Martial Arts Livestreaming
Chapter 129 - 116 Trickster

Chapter 129: Chapter 116 Trickster

Once the other party had somewhat calmed down, he began to intermittently share the troubles of his family with everyone.

A month ago, Su Qiwen’s cousin, seemingly bewitched after discovering Divine Intent Tai Chi, insisted on learning it. It wasn’t a bad thing to practice Martial Arts as it could strengthen the body and improve health, but the tuition fee for Divine Intent Tai Chi was prohibitively expensive, costing tens of thousands for a year.

Su Qiwen’s aunt and uncle made their living by running a fried rice stall and were not well-off. They finally persuaded their son to enroll for just one term, which was eight thousand for ten classes.

But then, their son secretly used his parents’ phone to transfer one hundred thousand yuan, which he immediately used to pay the tuition fee; and this time the fee wasn’t for a year’s worth of classes, but for private lessons with Master Li Lei to unlock his Spiritual Power.

In other words, one class with Master Li Lei cost one hundred thousand yuan.

Such an event was simply unacceptable for a family that wasn’t wealthy, and so Su Qiwen’s aunt and uncle had a huge fight with their son.

Who would’ve known that Su Qiwen’s cousin, far from feeling in the wrong, actually ran away from home in a temper. His mother was so upset by this that she ended up in the hospital, and his father was considering cutting ties with him.

"He’s acting like a madman!"

With tears in her eyes, Su Qiwen’s aunt said to Wu on her hospital bed, "He says that practicing this Tai Chi Fist is about tapping into the potential of the body. He also mentioned that Master Li himself told him that he has great potential inside him; if only it could be unlocked, he might have the chance to become a world Boxing Champion. He said that once he becomes a champion, just one match could earn back all the tuition fees he’s paid, and then he could really take care of us..."

"My cousin has quit his job now, and he spends all his days at the Martial Arts Hall practicing boxing and meditating. I’ve tried talking to him, but he won’t listen. He’s obsessed with the idea that any day now, he’ll suddenly become a world Boxing Champion," Su Qiwen said to Wu with a wry smile.

After hearing all this, Wu and the show’s staff were silenced, and the live stream went wild.

"Holy shit! One hundred thousand per lesson, why not call the police?"

"What’s the use of calling the police? There was no coercion involved, just people stupid enough to agree to it, and it’s all adults anyway."

"That Li Lei is truly despicable, deliberately luring people in with unreasonable fees, isn’t that criminal?"

"The key is that those who are duped are really stupid too. It’s the 21st century, and there are still such people?"

"No matter the era, there’s no shortage of people who want to skyrocket to success and daydream every day; it’s just that the form varies. For instance, some spend all their savings on lottery tickets."

"Damn, at least with lottery tickets there’s still a chance of winning. But learning this Divine Intent Tai Chi, unlocking Spiritual Power? Forget about becoming a world champion, a hundred years of training might not even beat an amateur."

...

The director looked at the comments and then asked Wu, "What do you think?"

Wu crouched down, patted Su Qiwen’s uncle’s hand, and then turned to the aunt on the bed, "Don’t worry, I will make sure that everyone sees the true face of Divine Intent Tai Chi tomorrow."

...

That very night, the first episode of ’Seeking Martial Arts’ exploded online. Not only were the top three hotspots on Mo Yin all related to ’Seeking Martial Arts’, but Weibo’s top trending searches, first, third, and fifth respectively, were: Divine Intent Tai Chi (sweating), Wu’s Golden Bell Shield, Seeking Martial Arts.

This level of attention was the makings of a wildfire. By that afternoon when Wu ended the live stream, the audience had peaked at 280,000. Mo Yin officials estimated that after tonight’s momentum, the viewership for Wu’s live stream the next day might exceed 1 million!

Therefore, Mo Yin officials planned to split the network traffic when Wu started streaming the next day by providing different links. This allowed netizens to enter through various ’rooms’, but the live content would remain the same, thus preventing streaming glitches and an excessively rapid flow of comments during the live session.

The ’Seeking Martial Arts’ program team was also urgently recruiting additional staff. One director alone wouldn’t be able to keep up with the comments, so several people were needed to monitor them and summarise the viewers’ opinions for interaction with Wu.

"The ’Seeking Martial Arts’ production team and Mo Yin were both busy, and they were busy very happily, whereas on the other side, for ’Tai Chi Divine Fist’ Master Li Lei, this evening was destined to be very distressing.

"Master, what should we do now? The internet is full of criticism toward us, and moreover, the Martial Arts Hall has already received over a hundred phone calls and messages from students requesting refunds."

In the living room, Wang Hai asked anxiously.

This was Li Lei’s home, where five people were seated in the living room. In addition to Li Lei, there were his four direct disciples, all ’one of our own’ like Wang Hai and also part of the management of Divine Intent Tai Chi Martial Arts Hall.

Li Lei was 58 years old this year, sporting a goatee and slightly graying at the temples. His complexion was ruddy, his spirit was strong, and he had an aura of an Immortal, which matched the temperament of a divine being in the eyes of outsiders.

His expression at the moment was also very grim. As the saying goes, cutting off a person’s livelihood is like killing their parents, and Wu’s actions today were akin to cutting off Li Lei’s livelihood.

"Have we contacted Wu?" Li Lei asked.

Wang Hai nodded: "We have contacted him, and they said, we can talk."

"Oh?" Li Lei’s eyes brightened.

Then Wang Hai continued, "But he also said that if there’s anything to discuss, it would only happen tomorrow at the Martial Arts Hall, in a face-to-face talk with you, Master."

Li Lei frowned: "That means there’s no room for negotiation then. Why? I bear him no grudges from the past, nor have I offended him recently. Why is he being so aggressive?"

"Master, why not just call a few guys from the provincial Sandboxing team tomorrow? No matter how strong he is, he can’t stand a gauntlet, right?" a direct disciple suggested.

Li Lei frowned: "That might solve the immediate problem, but it doesn’t address the underlying issue. The situation has already escalated, and with Wu’s influence, especially with his live broadcast tomorrow, if we handle this poorly, the reputation of our Martial Arts Hall could be ruined."

"What do we do then?" another direct disciple asked.

Li Lei thought for a moment, then took out his cellphone, "I’ll make calls to city and provincial contacts, reach out to some old friends, and ask them to intervene, hoping Wu might hold some reservations in light of their involvement."

Wang Hai knew that the ’city’ and ’province’ Li Lei referred to were actually the Martial Arts Association of Sudong City and that of Su Province.

As a former vice-president of the Su Province Martial Arts Association, Li Lei had an extensive network of connections.

There had been instances of challenges and disruptions at the Martial Arts Hall over the years, and many had been dealt with by the Sandboxing team members keeping watch at the hall; when they faced particularly troublesome situations, they relied on these connections to resolve them.

After all, boxing competitions and matters related to it were all connected with the Martial Arts Association. As long as someone was part of the Martial Arts Circle, they would have some concerns.

Over the years, Li Lei had relied on such means to safely run his Martial Arts Hall until now.

After Li Lei made the phone calls and returned to the living room, Wang Hai was still somewhat worried.

"Master, what if Wu still doesn’t respect our position? After all, he’s not from Su Province."

Li Lei snorted coldly: "Then I’ll have a good talk with him tomorrow. As long as I refuse to fight, what can he possibly do to me?"

"As long as I don’t fall, this storm will pass, and our Martial Arts Hall will continue to open its doors!"