I can never forget the day when I first met her. Ever since then, I always had this indescribable feeling that she was the one for me. Earlier that day, I was taking a personal, one on one lesson with my master.
He said, "Your speed has developed brilliantly, Fei Long. Let's see once more."
I was ten years old, and I was demonstrating my martial arts skills after completing my fourth year of rigorous training with Inspector (master, or sifu) Dorai. Back then, I have just developed a very close relationship with my master; sort of like a father-son connection; however, strangely enough, I had yet to meet his daughter….
After I finished my demonstration with my master, Dorai finally called it a day, and he decided to wrap up the training session. I remember him telling me, "Very good, Fei Long. However, I need you to remember to work on your defense a little more often."
"Yes, sir," I said submissively, with a quick nod, knowing that my master is never wrong, especially about my bad defense habits.
Although, he also added, "I must say; you are definitely taking martial arts very seriously, and you are learning naturally! You are definitely one of my best students, and I believe you were born a warrior, my son." I knew that my master was proud of me.
I smiled and nodded again, saying, "Thank you, sir," and I thought to myself, He just called me, "son"!
However, I told him, "But I must only be happy, but never satisfied with my hard work. I will work hard, and earn my place as a master!" And that was my main life goal, point-blank.
Master Dorai agreed with what I said, but he also gave me sound advice. "You are right, Fei Long," says Dorai. "Keep in mind that you can never be a master as long as you live. You can be a 'student-master', however."
I was quite perplexed by Dorai's statement, and I didn't know where he was going with it. So I asked, "A 'student-master'?"
My master then said something I would never forget. He said something based on what my hero once stated before my hero's untimely death. Master Dorai explains the concept of a "student-master" to me.
He said, "Let me explain. You can be a student-master, meaning that you can gain the knowledge of a master, and have the capabilities of a master, but you'll still learn and gain knowledge as long as you live, no matter what. Therefore, you will only be a master when your admirers finally lay you to rest, Fei Long."
"I see," I responded, as Master Dorai's explanation didn't quite get into my head. Back then, I didn't know too much about my hero, nor did I understand his philosophy. I just enjoyed his films, and they inspired me to take on what I currently do for a living.
After that, a strange moment of silence occurred as my master and I suddenly became lost within our individual thoughts.
He called me "son"! I thought, once again, blissfully, but then I was wondering why he has never introduced me to his family. I used to believe that he had a son, and I used to wonder if he was one of the students, and I wanted to challenge him!
Finally, Master Dorai broke the silence, and he told me something that caught me of guard. "Fei Long, you have been one of my best students after four years of teaching you the fundamentals of gung-fu fighting methods. Coming from a martial arts background, I never really introduced you to my daughter, and she's a martial artist, too."
My eyes bulged and my heart sank, as I asked, "Daughter?"
"Yes, I have a daughter, Fei Long. I told you this before, but I didn't think you would remember, so now, I am mentioning her once again. I think you two would end up being good friends," says Master Dorai, with a smile.
"Uh, yeah, that's great, but I thought you had—never mind," I said. I was disappointed about Master Dorai not having a son. I also assumed that his daughter was a tomboy, since she is a martial artist such as myself. I wasn't too fond of tomboys, and very young female martial artists were almost unheard of at the time, but I guess I didn't get around too much, huh?
I then asked, "Don't you still have a wife, too?"
Master Dorai had a slightly distressed expression, and he said, "My wife died giving birth to my daughter, and she is all I got, now."
He then told me, "You've grown to be important to me, and I'm disappointed in myself for not introducing you to my daughter, Fei Long."
Subsequently, I felt guilty for my prejudgment, now knowing that my master appeared a little aggrieved over his wife's death.
"It's okay," I said, feeling bad for him.
"Come on, let's go," says my master, as his smile reoccurs.
Later that day, my master and I went to his house, and this was the very moment I would never forget. You know, I may seem quiet and calm most of the time, and other times, I may come off as arrogant, or lack any sort of tolerance, but this is one side of me I thought I would never encounter.
As Master Dorai was about to enter his house, he asked me, "Would you like to come in, Fei Long?"
I replied, "That's okay, I'll stay out here," believing that it's not really worth the time, but I was also questioning my integrity since I thought about my master's deceased wife.
A moment after my master entered the house, I overheard him laugh while saying, "Hey, I have someone out here you would like to meet. I guess he's too shy to come in…."
Me? Too shy? I thought, as I was arrogant and full of myself. I always believed, Hey, I'm NEVER shy! But boy, was I wrong….
Another moment later, Master Dorai came out, and behind him was his daughter. I didn't really notice the two due to my attention being on my surroundings as I was waiting on them.
The very moment they approached me, I turned my attention to them, and THERE; Standing in front of my master was the most beautiful person I have ever seen….
"Fei Long, I'd like you to meet my daughter."
The moment I saw her, an intense chill went down my spine, and I felt this deep shock in my chest at the same time. I have never met this girl before, and I already felt like I was gonna die of anxiety just by looking at her!
"Introduce yourself," said Master Dorai with a soft voice.
The girl finally introduces herself, along with a warm smile that made me want to collapse. "Hello, my name is Chun LI," she says, as she extends her arm towards me, indicating that she wants to shake my hand.
I slowly moved my wobbly hand towards hers to shake it. Chun Li had such a firm grip, too! She then said, "You must be…."
"Hello, My name is Chun Li," I said, like a mesmerized idiot, but I couldn't help it.
Chun Li lets out an endearing laugh, and replies. "No, tell me your name, silly!"
I almost melted when I heard Chun Li laugh, and noticed Master Dorai looking away; he was trying not to laugh, and it didn't help.
I began to feel extremely hot. "Uh—uh, my n—name is Fei—Fei Long," I stammered, while we were still shaking hands.
"Nice to meet you, Fei Long," says Chun Li, with a considerate smile.
"N—nice to meet you, too," I said.
After a moment, I still couldn't let go of her hand, and Chun LI noticed that it was sweaty. She said, "Um, Fei Long, your hand is cold and sweaty."
"Oh, sorry," I said, as I swiped my hand away, and then both of us wipe our wet hands on our sides, simultaneously.
I tried my best not to stutter or show any type of timidity, but it didn't work at all because she was really attractive. Chun Li was slightly taller than me at the time. Her hair was brown, and her hairstyle was the usual "ox-horns" fashion. She had such appealing brown eyes, which I could not stop looking into; her lips were small and gorgeous, and her skin complexion was so clear, bright, and flawless.
Chun Li then asks, "So, how old are you, Fei Long?"
I hesitated about my age for no apparent reason. "I'm uh, ten. Ten years old," I said. I then stuttered, "How—how old are you?"
"I'm eleven," says Chun Li.
"I guess, that explains why you're a little taller than me," I said, and strangely, that was the one thing I didn't stutter about.
Chun Li nods and smiles at me again. "Hmm-hmm. Yeah, I guess so. Is your arm twitching?"
"Huh?" I said, as I look towards my right arm, and it was twitching. Out of desperation, I decided to punch it repeatedly and then quickly hiss, "Stop it". Eventually, after bruising my arm while attempting to make it stop twitching, it finally did. I then look back up at Chun Li, and notice that she was staring at me with such an attractive smile, and once again, I felt like passing out, but I couldn't do anything but smile back and look away.
Chun Li then giggles again, and tells me, "You're weird, but I like you."
From that moment on, we became really good friends. That was until M. Bison killed Master Dorai, and then, I didn't see Chun Li nearly as often; I guess because of the grudge she has developed against him. She attempted to defeat Bison once before, but failed. After that, Chun Li swore vengeance on Bison, and focused on nothing but Shadaloo, fighting, and INTERPOL.
However, for some strange reason, I am still very attracted to her, despite all that is going on with her. Chun Li still means a lot to me, and I want to support her and be there for her, for Master Dorai was like a father to me, too.
Well, actually, to some extent, I don't find it strange for me to still be very attracted to her, especially now. Chun Li is soooooo thic—uh, never mind. Uh, let's not get carried away. Let's just say that she's very attractive. Yeah. Uh, yeah.