Chapter Ten: Preparing for Battle

  Having settled the training venue and coach, Wen Ze put down half of his worries. The next day in class, he asked with a smile: "Brother Ren, I have something to ask you..."

  Ren Yi has recently become obsessed with Jin Yong's works. If you don't speak with a bit of an ancient tone, he won't even bother to respond. "Alright, alright! In the Jianghu world, loyalty comes first among brothers and sisters. What is it that you want to ask, Brother Wen?"

  Wen Ze suppressed a smile and said: "Some time ago I heard you say that Liu Zhi opened his mouth, how much did you bet?"

  Ren Yi's expression was exaggerated, his face twisted in pain: "I've really splurged this time, a whole 50 bucks, 50 bucks!"

  With a warm and fuzzy sound, almost choked by his own saliva, "How much? Fifty?"

  "Ah, my weekly food allowance is gone just like that!" Ren Yi's parents ran a small business and their family was average. They gave him 300 yuan for food and pocket money every month, which wasn't much but was around the average standard. Who would have thought this guy actually took out so much to gamble?

  Wen Cheng felt a bit dizzy and asked in confusion, "Isn't this plate a bit too big? You guys be careful not to cause any trouble. If the landlord flips out and refuses to acknowledge it, you'll have no choice but to cry."

  Ren Yi glanced at Wen Qian with disdain and said, "I forgot you weren't in our middle school. Liu Zhihe was a golden signboard for us back then. In three years of junior high, he did countless favors and never once welched on a debt!"

  "Damn it!" Wen Qian felt old, originally this group of people had been gambling since middle school, really "one water raises a hundred kinds of people", he was still thinking about where to get a bottle of big power water hand sanitizer in middle school, others were already introducing advanced experience from Macau...

  Just then, Wen Cheng was called to the office by Ye Yuting. Teacher Ye didn't know how to respect students' privacy and asked directly: "Are you going to play a basketball game with Mu Shanshan?"

  Wen Cheng didn't think it would spread to the teacher's ears so quickly, and he smiled awkwardly: "Friendly match, friendly match."

  "No matter what kind of competition it is, Wen Qian classmate, I hope you understand that school is a place for learning!"

  Wen Ze knew that Ye Laoshi had misheard, and smiled: "School is also a place for growth."

  Ye Yuting is extremely clever, as soon as she heard this, she knew that normal means wouldn't work on Wen Qian, and suddenly asked: "I was only informed to be the head teacher of Class 3 before school started, do you know why?"

  Hmm? Wen Ze heard her meaning, that is to say, history should have followed the footsteps of the previous life and progressed, or it would be right for Bi Zhao to be the head teacher of Class 3. But for some reason, there was a change before the start of school?

  Wen Qian pointed at her own nose and said: "Should I know?"

  Ye Yuting stared at his eyes, as if to confirm whether Wen Ze had lied, and said after a while: "Mu Shanshan is a bit impatient, and the child doesn't know what's heavy or light. It's better not to compete in this game."

  Teacher Ye is really thick-skinned, but it's always sudden to change the subject and can't stand it. Wen Qian rolled her eyes: "Isn't it just a bad temper and a dark hand? You don't say I know. It's actually just a friendly match, just a friendly match."

  "Alright," Ye Yuting seemed to have given up, "I believe you can handle it well, but if anything happens, just come find me. I can still help with general things at Qingyi Middle School."

  The misty mountains and clouds are shrouded, and I'm still thinking about the significance of today's conversation. What's more, in a school like Qingyi Middle School, you're just a small teacher, how dare you be so reckless and presumptuous, it's really astonishing!

  Wen Qian set off alone to the Teacher's College, this was Ning Xiao Ying's idea. Before the competition started, they couldn't let anyone know about Wen Qian's relationship with her and Xu Yao. The enemy is strong, we are weak, what we need is a surprise attack. If the opponent knew who was going on stage, who knows what might happen. So the three of them split into two groups and reunited at the Teacher's College basketball stadium.

  The figure of the gentle and considerate person disappeared into the distance, a thin boy who was sneaking around the school gate ran towards the small playground, Mu Shan and his friends were all sitting on the grass beside the basketball court, when they saw the thin boy return, Hou Qiang loudly asked: "Hong Hou, where did he go?"

  The red monkey cleared his throat and said in a low voice, "It's strange, that kid went east."

  Everyone was stunned, looking at Mu Shan Mountain together. Mu Shan Mountain furrowed his brow, his fingers tapping the ground repeatedly, muttering to himself: "East? What's in the East?"

  Qing No. 1 Middle School is located in the bustling downtown area of Qingzhou, and when you go out west, it's Qingzhou No. 19 Middle School. The teaching building is shabby, but the playground has a plastic track, which is the only one except for the Normal College. The basketball court is also good, with cement-hardened ground and nets on the baskets, unlike the iron ring here in No. 1 Middle School, which looks ugly no matter how you look at it. To the south is Qingzhou Heavy Industry Factory First Affiliated Middle School, whose conditions are slightly better than those of No. 19 Middle School. There is no middle school to the west, but there is a City Construction Vocational School, which has a basketball court, but it's just for show, similar to the one in Wen Jianjia's house.

  As for the east side, Qingzhou Normal University is actually on that end, but universities are different from primary and secondary schools. At this time, outdoor basketball courts are like train stations during Spring Festival - they're packed! Indoor basketball courts do exist, but it's just a matter of family background... Humph, Mu Shan snorted in disdain, not taking it to heart, nodded for Red Monkey to sit down, saying: "Walking east is going home, the Municipal Committee's residential area is on that side. I knew this guy had no guts, maybe he gave up early, Wen Yuan still wants me to keep an eye on him, is it necessary? Haha."

  A group of people burst out laughing, and a handsome young man frowned and said: "The municipal party committee's family courtyard? Which municipal party is his family from? Don't make a big splash in the Dragon King Temple, it won't look good if things get stirred up."

  Mushan knew he had an aunt in the municipal party committee organization department, but just asking about it, his old man Bai Changqian was a deputy mayor with a regular committee member title, who would be afraid of him? Don't look at how delicate and girly he looks, when fighting, he's ruthless, this guy is heartless and cruel, in the past two years, there aren't few girls who have been wronged by him, after sleeping with them, he wouldn't acknowledge them, even Mushan thought that he was really too heartless.

  "It's nothing, just a deputy director of the political research office, a small official. When your third aunt scolded him to his face, he didn't even make a sound."

  A faintly discernible hint of pride on Bai Huan's delicate face, a smile without a word.

  Hou Qiang only helped with the chores and didn't ask about Wen Chen's family background. After hearing it, he felt a bit embarrassed and said: "Deputy director, that's not a small potato, is everything okay with Shan Ge?"

  Mushan slapped him on the back of his head and scolded, "Our group is just you who can't behave, I'm telling you, Black Monkey, your dad is also the district chief of Huashan District, can't you stop being timid and fearful all day?"

  Hou Qiang suddenly shouted: "Shan Ge, how can my dad be called an official? In Huashan District, Yang Dabaitou is the one who has the final say, even deputy officials are like grandsons in front of him... I've seen my dad smashing cups at home more than once..." This remark was quite impressive, he even scolded his own father as a grandson.

  Mu Shan Mountain knew he was heartless, and with a slap, Hou Qiang dodged with a chuckle. Mu Shan Mountain didn't mind either, saying in a low voice: "It's nothing, you little guy will be proud soon, Yang Big Head won't last for a few days!"

  Hou Qiang was overjoyed, and he grabbed Mu Shan's arm, saying: "Brother, you can't cheat me, right?" Hua Mountain District is currently the largest district in Qingzhou, with a thriving economy and a large population. The secretary of the district committee holds a prominent position among the eight counties and six districts of Qingzhou, and all previous secretaries have been trusted aides to the mayor. When Zuo Jing was in Qingzhou, although the relationship between the municipal party committee and the government was tense, Zuo Jing suppressed Fang Ming Tang with an iron fist, stabilizing the situation, and his subordinates were somewhat arrogant. Yang Yihang, the head of Hua Mountain District, is short and thin, with a large forehead, earning him the nickname "Yang Big Head". He is extremely loyal to Zuo Jing and has managed Hua Mountain District well over the past five years, earning it the reputation of being like a small Jiangnan, making him a top-notch official.

  "Wait and see."

  If Yang Yihang were here, he would have vomited blood. When did it come to this, that even a little brat like you can discuss my life and death with such arrogance? What a huge joke!

  Unfortunately, in reality, this joke is not funny at all.

  "Alright, stop talking nonsense. Xiaoming, where is the expert you invited?"

  Meng Hao stood up from the crowd, his tall stature comparable to Mu Shan's. It was truly a waste of the word "small": "This point should have been passed already. Mountain Brother, high-level players must be proud, the more temperamental they are, the higher their level is! What you want is zero losses, with these two people, no one in the city dares to say anything, but sweeping all high schools in Qingzhou is absolutely no problem. As long as that kid doesn't invite the national team, this match, we will definitely win!"

  Everyone burst out laughing, and many people looked somewhat disapproving, apparently thinking that Mushan's actions were like using a cannon to shoot a mosquito - a waste of great talent on something trivial.

  Mushan nodded, they didn't know their own grudges with Wen Qing, and really thought it was because of Ji Su's rivalry. Of course, this is one reason, but now it's not the main reason anymore...

  Mu Shan's eyes flashed with a fierce and sinister light, his clenched fists making a crisp cracking sound.