“Ah?” James Parker opened his mouth. This Hannah Bennett was clearly trying to make a fool of him. He continued, “Well, winning or losing doesn’t matter, what’s important is that you have the courage. Our martial arts school can’t let people laugh at us.”

Lily Bennett frowned, turned her head and said, “Alright then, James Parker, just have a match with Sarah sis. Anyway... I’ll secretly tell her to go easy on you.”

“Uh... so how should I fight?”

“You just... you just run away as hard as you can.”

“Oh.” James Parker smiled helplessly in his heart. Run away, then run away—it’s a good strategy. Let’s just play along, there’s no way I’d be afraid of a little girl.

A moment later, Lily got off the ring and secretly whispered something to Sarah Lane. The little girl in red nodded, and when she got on the ring, she said softly, “I hate boys who need girls to help them the most. Just you wait!”

The two bowed to each other. Hannah Bennett struck the small bell at the side and called out, “Begin!” The girl in red shouted loudly and threw a punch. Her punch looked quite proper, and with that shout, she really did have an impressive presence. However, the punch hit nothing, because at the same time as Dad Ye shouted “begin,” James Parker had already yelled “Help!” and turned to run.

This ring was a bit smaller than a regular boxing ring. Although it was big enough for kids, it should still be easy to corner someone within its bounds. Seeing the boy just running around the ring shouting “Help!”, Sarah Lane felt contempt, because her father had said that a real man should face any challenge without fear. Let’s see how far you can run! She thought to herself, and suddenly charged forward.

After a while, she realized that this boy really was slippery as an eel when running away—running, jumping, rolling, using the ropes of the ring to bounce and speed up... No matter how she tried to catch up, he always managed to clumsily escape to the other side of the ring, brushing past her every time. After chasing him around the ring for about five minutes, she hadn’t even managed to grab the corner of his clothes.

“Don’t run...”

“Help...”

“Watch me catch you...”

“Help...”

“If you run again, I’ll kill you...”

“Help...”

After a while, the chase on the ring became a farce in the eyes of the others. Below the ring, Lily’s shouts gradually changed from “James Parker, run!” to “James Parker, run! Go Sarah sis!” Hannah Bennett was holding his stomach, laughing heartily, and this laughter made Sarah Lane feel even more embarrassed.

“Stop running already!”

“Help...”

“I’m done!”

Panting heavily from the chase, Little Sarah finally couldn’t help but call for a stop. As soon as she said this, James Parker immediately stopped, leaning against a pillar and catching his breath lightly. “Really?”

“All you know is how to run.”

“So it’s a draw? I didn’t beat you, and you didn’t beat me?”

The girl in red panted loudly, glancing sideways at James Parker, who smiled and walked closer. Suddenly, the little girl let out a loud yell, bared her teeth and claws, and pounced at him: “I’m going to kill you!”

James Parker quickly stepped back, dodged a kick, raised both hands to protect his head, and crouched down at the same time. Now cornered, it was no longer so easy to escape nimbly. Little Sarah’s second punch landed hard on James Parker’s arm. She was delighted and threw another punch. This time, however, she missed again.

It wasn’t that James Parker had dodged, but that he was already in a half-squatting position. With her punch missing, her body involuntarily lunged forward, just as James Parker charged ahead and grabbed her waist. The little girl’s body was instantly lifted into the air.

With a “bang,” the little girl was slammed heavily onto the ground, and James Parker landed on top of her, about to throw a punch. If this were a professional fighter, such a move would be seen as an outstanding performance. But in Hannah Bennett’s eyes, it was just Little James’s dumb luck. Seeing James Parker’s expression at that moment, Little Sarah couldn’t help but cry out, turn her head away, and tightly close her eyes. But in the next moment, she realized that James Parker was only holding tightly onto her hands.

“Let me go!”

“No way!”

“Let go!”

“You’ll hit me!”

“Ah—”

On the ring, the little girl pinned underneath struggled desperately, screaming nonstop, even trying to open her mouth to bite. But no matter what, James Parker just held her hands tightly and refused to let go, no matter how much she yelled.

“Ah—I’m going to kill you—”

Section Five: Three’s Company

This incident didn’t cause much of a stir in James Parker’s heart. To him, it was just a small episode in an ordinary life. If there was any takeaway, it was nothing more than a joke like, “No matter what kind of girl, once she’s knocked down, her martial arts are useless.” However, if he had known how much of a ripple this little episode would cause later on, it’s hard to say whether he would have pushed her like that at the time.