao Zhizong and Deng Zhiyong, Luo Zhiming was dressed in designer clothes, with gold jewelry around his neck and fingers, and a gold Rolex on his wrist. Compared to Qiu Jianping, he was even more luxurious.

"Hearing from my senior brother that my master wants to sell the school to raise money, the highest bidder gets the school. If you want to buy, Qiu Master, I, Luo Zhiming, also want to buy. Let's compare the money. There are three million dollars in the suitcase. If you have more money than me, Hong Yihai will take down the sign today. If you don't have enough money, the door is behind me, scram." Luo Zhiming spoke with a rough and rugged tone.

"Even if your master sells the school, he won't sell it to you, Luo Zhiming. You took shortcuts, and your character is not upright, so you were expelled from the school. If you come back today, are you not afraid that your master will skin you? I heard that on the day you were expelled, your master broke your two arms and three ribs. If you show disrespect to my master today, do you want to break a few more?" Hearing Luo Zhiming's disrespectful tone towards his master, He Shihui crossed his arms and stepped forward, speaking to Luo Zhiming.

Luo Zhiming looked at He Shihui, pointed at him with his right index finger, and said coldly:

"First, even if my master expelled me from the school, I still consider him my master and this place my home. If my master beats me to death, I accept it, no need for you to speak. Second, only my family, friends, and brothers have the right to call me Zhiming. If you want to speak to me, call me Mingwang. If you like, you can add 'Brother' after Mingwang."