Playing Outside the Box

Zhou En faced Li Hui, his left fist forward, his right fist held near his chest, a Sanda defensive stance.

The referee saw that both sides were ready and blew his whistle.

The match between Zhou En and Li Hui officially began.

"Coach Liu Yu, what do you think of this match? I heard many people are paying attention to it!" Zhang Li asked Liu Yu beside her to liven up the atmosphere.

Liu Yu frowned slightly but still replied honestly, "The key to this match is whether Zhou En can find a weakness in the Sun Character Consecutive Fist."

"Only if Zhou En can find a weakness in the Sun Character Consecutive Fist will he have a chance to defeat Li Hui."

As expected of a professional commentator, Zhang Li immediately found a loophole in Liu Yu's words and followed up with a question.

"So, you're saying that if Zhou En can't find a weakness in the Sun Character Consecutive Fist, he won't be able to defeat Li Hui. Is that correct?"

Although unwilling, Liu Yu reluctantly nodded.

"Then, based on your experience, is it possible for Zhou En to find a way to counter the Sun Character Consecutive Fist?" Zhang Li continued to ask.

Liu Yu hesitated for a moment before slowly saying, "The simplest way to compensate for the weakness of the Sun Character Consecutive Fist is to learn Wing Chun. After all, the Sun Character Consecutive Fist originated from Wing Chun."

The implication was that Zhou En would be unable to learn Wing Chun in such a short amount of time.

Zhang Li took over, saying, "It seems that student Zhou En is not favored by everyone. Although as a student of the school, I dare not comment on the school's decision."

"But I still want to share the information I've gathered with everyone. As you all know, Zhou En was expelled from the school."

Upon hearing this, the stadium erupted in discussion.

"If Zhou En was expelled, how could he be competing here?" someone immediately shouted.

Zhang Li cleared her throat and said, "That's because Zhou En is now auditing classes and attending school."

As soon as she said this, everyone burst into whispers.

An auditing student, to put it nicely, was someone the school allowed to attend classes, but not an official student.

"Why was Zhou En expelled? There must be a reason!" someone immediately posed the question.

Zhang Li said, "It's because Zhou En didn't read the prepared script during the flag-raising ceremony."

Zhang Li's words were like an atomic bomb dropped into a small lake, instantly causing an uproar.

"What? They expelled Zhou En just for that?"

"Yeah, what kind of lousy school is this? I'm not studying here anymore."

"Let's go, guys, let's go to the principal's office and demand an explanation from the school."

"How can this school be like this? It's outrageous."

"Exactly, exactly."

Hearing everyone speak up for him, Zhou En was deeply moved. His eyes felt a little moist.

"Zhou En is currently in his third year of university. If he had to repeat his final year of high school, there wouldn't be enough time. And finding a job without a diploma would be extremely difficult."

"Just when Zhou En was at his wit's end, Coach Liu Yu found him and gave him an idea." Zhang Li paused here.

"Coach Liu Yu told him that if he could become an official team member and represent the school in the Inter-School Competition, Zhou En, as a public figure, would surely be investigated by the authorities."

"The school would then have no choice but to recall Zhou En. Therefore, this match is crucial for him."

The crowd nodded in agreement, and some girls even clasped their hands together, praying for Zhou En.

Li Hui sneered and stopped talking. He knew that if he didn't make a move, Zhang Li would continue talking.

He swiftly threw his left fist forward. Zhou En stared intently at Li Hui's left fist. After his recent studies, Zhou En had a general understanding of various martial arts styles.

Taekwondo, as an offensive martial art, revealed ruthless aggression in its techniques.

A typical defensive stance aimed to protect one's vital points, but the Taekwondo defensive stance was designed to preempt the opponent. Li Hui feigned a punch with his lead left fist.

His sole purpose was to paralyze the opponent. Once the opponent was successfully lulled into a false sense of security, his hidden right fist would strike swiftly, aiming for a knockout.

Facing Li Hui's left punch, a smile crept onto Zhou En's lips. Instead of dodging, he charged directly towards Li Hui's abdomen.

As long as he could get close, he could use the Sun Character Consecutive Fist and win this match.

From the stands, Liu Yu watched this scene and slightly shook her head, parting her lips slightly, "In this match, Zhou En has lost."

Thud. The sound of a fist hitting flesh echoed in the arena.

Zhou En was sent flying backward like a spinning top.

What happened? What's going on? The crowd was cheering for Zhou En just moments ago, and now he's been sent flying?

And he was defeated in one move, just one single move.

Everyone let out sighs of disappointment.

"One second, two seconds, three seconds..." The referee walked over to Zhou En and began counting.

Zhou En's head was still spinning. He couldn't understand why. Wasn't the left punch supposed to be a feint? How could this have happened?

This didn't follow the script.

He got up from the ground with some difficulty, shook his dizzy head, and looked at Li Hui in front of him before asking.

"You're not playing by the book?"

Li Hui chuckled twice, looking at Zhou En as if he were an idiot, but he didn't offer any explanation.

Zhou En knew he had been tricked and a surge of anger rose within him. He stared coldly at Li Hui.

This time, Zhou En didn't give Li Hui the chance to make the first move. He attacked first.

Taekwondo emphasizes offense, so I'll force you to defend.

Seeing Zhou En charging at him, Li Hui couldn't help but sneer. If it were in the past, Li Hui would have crossed his arms and waited for Zhou En to attack before neutralizing his moves.

He would have even thrown a punch back at Zhou En. But ever since he learned Zhou En's ultimate move was the Sun Character Consecutive Fist a week ago, Li Hui wouldn't give Zhou En a chance to get close.

He launched a spinning kick, accurately hitting Zhou En's abdomen.

Zhou En felt as if his abdomen had been struck by a battering ram. He immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.

Zhou En crouched down, clutching his abdomen with both hands, his face contorted in pain.

"Is Zhou En even capable? How can he be so weak!"

"Li Hui's spinning kick just now was so cool."

"Sigh, bench trainees can never be a match for official team members, no matter how much they train."

"Man, just give up. Going back to repeat your third year of high school might not be a bad thing."

Hearing the murmurs from the crowd, Zhou En's heart felt like it was being twisted by a knife. He truly didn't want to give up. He was already twenty-one years old. Repeating his third year of high school and then going to college meant he wouldn't graduate until he was twenty-five.

Not everyone had that kind of courage.