After school, Minori pulled out her portable music player, listening intently to a powerful song, completely absorbed. Gao Liang reached for it, listened, and smiled—it was the song from the performance she had given two days ago, "Chinese Kung Fu." "Did you also want to learn Chinese Kung Fu?" Gao Liang asked in surprise. He couldn't believe that such a pure and beautiful Japanese girl would be interested in China's traditional Kung Fu, but he was wrong—Minori nodded. "As a foundation of our Sino-Japanese cooperation, I'm also keen on your Judo!" Gao Liang kept emphasizing Sino-Japanese cooperation, making their conversation light, engaging, full of friendship, natural, and smooth. Then, why not exchange and learn from each other, to jointly improve? Maiji smiled gracefully—such a poised and charming smile that stirred up vivid memories. It reminded him of a Chinese girl, Wu Mengshan. Though, in his eyes, she had later become rather annoying, it was precisely this kind of smile that first captured his heart when he first entered university, prompting him to actively pursue her. Their four-year romance was truly beautiful and remained an indelible memory. Yet, upon graduation, both unemployment and heartbreak loomed. Society is practical: as a man, if one struggles simply to survive in the professional world, sustaining love becomes difficult. While love is essential, the daily bread that sustains it is even more crucial. A man must have more than enough bread so that his woman won’t leave him. If I truly grow strong, Wu Mengshan might just be willing to change her mind—though she will never be able to return to the past. She has already found someone else, becoming a bird confined in a cage. Now, I must keep growing, keep excelling, so that girls like Dai Mengna will always circle around me, never leaving. The cooperation between China and Japan is going very well. Over the past few days, Gao Liang and Miki have been learning from each other: Gao Liang has picked up some fundamental Japanese judo techniques from Miki, while Miki has learned various Chinese martial arts moves from Gao Liang. By the way, your Chinese kung fu isn't as impressive as you claim! Let me be honest—yesterday I watched a film of Li Ling's "The Dragon Conquers the River," that's true Chinese kung fu! Yours? Honestly, it's just showy, like flowered arm movements—pretty to look at, but utterly useless. Although Houang was initially displeased with Meiji's remarks, he's a smart man—he realized his kung fu simply wasn't up to par, because it didn't achieve the effect he'd hoped for. It seemed he was just another typical male lead. After watching "The Dragon Conquers the River," Houang rushed home, but Meiji followed him. Of course, Houang didn't want her to find out where he lived, so he ran off as fast as he could, leaving her behind, who stomped her feet in frustration and said to him, "Hmph! If I'd known this would happen, I'd never have played along with you!" Still, this girl is quite perceptive—any attempt you make to甩 me off will fall flat. I'll find you, and I've got plenty of ways to do it. Gaoliang returned to Room 888 at Xijie Liangyuan Hotel, had a few slices of bread, and then lay down on the wide LCD computer screen, watching Li Lianho's performance in "The Dragon Conquers the River." The genuine mastery of Li Lianho's martial arts deeply captivated him. This was real Chinese martial arts! Not the staged version often broadcast on television—where Tu Honggan sings "Chinese Martial Arts"—which consists of theatrical movements, merely decorative. Good thing the elder discovered this early; otherwise, as a Chinese, he would have remained completely unaware of authentic Chinese martial arts. No, Gaoliang absolutely had to master Li Lianho's uniquely developed Chinese martial arts, including his innovative Jeet Kune Do. He now truly began to study it seriously. However, after watching several of Li Lianho's films, he realized that Li Lianho's martial arts were entirely self-created—unlike the structured system taught by Meiji today, such as judo, which has clear rules and principles. In fact, he could not find any consistent rules or patterns underlying Li Lianho's martial arts. His head was aching. Without realizing it, Gao Liang had plugged a DVD from the bed into the computer and then lay down on the bed for a while. But just for a single second, a knock sounded at the door. "Who?" he asked as he opened it, only to find no one there—so he was puzzled. He walked back and forth down the hallway, still seeing no one, and then returned to the room to resume sleeping. When he pulled back the blanket, he was startled—wasn't that Mei Ji? Mei Ji smiled brightly and said, "Didn't see that coming! I finally found you!" Gao Liang didn't feel comfortable asking her to leave right away, so he said, "I'm currently in a serious mood—just not in the mood to play with you." "Oh," Mei Ji noticed the movie scene of 'Fist of Legend' on the computer and remarked, "Chinese martial arts—can't you really master it?" "Master it? Can martial arts really be mastered?" Gao Liang chuckled, but the word sparked something in him—didn't the old term say 'break through a system' and 'all-encompassing password'? Maybe we can crack Li Loong's uniquely developed Chinese martial arts. He skillfully operated at the computer, yet was disappointed—neither the crack system nor the all-ability password would run. The system prompted him to enter the correct crack parameters? What exactly are the crack parameters? Highlight was puzzled. When Meiji first arrived, she had been quite enthusiastic, but upon seeing Highlight and Dian Mengna's wedding photos, her mood turned less favorable. She hadn't expected him to actually be married—and even more, to have such a beautiful, attractive wife. Though rumors had suggested he had been married before, girls always tend to imagine. It's only when they see the reality that they realize, and by then, they're often tearful. "Highlight!" Meiji was now emotionally charged. She picked up a yellowed fan from the table beside her, facing Highlight with a face full of resentment, saying, "I know we can't make it work. But if we truly loved each other, wouldn't you have accepted it?" "Highlight has no interest in romance—he just wants to master Chinese martial arts. With a distracted tone, he said, 'There's no point thinking about impossible things. Take Chinese martial arts, for instance. I think I'll just give up on that!' 'Wheee!' Highlight's casual remark unexpectedly moved Meguri to tears. He couldn't understand how women could be so fussily sensitive. Frustrated, he shouted, 'If I'm going to learn Chinese martial arts, then I can't even beat a Japanese woman—how can I be considered a man?' With a sharp tear, the yellow fan was ripped to shreds. Meguri was heartbroken, struggling hard not to cry. Highlight was stunned—this was his wife, Daina's cherished fan! It had been torn by this Japanese woman. Meguri ran out of the room, and Highlight didn't bother to follow. 'Highlight is determined to master Chinese martial arts!' A firm voice echoed in the room. After the outburst came silence—not stillness, not absence of thought or movement. Huangao stood in front of the screen of "The Dragon Rises," deeply pondering, stuck at the very moment when the system prompted him to enter the correct parameters. He had already entered every possible password generated by the all-purpose password system—inputting them through a dedicated software—yet the system still indicated that the parameters were incorrect. Damn it! The all-purpose password wasn't working anymore. In fact, he knew well that, just as he had previously cracked the backdoor of Peter's game "The Drive: Beyond Limits," the all-purpose password only activated when the correct IP address was entered. No matter how versatile the all-purpose password was, it still required him to create the right conditions for it to take effect. Simply thinking about the outcome wasn't enough—he had to create those conditions! What parameters were they? The ache in Gao Liang’s head remained, and as he looked at the scene unfolding before him now, he saw Mei Ji’s expression of sorrow—actually, it was a beautiful image. The way she tore the fan was graceful. Wait—just as he thought this, he felt as delighted as Columbus upon discovering a new continent. For Gao Liang noticed that the scattered fragments on the ground formed a pattern—irregular numbers, almost legible. He read them aloud in his native language: “02825.” He smiled, because this sounded like “do you love me?” It seemed that even the torn pieces of paper were still asking Mei Ji whether her beloved, the elder Ji, still loved her. Wonderful! How could he have questioned the elder Ji so directly, when lately, he himself had been feeling quite restless and quiet.