The middle-aged man casually brushed the dust off his shoulders and said with an air of roguishness, "Our Jingwu Association has quite a few people from all over the country."
I wondered why he looked so familiar; it turned out to be a friend who lives upstairs. I was deeply impressed by their human pyramid at the exhibition game. I laughed and said, "Your association certainly has an advantage over us. You can stand so high, it's easy to spot who's causing trouble." Everyone present recalled the scene from that day and burst into laughter. The beautiful team leader wanted to laugh, but then felt she wasn't on my side, so she gave me a look as if I were a clown.
"You son of a bitch..." The thug leader panicked, ready to charge at me and fight to the death. Judging from this, he wasn't that dangerous; he was guileless and, in fact, his hairstyle and demeanor were practically a carbon copy of a tiger. But I knew that if he caught me, it would be dangerous. He lunged at me, baring his teeth and claws. I wanted to use a "sweeping spree," a "door-opening thief," or even a simple "iron bridge" move—the problem was: I didn't know any of them. And I hadn't brought a brick with me.
Lin Chong kicked the stool beside him. He had been sitting behind me, but the stool seemed to have eyes, bypassing me and coming behind the chairman, nudging his knee. The big man involuntarily plopped down. Lin Chong chuckled and said, "Don't get excited, sit down and talk."
I quickly stood behind Lin Chong and said, "If I say another discouraging thing, your teams might all be eliminated one day. If you leave, the order will be chaotic."
The Chairman gave Lin Chong a deep look, then picked up his cup, sipped his tea, and said, "That is something I didn't consider."
The beautiful team leader said coldly, "I can guarantee that we can last until the end, and we are majoring in bodyguarding."
I put my hand on Lin Chong's shoulder and said with a crooked face, "You guys shouldn't be making things worse. Even those who didn't want to join in the fun have been drawn out by your people. Just now, a security guard had his posture corrector taken away. Any of you ladies want to try it?"
The female tour leader slammed her hand on the table in anger, and the tempered glass shattered with a loud crack, sending countless dazzling white cracks through it.
The chairman said with difficulty, "I was rash in this matter. It seems the best way is to avoid bothering two people at once. Apart from the person in charge of Yucai, you all should go and get on with your work. I apologize again and wish you all the best."
Aside from the female team leader and the president of the Jingwu Association, who were both fuming, the others expressed understanding but left with a somewhat melancholy air. Tiger whispered a few words to me before leaving, and when he learned we had lost two matches that morning, he exclaimed in surprise, "How could this be? Our men all won!" I chuckled and said, "We were careless..."
After everyone left, the Chairman asked me with a smile, "What is your surname?"
I smiled apologetically and said, "I wouldn't dare. My surname is Xiao, you can just call me Xiaoqiang."
"Oh—" The chairman looked me up and down and asked, "Which faction are you from?" These old folks value a prestigious and respectable lineage. If you've only lifted barbells or hit sacks a couple of times, you're not considered one of them at all.
I had no choice but to honestly answer, "No faction."
The chairman asked in surprise, "Wu school? Looking at the calluses on your fingers, it seems like you've practiced iron stamping for a few days, not Wu school."
I stretched out my hand to look, and said with shame, "That's from grabbing bricks. My 'nothingness' is the 'nothingness' of 'no sect, no faction.' I'm only responsible for administrative work; for professional matters," I pointed to Lin Chong, "you should ask him."
The chairman glanced at Lin Chong again and said to me, "Let's get down to business first. How many people can Team Leader Xiao send?"
I said, "300, I guess. You're probably familiar with these people; they're in charge of the placard-holding etiquette for our conference. And during the exhibition matches, they held up..." I didn't know whether I should bring up this painful memory for the judges.
Chairman: "Oh ho ho ho, how could I forget!?"
I gestured with my foot and said, "I apologize for what happened that day."
The chairman, seemingly unconcerned, said, “It’s nothing. Speaking of kung fu, your school’s students have really impressed us old folks. As for the matter we’re discussing today, the local public security bureau originally offered to help, but I thought it would be a laughing stock if we martial arts practitioners had to rely on outsiders to maintain order when we’re all gathered together. That’s why I came up with this solution.”
I suddenly asked, "Will you pay?"
The chairman choked on his tea and coughed repeatedly, asking, "What did you say?"
I was pretty much ready to go all out, so I whispered, "Just give each person 200 yuan a day."
One of the judges, who was probably a specialist in grappling techniques, suddenly jumped up and shouted, "You little rascal, are you trying to scam me out of money?" He looked like he really wanted to use grappling techniques to challenge me to a lesson in my "Iron Seal."
The problem is, all that effort and offending so many people was for money, right? Actually, for a real school, they would be willing to take this opportunity even if they had to pay out of their own pocket. Being in charge of security at such a large-scale martial arts tournament would have an advertising effect that's almost as good as winning the team championship. That's why the Jingwu Association and the beautiful team leader are so eager to get it.
But for me, it's about being famous in a low-key way and making a fortune in a high-profile way. 300 is leaving, you can't let them leave without a single penny on them, can you?
The chairman stopped the "grappling expert" and said to me, "I haven't thought about the money yet, but isn't 200 per person per day a bit too high?"
I readily agreed, "Then name your price." Since the others have already left, I don't believe this old man would have the nerve to invite them back.
The chairman grimaced in dismay and said, "The problem is that this is not within our budget."
I said, "That's alright. You just need to show the relevant leaders the video of the chaos this morning, and they'll understand that this was a major mistake. Yesterday, even the people selling miracle drugs came in. What kind of behavior is this?"
The chairman finally made up his mind and said seriously, "Give me a price."
I said, "How about this, instead of 200 a day, let's have 300 people, and give each of them 1,000 yuan until the conference closes, what do you think?"
The chairman gasped: "That's 300,000!"
"300,000 is nothing. If you put up a small advertisement in a corner of the podium, wouldn't he give you millions?"
The chairman thought for a moment, then said with a wry smile, "Have your people come this afternoon."
The old man saw Lin Chong and me out the door, patted my shoulder and laughed, "Team Leader Xiao, I've figured it out. You're neither from the Wu school nor have you practiced Iron Seal; you're from the 'Giant Whale Gang.'" Then he glanced at Lin Chong again and said meaningfully, "Young man, from within the sect?" Lin Chong smiled but didn't speak, instead showing him his hands. The Chairman nodded and praised, "Indeed, excellent skill."
On the way back, I asked Lin Chong, "What do you two mean by this?"
Lin Chong said, "That old man probably also uses a spear. His hands are so calloused that he can't even clench his fist. I'll show him mine, and he'll naturally know that we're all the same kind of person."
300 was already packing his bags and getting ready to leave. I asked Xu Delong to do me one last favor. He didn't say anything, but soon led the group over.
At noon, the 300 people were treated to lunch by the organizing committee and arrived early to prepare. They were divided into three groups: 100 people were responsible for guarding the fence leading from the stands to the venue; 100 people were divided into 10 small teams to patrol the venue and assist the referees; and the other 100 people had nothing to do, so they rested and changed shifts at designated times.
Before the afternoon matches even officially began, some people tried to secure good positions around the ring, only to find that the organizers had sent extra personnel. These guys didn't even respect the security guards, let alone the 300 baby-faced fighters. Some tried to force their way in, while others climbed over the fence. The fighters initially tried to persuade some to go back, but those who insisted on entering were all dragged down. If they still didn't like it, they could fight again, and it was all one-on-one. You see, those with status and ability all had credentials to enter; these troublemakers were mostly "commoners"—who could possibly be a match for the fighters?
The chaos lasted for less than 40 minutes before the unruly participants all behaved themselves. The venue was orderly, with everyone entering and exiting using their credentials, and the matches on the 50 stages went almost half as smoothly as in the morning.
A minor incident occurred on one of the rings. The two fighters, caught up in the heat of the moment, continued scuffling even after the match was stopped. Their teammates and coaches also started hurling insults at each other, almost escalating into a full-blown brawl. One team of fighters managed to regain control of the situation, with Li Jingshui stepping onto the ring and quickly subduing the two men with a few punches and kicks. The referee, who had initially been at a loss, excitedly stepped forward and raised Li Jingshui's hand high…
The young man never kicked his groin.
Our matches went smoothly as well. Duan Jingzhu, a former bandit, relied on his ruthlessness and the pent-up frustration from his role in "Autumn in My Heart" to kick his much taller opponent out of the ring three times, ultimately winning by points. Dong Ping, needless to say, won without any major incident.
However, I didn't pay much attention to any of that, because tomorrow's first team match is the most crucial!
Chapter 8 The King of Fighters