The next day Ulrich started school with Sue, Sid and Tobey, but he was a grade behind them which made him rather confused. He knew for a fact that he and Sue were the same age, but she was a grade ahead of him.
"Um, Sue, shouldn't you be in the same grade as I am? He asked
"Yeah, but I skipped a grade in elementary school" Sue explained
"Oh, then I guess you're really smart"
"Yeah, you could say that" Sue shrugged
That evening Wu's Garden was extra busy and the deliveries had stacked up pretty high.
"Hey guys, do you think I could help out?" Ulrich asked
"You don't really know your way around Chinatown." Sue said
"Well, he could go with one of us, it is going to be difficult to carry all these on our bikes" Sid observed
"Yeah, and I'm better on a skateboard anyway" Ulrich said
Mei Hua watched how Ulrich meshed with the other three or didn't as the case might be
"I don't think he should go when we're this busy" Tobey interjected
"I like Sid's idea, he isn't going to learn his way around Chinatown if we don't show him" Sue said
"Fine, then he can go with Sid" Tobey said in a huff
"That's fine by me, what about you, Ulrich?"
"Doesn't matter to me" Ulrich replied
They split up the orders and went their separate ways. When they got back Sue, Sid and Tobey had training and Ulrich went to write a letter to Yumi and his friends then update his journal and do homework.
They found Training interesting but they all had the same concern; that this was going to be harder to hide than originally thought. Ulrich was way more aware of his surroundings than Barney or Calvin Wu. Mei Hua secretly wondered if it would be better for all of them to just let Ulrich in on their secret as it would make their lives easier, but first she wanted to wait and see if he could be trusted.
One week later and the day's deliveries were destined to be a disaster. Kong Li had finally decided to come out of his hole and that always meant problems.
Sue looked up just in time to keep from getting clothes lined on Kong Li's staff that he had in her path.
"Hey, watch where you put that thing, you could hurt somebody!" Ulrich yelled
"Oh, and who might you be?" Kong Li asked looking at Ulrich curiously
"None of your business" Ulrich replied
"Ah, you've got a temper too" Kong Li said "Mei Hua must not have told you about me"
Ulrich stopped in front of Kong Li and Kong Li drew back to hit Ulrich and Sue just knew Ulrich was about to get hurt. She was stunned when Ulrich blocked the attack with practiced ease, then quickly and effectively knocked the wind out of Kong Li's lungs and his sails with a single well placed punch.
"You are a good fighter, but you know nothing of the secrets of Chinatown and what Mei Hua Wu has kept back from you"
Sue once again felt the dread rise in her as she feared that Kong Li would tell Ulrich everything about the cookbook and their magic, but the question was, would Ulrich believe Kong Li or her and Mei Hua?
To Be Continued…