Supreme Warrior in the City

Zhao Ping’an was silent for quite a while before he finally looked up at Su Yang and nodded slowly, ”I’ll use this method!”

Su Yang smiled, reached out and patted Zhao Ping’an on the shoulder, ”You’ve got some guts. Since that’s the case, you should finish what you need to do first, so you don’t have any regrets.”

Zhao Ping’an’s eyes reddened as he wiped away the tears in the corners of his eyes and nodded forcefully, then hurried out of the martial arts hall.

Su Yang followed from a distance, not disturbing Zhao Ping’an, wanting to see what he would do.

The first thing Zhao Ping’an did was go to the bank and withdraw all the little over a thousand yuan he had in his account. However, he didn’t leave but stood in front of the ATM, pondered for a moment, and eventually inserted the card Fu Dewei had given him and withdrew another two thousand yuan.

With over three thousand yuan in hand, Zhao Ping’an went to a department store and bought many things, including two brand-new schoolbags, some stationery, and a few children’s books.

Then, taking a detour, Zhao Ping’an stopped at a computer accessory store and spent over a hundred yuan on a decent game controller.

With these items, Zhao Ping’an first headed home. It was already noon, and his younger brother and sister had come back from school.

There was leftover food in the pot from when their mother left in the morning; although the siblings were still in primary school, they had learned to warm up their own meals.

The two children were quietly sitting at home eating when Zhao Ping’an suddenly returned, overwhelming them with joy. They ran over and hugged him, calling out ”brother, brother” nonstop.

Although they lived together, the fact was that the siblings seldom saw Zhao Ping’an.

He would leave the house at 5:30 in the morning when his brother and sister were still asleep. He’d practice boxing at the martial arts hall for two and a half hours. At 7:30, he would grab a steamed bun on the go and then head off to do odd jobs to earn money. When lucky, he could find work as a tour guide, which gave him a bit more time; on a bad day, he’d have to look for something to do on a construction site.

He usually wouldn’t return home until after 10:00 at night, by which time his brother and sister had already finished their homework and gone to bed. The occasions they could see each other were truly scarce, which naturally made the siblings very happy.

Zhao Ping’an hugged his brother and sister affectionately, stroked their heads, and shared lunch with the two children. He then took out the new schoolbags and stationery from his bag, which excited the children even more, making them shout with delight.

Especially when they saw the children’s books Zhao Ping’an brought out, the siblings were ecstatic. Living in such a household, they hardly had any toys. Their greatest wish was to have some picture books with fairy tales.

Watching his brother and sister’s joyful faces, Zhao Ping’an felt his eyes well up.

After the meal, he saw his brother and sister out, then Zhao Ping’an returned home.

He had withdrawn over three thousand yuan in the morning and, having spent over three hundred, was left with less than three thousand.

Zhao Ping’an took out two thousand five hundred yuan and carefully placed it where his mother hid money. That way, she would see the cash upon returning home.

Having done all this, Zhao Ping’an hesitated for a moment, then took out a piece of paper and wrote down a line — Mom, I’ve taken a job out of town and will be away for a while. This is the advance payment; please don’t worry about me.

Placing the note on top of the two thousand five hundred yuan, Zhao Ping’an’s tears suddenly streamed down.

He sobbed quietly for a long time, wiped away the tears from his eyes, closed the door of the house, and resolutely left.

Passing through three small alleys, Zhao Ping’an saw his mother sitting at the entrance of the alley with her street stall from afar.

Zhao Ping’an’s mother didn’t have a job and could only run a little street stall here, selling snacks.

There were few people at noon, and Zhao Ping’an’s mother arranged her pushcart neatly, then took out her own boiled water, eating dry, hard steamed buns.

This place wasn’t far from home, but she never went back for lunch, because staying here at midday allowed her to earn an extra ten or so yuan. And ten or so yuan were enough to cover the daily cost of vegetables for the whole family.

Zhao Ping’an had made some pickles for his mother, but she was reluctant to eat them, usually eating dry steamed buns just like this. Perhaps because the buns were too dry, she would easily choke after a few bites and had to drink more water to help swallow.

Seeing his mother’s graying hair and aged face, Zhao Ping’an’s tears silently fell once again.

After a long silence, Zhao Ping’an knelt down and bowed three times to that hunched figure. Then he stood up and resolutely left the alley.

Su Yang stood quietly on the rooftop above the alley, silently watching everything. He didn’t speak, nor did he make a sound, as if he was an outsider.

Since ancient times, it has been tough to fulfill both loyalty and filial piety. Many people only talk about this dilemma, but no one knows, when actually faced with such a choice, what should one choose?

Should one cling to life to take care of the family? Or repay the master’s kindness and fight to protect Dewei Martial Arts Hall?

Zhao Ping’an walked out of the alley, the tears on his face had already dried. He held the game controller and walked five more streets before finally arriving outside a dilapidated old house.

Zhao Ping’an pushed the door open and entered. A chubby guy was squatting at the doorway, slurping noodles. It was Fatty, the one from Dewei Martial Arts Hall who had the closest relationship with Zhao Ping’an.

Upon seeing Zhao Ping’an, Fatty immediately stood up, ”Ping’an, have you eaten? I’ve got noodles from home, come have some?”

”I’ve eaten already,” Zhao Ping’an said with a smile.

”Weren’t you at the martial arts hall at noon?” Fatty asked excitedly, ”Hey, you can’t talk about how awesome you were today, defeating the eldest and the second senior brothers. We had an agreement, huh? Once you master martial arts, you promised to teach me!”

”Given the chance, I will definitely teach you!” Zhao Ping’an smiled again, handing the game controller to Fatty, ”This is for you.”

”What?” Fatty took a look and was instantly overjoyed, ”A new game controller? Oh, Ping’an, where... where did you get this? This is great, from now on we can play games together, no more taking turns watching!”

Fatty’s family had a very old gaming console, but only one controller. And Fatty’s family was poorer than Zhao Ping’an’s. Together, they couldn’t afford another game controller, and usually, they could only take turns playing and watching. Despite this, both enjoyed it immensely.

”Okay,” Zhao Ping’an answered with a smile, but in reality, his eyes were filled with sorrow.

After tonight, even with two game controllers, it would be impossible for him to play with Fatty anymore. He was giving this game controller because he had promised Fatty that he would get him one. He didn’t have many friends or many promises to keep. The only friend, the only promise, how could he not fulfill it?

”Hey, let’s not talk about that, let’s play a game together!” Fatty said excitedly, ”Contra, we’ll go through the levels together. It’s been a long time since we played together. But just so you know, you can’t ask me for extra lives, I’ll set you up with thirty lives.”