Amidst the torrential downpour, a boy clutches his stomach as he drags himself along an alleyway. Ignoring the pain coursing through his left arm and leg, he continues forth, hugging the wall as much as possible to avoid the rain. His steps begin to slow as he approaches the stack of rotten planks leaning against the wall at the end of the alleyway.
“T...” The boy opens his mouth to speak, but chokes back his words.
Seeing the frail figure curled up beneath the haphazard shelter, the boy clenches his jaw and grinds his teeth. Despite having made up his mind on the way here, he simply couldn’t bring himself to say what he had planned. With a heavy sigh, he glances at the steamed bun in his right hand before biting off half. He kneels beneath the planks and places the steamed bun in her shivering hand.
“Sowwy…” He pauses to swallow the food in his mouth before continuing. “The beef bun was… they didn’t have any.”
The little girl clutches the soggy bun and pulls it towards her mouth. She stares blankly at the water streaming from the rotted wood before her, taking little nibbles every now and then. Amidst the crashing rain, she hears a loud grumble, causing her to hesitate mid-bite.
“It’s okay. Just eat…” Despite the aching pain of an empty stomach, the boy wills himself to keep his back straight.
As the little girl continues to nibble away at the bun, the boy stares blankly at the lights passing through the windows beyond the entryway of the alley. His heart fills with envy and longing as he watches the four silhouettes cluster beside one another. He tries to let his mind wander, hoping that it would take him away from reality once again.
Unfortunately, there is no savory aroma this time around, just the bitter sweet taste of his own blood. Despite his best efforts, there is no symphony of laughter, only the wretched crashing raindrops. Although he craves it, there is no warm embrace, only a shivering chill- a cold reminder of his harsh and empty existence.
“Don’t wait for me anymore…” With a heavy heart, the boy pushes himself away from the shabby shelter and into the rain. Pulling against the worn-out corner of the brick wall, he lifts himself to his feet. “I can’t do this…”
His feet suddenly feel heavy as he tries to walk away, but he still walks away. Step by step, he leaves the little girl behind. With a shattered heart, he steps towards the silhouettes; he steps towards the fake dream beyond the entrance of the alley.
This is what it is- how it is and always will be…
Upon exiting the alley, the boy pauses and stares at the silhouettes. Standing much closer now, he can faintly hear their muffled laughter beyond the rain. Despite renouncing the fantasy, he continues to gaze longingly at the scene. After a short moment, he clenches his eyes shut and shakes his head, breaking his gaze from the fake dream before him.
Go away… I don’t need you.
Convincing himself with a comforting lie, he turns to walk away. He instinctively pauses after the first step, glancing back into the dark alley before disappearing into the torrential rain.
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“Dan?” Sun stares blankly at his disciple, wondering why the lesson is on pause.
“Hmm? Oh, right.” His Master’s voice snaps Dan back to the moment. He digs his finger into the dirt and draws a line dividing the bun in half. “Let’s just assume you are also very hungry, and so you and Yuyu have to share. This half is for you, and this half is for Yuyu. How much of the one bun did each of you eat?”
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“…” Sun furrows his brows as he stares silently at the bun. After a short moment, he lifts his gaze towards Dan. “Half?”
“Correct!” Seeing the path to enlightenment before him, excitement washes over Dan. Building on the simple example, he draws two more stick figures on the other side of the bun. “Let’s pretend that Wei and I are also hungry, but we still only have this ‘one bun’…”
Hearing his name in the same breath as “bun”, Wei flinches. Ignoring his Junior Brother’s grimace, Dan lifts his finger from the dirt, backing away slowly as he observes the brightness in Sun’s eyes. His heart skips a beat as Sun stretches his finger forth, digging into the dirt and drawing two more lines to divide the bun into four pieces.
“Right!!! So if Master eats the ‘one bun’ by yourself, you would get one hundred percent of the bun’s nutrients.” Dan draws the long line again, this time dividing it into four equal sections marked “25”. He erases the stick figures standing around the bun, drawing them again above each section. “But if we all share it, then each person would…”
“Twenty-five…” Sun mumbles, worried that the answer is too obvious.
“Right, twenty-five percent!!!” Dan sweeps his palm across the stick figures “Now, imagine instead of nutrients, it’s your internal aura. If your maximum aura is one hundred percent, how much of that do you use during training?”
The group of guards watch with anticipation as Sun strokes his chin, most praying that he would prove his understanding before the approaching ladies arrived. Sweat begins to accumulate atop the guards' brows as the sound of footsteps grow louder and louder. Their eyes snap towards Lia and Yuyu, smiling nervously in greeting. With the ladies less than ten steps away from the entryway, the guards snap their attention back towards Sun.
Whilst his colleagues panic, the guard in charge of facilitating the bets flashes a knowing smile. He patiently waits for Lia and Yuyu’s arrival, fully confident that victory is, and always has been, assured. The source of that confidence comes from the fact that everyone has overlooked an important detail.
Idiots. If he doesn’t understand percentages, it’s likely that he doesn’t understand decimals…
Upon completing his thought, the guard shivers as his mind tries to fathom just how powerful this unknown instructor really is. Despite having the Master title for over ten years, the guard still can’t gauge the limits of the enigmatic instructor’s immense aura.
“…” Sun opens his mouth to speak, but words don’t come out. He furrows his brows, trying to articulate the number in his mind. “Is there a percentage less th-”
“Mister! Dan! Wei!” Yuyu’s voice, accompanied by a collective sigh of disappointment from the guards, cuts his words short. She darts onto the training field, pausing for a moment to set the cloth pouch down before throwing herself into Sun’s arms. “Aunty Lia made fried dumplings!”
“Thank you, Yuyu.” Sun smiles as he brushes the little girl’s bangs aside. Catching a whiff of the savory aroma, he rises to his feet with Yuyu in his arms. “Dan, Wei, looks like our lesson will have to wait. Come, let's eat.”
“What lesson, dummy?” Lia asks as she sets a stack of dumpling containers onto the walkway. Glancing at the faint remnants of their lesson in the dirt, she chuckles. “Division? Percentages?”
“Percentages.” Dan answers, sighing in defeat as he reaches for the cloth pouch holding their lunches.
“We’re trying to figure out how much strength Master uses during training.” Wei chimes in, reaching for a box of dumplings after Dan.
“Just think of it like coins, dummy.” Lia advises with a soft chuckle as she hands out the dumplings.
Upon hearing the suggestion, Dan and Wei turn to each other with wide eyes. After an entire morning of struggle, they finally see the path towards enlightenment. A solution so simple, yet evaded them and caused nothing but headaches until now.
“Master! Pretend your max aura is a gold coin! How many coins do you use during training?!” Dan blurts out excitedly.
The guards pause their clamoring over the dumplings and turn their gaze towards the field, equally eager to know. They watch in silence as Sun sets his chopsticks inside the bamboo container. Still chewing on the dumplings, Sun lifts his hands and extends all ten fingers.
“Ten… silvers? Ten percent?” Wei asks slowly, hoping for an affirmative response.
The guards’ jaws grow slack upon seeing Sun shake his head. Having observed them for the past few weeks, the guards had long grown sensitive to the pressure that fills the field during each training session. Through the process of elimination, they realize that Sun is using less than a single percent of his aura to exude that pressure. Dan and Wei realize the same, causing them to freeze up and drop their chopsticks. A cold chill shoots down their spines as they compare themselves to their Master- the uncrowned pinnacle of the martial world.
“Ten… bronze?” Dan musters up the courage to ask, unsure if he still even wants to know the answer. “Point one percent…?”