I placed a hand on the table of the podium, coughed, and got straight to the point: "Brothers, the competition has come to an end today." I paused, wanting to see their reaction. Usually, they could say hundreds of things for a single sentence, and just maintaining order would take half an hour. But strangely, today they were all very quiet, especially after I finished speaking; some even lowered their heads, seemingly quite dejected. I originally thought they didn't care about winning or losing and just wanted to finish this quickly so they could go play. But thinking about it, it's understandable. More than half a month is not a short time. The heroes spent every day in the stadium, looking around, cheering for this and lamenting for that, and always hearing news of their own team's victory when they returned at night. During these days, they were filled with fighting spirit and had unknowingly become immersed in it. In fact, even cleaning toilets for more than half a month, as long as you're happy every day, you should have developed a bond. So the bandits are having a hard time adjusting and are all feeling lost.
I glanced at them and could only continue with the good news: "I've already prepared the money for you. You can leave this afternoon after your matches tomorrow morning. As for our singles matches..."
Dong Ping interjected, "If we're not even going to play the team competition, what's the point of playing the individual competition? I'm forfeiting."
I nodded and looked at Duan Jingzhu. Duan Jingzhu fanned his injured leg and said, "It doesn't matter whether I fight or not. My next opponent is Duan Tianlang." As soon as he said this, people turned to look, and the atmosphere became even more silent.
Li Kui finally exploded: "What's so great about Duan Tianlang that you're all so afraid of him?"
Zhang Qing suddenly stood up, pointed at Li Kui's nose, and cursed, "Tie Niu, sit down! Is this why we lost to him?" Although Zhang Qing was highly skilled in martial arts, he was usually a teasing person. Li Kui had never seen him lose his temper like this before, so he had no choice but to sit down reluctantly.
Zhang Qing stared into my eyes and said, "Xiao Qiang, can we win one more game? Just one! I really can't accept losing to Duan Tianlang!" All the heroes looked at me. I never expected things to turn out this way. Actually, losing to any other team tomorrow wouldn't have been so bad, but it had to be the unruly Duan Tianlang. You could tell the heroes were all holding their breath. Losing to someone like that, not only them, but even I felt humiliated.
I stammered, "But the problem is... the problem is..."
Li Bai suddenly closed his book and said leisurely, "Do you want them to go home with a broken heart?" I was so angry that I wanted to slap him. This poet immortal has been nothing but trouble since he arrived.
At this moment, Lu Junyi finally spoke up: "Everyone, please stop making things difficult for Xiaoqiang. We couldn't stay with him for long anyway, and now that you all want to go back to Liangshan, what will happen to him all alone?"
The room fell silent again...
Lin Chong stood up and said slowly, "Put me first tomorrow. It's better to get things over with sooner rather than later." As he spoke, he clasped his hands in a fist salute to the people and said, "Brothers, my apologies." After saying that, he slowly walked out of the meeting room.
Next was Dong Ping. He hugged me tightly, patted my back, and said in a deep voice, "Brother, we may not be back after we leave. Take good care of yourself. I really hope we'll meet again someday."
I asked in astonishment, "What about the tiger?"
Dong Ping hesitated for a moment, then said in a hoarse voice, "Please apologize to him for me. Tell him that he doesn't count as an apprentice, but I acknowledge him as a brother." After saying that, he also left the venue.
Zhang Shun, Ruan Xiaoer, and Ruan Xiaowu came up to me. Before they could say anything, I shouted, "If you leave, won't Ni Siyu demand my people back?"
Zhang Shun smiled awkwardly and said, "We've taught her all the skills. From now on, it's up to her to figure things out. Besides, doesn't she have an older brother?"
I chuckled dryly twice: "True—"
The three of them suddenly hugged me tightly and said loudly, "Brother, we can't bear to part with you either." These three men were never serious, and this was the first time I had ever seen them show such emotion. Ruan Xiaowu put his head on my shoulder so I couldn't see his eyes, but when I turned him around, he pointed at Duan Jingzhu and cursed, "What kind of medicine is this? It's making my eyes hurt."
Duan Jingzhu hugged his knees and cried out, "I'm the one who's suffering the most! I'm the one who's suffering the most!"
The heroes came to say goodbye one by one, their eyes red as rabbits', yet they still uttered heroic words, making my heart ache even more. I knew this parting would be far off, that we would truly never see each other again.
When Zhu Gui and Du Xing came to say goodbye, Zhu Gui said a little embarrassedly, "Xiao Qiang, I've made a lot of friends lately. They always get a 20% discount if they mention my name at the bar. Please keep in touch with them, don't let them think that I, Old Zhu, have forgotten about you now that I'm gone..."
I laughed and said, "From now on, anything that mentions your name will be free."
Du Xing held my hand and said, "The recipe for Five Star Juniper is under my pillow in my room. I also buried several jars of the finest juniper under the wall of the place where we make the wine. Don't forget that."
I asked him, "What will you do when you drink alcohol in the future?"
Du Xingqiang laughed and said, "When the brothers are together, even plain water tastes good. Besides, apart from Reverse Time, we don't want to drink Five Star Juniper anywhere else."
Seeing the somber atmosphere of parting, I declared loudly, "Brothers, our friendship will endure as long as the mountains and rivers flow. When we meet again in the future, we will surely..."
Hu Sanniang suddenly jumped over, tucked my head under her armpit, and pinched my scalp while yelling, "I'll make you talk! I'll make you talk!"
I pulled away from her, feeling wronged, and said, "You never let me finish speaking—"
Hu Sanniang touched her bald head and said, "Treat Baozi well."
Dai Zong interjected, "I'll come back to see you whenever I have time."
I said, "Brother Dai, if you're not in a hurry, you should take a plane. A single trip costs several pairs of Adidas shoes, which is much more expensive than buying a plane ticket."
Finally, An Daoquan slyly shoved a secret recipe into my hand. I asked, puzzled, "What's this?"
An Daoquan looked around and said mysteriously, "Aren't you getting married soon?" He then chuckled lewdly a few times. I immediately understood and slipped the note into my sleeve. Only after receiving this treasure did my sorrow lessen.
After I handed the card containing 1 million to Lu Junyi, he patted me on the shoulder affectionately and said, "Xiao Qiang, after discussion between Wu Junshi and me, we have decided to officially recruit you as our 109th brother of Liangshan."
Is this appropriate?
"There's nothing wrong with it, and the brothers all agree."
"Wait! 36 Heavenly Stars and 72 Earthly Fiends, then what am I?"
You are somewhere in between.
I sighed: "Well, I guess I'm still a cursed lone star."
...
When I got back to the room, before I even took off my shoes, Baozi asked me, "Qiangzi, what's wrong?"
I was puzzled: "What? What's wrong?"
"Your face looks even worse than when you first came to our house."
As I looked in the mirror, I said, "Do I?" The person in the mirror had slightly red eyes and his brows were furrowed into a reluctant V-shape.
Baozi suddenly asked, "Isn't Yucai a top 4 team?"
How did you know?
"Our manager was chatting with us today. He looks so unassuming, but he's actually a Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) enthusiast. He said this competition is quite large."
I said, "Mm."
"So how did you do it?"