Chapter 504 Setting Forth

Nearly all businesses within a several-kilometer radius, including the hotel, revolved around Shanda University Affiliated School, from small breakfast diners and stationery stores to large Pet Beast Breeding Bases and exclusive school-district housing.

Viewed from above, countless buildings of all sizes dotted the surrounding area, encircling the Shanda University Affiliated School campus like a sea of stars around the moon.

This was the aura of a top-tier institution.

In his hotel room, Su Zhi leaned on the windowsill, watching for a while.

Even by a rough visual estimate, the Shanda University Affiliated School campus was at least twice the size of Huai City First Middle School’s. Its buildings and facilities looked brand new, unlike at Huai City First Middle School, where you could occasionally spot paint peeling from the walls.

"What do you think of the accommodations?" Wang Haokun asked, standing by the door with his hands in his pockets.

"They’re great!" Su Zhi replied with a smile. "Just as nice as our place in Pearl Harbor."

"Good to hear," Wang Haokun said, smiling as well.

A short while later, everyone had checked in and settled into their rooms.

Under Wang Haokun’s lead, the team from Huai City First Middle School made their way to a conference room on the hotel’s tenth floor. The room was built to the same standards as the facilities at Shanda University Affiliated School and was sometimes rented out to corporations.

However, during the national team tournament, Shanda University Affiliated School had exclusive use of the conference room.

By the time Su Zhi arrived, the room’s tables and chairs had already been arranged into two columns. Lei Ji was seated at the head of one column, and in the seat next to him, Su Zhi saw Chen Xinghao. The other faces were familiar as well.

Su Zhi’s intuition told him they had improved a great deal since Pearl Harbor.

"Alright, let’s have a quick chat," Lei Ji said, gesturing with his hand.

His tone wasn’t exactly respectful, but it wasn’t flippant, either. The look in the teacher’s eyes grew particularly complex when it landed on Su Zhi.

Su Zhi, for his part, calmly took a seat with the others. He didn’t pointedly ignore Lei Ji’s gaze, nor did he pointedly acknowledge it.

’Such a poised attitude is rarely seen in someone his age...’

Lei Ji’s eyes flickered over to Su Zhi’s Pet Beast.

Yu Bao: ????

Lei Ji: "?"

’What’s with that look? Is it trying to say hello? But why does it feel so strange...’

Lei Ji cleared his throat, picked up the notes in his hand, and got down to business.

The truth was, there wasn’t much to discuss. Both sides had already gone over everything nearly a month ago. Although they couldn’t stand the sight of each other, they had managed to reach a limited consensus.

For instance, it was already agreed that their teams would take turns competing during the points stage. That was a given. After all, wins and losses didn’t matter much in this phase; the only goal was to secure enough points to advance to the knockout rounds.

The knockout stage, however, was a much greater point of contention, and both sides maintained their reservations.

This was the main point of conflict between them; they had no issues with the other minor details.

Even though Lei Ji still looked down on the team from Huai City, he had provided Su Zhi and the others with free room and board, as well as a training environment. It was the least Shanda University Affiliated School could do as the host.

Both sides remained relatively restrained during the meeting; after all, with the competition imminent.

It was best to part on good terms today so as not to affect their performance tomorrow. Any unresolved issues could be tabled until a more opportune moment.

After the meeting, Lei Ji and Zhou Shengfa gave a few perfunctory claps before leaving the conference room.

The students from both schools remained motionless, only breathing a collective sigh of relief once the teachers were out of earshot.

Everyone knew, really. The two of them were still butting heads.

"Phew, that was suffocating. I can finally breathe," Shao Ya said, half-jokingly as she slumped onto the table.

The couple across from them also breathed a sigh of relief before throwing caution to the wind and starting to make out right in front of everyone.

With a sour look, Chen Xinghao gave them each a playful punch. The others laughed along, which helped to temporarily dissipate the tense atmosphere in the room.

Wang Haokun nodded. "We don’t mean to target you guys. It’s just a matter of our schools’ official stances. There are some things we can’t easily concede. I hope you can understand."

"We get it, we get it," Su Zhi said, waving a hand. "No need to be strangers about it."

’Easy for you to say, you’re the one who beat me...’ Chen Xinghao shot Su Zhi a look.

’He knew Su Zhi wasn’t the type of person to say something like that, but he had a feeling that’s exactly what he was thinking.’

’And that mutt! Stop smiling like that! I’ve had it with you!’

Chen Xinghao secretly clenched his fists.

Last time in Pearl Harbor, Su Zhi had outskilled him and Jin Lin to win. He couldn’t argue with the results.

Ever since then, he had used that loss as a motivator, constantly pushing himself in training and never allowing himself to slack off.

And now, it was time to prove himself!

The rest of the Shanda University Affiliated School team largely thought and acted the same way.

The Huai City First Middle School students were no longer just the rivals they’d faced in the ring; they were now comrades-in-arms.

But even so, their desire to win hadn’t diminished in the slightest.

The Shanda University Affiliated School team would use this tournament to show everyone watching what it meant to be number one in Shanyou Province!

·

After dinner.

The two teams returned to their respective suites to rest and prepare for the next day’s opening ceremony and the first match of the points stage.

The hotel accommodations, specially arranged for the tournament, were designed for team standards. In addition to individual bedrooms for each person, there was also a common living room.

"Did you guys notice? The way the Shanda University Affiliated School team looked at us this afternoon."

Liu Yuhang said, leaning back on the sofa while holding Xue Li, "It wasn’t as... uh, blatant as that teacher, Mr. Lei, but you could tell their looks were still full of hostility."

"That’s normal," Fang Yuan said, not looking up from his phone. "They lost to us in the qualifiers, so they’ll be looking to even the score in the nationals. They must have been training and preparing with maximum intensity this whole time."