With a puzzled look on her face, Nanako asked, “Kobayashi-san, do you have any problem with this Dr. Simmons?”“Oh, no, no.” Jiro hurriedly waved his hand and said seriously, “I’ve never met Dr. Simmons before. By the way, frankly speaking, before my brother passed away, he once offended the doctor, so I’m afraid he holds a grudge against our family. In order not to affect his decision when you ask him to treat Yamamoto-san, it’ll be better if you don’t say my name. You can call me Tanaka-san.”“Alright, then.” Nanako nodded. She took the lead, stepped through the door, knocked, and asked, “Excuse me, is Dr. Simmons in?”The staff was surprised to see such a gorgeous and elegant woman standing at the door. He said politely, “Hello, I’m sorry but the clinic is closed now, and Dr. Simmons will not attend to any more patients for today. Please come back tomorrow if you need his service.”Nanako hurriedly said, “Please tell Dr. Simmons that there is a patient who urgently needs his hel
Nanako didn’t expect that Charlie Wade would be Master Wade in Dr. Simmons’s eyes or even the True Dragon.Japan had a lot of mythical legends about dragons. After all, the Japanese civilization was originally passed over from Oskia, so the similarities of the two civilizations were very significant.In Japanese culture, dragons were regarded as the most divine creatures that shared almost the same status as gods.However, it was beyond her imagination that this old divine doctor would honor such a young man as the True Dragon on earth.Of course, she couldn’t have known that the influence Charlie brought to Anthony had overturned Anthony’s decades-long perceptions.In Anthony’s opinion, the medical skills that Charlie had displayed as well as the unbelievable medicine refinery skills were simply unique and extraordinary in the world.Not to mention, he himself had benefited greatly from Charlie. A healing magical elixir and the Rejuvenating Pill had opened a new chapter in his l
“Charlie Wade?!”The mention of Charlie’s name sent a chill down Jiro’s spine. He hurriedly said, “Nanako-san, you must stay away from Charlie Wade! This person is extremely dangerous, it is best not to have too much contact with him…”Then, he added, “Besides, you must never listen to Yamamoto-san’s advice and worship Charlie Wade as your master. As far as I’m concerned, this Charlie guy is very unfriendly to the Japanese, otherwise, he wouldn’t have brutally crippled Yamamoto-san simply because of what Yamamoto-san said!”Nanako nodded. “I didn’t think that he would take me as his disciple, but I hoped that he would be able to do something to heal Yamamoto-san or help put in a good word to get Dr. Simmons to heal him.”Jiro hurriedly asked, “So, are you going to visit Charlie some other time?”“No, not another day. I will go to him today.”“Today?! But it’s already evening! Are you really going to meet Charlie right now?”“Yes! Now!”With a face full of determination, Nanako
It was true that Charlie was very disgusted with Yamamoto Kazuki, but to be fair, he had a good impression of Nanako.Although Nanako had been practicing martial arts for many years, she was a very gentle woman to the core and could be considered a sensible girl which was very rare in the martial art circle.Upon hearing that, Anthony immediately said, “Okay, Master Wade, I understand. Don’t worry, if she comes over again, I’ll do my due diligence in hospitality.”“Good, that would be wise,” Charlie replied. “Okay, Mr. Simmons, I’m almost home, talk to you later.”“Okay, Master Wade.”After ending Anthony’s call, Charlie drove the car into the villa area of Thompson First.He gradually slowed down as he was about to arrive at his house when suddenly, a shadow flashed out from one side and blocked his car.Charlie hurriedly stepped on the brakes to stop the car. He looked up to find the person blocking the front of his car was none other than Nanako!He was puzzled.‘What is th
Nanako frowned and said, “Mr. Wade, please clarify your statement!”Charlie uttered, “First of all, if you walk on the path of the world of martial arts, you should first cultivate your mind, your body, and then the arts.”“In other words, the importance of the mind in pursuing this journey is greater than the physical strength and the type of martial arts.”“It doesn’t matter whether you practice combat, kickboxing, karate, taekwondo, Wing Chun, or Tai Chi. This is not important. What matters is your heart!”Nanako asked, puzzled, “My heart? What’s wrong with my heart?”Charlie snorted and chided in a condescending tone, “Your heart is full of petty benevolence. It is filled with artifice; it is narrow-minded; it does not admit defeat; most importantly, it lacks wolfishness!”“Wolfish?!” Nanako’s face twisted into a tightened grimace as she exclaimed, “What do you mean? What is wolfishness?”Charlie uttered, “The so-called wolfishness is a wolf nature. It describes the toughnes
Charlie’s words made Nanako realize that she had never been a qualified martial artist.She had won a world championship, and she had been crowned as one of the top young martial artists in the world, yet, she didn’t understand the basic principle of martial arts and the soul within it.Seeing her crying profusely and her body trembling, Charlie couldn’t help but sigh and said, “I’m sorry, I was too harsh with my words just now, but I was hoping that you would understand what the true soul of martial arts is!”Nanako raised her head, her big red eyes staring at Charlie. Then, she bent her legs and knelt on the floor as she said in a sobbing voice, “Please enlighten me, Mr. Wade. I’m ready to listen to your guidance!”Instead of offering his hand to help her up, Charlie said with a serious expression, “The soul of the martial art is not the physical strength, but the strength of the heart!”“If you are strong from within, you will still live up to the spirit of martial arts even if
Nanako hurriedly put her hands on the floor, bowed her head, and said, “Mr. Wade, I apologize to you and the Oskian people on behalf of all the Japanese who have hurt the Oskian people. I’m sorry! I will do my best to pay off Japan’s debt for the rest of my life!”Charlie waved his hand. “Never mind. This debt may never be settled, but I’m grateful for your effort.”Then, he reached out to help Nanako up to her feet and said, “You still have two upcoming matches, hurry back and prepare well. I, as Aurora’s coach, am looking forward to seeing the two of you meet in the finals. So, in the next semifinals match, you must perform well. Succeed to the finals to meet Aurora there.”Nanako said unwaveringly, “Please rest assured, Mr. Wade. I will do my best and meet Aurora in the finals!”“Good.” Charlie nodded. “See you in the final, then.”With that, Charlie got back into his BMW and drove it into his Thompson First villa.As the car sped off, Nanako locked her gaze on the car for a l
Nanako stayed up all night.Charlie’s words had been circulating in her mind all night long. Somehow, as she thought about it more, she suddenly felt that she must not give up on martial arts!In fact, she must double her efforts and work hard so that Charlie would look at her in a different light!Perhaps Charlie would never be willing to accept her as a disciple, but she must show him with her actions that she would become a qualified martial artist!Jiro, who had always wanted to pursue Nanako, had trouble sleeping as well.While he couldn’t wait to take Nanako’s hand, he was also looking forward to the next advertising campaign of Kobayashi Stomach Pill in Oskia.Since Kobayashi Stomach Pill was the title sponsor of the finals segment, it was the best time for the medicine to make a big promotion.Moreover, to Jiro’s surprise, Aurora, the Oskian athlete, had become the dark horse of the competition!This was very important to him. He wished to launch and promote his new sto
Reservations in Heaven Springs had always been unpredictable, and most rooms weren't open to the general public—even if said rooms were vacant for the night.It was not as if Albert Rhodes didn't want to make money when he built Heaven Springs. He simply didn't do it solely for profit, but only mostly for social events and posturing.Back when he was a humbler member of society, he realized that many bigwigs and even his fellows cared for pride a lot. Be it food, liquor, or even simply everyday consumption, they always strove for the best and the most expensive.That was why polite society valued their privacy and established their respective social circles, which was why Heaven Springs ensured that everything was first-rate: atmosphere, service, food, and clientele.Just like how bigwigs wouldn't dine at the same table as their goons, said goons wouldn't eat at the fancy places those bigwigs frequented even if they had money, as it may appear as if they were overstepping.That wa
As such, intent on keeping up his pretense, Jacob answered the phone, "Looking for me, Matilda?""Uh-huh," Matilda replied, and asked, "You didn't show up at Senior University, and your sub is saying you probably won't be coming for a while? Is that true?""Oh—right, that," Jacob quickly said. "Well, it's true—the gist of it is that the Association is getting busy with a project. As the vice president, I probably shouldn't be staying at Senior University all the time, right?""Heck, Mr. Bay called me last minute, telling me how busy we're going to be and that I was needed. That's why I had to go back, but I will head over to campus again when I have the time."Matilda knew right then that those were all excuses.However, she did not expose Jacob, instead asking, "Well, when are you free? So that I can send you my wedding invitation?""Oh, the invitation?" Jacob quickly chuckled. "You really didn't have to come to me—just pass it to Walker, my sub lecturer. He can pass it to me wh
The next afternoon, there was a sudden change of lecturers for the calligraphy class.Despite being the vice president of the Calligraphy and Painting Association, Jacob never showed up, instead getting a substitute instructor to replace him.Matilda had come with the invitation Yolden had written for Jacob, but seeing that Jacob wasn't at the lecture hall, she waited until the class was over to ask the sub, "Excuse me, can I ask why Mr. Wilson wasn't teaching this class?""He's busy at the association," the sub replied. "So, I'm taking over his class."Curious, Matilda pressed, "Then, would you happen to know when he will be coming?""Probably not for a while," the sub replied. "He delegated other classes to me as well, telling me that I could just stick to the PowerPoint slides."Then, he asked, "Do you have business with Mr. Wilson?"Matilda nodded. "Yes, but I can call him myself. Thank you."Leaving the lecture hall, Matilda called Jacob, who was goofing off in his office
On the other end, Matilda was left staring at Jacob's reply in confusion.She had presumed that Jacob would understand when she mentioned inviting his whole family that he should be coming up with an excuse to skip attending her wedding.That was the most ideal solution.As such, she was shocked that instead of playing along, Jacob's reply was short and blunt.[No problem. The four of us will be there!]Perplexed, Matilda was left wondering what Jacob meant. Was he really going to attend her wedding with Elaine?The thought left Matilda frowning as she absolutely didn't want to see Elaine—especially not at her own wedding.Yolden was writing an invitation when he saw the somber look on her face, and he couldn't help asking, "Is there a problem?""Jacob replied," Matilda admitted. "And he's saying that he will bring his whole family.""Really?" Yolden was confused too, as he was hardly as eccentric as Jacob. "But he's afraid of his wife and shouldn't be telling her at all…
Charlie was driving Jacob to Thompson First when the latter received the text from Matilda.Seeing that they were reaching the front gates, Jacob promptly snapped at Charlie, "Charlie, stop the car now!"Charlie did so and asked in curiosity, "What's wrong?""Matilda just texted me," Jacob replied, showing the chat log between him and Matilda.Charlie was just glancing at it nonchalantly when he saw that Matilda's contact name was 'AAA July Florist'."Wait, why is that Aunt Matilda's contact name?" He exclaimed in surprise."I changed it."Jacob explained gingerly while reading through the text Matilda sent. "Her profile picture is an iris, so I changed her contact name to a florist since I'm mostly worried Elaine would peek into my phone.""Anyway, she's asking if I'm attending her wedding with Yolden. They would send us an invitation if I accept, extended to our whole family… what do you think I should say?"Charlie asked in return. "You're planning to skip it, aren't you? T
Then, Matilda suggested, "How about this—I'll ask him before deciding." "I'll pass on inviting the rest of my former classmates too. They're too vain and love comparing, so I'd rather not have anything to do with that. Also, there are our Korean friends who have it together, and they were telling us to invite them if we were going to get married. We have to keep our promise, right?""Yeah—then, it's basically decided. Aside from Charlie, we shall invite our colleagues and Korean friends while we wait for an answer from Jacob."Yolden nodded and said, "Now, I'll talk about the honeymoon—cut me short if you have a different opinion."Matilda nodded, resting her chin on her hands and smiling. "Shoot. I'm all ears."Feeling a little embarrassed by Matilda's glowing stare, Yolden took a sip of his ice water before continuing, "My idea is to head to the States for our honeymoon after the wedding…"He trailed off, staring at Matilda and waiting for a response.However, she was merely
"Oh, Jacob…?"Matilda chuckled awkwardly. "Just today, he offered to buy me dinner, but I said I didn't have the time, and I also told him about our wedding… So, we should invite him since he's aware of it.""Jacob offered to buy you dinner?" Yolden exclaimed in surprise. "Did he say why?""Nope," Matilda shrugged, smiling. "Probably just dinner between old classmates."However, she was actually smart enough to guess Jacob's intention even though Jacob was inviting her somewhere near campus. That was why she had also mentioned she was marrying Yolden while turning down Jacob, all so that he would give up on her.After she had managed to get over their past fling completely, she didn't want to give Jacob false hopes before she walked down the aisle.In the same regard, she didn't want to worry Yolden, and therefore, had deliberately discouraged Jacob.Be that as it may, Yolden was smart too.He knew about Matilda and Jacob's past and that her son, Paul's full name was Paul Jam
Before Charlie had arrived, Jacob was still furious that Matilda would soon marry Yolden.After Charlie came, however, he was instead worried that Matilda would send him a wedding invitation.Meanwhile, Matilda and Yolden were discussing their list of guests.They had different social circles, but most of their friends were Stateside, and they only had some distant relatives in this country.Still, they had colleagues in Aurous Hill. Matilda had classmates too, but she was out of touch with them aside from Jacob, whom she often met.Still, as they discussed who should be invited, Matilda first suggested, "Let's go through everyone. First, our Stateside friends… I don't think we should tell them at all since it's a long journey, and inviting them would seem tactless. What do you think?"Yolden nodded, smiling, "I was just thinking the same thing. We're close with our Stateside friends and always keep in touch, but inviting them to our wedding might be a stretch. We'd just hit a wa
With that being said, once Matilda was thrown in the mix, Elaine would suddenly become an African honey badger, with every bit of black air force energy that was implied.As such, if Jacob had managed to be brave and take that one step back then, Charlie would have tried to help, stopping Elaine from harassing Jacob or Matilda.However, the reality was that Jacob had to bungle the chance when Matilda offered it to him.That was why the best option was for Jacob to understand that he couldn't get together with Matilda now so that he would feel much better.And since he had always been a coward, Charlie's slight intimidation cleared his head considerably.He then sighed, "Well, that's just life—you don't always get what you want, and you should never try to claim what you couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to choose Matilda over thirty years ago, so not being together now only makes sense.""Now, I can only pray that Elaine never finds out… or at least that things don't get out of h