Huang Liang Becomes a Disciple

That day, Hao Shuai and his master were practicing on the Wooden Dummy in the storeroom.

"Master Ip! Someone's here to learn kung fu from you!!!"

Third Aunt, who was resting in a chair because of her injured foot, suddenly shouted, startling Ip Man and Hao Shuai.

Ip Man and Hao Shuai walked out and saw a handsome young man wearing a cap, carrying a bag, and holding a flyer. Ip Man asked, "You want to learn Wing Chun?"

"Let me take a look first! I don't even know what Wing Chun is."

Seeing the familiar scene and hearing the familiar lines, Hao Shuai, standing to one side, knew that this guy, who was seven-tenths as handsome as himself, was Huang Liang from the movie.

Ip Man was delighted to have another person come to learn from him. He began introducing Wing Chun to Huang Liang. "Then let me explain first. Wing Chun is a type of close-range southern martial art..."

"You don't need to tell me all that. Fight me. If you win, I'll pay the tuition."

Huang Liang's words were arrogant, and they sounded especially grating to Ip Man. Even with Ip Man's temperament, he could not stand them.

"Fine!" With that, Ip Man prepared to teach Huang Liang a lesson.

At that moment, Hao Shuai stopped Ip Man and said, "Master, not every stray dog or cat is worth you personally making a move against. I've trained for so long now, so let me use him for some practical combat."

"Then watch your strength." Seeing that Hao Shuai had a point, Ip Man instructed him.

"Kid, beat me first if you want to be worthy of my master making a move himself," Hao Shuai said as he stood before Huang Liang.

"Then let me see what you're made of." Huang Liang placed the bag on his back onto a wooden rack, stretched his limbs, and assumed a boxer's stance.

"Wing Chun, Hao Shuai." Hao Shuai also took up Wing Chun's opening stance, introducing himself in imitation of Ip Man.

"So handsome?" Huang Liang asked in confusion. You may be just a tiny bit more handsome than me, but isn't it a little inappropriate to say it so openly?

Hao Shuai could not be bothered to explain.

The two assumed their stances and faced each other. In the end, Huang Liang lost his patience first and threw a right hook at Hao Shuai's face.

Hao Shuai blocked it directly with his left hand, then closed in for close-range strikes. Since this was Hao Shuai's first real fight and he lacked combat experience, the two initially fought evenly.

But as Hao Shuai grew increasingly familiar with the moves, it turned into a one-sided beating~~

"I'm done, I'm done!" A few minutes later, after taking another punch to the eye socket, Huang Liang finally could not endure it any longer and shouted.

Looking at Huang Liang's bruised eye sockets, swollen red face, and bleeding nose, even Hao Shuai felt the pain. Mainly because Hao Shuai himself was still a novice and could not control the force in his hands as precisely as Ip Man could.

Huang Liang did not dare keep pretending to be tough. He truly could not take it anymore. Hao Shuai had been aiming entirely at his face.

Damn it, that's just bullying! Haven't you heard that you don't hit people in the face?

"Do you understand what Wing Chun is now?" Hao Shuai asked, refusing to let him off after gaining the upper hand.

"Master Ip, I didn't expect even your disciple Xiao Shuai to be this formidable!" Third Aunt chimed in from the side.

Huang Liang ignored Hao Shuai and Ip Man, grabbed his bag, and ran downstairs.

Ip Man did not go after Huang Liang. Now that he no longer had to worry about food or shelter, it did not matter much to him whether he took on disciples. Hao Shuai, however, knew Huang Liang would return.

Sure enough, around five or six in the afternoon, just as Hao Shuai and Ip Man were tidying up to head home, Huang Liang arrived on the rooftop with three men, looking aggressive as though a gang had come to settle a score.

"It's them." Huang Liang pointed at Hao Shuai and Ip Man as he spoke to the three men.

"Huang Liang, are you joking? Forget this uncle, but this guy is about the same age as me, and you couldn't beat him?" The kung fu kid Shi Xiaolong—no, Xu Shichang—looked at Huang Liang with disdain.

"He's pretty good! If you don't believe me, try him yourself!" Having gotten beaten up himself, Huang Liang probably wanted his friends to share in his suffering.

"I'll try him, then!" Xu Shichang immediately took off his coat and prepared to fight Hao Shuai.

"Hold on. Since you're going to fight, the three of you can come at me together. The sooner this is over, the sooner my master and I can go home!" Seeing that Ip Man had said nothing, Hao Shuai knew the matter had been left for him to handle.

"Against just you, why would the three of us need to attack together?" Xu Shichang said.

Since Xu Shichang refused, Hao Shuai could only satisfy his request.

Bang

Bang

Bang

In less than two minutes, Xu Shichang was just like Huang Liang, with bruised eye sockets and blood streaming from his nose.

"Well? Do you two want to give it a try as well?" Hao Shuai asked the remaining two.

"No, no, we surrender!" Seeing that even Xu Shichang, the best fighter among them, had been taught a harsh lesson, the other two shook their heads like rattles at Hao Shuai's question.

At this point, Huang Liang was completely convinced. Even the disciple was this formidable, let alone the master.

"Master, my name is Huang Liang. Please accept this disciple's bow." Huang Liang was a decisive man. Since he had conceded, he immediately asked to become a disciple.

Xu Shichang and the other two were quick-witted as well. Seeing Huang Liang kneel to become a disciple, they immediately dropped to their knees and bowed to Ip Man.

"Get up, all of you!" Ip Man was delighted to have gained four more disciples.

"Now that you've all become disciples, I'll be your Senior Brother from now on. Pay the tuition first." Knowing that Ip Man was too thin-skinned to bring up tuition himself, Hao Shuai spoke for him.

"Yes, Senior Brother!" The four of them got up and took out their money to pay the tuition.

"Master, this is their tuition." After collecting the fees from all four, Hao Shuai handed them to Ip Man.

"Good... good... It's getting late. The four of you should come here on time tomorrow morning, and I'll formally teach you kung fu." Ip Man accepted the money with a smile and spoke to Huang Liang and the others.

"Yes, Master!" After saying farewell to Ip Man and Hao Shuai, Huang Liang and the other three left the rooftop.

"Master, let's head back for dinner too. Master's wife is probably getting anxious waiting for us," Hao Shuai said to Ip Man.

"Then let's go!" Ip Man headed straight for the stairs.

Hao Shuai followed Ip Man back to his residence. Zhang Yongcheng had already prepared dinner and was waiting only for Hao Shuai and Ip Man.

After Hao Shuai and Ip Man washed their hands, the four gathered around the table and began eating.

After dinner, Ip Man's son, Ip Chun, went to the side to do his homework.

Ip Man told Zhang Yongcheng about the four people who had become disciples that day and gave her their tuition fees.

Zhang Yongcheng happily accepted the money. She was overjoyed that Ip Man's martial arts school had finally gotten on track.

Seeing that Ip Man and Zhang Yongcheng were in good spirits, Hao Shuai took the opportunity to say, "Master, you know I live alone beside the martial arts school. How about you all move in with me?"

"How could we do that, Xiao Shuai? We've already accepted far too much of your kindness." Ip Man refused without even considering it.

Hao Shuai had known from the beginning that Ip Man would refuse, but he still persuaded him. "Master, hear me out first. There are several reasons I want you to live with me. First, Master's wife's belly is already so big, yet she still lives in such a noisy environment. That isn't good for the baby's development. And this place is rather far from the martial arts school. Every day, Master's wife has to bring us food while heavily pregnant—it's dangerous on the way. Second, Ip Chun is at the age when he needs to study. Can he really settle down and study in this environment? Third, you know I don't have a single relative or friend in Hong Kong. You're the closest people I have. When I return alone to my place at night, my heart feels completely empty."

After hearing Hao Shuai's reasoning, Ip Man felt somewhat reluctant when Hao Shuai spoke of how empty he felt living alone. But Ip Man still had to see what Zhang Yongcheng thought, so he could only look at her.

The moment Hao Shuai saw that, he knew Ip Man was settled. Now it depended on Zhang Yongcheng, so he continued, "Master's wife, you also know that a grown man like me lives alone. No one cleans the house, and there's probably a layer of dust everywhere by now. If you move in, you can help me clean the place too, right?"

"All right!" Zhang Yongcheng was also decisive and agreed immediately.

"That's great! We're moving!" Ip Chun jumped up happily from the side.

"Then, Master, I'll head back first. I'll bring people over to move the things tomorrow morning!" Hao Shuai stood and said goodbye.

"Xiao Shuai, be careful on the way." Ip Man saw Hao Shuai out.

"My disciple... I truly owe him too much," Ip Man said to Zhang Yongcheng.

"Yes. There isn't much we can do to help him. All you can do is teach him with all your heart," Zhang Yongcheng said with a sigh.

"I will! It's late. Let's rest."