Taking on apprentices

Although all five of them attacked together, Coach Ma was indeed stronger in terms of punching technique and physical fitness, and his punches were more tricky.

Coach Xu's strength was surprisingly great. Gu Nan dodged to the side and countered with an elbow.

Spit: "You brute."

While they were talking, he punched each of the three students once, sending them away from the platform.

But they seem unwilling.

He quickly got up, wiped his mouth, and his eyes were full of fighting spirit.

Gu Nan slowly rubbed her wrist: "I gave you guys a chance."

The spectators were dumbfounded: "She's taking on five people at once, isn't she nervous?"

"These three are the star performers of the boxing gym. If they can be easily taken down by a woman at the same time, this boxing gym..."

Upon hearing the voice, Gu Nan kindly explained, "It's because I'm too strong, even though they are indeed a bit weak."

"How arrogant."

"Coach Ma is still on stage, and both students are Coach Ma's apprentices. Isn't she slapping Coach Ma in the face?"

Someone whistled and teased, "They've already said what they wanted to say. It'll be interesting if they get knocked down later."

Gu Nan blocked the students' attacks with a punch and laughed arrogantly, "Knock them down? I'm afraid they won't let me have my fill of beating them."

"Joke, that force."

The audience was buzzing with chatter, everyone watching intently as the six people on stage battled back and forth. The woman was outnumbered five to one, and even after 10 minutes, she was still in control.

Two men in the corner exchanged a glance, leisurely sipping their tea. The man in the tracksuit asked, "Do you think this woman can win?"

The other man casually smoothed out the wrinkles in his suit, slowly picked up his teacup, and said in a profound tone, "Two fists can't beat four hands."

The man in the tracksuit laughed, “They’re obviously trying to wear her down,” he shook his head, “too arrogant.”

The man in the suit: "You've got some skills."

The man in the tracksuit said, "Coach Ma has a lot of dirty tricks up his sleeve. Careful people can easily fall into his trap, let alone this..." He scoffed, "Pride comes before a fall."

They didn't speak, but some kind-hearted people in the audience did.

Noticing that Coach Ma's toes were changing direction and moving behind Gu Nan, they quickly shouted a warning: "Watch out behind you!"

Gu Nan glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, ignored him, and waved to the kind person with a grin: "Thanks, I'll reward you with a match with me later."

Coach Hou shouted, "How could you repay kindness with enmity... Hey!"

Before the exclamation could be finished, Gu Nan grabbed Coach Ma's arm, who was launching a sneak attack, and slammed his knee against it. Coach Ma staggered back several steps in pain, leaning against the railing and panting.

"call."

Coach Hou clutched his chest, exhaling the breath he had been holding back. He was startled to feel the heat rising from his body and chuckled to himself, thinking, "I know how Nan-jie is, so what's there to be nervous about?"

After a moment of calming down, I realized that Sister Nan's fighting style was too thrilling. What kind of good person would wait until the fist hits the face before dealing with the person who threw the punch?

While onlookers couldn't help but worry for her, she herself seemed to be having a great time.

Suddenly, a cell phone rang in the bag. Coach Hou hesitated for half a second, afraid of being beaten up, and didn't dare to open the bag. While Sister Nan and the onlookers were talking nonsense, he held up the bag to indicate that someone was looking for him.

Gu Nan nodded, his nonchalant expression fading, and glanced at the five people: "Let's finish this quickly."

With another punch, the force shattered the invisible particles in the air, and landed on the three students with a rustling sound. The force was enormous, and in less than a minute, all three crashed through the horizontal bar and fell off the stage.

Gu Nan didn't bother to look back, and beckoned to the two coaches.

"Excuse me, I need to take this call and I can't play with you guys anymore."

Coach Ma's face turned pale, and the arrogance in his eyes turned into sinister stubbornness.

But some people, who just love a good show, said: "Isn't this like rubbing Coach Ma's face in the ground?"

Sure enough, Coach Ma's face darkened even more.

Gu Nan turned around and gave the speaker a thumbs up: "Very good, anger boost."

After defeating Coach Xu with a few punches, and before everyone could even close their mouths in shock, he used the same trick again to knock Coach Ma off the stage.

The venue fell silent instantly.

Silence reigned.

Gu Nan shrugged, looking at Coach Ma who was lying on the ground with a smile, and said regretfully, "But your anger doesn't seem to be of any use."

"Bravo!" Someone shouted first, and then the entire venue instantly erupted in cheers and applause.

It almost ruptured my eardrums.

The two men in the corner exchanged a glance, but neither of them spoke.

The man in the suit narrowed his eyes, then turned his head to instruct the underling standing beside him, whispering a few words to him. After watching the underling leave, he looked at the woman on the stage again, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

Gu Nan looked longingly at the restless faces below the stage, took off her equipment, made a "shh" gesture, and the venue quieted down.

Her voice was sweet and her face was completely innocent: "Sorry, I have a bit of face blindness. Who was it that wanted to fight me just now?"

The group looked at each other, but no one said a word.

The quiet venue amplified the sound of footsteps. Coach Hou, unusually embarrassed by walking, stood over and said, "No one's calling you, the call is about to end."

"oh."

Gu Nan took off her boxing uniform, took her bag, and said, "Let's go."

Everyone stared at her, their gazes following her every move.

She suddenly stopped and turned around: "Why don't you let me know next time you're hiring a coach? I can help you vet them."

...

Coach Hou pursed his lips and thought to himself, "Then we might as well just shut down our boxing gym."

Gu Nan stared at Coach Hou, noticing his expression suggesting disagreement with her suggestion. He then grimaced and left with a regretful look.

There was a red light directly opposite the exit hall. She leaned against the billboard pillar as if she had no bones, propped herself up on one leg, lazily took out her cigarette case, casually pulled one out, and put it in her mouth.

He patted his pockets and realized he hadn't brought a lighter.

She looked around, but couldn't see any small shops. A man strode towards her.

"Hello."

Gu Nan looked down at the scar on his hand, didn't grip it, and asked, "Do you have a lighter?"

The man paused, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and lit it for her.

Thanks.

The man gave a blank "oh," sensing that things were going a bit strange.

"What is your name?"

Gu Nan took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, the smoke swirling between the two of them, blurring their figures. She floated lightly and said, "Didn't you come here specifically to see me?"

The man was stunned: "You were waiting for me?"

Gu Nan leaned back, glanced at him from head to toe, and thought to herself, "How dare you be so shameless."

She raised her chin: "Waiting for the red light."

The red light was decreasing second by second, and she stared at the flashing red numbers, "You have 15 seconds left."

The man said, "Our boss would like to be friends with you."

"knew."

As the red light ended, she stubbed out her cigarette, threw it in the trash can, and tidied her clothes.

"Then you..."

"They're gone."

The man asked, puzzled, "Huh?"

Gu Nan turned around with a smile on his lips. Before he could speak, he caught sight of a familiar figure at the entrance of the boxing stadium. The figure was tall and slender, with unparalleled beauty and charm.

She was stunned for a moment, and before she could look away, the man looked up and met her gaze from afar, his deep-set eyes lost in thought.

"Sister Nan?"

Gu Nan glanced at him, turned her head as the green light came on, and ran away.

"Eh."

-

"Why is she running?" Qiu Jingxun chased after her for a couple of steps, then turned around and saw that Lu Yushi hadn't moved, so he asked in confusion.

Lu Yushi watched Gu Nan's departing figure until she was completely out of sight before shifting his gaze to the man still staring blankly under the billboard.

He didn't speak.

Qiu Jingxun followed his gaze to the man, surprised: "Isn't that someone from the Shen family? How could she be... Hiss, could she have been sent by the Shen family?"

Lu Yushi was silent for a moment: "No."

Qiu Jingxun asked in surprise, "Didn't you say you'd rather kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free? Why are you so sure?"

Coach Hou came out through the glass door, his face full of regret. If he had arrived just 10 minutes earlier, he would have run into Sister Nan.

I wonder who would win if these two were to fight.

"Young Master Lu, Young Master Qiu," Coach Hou whispered, "Young Master Shen is inside."

The two exchanged a glance, and Lu Yushi turned back again. The four-way intersection was bustling with people, but a beautiful figure was missing.

The old building sign on the street corner had a crack, and the fallen plastic fluttered in the wind, much like the hem of her skirt that was lifted up when she ran.

Why is she running?

He didn't know either.

-

"Phew." Gu Nan let out a long sigh, then looked back at the empty path and began to doubt herself.

Why did she run away?

If you see it, you see it; sometimes it's easy to run away.

She patted her head, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

When she caught a glimpse of Lu Yu, her mind went blank, and her body reacted before her mind could process it, and she took off running.

Even now, she still doesn't understand why her brain had suddenly stopped working.

Full of questions, Shui Lingling rushed to Sunny Cafe, only to be late.

The outdoor café wasn't crowded. The woman, with her hair in a high ponytail, looked tense and her gaze darted around. She frequently checked her watch and occasionally looked up at the street.

Gu Nan stood at the opposite corner of the coffee shop, took out a mask from his pocket and put it on, watching quietly as the woman changed out of her gorgeous outfit and sat there dressed simply, with the seams even slightly faded from washing. But her raised neck seemed to suit this ordinary attire better.

"Sorry, I was delayed on the way."

Seeing Gu Nan approach, the woman silently breathed a sigh of relief, then lowered her head shyly: "I thought Teacher Yan wasn't coming."

"No." Gu Nan put down his bag, didn't touch the coffee the woman offered, stared at her for a moment, and said, "I need to know why you're learning chess."

The woman bit her lip and murmured, "Teacher Yan must have heard something that day."

Gu Nan nodded, without denying it.

“Three years ago, my father was hospitalized, and I really couldn’t afford the money. Someone told me that the club was hiring, and that the money in that kind of place was plentiful and quick. I had no other choice but to go, and luckily…” She paused, then gave a sad laugh.

“I don’t know if I’m lucky or not. I met Lin Haoyu. He’s a good person. He didn’t force me and even paid my dad’s medical bills. Later, I’m not sure if it was out of gratitude that I agreed to be with him.”

Gu Nan crossed her arms, leaned back, and nodded. "Three years."

“I always thought he was sincere to me, but I never expected…” The woman’s voice choked with sobs as she exhaled and gritted her teeth, “I never imagined that after three years of relationship, I would be the other woman.”

Gu Nan remained silent. When she went to Xuncheng years ago, she had heard about Lin Haoyu and Shen Manman's on-again, off-again relationship. It had been almost five years since then, and according to the order of arrival, the woman in front of her was indeed the other woman.

But whether she was a mistress or not, Gu Nan lowered her eyes and thought it wasn't that simple. She looked the woman up and down, lowered her arm and tapped the table lightly, and asked, "Do you still want to be with him?"

"Of course not!" the woman blurted out without thinking.

Gu Nan nodded calmly.

“I know my family situation. I have kept a record of every penny he has spent on me over the years, and I will pay him back.”

Gu Nan: "What does he owe you?"

The woman tightened her grip on the coffee cup, saying slowly and deliberately, "Take it back."

She looked up solemnly, her eyes resolute: "Teacher Yan, I want to learn chess from you. I learned chess before to please Lin Jianye, but now I want to do it for myself."

Gu Nan stared at her for a long time without saying a word.

Over time, the woman's determination faded almost completely, replaced by a sense of loss and inferiority creeping onto her brow.

Yan Yi is mysterious; no matter how many tempting offers the Chess Association made, they couldn't sway her. So why could she...?

"Then please offer me a cup of tea."

Her thoughts abruptly stopped, and the woman's eyes lit up: "You agreed?"