Chapter 15: The Eight-Section Brocade
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“You look exhausted!”
“I’ll go back with you. You should take a nap during your lunch break!”
Lizhi had noticed long ago that Chen Hao looked worn out. So after they finished lunch together, she suggested that he return and rest for a while.
“No need!”
“I still have to trade stocks this afternoon!”
“If we go back now, there won’t be enough time for me to sleep anyway!”
“Let’s take a walk in a park near Central instead!”
Chen Hao shook his head slightly as he spoke.
Just then, a taxi happened to pass by, and he hurriedly raised his hand to flag it down.
“But… you look really tired. If you don’t take a nap, will your body be able to handle it?” Lizhi asked with concern.
“It’s fine!”
“We’ll go to the park, and I’ll practice the Eight Brocades!”
“My energy will recover very quickly!”
Chen Hao smiled and got into the taxi.
Lizhi quickly followed him inside.
“The Eight Brocades?”
“What’s that?” she asked curiously after getting into the cab.
It was the first time she had ever heard of the Eight Brocades.
“The Eight Brocades is a Daoist health-preserving exercise!”
“It’s somewhat like tai chi, which many middle-aged and elderly people enjoy practicing,” Chen Hao explained.
“Really?”
“So you know martial arts?” Lizhi asked, somewhat surprised.
“It’s merely a health exercise!”
“It can strengthen the body and calm the mind.”
Chen Hao smiled.
In his previous life, he had rather enjoyed practicing the Eight Brocades.
Not only did it train the body, it also nourished the spirit.
Recently, trading stocks had consumed an extraordinary amount of his mental energy, so practicing the Eight Brocades would help him recover.
Before long, they arrived in Central.
Together, they went to a nearby park and found a relatively secluded spot. Chen Hao then began practicing the Eight Brocades.
The Eight Brocades could be divided into the Literary Eight Brocades and the Martial Eight Brocades.
The Literary Eight Brocades were also known as the Seated Eight Brocades. As the name suggested, they were practiced while seated.
Since the Seated Eight Brocades were performed in a sitting position, they involved less exercise and smaller movements, requiring neither much physical strength nor much space.
For that reason, the Seated Eight Brocades were more suitable for the elderly or those in poor health.
The Martial Eight Brocades were also known as the Standing Eight Brocades. As the name suggested, they were practiced while standing.
Since the Standing Eight Brocades were performed upright, they involved somewhat more exercise and larger movements.
Therefore, they were more suitable for people with good physical fitness.
Chen Hao knew both forms of the Eight Brocades.
However, he usually practiced the Martial Eight Brocades.
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By then, Chen Hao had already assumed the proper stance and begun practicing the Eight Brocades.
“So this is the Eight Brocades!”
“It looks rather interesting!” Lizhi said with a smile from the side.
“The Eight Brocades can strengthen the body and calm the mind!”
“Would you like to practice with me?”
“I’ll teach you!”
Chen Hao spoke as he continued practicing.
“I’d rather not.”
Lizhi glanced around. There were other people strolling nearby, and she felt somewhat embarrassed.
“You’re just shy,” Chen Hao observed at once.
“A little,” Lizhi admitted with a nod.
“It’s only exercise!”
“What’s there to be embarrassed about?”
Chen Hao smiled.
“How about… you teach me after we get back?”
Lizhi’s eyes shifted as she made the suggestion.
“Sure.”
Seeing that she was shy, Chen Hao did not pressure her.
After that, Lizhi stopped speaking to him and quietly sat to one side, watching Chen Hao practice the Eight Brocades.
She discovered that Chen Hao looked particularly captivating when he practiced with such concentration.
The longer she watched, the more entranced she became.
At that moment, she felt as though there was only one person in her eyes: Chen Hao.
Chen Hao, meanwhile, had devoted himself entirely to practicing the Eight Brocades.
To his surprise, his body in this world seemed to possess exceptionally high physical quality. After practicing for only a short while, he already felt invigorated from head to toe. Not only was his mind clear and refreshed, but his entire body was filled with strength.
He also discovered that his five senses—especially his hearing and sense of smell—seemed to have become extraordinarily sharp.
Could this have something to do with his rebirth?
He had already noticed that after being reborn, his memory and computational abilities had become exceptionally powerful.
So he wondered whether the remarkable enhancement of his five senses might also be related to his rebirth.
Whatever the reason for the extraordinary improvement in his senses, the change was naturally good news for him.
Before long, he completed an entire set of the Eight Brocades.
“That feels wonderful!”
Chen Hao felt as though he had been reborn. His body had undergone a tremendous transformation.
The fatigue he had felt earlier vanished as completely as autumn leaves swept away by the wind.
At that moment, he felt thoroughly refreshed, with strength surging through his entire body.
“Oh!”
“The Eight Brocades really does seem to work!”
“You’re positively glowing now. You look so full of energy!”
“You look as though you’ve been completely transformed!”
Lizhi stared at Chen Hao in astonishment.
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Even as an onlooker, she could clearly see the enormous change in Chen Hao’s mental state.
“Yes!”
“The Eight Brocades really is remarkably effective.”
“Would you like to learn?”
Chen Hao looked at Lizhi as he asked.
“Mm!” Lizhi nodded.
“Good.”
“Once we get back, I’ll teach you how to practice the Eight Brocades,” Chen Hao said.
“All right!” Lizhi nodded happily.
“It’s almost time.”
“The afternoon trading session is about to begin.”
“Let’s go to the Stock Exchange together now,” Chen Hao said.
“Mm!” Lizhi nodded.
They then left the park together and headed toward the Stock Exchange.
Since the park was not very far from the exchange, they arrived quickly on foot.
After reaching the Stock Exchange, they waited for a short while before the afternoon trading session began.
As before, Chen Hao immediately devoted all his attention to the fluctuations displayed on the electronic screens.
His mind began working at high speed.
“Buy two hundred lots of Cheung Kong Holdings!”
“Buy fifty lots of Weichuan Industrial!”
“Buy one hundred lots of HSBC!”
“Sell two hundred lots of Cheung Kong Holdings!”
“Buy one hundred and fifty lots of Sun Hung Kai Properties!”
“…”
As Chen Hao gradually became more familiar with the Hong Kong stock market, his transactions grew faster and faster, while the accuracy of his predictions continued to rise.
By now, his predictions were accurate roughly ninety-nine percent of the time.
He made virtually no mistakes.
This left Lizhi, who helped relay his trading instructions, utterly astonished.
She had never imagined that Chen Hao’s predictions could now be so accurate.
Her admiration for him grew stronger by the minute.
She truly could not understand how he managed to achieve such an astonishing level of accuracy.
Before they knew it, the afternoon trading session had come to an end.
Chen Hao finally let out a sigh of relief.
After several hours of tense, grueling combat, his mental energy had been severely depleted, and his head felt heavy and groggy.
Forcing himself to stay alert, he turned to Lizhi and said, “Call and check how we did this afternoon.”
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