Chapter 60
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The location of the Peace Boxing Club is in the old city area, where the pedestrian traffic is not small, but it is also a commercial area. However, the buildings are very old, and everything looks dusty at first glance.
When driving to the Peace Boxing Club, Lou Yan also passed by his own company.
Li Sanxin pointed to Lou Yan’s company intentionally and asked, “Chief Lou, how long has it been since you last went to work?”
Lou Yan stared straight ahead expressionlessly, pretending not to hear.
But their car had just passed the company not long ago, and Lou Yan received a call from his assistant Qin Feng.
Qin Feng asked, “Boss, where are you now?”
“I’m still on a business trip out of town,” Lou Yan said calmly, “What’s wrong? Is there a problem with the company?”
“Well,” Qin Feng said, “Do you have time to come to the company in the next two days? Some work needs your personal handling, and it’s also time for you to inspect the work of various departments.”
Lou Yan was silent for a few seconds. “I’m busy lately and don’t have time.”
“Is that so?” Assistant Qin’s fake laugh came through the phone, “But I just saw you driving past the company entrance.”
Lou Yan: “……”
Assistant Qin: “Boss, are you so busy that you don’t even have time to come in for a walk when passing by the company gate?”
Although Assistant Qin’s voice was calm, steady, and sounded like a news broadcaster, Lou Yan seemed to sense deep resentment in it. Lou Yan had nothing to say for a few seconds, and then resignedly said, “I’ll go to the company tomorrow.”
“Okay, boss,” Assistant Qin said, “By the way, a Miss Song Yuran came to the company this morning to apply for an internship. She said she got your approval. Do you know about this?”
“I know,” Lou Yan said casually, “Put her in the publicity department. She’ll only stay for a month, no need for special treatment.”
“I understand.”
Although it was somewhat embarrassing to be caught lying by his own assistant on the spot, it was just a minor incident. Less than twenty minutes after hanging up the phone, the car arrived at its destination—the Peace Boxing Club.
It was still early, and there weren’t many people in the boxing gym. The space inside the shop was quite large, with training frames and sandbags dominating the area. In the corner on the left, there were treadmills and other training equipment, and in the middle, there were three square boxing rings surrounded by ropes.
Rubber carpets covered the floor, and the room was not lit, giving it a slightly dim atmosphere. There were only two or three people exercising in the entire boxing club.
At a glance, Lou Yan and his group saw the club as clean and tidy. They stood by the door for a while, and finally, the owner came, holding a youtiao in his hand and smiling as he walked over, “Are you guys interested in learning boxing?”
This person didn’t seem to be over thirty years old, wearing a white vest and black shorts, with a crew cut. There was a thumb-length scar above his right eyebrow. His appearance was ordinary, but he exuded a tough and handsome aura overall. The smile on his face was like a fox, looking gentle, but there was a hint of shrewdness in his eyes from time to time.
As Lou Yan and his group assessed the owner, the owner was also assessing them. Whether it was Lou Yan’s illusion or not, he always felt that the owner’s gaze lingered on him for an extra second.
Before they could answer, the owner quickly finished the youtiao, wiped his hands hastily on the counter, and then took out several business cards from the counter, giving one to each person, “Take the card and get a ten percent discount when you sign up. It’s very suitable to get a membership card here. There are still packages available. If you’re interested, I can show you around our shop?”
The background of the business card was a photo of the signboard of the Peace Boxing Club, with the owner’s name and phone number printed in large yellow characters.
“Cui Ansheng…” Li Sanxin looked up at the owner and asked with a smile, “Are you the owner, Cui Ansheng? No wonder the name of this boxing club is ‘Peace’. I was wondering before if this name didn’t quite match the content of the shop. It turns out it’s because of the owner’s name.”
Boss Cui Ansheng laughed heartily, “Yes, I’m the owner here. The name of the club doesn’t quite match, but our shop is still very good! It’s no worse than other boxing clubs.”
As he spoke, Cui Ansheng took them around the boxing gym.
The facilities here were thirty percent old, but the sandbags were movable, and the equipment was of good quality, indicating that the owner had put in some effort. From the conversation, Li Sanxin also asked for some personal information about Cui Ansheng.
Cui Ansheng was originally from the mountains, dropped out of high school before finishing, and said he had liked boxing since he was a child. After dropping out of school, he started his own boxing club from scratch and the business was on the right track. He didn’t have parents above him, and he wasn’t married yet, but he had a younger brother ten years younger than him who was currently in school.
Lou Yan listened quietly, scanning his surroundings. When he once again caught Cui Ansheng’s gaze directed at him, Lou Yan smiled directly, with a hint of amusement, and asked bluntly, “Mr. Cui, why have you been looking at me?”
Cui Ansheng showed no embarrassment, and curiously asked, “I just feel like you look very familiar, I seem to have seen you in the news. Please forgive my presumption, are you Mr. Lou Yan?”
Lou Yan scrutinized his expression and nodded slightly, “Yes.”
“How coincidental,” Cui Ansheng exclaimed, both surprised and unexpected, his eyes narrowing into a fox-like smile, “It’s an honor for Mr. Lou to come to my place. To be honest, I’ve always admired Mr. Lou.”
Cui Ansheng’s behavior seemed perfectly normal, and Lou Yan didn’t sense any strangeness in the boxing gym. After they finished touring around, Cui Ansheng jokingly asked, “So, how do you bosses feel? Do you want to get a membership card at our club?”
Before anyone else could speak, Lou Yan chuckled, “Mr. Cui really showed us around the club completely?”
Cui Ansheng scratched his head, looking puzzled, “Of course we did, what else does Mr. Lou want to see?”
“Boss Cui, you’re not being honest like this,” Lou Yan didn’t beat around the bush, and asked directly, “Someone recommended to me that underground boxing matches can be played here. Mr. Cui, why don’t you take us to see?”
Cui Ansheng suddenly realized, squinting meaningfully, “So, the guests are here for underground boxing matches…”
He smiled again, “Then, please follow me.”
With that, he led them to the innermost part of the boxing gym and lifted a piece of cloth from a green-covered wall, revealing a small door behind it.
Cui Ansheng pushed open the door and led them inside.
After entering through the small door, they found themselves in a fire escape staircase, dimly lit. Cui Ansheng reminded everyone to watch their step and explained, “Many people like to come here for underground boxing matches and gambling, so this place is hidden underground for safety. If you want to play in the future, you can come by yourselves, there’s no need for me to accompany you.”
In just a few sentences, they had almost finished descending the stairs.
As they reached the bottom, Lou Yan heard the noisy cheers, curses, and applause.
These sounds were mixed with the smoky and alcoholic smell, along with a faint scent of blood. The air seemed to be filled with violent factors, making people unable to help but release their darkest and most violent side.
“Great!!!”
“Beat him, beat him to death!”
“You punk, there are no rules in underground boxing. Bite his ears and neck with your teeth, bite him to death!”
The underground level was the same size as the one above, but there were no sandbags or equipment here, only a square ring in the middle and plastic seats surrounding it. The lighting in the underground boxing arena was dim, with cigarette butts and bottles scattered on the ground. The smoke produced from smoking made the already unclear lights even more hazy.
The pungent smell made Lu Haoxiu sneeze three times in a row. He looked at the chaotic scene in front of him in shock, “D*mn, what the h*ll.”
It was still early in the morning, but unexpectedly, there were still many people in the underground boxing arena, all of them excited and flushed, with bloodshot eyes showing either madness or resentment, as if they hadn’t slept all night. Most of them had gathered around the ring, shouting excitedly, raising their hands as if they were about to rush onto the ring. The dense crowd made it impossible to distinguish who was who, but it was evident that most of them were rough-looking, burly men with beards.
They surrounded the ring tightly, making it impossible for Lou Yan and his group to see what was happening on the ring.
Pointing to the ring, Cui Ansheng chuckled, “It’s really lively over there.”
Without him saying, Lou Yan and his group could also see that it was lively in the ring. Not only because of the reactions of the people around the ring but also because of the cries of pain coming from the center of the crowd.
Half of the spectators became more excited with the increasing screams, constantly cheering and whistling. There were also a few who kept swearing, red-faced with anger, shouting for “counterattacks.”
“Bang!” There was a loud sound as someone fell heavily on the ring.
“F*ck!” Those few people quickly squatted down to cheer for the boxer who was about to lose, “I’ve bet all my money on you winning. If you win, the odds are the highest. D*mn it, you’re so strong, how can you lose to that little pretty boy. Fight back, quickly fight back, don’t give up! If you give up, I’ll lose all my money!”
“Grab his hair, you idiot! Poke his eyes while his scalp is hurting!”
“If you lose, I’ll kill you!”
Impatience, anger, and the smell of blood in the air grew stronger.
Watching the struggling of the losing side, those who bet on the winner laughed with glee, “Keep fighting, as long as the opponent doesn’t give up, beat him to death!”
Lou Yan and his group stood behind the crowd. Since many people were squatting down, they happened to see the scene in the ring.
After seeing the people in the ring clearly, Lou Yan’s pupils dilated, and the indifferent expression on his face froze.
In the ring, a slender young man was easily holding down a muscular man twice his size. His back was bent, one hand restraining the muscular man’s hands behind his back, and his knee pressed against the muscular man’s spine. The muscular man had bruises all over his body, blood stains on his face, and several teeth knocked out. He looked miserable, his face twisted in pain, and his pupils dilated.
The young man had long and peculiar silver hair, which fell from his face onto the ring, making him look more like a deity than a violent boxer.
But the next moment, this person viciously punched the muscular man’s face, one punch after another, relentlessly pounding on him, fist after fist, until his fists were covered in blood, yet he didn’t stop.
Both cruel and thrilling.
Because of his brutal behavior, the surrounding people cheered continuously, and the cheers reached a climax, making the blood boil.
“Beat him to death! Cripple him!”
“Break his legs, hahaha.”
The silver-haired youth exerted force with his knee against the muscular man’s back, and the crisp sound of bones breaking echoed. The muscular man suddenly shouted, “I surrender! I surrender!!!”
The last punch stopped on the side of the muscular man’s face.
The silver-haired youth stood up, breathed out a sigh, sweat sliding down his forehead. Thin strands of blood vessels had appeared in his eyes, and he coldly said, “Get lost.”
The muscular man scrambled down from the ring with a face full of blood, tumbling and rolling.
On the ring, there was only the silver-haired youth left, wearing a simple white T-shirt and black pants. He seemed to have fought many battles, with clusters of blood stains on his white T-shirt, giving him a sinister appearance.
He was sweating profusely, and his skin exposed outside his clothes bore traces of sweat. The sweat soaked his clothes, and the white T-shirt stuck to his abdominal muscles. Although not as exaggerated as the muscular man, his lean and strong muscles were still impressive.
“Who’s next?” The silver-haired youth lowered his eyes, scanning the people present.
Fu Xuezhou.
… It was Fu Xuezhou.
Lou Yan’s face slowly became expressionless as he stared at the silver-haired youth, his negative emotions far outweighing any surprise.
Fu Xuezhou was still alive.
Author’s note:
Fu Xuezhou: En, I’m here.
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