"Director Hu." Zhang Wei came to the door of Director Hu's office and knocked.
Director Hu looked up, "Come in, what's the matter?"
"Please take a look at this." Zhang Wei handed over the document he was holding to the other party.
Director Hu took the document and glanced at it, couldn't help frowning and said, "Haven't I told you that applications like this simply can't be approved?"
"No, Director Hu, please look here." Zhang Wei flipped the proposal to the page outlining the purpose of the event.
"This..." Director Hu was stunned for a second when he saw the signatures of Qi Jianwei and others, "Is this person related to Chairman Qi?"
Zhang Wei shook his head, "I'm not clear either."
"Then how did you handle this?" Director Hu said angrily.
Zhang Wei quickly lowered his head, "It was my oversight, so what about this application?"
Director Hu furrowed his brow, he had just promised Lin Dongsen, if he couldn't even help with this little favor, how would he be able to enjoy himself in the future? But he couldn't just ignore the face of Qi Jianwei and the others.
Sigh, it's difficult.
"You go out first," Director Hu said to Zhang Wei.
After Zhang Wei left, he picked up the phone and called Qi Jianwei.
"Hello, Chairman Qi."
"It's like this, I just received a competition application, and I see your signature on it."
"Oh, I see."
"Yes, yes, yes."
"Mm-hm, okay, I understand."
Director Hu hung up the phone, his face as grim as water.
After a long while, he picked up the phone and called Zhang Wei, "I've agreed to Wu Li's competition application, tell him to get ready."
"Sigh." Director Hu put down the phone, leaned back in his chair, and sighed. In the end, he still chose to side with Qi Jianwei and the others.
No choice, offending Lin Dongsen would at most cost him some hidden benefits, but offending Qi Jianwei, the latter could let him sit in the office director position for many more years.
...
"The competition application came through?"
When Zhang Xiaodong was suddenly discussing a 'project' with Jia Li and received this message, both of them instantly lost all interest.
"Didn't Lin always call someone at the sports bureau?" Jia Li asked.
"How the fuck should I know?" Zhang Xiaodong said angrily, "Now Wu Li has already posted the successful competition application on Mo Yin, and he's urging Ren Donglai to compete as soon as possible."
"What should we do?" Jia Li was completely panicked.
Zhang Xiaodong gritted his teeth, "It's come to this; we can only fight!"
"What if we lose?" Jia Li's voice had a sobbing tone.
Zhang Xiaodong felt incredibly irritated, "Lose, lose, lose, that's all you fucking know!"
After speaking, he put on his pants and left.
...
On November 28th, Ren Donglai officially responded to Wu Li on Mo Yin, setting the match time for 8 p.m. the next evening, at the Eastward Boxing Club.
That day, the topic of the match between the two remained high on the Mo Yin hot topics list, with many media outlets talking about it, and Wu Li's Mo Yin account followers had exceeded 3 million.
On November 29th, at 7:30 p.m., Eastward Boxing Club.
Thanks to prior preparations, aside from media reporters, there weren't many spectators who could enter the boxing club at this time.
Wu Li stood by the ring, holding a phone in his hand, already starting a live broadcast, current viewership in the live room was over 70,000 and still growing.
If it weren't for Ren Donglai also broadcasting live on his side, diverting a significant portion, Wu Li felt he could gain two to three hundred thousand Fan Value tonight.
His gaze searched around and found Li Ruqi. Wu Li walked over and handed his phone to her, "Would you mind, when I'm fighting later, help me livestream with my phone?"
Li Ruqi took the phone and glanced at it, somewhat surprised, "This many people?"
"Yeah, if you want to be famous, you can take the opportunity to show your face more." Wu Li smiled.
Li Ruqi spat out, "You're still in the mood to think about this, prepare well for the match, don't get knocked flat later."
Wu Li chuckled, "Are you teaching me how to do things?"
Without waiting for Li Ruqi to get angry, Wu Li quickly turned around and left to warm up by the ring.
On the other side, in the dressing room of the boxing club, only Zhang Xiaodong and Ren Donglai were present.
"Give me the stuff," Ren Donglai said to Zhang Xiaodong.
Zhang Xiaodong looked around, took out a small glass bottle from his pocket, and handed it to Ren Donglai.
Ren Donglai took it, "Are you sure it works?"
"I had it urgently sent over by someone, many underground fighters in Xing Province use it, guaranteed to work," Zhang Xiaodong said in a low voice.
Ren Donglai nodded, "Is it similar to a stimulant?"
Zhang Xiaodong, "It's more effective than a stimulant, it can not only stimulate your adrenal gland but also make you forget pain for a short period."
"Will it be detected?" Ren Donglai suddenly hesitated.
"It's this fucking timing; you're still hesitating for what!" Zhang Xiaodong cursed quietly, "There's no drug test for this match; it can't be detected!"
Ren Donglai looked at the glass bottle in his hand, took a deep breath, opened it, and drank it all at once.
Seeing that Ren Donglai had finished drinking, Zhang Xiaodong quickly took the glass bottle from his hand and hid it, checking the time.
"The drug will take effect in twenty minutes, by which time the match should be about to start."
Ren Donglai nodded, his heartbeat already starting to speed up.
"Let's go, it's time to head out." Zhang Xiaodong patted his shoulder.
As the two reached the doorway of the changing room, Zhang Xiaodong suddenly grabbed Ren Donglai.
"Remember, if you lose this fight, it's all over; but if you win, your future income will at least double!"
Ren Donglai nodded firmly, a fierce gleam flashing in his eyes.
...
Chuhua City, Beichuan University.
Chen Dong and Wang Xuecheng were in the dormitory, watching the live broadcast on their phones, with beers strewed across the table.
"Do you think Old Wu can beat Ren Donglai?" Chen Dong asked.
"As long as Old Wu fights him like he fought me, he should be fine." Wang Xuecheng bit open a bottle of beer with his teeth.
"Obviously, fighting you would be easy." Chen Dong rolled his eyes.
"Right, I think Master Wu better not exchange blows with him; he should try cutting into his centerline instead." Wang Xuecheng raised his beer bottle and clinked it against Chen Dong's.
"Damn, that's the spirit." Chen Dong took a sip of his beer.
...
Qi City, Yan's Yong Chun Martial Arts Hall.
Ever since the Master had been defeated by Ren Donglai, the hall had not been open until today—it reopened once more.
Inside the hall, Xue Bai projected the live broadcast onto a white cloth for Yan Baili to watch.
The old man stood in front of the white cloth, back straight as a rod, with three of the hall's disciples standing behind him.
"Master, please sit down to watch," Xue Bai suggested, walking up to the old man.
Yan Baili shook his head, pointing at Wu Li in the projection.
"Tonight, if he stands, I stand."
...
Hu City, a hospital.
In the ward, Li Mao covered his mother on the bed with a blanket before taking out his phone to open Mo Yin and entering a live broadcast room.
Worried about disturbing others in the ward and not having earphones, he had to mute the volume, watching the silent video on his phone with a complicated expression.
...
At 7:55 PM, Wu Li and Ren Donglai finished their warm-up.
"Ladies and gentlemen, on my left is Ren Donglai, height 1.81 meters, weight 75 KG, the 2017 National Free Fighting Champion!"
"On my right is Wu Li, height 1.78 meters, weight 73 KG, who has practiced Xingyi Fist for fourteen years!"
"Tonight's match will consist of three rounds, each lasting two minutes, with a thirty-second rest between each round."
After the host finished the introduction, the referee gestured the fighters to come closer and started to explain the rules.
"No elbows, no knees, no takedowns, no ground..."
Wu Li looked at Ren Donglai standing before him, noting his opponent's bloodshot eyes and heavy breathing, ferociously staring as if ready to pounce at any moment.
Wu Li frowned. Was Ren Donglai too pumped up?
"…all clear?" the referee finally asked.
Both sides nodded.
"Alright, begin!" The referee swung his arm down hard, quickly stepping aside.
Zhut! Ren Donglai initiated the attack with a vicious thrusting jab aimed at Wu Li.
Wu Li stepped back, with Ren Donglai persistently right on his heels, furiously throwing punches.
Zhut, zhut, zhut!
The air exploded with noise, and Wu Li could feel the punch wind bearing down on him. He hadn't expected Ren Donglai to come out fighting so fiercely, a departure from his usual style.
Wu Li kept retreating, dodging the punches, not taking a single hit, but he was still forced towards the corner of the ring.
Zhut! Another punch from Ren Donglai as Wu Li ducked and ran to the right, then suddenly stopped, launching a kick like a scythe, 'chopping' into Ren Donglai's shinbone.
Piercing Kick!
Thump! Ren Donglai's left leg was kicked, a swelling appearing on his shin, but he was unfazed, turning around to send another punch towards Wu Li.
Wu Li couldn't dodge in time, so he swiftly lifted his arms to protect his head. He was puzzled: was Ren Donglai's resistance to hits that strong?
Blocking Ren Donglai's punch with his arms, Wu Li went for a Tiger Hugging Head close-up move, but Ren Donglai was also pressing forward. The two collided, and Wu Li's move was stifled, losing his room to generate force.
The two were wrapped up together. Wu Li's instincts told him to use a Xingyi Takedown to throw Ren Donglai off, but he quickly remembered such moves were not allowed. Taking advantage of Wu Li's brief distraction, Ren Donglai landed a solid punch on Wu Li's ribs.
The referee hurriedly stepped in to separate them, then waved for the match to continue.
Taking a minor disadvantage, Wu Li was annoyed. This time, he took the initiative, stepping forward and twisting his body to dodge Ren Donglai's hook. Then his fists came down from above, heavily striking Ren Donglai's left shoulder, knocking him flying.
"Great! What a Tiger Form Splitting Force!"
At Yan's Martial Arts Hall, the old man's face broke into a smile as he softly cheered.
"Master." Xue Bai stood by, offering support, wanting to urge him to sit, but he remembered what the old man had said and held back.
"Tonight, if he stands, I stand."
"You've got to stay standing!" Xue Bai muttered to himself, rooting for Wu Li on the screen.
Back on the ring, Ren Donglai didn't waste a second; he quickly got back up and charged at Wu Li once more.
Wu Li frowned. He knew the strength behind that Tiger Form Splitting Force; had it been him taking that hit, half his body would have gone numb, yet Ren Donglai acted as if nothing had happened.
As Ren Donglai charged in, the two clashed again.
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