Fame and Fortune?

"Darts in actual combat?"

"It actually works just like sparring—the proficiency goes up so much!" Chen Jue stared at the new prompt, momentarily stunned.

He felt like he'd found another way to improve his [Darts] proficiency.

Compared with simply throwing at a fixed target, this moving target was clearly more challenging. The greater the difficulty, the faster his proficiency increased.

Earlier, Chen Jue had thrown a dart at the dog on impulse. He'd been afraid the Pit Bull would go berserk and keep biting people.

As for why he hadn't acted while it was biting someone, he'd been afraid his skill wasn't good enough. He might fail to take down the Pit Bull and accidentally injure the little boy instead.

The darts he'd bought weren't sharp, but their tips were highly penetrating.

When he'd browsed the seller's product photos online, he'd seen an expert hired by the seller demonstrate that even without a sharp edge, the darts could easily pierce tree bark and sink three inches into the wood.

With that much penetrating power, it had taken just one throw to pierce the throat of a large, tough, vicious dog like the Pit Bull.

If he'd missed and hit the little boy instead, Chen Jue himself would probably be sitting in a cell right now!

As he pondered, a pleasant, melodious female voice sounded behind him. "Hello!"

He turned around and saw that the pretty teacher who practiced the Rope Dart had just finished giving her statement, too.

"Let's get acquainted. I'm Wu Fang."

"I saw how good you were with darts at the park earlier! Did you go to a sports school, or did you learn martial arts from your family?" Wu Fang studied Chen Jue curiously.

Chen Jue was momentarily taken aback. He'd been thinking of using the family-inherited, roundabout approach to spend more time getting to know her, but after showing off a little, she'd actually come over to strike up a conversation with him.

"I taught myself to throw darts. I'm only average, really! Lots of people are better than me." Chen Jue scratched his head bashfully.

Looking at her handsome features and curvaceous figure, the lecherous flirt found himself smitten.

"You taught yourself and still managed to pierce its throat with one throw?" Wu Fang was surprised.

She practiced throwing darts herself. Though hers was the Rope Dart, she knew something about how difficult ordinary darts were, given how the skills overlapped.

To do what Chen Jue had done—pierce the throat of a frenzied dog from within five meters—required more than just dart-throwing skill. He also needed a steady mind, tremendous courage, and exceptionally keen eyesight.

Miss even one of those prerequisites, and it would be very difficult to hit a dog in the throat.

Let alone kill it with a single throw!

"I graduated from a sports school and know several college classmates who practice darts. Even they probably couldn't have done what you did earlier—pierce its throat with one throw." Wu Fang sighed.

She asked Chen Jue's name, then took out her phone to add him on WeChat.

Clearly, this pretty young woman who practiced traditional martial arts was interested in Chen Jue.

But as they chatted, a commotion broke out inside the police station behind them.

"They must have started fighting!"

"Grandpa Liu really is something. He's so old, and he's still getting into fights." Wu Fang explained helplessly.

As it turned out, she knew the old man from the park. They lived in the same nearby neighborhood.

While giving their statements inside, she'd seen the family of the old man who'd been knocked down arrive at the station to demand an explanation.

Their elderly relative had been shoved over and sent to the hospital, with several broken bones. It was only natural that the family was furious and making a scene.

Besides, they were all locals from Hang City. Almost every family owned a home that had been demolished for redevelopment, and they were all worth at least tens of millions. They had connections and means, and money wasn't an issue for them.

They'd come to hassle the dog owner's family simply to vent their anger.

As for the little boy's family, they were probably still at the hospital with him.

When both sides met again later to discuss compensation, they'd probably end up fighting like this, too.

"What a mess!"

"If you want a dog, go raise one in the countryside. What's wrong with keeping it there?" Chen Jue shrugged.

Big cities were all concrete and steel, with families packed into apartment buildings.

The homes were nowhere near as spacious as those in the countryside. If you kept a dog indoors without proper ventilation or regular cleaning, the smell alone could knock a visitor out.

As a young man who'd grown up in the countryside, Chen Jue couldn't understand the way city people thought when they decided to keep dogs.

After chatting with Wu Fang and adding each other on WeChat, they'd made a preliminary acquaintance.

They did have something in common to talk about, but Chen Jue's current appearance really wasn't doing him any favors.

Until he improved his looks, he'd probably have a hard time attracting this teacher, whom all the old men at the park agreed had high standards.

He watched her get into a taxi and leave, then checked the time on his phone.

It was almost dinner time, so Chen Jue went to a nearby commercial street and treated himself to a good meal at a Chinese restaurant.

He returned to the talent apartment, intending to go to bed early. He'd spent a lot of energy that afternoon, but just then, his phone rang.

It was an unfamiliar number. When he answered, he found out it was the father of the little boy who'd been bitten.

The man had gotten Chen Jue's number from the police and was calling specifically to thank him.

He also said that once his son's condition improved and he was out of intensive care, he wanted to thank Chen Jue in person. He asked Chen Jue to leave him an address so the family could visit and express their gratitude.

Hearing that, Chen Jue politely declined.

His throw had only been the final act. The real turning point had been Wu Fang's Rope Dart strikes against the dog.

So after declining the boy's father's offer over the phone, Chen Jue hung up.

But when he saw that the man had added him on WeChat using his number, Chen Jue thought it over and couldn't bring himself to refuse, so he accepted.

The boy's father was probably still at the hospital. In the middle of all his rushing around, he sent Chen Jue a fist-bump emoji and a few words of thanks, then didn't say anything more.

It's good that the boy has a reasonable father. I hope he gets better soon! Chen Jue prayed silently.

He was just about to order another set of darts online so he could practice.

To his surprise, his phone rang again!

Chen Jue was a little puzzled. He'd had the same phone number for over ten years, and ever since graduating from college, it had been as quiet as a damp firecracker.

Aside from delivery drivers, takeout couriers, and all kinds of sales calls, hardly anyone ever called him.

The people he knew usually contacted him on WeChat, so they rarely called.

The number looked familiar. When he answered, it wasn't the little boy's father this time. It was Zhu Hongbin, whom he'd run into twice at Jingtanghui!

Somehow, Zhu Hongbin had heard that a club member had done something big that afternoon: he'd killed a vicious dog with a single dart and rescued a little boy.

A reporter from 1818 Golden Eye had even contacted the club and sent over an interview request. They wanted to visit and interview the member, turning the incident into a hot news story and giving the dart club some good publicity in the process.

The city was in the middle of a major sporting event, and as the club's owner, Zhu Hongbin naturally took any chance to get on the news seriously.

But after asking around, he discovered that the member who'd done the big deed was Chen Jue, the talented newcomer he'd just recruited.

What a coincidence!

"Brother Chen Jue, you're about to become famous!"

"But don't worry. Our club is a legitimate organization, and we'll protect your privacy."

"I'll talk to Station Master Wang at the TV station and ask 1818 Golden Eye to make the story sound good. Then I'll get some online media accounts to promote you, too. I guarantee you'll gain both fame and fortune!"

Just one update tonight. I'm not in the best shape; I probably pushed myself too hard over the past few days.

Pianfeng will spend more time with family this weekend and take a break to recover.