Chapter 144
Fortunately, Wen Jiafei withdrew his hand quickly. His tone was somewhat strange as he said, “Let’s go, going in.”
Shen Shuyu turned around. Seeing Wen Jiafei walking inside, he hurriedly caught up, tossing that little episode to the back of his mind.
However, before fully catching up, Shen Shuyu couldn’t help but reach out and touch the back of his neck where the patch was applied. Indeed, it was strange; touching it himself didn’t give him the feeling he had just now.
“Shen Shuyu.”
Shen Shuyu looked up. “Mn?”
Shen Shuyu looked at Wen Jiafei, and Wen Jiafei was also watching his actions. He coughed lightly and awkwardly put his hand down. “Anything else to explain?”
Wen Jiafei said, “Once inside, don’t run around, understand?”
Shen Shuyu made an ‘OK’ gesture. “Still worried about me? I absolutely, absolutely won’t cause you trouble.”
“I’m not…” Wen Jiafei was about to speak, but was pulled inside by Shen Shuyu. “Let’s go, let’s go.”
He lowered his eyes slightly, looking at his arm being held, and pursed his thin lips slightly. Actually, he wanted to say he wasn’t afraid of trouble, he was afraid…
Afraid of what? He didn’t dare say it out loud himself.
Wen Jiafei led Shen Shuyu to the backstage. After scanning his face, he took him to the locker room. Although there were many people earning quick money fighting underground boxing, there were at most five matches a night, totaling ten people. So the locker rooms were one per match-up pair, and the conditions were quite good.
When they went in, Zhong hadn’t arrived yet. Shen Shuyu looked around. Wen Jiafei had already walked to a locker, unlocked it with a key, took off his heavy coat, and stuffed it inside.
Shen Shuyu leaned over and whispered, “Are your keys universal?”
Afraid someone might suddenly come in, Shen Shuyu and Wen Jiafei were very close, shoulder to shoulder, crowded in front of the small locker door.
Wen Jiafei leaned back slightly. “Not universal. So you’ll have to find a way to get the key yourself later, or pry open the locker door.”
Their keys would be handed over to a designated person for safekeeping before going on stage. To protect the fighters’ property, only the person themselves could retrieve the key after the match.
Shen Shuyu had quite a lot to do later.
Shen Shuyu nodded with a grave expression. “Alright, I know. I’ll be quick.”
“Best to come over fifteen minutes after the start. Generally, at this time, the backstage staff will be relatively lax.”
Wen Jiafei whispered, “If anything seems wrong, just leave immediately.”
Shen Shuyu nodded. “Okay.”
“Yo, is our iron tree blooming?” A teasing voice came from behind.
Shen Shuyu instinctively wanted to turn his head to see who was speaking, but before he could, Wen Jiafei quickly pulled his mask back up and didn’t forget to put his hood on him, covering his face tightly.
Shen Shuyu looked up slightly at Wen Jiafei. Having done all this efficiently, Wen Jiafei had already turned his head to look behind them.
He took a slow, deep breath and smelled a faint, familiar scent, but the current situation didn’t allow him to think too much. He just turned around like that, with only a pair of eyes exposed.
The man who came was slightly chubby, with gold chains as thick as fingers hanging on his neck and wrist, and holding a string of beads, rotating them slowly.
Wen Jiafei said, “Brother Yi.”
Brother Yi walked over with a grin. “Fei, is this your friend?”
His gaze scrutinized Shen Shuyu. Wen Jiafei silently reached out and put his arm around Shen Shuyu’s shoulder, pulling him slightly into his embrace.
Shen Shuyu swallowed, controlling himself not to look at Wen Jiafei, and echoed, “Hello, Brother Yi.”
Brother Yi laughed loudly. “Hello, hello.”
He looked at Wen Jiafei and said, “Just now I heard Xiao Wang at the front desk mention this, and I didn’t believe it. Came to see, and didn’t expect you really brought someone. Fei, we’ve known each other for so long; this is the first time I’ve seen you bring someone.”
Wen Jiafei hummed an assent. “Just came to take a look casually. Brother Yi can just treat him as an ordinary spectator.”
Brother Yi understood. He naturally saw Wen Jiafei putting a mask and hat on the person just now, probably not wanting them to see the real face. The young man in front of him could be considered somewhat famous here, plus with the Survival War some time ago, his fame had skyrocketed.
Brother Yi had long wanted to call him back for another fight. After all, everyone was full of curiosity about him, and the money offered was naturally high.
Brother Yi took a step forward and patted Wen Jiafei’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, your Brother Yi isn’t that gossipy.”
He thought for a moment, took out a small pager from his pocket, and said lazily, “Bring my stuff over.”
After speaking, he stuffed the pager back into his pocket and smiled. “I’ve already released the news about you coming back to box today. Everyone is looking forward to it. And I found you a very special opponent—a newcomer who just arrived yesterday. Looks scrawny, but like you, he has real skills.”
Wen Jiafei already knew from his closer colleagues that although Zhong was fighting tonight, other fighters were unwilling to fight a newcomer. Although they fought flesh-to-flesh, they still had to see each other backstage. Sometimes there was an element of ‘performance.’ A newcomer who knew nothing, struck without knowing weight or measure, and didn’t understand the rules—no one wanted to be his free teacher.
Although Brother Yi was the boss, his relationship with the fighters was more of a partnership. He naturally didn’t want things to become too awkward. That was when Wen Jiafei called.
Wen Jiafei’s call was very timely, and since both parties were eager to earn a sum, Brother Yi’s big trouble was solved. He knew himself that only someone like Wen Jiafei, who was truly short of money, would be willing to fight a newcomer.
Wen Jiafei hummed. “Okay.”
Brother Yi said, “But don’t worry, I won’t mistreat you either. Many people are coming for you tonight; I’ll give you five extra points of commission.”
“Thanks.”
Shen Shuyu was quietly held in the embrace. While listening to their conversation, his mind started to wander, and the nose hidden under the mask couldn’t help taking deep breaths.
There was a smell of bitter orange in the air. He seemed to have smelled this scent somewhere before, but for a moment, he couldn’t recall where.
While they were talking, the door was opened from the outside. A man in a suit carrying a bag and another person wearing a factory cotton coat walked in one after another.
Looking at the person in the factory coat, Brother Yi laughed loudly. “Fei, this is the new opponent I just told you about. His name is Zhong.”
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