In the 90s, you could acquire max-level skills every 14 days.

The door to the Sun family's house opened from the inside.

It's Sun Lei.

He was wearing a crew-neck t-shirt, his hair was sticking up, and there were dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept well.

He saw Li Guilan standing at the door and was stunned for a moment.

"Aunt Li...?"

Li Guilan put the plastic basin on the ground and grabbed Sun Lei's wrist.

"Sun Lei! Tell me the truth."

"Did Zhang Yong get into a fight outside?"

Sun Lei glanced into the house. His mother wasn't there; she had gone out to buy groceries that morning, and Sun Jian had also left for work.

He was the only one in the house.

"Aunt Li, please come in first."

Li Guilan did not go in.

"No need, no need, you can just tell me here."

Sun Lei lowered his head, looking at the open-toed slippers on his feet, and his fingers unconsciously clenched.

"Aunt Li... Brother Yong wasn't fighting."

"He went to the Chaoyang District Gymnasium to practice Sanda (Chinese kickboxing), and he was trained by a proper coach named Yang Cheng."

"Practicing Sanda? He's never even killed a fish! What kind of Sanda is he practicing! Didn't you see? He's covered in bruises!"

Sun Lei sighed, went back into his room, took a newspaper from his desk drawer, and handed it to Li Guilan.

That was the copy of "Chaoyang Sports Briefing" that he had specially bought a couple of days ago.

The sign reads in large characters: "Chaoyang District Amateur Sanda Competition, this Thursday at 9:00 AM, second floor of Chaoyang District Cultural and Sports Center, eight people each in the amateur and professional groups."

Li Guilan stared at the few lines of printed text, stunned.

"What is this?"

"Aunt Li, I only confirmed it these past two days. Before, when Yongzi went to the gym, I only knew he was there to practice boxing, but I really didn't know what kind of competition it was."

He bit his lip.

"But last night, when I was getting the newspaper for my dad at the gatehouse, I overheard Chen Yang whispering to his grandpa that Yongzi was going to play in a competition the day after tomorrow, and that he would take him for a motorcycle ride afterward."

"I quickly went to buy a sports newspaper, and when I saw the list, Yongzi was on it..."

"There's another person on the list, named Zhao Tiezhu, from Fengtai. I remember that place."

Li Guilan found the names Zhang Yong and Zhao Tiezhu between the lines and looked up in confusion.

"Do you know him?"

"I don't know him." Sun Lei shook his head. "But someone asked me to keep an eye on Brother Yong before. He's from Fengtai. I confessed to Brother Yong later, and he didn't blame me."

"Aunt Li, I tossed and turned all night and couldn't sleep a wink."

"I'm afraid that Zhao Tiezhu from Fengtai... is after Brother Yong."

"Thursday, that's today..." Li Guilan's hand trembled as she gripped the newspaper.

"Yes, nine o'clock this morning."

Sun Lei glanced at the quartz clock hanging on the wall. 8:42.

Li Guilan abruptly released the newspaper clipping and turned to walk towards the stairwell.

"Aunt Li!"

Sun Lei took two steps to catch up.

Where are you going?

"Chaoyang District Cultural and Sports Center!" Li Guilan turned around, her voice hoarse.

Sun Lei felt a lump in his throat.

"I'll give you a ride on my bike."

Sun Lei dashed back into the house, put on his sneakers, grabbed a key from behind the door and locked it, then rushed downstairs to the bike shed and pulled out his old bicycle.

"Aunt Li, get in the car! Hold on tight."

Li Guilan stepped sideways onto the back seat and gripped the metal frame under the seat.

"Walk!"

Sun Lei pedaled hard twice, and the bicycle sped out of the iron gate of Jinsong Community.

When Grandpa Chen peeked out of the guardhouse window, he only had time to catch a glimpse of Sun Lei's white undershirt flashing around the corner.

"Why are you running around so early in the morning...?"

……

At the same time.

Chaoyang District Cultural and Sports Center, second floor, backstage rest room.

Zhang Yong sat on a wooden stool, head down, tightening the hand wrap around his left hand again and again.

This is the binding technique that Yang Cheng taught him, a habit of older generations of Sanda athletes, specifically designed to protect the metacarpal bones and wrist joints.

The window of the rest area was half open, and the buzzing of voices from inside the venue could be heard from outside.

[Fighting Lv4: Progress 97%...]

He glanced at the slightly fluctuating panel, breathed a sigh of relief, and thought, "Not bad, I just made another 1%."

The door was pushed open.

Yang Cheng walked in, his face long and drawn.

"Zhao Tiezhu was warming up and hitting the sandbag next door. I stood at the door for two minutes and listened for a while. He's a tough guy."

He tightened the kettle and placed it in front of Zhang Yong.

"well……"

"If you don't want to play, you can still withdraw now. Forfeiting will result in a point deduction, but not your participation."

Zhang Yong picked up the boxing gloves from the stool next to him and tightened them.

"Coach, we're already here, there's no turning back now."

What time is the first round?

"You're on for the second match at nine o'clock sharp. The first match is between our Xiao Zhou and someone from Haidian."

Zhang Yong nodded, walked to the window and looked out. The weather in Beijing was nice today.

……

on the road.

Sun Lei was so exhausted from pedaling that he almost lost his breath.

It normally takes more than half an hour to cycle from Jinsong Residential Area to the Chaoyang District Cultural and Sports Center. But he rode very fast, arriving in just twenty minutes.

Li Guilan sat in the back seat, gripping the metal frame with one hand.

The wind rushed into her mouth, and she couldn't say anything; her eyes were watering from the wind.

"Auntie! We're here! It's that gray building up ahead!"

The Chaoyang District Cultural and Sports Center is a three-story gray brick building with a red banner with white lettering hanging at the entrance:

The Third Chaoyang District Amateur Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) Competition

Sun Lei threw the car to the side of the road and turned around to help Li Guilan out of the car.

Li Guilan's legs were a little weak, and she had to hold onto Sun Lei's arm and sway a couple of times before she could stand up.

She looked up and saw the banner; the color drained from her lips instantly.

"Walk!"

The two pushed open the glass door of the cultural and sports center and rushed in, but a young man in a white vest stopped them at the stairwell.

"Comrade, the competition venue is on the second floor. The spectator area is on the left..."

Li Guilan didn't hear her at all. She picked up her apron and rushed up the steps, taking two steps at a time.

Sun Lei followed behind, panting heavily.

At the end of the second-floor corridor was the audience entrance to the venue. Before we even reached the door, a burst of cheers suddenly erupted from inside…

"good--!"

Li Guilan paused, then without thinking, pushed open the tin door.

The venue was small, with rows of folding iron chairs arranged on all four sides. In the middle was a six-meter square competition area, with the boundary lines marked by red and blue tape.

On the referee's platform, a middle-aged man in a white shirt was holding a gong hammer.

The sound of the gong is still echoing.

"clang--"

The lingering sound of the gong lasted a long time, and the entire venue fell silent for a moment.

Someone shouted at the top of their lungs:

"The first round, first match of the amateur group has concluded! The Haidian contestant has withdrawn, and Xiao Zhou from Chaoyang has advanced!"

"The second scene—"

"Red team, Chaoyang District, Zhang Yong!"

"Blue team, FT zone, Zhao Tiezhu!"

"Both players, please come to the stage!"

Li Guilan stood next to the iron chair in the last row of the audience, her gaze sweeping over the crowd and immediately settling on something.

She saw a young man wearing a dark red vest walking up the steps next to the boxing ring.

It's her son.

Li Guilan's throat tightened, and although she opened her mouth, she still didn't dare to call out Zhang Yong's name.

Sun Lei, leaning against the door frame, gasped for breath. When he looked up, he saw the tattooed, bald, muscular man coming up from the other side of the boxing ring, and his legs went weak.

Blue boxing gloves.

It was Zhao Tiezhu.

Li Guilan snapped out of her daze, grabbed Sun Lei's sleeve, and rushed forward.

"Excuse me—please make way!"

The referee struck the gong again, this time heavily.

clang--!

……