Chapter 376: Reward Obtained
The small auditorium.
Yang Wenqing walked to the empty fifth seat and calmly sat down. Lan Ying, perched on his shoulder, curiously looked this way and that. Meanwhile, Tang Yuan, Gao Zhen, and Yang Wenjian headed for the audience seats, finding spots near the front.
Of the four contestants beside him, with the exception of Jin Ming on the far right, the other three noticed Yang Wenqing’s arrival but showed no intention of greeting him.
Jin Ming was completely unaffected by the atmosphere. The moment Yang Wenqing sat down, he immediately turned around and struck up a conversation. “You must be Director Yang from Lingshan County, right? I’ve heard so much about you! I’m Jin Ming, just an idler. And that’s one fine-looking Blue-feathered Night Owl you have there!”
Yang Wenqing was a little surprised, but given the other man’s enthusiasm, he couldn’t just give him the cold shoulder. He had to respond politely. “You’re too kind. I’m Yang Wenqing. A pleasure to meet you.”
Once Jin Ming started talking, he couldn’t stop. “I know Wang Yanzhi really well. We went out for drinks when he returned to the Provincial Government a while back. He’s always singing your praises to me. Now that I’ve seen you in person, I can see you really live up to your reputation!”
He spoke quickly, with the casual and relaxed air characteristic of someone from a prominent family. “I heard you’re here for a happy occasion as well? Something to do with Yanzi’s cousin? What was her name again… Yufei, right?”
As he spoke, he glanced over at Yang Wenjian in the audience and lowered his voice. “The one who looks a bit like you must be your younger brother, Wenjian, right? Tsk, tsk…”
Yang Wenqing didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his overly enthusiastic gossip.
For the past decade or so, his life had consisted of two things: cautiously dealing with his superiors in the official world, and, as a director himself, respectfully receiving reports from his subordinates. He had rarely encountered someone like Jin Ming, who chatted aimlessly out of pure curiosity and an overly familiar nature.
The feeling was strange. While he was a bit unused to the other man’s directness and scattered way of speaking, he also faintly felt that this kind of casual, ulterior-motive-free conversation brought a long-lost sense of ease.
“We’re still getting to know each other. Nothing’s set in stone yet,” Yang Wenqing replied vaguely, neither confirming nor denying it. Just then, Lan Ying began a real-time assessment of Yang Wenqing’s four opponents in his Spirit Sea:
‘Qingqing, that guy looks so fierce, like a ruffled bird. Is this one asleep? That woman has already lost part of her humanity, probably from all the intense training she’s been doing lately. She’s no fun… And this one talks way too much.’
Jin Ming also sensed that Yang Wenqing wasn’t one for idle chatter. Seeing his restrained replies, he tactfully stopped prying. Instead, he started sharing interesting tidbits about the Provincial Hall and some inside information about the competition—like which referee was stricter, or what kind of fighting style certain seniors preferred.
About fifteen minutes later, the side door of the auditorium was pushed open. A sharp, capable-looking middle-aged man walked in briskly. It was He Yun, assistant to the Chief of the First Patrol Office.
The moment he appeared, the noisy auditorium fell silent. All eyes focused on him. Yang Wenqing and the other four contestants also rose to their feet reflexively, standing at attention.
He Yun walked behind the temporary host’s podium set up in front of the ring. His gaze swept across the entire hall, lingering for a moment on Yang Wenqing, before he cleared his throat and spoke.
“Colleagues, good afternoon. I am He Yun. On behalf of the Provincial Hall, I will be presiding over the lot-drawing ceremony for this year’s Provincial Youth Elite Competition.”
“First, I will reiterate the rules and format of the competition. This competition will use a combination of a round-robin point system and an elimination phase, designed to comprehensively test everyone’s overall abilities.”
He pointed to the ring. “The five contestants will engage in a single round-robin tournament. This means each person will fight the other four once. The winner of each match receives one point, the loser receives zero, and in the event of a draw, both will receive half a point. After five rounds, the contestant with the highest score will be the champion.”
“The purpose of this competition is to exchange skills and share insights, so all bouts must end with a decisive but non-lethal blow. The ring is equipped with a protective barrier and a monitoring Array. The panel of judges will monitor the entire process to ensure fairness and safety. I ask all contestants to give it their all, but also to exercise restraint.”
After announcing the rules, He Yun paused for a moment before continuing, “We will now proceed with the drawing of lots. This drawing will not directly determine the matchups. Instead, it is to assign each of the five contestants a temporary number, which will be used to determine the opponent order for the first round of the tournament.”
He motioned for a staff member to bring over a sealed jade box. Its lid was inscribed with runes to prevent prying with Divine Sense.
“Inside the box are five jade tallies, engraved with the five numbers: A, B, C, D, and E. The drawing order will follow the contestants’ registration numbers. Now, please come forward one by one to draw your lots.”
A female guard carried the jade box over to Zhao Yan, who was on the far left.
Zhao Yan stood up. With a blank expression, he reached his hand into the opening of the jade box, fumbled around for a moment, and pulled out a jade tally. He glanced at it and announced loudly, “C.”
A staff member recorded it. Next was Sun Yan, who drew E. Then Han Xue drew B, and Jin Ming drew D.
Finally, it was Yang Wenqing’s turn.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Yang Wenqing calmly stepped forward and reached into the jade box. Unsurprisingly, he drew the last one: A.
He Yun looked at the recorded results and nodded. “The temporary numbers have been assigned. Contestants, please return and rest. Be here before nine o’clock tomorrow morning, when the official match schedule will be announced.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned and left decisively. The previously solemn auditorium instantly returned to its former noisy state.
Zhao Yan casually tossed the jade tally engraved with the letter “C” to an elder from his family who had walked over. After exchanging a few quiet words, he headed straight for the exit without giving anyone else so much as a glance.
Sun Yan, maintaining his air of being unconcerned by anything, tucked the “E” tally into his robes. He nodded to two colleagues who approached him, and the three of them left together, speaking in low voices. Han Xue, expressionless, put away the “B” tally and walked briskly toward the exit alone.