It takes more than 40 minutes one way from the stadium in the city center to the school.
I said, "Let's go then."
"Okay, I apologize for disturbing your rest, and thank you again for your patronage."
The other person's sweet voice put me in a good mood. Since the opening ceremony was about to start, I couldn't sleep anymore, so I bent over to wash my face. Only strong men would understand why I was bending over; it seems my kidneys are indeed in good shape, and besides… Baozi and I have been separated for over a month. The cold water jolted me awake; why were there 35 rooms? I asked Secretary Liu to arrange 60 people, so it should be 30 rooms, right? To be honest, I didn't even expect him to arrange standard rooms. A standard room in a three-star hotel, even with a group discount of 200 yuan per room, would cost 7,000 yuan a day, plus three meals, easily exceeding 10,000 yuan. Although this amount is negligible for a prefecture-level city, it shows the government is paying attention. Although the Hongyun Hotel is only a three-star hotel, it's a long-term partner of the city's various expanded meetings.
I drove to the hotel first. There were noticeably more cars on the road than usual—TV stations, city government officials, patrol officers, traffic police, and riot police. The largest group, of course, consisted of the participating teams from various regions. Those from nearby provinces and cities brought their own cars, emblazoned with their school or martial arts school names; some even had "Victory is assured" written on them. Most of them had arrived a few days prior; not many teams had rushed to arrive to save money. Historically, it's said that the poor are scholars and the rich are martial artists; those without money generally don't run martial arts schools. But even if they were wealthy, they couldn't afford to stay in a hotel as convenient as Hongyun. This is what they call "even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake," or "a tiger fallen into the plains is... well, I guess I had the advantage of location."
Upon entering the hotel, it was indeed found to have become a temporary gathering place for the competition staff. Young people wearing work badges and sharp suits were everywhere, already busy at work.
As soon as I registered at the front desk, the clerk immediately looked at me differently and made an internal call to summon Secretary Liu, who was waiting in the conference room. Secretary Liu was already overwhelmed with work; our government lacked experience in organizing such a large-scale competition. He casually called over a staff member and instructed him, "Take Director Xiao to see the venue and their audience seating, and give him the office keys." After saying that, he patted me on the shoulder and had no time for me anymore.
I walked to the stadium with that young man. Parking the car in front of the hotel was a wise choice; taxis are prohibited from entering either end of the road leading to the stadium, and you need to show relevant documents to get into the parking lot. Being stuck in the innermost circle of cars is practically like being in jail; I won't be able to get out until the middle of the night.
Upon entering the main venue, I found that nearly a quarter of the seats were already occupied. Tall, strong men in sportswear moved about. Several elderly men, their eyes gleaming, were practicing Tai Chi with impressive skill. Agile young people were practicing in pairs, some unleashing whirlwind kicks that sent the raised protective panels clattering loudly. In Xu Delong's words, there wasn't a single ordinary person here. I reckon none of them could beat me.
These people are both peers and competitors. However, martial arts practitioners are generally very generous, handing out business cards to each other like flyers. The suggested maximum number of people per team for this competition is 50. Imagine, if nearly 200 teams each have around 50 people, that would be 10,000 people. The stadium would need to be fully occupied to hold 30,000. However, there's no hard and fast rule, as some teams come with over a hundred people while others come with only a few, so it can be balanced.
The 200 members of the Yue Family Army were already lined up, ready to enter. They were arranged by the organizing committee, while the heroes were sponsored by the local government—these are two separate matters. I asked the hotel car to take the remaining 100 soldiers and Yan Jingsheng along as well, and they could return with the 200 soldiers in the car arranged by the organizing committee, which saved me a lot of trouble.
The staff member first gave me the key they had prepared for me. I went inside and found it quite spacious, with separate inner and outer rooms; you could easily operate a machine there without anyone outside noticing. Then he led me to the VIP seating area. I'd been to the stadium many times, but this was my first time inside. The VIP seating area was essentially a large hall with an opening facing the field, built high above the regular stands, with 100 fixed seats arranged like in a movie theater, from high to low. At the front was a row of sofas and coffee tables, each with binoculars underneath. The entire seating area could seat 150 people.
I sat in the front row, randomly looking around the arena with binoculars. Everyone I was observing seemed completely oblivious. When you can openly observe someone and they remain oblivious, they always seem a bit dim-witted. Tsk tsk, that's the privileged class for you. After searching for a while, I was disappointed to find that there were very few women here today, let alone any beautiful women. Come to think of it, the competition isn't gender-restricted, which means it's essentially a man's world. The audience hasn't entered yet; everyone here is from the competing teams, so naturally there won't be many women. Even if there were one or two, they were either a team doctor nearing forty or the overweight and burly wife of some gym owner.
At a quarter past 7:00, the loudspeaker started playing music. The 200 participants stood at a certain distance, and each participating team gathered at their respective name tags, preparing for the entrance ceremony. I checked my watch and guessed that the heroes were probably almost there. At 7:30, the loudspeaker officially announced that the representatives of each team should assemble. A staff member, slightly out of breath, knocked on the door and asked, "Director Xiao, where is your school's team?" I didn't pay much attention at first and just told him to wait a moment.
At a quarter to eight, the audience had almost finished entering, and they were packed tightly together, sitting between the participating teams. But I had no time to look for pretty girls. All the other teams had assembled, and that staff member came looking for me twice more, practically stamping his feet in frustration. The mayor had arrived and was sitting in the lounge. I called the hotel, and their staff said two buses had departed promptly at 6:00 AM, and they would check again for me.
A short while later, they called back with a reply that left me utterly ashamed. It turned out the heroes had gotten up too early and were feeling hungry, so they were eating breakfast at a fried dough stick stall.
At 8 o'clock sharp, the conference began on time. Seated on the stage were either the president of the martial arts association or a martial arts master of some school, and sure enough, several monks and Taoist priests sat beside them. First, the chairman of the organizing committee spoke. The old man was a trained fighter; his voice was strong and his speech was concise and to the point, finishing in just a few simple sentences. Next was Mayor Liang, representing the host city. Once he finished speaking, the various teams were to enter. While secretly praying he would say more, I ran to the stadium entrance like an ant on a hot plate, jumping up and down, watching intently. In less than five minutes, Mayor Liang had finished his welcoming remarks and started thanking everyone. Just then, two buses finally roared in. Even through the glass, I could see the drivers' faces contorted with rage. If this delayed their entry, they would certainly be held responsible.
Unlike the others, the heroes disembarked from the vehicle, chatting and laughing, some even carrying soy milk. The 100 warriors quickly formed a line, with Xu Delong and Yan Jingsheng at the front. Song Qing shoved two fried dough sticks and a bag of soy milk into my hands, saying, "All the brothers said you probably hadn't eaten, so they brought these especially for you." The heroes all chuckled and said, "Yes, yes, eat them while they're hot."
Holding the hot fried dough sticks, my anger vanished instantly. I sighed and said, "Brothers, get ready to enter."
Dong Ping peeked into the stadium and exclaimed, "Wow, so many people!" Seeing that the teams were all very disciplined, he put his arm around Xu Delong's shoulder and said, "Brother Xu, since we're here, let's make a good impression. You lead the Yue Family Army brothers into the stadium. Look at us brothers, we all walk so crookedly, we're embarrassing our school."
Xu Delong laughed and said, "In that case, all you brave warriors should go and rest."
I led Xu Delong and the 100 members of Yue Family Army to the venue and told them, "Just follow the others. As the hosts, we'll be the last to go on stage. If you don't understand anything, ask the guys holding up the placards; they're our people anyway." I then asked Yan Jingsheng, "Are you going on stage with us or going to the rest room first?"
Yan Jingsheng said, "I'll follow them in."
I led my heroes to the VIP seats, and as soon as we sat down, the entrance ceremony began.
As the athletes' march played, the commentary continued: "First to enter are the members of the Anhui Province Along Martial Arts Association. The Along Martial Arts Association was founded in 1978..."
I scratched my head in puzzlement. As far as I know, many organizations in this competition received substantial sponsorship from government departments and are very strong in both economic and political terms. So why was such an unknown team the first to enter? It was quite strange.
I continued watching, munching on my fried dough stick. The second group to appear was also from Anhui Province, the Baiqigou Martial Arts School. This was even more outrageous—just a few scattered people, dressed in rustic clothes, with simple, honest-looking faces. Among them were several teenagers who clearly had no real skills and were just there to join the fun and learn some experience. How could such a team be ranked second?
Just then, Secretary Liu sneaked in and sat with me for a while. I introduced him to Lu Junyi and Wu Yong, saying that these two were my deputy team leaders. Secretary Liu felt that his chances of a smooth official career depended on these two, so he was very polite. Then he asked me if I had any difficulties, and I said, "There are no difficulties for the time being, but there are some things I don't understand."
After all the representatives from Anhui Province had finished their introductions, it was time for the athletes from Beijing. I asked, puzzled, "Secretary Liu, how are the athletes ranked for the opening ceremony? I don't understand."
Secretary Liu chuckled, leaned closer to me, and whispered, "By letter—"
I slapped my forehead and said, "Your brain is rusty! You should have thought of this sooner. It's done quite professionally."
Secretary Liu seemed to remember something and said, "By the way, how did you take those photos? They look like landscapes. If they hadn't been submitted with the list, you wouldn't have been able to tell that they were photos of people." I chuckled.
After Secretary Liu left, Lu Junyi, Wu Yong, and I each got a pair of binoculars and started pointing and commenting on the entering team.
Of the 179 teams, the quality varied greatly, and their nature was also different. There were specialized martial arts schools, there were schools like ours that combined martial arts and academics, there were martial arts gyms, and there were martial arts research associations. Among them, the Sanda Research Association was the most proud. Moreover, their style and presence were also different. Some teams only sent two representatives to observe, which made them seem isolated and weak; others were like the Chinese sports delegation, with hundreds of people wearing uniform bright red sportswear, looking majestic and imposing. Generally, such teams must have the support of the local government, and their training base, like ours, was in a VIP section.
I was fixated on getting 5th place, so I kept weighing the strength of the teams in front of me, wondering which delegation I should give a slight advantage to. Ironically, including us, there were five teams with the same name, "Yucai Martial Arts School," including Shandong Yucai Martial Arts School, Heilongjiang Yucai Martial Arts School, Beijing Yucai Martial Arts Specialized Academy… At first, the audience didn't pay much attention, but when they read out "Shanxi Datong Martial Arts School," laughter broke out. I felt utterly humiliated; the name, like the dog Wangcai, was utterly devoid of any aesthetic appeal. I wondered why Lao Zhang wasn't there; I wanted him to see this mess. Sigh.
I murmured to Lu Junyi, "I hope all these Yucai students are eliminated in the first round. If we run into them, we absolutely cannot let them win!"
Because of my words, these "talented individuals" are in trouble.
Chapter Ninety-Nine: Opening Ceremony (Part Two)
Lu Junyi and I, holding binoculars, peered around, while Lin Chong and Dong Ping stood in front, hands behind their backs. Dong Ping said, "There are quite a few experts here this time." Lin Chong nodded. I raised my binoculars and hurriedly asked, "Where? Where? Where?"
Then, the delegation from Cangzhou Hongri Martial Arts School walked past the podium. Their delegation consisted of 13 people, all of whom looked like simple, honest farmers. However, each of them walked with a steady gait and a confident expression. As they waved to the audience and judges, they exuded an imposing aura.
I said, "Well, Cangzhou is a place that produces martial arts talents, so let's let them have first place."
Behind the red sun over Cangzhou stood a group of men dressed in traditional Chinese uniforms. A dozen or so men at the front had their sleeves rolled up, revealing their muscular arms. Behind them, four men carried a flag, each clutching a corner. The flag depicted a ferocious, indigo-blue wolf with menacing fangs—this must be their martial arts school flag. These men, each with piercing eyes, marched with imposing authority, exuding an air of dominance. They were the representatives of the Tianlang Martial Arts School. According to their introduction, their master, Duan Tianlang, possessed unparalleled family martial arts skills, claiming to be invincible throughout North China.
As I watched, I said, "Oh dear, they might just be in second place..."
The next few teams were unremarkable, and I had no idea how strong they were. Then my binoculars were filled with a huge sea of white people. They were wearing open-fronted white martial arts uniforms with brightly colored belts indicating their skill levels—clearly, they practiced judo or taekwondo. Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) is very inclusive, with only minor differences in rules compared to other combat sports, leaving a lot of overlap, so these people also came to join the fun. But they were incredibly inconsiderate. This was supposed to be a Sanda event, and showing up in those uniforms was practically an invitation to challenge the organizers.
I pointed at them and said, "See? When you encounter someone like this, beat them to a pulp."
I just kept watching and spouting nonsense, but none of the heroes paid any attention to me.
As I watched, a group suddenly appeared before me, nearly making my eyes pop out. Behind a young soldier holding a sign was a group of chattering girls. Each one had long, flowing hair, fair skin, and red lips; being athletes, their figures were all incredibly graceful. Because all the teams were clustered together, no one had noticed them before, but now that they had appeared, the entire stadium erupted in cheers. I couldn't wait for their introductions as they moved to the podium; I went straight to the sign, which read "New Moon Women's Bodyguard School." Tsk tsk, no wonder. I vaguely remember reading in the newspaper that these schools usually recruit students with established backgrounds, providing training in martial arts, etiquette, and diplomacy. Upon graduation, most serve female clients of high status; of course, some become mere ornaments, but this at least shows they are all beautiful. I gripped my binoculars, forgetting the fried dough stick dangling from my mouth, and carefully examined each one. Wow, those slender waists! Wow, those expressions! A blend of femininity and heroic spirit—just based on looks alone, they were practically flight attendant trainees!
I chuckled lewdly a few times and said, "Interesting, huh? We have to go easy on them, or I'll take them on myself..."
A good portion of those present today were simple-minded, physically strong kung fu men. Seeing such a lineup of beauties, they ignored the leaders and association presidents above them, whistling and calling out, "Hey little sister, are you free tonight?" "Beautiful lady, come to our XX Martial Arts Academy, I'll teach you step by step!"... This constantly interrupted the commentary. The old monk sitting on the platform, deep in meditation, raised an eyebrow and began chanting Buddhist mantras.
In the Crescent Moon Team, the girls all lowered their heads slightly. The female leader had long, shiny black hair tied in a ponytail, and her eyes were narrow slits, especially alluring when she narrowed them. She wasn't annoyed; she merely glanced at the few men shouting the loudest in the crowd, a cold smile playing on her soft lips.