Tianli Fighting Gym

Dating costs money, and Zhang Shuai didn't have much left. After setting aside the money for the car, he had less than thirty thousand yuan remaining.

Zhang Shuai thought he should take advantage of his temporary free time to earn some money. Once Lin Xiuwen and the others started the semester, he would be auditing courses on ancient philology at the university, and he feared he wouldn't have any time left to earn a living. Given his current expenses, he had no idea how long his remaining funds would last, and a man needed a bit of money in his pocket to feel truly confident.

Although Lin Xiuwen's family was wealthy, Zhang Shuai felt that he was a capable man now; how could he rely on a woman's money for the long term? That would make him lose face in front of Lin Xiuwen.

Since he had time now, Zhang Shuai thought about participating in boxing or fighting matches to earn some cash. With his strength, it shouldn't be difficult to make some money in the ring, right?

To avoid worrying Lin Xiuwen, he didn't tell her about this decision.

Zhang Shuai didn't have any connections for entering boxing matches, but that didn't stump him. There was a very famous fighting club in Qingshui City called the Tianli Fighting Gym, and students from the gym participated in all the major boxing and fighting competitions across the country.

Zhang Shuai wanted to go to the Tianli Fighting Gym to see if he could get a few matches to earn some money.

The Tianli Fighting Gym was located in the western suburbs of Qingshui City, occupying a vast area of over eight thousand square meters. It was one of the most well-known fighting clubs in the entire Dragon Kingdom, having achieved high rankings in several major fighting tournaments.

That morning, Zhang Shuai hailed a taxi and headed straight for the Tianli Fighting Gym.

When he arrived at the security office at the entrance, the guard assumed Zhang Shuai was there to sign up for classes and handed him a course schedule.

Zhang Shuai took a look; the Tianli Fighting Gym offered over a dozen courses with fees ranging from two thousand to ten thousand yuan. There were short-term courses lasting half a month and long-term ones lasting three months. It seemed running a fighting gym was quite profitable; as long as there were enough students, the registration fees alone would be a substantial income over the course of a year.

However, Zhang Shuai wasn't there to sign up for lessons. With his current level, where would he need to practice fighting?

"Sorry, I'm not here to sign up for classes. I want to join the Tianli Fighting Gym to participate in domestic and international competitions. Could you please introduce me to the person in charge of the gym?"

The guard was stunned. He looked Zhang Shuai up and down with a suspicious gaze and asked, "Have you studied fighting or martial arts before?"

Zhang Shuai smiled. "I suppose you could say that."

At this, Zhang Shuai pulled a pack of Furongwang cigarettes from his pocket, handed them to the guard, and said, "Brother, please help me get an introduction to the person in charge. I'll discuss this matter with your director."

The guard hesitated. This was the first time he had encountered such an abrupt approach. Generally speaking, if a gym wanted to find experts to compete, the director would be the one contacting experts in the circle; it was rare for someone to show up on their own. Besides, he was just a guard at the door—what right did he have to contact the director? However, out of consideration for the Furongwang cigarettes Zhang Shuai had given him, the guard made an exception.

"Look, I can't make that call. I'm just a guard; I don't have the authority to contact the director. Go inside and find the front desk; let them help you get in touch with him."

Guided by the guard, Zhang Shuai walked into the Tianli Fighting Gym and arrived at the first-floor lobby.

The receptionist was a young woman in her mid-twenties. After hearing Zhang Shuai's intentions, she was surprised, but she still dutifully made a call to the director.

The director of the Tianli Fighting Gym was named Huang Tianli. He had twice won international fighting championships and multiple domestic combat titles. After retiring, Huang Tianli returned to his hometown to found the Tianli Fighting Gym. He even hired a world-class boxing champion with a gold belt to serve as the gym's head coach, and several assistant coaches were also experts with extensive boxing and fighting experience. After more than a decade of development, the Tianli Fighting Gym had become quite famous in the industry.

Yesterday, Huang Tianli had just attended a meeting organized by the Culture and Sports Bureau. At this moment, he was feeling extremely puzzled by the inexplicable orders from the bureau's leaders. He had just spoken on the phone with several peers who ran fighting clubs and discovered that it wasn't just his gym—almost everyone running martial arts schools, boxing gyms, and fighting clubs had received tasks from the Culture and Sports Bureau.

What was the country trying to do? Why were they promoting Big Dipper Long Fist with such intensity, and why were they holding the first "Dragon Kingdom Big Dipper Long Fist Martial Arts Grand Prix"? The government was even putting up large cash prizes to support and reward it—something that had never happened before. Huang Tianli couldn't make sense of it at all.

What puzzled Huang Tianli even more was the level of importance the government placed on this matter; it was simply beyond his imagination!

One of the tasks the Culture and Sports Bureau assigned to Huang Tianli was to require his gym to offer Big Dipper Long Fist martial arts courses in Qingshui City. That was fine; adding a course was just a minor issue for the gym.

However, the bureau also required the Tianli Fighting Gym to be responsible for organizing and hosting the Qingshui City preliminary rounds for the Big Dipper Long Fist Martial Arts Grand Prix. They even hinted cryptically that the reason they wanted the Tianli Fighting Gym to handle the organization was that such martial arts events were not yet suitable for the government to lead directly. However, the government would soon send staff to be stationed secretly at the Tianli Fighting Gym to assist Huang Tianli in organizing the event and completing the task.

This was the part that left Huang Tianli most confused and deeply unsettled. He had to remember that he only ran a fighting gym, not some important high-tech enterprise, nor was it a critical industry involving energy or public livelihood. Why would the government send people to be stationed at his gym? It was simply absurd. If it hadn't been said by the leaders of the Culture and Sports Bureau in person during the meeting, Huang Tianli would never have believed such a ridiculous thing.

However, thinking about the government officials who would soon be stationed at his gym, Huang Tianli felt anxious. Fighting clubs like his always had some aspects that couldn't see the light of day—for instance, underground black-market boxing. He had sent people to fight in a few such matches in the past and had made a lot of money. If government personnel were stationed there, underground boxing would certainly be off-limits.

Just then, Huang Tianli received a call from the front desk saying that a young man in the lobby wanted to see him.

Huang Tianli's heart skipped a beat. His first reaction was whether this could be someone sent by the Culture and Sports Bureau, but that was too fast, wasn't it? The meeting was only yesterday, and they were sending people today?

Regardless of whether it was them or not, Huang Tianli didn't dare to be negligent. He immediately went downstairs to the lobby. When he saw the young man the receptionist had mentioned, Huang Tianli was a bit puzzled; the young man didn't give him the impression of being a government official.

Still, Huang Tianli politely invited Zhang Shuai into the reception room and personally poured him a cup of tea.

"Sir, may I ask what brings you to our Tianli Fighting Gym?"

Zhang Shuai felt a bit flattered. The director of this gym was, after all, a successful man; in terms of net worth, he could be considered part of the wealthy class in Qingshui City. Yet, this director was so warm and humble. It seemed that the success of every successful person was no accident.