Dragon Tiger Leopard

Dragon Tiger Leopard.

Chen Chong stopped in his tracks as he looked up at the brand-new white sign.

He turned into the narrow alley beside it and climbed the cramped stairs to the second floor. As he brushed aside the beaded curtain at the entrance, it clattered noisily.

Behind the curtain stood a small table and a folding chair. A short, pudgy man in a military-green coat sat in the chair, fiddling with the charcoal fire beneath the table.

Hearing the noise, the man looked up, pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and smiled.

"Hey, welcome. Here to learn boxing?"

Chen Chong was a little surprised by the pudgy man's scholarly appearance, but he quickly nodded.

"I saw the flyer earlier. It said the first ten people to sign up could train for free, with meals and lodging included."

"Would you believe it? You're number ten."

The pudgy man blinked and pushed a yellow notebook and a fountain pen across the table.

"Fill this out. What's your name?"

"Chen Chong."

Chen Chong felt relieved.

He hadn't expected there to still be a spot after several days. He'd gotten lucky.

If he hadn't found a free apprenticeship, he would've had to find some way to get money first.

He filled in his basic information. When he saw the fields for his parents' names and occupations, he asked, "Do I have to fill in my parents' information too?"

"Of course. This is a legitimate boxing gym. Everything we do complies with the regulations set by the Lichuan City authorities."

The pudgy man picked up the fire tongs and tapped the business license hanging on the wall, leaving two streaks of soot behind.

"Our boss has big plans. He wants to keep growing in Lichuan and open more gyms, so he doesn't want to hire any shady characters. You first batch of free students are our signboard. Not only are meals and lodging free, but we'll put our whole heart into training you. Naturally, we need to know more about you."

Chen Chong nodded slightly, feeling even more at ease.

Compared with most boxing gyms, which were a mixed bag, this was clearly more to his liking.

Still, he kept his guard up and wrote down his biological parents' names in those two fields.

He left the phone number blank.

These days, not every household had a landline, let alone a mobile phone. Pagers were still the main form of mobile communication, so leaving it blank wasn't unusual.

When Chen Chong finished filling out the form, the pudgy man nodded with satisfaction.

"Good, Xiao Chen. From now on, you're an official student at our Dragon Tiger Leopard Boxing Gym. Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet. You can call me Brother Leopard."

"Hello, Brother Leopard."

Chen Chong discreetly sized up Brother Leopard's round figure, then asked hesitantly, "So I'm officially enrolled now? Don't I need to take some kind of test?"

It was a free spot, and they were advertising for students, so he'd expected some basic requirements.

Brother Leopard laughed. "Of course there is! Come on."

Brother Leopard led Chen Chong around a partition. Beyond it was a large training room.

The entire second floor had been opened up. Chen Chong remembered that it used to belong to an arts exam prep school; this had been their dance studio.

But the school had gone under soon afterward, and the place had sat empty for a long time. Now it had been rented out to the Dragon Tiger Leopard Boxing Gym.

A few students were hitting punching bags or sparring under the coach's guidance, their shouts ringing out nonstop.

After watching for a moment, Chen Chong followed Brother Leopard to a corner. He raised an eyebrow at a punching machine that looked like something from an arcade.

Brother Leopard noticed his expression and scratched his head with a grin.

"We just opened, so we haven't got all the equipment yet. Make do with this for now. Once we're up and running, we'll get more professional equipment. After all, our plans are very ambitious. Come on, try a punch. Let's see how strong you are."

Chen Chong could more or less see why they still hadn't filled all the free room-and-board spots after several days.

But he didn't mind. He planted his feet, one forward and one back, fixed his gaze on the punching machine, and drew his arm back.

Bam!

He struck the target hard. It rocked back and forth several times, creaking.

The display showed a number: "41 kg."

Brother Leopard's lips twitched almost imperceptibly.

But the corners of Chen Chong's mouth slowly, uncontrollably, curled upward.

It wasn't his imagination.

The number before his eyes had risen after lunch. It wasn't his imagination!

Looking at the "17%" before him, Chen Chong felt far more excited than he let on.

Chen Chong's deskmate at school was He Bufan, a martial arts practitioner who often trained boxing outside school.

They'd been deskmates for two and a half years, and Chen Chong had copied He Bufan's homework for that whole time. They got along very well.

He Bufan had a punching machine at home, too. Chen Chong had tried it when he visited, and every time his score had hovered around 30 to 35 kilograms.

He was only eighteen, with a scrawny build and stunted development. His punching power was below the average adult's.

But this time, even accounting for possible error, he'd definitely gained about twenty percent in strength.

All from one lunch, in less than two hours.

Twenty percent more strength.

The price was that his stomach was empty now, as if he hadn't eaten at all.

"So, is it my digestive ability, my ability to convert food into energy, or something else?

"My transmigration was connected to that piece of jade, and Pao Xiao and Taotie share the same origin. So this ability has something to do with eating. If I just keep eating, can I keep getting stronger? And what will happen when it reaches 100%?"

Chen Chong's thoughts spread uncontrollably.

He'd only just begun to explore this birthday gift. The number had reached 17%, but his understanding of it might not even be at 17%.

The only thing he could be sure of was that as long as he had food to eat, his physique could change rapidly.

And he had a strong feeling that 100% wouldn't be the end.

It might even just be a starting point—or a turning point for a new change.

"Not bad. You pass."

Brother Leopard's words interrupted Chen Chong's thoughts.

"Come over here. For the first couple of days, just practice your stance."

Brother Leopard led Chen Chong to the middle of the Training Room and handed him over to the bald coach, who was built like a black tower. Then he returned to the entrance to warm himself by the fire.

Chen Chong had a vague sense that Brother Leopard had lost some interest in him.

"Chen Chong? Ever trained before?"

Coach Yu, his face covered in thick folds of flesh, looked Chen Chong over.

Chen Chong shook his head.

Coach Yu waved a hand. "Go practice your horse stance over there."

After helping Chen Chong into a proper horse stance, Yu Feng checked his watch and left him alone. He went back to instructing several other students who seemed to have some experience.

Chen Chong held the stance against the wall, and his legs soon began to tremble.

Just as he was about to fall, he instinctively braced himself against the wall and staggered upright.

"One minute."

Coach Yu's voice suddenly rang out from the middle of the room. He'd been keeping an eye on Chen Chong out of the corner of his eye the whole time.

The burly, bald coach shook his head. "Rest for two minutes, then do it again."

That clearly wasn't a satisfactory result.

The other students glanced over at Chen Chong, but after only a moment, they lowered their heads and went back to training.

Chen Chong himself thought one minute was pretty impressive.

He knew that before today, he definitely wouldn't have lasted a minute.

With a faint smile on his lips, Chen Chong rested for a while, then returned to the wall.

This time, he kept his hands to himself and stopped only when he could no longer hold on, collapsing onto the floor.

Rest, horse stance, falling over, rest... Half the afternoon passed.

"All right. There's no point in falling over all day. Come watch them practice boxing."

Coach Yu walked over.

Seeing Chen Chong soaked in sweat and panting, he raised his brows slightly.

Chen Chong's legs were still wobbling. He leaned on a chair to stand up and nodded.

"All right, Coach Yu."

For the rest of the afternoon, Chen Chong sat off to the side, watching the others practice and listening to Coach Yu explain boxing theory.

Straight punches, hooks, jabs, and the secrets of generating power.

Chen Chong could tell it was all basic material. They hadn't even gotten to the boxing combinations or training methods he'd imagined.

But for someone who'd never trained before, this was still useful information. He listened and watched, nodding again and again.

Until dinnertime.

Brother Leopard came back in, carrying two large bags of takeout boxes.

"Come on, everyone! Dinner!"

The students cheered. They quickly unfolded the tables and chairs, helped Brother Leopard take out the meal boxes, and spread them across several tables.

Bright-red spicy stir-fried meat and rice soaked in oil. It might not have been especially nutritious, but it was definitely rich, salty, and flavorful.

Chen Chong dragged his weak legs over with the others. As the fragrant food came into view, a deep, unprecedented hunger surged in his stomach.

It wasn't just his body craving energy after exertion. It felt more like an indescribable longing for evolution, coming from life itself.

"Dig in, everyone! Don't be shy. Eat your fill! If it's not enough, I'll order more!"

Brother Leopard lit a cigarette and laughed heartily.

"If it's not enough... can we order more?"

A voice came from across the table.

Brother Leopard froze. When he saw that it was Chen Chong who'd spoken, he chuckled.

"I said you could eat your fill. You don't think I'd let you go hungry, do you? You've got quite an appetite, huh?"

His small eyes quickly sized up Chen Chong's frame. Brother Leopard gave a derisive laugh.

"You're not very big, but you've got a big mouth. I'll make you a promise right now: I'll bring you as much as you can eat. Let's see if your belly's as big as your mouth!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Chong gave him a shy smile.