Every three months, the workers at Changlong Escort Agency hold a martial arts demonstration to check their progress in martial arts, something Zhao Ya is naturally aware of.
In past demonstrations, it was mostly the Escort Masters who presided, and sometimes, when they were out on assignments, the more experienced porters would do the judging.
This time, having the Chief of the Escort personally oversee and watch is unprecedented.
Zhao Ya pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright, I'll let him know."
The worker left.
As Zhao Ya sorted goods, he contemplated this matter.
As the Chief of the Escort at Changlong Escort Agency, Meng Lei, though not overwhelmed with work, would never be so idle as to watch a bunch of workers demonstrate martial arts skills.
Especially combined with the final saying—rewards for the excellent, punishments for the poor.
Zhao Ya was thoughtful.
The operational models of Changlong Escort Agency, or rather, all the escort agencies in Wuxiang City, are actually quite similar.
Apart from a small number of external hires, the Escal Masters and the core strength of porters are mostly self-trained.
In this regard, Changlong and other escort agencies are more like Martial Arts Halls.
The advantage of this approach is that the trained Escort Masters or porters have a high degree of loyalty to the agency.
But the downside is also obvious—it's too slow and uncontrollable.
After all, not everyone is suited for martial arts.
Often, you invest a lot of resources to train someone, only to find them stuck at a bottleneck, making no progress. This is all too common.
So the quality of the workers becomes critically important.
Thinking of this, Zhao Ya slowly exhaled.
He wasn't thinking of dazzling everyone at the martial arts tournament to gain the Chief of the Escort's favor and soar to success.
That would also go against Zhao Ya's principle of growing modestly.
But if he could perform well in this demonstration, it might help with his current predicament.
With that thought, Zhao Ya made a secret resolution.
Noon.
Bridgehead Two Meat Shop.
Tan Dong stared in shock at Zhao Ya, who had already eaten twenty meat pies and was still chewing vigorously.
In an instant, the five meat pies on the table disappeared into Zhao Ya's stomach.
Then Zhao Ya drank some hot soup and finally burped.
"Are you full?" Tan Dong asked cautiously.
"Hmm, that'll do."
Actually, Zhao Ya could continue eating, given that the meat pies were instantly crushed and absorbed by his strong intestines.
But Zhao Ya felt that eating more would be somewhat shocking, so he stopped just in time.
Tan Dong sighed in relief, paid for the meal, and then asked.
"Old Zhao, you just mentioned something important you wanted to tell me, what is it?"
"Oh, it's nothing much, just about the martial arts demonstration."
Then Zhao Ya nonchalantly explained the situation, which made Tan Dong uneasy.
"What? The Chief of the Escort overseeing personally? With rewards and punishments? I'm doomed, there's no way I'll pass, what should I do!"
Tan Dong was well aware of his own abilities.
He practiced that Five Tiger Fist all over the bellies of those women in the brothel.
Suddenly.
As if he thought of something, he looked at Zhao Ya earnestly.
"Brother Zhao, please, you must help me."
"Help? How? Plead for you? Don't be ridiculous, you know I've only been with the escort agency for just over a month." Zhao Ya said.
"That's not what I meant, you've been practicing punches all this time, definitely better than me, so could you tutor me for the next few days?"
"Tutoring?" Zhao Ya looked at Tan Dong, "You mean you want me to train you?"
Tan Dong nodded like a pounding garlic, "Yes, yes, the harsher, the better, as long as I can pass the martial arts demonstration in five days, I'll do anything."
Seeing Tan Dong's pleading face, Zhao Ya found it somewhat amusing.
This guy was so much like those students who cram for exams at the last minute in his past life.
"But my time..."
"As long as Brother Zhao agrees, I'll cover all the meals for these days."
"Actually, when it comes to time, you can always squeeze some in."
After their duties ended in the afternoon, at the Changlong Escort Agency's martial arts field.
"You practice a bit first, let me see where you stand." Zhao Ya said.
Upon hearing this, Tan Dong started practicing, but Zhao Ya stopped him after only a few moves.
Zhao Ya frowned and said, "Is that your Five Tiger Fist?"
"Of course, what else could it be?"
"But your Five Tiger Fist is wrong even from the starting movement, never mind, I'll demonstrate for you,"
With that, Zhao Ya straightened up, calmed his mind, and suddenly stepped forward with a hugging motion, followed by a bowing step of the left leg with a right punch thrust...
Zhao Ya practiced systematically.
Having learned the Five Tiger Fist for over a month, Zhao Ya practiced diligently every day, never slacking.
Thus, though his Five Tiger Fist was not yet brilliant, it was powerful and crisp.
Thud.
When he completed the final movement, Zhao Ya brought his feet together, rested his palms flat, and his breath remained calm without any sign of disorder.
[Five Tiger Fist proficiency +1]
A prompt appeared, and Zhao Ya felt that his understanding of the Five Tiger Fist had deepened a bit more, satisfied, he turned to look at Tan Dong.
"Did you understand?"
Tan Dong couldn't help but give a thumbs up.
"Brother Zhao, your fist technique truly is the real deal. I think it's even better than some porters."
Zhao Ya glared, "Stop blabbering, start with your stance."
They practiced for a full hour until it was completely dark, then Zhao Ya and Tan Dong left the agency.
"Let's go, Brother Zhao, let's head home for dinner."
"Home for dinner?"
"That's right, don't worry, this time the food is guaranteed to be something you can't buy outside, really good stuff." Tan Dong said mysteriously.
This was Zhao Ya's first time at Tan Dong's house, and compared to his own place in the slum, Tan Dong's house was much more spacious.
A large courtyard with three layers, complete with east and west wing rooms, gatehouses, and more.
However, apart from some rough old maids, there was no one else in this big house.
"My dad and brother don't live here at all, it's just me at home."
Tan Dong explained as he led Zhao Ya to the kitchen, then brought out a small box after a while.
The box contained some long strips of dried meat, with a dark color, it was hard to tell what animal it came from.
"Here, try a piece first."
Zhao Ya picked up a piece and examined it for a while, feeling a faint aroma drilling into his nose.
Simultaneously, his stomach began to churn, seemingly craving the dried meat.
Zhao Ya put it into his mouth, chewing lightly it felt like the dried meat melted like snow, instantly flowing into his stomach.
Roar.
The meat, as soon as it entered his stomach, transformed into a hot stream, completely absorbed by the intestines, then Zhao Ya felt invigorated, even his Qi Blood was slightly more vigorous.
Zhao Ya looked surprised.
Just that small piece of dried meat had at least the nutritional value of five pounds of cured meat.
Seeing this, Tan Dong chuckled, "How is it? Surprising, right? This is the real deal, extremely beneficial for those of us who practice martial arts."
"What animal's meat is this?" Zhao Ya asked.
"This is dried meat of a special earthworm variety cultivated with secret techniques, rich in blood energy, which can replenish Primordial Energy and boost Qi Blood."
With that, Tan Dong handed the box to Zhao Ya.
"It's yours."