Chapter 125

Early the next morning, just as the sky was starting to brighten, Song Haowen was awakened by a series of urgent knocks on the door. He asked angrily, “Who is it, knocking so early? Have you no sense of propriety?”

He heard Renhua’s voice from outside the door, “It’s already light out. Why are you still sleeping?”

Song Haowen couldn’t argue with Renhua, so he reluctantly got up to open the door. To his surprise, she exclaimed, “Why aren’t you wearing any clothes? Are you trying to be indecent?”

Song Haowen suddenly realized that he was completely naked, which he never did when sleeping, and hurriedly closed the door, diving back into bed. His face felt like it was on fire, and he felt inexplicably flustered. What had happened to make him strip naked?

Renhua was shocked by what she saw and stood at the door, unsure of what to do. Just then, Hongyu was awakened by her shock and, seeing her standing in front of the door in a daze, tapped her on the shoulder, wondering what she was doing. But her tap startled Renhua even more, and she almost fainted.

Seeing Renhua’s exaggerated reaction, Hongyu couldn’t help but feel puzzled. She took another look at Renhua and saw her face first turn pale, then blood red, with a confused and embarrassed look in her eyes.

“Renhua, what’s gotten into you so early in the morning?”

Renhua, after calming down her racing heart a bit, felt a bit embarrassed and said, “I wanted to wake him up and ask how we got back last night. Did he take advantage of us?”

Hongyu’s face turned red too. “We’re usually the best drinkers, but how did we end up being the most drunk?”

By this time, Song Haowen had dressed and opened the door. He tried to act nonchalant and said, “This is what they call: ‘A skilled rider can fall off a horse, a skilled swimmer can drown, a skilled drinker can get drunk, a skilled warrior can die in battle.'”

Hongyu snorted dissatisfiedly, “That’s all you have to say? By the way, why did I hear someone yelling ‘indecent’ earlier? What’s going on?”

At this remark, both Song Haowen and Renhua wished the ground would swallow them up. But since there was no crack in the ground to hide in, they had to face the situation with thick skin. Renhua glared at Song Haowen fiercely and explained, “Hongyu, you come and judge. I asked him to get up and not to sleep in. He replied that there was a beauty on the kang (a heated brick bed), so he wanted to sleep some more. Isn’t this being indecent to me?”

Hongyu scolded with a red face, “You little brat, your hair hasn’t even fully grown yet, and you’re already having lewd thoughts. You’re a true scumbag.” With this said, not only Song Haowen and Renhua were dumbfounded, but even Hongyu herself was ashamed of what she had said.

To avoid further embarrassment, Hongyu quickly ran outside to get some fresh air, her heart beating wildly. She couldn’t believe she had blurted out such vulgar language. It was completely out of character for her to do so.

Renhua saw Hongyu walk out, feeling relieved. She glanced at Song Haowen with a sneer, then gracefully opened the door and walked to the street to watch.

Song Haowen felt that these two women had been acting a bit strangely lately, doing things out of the ordinary. If they were jealous of him for passing the graduate entrance exam, given their usual relationship, it wouldn’t warrant such a strong reaction, especially since they had always been encouraging. If it was about a romantic relationship, he felt even more confused.

While each of them was lost in their own thoughts, a taxi stopped at the entrance of the department, and He Huo from the National Wushu Team got out of the car with a smile. He had seen several female sales clerks at the department, knew that Renhua was from the sales department, but didn’t know her name.

“Comrade, is Mr. Song at home?” He asked.

Renhua had seen He Huo before, but she didn’t have a good impression of him and asked coldly, “What’s the matter?”

He Huo felt that there might be a misunderstanding. He used to come every day to invite Song Haowen to compete, but Song Haowen never wanted to. He might have left her with the impression that he was unreliable.

“Oh, maybe you don’t know. I’m making a movie with Mr. Song now. We’re good buddies. I need to see him urgently today. Could you please inform him?” He Huo explained.

“I see. You can go in and find him yourself. He’s at home,” Renhua said indifferently.

He Huo smiled at Renhua, then stepped into the house and shouted loudly, “Is the big star Song at home?”

Song Haowen heard someone calling him and looked up to see He Huo, feeling a little surprised. “Huo, why are you here so early? Is something urgent?”

He Huo walked over, shook hands with Song Haowen, and patted him on the shoulder. “Coach Miao asked me to find you. He has something to discuss with you.”

“What’s the matter? Have a seat. Let’s have breakfast together with my classmates later.” Song Haowen said politely. After spending some time together, Song Haowen and the group from the Wushu Team now had a very good relationship, just like brothers.

He Huo shook his head and said, “I don’t know the specifics. Coach Miao will tell you when you get there. Are you free today? Let’s go to the set now.”

“Why the rush?” Song Haowen smiled, “Let’s not talk about that for now. Come have breakfast with me first. After we eat, I’ll go with you.” He then asked Hongyu and Renhua, “When will you two be ready? We can have breakfast together.”

Hongyu replied from the yard, “You go ahead with your friend. Don’t worry about us. We’ll have breakfast later.”

Hearing Hongyu’s words, Song Haowen took his bag and pulled He Huo out. On the way, He Huo lightly punched him in the chest and said with a smile, “You’re quite something, huh? Miss Zhong is deeply in love with you, but little did she know that you’re hiding beauties, not to mention two gorgeous ones.”

“What nonsense are you talking about?” Song Haowen blushed and explained immediately, “They are my classmates and also help out at my shop. Sometimes, when they work late, they stay at my place. It’s not what you think.”

“Oh? I see.” He Huo made a face, looking like he was asking for a beating, which made Song Haowen laugh and cry. Song Haowen didn’t explain any further and took him to a snack shop, where they each ordered a bowl of noodles and a few meat buns. He Huo said that he got up early because he was afraid Song Haowen might have something to do, so he didn’t have time for breakfast. With you treating me, I feel much better.

The two quickly finished their breakfast, walked to the side of the road, and took a taxi to the place where the crew was staying. When they arrived at the hotel, everyone except Miao Chong had gone to the filming location. Miao Chong invited Song Haowen to sit in the dormitory, and after He Huo brewed a cup of Longjing tea for Song Haowen, he left for the filming location.

Top of Form

“I asked He Huo to invite you because I wanted to discuss something with you. Last year, we had a friendly match with the United States, and now they want us to visit their country for a rematch. Are you interested in going?”

“They want us to go because they lost on our home turf and want to save face. Miao, I think we should skip this match. Our athletes aren’t particularly good at combat sports,” Song Haowen started to back out.

Miao Chong sighed. “But we can’t refuse this. It would make us a laughingstock worldwide. They would think we’re cowardly and afraid of losing.”

“Let them laugh, then!” Song Haowen said indifferently.

“The authorities have agreed, and they have put forward the slogan ‘friendship first, competition second.’ They said as long as we do our best, we shouldn’t worry about winning or losing…”

“I understand. This is basically not aiming for victory but preparing for failure in advance. But if we do end up losing miserably, the athletes might be too ashamed to face their families and hometown,” Song Haowen said.

“You’re thinking about it the wrong way. Since it’s a competition, there will definitely be winners and losers. Wanting to win but afraid of losing is not the mentality of an athlete. Bringing glory to the country is not just a slogan; it should be reflected in the actions of every Chinese person. At critical moments, we must contribute our strength and resources. Sometimes, even if we know it’s impossible, we must do it. This is a kind of responsibility. Now the country has placed the heavy burden of Sino-US friendship on our shoulders. This is our responsibility and our honor. Regardless of the result, we must actively prepare, compete seriously, and strive for good results,” Miao Chong said, his eyes shining brightly, without hesitation.

Song Haowen’s heart trembled, and a surge of passion rose in his chest. “Who are you planning to send to the competition?”

“We plan to use the personnel from the last match as the backbone, with only minor adjustments. We hope you can make time to participate.”

“How long will the trip be? Will it affect the filming of the movie?”

“It will only be about a week, and the crew has arranged everything so it won’t affect the filming.”

“What are the opponents like? Are they the same as last time?”

“I’m not sure about that. Both sides have agreed that they cannot use professional athletes. I estimate that the level of their participating athletes will be similar to last time, so we still have a good chance of winning.”

“Is it still a competition format?”

“Yes, it’s still five players from each side, and the players will be decided by drawing lots.”

“When will the competition take place?”

“This Saturday night. We only have two or three days to prepare.”

“So urgent? There won’t be enough time to handle the travel formalities.”

“We don’t have to worry about that. Special circumstances call for special measures, and everything is being taken care of by dedicated personnel. What we need to do is adjust our own state and bring necessary personal items. Each participating athlete will be given $200 for expenses, and there will be two days of rest after the competition, during which they can freely travel and shop.”

“Is there a prize for the competition?”

“The athletes’ competition income will follow the usual practice, which means half goes to the individual and half to the team, and taxes are calculated based on personal income.”

“That’s not bad. Unlike last time, when we only got a small amount of prize money,” Song Haowen said, sounding like a money lover.

“But there’s also so much honor involved. Why don’t you count that?” Miao Chong said, dissatisfied.