Chapter 314: Basic Wing Chun Kung Fu Wears Away Rock with Water
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhang Zian should feel very lucky that Old Time Tea came out from the pet shop in time; otherwise, he wouldn’t have had the chance to show off in front of the pupils, and his newly installed glass door would have been shattered into pieces, so he and his pets would have had to suffer from the cold wind this winter, not to mention he had not fully recovered from his cold. If the glass door was really broken, how was he going to ask for compensation? After all, the society showed more tolerance towards the children.
Seeing the small rock fly towards the glass door, Old Time Tea acted swiftly and caught it in the blink of an eye. It was really discontented about Yi Le’s behavior. How could this boy run away after causing trouble and not shoulder his responsibilities? Young Ye Wen also got himself into trouble all the time, but never would he run away like a coward.
To teach the brat a lesson, Old Time Tea showed off its abilities on purpose. Instead of simply holding up the small rock, it used the Chi Sau (clinging hand) method of Wing Chun to downgrade the momentum of the small rock from moving forwards into spinning right before its paw.
Zhang Zian came out of the shop from behind Old Time Tea. Since Old Time Tea had solve the crisis, he got the chance to appear calm and formidable. He learned from Little Celery that these brats were addicted to playing the Arena of Valor, so he repeated a line that Zhang Liang says in the game.
Through the corner of his eye, he glanced at the rock spinning in front of Old Time Tea’s paw. Marvelous, he thought, but didn’t show his astonishment on his face.
Old Time Tea whispered, in a volume only audible to Zhang Zian, "Zian, look carefully of what I am doing, this is the Chi Sau method of Wing Chun Kung Fu that I am going to teach you. It’s not a complicated technique, Chi Sau is the entry level method of Wing Chun Kung Fu, and I’m just using it more flexibly. I’ve watched a lot of martial arts movies, but the Chi Sau demonstrated in them are so disappointing. Rather than a fighting method as shown in the movies, Chi Sau is actually a skill to enhance flexibility, sense of balance, and sense of direction of one’s arm. If you can master such a technique, you will be able to see through your enemies’ intentions and anticipate their movements."
Seeing that the pupils were still stupefied, Old Time Tea continued, "Chi Sau stresses on the flowing of strength. Zian, look carefully at my elbow: is it stationary?"
Zhang Zian couldn't talk to an invisible cat in front of the pupils, so he just made a quick observation of its elbow and then nodded lightly.
He had seen many NBA players spin basketballs on their fingertips, and what Old Time Tea was doing right now was probably an enhanced version of that kind of movement. Before the rock stopped moving, Old Time Tea had added an external force to change the kinstate of it, yet Old Time Tea’s elbow seemed very stable.
"This is it," said Old Time Tea satisfyingly. "Stabilize your elbow, move your palm and forearm as the timing and the momentum takes you, but always keep the strength of your palm and forearm in a state of flowing softness. Though both Wing Chun and Tai Chi empathize on using soft strength, they are different—Chi Sau of Wing Chun is similar to flowing water, while the clinging hand method of Tai Chi is more like cotton. In other words, Chi Sau of Wing Chun cultivates the flowing of strength, through which you can have a keen insight of the psychological changes of your enemies. Do you understand?"
Zhang Zian nodded lightly to indicate he had understood how Chi Sau worked, though he couldn’t do it himself. In front of the mighty Old Time Tea, he seemed so young and naïve. If this was the ancient martial arts world, Old Time Tea would be Zhang Sanfeng, the founder of Tai Chi, who was teaching Tai Chi to Zhang Wuji in front of enemies…
Although they had the same last name, Zhang Zian didn't have the intelligence of Zhang Wuji who could apply what he had just learned immediately; he could only take Old Time Tea’s credit due to its invisibility.
Even so, the pupils appeared very astonished and frightened.
A moment later, because of friction, the small rock gradually slowed down and stopped spinning in front of Old Time Tea’s paw.
Seeing that Zhang Zian had understood, Old Time Tea smiled delightfully. Paw turned upside down, the small rock fell on the ground.
...
Yi Le rubbed his eyes, poked his classmates beside him and stuttered, "Did you... Did you see that?"
All the boys were equally surprised, "Yes... The rock was suspended in the air..."
"F**k! Could it be a ghost?" Yi Le was not sure what happened and kept cussing. His mom would pull his ears if he spoke such foul language at home, but he felt very cool cussing outside.
"I don't know..." The other boys were more perplexed than he was, and they were expecting that he would have some idea.
Just then, Little Celery cheerfully ran over to Zhang Zian, "Brother Store Manager, that was amazing! Was that magic? Can you do that again?"
The other two girls looked at one another, and followed Little Celery curiously.
"Ha-ha!" said Zhang Zian satisfyingly, "Your Brother Store Manager is very powerful. This is just a small trick that is not worth mentioning!"
Little Celery and the other two girls were so envious of him. One of the girls also picked up the small rock and looked at it. It was just an ordinary small rock.
"Poof." Seeing that his spotlight had been stolen, Yi Le pouted and said unpleasantly, "So shameless to call yourself Brother Store Manager. You're old enough to be called an uncle..."
Zhang Zian was so angry that the veins became visible on his forehead. This brat was so intolerable! He would be forever 18, how could anyone think he was old enough to be an uncle?
Yi Le narrowed his eyes that had become short-sighted because of playing games and sized up Zhang Zian carefully. He felt that Zhang Zian looked familiar; he must have seen him before…
Suddenly Yi Le recalled that this was the man who had stopped him one day and was fooled by the pranks he made.
Was... Was this man going to revenge him?
Yi Le was a little scared. His mother was not around today; what if this man tried to beat him up?
Yi Le looked around. It was getting dark. They didn't go home directly after school; instead, they stayed at school with their teachers to discuss the show to be performed at the school founding anniversary. Rush hour had passed, and there were few pedestrians on the street. But he figured if he screamed for help, people would gather around. So, he summoned more courage to stay.
"I remember you! You stopped me last time! What do you want this time?" he pointed to Zhang Zian and yelled.
Zhang Zian looked at him disdainfully, "Oh, it's you, mama's boy. Why didn't your mom pick you up today? Doesn't she worry you might get lost?"
Yi Le was aggravated — his face blushed, and he yelled, "I am a man! I'm not a mama's boy!"
"What a man, bullying on girls," Zhang Zian pouted his lips and said. He turned to Little Celery and smiled gently, "Are these two girls your classmates? Are you coming to visit my pet shop?"
With the marvelous scene that had happened a moment ago, Little Celery became more emboldened. She pulled at the hands of her classmates and introduced them, "This is Sunny, and this is Chuan Chuan. They are both my good friends. This is the Brother Store Manager that I've been talking about and his pets really can speak!"
Sunny and Chuan Chuan nodded to greet Zhang Zian, and they said sheepishly, "Hello, we are Little Celery’s classmates... is what Little Celery said true?"
"Hello! Little Celery’s friends are always welcome to visit my shop, whether you buy pets or not. As for whether what she said is true or not, you can come in and see for yourselves," said Zhang Zian mysteriously. He looked at Yi Le and said, "Of course, cowards shouldn’t come in or they will wet their pants."
Yi Le and other three boys quickly lowered their heads to check their pants. None of their pants were wet, and they yelled loudly in embarrassment, "Who said we don’t dare to go in?! Nothing will scare us! ‘You can only fly in the sky if you are fearless!'"
Hearing this, Zhang Zian confirmed that these brats were hopelessly addicted to games. They were even quoting a line from the Arena of Valor to embolden themselves.