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Chapter 144 - 130: Seven Pavilions Join Forces, Smash the Place!

Chapter 144: Chapter 130: Seven Pavilions Join Forces, Smash the Place!

Capital City, Hengye Muay Thai Boxing Club.

The VIP lounge on the second floor wasn’t open to the public at that moment. Zhou Heng, the owner of the Hengye Muay Thai Boxing Club, was sitting on the lounge sofa, fiercely smoking a cigarette.

Before long, the door to the lounge opened and a man in a uniform led another middle-aged man, who was somewhat bald, into the room.

"Boss, Mr. Cai has arrived."

Zhou Heng stood up from the sofa, a smile forming on his face as he approached, "Mr. Cai, come in, please."

Cai Maoquan’s expression was somewhat cold as he shook hands with him "Mr. Zhou, you’re too kind."

After sitting down, Zhou Heng instructed the staff to pour some tea.

"Mr. Zhou, let’s get straight to the point, why did you ask to meet me?" Cai Maoquan asked directly.

He was the owner of another Muay Thai Boxing Hall in Capital City, and their relationship was competitive. They had had some friction before, which left their relationship somewhat strained, so Zhou Heng’s sudden invitation had come as a surprise to him.

Zhou Heng suddenly sighed, "Mr. Cai, how has business been at your boxing hall lately?"

Cai Maoquan sneered, "How my business is doing, you should be very aware. What, you called me here to celebrate?"

Zhou Heng waved his hand, "Mr. Cai, don’t misunderstand, I didn’t invite you here for that. Your business isn’t good, my business isn’t good, recently many boxing halls in Capital City are not doing well. No, it should be said that our business is being taken away!"

Cai Maoquan frowned, quickly grasping what Zhou Heng meant, "You’ve brought me here to talk about Bo Yuan Martial Arts Hall?"

Zhou Heng picked up a teacup signaling him to drink and then slowly said, "Bo Yuan Martial Arts Hall has been very strong lately. My VIP customers have halved over the past month, all flocking to Bo Yuan!"

"As far as I know, one of your top coaches resigned last month and went to coach at Bo Yuan, right?"

Cai Maoquan took a sip of tea, "You seem to be very well-informed. What are your plans?"

Zhou Heng smiled, "No rush, you are not the only one I invited today. Let’s wait until everyone else arrives and then discuss together."

As he spoke, the staff led another person in.

"Boss, Mr. Li is here."

"Mr. Li, welcome, welcome." Zhou Heng stood up to greet him.

Cai Maoquan put down his teacup and looked up, recognizing the newcomer as the owner of a Boxing Club.

One by one, more people came in, all of them owners of various boxing halls in Capital City.

Half an hour later, including Zhou Heng, there were seven owners sitting in the lounge.

"Gentlemen, the reason I’ve called everyone here today is to take a look at the current situation,"

Zhou Heng said, standing up and pointing downstairs.

The lounge was on the second floor, next to which was a clear glass that gave a view to the first-floor venue.

"Today is Saturday. At this time in the past, there would have been at least thirty to forty people here learning to box, but now, look, just a few."

The six other owners turned their heads to look downstairs where one coach was teaching one-on-one, another was leading a small class of five, and then, nothing – the large space seemed empty.

Zhou Heng looked at the group, "This is the situation with my place, and I assume yours is not much better?"

"Mr. Zhou, it’s been tough for everyone recently. Just speak your mind," one of the owners said.

Zhou Heng nodded, "The reason things have gotten to this point is because someone is taking our business, and we all know who it is—Bo Yuan Martial Arts Hall!"

"Bo Yuan Martial Arts Hall has been too strong lately. If we don’t find a way to curb them, we’re going to have even tougher days ahead!"

Zhou Heng finished speaking, and the other owners also began to talk.

"Yes, Bo Yuan Martial Arts Hall is not even playing the same game. We teach boxing, Muay Thai, Mixed Martial Arts, Free Fighting, and Sandboxing, they teach Traditional Martial Arts. Suddenly introducing something new, many people are curious and want to try it."

"This involves patriotism, national spirit, traditional culture – nowadays, a lot of young people are into that!"

"But the key issue is their Master, Wu Li, is too much of a powerhouse! Now he has created a variety show which is so popular; Bo Yuan Martial Arts Hall basically has a top celebrity advertising for them constantly. It’s hard not to get famous."

"They steal not only our students but also our coaches! Bo Yuan Martial Arts Hall is recruiting coaches with salaries far beyond the industry standard. Isn’t that breaking the rules?"

"If this continues, I’ll have to close up shop."

...

Everyone was openly expressing their frustrations, clearly having harbored long-standing grievances against Bo Yuan Martial Arts Hall.

Zhou Heng looked pleased with the scene before him. He had done his research beforehand, and these owners were from the gyms that were most influenced by Bo Yuan Martial Arts Hall. That’s why he had gathered them together.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Zhou Heng began, "hear me out for a moment."

Everyone quieted down and looked towards Zhou Heng.

"We can’t just sit idle, we must take action!"

"How should we act?" Cai Maoquan asked, having dealt with Zhou Heng for years and knowing well that he was no pushover.

Zhou Heng smiled and said, "Simple, let’s do it the way our business has always done it, by challenging their gym!"

"I know that many have tried to challenge them before, but they all failed," Zhou Heng continued.

The coaches hired by Bo Yuan Martial Arts Hall were all recruited according to high standards. Many of them were previously the best at their respective gyms, so dealing with ordinary amateur experts wasn’t difficult, which is why Bo Yuan Martial Arts has been running rather smoothly up until now.

Zhou Heng surveyed the crowd, "The reason they failed before, I believe, is simple: the challengers were not experts."

"Do you mean to tell me you can find real experts?" one of the owners asked.

In fact, those who run gyms need to network with some experts for multiple reasons: not only to stand guard against any challenges but also to use as a draw to advertise and attract students.

For example, Bo Yuan had attracted a large number of applicants because it had a gold-label coach like Wu Li, making the other owners quite envious.

In combat sports, people can be divided into three categories: ordinary enthusiasts, amateur competitors, and professional athletes.

Ordinary enthusiasts simply enjoy the sport and occasionally practice it as a form of physical exercise.

The line between amateur competitors and ordinary enthusiasts is somewhat blurred; they could be seen as the higher skilled individuals among the enthusiasts. They have competed in amateur competitions and have at least a year of boxing experience. These individuals are the main source of revenue for gyms.

Professional athletes are the category with the biggest difference. To be considered a professional, one usually has to undergo systemized training for at least three years, with a certain amount of daily training; then they need to compete professionally and earn a living from it.

However, the differences among professional athletes are huge: the lowest tier might earn only a few hundred bucks per match, better ones a few thousand, and those slightly famous and capable might earn tens of thousands, but might not even have a match for months. The top professional fighters in the country could earn hundreds of thousands or even millions per match, but they are part of a very small elite at the very top of the pyramid.

Many professional fighters, due to low incomes, can’t even afford medical and nutritional expenses and often have to retire early.

They either change careers, open their own gyms, or coach at other gyms, such as the coaches Zhou Heng and others might hire.

The very top-tier professionals, before retiring, are too busy with training and competitions aiming for higher honors, and lack the energy or time to sideline in other ventures, except maybe endorsements since just one match can earn more than a year’s revenue of a gym.

Therefore, the kinds of experts ordinary gyms can find are far from the top caliber in the field.

At this moment, when Zhou Heng spoke of finding real experts, he clearly wasn’t referring to these ordinary retired competitors; the other owners were all ears, eager to hear what kind of experts he had managed to find.

Zhou Heng grinned, "In our line of work, as you all understand, hiring experts is simple; just throw money at the problem! With the right amount, what type of expert can’t you hire?"

That was Zhou Heng’s purpose in calling these owners together: to pool money to hire experts to challenge the competition.

After all, taking down Bo Yuan would be beneficial for everyone; naturally, Zhou Heng wasn’t keen on being the only one investing both money and effort.

Cai Maoquan looked at Zhou Heng, "Zhou, hiring experts with money for challenges is fine, but don’t forget, Bo Yuan’s biggest draw is Wu Li. What kind of expert can certainly beat Wu Li? Can we even afford someone like that?"

As soon as he said this, everyone fell silent. Though they didn’t practice fighting themselves, they ran gyms and had a keen eye for talent. Wu Li had managed to KO Han Yuanfei, placing him far above most domestic professional athletes. Finding someone guaranteed to beat Wu might be truly challenging.

Zhou Heng said, "When we challenge, it’s not necessary to beat Wu Li specifically. Bo Yuan has opened several branches in Capital City, can Wu Li handle all of them himself? It’s not like they’re going to call Wu every time someone challenges a branch, right?"

"That makes sense, Zhou, what’s your plan?" someone asked.

Zhou Heng elaborated, "My plan is simple. Bo Yuan has three locations in Capital City. We’ll get three experts to challenge each of these locations. Once that’s done, we’ll have someone hype it up and smear Bo Yuan’s reputation!"

"What if Wu Li decides to come forward later to reclaim their reputation?" another owner asked.

Zhou Heng didn’t hesitate, "Then we’ll simply say: what, are all the other coaches at Bo Yuan incompetent except for Wu Li? If that’s the case, unless Wu himself teaches, others might reconsider learning there. And Wu Li is just one person; he can’t manage teaching at one gym alone."

"I think it’s a good plan!"

"Let’s do it!"

"Zhou, do you have the right people in mind? We could share the fee for the contenders equally."

...

The owners discussed back and forth, and the matter was set.

Seven gyms were joining forces to invest money and effort to bring down Bo Yuan’s venues!

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