Li Du explained the matter to Sophie and her mood quickly disintegrated. She whispered, “Did I go too far? I shouldn’t be so jealous of you and Rose. Actually, I know there’s nothing between you and her.”
“Yes, you went too far. You hurt me,” Li Du said earnestly.
Sophie was a little moody and said, “How about I apologize?”
Li Du shook his head. “No, how could I forgive you so quickly after that?”
Sophie asked gloomily, “Then, what should I do?”
Li Du smiled and said, “If you make a mistake, you’ll be punished. According to our relationship, we’ll talk about punishment at night and we’ll discuss it when we get back to our bedroom.”
Sofie immediately guessed what he was thinking and slapped him. “Don’t even think about it. That is not possible. You promised me.”
Li Du sighed, “So when do we get married? We’ve been together a long time.”
Sophie thought for a moment and whispered, “It will be fine after the engagement.”
Li Du was happy and said, “It’s fine after our engagement? Good, I’ll call my parents right now and allow them to prepare. I’ll take you and your parents to China, or let my parents come to America, and we’ll get engaged!”
When the two of them were together, they sometimes discussed the matter of marriage, which was a big deal and could not be solved in a short amount of time.
But engagement was different. In the United States, an engagement was very simple. At any time, the two families could have dinner together and talk about it.
No ceremony, no preparation, no customs, and no money involved.
Li Du preferred to have his engagement in the United States—in his hometown, it was too troublesome. The matter and the procedure were tedious. He needed to let his parents come to the United States and they could enjoy traveling too.
Seeing that he was overjoyed, Sophie smiled slyly and said, “Okay, but an engagement needs an engagement ring. Do you think you should prepare well? It would be very unromantic to randomly buy a ring.”
Li Du laughed, “That’s simple. I will find you a diamond myself and make an engagement ring like no other in the world!”
Sophie genuflected, then crossed her fingers and closed her eyes to make a wish.
Li Du wondered, “What are you doing? Making a wish to god?”
“Yes.”
“What wish?”
“It’s about finding a diamond. Guess what I wished for: that find it easily or not?”
Li Du laughed. “It must be me finding it easily, right?”
Sophie smiled. “Guess again.”
Li Du stared at her in silence.
Laughing, they began to prepare dinner, with Sophie helping and Li Du cooking. Soon one Chinese dish after another was served.
He wiped his hands and went to the yard for air; everything was finished except for a few stews.
When he got to the yard, he saw that Luo Qun was not as lifeless as before, and she was punching the air happily at that moment.
Ali stood next to her, eyes wide with delight, watching her punch.
“Look: this is straight, this is a swing, this is a hook, this is the jab, this is a box. I’ll teach you one by one,” Luo Qun said to Ali while punching.
Ali’s little short arms learned to move forward, and because of its body’s structure, it could only do straight punches and swing, which made it felt a little frustrated.
Luo Qun noticed this and said, “It’s okay, just learn straight boxing. Joseph Brown, the famous boxing coach, said, ‘Mastering straight boxing is equal to mastering 80 percent of boxing.’ In boxing, the kings almost always win their gold belts with their straight punches.”
Ali moved forward with his small arm, which had muscles hanging from it. It was not yet large, but it was well defined, and it would grow into a strong upper body.
Luo Qun corrected it. “See, don’t just focus on jumping, learn how to use slide steps, support with your tail. Both legs cross over each other and slide. Yes, this is it . . .
“Use slide steps to confuse an opponent. At the same time, throw a punch—a straight punch should be quick, accurate, and fierce. Aim and hit directly! Well, you can kick at the same time. That’s okay. You’re not going to be in the ring anyway . . . “
Li Du smiled and said, “Why are you in such a mood?”
Luo Qun turned around and said with surprise, “I accidentally discovered that your kangaroo is extraordinary. It’s very talented in boxing, even higher than a human’s talent.”
Kangaroos were indeed born boxers. In Australia, kangaroos had historically been trained as sparring partners for boxers. However, this was more for show. Kangaroos had boxing ability, but they did not have wisdom. They could only stare at people and punch fiercely. They simply could not be competent to the challenge of sparring.
With a rare intelligence quotient of its kind, Ali could not fully understand the words of Luo Qun, but it could remember the movements she was teaching.
Thus, when Luo Qun practiced by herself, it automatically watched her motions to learn.
Ah Meow also watched to learn, and after learning a few moves he lost interest. He discovered that without his claws he wasn’t lethal—wasn’t it greater using his claws to attack people instead of boxing?
The few hounds stood far to the side and thought, Are these bullies still learning martial arts? Is there a way to live? All right, all right, we should not have bullied them!
Soon, Ali’s practicing attracted many people.
Brother Wolf thought, I also practiced boxing. Ali is a good student. From tomorrow onwards, I will use him for professional training.
After the boxing practice, Ali could punch decently. The kangaroo couldn’t slide but he could jump forward, which was why Australia had put that animal on the national flag and national emblem. Kangaroos were brave. They moved forward and did not go back. They had a spirit that encouraged others.
But they could actually learn to move from side to side. It was just difficult. They needed to learn to use their tails to balance their bodies.
Ali soon learned to match its punches and give a sudden boost. This made its ability to attack much higher.
After a short break, Ali felt stronger and jumped up a lot straighter with confidence.
A hound was standing in front of him, and Ali, with wide eyes, jumped up and gave him two punches. The hound howled and ran away to hide.
This gave Ali the confidence it needed. Its look to its peer was less friendly.
Sophie and Rosalind, Big Quinns’ wife, put the food on the table, which had the aroma of fruit and vegetables. Ali jumped quickly toward them, the fierce look on its face gone. Eating was more interesting than boxing.
Luo Qun didn’t like small animals, but Ali was an exception. She intended to ask Li Du if she could keep Ali.
She even pleaded, “I’m usually alone. Every time I come home, all I face is cold furniture appliances—there’s no living thing.”
Li Du simply said, “You ask Ali. I’ll respect its choice.”
Luo Qun looked at Ali and said, “You follow me home. I’ll give you a lot of delicious food and teach you boxing.”
Ali’s head was down and it held the bowl in its little paws, eating without even moving its eyes.
