Universe Infinite Canteen

Luo Xiangshi followed behind, and besides the twelve students who came to participate in the competition, the principal of Hero, Jin Shengchao, the head of academic affairs, Chen Yongcheng, and the head of the security department, Gao Zhimin, also came.

Additionally, twelve security personnel from the security department also arrived, but they stayed at the mountain's base without ascending.

Behind Luo Xiangshi was a stranger whose face Cao Youyi did not recognize.

It was a man wearing a trench coat and a top hat, holding a gentleman's cane in his hand. He seemed to notice Cao Youyi observing him and quickly turned his face away, not daring to make eye contact with Cao Youyi.

But what he didn't expect was that Cao Youyi would speak up directly, "I have not yet had the honor of asking for your name?"

The man stammered, unable to utter a sentence for a long time.

In the end, it was Luo Xiangshi who said, "He is Ye Wangshu's great-grandson, Ye Meisheng, the only descendant of the Ye Family. Since I have an agreement with Principal Ma, I will naturally keep my promise and bring the person who can open the iron box."

Cao Youyi looked again at the timid Ye Meisheng and frowned, "Why is Ye Wangshu's great-grandson in your hands, Boss Luo?"

"He sought me out himself, saying he wanted to exchange the Ye Family's secret for some money to deal with an emergency," Luo Xiangshi said indifferently.

"Why didn't you come to Hou De first if you were in trouble?" Cao Youyi asked Ye Meisheng.

"I did contact Mr. Cao, and I wrote to him as soon as I returned to the country, but Mr. Cao was not willing to fulfill my request," said Ye Meisheng.

"What did you want?"

"I suffered losses in business and need some money to tide me over," Ye Meisheng said hesitantly.

Luo Xiangshi, on the other hand, was not one to indulge him and directly revealed his lie, "He partnered with others to smuggle opium, and the customs seized both the ship and the goods. Moreover, he's wanted, trying to bribe the chief tax officer with money."

"Had I not provided him with protection, the customs would have captured him long ago. Moreover, I promised him twenty thousand, but only after we open the box and see its contents."

Cao Youyi's brows knitted tighter, looking at Ye Meisheng, intending to say something but in the end, simply sighed.

On the contrary, it was Ye Meisheng himself who seemed discontent, seeing his secret exposed, he acted recklessly, "This school was established by my great-grandfather, and strictly speaking, the contents of the box belong to our family too. I'm simply reclaiming what's ours, what's wrong with that?

"Besides, I did give you an opportunity. I contacted Mr. Cao first, but not only did he refuse to give me money, he also advised me to behave myself. How can this be reasonable?"

Cao Youyi was not in the mood for an extended conversation and simply led the way upfront. Muttering under his breath, Ye Meisheng then drew close to Luo Xiangshi.

"Boss Luo, you have to keep your promise to me. Even if Hero loses to Hou De, you still have to give me the money."

Luo Xiangshi had been pleasantly observing the infighting of Ye Wangshu's descendant and Hou De, but this comment interrupted his enjoyment as if he'd swallowed a fly.

He waved his hand dismissively, "I know, just stay put."

Yet Ye Meisheng was still somewhat uneasy and said to Cao Youyi, "Teacher Cao, you've heard what Boss Luo said, too. Be my witness when the time comes."

Today's event at Hou De was unprecedentedly bustling, with not only the competing parties and a crowd of journalists, but also many government officials and alumni of Hou De.

But the most prominent guests were Chairman Li and Military Governor Zheng. These two were the top two figures in the officialdom of East Mountain Province and had also been invited to witness the competition.

In the end, the guests ascending Shouyang Mountain exceeded one hundred and fifty. Before the duel began, Cao Youyi also organized a press conference.

As the main characters, Luo Xiangshi and Ma Lu both attended the conference.

The journalists eagerly asked questions.

"Boss Luo, Hero is ranked 4th and Hou De is 89th in the Ministry of Education's rankings, a gap of 85 places; does this mean that there's hardly any suspense in this duel?"

Luo Xiangshi replied, "There is indeed a big gap between our rankings, but I won't say that Hero is guaranteed a victory."

Although he said this, the confidence in his expression gave away the real answer.

"Is it possible that Hero is accused of bullying by picking an adversary with such a huge disparity?" The next question came from a journalist from another Xindu newspaper.

The surface-level question doubted Hero, but it actually gave Luo Xiangshi the chance to explain.

Luo Xiangshi indeed replied, "The challenge to Hero was the result of discussions between both parties, and as a concession, we also gave up home-field advantage. The challenge was initiated by Hero, and in a tie situation, we would be directly declared the losers. Most importantly, this was agreed upon by Principal Ma."

The journalist quickly looked over at Ma Lu, "Principal Ma, did you choose to challenge Hero because you are confident of defeating them?"

This question was quite tricky; if Ma Lu said he was confident but then lost, the media would label him as arrogant and ignorant.

But if he said he was not confident, it could impact Hou De's morale before the fight.

Ma Lu's answer was straightforward, "Of course."

"Do you really think Hou De can defeat Hero? Can you share where your confidence stems from?"

The journalist insisted.

"After the fight, you will know," Ma Lu affirmed the statement of his colleague from before, "There is indeed a huge disparity in strengths, but Hou De has the upper hand."

Although the journalist had hoped to obtain evidence of Ma Lu's hubris, he was taken aback by the utterly confident response.

However, many photographers captured the scornful look that flashed across Luo Xiangshi's face when he heard this response.

But Luo Xiangshi's pleasure did not last long before he too faced a tough question.

"I've heard rumors that you had people steal this iron box from Hou De, Boss Luo. Is that true?"

The question came from Lu Yingying of Ping City Daily, and Luo Xiangshi's expression darkened instantly upon hearing it.

"The iron box was found by me from outside and not stolen from Hou De."

"But there's a Secret Charm left by Principal Ma on it."

"......"

The interview went on for half an hour, with the journalists still eager for more, but as Governor Zheng showed signs of impatience, no one dared to ask further questions.

Cao Youyi immediately concluded the press conference, announcing that the duel was about to begin.

Afterward, she invited Luo Xiangshi, all the teachers and students from Hero, and all the guests of the day to the back mountain.

Luo Xiangshi was taken aback, "What for?"

"For the duel," Ma Lu said, "We've set the arena for the duel on the back mountain."

"That's not proper, I remember the duel can only take place within school grounds," Luo Xiangshi said.

"It is indeed inside the school," Ma Lu said leisurely, "Hou De is quite large, and our campus is bigger than the average school. We occupy half of Shouyang Mountain, even the back mountain is still within our school's grounds."