I thought for a moment and said, "It still won't work. The photos have to be submitted together with the list of participants to get their competition badges."
Wu Yong chuckled and said, "That depends on your skills. As far as I know, people trust ID cards more. Just submit 13 blurry photos first. Then, when you go on stage with your newly issued ID card and contestant pass, as long as he sees the photo on the ID card, there shouldn't be any problems." He was full of wicked ideas!
I asked Qin Shi Huang, "Brother Ying, is this feasible?"
Fatty Ying said dismissively, "That won't do, I can see it clearly even when I'm patting the ground."
They've really gotten cocky. But Qin Shi Huang's camera skills were undeniable; aside from images resembling murder scenes, the clarity was top-notch!
I walked over to the camera stand, waved to the two young soldiers, and asked one of them to sit on a stool. I said to the other, "You take the picture, just press this..."
The young soldier immediately waved his hand and said, "I can't."
"That's why I came to you, because I don't know how." I pulled him in front of the camera and taught him how to use it.
When I looked at the picture, it still wasn't sharp enough—it was too sharp! I kicked the camera tripod aside and said to him, "Take another one!"
The young soldier knew I wasn't satisfied, so he cautiously took another picture, his hand trembling a few times, but the face was still clearly visible in the result. I then beckoned over another soldier and told the newcomer, "Give him a back massage."
So, someone was having their back massaged by the "photographer" while he took the picture. The result was a blurry image, like someone with malaria. I said with satisfaction, "Yes, keep shooting like this—don't stop massaging their backs, we'll have to start over if it's too bad." Then I found 13 soldiers from the 300th to take pictures of, each with a different face shape and very common features.
Xiao Rang frowned and said to Wu Yong, "Can a name be chosen so casually?"
Wu Yong said, "I told you to name it whatever you wanted."
Xiao Rang said, "Let's arrange them according to Zhao, Qian, Sun, and Li, with Zhao being number one, Zhao two, and Zhao three, and Qian being number one, two, and three. We'll finish by Monday. Is that alright?"
Wu Yong glanced at him and said, "There are 54 brothers who came together. If you use this person's surname and that person's given name, you can easily spell out 13 names, right?"
At this moment, Dai Zong came over and pulled me aside, saying, "Xiao Qiang, if we're going to do this, don't we need a room to house this machine, and it also needs to be close to the stadium?"
I think that's right. I'll call Secretary Liu right away.
When I asked if I needed an office, Secretary Liu said, "Such a small thing has already been arranged for you. A VIP seat with a rain shelter and a 120-square-meter office, right inside the stadium—others usually have at least four or five families sharing one room."
Now I finally understand the benefits of being the "host," so I simply said, "Secretary Liu, on the day of the competition, could you arrange a bus or something to pick up our team members?"
Secretary Liu said, "Why take the bus? It will only tire the players out. I've booked rooms for you at a three-star hotel next to the stadium. How many of you are there?"
I said, "Just arrange it for 60 people for now."
Secretary Liu said with some surprise, "So many? Luckily you told me early, otherwise we really wouldn't have been able to arrange it. You know, the hotels in that area are already fully booked, and you can't even book a room."
"Then I still have 300 students at my school..."
"Forget about the hotel. If needed, I'll arrange a car to pick them up."
I stammered, "Secretary Liu, there's something else..."
The mayor's secretary was surprisingly patient: "Go on."
"To save money, I took all the photos of our team members myself. The quality isn't very good, so please forgive me if any problems arise when I submit them."
Secretary Liu asked warily, "Director Xiao, you're not planning on doing anything shady, are you?"
No wonder he's involved in politics; he has a very keen sense of smell.
I said very seriously, "What kind of underhanded tricks could I possibly do? If I were to do anything, it would be drugging my opponent or giving myself a stimulant. I've never heard of anything that could be done with photos." Seeing that he was still hesitating, I simply said, "Secretary Liu, you don't suspect that I'm paying someone to do this in a poor, remote school, do you?"
Secretary Liu chuckled after thinking about it. Even if he really did hire someone, wouldn't it be enough to just submit a photo of the person he hired? Reassured, he said, "Okay, I understand."
I never expected to gain so many benefits from just one phone call. I said to Dai Zong with admiration, "I never knew Brother Dai Zong was so thoughtful."
Dai Zong pouted and said, "It's not that I'm being stingy, but I'm afraid that if you make me run back and forth between here and the stadium, who can stand that?" The heroes all laughed. Song Qing said, "Dean Dai really can run as far as his thoughts can take him!" This kid is in the same room as Li Bai, he probably learned it from some book.
I found Li Yun and told him I was getting married in two months and needed his help with the renovation of the house. When he heard I'd bought a small villa, he pulled a roll of paper from his back pocket, spread it out in front of me, and started pointing, saying, "What style do you like? Gothic, Baroque, Rococo..." I was furious and said, "It hasn't been long and you've already become a Westernizer? Don't you have anything Chinese?"
Li Yun put away the blueprints and said, "Then I'll set up your house according to the layout of my old house on Liangshan."
...
The major preparations were pretty much complete, and half a month passed peacefully. The biggest change, of course, was in Xiang Yu—he wasn't as happy as I'd imagined. He became much quieter, devoting himself entirely to Zhang Bing every day, much like Qin Shi Huang was engrossed in games and the pointless activities of Jing Ersha and Zhao Bailian. It seemed he'd only found something to do; at least, I didn't see any passion in him. I was extremely puzzled as to why things had turned out this way. Was marriage truly the grave of love—well, unrelated. Or perhaps it was a connection forged in five hundred lifetimes—again, unrelated. I don't even know how to describe these two anymore. From our perspective, for a beauty like Zhang Bing to spend most of her free time on someone—wasn't that a positive sign? But Xiang Yu just wouldn't take their relationship any further.
Their situation remained unresolved, with no one able to help. As for Li Shishi, this girl had gone astray. Aside from occasionally going out with Baozi or having dinner with Zhang Bing, she spent all her time online, sitting cross-legged with a large tub of potato chips beside her. But I knew she wasn't just playing around; she was searching for opportunities in talent shows and for fame. Beneath her seemingly listless exterior lay a heart yearning for success. I never doubted her ability to succeed. She was not only smart but also intelligent, possessing both looks and talent. Although she had only been around for a year, that very fact made her even more explosive. I believed she would be like an archerfish that had been waiting at the bottom of the water for a long time—once she surfaced, she would be determined to succeed.
A week ago, 200 out of 300 were borrowed to do manual labor. The total number of registered teams was 179, and 179 out of 200 were responsible for carrying signs that read "X Martial Arts School" or "X Martial Arts Academy" and walking around the stadium every day for so-called rehearsals.
For now, the representatives from our Yucai Martial Arts School are limited to the heroes of Liangshan. They have stronger individual qualities and better adaptability, but who will be sent is still undecided. These guys who were clamoring to go today might have changed their minds after a good night's sleep, and both lists that were initially finalized are now invalid because of this.
Our pool of players is like a lottery where you pick 13 out of 54, their avatars scrolling and changing constantly, giving me a real headache. The list was submitted a long time ago. To be honest, those names look familiar, but I swear I don't recognize a single one of them.
The selection must be finalized by the day after tomorrow, because the martial arts tournament is about to begin tomorrow.
Chapter Ninety-Eight: Opening Ceremony (Part One)
I know I won't sleep well tonight; Old Zhang and Secretary Liu certainly don't have any good intentions.
The first phone call to wake me up was from the hotel. A sweet-voiced receptionist said, "Hello Mr. Xiao, we are customer service from Hongyun Hotel. You have booked 35 rooms with us. According to the schedule, we will send two buses to the martial arts school to check the athletes in. May we depart now?"
I stammered sleepily, "What time is it?"
The other person spoke slowly and deliberately, like a time announcer: "It is exactly 6 o'clock now."
I said, "So early?"
The waitress cautiously reminded me, "The opening ceremony is at 8 o'clock..."