Charlie donned an apron and made his way to the kitchen to start preparing.


    Just then, his cell phone rang once more.


    To his surprise, the caller ID indicated it was Aurora, the spirited little pepper from the Quinton family.


    Charlie raised an eyebrow, thinking, “It’s unusual for her to call me. Is she in some sort of trouble again?”


    With that thought in mind, he quickly answered the phone, asking, “Aurora, what’s up?”<h3 style="background-color:DodgerBlue">


    Aurora, speaking shyly, replied, “Master Wade, do you remember I mentioned participating in the International College Sanda Competition?”


    Charlie grinned and said, “Of course! I promised I’de to cheer you on. By the way, you haven’t told me when it is.”


    Aurora beamed with happiness, saying, “I’m so d you remember, Master Wade!”


    Then, in a bashful tone, she continued, “I have myst preliminary match this morning. I was wondering if you might have time toe watch…”


    Curious, Charlie asked, “Preliminaries? How is thepetition structured?”


    Aurora exined, “Since it’s an international college event, there are many participants. My heavyweight ss has dozens of contestants, so we need to go through several rounds of preliminaries before the quarter-finals.”


    Charlie was taken aback, “Is this really the final knockout round? How many matches have you had so far? I hadn’t heard about this before!”


    Aurora quickly responded, “I’ve had four knockout matches. This morning is thest one, and if I win, I’ll make it into the top eight! I didn’t mention it earlier because I was worried you might not have time toe. I know your schedule is busy, so I didn’t want to bother you.”


    Charlie chuckled, saying, “What are you being so formal for?”


    With a warm smile, he added, “Alright, just give me the time and ce, and I’lle cheer for you this morning!”


    “Really?!” Aurora eximed, her voice filled with joy. “That’s amazing, Master Wade! My match is at ten o’clock this morning at the Aurous Hill Gymnasium! There will be severalpetitions happening simultaneously, so I’m worried you might have trouble finding it. If you arrive, just let me know, and I’ll have my dade pick you up!”


    Charlie assured her, “No problem, it’s a n! I’ll be there on time this morning.”


    Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he asked Aurora curiously, “By the way, which weight ss are youpeting in?”


    Aurora responded eagerly, “Master Wade, I’m in the 52 kg ss!”


    Charlie joked, “52 kg? So that makes you 104 kg, right?”


    “Hey now!” she replied yfully.


    Charlie continued to tease her, “I’ve never heard of a great woman weighing a hundred! You better work on losing some weight.”


    Aurora quickly rified, “No, Master Wade! The weight sses in Sandapetitions aren’t based on actual weight. For example, if someone weighs less than 48 kilograms, they’re in the 48 kg ss. Since I’m 49.5 kg, I’m ssified in the 52 kg ss. It just happens to be under a hundred! If you don’t believe me, I’ll show you my weight when we meet!”


    With a chuckle, Charlie replied, “I was just joking with you, no need to worry.”<fn592d> ??? ????? ???????s ??? ?????s??? ?? find?novel</fn592d>


    Aurora asserted, “I’m not worried! I just don’t want you to think I’m a chubby girl! At 1.7 meters tall and under 100 pounds, I think that’s pretty impressive! My ssmates say I have a devilish figure!”


    Charlie smiled and said, “Well, if little pepper Aurora has a devilish figure, I’ll see for myselfter.”