Wang Yi was genuinely amazed by Wang Liang's footwork.
He linked a hop step into a spin, then followed it with a Souma step. The whole sequence was incredibly smooth.
Nothing about those moves suggested that Wang Liang was a purely amateur player.
As Wang Liang came off the court, Wang Yi was the first to greet him, raising his right hand for a resounding high five.
Then he ruffled Wang Liang's hair. "That move was beautiful! You amazed me!"
Wang Yaoxue came over and patted Wang Liang on the shoulder. "You've got it, Wang Liang! You made the Wang Family Village proud, and you made all of us Chinese proud!"
An internet celebrity came over too. "Wang Liang, your footwork's amazing! Why didn't you show it earlier? If you'd used it sooner, you might already have beaten that Japanese kid two-nil."
Wang Liang scratched his head, a little embarrassed, and chuckled. "My footwork's actually pretty average. I've just practiced that sequence a whole lot. I use it to get past people at school all the time, but they often say I traveled."
Hearing that, Wang Yi understood.
He remembered when he was in high school. He'd loved calligraphy and practiced writing all the time.
Their class had calligraphy lessons, but the schoolwork was heavy, so most of the students hardly practiced.
Yu Bin, however, often came over to practice with Wang Yi while he was writing.
But Yu Bin didn't practice strokes or structure.
He practiced only three characters.
Somehow, he'd gotten hold of a Xifeng Liquor box, cut out the three characters for "Xifeng Liquor," and practiced writing them every day.
Over time, he managed to make those three characters look almost exactly like the original.
At least to anyone who didn't practice calligraphy, they looked like the