CHAPTER THREE
"LAY OFF"
The days have passed quite peacefully for the little restaurant and its staff. Customers came in, ate and left without fear of gangsters and the waiters eagerly undertook their Gongfu training.
Meanwhile one of the waiters taught Wen Hsiu and Ling Hua to use QQ to chat with other Chinese via the Internet using a cell-phone. Never having had any interest in such things before Wen Hsiu took notice of the pass-time, but preferred working and practicing Gongfu. He had picked up the skill of waiting tables in a very short time and was quick to earn a bit of extra cash in tips.
It was just after the lunchtime rush that the stubble-headed fighter and his companions showed up again. Wen Hsiu was quietly meditating behind the bar counter when he was alerted by an alarmed gasp. When he got up he noticed the waiters being rounded up by the group of thugs pointing pistols at them.
"Where is the Kung Fu guy?!" Ronnie yelled over the group gathered in front of him. His cohorts were surrounding Mr. Lu, the waiters and Ling Hua. Mrs. Lu was not in the restaurant, but had decided to go shopping when the restaurant had quieted down.
"I’m here." Wen Hsiu called over the bar counter.
It was at that moment when the thug standing closest to Ling Hua looked into Wen Hsiu’s direction. If he had kept his eyes on her he might have been able to tell why he ended up lying unconscious on the floor. Ronnie turned to look in her direction when he heard the body drop to the ground and got blindsided by a flying chopstick.
Wen Hsiu’s improvised projectile struck the nerve point just below the thug’s ear and caused him to drop like a bag of bricks.
The waiters took advantage of the ensuing chaos and charged at their captors. The remaining four assailants were disarmed and neutralised before anyone of them could fire a shot. Wen Hsiu joined in the fight and within seconds the thugs were all lying lifeless on the floor. Wen Hsiu took the guns and threw them into the nearest storm drain opening in the kerb outside. Then he went back in and carried the bodies out- one by one. When the last unconscious thug was lying on the pavement outside he went back into the restaurant.
The people outside looked on in shock and amazement as Wen Hsiu emptied a bucket of water over the thugs. When they all got jolted back into consciousness Ling Hua and he clapped their hands loudly and waved them off with an angry "Gu-ne gu-ne!". The thugs promptly jumped up and ran.
Wen Hsiu heard the restaurant’s telephone ring as he came back in. Mr Lu promptly answered it with a well rehearsed "Chinese Dragon Restaurant- good afternoon."
When he eventually put the phone down Wen Hsiu could easily tell that it was bad news.
"They said that they have my wife…" Mr Lu said, his face now pale with shock.
"They said… that the thugs had a contract with them that I had to sign… They would have released her then…"
Ling Hua looked at her friend. She wanted to apologise so badly, but then again, how were they supposed to know…?
"Wen Hsiu!", Dennis called.
Wen Hsiu had already disappeared into the streets, however…
Ronnie’s day had been going from bad to worse. First the Boss refused to pay anyone because of the stupid Restaurant owner’s refusal to sell. Now, his idea of subduing everyone at gunpoint had backfired. The Boss had actually just told them to deliver the contract and the message, but he had reckoned that they would need the extra protection… If the Boss found out he would be finished…
Ronnie had no idea where he was going as he wandered down the street. His cohorts followed him sheepishly. They may not be the most intelligent people in the city, but they knew just as well that it was better not to show up at the Boss’ headquarters now…
The thugs were completely unaware of being followed….
Wen Hsiu had only a little bit of trouble finding the thugs. He had to ask one of the people outside the Restaurant which way the men had run. His English was perhaps not the best, but it was enough to get the lady to point toward an alley. Wen Hsiu set off in that direction and soon found the thugs, now seeming to wander about aimlessly.
"Where is the Chinese lady?!" Wen Hsiu boomed across the alley. The thugs turned around in shock.
One of the thugs wanted to give him the old "I don’t know what you are talking about", but was stopped by Ronnie.
"Hey man!" he said. "I’m sorry. I don’t need to get beaten up again and my boss is going to kill me anyway so I don’t need anymore of this, okay?"
"If you help me save the lady I help you." Wen Hsiu said after carefully searching his mind for the correct English words."
"Really?" Ronnie asked. "I mean- I know you are good, but we are not exactly friends…"
"Are you really sorry?" Wen Hsiu asked.
"Yes." Ronnie replied. "I am really sorry."
"Tell me where your boss is," Wen Hsiu replied. "I make sure boss hurts nobody. I must help lady, but I can also help you…"
"Dude, where are you from?" one of the thugs asked.
"China." Wen Hsiu answered.
"You don’t look like a Chinese…" the thug remarked.
"Yeah, okay!" Ronnie said. "He is our pal now so no disrespect!"
Ronnie led Wen Hsiu to the office building a couple of blocks away.
"I’m sorry, but we are not going in there with you…" Ronnie apologised before leaving.
Wen Hsiu thanked them and went inside.
According to Ronnie the Boss’ office was on the third floor. Wen Hsiu headed up the stairs.
Sujen was in a locked room. After her kidnappers brought her to their boss she was forced to stay in an empty office. The door was locked and she knew very well that it was guarded by an armed thug. The Boss had refused to let her go until she has signed a paper she could not fully understand. Although the English writing was not clear to her, she knew very well that they had wanted her husband and her to give up their lease on the restaurant.
After having been slapped in the face by a thug and threatened with death at gunpoint she was given the paper to sign. Sujen, however, was not prepared to jeopardise her family’s livelihood just yet. She calmly told her assailants that her signature would be worthless without that of her husband.
It was shortly afterward that she was taken to this room and left with the paper which was still not signed. She had no idea what more they have intended for her in order to get her co-operation, but she was certain that these Gwai Lo would not spare anything with her…
Herman Geldenhuys was getting anxious. It had been an hour since he had sent Ronnie with the papers and the Chinese did not answer the phone since the last call. He was considering killing the woman he had in his custody, but eventually decided against it. Although he did not care for these yellow bastards and loved the idea of hurting and killing them he knew that it would give him a lot of unwanted attention. Right now he had their fear for their friend’s safety to help him get that gook’s signature. If she wound up dead he would most likely receive a lot of unwanted attention.
Three armed men were sitting around in his lavishly furnished office as he quietly sat behind his desk. One of them sat by the door behind which there was a woman that was soon to become their entertainment if Ronnie does not show up within the next ten seconds…
Wen Hsiu’s trip up the stairs was quiet. On the third floor he became more cautious. Ronnie never told him which office his Boss was using. He cleared his mind and all his senses became amplified. Now he slowly and quietly moved from door to door, scanning the environment for he slightest noise, vibration or visible occurrence that might put him on the right track.
It was not long until his body picked up the chi emanating from somewhere up ahead. Wen Hsiu was no stranger to chi, the lifeforce of living beings. Having received extensive training from Ling Hua he was not only able to sense the chi of other living beings, but he was also able to discern between human and animal chi- and that of plants. Apart from that he was mainly trained to gather large amounts of chi and channel it into devastating attacks.
As Wen Hsiu approached the door ahead of him he could hear the footsteps of someone getting up from a chair and walking somewhere behind the closed door. Next came the sound of a man’s voice. The building seemed abandoned except for this room. Wen Hsiu was certain that this was the place…
Sujen’s quiet contemplation of her fate got interrupted with the opening of the door. The looks on the men’s faces told her that they were not going to kill her, but that she was going to find out what their idea of fun was. They pinned her arms behind her and raised her from where she had been seated on the floor. She squirmed and screamed as a third thug approached her. The Boss stood in the door, watching them with a sadistic smile on his face.
The door to Geldenhuys’ office broke open with a loud crash before the men could put their sadistic plans into action.
Geldenhuys was able to look behind him just as he began his brief flight into the thug in front of him. The blur of a person moving at phenomenal speed was the last thing the two men saw before they each got knocked head first into adjacent walls.
The two men holding Sujen found security in the fact that they had a hostage and gripped her even firmer.
As Wen Hsiu approached one of the thugs most probably decided that he was going to need both his hands to be free to protect himself and he let go of their hostage. He felt Wen Hsiu’s foot pushing his innards into his spine before his body doubled up with an ill-bearing crack and he collapsed to the ground.
The last thug standing weighed his options and, after careful deliberation as Wen Hsiu quietly eyed him, pushed Sujen toward him. Wen Hsiu gently caught the woman as the thug ran out of the building.
Wen Hsiu held the woman’s shivering body tightly while he quietly scanned the office around him. When his eyes fell on the Boss that was slowly coming to he hoisted the man up and firmly grabbed as much of his shirt’s fabric in an iron fist. Wen Hsiu was in no mood to try to convey his thoughts in English. He quietly pointed toward Sujen with his free hand, eyeing the Boss with a furious stare. Then he brought his hand between the man’s face and his, waving a raised index finger in a prohibiting gesture. The Boss turned pale.
Wen Hsiu then clenched his hand into a fist, putting it close enough to the Boss’ face that it became the only thing visible to him at the moment.
Geldenhuys felt his legs going numb with fear. This man was no ordinary human being. He would normally tell anyone who dared to treat him in this manner that they should watch themselves, but this young man was definitely not the type to be intimidated. He was certain that one wrong move would land him in hospital…
"Lay off." Wen Hsiu snapped in English before he shoved the man across the office into his desk.
Wen Hsiu took Sujen by the hand and the two of them walked out of the office without any trouble.
Sujen stopped him at one of the doors in the passage and she went in to collect her grocery bags.
Wen Hsiu’s face lit up in a warm smile that showed nothing of the fierce warrior Sujen had seen earlier as he offered to help her carry the bags.
CAPTER TWO
CHINESE GONGFU!
The family eating at the table were probably tourists passing through, Wen Hsiu reckoned. A young Caucasian girl in a pink dress was sitting with her younger brother, happily pointing at the pictures on the restaurant’s walls and telling her mother to look. The father was a small built man. He explained as much as he could about the restaurant’s décor and showed the clumsy boy how to hold his chopsticks.
The man soon became thirsty and looked around for a waiter. His eyes fell on Wen Hsiu.
He called out to him in a language that he had never heard before. Wen Hsiu could hear that the man was being polite, though and smiled. He shrugged and tilted his head with a puzzled smile.
"I’m sorry…" the man repeated in English. "Do you work here?"
"Yes…" Wen Hsiu responded quickly in the first bit of English he could muster.
"Canwepleasehavsummoredrinks?" the man asked.
The question was impossible for Wen Hsiu to grasp.
"Some drinks, please." the man replied slowly.
Wen Hsiu immediately understood as some of the few familiar English words in his vocabulary reached his ears and triggered an old memory from a classroom in Hong Kong. He smiled, waved and looked at the table. He did not know the brands of the cans that were on the table, but he quickly took in the colours and shapes on the cans and rushed to the fridge. The man at the table watched him with a puzzled expression as he headed off.
"Hmmm…" he remarked to his wife. "I wonder where he is from…"
When he returned to the table and placed matching cans on the table before removing the empty cans the customer’s "thank you" assured him that his assumption was correct.
The waiter responsible walked up to Wen Hsiu as he dumped the cans into the refuse bin in the Kitchen.
"Thanks." he said. "Did they order anything else?"
"Only another round of drinks…" Wen Hsiu relied.
"Thank you. I’ll write it up." the waiter said.
Two of the waiters rushed to the door to meet the second group of guests for the day. Six men entered the restaurant. The apparent leader was a muscular man with a very short stubble on his head and a menacing look on his face. His jeans and black sleeveless shirt gave him the look of a biker. The studs on his belt and armlets did not do well to make him appear like a peaceful, law -abiding citizen. His companions seemed to have shopped at the same place for clothes as he.
The stubble-headed man pushed the waiter aside and yelled at the customers: "Nobody eats here! Get out now! Restaurant is closed!"
This immediately warranted some worried stares from the table. The family seemed reluctant to leave, though.
Ronnie was actually getting bored with the whole thing. He loved a good fight- even if there was no good reason for it. Having been in prison for counts of assault and attempted murder only made him more accustomed to the worst that life could throw at him. His boss told him to make sure no one supports the Chinese Restaurant- he was going to make sure it is done in the most violent and messy way possible.
A young white man dressed in a Chinese long sleeved shirt and trousers stood up from one of the tables at the back. "Jeez", Ronnie noticed. "He’s even wearing those funny Chinese slippers!"
"No! You make mistake!" the young man said in a most ridiculous Chinese accent and a smile that looked even more ridiculous. "Restaurant is open."
"You trying to be funny?" the man roared.
The waiters all gathered in together now.
"Please! Don’t wreck our shop!" Mr Lu called.
The Taekwondo instructor got the message loud and clear.
"We go outside?" he asked the stubble-head.
The waiters and the thugs soon squared off on the pavement outside the restaurant. The stubble-head stepped forward and sank into a boxing crouch. His hands, were not clenched into fists, though, but rather relaxed and semi- open. As one of the prize-fighters of his mixed martial arts club he was more than ready to teach these gooks about fighting...
Mr Lu looked out the window. He was really worried. The waiters were no masters of the martial art that they have just taken up and he still felt that knowledge of a martial art was simply not enough right now.
"That man is not very strong…" Ling Hua remarked as she sipped her tea without bothering to turn her head. "I hope for their sake they stop this foolishness before they get hurt…"
The customers now joined Mr. Lu by the window. It did not matter who people were or where they came from- a fight was always guaranteed to attract attention.
The Taekwondo instructor stepped in. He threw a blurry combination of kicks at the stubble-head.
Ronnie closed his body to attack by bringing his forearms together in front of his chest and abdomen. He took the Chinese man’s side kicks on his forearms and ducked underneath a high roundhouse kick. While the kick missed his head he lunged into the Chinese. He wasted no time tackling the Chinese guy into the ground and sitting on top of his chest. He raised his fist…
Within a quarter of a second he was going to beat this Chink into a pulp…
Ronnie’s plans got rudely interrupted by his arm suddenly going numb and getting twisted and straightended. His hand was caught in a paralysing grip and was awkwardly bent up, preventing him from making a fist. The pressure on his hand somehow caused his elbow joint to extend to the brink of snapping. He howled in surprise.
The waiters looked on in surprise. None of them saw how Wen Hsiu had managed to close the space between him and the fighter before he grabbed his arm. Now the large muscular man was being immobilised by this lightly built young man that they have just met.
"Help me!" Ronnie cried.
Holding the stubble-head’s hand firmly Wen- Hsiu shot his heel into one of the thugs’ abdomen. A rib snapped loudly as the man’s body lifted off the ground upon impact and fell over.
With a violent twist of his body Wen Hsiu swung the stubble-head like a rag doll and sent him flying into his next assailant. The other thugs have maneuvered around him and now moved in all at once. Wen Hsiu disappeared in a blur of movement and the three remaining thugs were knocked over in a second by invisible attacks before he appeared again. He was poised in a low crouch with his elbow still in the position where it was when it struck his last assailant’s midriff while his other arm was extended to his side, his palm out in a warding off posture.
Mr. Lu felt his legs shaking. His jaw dropped. "So that is…"
Ling Hua finished his sentence: "… Chinese Gongfu."
Early the next morning Wen Hsiu was up on the rooftop with his mother. The building which housed, amongst others, the restaurant, Mr Lu’s home and also the room in which he and his mother slept, had a staircase leading to the roof. Here Mrs. Lu hung the washing on a line and it was also the place for early morning exercise. His movements matched that of his mother in perfect unison as they practiced the taolu, or gongfu pattern, together. He had long since mastered the art of gathering in energy and focusing it in sharp, powerful blows. His balance was faultless and his movements smooth and fluid.
When they have finished Ling Hua looked at her son with a warm smile. Not once after the incident has he shown any sign of anger, neither did he boast about his abilities. That was Wen Hsiu’s nature- Work is done and forgotten without any reward being sought. She was so proud of him.
She did feel, though, that he might not be fully aware of what was in store for them.
"Wen Hsiu…" she called before the lad could run off to the room.
"Yes?" Wen Hsiu asked, sensing his mother’s concern.
"Please remember- a lot of the people here carry firearms. I want you to remember that. You must be careful about getting into fights here…"
Wen Hsiu nodded and headed down the staircase.
Firearms were something that Wen Hsiu had only heard about once. His surrogate father, Gao Shang once told him a story of the Boxer Rebellion-
"They were all so convinced that their Gongfu would withstand these terrible weapons…" Gao Shang sighed as he stared into the night. "Pipes filled with gunpowder that exploded, burying pieces of metal deep inside a man’s body- destroying all organs in their way. They never stood a chance…"
"Could the monks not evade the pieces of metal?" an eight year old Wen Hsiu asked.
"No" Gao Shang replied. "Those pieces of metal flew much too fast to even be seen…"
The Restaurant’s chef was happy to see Wen Hsiu as he walked in. He called him over and led him to a very thoughtfully set table. Wen Hsiu’s eyes widened as he saw the food. The table had all of his favourite dishes: seafood soup, pork dumplings, fried beef with Chinese spinach and a steamed bun.
"It’s for our Champion." the chef beamed. "I hope you like it."
Wen Hsiu could not believe the generosity. He thanked the man and stood motionless, still coming to terms with the surprise.
"Come on!" the chef urged him on. "Eat up while it’s still warm!"
"Thank you." Wen Hsiu said again and sat down to eat.
Wen Hsiu was halfway through his meal when the waiters arrived. The Taekwondo instructor was first to greet him. He apologised for not introducing himself and the others earlier and Wen Hsiu soon learned that the Taekwondo instructor’s name was Dennis, or at least that it was his English name. The others were introduced without delay: Jimmy was a handsome looking young man who smiled as he bowed, George was a bit more muscular, John nodded quietly. The last one to introduce himself was a quiet, small built man who could not speak much English. He was A Kun.
"We’ve all decided…" the Taekwondo instructor said. " that we do not want to practice Taekwondo anymore. Will you please teach us Gongfu?"
"I don’t know." Wen Hsiu said. "I’ll ask my mother."
Ling Hua did not agree to let Wen Hsiu teach the waiters Gong Fu. She took that task upon herself. Wen Hsiu might have meant well, but she knew very well that there were risks to sparring with her super-powered son.
In one of the remote parts of Johannesburg one of the city’s shadier entrepreneurs was sitting behind his desk listening to Ronnie’s excuse.
"One man?!" he asked in a most unnerving calm tone.
Ronnie felt uneasy as the man stared at him. "Well- yeah! He knew Kung Fu!"
"Kung Fu?" the man asked quietly…
CHAPTER 1
WELCOME TO SOUTH AFRICA
The busy airport was noisy and full of people, much like Hong Kong…
Wen Hsiu was raised in the country, but he had been to the overpopulated city enough times to be accustomed to crowds. Yet, it all felt so strange. Wen Hsiu could not really say why he felt so strange in this foreign place. It was not the crowd. It was not the fact that he was carrying two suitcases, one in each hand, and a large, seemingly overstuffed backpack, on his back.
Not one to ponder anything for too long Wen Hsiu concluded that being in a foreign country was just supposed to feel strange and he left it at that- and continued his walk with the elderly Chinese lady next to him.
"It really wasn’t necessary to come along, Mom." Wen Hsiu said as his mother and he slowly searched the bustling airport for a familiar face. "You know I can take care of myself." Ling Hua smiled and shook her head. The bright Caucasian lad, who had never seemed to realise that he, with his brown hair and blue eyes, was not actually her biological son, was probably right, but somehow she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was not right to just leave the poor citizens of this country alone with him...
And besides, she had not seen Mr. Lu in a long time…
"Hi, Mr. Lu!" Wen Hsiu greeted excitedly and waved. Ling Hua turned her head to see where he was looking and saw the familiar face of an elderly Chinese man smiling at her from across the airport’s waiting area.
The elderly woman and young man, who was carrying all the luggage, rushed to greet their old friend. After exchanging brief greetings, regards from relatives and quick updates on current affairs Mr. Lu led his friends to his car. The grey Volkswagen Beetle’s hood was opened first to allow Wen Hsiu to place the two suitcases inside. There was no room for the backpack, though and it ended up sharing the back seat with him as they drove away from the Airport.
"So… " Mr. Lu ventured to ask. "What do you think of South Africa?"
Hua looked at the tall buildings outside the car’s window. In all her years she had never felt the need to travel outside her country. Now, she realised, she was witnessing just a small part of the many things this world had to show of which she had known nothing. Having been raised on a farm and living her life as a farmer’s wife while not travelling in all her life except for this time made the sight of a foreign city quite overwhelming to her. It was so much different from Hong Kong…
"The city seems very quiet…" she remarked.
Mr. Lu laughed softly. Yes. Compared to the bustling city and narrow streets of downtown Hong Kong Johannesburg seemed quiet. He himself had once lived in a house in Polokwane before moving to Johannesburg. The thought of one man owning so much floor space was something that did not occur often to somebody that had been born and raised in Hong Kong and who had been living there for a long time thereafter.
"So… Young man…" Mr. Lu said, looking in his rearview mirror. "You know English, right?"
"A little…" Wen Hsiu said, seeming oddly cheerful.
"Wen Hsiu had been doing so well in school. It is a pity we had to take him out of school so early to help out on the farm. Still- he remembers a lot of English words. I’m sure he’ll catch on quickly…"
Mr. Lu was of course surprised to hear this. He has heard about Ling Hua’s adopted son, but never heard that he had been found by her husband when he was just a baby.
"He grew up with us on the farm since Gao Shang found him." Hua continued. "He was just a baby then. We had no idea where he came from or why he was there. We had no children and neither of us could just leave him so…"
Wen Hsiu himself could only remember growing up on the farm a couple of kilometers away from urban Hong Kong. As a young boy he was constantly made aware of the fact that he did not look anything like his classmates. It was only the first couple of years that were troublesome, though.
Ling Hua was quick to notice the boy’s inner strength, and not to mention the tremendous external strength...Every once in a while some of it was revealed- whether it was eight year old Wen Hsiu chopping wood like an adult, ten year old Wen Hsiu almost single handedly winning a soccer game or just the sight of a young boy carrying two full buckets of water to tend to the crops like it was no trouble at all…
A seasoned martial artist, Ling Hua realised the boy’s potential and immediately began teaching him her family’s style of Gongfu. By the time the boy reached his teens he had developed skills far exceeding her modest expectations and now the most significant difference he had from his peers was an unusually muscular frame. By now the nineteen year-old lad could outrun a horse, leap over a grown person’s head and lift twice his body weight. In sharp contrast to all that the boy was known throughout the village for his gentle nature and kind heart.
"I’m glad you could come." Mr. Lu sighed. "Even though I don’t know how you’ll be able to help me." Ling Hua had read Mr. Lu’s last letter telling her about thugs terrorising his restaurant. Her husband, Gao Shang, knew her and their unusual son long enough to know that they would be able to help. Before they knew it friends and neighbours had the flight to South Africa arranged and wished Ling Hua and Wen Hsiu a safe trip as they set off to help their friend in peril far away. This, Ling Hua often reminded Wen Hsiu, was due to the most valuable thing they owned, a good heart. Ling Hua was never known to pass up the opportunity to lend a hand if it came to her attention. This was a trait that Wen Hsiu shared and the strong, yet compassionate youth was quick to find a place in the hearts of those who knew him.
"Those thugs sound like nothing but a bunch of bullies that need to be taught a lesson…" Ling Hua assured Mr. Lu.
"It has been getting worse." Mr. Lu said. "At first they would show up and threaten me after the restaurant had closed, but now they even show up during business hours and scare away my customers! And all of that because I don’t want to move out!"
Wen Hsiu listened quietly while he looked outside.
"Why don’t you call the police?" he asked.
"It’s no use here." Mr. Lu complained. "The police do nothing about it and usually demand money before they even show any interest. Besides, it is more likely for you to get locked up if you call the police here…"
"Why don’t you come back to China?" Wen Hsiu asked.
"Heh Heh!" Mr. Lu laughed. "I have not gathered enough money just yet. Besides, what will my family say if I traveled all the way here and go back with nothing to show for it?"
Ling Hua shook her head. She did not understand how people could trouble themselves so much over money. On their farm they had all they have ever needed and never wanted anything else. Life is so peaceful and the people are all easy going. There was no need to take whatever another had by force. Mr. Lu, on the other hand, had always dreamed of making lots of money and Ling Hua could clearly remember the day he had proudly announced that he was going to leave China to open a restaurant in South Africa. Many of the people envied him for being able to do that. Ling Hua, however, was more worried about the risk in which he would be placing his wife. Still, she knew very well, Mr Lu was not the kind of man that would be content with living the simple life that her family had known for all these years…
When they eventually arrived at the Chinese Dragon Restaurant Mr. Lu’s wife Su Jen came out to greet them, accompanied by two staff members who helped them unpack.
The cheerful short lady was introduced by Mr. Lu and welcomed them inside. She greeted Wen Hsiu with her best English "Hello."
Wen Hsiu gave her a surprised stare before asking politely in Mandarin: "Please say again."
"Oh!" Mrs Lu laughed- this time being her turn to be surprised. "I didn’t know you speak Chinese!"
Ling Hua intervened. "This is my son Wen Hsiu. His English is still not very good."
Sujen’s jaw dropped. "So you are Wen Hsiu! I’m so pleased to meet you. My friends in Hong Kong told me about you…"
Mrs. Lu prepared lunch for their guests and happily sat around the table. Wen Hsiu was uneasy about the Restaurant being so quiet during this time of the day. He knew that they were not closed.
He could also not see any waiters in the front shop.
"With it being so quiet the waiters have decided to take up Taekwondo. Now they use all this spare time to practice. Hopefully it will help us deal with the thugs." Mr. Lu explained.
"Why does it have to be a foreign martial art?" Ling Hua scolded. She frowned to show her disapproval. "If they are Chinese they must learn Chinese Gongfu…"
"I hear Chinese Gongfu is not really effective for self defence." Mr. Lu replied. "Besides…" he added before Ling Hua could reply. "If it helps you to take care of yourself in a fight you should use it- foreign or not."
"I’ve never seen Taekwondo before." Wen Hsiu interjected. "May I go and see?"
"Sure" Mr. Lu replied. "through that door over there, into the kitchen and through the next door."
Wen Hsiu was soon behind the Restaurant in the delivery area. It was a large enough open space that was fenced. A gate, which was opened only for deliveries, provided access from the outside.
One of the waiters, dressed in a white Taekwondo uniform, was counting loudly. Four other waiters were lined up in front of him. On each count they kicked in unison. Wen Hsiu watched how they repeatedly performed side kicks this way and then roundhouse kicks.
The instructor noticed Wen Hsiu watching them and stopped the class.
"Can I help you?" the instructor asked in his best English.
Wen Hsiu gave a puzzled look and then decided that whatever the man was trying to say, it would probably be best to introduce himself.
"Hi!" he greeted in Chinese. "I’m Wen Hsiu."
The five men now gathered around him in disbelief.
"You’re Wen Hsiu?!" one asked in clear disbelief.
"From Hong Kong?" another followed.
"Are you Chinese?" another one asked.
"I guess…" Wen Hsiu replied, knowing that he could definitely not speak enough English to match his Western looks.
"So…" Wen Hsiu ventured to change the subject. "This is Taekwondo, huh?"
"Yeah…" the instructor said. "We are training to take care of the thugs."
"Why do Chinese people practice a foreign martial art?" Wen Hsiu asked.
"What do you think we should practice?" one of the younger men asked.
"Chinese Gongfu, of course!" Wen Hsiu replied in disbelief.
"Chinese Gongfu?" a young man laughed. "Are you serious?"
"Of course!" Wen Hsiu replied, still not believing their response.
"Well…" the instructor said. "Gongfu looks nice in movies, but it’s no use in a real fight."
"It’s only of no use if you are a beginner..." Wen Hsiu said. "…, but it contains thousands of years of experience and has a response for every conceivable attack."
"Would you like to show us?" one of the young men asked, readying himself in a fighting posture.
"You’ll get hurt." Wen Hsiu replied.
"Hey!" Mr Lu’s voice came through the door. "We have customers!"
"Quick!" the instructor called. "Let’s change!"
Within moments the waiters were dressed in their uniforms- red Chinese shirts with black trousers. They attended to their first table without delay. Wen Hsiu sat at one of the vacant tables, quietly observing the people walking outside. The restaurant’s glass windows provided him with a good view of the street outside. Music played softly and Mr Lu and Ling Hua sat at another table, playing chess and chatting idly.
