20: Chapter 20 You're Really Polite

Chapter 20 You Are Really Not Polite

After entering December, the average temperature in Dongdu dropped increasingly.

Especially during the coldest moment in the early morning, a layer of mist condensed on the windows.

In the darkness, a harsh ringing sound suddenly rang out.

Ring-ring —— Ring-ring ——

Fang Cheng, curled up under the quilt, opened his eyes, his gaze filled with a bit of dazedness.

It was as if he had been abruptly yanked back to reality from a sweet dream.

He stretched out his hands, rubbed his sleep-heavy eyes, and yawned.

Hearing that the alarm clock was still ringing, he turned on the light, raised his head, and glanced at the time.

5:01.

Fang Cheng's heart gave a jolt, and his eyes instantly became clear.

He immediately threw off the warm quilt, climbed up, and pressed stop on the alarm clock.

Then he quickly put on his clothes and pants, stepped into his slippers, opened the bedroom door, and walked briskly towards the bathroom.

Swish, swish, swish—soon the sound of the faucet turning on and the rustling of the toothbrush mug and towel rang out.

After a few minutes of washing up.

Fang Cheng stretched his arms, walked to the balcony of the living room, and pushed open the tightly shut windows to both sides.

The cold wind whistled, carrying icy rain directly toward his face.

Although it stung his skin, it also instantly refreshed his spirit.

Another day of self-discipline had begun.

In the pitch-black rainy street, only a small hotel had its red lightbox signboard lit at this moment.

Fang Cheng enjoyed the tranquility that belonged exclusively to him, and said in a low voice:

"Let us do a set of Squats first to warm up."

"Then let us do a few rounds of Shadow Boxing..."

Having stretched the muscles of his hands, feet, and limbs, Fang Cheng then faced the dawn outside the window, lifting his left leg and bending the knee of his right leg.

In the process of squatting down, he could clearly feel the muscles of his entire thighs tightening, and even his lower back and core were in a state like a fully drawn bowstring.

The difficulty of a single-legged Squat could be described as Hell-level for ordinary people.

But for the current Fang Cheng, it just took slightly more effort than when he first practiced standard Squats.

After finishing 5, he switched to practicing with his left leg.

After finishing 10, it counted as 1 set.

Fang Cheng glanced at the prompt information, and his experience had increased by exactly 1 point.

At the same time, he vaguely felt a warm current rising from the bottom of his lower abdomen, constantly dispelling the chill inflicted on his body by the environment.

"It should be fine now, the testosterone is already taking effect..."

Throwing a punch at the air and kicking twice, Fang Cheng carefully felt the changes inside his body.

His entire body seemed to be injected with vitality, completely emerging from the listless state of waking up early, and his emotions also began to become excited.

After having the enhanced special effect of "The Aloof".

Squats were obviously the best warm-up exercise, without a doubt!

Fang Cheng stood at the relatively open balcony, his five fingers pressed together and clenched tightly, his soles stepping forward and backward.

His gaze stared firmly ahead, as if confronting a non-existent enemy.

Suddenly his figure moved, closing the distance forward, and his guarded arms exerted force immediately.

Swish, swish, swish, continuous jumping steps with left and right straight punches, rapidly striking the opponent's face and jaw.

Swish!

Following closely, a front kicking technique intercepted the opponent's counterattack, fiercely kicking their abdomen.

Slap!

As soon as his right leg landed, he instantly turned and took a cushioning step, circling to the opponent's weak side.

Twisting his waist and thrusting his hips, another high and fast whip kick was lashed out.

Soon, a little sweat oozed from Fang Cheng's forehead.

Even though he was only wearing thin underwear and a jacket, the biting chill could no longer invade his body.

The rapid flow of blood made his whole body quickly warm up, entering a combat state.

His punching and kicking movements also went from slightly stiff to increasingly stretched, coordinated, relaxed, and free.

Every time he threw a punch or kick, the sound of breaking through the air could prove the degree to which he exerted force.

The four major techniques of Sanda are kicking, striking, wrestling, and seizing.

Fang Cheng's current Punching techniques and Kicking Techniques were enough to be called entry-level.

Therefore, he began to try connecting his punching and kicking movements to practice combination skills more applicable to actual combat.

If he were to return to the hospital again and face the scenario of confronting the yellow-haired guy.

Fang Cheng figured he would not need to use the Iron Fist special effect; with just a feint and a high roundhouse kick, he could KO the opponent.

Even if the opponent was holding a folding knife, no matter how long a hand was, could it be longer than a leg?

Half an hour later.

[You practiced Shadow Boxing, gained some comprehension, Boxing skill experience +10]

Looking at the prompt information on the panel, Fang Cheng's eyes showed gratification, yet also some dissatisfaction.

Unfortunately... Shadow Boxing practice could only increase one skill's experience for the time being.

Possessing expert-level Boxing proficiency allowed Fang Cheng to draw inferences from one instance and made it easier for him to learn the basics of other combat arts.

In just three or four days, observing about ten classes.

He had smoothly mastered the stances, footwork, Punching techniques, and Kicking Techniques among the basic skills of Sanda.

If he wanted to completely unlock this new skill, he still had to master Wrestling Techniques and grappling to make up for his shortcomings.

It's just that these two techniques had very strong practical operability; lacking someone to practice with, it was impossible to get started just by imitating.

He could not just trip and fall for fun when he had nothing to do, right?

Therefore, Fang Cheng did not incorporate Wrestling Techniques and grappling movements into his Shadow Boxing practice.

"Perhaps... I can apply to be a sparring partner now."

In the darkness, Fang Cheng's eyes were bright as he viewed the panel attributes.

After practicing Shadow Boxing for half an hour, he tallied the exercise effects.

Physique increased by a total of 0.02, strength increased by 0.01, and agility increased by 0.006.

Among them, although the agility attribute increased slightly slower, the progress bar had also reached 94%.

The enhancement effect of "The Aloof" on exercise efficiency was already evident.

And under the slow and steady accumulation, the strong grew stronger, which would inevitably form a snowballing "Matthew Effect".

Maybe one day...

Relying purely on physical exercise, one could achieve a Breakthrough of human bodily limits and reach the imagined extraordinary Realm.

Seeing this, Fang Cheng reined in his thoughts, and his gaze calmed down once again.

Strictly speaking, practicing Shadow Boxing also belonged to the warm-up exercise of loosening muscles and bones.

The most important part of morning exercise was still physical training.

Next was self-tempering with an even higher level of intensity!

100 jackknife Push-ups.

100 tiger-pounce Push-ups.

200 single-legged Squats.

300 supine straight Leg Raises.

...

"Huha!"

"Huha!"

Without a single error, one by one!

Inside the training hall, the exhalations and cheering sounds of students kicking and striking the sandbags rang out from time to time.

This morning, the Sanda Department had no classes scheduled, and in the afternoon there was only one private coaching session and one group class.

Fang Cheng could be said to be so idle that he was somewhat dazed.

In the previous class, the coach also talked about the application of skills and key points for punching-kicking combinations and punching-wrestling combinations.

This class was basically the students practicing kicking the sandbags by themselves, while the coach pointed out a few places where the movements were not clean enough.

The core techniques of Sanda were Kicking Techniques and Wrestling Techniques, which historically had a higher proportion of scoring in competition arenas.

As the saying goes, the hands are two doors, relying entirely on the legs to hit people; punches account for thirty percent, while kicks account for seventy percent.

The problem Fang Cheng currently faced was not a specific technical problem.

But rather finding no one to practice with him.

Let alone actual combat, there was not even a sparring partner, so how could he truly master the skill?

Sometimes, Fang Cheng really had an impulse.

Thinking of grabbing a punk he found displeasing on the street and beating them up to test his feel.

5:30.

The last class ended.

It was still early before off-work time, so Fang Cheng began cleaning up the venue in advance.

After finishing his work, seeing Chen Xiaohai standing alone in the smoking area, leisurely smoking a cigarette.

His eyes flickered slightly, so he walked over.

"What?!"

Chen Xiaohai's face was full of astonishment as he looked at Fang Cheng.

That expression seemed to reveal his inner thoughts: I was just saying it casually, but you really are not polite, coming to me when you have trouble.

Fang Cheng found Chen Xiaohai precisely to ask him about how one could become a sparring partner.

As for the excuse, it was ready-made: his grandfather was ill, the family lacked money, and he urgently needed to make some extra cash.

Chen Xiaohai was stunned for a long while before stuttering:

"A-Cheng, the sparring partner industry is not easy to do; the club guards the gate very strictly..."

Indeed.

Sparring was very profitable; calculated at a minimum hourly wage of 500 yuan, fighting two matches a day would bring in 30,000 yuan a month.

Compared to ordinary wage earners whose monthly salary was less than 4,000, it could be said to be very tempting.

However, this job was not something anyone who wanted to do it could do.

Although it belonged to the nature of a temporary job, the club still needed to bear related medical risks, so the assessment was very strict.

If someone wanted to be a professional boxer, they just paid money; whether they succeeded was another matter, which at most affected the club's performance and reputation.

Wanting to be a sparring partner could be said to be even harder than being a boxer in certain aspects.

The primary condition was a strong Physique, a solid build, and being able to take a beating.

Secondly, having practiced Boxing and slightly understanding some techniques.

Finally, they had to be someone whose background was well understood by the club, while also gaining recognition from the Personnel Department and the Coaching Department.

Therefore, many sparring partners were retired professional athletes familiar with each other.

Or amateur boxers who came out of the club and didn't get to fight in matches.

Fang Cheng was also slightly aware of these situations, and then said in a sincere tone:

"That is why I came to trouble Brother Hai, to see if you have any way?"

"This..."

Chen Xiaohai's expression appeared very complicated.

The boast had already been spoken, he could not just slap his own face, right?

Fang Cheng waited quietly.

Originally, he could also go find Xu Maocai for help, but being a sparring partner would inevitably conflict with his main job.

The other party might find an excuse to shirk, and Fang Cheng would not feel too embarrassed to say it out loud.

Chen Xiaohai pondered for a moment, and suddenly his eyes lit up:

"There is a way, I am just afraid you will misunderstand."

"Our Karate Department just had a suspended Dongying competitor arrive. That bastard hits very hard and has continuously injured several people; now no one dares to take his gig."

"But the club still treats this guy like a treasure—who told him to pay so much money!"

Speaking of this, Chen Xiaohai raised his head to look at Fang Cheng.

"Why don't you go to the Personnel Department tomorrow to apply and try? They have been recruiting people lately; if they can't find a suitable candidate, they might loosen the conditions."

"It is just that being a sparring partner makes it very easy to get injured, you had better think it through clearly..."

Hearing this, Fang Cheng pondered for a little while and asked:

"Does Karate also have wrestling and grappling techniques?"

Chen Xiaohai was stunned for a moment and replied, "Yes."

Fang Cheng nodded, then smiled and said, "Thank you, Brother Hai."

Being a sparring partner definitely carried the risk of injury.

But in this world, what thing could be done to ensure zero risk?

His eyes were bright as he looked at the skills displayed on the panel.

[Leg Raise lv0 (83/100)]

He decided to add some intensity to himself again to make the slowing progress bar slightly faster.

When the Leg Raise skill successfully promoted to lv1 and attribute points came in, doing this matter should be much safer.