Chapter 17: Teaching Li the "Eight-Section Brocade"

“Chen Hao, this afternoon we made another 890,000!”
“Adding that to what we earned before, we now have 2.25 million!”
“I wonder how much we can make tomorrow?”
Lizhi asked excitedly.

In just these two short days, her 370,000 had grown into 2.25 million.

This showed her Chen Hao’s incredible stock trading skills and gave her a taste of success.

Naturally, she wanted to earn even more!

“Tomorrow is Saturday!”
“The stock market is closed on Saturdays and Sundays!”
“So, we’ll have two days off!”
Chen Hao said with a smile.

“Oh!”
“So the stock market rests too!”
Lizhi nodded slightly.

She had never traded stocks before, so she didn’t know the market closed on weekends.

“Besides weekends, the stock market also closes on public holidays!”
Chen Hao explained.

“Oh!”
“I understand now!”
Lizhi nodded.

“By the way, do you live with your father?”
Chen Hao asked.

“Yes.”
Lizhi nodded slightly, then lowered her head to eat. Her earlier enthusiasm had suddenly faded.

“Won’t your father say anything if you eat with me?”
Chen Hao asked casually.

“Let’s not talk about my father, okay?”
Lizhi suddenly looked up and said to Chen Hao.

Although her father had brought her to live with him on the island, his absence during her childhood and adolescence left her with little affection for him.

Moreover, her relationship with her stepmother wasn’t good.

So she preferred to stay out rather than go home!

This was one of the main reasons she liked eating with Chen Hao.

“Oh.”
Chen Hao saw her expression darken and decided not to press the matter further.

Soon, they finished dinner.

Lizhi quickly cleared the dishes and went to the kitchen to wash them.

“Chen Hao, didn’t you say you’d teach me the Eight Brocades today?”
After washing up, Lizhi came to the living room and said to Chen Hao.

“We just had dinner; it’s best not to exercise now.”
“Rest for half an hour, then I’ll teach you!”
Chen Hao said.

“Okay,”
Lizhi nodded.

She then sat on the sofa with Chen Hao, watching TV together.

But her mind was elsewhere.

She kept looking for topics to chat about casually with Chen Hao.

After a while, she eagerly asked, “Can you teach me the Eight Brocades now?”

“All right!”
“I’ll teach you right now!”
Chen Hao nodded and stood up.

The living room was quite spacious.

So Chen Hao decided to teach Lizhi the Eight Brocades there!

Together they moved the coffee table aside.

Then he began teaching Lizhi the Eight Brocades.

“The Eight Brocades are divided into Martial Eight Brocades and Literary Eight Brocades.”
“The ones I practiced in the park today were the Martial Eight Brocades…”

Chen Hao first explained the classification of the Eight Brocades to Lizhi.

“What’s the difference between the two?”
Lizhi asked with great curiosity.

“The Martial Eight Brocades are also called the standing Eight Brocades…”

Chen Hao described the distinctions between the Martial and Literary sets.

“Sounds like the Literary Eight Brocades are similar to yoga!”
“And the Martial Eight Brocades are more like Tai Chi!”
Lizhi thought for a moment and said.

Yoga was already very popular on the island, with many women practicing it to stay fit.

“Heh,”
“You’re right. The Literary Eight Brocades do resemble yoga, and the Martial ones are like Tai Chi.”

Chen Hao hadn’t expected Lizhi to use yoga and Tai Chi to differentiate the two.

“Which do you want to learn, Literary or Martial?”
Chen Hao asked.

“I want to learn both!”
Lizhi replied without hesitation.

“All right!”
“Then I’ll teach you the Martial Eight Brocades first!”

Chen Hao then began instructing Lizhi in the Martial set.

“The Martial Eight Brocades consist of eight movements.”
“The first movement is called: ‘Two Hands Hold Up the Heavens to Regulate the Triple Burner’!”
“Stand with feet parallel and shoulder-width apart!”
“Inhale!”
“Cross your hands!”
“Inhale!”
“Lift upward!”
“Hold the heavens with both hands!”
“Exhale!”
“Straighten your neck!”
“Open your hands!”
“Bend your knees into a squat!”
“Embrace!”
“Repeat this movement four to eight times!”

Chen Hao stood facing Lizhi, demonstrating the movements while explaining the key points.

Lizhi watched Chen Hao’s movements, listened carefully, and followed along.

The movements of the Eight Brocades were not complicated!

Having some background in dance, Lizhi quickly mastered the first movement!

“The second movement is called: ‘Draw the Bow Left and Right Like Shooting a Hawk’!”
“Inhale!”
“Step to the left!”
“Place your wrist!”
“Exhale!”
“Squat down!”
“Draw the bow to the left!”
“Inhale!”
“Open your right arm!”
“Exhale!”
“Bring your feet together!”
“Return to the starting position!”
“Inhale!”
“Step to the right!”
“…”

“Repeat this movement drawing the bow left and right four to eight times each!”

Chen Hao taught Lizhi the Eight Brocades diligently, immediately correcting her whenever her movements were off.

Lizhi also learned seriously, following Chen Hao’s instructions earnestly.

Next came the third movement, “Regulate the Spleen and Stomach with a Single Raise,” and the fourth, “Look Backwards to Relieve Five Kinds of Fatigue and Seven Injuries.”

Both were simple and easy movements, and Lizhi quickly mastered them.

Then came the fifth movement, “Shake the Head and Wag the Tail to Eliminate Heart Fire.”

This one required holding a horse stance for a long time and had larger motion ranges.

Perhaps because she was new to this movement, Lizhi felt a bit unstable after holding the horse stance for a while.

“Hold on a little longer!”
“This movement should also be repeated four to eight times in a row!”
“We’re young!”
“So it’s best to do it eight times consecutively!”

Seeing Lizhi wobble slightly, Chen Hao encouraged her and demonstrated alongside her as an example.

With Chen Hao’s encouragement, Lizhi persevered.

Until on the sixth repetition, she could no longer hold on and suddenly lost balance, falling forward onto Chen Hao, knocking him to the ground.

Their eyes met.

Silence enveloped them.

Not even a pin could be heard drop.

The only sound in the living room was the beating of their hearts.

Neither spoke a word.

They simply gazed into each other’s eyes.

In that moment, silence spoke louder than words...