To Live Is To Fight (#2)

Chapter 12

"Lev? What on God's green Earth are you doing out here?"

Lev lowered his hands that were trying to shield his head, I think.

"You know this guy?" Mr. Huang asked.

"Yeah," I answered.

"他是你的朋友吗?" (Is he your friend?) I nodded in reply while Lev looked like he understood nothing that Mr. Huang was saying.

"Please tell me he did not insulted me in another language purposely," he said aloud and I could only laugh lightly.

"No, I did not just insulted you in another language. It's mandarin, by the way." Mr. Huang slipped in. He gave Levy a scrutinizing look.

"I feel like I've seen you somewhere," he mused softly. "Who did you say you came here with?" Mr. Huang's arm muscle twitched visibly and I got ready to block his blow if he was going to throw one towards Levy again.

I don't know what beef they have but Levy's a friend and I won't let him get hurt. I know very well how that'll turn out for him just by getting trained by Mr. Huang for a few days. It will not be a pretty experience.

"Oh, a friend. I've been trying to contact Pixie but she hasn't been answering and not long after I started worrying, I found out that my cousin knew her grandmother so I gave her a call and she told me where you're at. So here I am." I frowned at his explanation.

Something's not adding up. Nana knows not to give out information like that to strangers. Especially with what I do. Maybe he confirmed something that convinced her he was a friend?

Whatever it is, I'm still glad he was there. It gives Mr. Huang someone to partner me up with so that I can start learning how to fight properly instead of punching air and stuff. It's starting to make me feel and act like an idiot.

"小福，你没告诉他你的名字吗?" (Xiao Fu, haven't you told him your name?)

"还没." (No)

"Should I be worried?" Mr. Huang had his eyebrows a bit furrowed that indicated that he was nowhere near trusting Levy, especially after he knew my answer to that question.

"No."

I knew he wanted to ask more questions that related to that answer. He probably wants to figure out if I truly trusted him or not and I honestly haven't figured that out myself. I was mostly built from wariness and Bryant's taught me a lot of things and being reckless on who you put your trust was nothing near to what's on that list.

During the whole conversation that I carried out with Shi Fu, Lev looked like he wanted to bang his head onto a wall and I wouldn't blame him. Mandarin would sound like a fork scratching a black board to someone's ears if they didn't understand it. It was hard to understand and definitely harder to learn. If mom didn't let our old neighbour teach me that language from the beginning of my early childhood, I would be slapping my hand over anyone who uttered a single word in mandarin.

It was an excellent language to speak in if you didn't want anyone to understand what you're saying though. Bryant and I used to speak in mandarin all the time just to get on our parents' nerves. It was hilarious whenever they would just pick up their things and leave the room every time we started speaking to each other in mandarin.

"So where's your friend?" Mr. Huang's accent shone through that question and I was immediately wary.

I remembered that one time when I followed Bryant to Mr. Huang's place and we ended up staying over, some rude hiker got lost and strayed to Mr. Huang's cabin. At first, he was just seeking some directions but then he started letting out an arrogant vibe and he started picking at Bryant for no reason.