07- Wrinkles

After Lao Bu left, Lui Dashui took over the role of training them.

His focus was training Fatty Fang, and Li Yun and Bufu were just add-ons.

In the past year, Fatty Fang and Li Yun dropped a lot of weight, but it was also hard to gauge as they were also growing taller. Lui Dashui was banking on his experience that the three would grow taller than the average male. Although competitions were based on weight class, not height, having a longer wingspan would undoubtedly give a fighter a slight advantage.

Two middle schoolers waited for Lui Dashui to give them a signal. Fatty Fang in standard gear and gloves, while Li Yun wore full padded gear on his face and body.

Bufu sat by the side, watching the two sparred.

Li Yun watched Fatty Fang closely as they paced around the ring like two wolves battling for alpha position. Odds were, Fatty Fang was going to strike first. It was his usual style. He liked to be cute sometimes and start with a feint and kick, but it was rare. Usually when he planned a feint or a complex maneuver, he would talk less before the fight since he needed more time to think about his strategy.

The two continued bouncing around and gauging each other's attacks, once in while doing jabs to measure the distance between them. Li Yun attacked Fatty Fang with a 1-2 punch combo of a left and then right straight jab. Fatty Fang blocked both hits and then returned a right jab. Li prepared to angle his head back, but it was a feint. Fatty Fang kneed Li Yun in the gut.

"****, a feint!" Li Yun thought in that brief second, and pivoted back and sucked in his stomach.

He had good reflexes, otherwise, a knee strike from Fatty Fang would empty the contents of his stomach. Unfortunately, the knee still scraped his torso and knocked off him off balance, giving Fatty Fang the upper hand. Fatty Fang threw quick punches as Li Yun continued to parry and evade.

After a minute, Lui Dashui declared Fatty Fang as the winner.

"This is *******, when did you figure out your tell?" asked Li Yun.

"Bufu noticed the pattern and told me to start with a feint right before we started," said Fatty Fang.

Li Yun glared at Bufu. "Who's friend are you anyway?" asked Li Yun.

Bufu laughed. "I just wanted to test it out, I wasn't sure that Fatty Fang had that habit."

"All right kids, that was pretty good," Lui Dashui complimented. "Xiao Fang, you still need to work on your footwork and form. Your movements are too wide, leaving it easy for opponents to take advantage of openings. Also, don't purely rely on strength."

Lui Dashui looked at Li Yun. "Xiao Yun, you're still a bit weak on striking."

There wasn't much to say about Li Yun. He only sparred against Fatty Fang because there was no one else close to Fatty Fang age and weight class. Li Yun was only two weight classes below Fatty Fang. Although he was not as strong as Fatty Fang, he was considered an intelligent and agile fighter with instinctive dodging ability. The only major problem Lui Dahsui saw was his lack of ambition.

Li Yun would be good at standard taolu competitions, but Lui Dashui wasn't as traditionally trained in wushu like Bu Tao. Lui Dashui was more familiar with sambo and boxing.

"So Xiao Fang, are you ready to enter a tournament, or do you want to train more?" asked Lui Dashui.

"Can I learn Brazilian Ju Jitsu next?" asked Fatty Fang.

He had learned that Brazilian Ju Jitsu was one of the best styles to learn with sanda as it filled in some of the gaps that were left out from sanda due to contact sport rules back in the early days of development.

Lui Dashui thought for a moment. "If you want to learn Brazilian Ju Jitsu, you should ask Mao Dao. He learned BJJ overseas for a few years."

After training, the kids took the bus back to the apartment.

Li Yun was exhausted and was ready for dinner. He opened the door to the apartment, but the somber mood of the room completely overwhelmed him. Even grandpa Lu Yan and grandma Lu Nai had arrived, whispering quietly by the dining table.

"What happened?" Li Yun asked.

"Lao Pei is in the hospital," Li Fan explained in a low and somber voice. "He might not make it by tomorrow…"

Li Yun heard his father, but his brain did not register.

He slipped back out of his apartment, and ran downstairs, knocking on Lao Pei's door.

"Hey Lao Pei! Open up!"

He knocked and knocked, but no answer.

"Master Pei!"

Slumping to the ground, he wept.

The following week, Li Yun attended the funeral, along with friends and family around the area. Lao Pei didn't have a lot of immediate family, just a brother living in a different city who arrived to settle the funeral arrangements.

Li Yun entered the room filled with white flowers and banners, and glanced at the elderly women weeping by the side. The majority of people were from the apartment complexes, people who would see Lao Pei on his morning walk. Many of the children followed along with their parents and grandparents, but it was only Li Yun who felt a sense of loss.

Throughout the proceeding, Li Yun stared at the ground with hollowed eyes, his head drooped downward as though it was filled with heavy leaded weights. He wondered why he wasn't able to see it coming. For five years, Li Yun had spent many of his evenings with Lao Pei. He should have noticed it sooner.

During the past two weeks, Lao Pei's face looked paler than usual. Li Yun had stared curiously at his face, wondering what was wrong.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Lao Pei asked. "Still doing that face reading thing?"

"Yes, they say it's easier on old people?"

Lao Pei laughed. "Oh ho, because of all the wrinkles?"

Li Yun nodded.

"What can you see?"

"You used to have quite a temper, but you have managed to control it over the years. You have lost quite a few people you have treasured. You rarely ever smile, but have experienced a lot of happiness and joy in your life. Your eyes smile for you, so there are a lot of wrinkles around the corner of your eyes."

"Well now, I'm starting to like my wrinkles."

Li Yun had never thought about it before learning mien shieng, but wrinkles were really interesting. They tell a person's story and life.

Lao Pei nodded. "But you shouldn't always believe everything you read, sometimes you have to experience it in order to find out the truth. What else do you see?"

"Your breathing and complexion has changed a bit recently."

"Are you a Chinese doctor now? You're even watching people breathe?"

"Are you feeling okay?"

"I've never felt more alive."

Li Yun could tell that Lao Pei was telling the truth, so maybe he analyzed the breathing pattern wrong.

"Now enough about that, let me show you the work of Huang Tingjian."

Lao Pei removed his glasses, and spread out a reproduction of Huang Tingjian's calligraphy. Li Yun thought Lao Pei needed his glasses to read, but thought little of Lao Pei's glassy eyes.

On the way out of the door, Lao Pei ruffled Li Yun's hair and said, "goodbye my friend."

Thinking back, all the signs were there. If he had determined it sooner, he could have spent more time with Lao Pei before he left.

Gripping onto a scroll, Li Yun laid it down by Lao Pei's coffin, "goodbye my friend."