Romance of Dragons and Snakes

Chapter 22: Which earns more money, instructing or killing?

The next day was the start of winter break. Giving a shout to his parents, he traveled for the public safety bureau. This year, his parents had been convinced that Wang Chao was using this break to get a job and earn money. But under the painstaking planning of Wang Chao, the two parents had never realized that the money he had was actually earned from an equally illegal manner. Of course, Wang Chao had never took out all of it at once.

Reaching the public safety bureau, Cao Yi had coincidentally came out driving a car. He had been promoted at his workplace, earning the title of vice-bureau chief.

From a low ranking sub-bureau captain to jump into a high ranking position, this was a rarely seen achievement. Even if Wang Chao didn’t understand some of the bureaucratic tricks of the system, he could still tell that Cao Yi was not an ordinary person.

“No wonder he was so nervous when those gangsters fought with me a long time ago. He was afraid of something happening and changing the votes. The conference he was so worried about was a way for him to climb up the ranks.”

Although he was extremely curious about Cao Yi, he hadn’t planned on getting any information out from Cao Yi. Every person had their secrets. In the case someone were to tell their secrets, then even friends could become enemies.

Wang Chao’s mentality had already matured a long time ago.

“You’re here!” Cao Yi’s previously red face had disappeared overnight as if he had used some sort of strange medicine.

Waiting for Wang Chao to get into the car, Cao Yi suddenly stamped on the gas pedal and sped off.

Needless to say, this was the very first time that Wang Chao had ever been in such a small car. This strange sensation was completely different than the time he had traveled on the bus where it was crowded and usually dirty smelling. There was a rather sweet fragrance being blown about in the car thanks to the air conditioning, but the car was reasonably warm as well so that any of the frigid coldness was diverted elsewhere. Both running and taking the bus had been a punishment, but this was a pleasurable experience.

“What, is this the first time you’ve sat in a car?” Cao Yi’s eyes were quite perceptive and could easily make sense of Wang Chao’s expression.

“It’s nothing. I generally go to the capital by foot, it doesn’t even take that long. But since we are taking the car today, I’m not used to it.” Wang Chao was unwilling to look weak and lied through his teeth.

“Your leg strength is quite good in fact!” Cao Yi spoke as he continued to drive the car.

Traveling as fast as lightning, the scenery blew past as the car finally arrived at the capital half an hour later. Skyscraper after skyscraper came and went before the car finally stopped at a building that was well over 40 stories tall and was painted an azure blue color.

Stopping the car for a moment, someone had gave them the directions to park within the parking lot besides the building.

Getting down from the car, Wang Chao tilted his head up to see a fancy looking board with the words, “Asian Taekwondo Union”.

The doors to the building was quite large and had electronic sliding doors that were similar to the ones at the airports in terms of wideness.

Walking into the lounge, Wang Chao had instantly taken notice that the interior design was rather classical with two banners strewn across the walls. One banner had the national flag while the other had the symbol of the Yin Yang symbol that could be seen on the Korean flag.

Looking at the flags, Wang Chao nodded his head in understanding. He knew the two flags were a symbol of friendship. If they had strewn the complete flag of South Korea, then it would not be a smart move.

“This Taekwondo building is not like the ones in the city. A few of the average instructors from those will often times rent out a room and advertise it so that they can cheat money out of students for the clothes and lessons.”

As Cao Yi entered the room, he explained it to Wang Chao.

“This is the official Taekwondo branch of Asia that was recognized by the International Taekwondo Association. Over here, there are advancement tests and official training grounds along with specialized trainers. The students that sign up here, if they do well, then they will have the chance to be sponsored by the Korean corporation and be sent to the competitions to fight and win prizes or even money.”

“Apart from this, there are also annual exhibition matches for both domestic and international!”

“Aside from the competitions, there is also a circle of those who love to train themselves. Let me tell you, the topmost VIP floors are for society’s upper class specialists to use. This is no mere place, but is a mixture of business, training, performance, connection making, culture, and ceremonies! The upper class figures of society have all joined together to form an organization where their power is massive and their influence is even wide spreading beyond what you could think of.”

Wang Chao listened to this calmly as he looked around. The four walls were also decorated with wall scrolls with the words “Propriety, Justice, Integrity, and Honor”, “Restraint and Discipline”, and “Unyielding under 100 losses” written with an ink brush in clear black ink. They written in such a way that made one feel quite inspired.

To the side of the lounge, there was a sign up and consultation area where a rather pretty and white uniformed young woman was stationed at; her appearances were quite pleasing to look at.

Apart from this, there were people of all ages coming in by twos and threes. Each person was refined and not lacking in manners, as they talked, they mutually bowed to each other.

“Business and trade….competition, sponsorships, exchange, performances….upper class meeting…” Wang Chao’s mind thought over Cao Yi’s introduction before having a bigger understanding on why Guoshu had declined over the years.

“To kill, not for performance….” Wang Chao began to mutter to himself the words he had first heard from sis Chen.

“To kill and not perform, how do you eat, how do you earn money?” Cao Yi had heard Wang Chao’s words and turned around. “Even if your martial arts has reached the realm of invincibility, you still need to eat. You still need to earn money, or do you plan to rebel against the world?”

“You brought me here for what type of work?” Wang Chao asked.

“Come, up the elevators to the 36th floor! I’ll tell you on the way.” Cao Yi laughed as the two entered the elevator.

The elevator was quite slow as it ascended, but it was made of transparent glass so that one could see outside.

“Taekwondo is split into 10 belts. The highest ranking black belt is then categorized into 9 degrees. Each floor in this building represents another advancement in belts. For each registered student, after training for some time, they can participate in an examination.”

“How much is the tuition fee for here?”

Wang Chao’s question had immediately made Cao Yi laugh, “Very expensive! The adult branch, child branch, juvenile branch, female branch, all the branches cost a different price. Even the different training grounds depending on your rank has a different cost. However, if you have a good performance and pass the administrative inspection, then it is possible to waive the cost and participate in the competitions. If your luck is good, then you can make this your job. If you become well known, then you could be in movies and earn even more money. But the chances of that is quite small.”

Cao Yi and Wang Chao’s elevator ride stopped, causing them to walk out before walking along a corridor. Plenty of people were inside the training grounds while some were standing outside resting and talking.

There was a plain carpet on the ground, but not too long after Wang Chao and Cao Yi had exited from the elevator, an uniformed female had bowed to them, “Misters, which training institute are you from, please show proof of your being a student. We will then take you to where you can change into your uniforms.”

“No need, we are looking for president Li!” Cao Yi waved his hands before taking Wang Chao to another elevator.

“There’s so many students here?” Wang Chao spoke before thinking “Just why is there so many people here?”

“With today’s society, all of the rich people pay attention to maintaining their bodies. The children of the rich can come here by the money of their parents. The officer workers, bosses, managers, etcetera, all come here for either training, for fun, self defense, making friends, or even picking up girls! After all, those who study here are all rich! Furthermore, this is a place of ceremonies and culture. It is different from those high class clubs; while they have money as well, there is no etiquette, making it seem vulgar in comparison!”

“Confucius had focused on etiquette. Us Chinese are extremely focused on this aspect. Although this is merely a remnant of the past, it is still something. Being naked would be worse than this!”

By the time Cao Yi finished, the elevator had already reached the top.

Once they walked out, Wang Chao asked, “Did you want me to learn Taekwondo and then take part in competitions?”

“No no no.” Cao Yi laughed. “I’m introducing you here so you can look after the place.”

“Look after?” Wang Chao’s eyebrows furrowed together.

“You must know about challengers!” Cao Yi spoke. “For the sake of commercializing Taekwondo, they have discarded many of the harmful and killing nature of it. All that remains now is the beautiful performance aspect. This has been watered down so much that many experts see this as useless for fighting, but they were able to manipulate the workings of the system to offset it. Thus, while there are many experts that are unsatisfied by this, there are also even more people that come looking for trouble. If it is an expert, then the instructors would be no match for them. If it is the reputable, then the police cannot be called. Only an expert of the art of offense and defense could oversee this and deal with those challengers.”

Wang Chao spoke up in realization, “So that’s the reason!”

“Correct, that’s the reason. However, to be an overseer, you must undergo many examinations. Naturally, if you pass them all, guess how much your monthly salary is?” Cao Yi held up three fingers.

“Three thousand?”

“Add another zero!” Cao Yi snorted. “In this place, you can also make friends with many of the upper class. Through them, you will earn another opportunity. It is up to you to see if you can grasp it.

“You must have thought about being an overseer here once. But when you got promoted, other things came up.” Wang Chao gave a look to Cao Yi with yet another understanding about him.

“Taekwondo, if I were to be the overseer here, then I could be a guard against any challenger, how interesting…”

Ignoring Wang Chao, Cao Yi brought Wang Chao out of the elevator and then to a young uniformed man. This man was at least over 20 years old with a well proportioned build. His eyes shined brightly and each step was calm and confident as if he had no issue with himself.

“Chief Cao! Our president Li has been waiting for you!” The youth seemed to be familiar with Cao Yi and then looked at Wang Chao with a narrowed eye, “This is the person you wanted to introduce?”

These words were not spoken politely and there was even some disdain in his eyes.

“Li Feng, take me to see president Li. She will be the one making the arrangements.” Cao Yi’s face had a smile, but it did not quite reach his eyes.

“Come with me then!” Li Feng snorted as he gave a rigid stare at Wang Chao, expressing his hostility.

Wang Chao had felt a little happy about that, “This guy feels unhappy, wait until he gets into a real fight.”

Wang Chao and Cao Yi were both led to an office door that was not closed.

“Chief Cao, come in!” The cold voice of a woman could be heard. “Li Feng, go and notify all of the black belt instructors.”

“Yes!” Li Feng gave one last glare to Wang Chao before turning.

Cao Yi and Wang Chao entered the office.

There was an office desk up front where an uniformed but pretty woman could be seen sitting at.

This one woman gave the feeling that she was an iceberg. Cold, serious, and not one for humor had all combined to her temperament that would seem to repulse any suitor.

“This is president Li.” Cao Yi introduced. “I’ve introduced you, but there’s still some legal matters I have to take care of back at the station, I’ll be leaving first.” With that, he gave a short greeting before turning to leave the place.”

After Cao Yi had left, the iceberg like lady stood up from her desk and gave a look at Wang Chao before speaking, “Hello, I am the president of the Asian Taekwondo Union branch, Li Wanji.”

TL Note: Li Wanji is a famous legend in Chinese history.

With that, she walked towards Wang Chao and extended out her left hand.

“Li Wanji!” Upon hearing that name, he was stunned for a moment before hurriedly bringing out his own arm, “My name is Wang Chao.”

After the two had shaken hands, Li Wanji suddenly forced her leg to kick upwards, aiming straight for his neck!