The hotel accommodation was quite good, a deluxe single room with a small living area, and a huge floor-to-ceiling window next to it offering a panoramic view of the scenery outside.
After putting down his luggage and taking a hot shower, he went down to the restaurant. It was open 24 hours, serving everything from congee, noodles, and rice to buffet-style meals.
Li Haochen took some food and found an empty table. Not long after he started eating, a middle-aged man carrying two plates of food walked over, "Brother Li, is anyone sitting here?"
Looking up, he realized the man was also one of his teammates. As for his name, Li Haochen really couldn't recall it. "No, no, please sit. My apologies, brother, I was in a hurry just now. What should I call you?"
"Li Zhigang. If you don't mind, just call me Li Ge, hehe."
The two chatted while eating and had a pleasant conversation. If not for the upcoming meeting with Liu Qinghe, they would have probably continued talking. Li Haochen also learned from Li Zhigang why Zhang Yuan harbored some resentment towards him.
"Haochen, that Zhang Yuan has a mediocre reputation in our circles. You should be careful normally," Li Zhigang glanced at the time. "It's about time, let's head up."
"Thanks, Li Ge, I'll be careful."
As Li Haochen and the others arrived at Liu Qinghe's room, the other teammates also arrived one after another, and two unfamiliar faces were added to the group.
With everyone present, Liu Qinghe took the main seat, his expression slightly solemn. "Everyone, esteemed guests, let me first introduce our captain, Wang Lei, and his assistant, Chen Yaohong. Also, this is Liu Yuxuan, the personal disciple of Master Zhang Yuan. He will follow us throughout the competition as our reserve candidate. These three individuals are not allowed to participate in the fishing process, but they can assist you with pulling, bleeding, and tagging, and so on. Everyone must remember this, otherwise, if there are any oversights, the entire team will be disqualified.
We won't waste any more time. We just received notification from the Asian Fishing Association that this year's team score will no longer be based on the total catch of the entire team. Instead, it will be based on the cumulative points from individual rankings. Points will be awarded as 9, 7, 6...1 for the top eight. Furthermore, this year's individual events have added two categories: most individual fish tails and highest cumulative value of individual catch."
As soon as Liu Qinghe finished speaking, everyone except Li Haochen gasped in surprise. "How can this be? Then we won't even have a chance to make it into the top ten."
"Yes, if it's like this, aren't we just going there to be fodder?"
"Quiet, everyone. I know that today's reforms are not optimistic for our situation, but we cannot be discouraged. Furthermore, our leadership has said that for every point we obtain, there will be an additional reward of fifty thousand yuan. Our research institute has also given us strong support."
With that, Liu Qinghe and Wang Lei brought in eight dark boxes. Upon opening them, eight gleaming golden fishing rods displayed their extraordinary nature, making everyone's hearts flutter.
"I believe you've all heard whispers of this. This is our latest research, the潛龍 (Qiánlóng - Hidden Dragon). We will be using these for this competition. The leaders of the research institute said that whoever wins first place in any individual event will receive this divine artifact."
"Hmph, I thought they'd give one to everyone participating in the competition."
"Yeah, too stingy."
First place in an individual event? For them, it was as difficult as climbing to heaven, so they didn't hold any expectations. Coupled with the change in competition format, most of these eight people had already given up hope, probably just going through the motions to finish the competition.
In fact, when Liu Qinghe learned this news, he was also filled with bitterness. The rewards he mentioned were essentially like not mentioning any rewards at all. It was like the Chinese national football team playing against Brazil; even if you offered ten billion yuan, it would be useless. If you couldn't play well, no matter how much you rewarded, it wouldn't make a difference.
"Director Liu, I wanted to ask if we can use our own boats to participate in the competition."
Li Haochen's sudden voice quieted the previously noisy scene. Everyone looked at him as if he were an idiot.
"Ahem, Xiao Chen, it's not surprising that you haven't participated before and don't know. It's like this, the competing teams can only set out in one boat because the entire process will be monitored to prevent cheating. Perhaps in the future, it will be possible."
"Hahaha, you can ask such an idiotic question. I don't even know how you got into the team. Did you sail to Sanya on your boat?" Zhang Yuan didn't miss any opportunity to mock Li Haochen.
"That's right, it's not allowed? Or should I give you a ride back? It'll save you airfare."
Zhang Yuan was about to retort a few more words when Liu Qinghe stopped him. "Alright, alright, say less. It's getting late, go back to your rooms and rest well. The competition starts tomorrow."
Seeing that there was no more drama to be had, everyone lamented their misfortune, then bid farewell and headed back.
While everyone else returned to their rooms, Li Haochen walked out. His phone had been broken, dropped and smashed by someone when he was rushing from the boat to the hotel. If he hadn't been in a hurry, he would have definitely sought compensation from that bastard.
He took a taxi and after half an hour arrived at the International Shopping Center. It was very prosperous, a level above Binhai. However, Li Haochen wasn't there to shop, he went straight to his destination. Ten minutes later, when Li Haochen emerged from the phone store, he had a new K50 Pro. Over three thousand yuan was a decent price.
As soon as he installed the chip, his phone started buzzing non-stop. He could guess without thinking that it was all calls and messages from Murong Yanran and Li Dehai.
After returning their calls one by one, he didn't linger in the bustling city. He hailed a car back to the hotel, and as soon as he eagerly connected to the internet, he initiated a video call with Murong Yanran. When the call connected, Li Haochen almost spat out several liters of blood. "You... why are you wrapped in a bath towel? Hurry up and put on some clothes."
Murong Yanran smiled slyly at the screen. "I just finished showering, what else should I be wrapped in besides a bath towel? Am I not supposed to wear anything? I'll change my clothes first, don't hang up, hehe."
With that, Murong Yanran turned the phone's camera to another direction. Suddenly, a pink bath towel flew and landed in front of the lens. The visual impact... Xiao Chenchen was like a Saiyan, undergoing a second-level transformation without a doubt.
Two to three minutes later, the camera spun wildly, and Murong Yanran reappeared on the screen, lying on the bed. Her collar was loose, and her magnificent peaks were clearly visible, making Li Haochen feel as if he were falling into an abyss.
"Wife, do you know what I'm thinking right now?"
"Of course, you're thinking of me, hehe!"
"Wrong. What I want most right now is Doraemon's time machine. I wish I could fly to your side immediately."
Murong Yanran smiled sweetly, her dimples enchanting Li Haochen. Knowing that he had a competition tomorrow, they lingered for a while and she indulged him with some affection before hanging up the video.
Ding~
As soon as the video call ended, he immediately received a WeChat message from Murong Yanran. Upon opening it, his phone dropped to the ground. Fortunately, it was carpeted, otherwise, he would have to replace it again.
He immediately set the photo to be encrypted and then re-encrypted. Xiao Chenchen, who had returned to his normal state from second-level transformation, began to recover again, showing signs of a sudden surge.
Looking down at his lower body, Li Haochen gave a wry smile. "Sigh, I need to take a cold shower."