Chapter 84: Tiannan Martial Compet.i.tion
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Three days later, Ye Chen received a call from Gu Yingying in the morning.
It was the day of the Tiannan Martial Arts Compet.i.tion.
His parents went to work early in the morning, the father and daughter were the only ones at home. The little girl was clingy with her father. Ye Chen couldn’t think of any other way and thought he would bring her along.
Ye Chen carried the little girl while she carried the Patriarch of h.e.l.l. The group of misfits went out after breakfast.
Old Master Gu and the rest parked their car outside the community earlier. They were stunned when they saw Ye Chen carrying his daughter.
They were going to fight, not to enjoy a vacation.
However, since Ye Chen said nothing, it would be odd if they asked. They could only ask Ye Chen to get inside the car.
The person who was driving was the old master’s driver, Ah Hu.
“Where are we going, daddy?” The little thing sat next to Ye Chen while carrying the Patriarch of h.e.l.l. She could not stop blinking her big, puppy eyes.
Meanwhile, the Patriarch of h.e.l.l had his eyes fixated on Gu Yingying. He was almost drooling.
‘She’s a beauty!’
‘I can’t believe Xiao Yezi isn’t moved by such a beauty. Did he cultivate too much that something is wrong with his head or is there something that he’s hiding?’
Ye Chen slapped the Patriarch of h.e.l.l on the head and subsequently looked at Gu Yingying who was next to him. “Where are we going?”
“The Swallowtail Town, it’s the intersection of the three provinces of Tiannan. Most of the locals are made of people from all over the place who escaped from the famine back then. They have their own dialects and cultures, so it’s considered a messy place.”
Gu Yingying smiled and said, “As the three provinces are rather strict, we can only pick a place like this.”
Ye Chen nodded to show his acknowledgment and asked, “I suppose all of the other organizations have departed?”
“They have.”
The old master took over the conversation and said in a low voice, “Last year, our family won three departmental quotas, a ministerial quota and 1/10 share in the business market of Tiannan…”
Although he already knew that the compet.i.tion was something else, Ye Chen could not help but be stunned.
Never had he thought a compet.i.tion’s impact would be this great. They could even decide the candidates for the department and even the ministry.
Just when they were talking, the Patriarch of h.e.l.l struggled out of Mengmeng’s lap and ran into Gu Yingying’s embrace. He was doing all sorts of tricks to earn her love.
“Ooh, what a cute puppy.”
Gu Yingying could not help herself and carried him.
The patriarch could not stop rubbing himself on her lap. Gu Yingying had no idea that she had been taken advantage of and could not stop giggling.
Ye Chen had to hold back his urge to smack the patriarch.
That d.a.m.n dog…
…
The drive was of mediocre speed. It took them around two hours to finally enter the Swallowtail Town’s region.
The first thing that Ye Chen saw through the window was big mountains that were so high that the clouds covered them while fog covered them. Meanwhile, most of the buildings by the street were tiled houses and brick houses. They were only around two to three floors high at most.
One could tell that Swallowtail Town was considered rather backward. Ye Chen finally understood why it was a messy region.
Eventually, the car pulled over at a bungalow. According to Gu Yingying, there are a couple of bungalows like this in Swallowtail Town. They’re built from the funds sponsored by the entire Tiannan’s bosses. They were considered a place to rest.
As soon as the car pulled over, a bunch of people rushed over from far away. The leader was a plump middle-aged man who looked rather wealthy.
The middle-aged man pa.s.sionately welcomed them right after they got out of the car. “Ms. Gu, you guys have finally arrived. Welcome, welcome.”
Gu Yingying nodded to him as a courtesy and subsequently introduced them. “This is Mayor Sun, this is Master Ye, our Gu family’s n.o.ble guest.”
Ye Chen peeped at him and coldly nodded as his greeting.
Never had he expected Mayor Sun to pa.s.sionately grab his hand as if he was meeting the president. “Oh, my. Master Ye, it’s my pleasure.”
He began clapping his hands after that.
The people who were standing behind him followed his lead by clapping. However, they could not help taking a good look at Ye Chen. They lost interest realizing that he dressed plainly and looked ordinary.
Gu Yingying asked after chatting for a moment, “Master Ye, do you want to go in to rest with your daughter?”
“No need, you guys go ahead. I’m planning to explore the areas nearby,” Ye Chen shook his head and said with a smile while carrying the little girl.
Since they were here, they thought it would be nice for them to immerse themselves in the local culture. He would show his daughter around at the same time.
Just when Gu Yingying was going to get people to go with him, Mayor Sun who was standing aside interrupted. “It’s rare that Master Ye is here in our Swallowtail Town, it’s only natural that I must play host. I’ll get someone to accompany Master Ye.”
“Come here, Ah Xue.”
A delicate young lady who was approximately in her early 20s walked out of the crowd. She looked at Ye Chen in a shy manner.
“Master Ye, let Ah Xue show you around. To be honest, the people here are rather discriminative. You won’t get into much trouble if you take Ah Xue with you.”
Mayor Sun smiled and could not stop signaling Ah Xue. What he did not notice was that Gu Yingying and the old master looked puzzled after he said that.
Mayor Sun thought a Martial Dao master was afraid to be bullied by the locals? The ignorants were daring for sure.
Ye Chen was not sure whether to laugh or cry and agreed. Under Ah Xue’s guidance, he aimlessly strolled around the town while carrying the little girl.
There were many people in town. The streets were crowded with barbecue stalls and fruit stalls.
Ah Xue explained after seemingly noticing his doubt. “M-Master Ye, o-our town d-doesn’t usually have so many people. There are many bosses like you guys here for the compet.i.tion, hence the crowd.”
“Who told you that I’m a boss?” Ye Chen said while smiling.
Ah Xue’s face flushed at the moment as she answered in a very soft voice, “My uncle told me that people from the big city are wealthy. A meal you guys have is our annual salary.”
Ye Chen smiled and didn’t say anything.
“Sister, my dad isn’t some boss. Mengmeng’s shoes were worn and my school bag was torn earlier, we didn’t have money to buy new ones.”
Little Mengmeng innocently shook her head. She had no idea that her father was now wealthy.
Ah Xue peeped at the branded clothes that she was wearing, she felt like she suffered 10,000 blows to her face.
‘How can she say that she’s poor…’
Ye Chen patted the little girl’s head. They bought quite a lot to eat by the street while carrying her.
The little girl glanced at Ah Xue then looked at the drumstick in her hand. She pa.s.sed the drumstick to Ah Xue after some hesitation. “Sister, Mengmeng treats you with a drumstick.”
“N-No.”
Ah Xue immediately shook her head.
“Sister, just take it. Mengmeng can’t finish it, and I need to lose weight.” The little girl looked sincere.
Ah Xue peeped at Ye Chen and eventually took over the drumstick. She said while smiling, “Thank you, little girl.”
Ah Xue was not as nervous as before after the little girl’s playful wits. They had become good friends now.
They suddenly stopped walking when they were pa.s.sing through the east side of the town.
Ye Chen lifted his eyes to look at the open plaza less than 100 meters away. There was a stage in the middle of the plaza which had two strong half-naked hunks fighting on the stage with sweat drenching them.
Many people had gathered around the stage. They would be cheering every now and then.
“Is that a battle ring?” Ye Chen asked.
Ah Xue wiped her mouth and introduced it. “Master Ye, this is our town’s custom since many years ago. There would be many locals sparring during the time of the Tiannan Martial Arts Compet.i.tion every year.
“The goal is to show their strength. If the bosses notice them, they would be chosen as bodyguards.
“I heard that there are prizes for the top three. 100,000 for first prize, 50,000 for second and 10,000 for third prize.”
Ye Chen nodded hearing that. He lost interest after watching while standing from far away. Although the crowd was cheering, it was nothing to experts.
He shook his head and carried the little girl intending to head back. However, a surprised voice came out of the crowd that was watching the fight.
“Ye Chen?”