Years: Salted fish life since going to the countryside.

Chapter 1725 Just eat it all up!

Gong Jianglong stopped Han Li to take him for a quick shower and to change out of his tattered clothes. After a brief chat, they handed him two bags containing clothes, shoes, and socks, and led him to the bathroom.

As for the medicinal wine and liniment that Gong Jianglong prepared for Han Li, it's not time to use them yet. Using them would affect Director Su's examination and judgment later, so he could only endure the pain and take a bath with patches of bruises all over his body.

Han Li endured the cold and beating to figure out his physical condition. He was more anxious than anyone else. He grimaced and washed himself clean in the bathroom in two minutes. After changing his clothes, with his head still wet and his body as smooth as embroidery, he couldn't wait to go to the living room.

At this moment, the elders, Su Zongqiang, and Director Su were sitting together in the living room discussing Han Li's sparring match with the guards.
Although only Elder Song and Director Su truly understood the intricacies of the game, the visceral impact of their sparring, along with Han Li's ability to fight six opponents single-handedly, remain calm in the face of danger, and persevere to the end, were all things that the elders appreciated. At the same time, it also evoked memories of their own difficult past.

When Han Li arrived, he saw a lively discussion scene. Without being invited, he sat down next to Old Liu.

The rest was simple. Director Su took Han Li's pulse for more than ten minutes, had him take off his clothes and carefully tap every bruise on his body, and then took his pulse again.

After inspecting Han Li's condition, Director Su didn't say anything. He simply instructed the kitchen to weigh and record the thawed and heated meat.

At the same time, Han Li was weighed, and then it was time for him to eat like crazy, and he had to eat in the living room in front of them.

After a physically demanding sparring match, Han Li was genuinely hungry. When various meat dishes were served, he didn't stand on ceremony and started eating with his chopsticks.

The smallest piece of meat Han Li ate after practicing the Three-Body Stance was the size of a fist, and he could finish a piece of that meat in just a few bites.

Old Liu's plate was all cut up and served. Han Li could pick up half a plate at a time with his chopsticks, chew a few times, and swallow it.

He ate so fast that several people had to help him serve the food and clear the plates; he almost couldn't keep up.

Next, the kitchen replaced the plates with larger rice bowls, which made things a little easier for the food delivery staff.

Han Li's unrestrained eating made all the elders hungry.

Old Liu asked the kitchen to serve them some chopped meat, and while they ate, they discussed how many kilograms of meat Han Li could eat this time.

Hou Lao: "In the Water Margin, Li Kui could eat five or six catties of meat in one meal."

The three Nguyen brothers could eat fifteen catties of meat in one meal, but fish made up a large part of it. As everyone knows, fish doesn't fill you up or keep you full.

Wu Song, who could eat ten catties of beef in one meal, rightfully earned his title as the strongest fighter in the Water Margin. And…

Old Hou likes to read Water Margin, and he always talks about the characters in Water Margin.

Others have different favorite characters, and they mention different names for them.

However, those were all characters from novels and historical fiction; the elders just used them for amusement.

When the conversation turned to reality, Old Song spoke up.

"I especially admire 'Old Xu' in this regard. If conditions permit, he can easily finish more than three pounds of meat at every meal."

If the consumption is slightly higher, ten or so pounds of meat are like water to Xu Ling.
"We're all martial arts practitioners, but I can't compare to him in this area. To this day, I still don't know where his limits are." Old Li: "It's like you can't compare to 'Xu Ling' in other areas. You couldn't before, and you're even further behind now. He's currently handling practical matters in Nanjing, while we can only pass the time by playing chess and bickering."

Old Liu didn't want to hear this kind of topic in his own home, so he quickly interrupted when he heard this.

I've heard many people mention Xu Ling's appetite. Back when we were in Hadapu, prices were relatively low because of the inconvenient transportation.

Five silver dollars can buy a big fat pig, two silver dollars a sheep, one silver dollar can buy five hens, and ten cents can buy ten eggs.

He went to a local restaurant and ate seven and a half jin of mutton, 32 large meat buns, and five jin of liquor in one meal.

Old Zhang: "'Xu Ling' has quite an appetite now. No matter how the health bureau tries to persuade him, it doesn't work. His doctor is almost driven crazy by this. The only thing he can do is to make him practice his boxing twice more every day."

Master Song: "Being able to eat is a blessing, especially for those who practice martial arts. In many situations, it is said that one force can overcome ten techniques. No matter how good your kung fu is, without strength as a foundation, it is just fancy moves."

Strength comes from training, and the foundation of training is food. With the same diligence and hard work, those with small appetites and who cannot eat much will not reach their full potential.

Take Xingyiquan as an example. Many people practice it diligently every day without interruption, but they just can't grasp the threshold of "jin" (internal energy).

Fundamentally, it's because you're not eating enough, resulting in insufficient blood and energy supply, which leads to an underdeveloped body. Without a fully developed body, how can you cross that threshold?

After listening to what Elder Song had to say, Director Su nodded slightly and then said...

"That's why many people look at talent first when taking on apprentices. Besides physical attributes, being able to eat is also a very important factor."

Throughout history, martial arts practitioners have always had a large appetite, and those who make a name for themselves can eat even more.

The "strength" that Master Song mentioned is called "qi" in our Taoist school.

Our Taoist masters, after practicing martial arts, eventually cultivate Qi, circulating it within their bodies.

This process of gathering energy also consumes a lot of food, but less than practicing martial arts, and it's also gentler on the body.

While the elders and Director Su were calmly eating and discussing,
Han Li wielded his chopsticks with incredible speed and had almost finished eating.

However, in order to allow Director Su to examine his physical condition more accurately, Han Li was still trying to put food into his mouth, but his eating speed had obviously slowed down.

The elders and Director Su, who had been keeping an eye on Han Li, also noticed this situation and quickened their pace of eating.

Another half hour passed, and Han Li finally put down his chopsticks. He stood up, touching his slightly protruding belly, and walked towards the elders.

Director Su: "Han Li, come sit next to me."

Old Liu: "Xiao Gong, go and see how much meat Han Li ate in this meal, so that Director Su can make a more accurate diagnosis."

Han Li sat next to Director Su, watching him place his hand on his pulse.
(End of this chapter)