It was early evening, and Tang Ming had lost track of how many tis he had helped out. Anyway, he kept busy as there was nothing much to do, and just at a critical mont, Zhou Xiaoqian’s phone suddenly rang.
"Wait a second, let take this call."
Zhou Xiaoqian pleaded breathlessly.
"No worries, you take your call, I’ll keep busy."
Tang Ming grinned mischievously, with no intention of stopping, and instead urged Zhou Xiaoqian to answer her phone.
"You, you really are a rascal."
Zhou Xiaoqian looked at Tang Ming helplessly, answered the phone, and tried to keep her voice normal: "Hello, what’s up?"
"Xiaoqian, co quickly to save us. Liu Xinlong and I ended up in a dodgy shop, and now they want over thirty thousand yuan to let us go."
Wu Fangyue’s voice sounded tearful.
"What? You encountered a dodgy shop too... mm hm mm."
"Really? What’s with your voice?"
"Nothing, nothing’s wrong, I’ll tell Tang Ming, send your location... we, we’ll be there soon."
Zhou Xiaoqian looked at Tang Ming beseechingly, and Tang Ming only got more excited.
"Sure, co quickly, otherwise they want to kill soone, boohoo."
"Alright, alright."
Zhou Xiaoqian hurriedly hung up the phone.
"Nice!"
Tang Ming took a deep breath, shouted heartily, and then stopped moving.
"You’re too naughty."
Zhou Xiaoqian helplessly supported Tang Ming: "Wu Fangyue and the others have also run into a dodgy shop, go help them out, after all, we’re classmates."
"Alright then! This hellhole sure is tricky, there are dodgy shops everywhere, I bet every day quite a few people get ripped off."
Tang Ming lay lifelessly against Zhou Xiaoqian, constantly complaining but not budging.
"Hurry up and go, they’re definitely very scared."
Zhou Xiaoqian pushed Tang Ming quickly.
"Oh! Frustrating."
Tang Ming reluctantly got up, looked down at the ssy weapons: "I don’t want to shower, what now?"
"You really are a nuisance."
Zhou Xiaoqian gave Tang Ming a charming side-eye, bent down to help him clean up, and wiped his mouth: "Go on, I’m too tired, I won’t go."
"Alright then, made crawl out from a woman’s arms, this ti I’ll definitely teach those running dodgy shops a lesson."
Tang Ming put on his clothes and cursed angrily.
Following the location on WeChat, Tang Ming found the dodgy shop Wu Fangyue ntioned, and then was a bit stunned to find it was the sa shop that scamd them at lunchti.
Inside the shop, the dark-faced owner held a knife, looking fiercely at Wu Fangyue and Liu Xinlong who were huddled together: "Where’s the person who’ll pay for you? You all aren’t trying to fool , are you?"
"No, no, you heard earlier, I’ve made the call, they’ll be here soon."
Wu Fangyue quickly explained.
"Hmph, don’t lie to , or the consequences will be severe."
The owner snorted coldly, then smiled wickedly: "The girl you were talking to on the phone has a great voice, really got stirred up, is she pretty?"
"Well..."
"Pretty or not, haven’t you already seen her?"
Right at that mont, Tang Ming walked in.
"Hiss, hiss—"
Seeing Tang Ming, the owner and others gasped and quickly put away their weapons.
"Why is it you?"
The owner put away the knife, nervously stood up and looked at Tang Ming.
"You think I wanted to co? You made crawl out of bed, is it fun?"
Tang Ming squinted his eyes, coldly looked at the owner: "I think I ntioned, if there’s a next ti, I’ll..."
"Big brother, I’m wrong, I really didn’t know they were your friends."
The owner quickly interrupted Tang Ming, speaking with a crying voice: "I’ve only made two deals today, both with you, I really made a mistake."
"Hmph! How much did they eat, how much do you want?"
Tang Ming asked impatiently.
"Nothing, I’ll treat, they don’t have to pay."
The owner shouted generously.
"Can we leave now?"
"Yes, yes, you have a good departure."
The owner nodded repeatedly, wishing Tang Ming would leave quickly.
"We’ll let this go for now, but if you provoke again, don’t bla for being rude."
Tang Ming snorted coldly and waved at the two: "Let’s go, head back."
"Ah, okay."
Wu Fangyue and Liu Xinlong quickly gathered their things and followed Tang Ming out of the restaurant. They knew Tang Ming was no ordinary person, but they never expected him to be so formidable that even such a shady shop owner would fear him.
"Close up, no business for the next few days."
After Tang Ming and the others left, the dark-faced owner slumped in his chair: "Who knows how many people are friends of that ancestor, if we run into his folks again, we’re done. Picked what seed like a safe couple, but didn’t expect..."
A group of people nodded repeatedly, quickly shutting the store, genuinely frightened.
The shop was conveniently near the hotel, so that’s why it was so coincidental.
After expressing gratitude, Wu Fangyue and Liu Xinlong returned to the hotel. After this incident, they were so scared that in the following days, they’d rather eat instant noodles in the hotel instead of venturing out for food, a normal reaction for ordinary people.
Tang Ming didn’t mind, having spent the whole afternoon, he checked the ti and called ng Xianjun and Hua Yingjie out for a late-night snack.
The next day, the dical competition officially began, contestants from all regions, led by staff, gathered at Goose City Four Square Street Plaza.
At this mont, the huge plaza had over a hundred square wooden tables set up, with staff at each table, and the plaza was surrounded by iron railings with plenty of people outside.
Competitors and spectators squeezed together, even heads like Guo Dahai from various schools ca to watch the commotion.
"Ladies and gentlen, the semifinals of this year’s dical competition are about to begin. Next, I’ll announce the list of participants for the first round of semifinals and the corresponding table numbers. Selected participants, please prepare to enter the venue. Each round will have two hundred people competing, winners exit through the left door, losers through the right door. Don’t disrupt the venue’s order, don’t whisper..."
The host’s voice echoed through the broadcast, detailing all kinds of competition matters.
"Didn’t they say all participants compete together?"
Tang Ming stood outside the wire sh, confused, observing the continuous entry of contestants.
"Probably because there are too many participants, and the venue isn’t big enough, staff aren’t plentiful either, so each round can only have two hundred people competing."
ng Xianjun analyzed earnestly.
"Then until when will they compete?"
Tang Ming glanced at the dense crowd around the plaza, several thousand people.
"Not sure, it depends on the specific content of the competition."
ng Xianjun shook his head.
Soon the first batch of two hundred people entered the venue, a hundred tables, with three people at each table, one staff mber and two face-to-face contestants.
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