The morning sun shines into the window frame, and the birds stand on the balcony and look at the room.

Cigarettes ripped with sparks burned slowly on the ashtray.

Xia Yi stood in the bathroom, tightened the bandage on her right rib, looked at the bloodstains, and then put on a gray long-sleeved coat to cover up the injury.

Fighting competition...

An enemy from somewhere...

Get your first money...

After being released from prison, it is difficult to walk on every road. Some things may not be able to be done at all, but now at least one thing has taken the first step, after all, it is the only thing that can be done.

He took a deep breath and wiped away the water stains on his face. In the mirror was his smooth and fair face, with a clear and angular cold and handsome face. Occasionally, the corners of his mouth were curled up, which was a gentle and sunny smile.

"That's it."

Turning around, walking out of the bathroom, folding the application form and putting it in his pocket, reaching out to grab the cigarette from the ashtray, holding it on the corner of his lips, opening the door and walking out.

Downstairs, Zhao Dezhu cleaned the three wheels he used to collect scraps, and several pieces of rust were remixed. When he saw Xia Yi walking downstairs, he photographed a bamboo chair specially placed in the car bucket.

"Come up quickly, I specially prepared the presidential seat for my brother."

Xia Yi jumped up and when she sat down, the chair creaked, "This chair looks so familiar..."

"No matter whether he looks familiar or not, sit down, the old driver will show you what the city center looks like now."

The fat man stepped on the tricycle and shouted excitedly: "——I'm leaving!"

The pedals were round, and the rusty iron chains drove the winch. The tricycle squeaked and rubbed, spreading across the Luoji Street, turning rapidly, driving onto the road with vehicles, and heading towards the center of the city.

On the street, an old man stood under the eaves with a cane, looking at the bamboo chairs that were placed on weekdays, empty, with his teethless mouth open and screaming loudly.

"Who is unethical... I even steal a chair."

The April sunshine is golden and warm.

****

Jiaohe County is located north of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, close to the riverside.

As the saying goes, relying on the mountains to eat the mountains and water to eat water. Since the reform and opening up, a cross-river bridge connecting the north and south of the rivers has been built, which greatly reduced the cost of commercial transportation, which has greatly improved the economy of Jiaohe County. At the same time, there is also a Jiangkou Wharf, which has become the core of east-west canal transportation. After the trading clubs of all sizes have established their foothold here, the small county towns in the 1970s and 1980s gradually expanded and the population has become dense.

Especially in the past two years, driven by the prosperity of national business, the original county town has demolished low-rise buildings and some unnecessary monuments, and a large number of high-rise buildings have risen from the ground, connecting entertainment and residences into one, with a very modern urban atmosphere.

During this period, the news that the county town was about to be upgraded to a city was also spreading in the city, and the fighting events held even more have made the momentum, both the government and the people are very willing to promote it.

After all, it is a good thing from top to bottom.

In order to avoid traffic police, the tricycle loaded with bamboo chairs chose mostly sections of municipal construction. Xia Yi sat on the chair with a panoramic skylight. On the side of the road with intertwined streams, pedestrians came and went in a hurry, mostly dressed in fashionable clothes, chatting and laughing with people; there were young and beautiful girls showing off their long legs, blowing bubble gum, listening to the music in their ears waiting for the bus on the side of the road, and occasionally responding casually to their mother beside them.

Around them, there were towering buildings, layers of inlaid glass reflected the sunlight, reflecting a dazzling light. Xia Yi and Fatty passed under these straight and tall buildings. He felt only a kind of depressing suffocation, intertwined and surging crowds, vehicles coming and going, pop music played on the street, and bizarre film and television clips, which made him feel that the years in prison were derailed from the world.

This is also the reason why he rarely goes to the city.

The tricycle turned into an alley and stopped in the sight of the gaze.

"It's right in front. There is a traffic policeman maintaining traffic, so let's walk over." The fat man came down and locked the car with a water pipe with a chain. "Lao Yi..., is it okay for your wound?"

Xia Yi shook her head and got out of the car: "Register first. When you reach this point, you have to hold on."

The two walked across the street, and the direction they were in the gymnasium. At first glance, there were only banners of fighting events, and more than a dozen cars were parked in the surrounding parking spaces. There were not as crowds as imagined. After all, it was just auditions for small places now. When it was a municipal competition, or provincial or national competition, it was a great event.

Xia Yi and Fatty walked into the guild hall, but not many people cared about it. From time to time, people in various dresses passed by, stepped onto the stone steps, and on both sides of the two glass doors, black-clothed staff were guarding them.

"It's really a bit arrogant..." Zhao Dezhu pulled Xia Yi's clothes and looked around nervously. After stepping into the hall, a woman politely led them to the registration place. At the counter, there were already long queues. Xia Yi asked the fat man to go aside and he could just line up by himself.

"Then I'll walk around and see if there are any cardboard and cans... I can't go back empty-handed." Zhao Dezhu whispered, then left from this side and ran to the other side.

As soon as the fat man left, several more people came in. Behind Xia Yi, they were all disciples from other martial arts halls in the city. The seats for rest were also filled with people. Most of them were other disciples in the martial arts hall cheering the contestants participating in the competition. However, he did not see the figure of the people who revitalized the martial arts hall, and probably the other party would not come.

Not long after, it was Xia Yi's turn to go to the counter and hand over his ID card and recommendation form for Zhenxing Martial Arts. The young and beautiful women who registered were all young women. After taking the form, they couldn't help but look at Xia Yi opposite him, and then smiled and prepared to enter it on the computer.

"Hello, sir. Please stand here and keep it in front of the camera." The woman pointed to a camera standing on the counter.

After taking a look, the competition entry asked about other content.

"Sir, what weapons are you good at?"

"All weapons..."

The woman who was typing was stunned for a moment, stroked her hair, kept smiling and said, "Sir, this is not a time to joke."

"I'm not kidding, just type as you like this."

As soon as he finished speaking, a burst of laughter came from behind him. The other disciples from the martial arts school pointed at Xia Yi in front of him and laughed out loud.

"Did you hear that, there are still all the weapons..."

"I can do it, I can take all the weapons. Does this count? Hahaha--"

Xia Yi took the competition certificate handed over by the woman, turned around and looked at the people. The man closest to him hugged his arms, leaned against the cockscomb, and glared at him with a sneer, "What do you think? Don't let me see you in the ring."

A nunchuck was shaking around his waist, which seemed to be a registered weapon competition.

"..." Xia Yi nodded with a smile, turned around and left to find the fat man. Before he could find the other party, Zhao Dezhu came over with a few cardboards. Just as he was about to leave the hall, he saw a movable ring pushing into the middle, driven by more than a dozen staff members. Several young men in martial arts uniforms went up and punched a set of punches.

"I won't have any performances, it would be great if I had another stripper." The fat man smiled, "Why don't you watch it for a while?"

Xia Yi is more clear about the next procedure than Zhao Dezhu. The following should be the opening ceremony. After all, it is just a small grand event and it will not be delayed too long and will be so grand.

During this period, two more songs and dances and magic were performed. After that, a host walked up to the center of the ring to report the speech. With a wave of his hand, he pointed at the three figures with bows not far away, and shouted at the microphone: "Now, the game will open-"

The moment the loud voice fell.

The three men who pulled the bow and took the arrows and pulled the bowstrings forward. Two arrows from left to right shot on the red target. The third arrow flew directly to the rear and shot under the guardrail on the second floor of the venue. The red silk broke with a torn sound, and a Han sword fell vertically and nailed to the preparatory cauldron below.

After a moment, the voice of the host on the stage rang again.

"We will draw the first game of the opening ceremony-"

The monitor hanging above the hall suddenly changed the numbers, rolling constantly, and slowly stopped under the sight of many people, showing a set of numbers: Sixteen.

Xia Yi looked down at his voucher, which was exactly the set of numbers above.
Chapter completed!