Two days later, after careful screening and discussion, Jason Luo's next opponent was confirmed—a 31-year-old Finnish boxer named Durant, nicknamed "Quick Blade." Famous for his lightning-fast punches, he stood 178 cm tall with a reach of 184 cm and weighed 79.2 kg. He was currently ranked 283rd in the WBA challenger rankings.
Coach Brown chose Durant mainly because his heavy punches lacked real power. Jason had just come off a tough fight, so it wasn't wise to pick another hard-hitting opponent. This match would increase his chances of winning while keeping the risks low.
Jason had no objections. He was determined to build up his Vitality, and as far as he was concerned, it didn't matter who he fought next. His coach had already thought things through, so there was no need to interfere.
To enhance his heavy punch damage, Jason threw himself into training, requesting focused drills for forearm strengthening and front-hand swing technique.
As his heavy punches grew stronger, Jason began to feel a clear weakness in his forearms and wrists—it was starting to limit his power output. He needed to fix these shortcomings immediately.
As for his jab, Jason had realized in real matches that while his rear heavy punch packed serious power, its accuracy dropped sharply against cautious opponents. It was hard to land clean hits.
By contrast, his front-hand jab often caught opponents off guard and produced surprisingly good results.
Coach Brown was pleased with Jason's initiative. "Good, Jason. It's great that you can spot your own weaknesses. That makes training much more effective. And your analysis is right—in professional boxing, relying on one specialty makes it easy for others to counter you. The same goes for power distribution—having strength in both hands doesn't just add up; it multiplies!"
Boxing wasn't as simple as it looked. On the surface, it was just combinations of three techniques—jab, straight, and hook—but once you added Footwork and Power generation, the variations were endless.
...
As Memorial Day approached, Catherine arrived by plane as promised. Jason and Grace went to the airport to meet her.
When she appeared, Jason was stunned.
This fierce athlete from the football field was now wearing a light spaghetti-strap dress, sunglasses, and high heels—like a goddess descending from the sky, dazzling and flawless.
Jason and Grace both froze on the spot.
Her figure was incredible—how had they not noticed it before?
Catherine, clearly pleased with their reactions, twirled gracefully. "Well? Had your fill of staring yet? Don't worry, this time you don't need to sneak a peek—I'm letting you look all you want!"
Jason and Grace exchanged a glance. "Uh, gorgeous, just a reminder—Chicago's not exactly the safest city. You might want to tone it down a bit..."
"What's there to be afraid of? With you as my bodyguard, I'd love to see who dares to mess with me! Now, tell me—what's the plan for my vacation?"
"Let's find a hotel for you first," Jason suggested, "then we can head to Universal Studios Hollywood. It's pretty good."
But Catherine shook her head. "No hotel. I'm staying with your little sister Grace. Otherwise, I'll be so lonely at night! Grace, you don't mind, do you?"
"Ah... I-I don't mind," Grace said softly, ignoring Jason's pleading look.
Jason realized too late that he'd been outmaneuvered. He thought bringing Grace along was a smart move, but Catherine had flipped the situation to her advantage.
If he took her home, his father was definitely going to get the wrong idea... but before he could think further—
"Alright!" Catherine clapped her hands. "Let's drop my luggage off at your place first, then we'll start our adventure. My family only gave me two days—wasting even a second would be a crime! GO, GO, GO!"
The moment they entered the house, Catherine spotted Henry Luo sitting in the courtyard sipping tea. She walked up to him and gave him a quick hug. "Hello, Mr. Luo! I'm Jason's girlfriend. School's on break, so I came to visit him for a few days. It's not really safe for a girl to stay in a hotel alone, so I was hoping to share a room with Grace. I hope you don't mind."
That little speech left Henry completely flustered. "Uh, sure, you..." His eyes, however, were locked on Jason behind her.
Jason quickly stepped forward. "Dad, she's... a friend! Just a friend. Anyway, let's let her stay for now."
Henry glanced between them, eyes lighting up slightly before he shot Jason a glare. Then he turned back to Catherine with a warm smile. "You're very welcome here. We have plenty of rooms—pick whichever you like. Make yourself at home."
"Thank you so much! You're so kind! I'll go put my luggage away first."
"Good, good. Grace, help her choose a room."
Jason tried to slip away after them, but his father grabbed him by the collar. "You brat, why did you bring a foreign girl home?"
"Dad, she's just someone I met recently. She helped us out before, and now she insisted on coming to Chicago. I couldn't just ignore her."
Henry frowned slightly. "What does she do?"
"She's a student at Princeton University."
"Oh, a student. Fine. You'll give me the full story tonight. For now, treat your guest properly—don't be rude."
Jason nodded quickly and escaped.
...
After helping Catherine settle in, the three of them set out again before even taking a sip of water.
Henry was about to start cooking when Catherine called back, "Uncle Luo, we might be home really late tonight—don't wait for us!"
Then she darted off like a rabbit.
Jason and Grace could only chase after her, leaving Henry sighing. Kids that age—no longer children, not quite adults—were the hardest to manage.
Since Jason couldn't drive, the trio had to take a taxi. Grace was panting heavily. "Wow, Catherine, you run way too fast! And in heels! This isn't a vacation—it's torture!"
"Fast? I didn't even notice! Grace, you just don't exercise enough. Keep that up and it's going to stunt your development." Catherine even puffed out her chest teasingly.
Poor Grace—she glanced down at herself, blushing furiously.
Catherine chuckled and suddenly changed the subject. "But you're right—these shoes aren't great for walking around all day. Driver, take us to the biggest mall first. I need to buy shoes!"
As it turned out, letting a woman loose in a mall was a disaster waiting to happen.
What started as a simple shoe trip ended two hours later with Jason loaded down with shopping bags. Catherine bought things for Grace, picked out stuff for Jason, and refused to let him pay for any of it. But she wasn't done—waving a ruby ring on her hand, she declared she needed to buy Jason a meaningful gift.
When they passed a sporting goods store, her eyes lit up and she dashed inside, planning to get him a pair of boxing gloves. But Jason never expected to run into someone there—an elegant lady he hadn't seen in ages: Rebella!