Chapter 394: Weightlifting Trials

Chapter 394: Weightlifting Selection Trials

Taming stray cats was the simplest thing for Meng Fan. With a flick of his hand, the four kittens the studio required were in his grasp—one black, one white, one tabby, one gray, perfectly two males and two females.

A male-female pairing meant kittens to come?

Not a chance.

After Meng Fan had the four kittens thoroughly docile under his touch, he had Wu Tong and Wang Yanan take them for baths, nail trims, and vaccinations. Once they were familiar with the environment after a while, they would have to undergo spaying and neutering.

The benefits of spaying and neutering were many. Besides preventing a cat population explosion—cats were far too prolific—it also curbed yowling during heat, wandering off, and certain diseases. It was necessary both for the cat owners and for the cats themselves.

"Why did you suddenly think of keeping cats?"

Among those in the studio, the one most opposed to keeping cats was undoubtedly Zhang Zhouwei. It wasn't that he disliked cats, but once cats were in the studio, his status would drop four more notches, and the key issue was the extra "workload" it would bring.

Wang Yanan was in charge of the feline masters' daily needs; could Zhang Zhouwei escape the fate of doing the grunt work?

Meng Fan laughed. "It's just that after petting the big cats in the Middle East, it felt pretty good, so I thought about raising some cats. Worried I wouldn't have time, I decided to keep them at the studio—consider it a little perk for everyone."

Zhang Zhouwei, imagining his future days, could only groan in misery. "If you want to pet big cats, go to the zoo!"

Meng Fan teased, "Don't complain. Let me tell you, just from your face, you're a hundred percent destined to be a cat slave. Mark my words, when the time comes, you'll be the one most eager to grovel before these four kittens."

Zhang Zhouwei declared firmly, "Impossible!"

And yet, Meng Fan's prophecy hit the mark. In the near future, Zhang Zhouwei would proudly earn the titles of the studio's number one poop scooper and cat-crazy fanatic.

Wu Tong drove off in the Ferrari 488 with Wang Yanan and the feline masters. Then Xing Tage drove Meng Fan and Zhang Zhouwei to follow. They still had to buy everything on Wang Yanan's list and bring it to the studio—cat beds, cat food, toys, litter boxes, litter, bowls, nail clippers, brushes, deworming medicine, and various other supplies. The sheer volume surprised Meng Fan and the others.

At the pet store, Meng Fan helped calm the four kittens during their baths—most cats feared water and thus dreaded baths, and these stray kittens were no exception. Even though Meng Fan had already soothed them into submission, they still resisted fiercely, only gradually settling down under his reassurance.

"Awesome! Truly a man who can pet big cats!"

The staff naturally recognized Meng Fan, and many even recognized Wu Tong. They were all delighted to have the four kittens bathed smoothly.

Then came nail trimming, vaccinations, and everything else—all went without a hitch.

Once everything was done and a large batch of supplies was purchased—the pet store threw in some freebies—they returned to the Damei Studio. Meng Fan led the four kittens around to familiarize them with the environment, and they were settled.

A group of girls chattered endlessly but couldn't decide on names for the four kittens. Some suggested names of painters like Da Vinci or Monet; others proposed names based on colors, like Bai Qi, Black Whirlwind, Hua Qiangu, or Cinderella; some said the white cat should be called Blackie, the black cat Spotty, the tabby Gray, and the gray cat Whitey; others suggested names from classics like Journey to the West, Water Margin, Three Kingdoms, or Dream of the Red Chamber; and so on.

Meng Fan wanted no part in this naming contest. After taking the four kittens for a stroll, he made an excuse to visit the chocolate factory. The previous dubbing for *The Croods II* required no corrections, and its release date, impossible for the Spring Festival slot, was set for March 5th.

After a quick tour, he helped Lou Lan with an impromptu voice-over, then returned to the Damei Studio. Before Chen Daqiang could order takeout, Meng Fan slipped away. Chen Daqiang's food was delicious, but Meng Fan couldn't eat it!

On the way back, Xing Tage, Chen Daqiang, and Zhang Zhouwei—three roommates—rode together, along with Wu Tong, of course. Back home, they unboxed the gifts from the Middle Eastern tycoon, and the three roommates were stunned, then naturally loaded up.

High-tech "toys" like headphones, keyboards, and mice were mostly divided up. What Meng Fan kept were mainly Middle Eastern-style clothing accessories and various leather sandals—over a dozen pairs. He couldn't quite understand why the Middle Eastern tycoon was so keen on giving sandals; it seemed that when Trump visited the Middle East, his gifts also included a large batch of leather sandals.

The remaining gifts were all for women—various perfumes, cosmetics, jewelry, and handbags—naturally belonging to Wu Tong. Wu Tong, in turn, took out three sets of perfumes, cosmetics, and specialty accessories for Zhang Zhouwei and the others to take back to their girlfriends.

After unboxing and sorting, it was soon mealtime. Having just returned without bringing ingredients from the martial arts hall, Meng Fan had to eat there. Wu Tong drove him over, and she ate there too. Since Meng Fan had training, she went back to school first.

Over the next few days, Director Zhan visited almost daily. Not only did he come, but he also brought a technical advisor and a data analyst. Besides training, Director Zhan gradually began helping Meng Fan understand the current weightlifting scene—rules were a must, as well as domestic and international competitors at his level.

Domestically, Director Zhan knew there was no one at Meng Fan's weight class, so the focus was on international rivals. Although the domestic selection trials were imminent, Meng Fan still needed to know the world level in his category.

Time quickly passed February 28th, and then came February 29th, a day that only occurs once every four years. That day marked the start of the domestic Olympic men's weightlifting selection trials.

The men's and women's trials were separate—different locations and different times. The women's would begin in Suzhou a week later.

The men's trials were held at the Heavy Sports Center of Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center, lasting four days, with 30 teams and over 180 participants. The Olympic selection naturally followed Olympic rules, with weight classes based on the 2017 reform—seven weight categories.

Under the new weight classification rules, especially Olympic rules, the weights were raised, which wasn't good news for the Chinese men's weightlifting team. The categories were 61kg, 67kg, 73kg, 81kg, 96kg, 109kg, and 109kg+. This directly carved out three heavy categories, where the Chinese men's team had little advantage. In other words, they could only aim for gold and medals in four categories.

For the three heavy categories, aside from Yang Zhe in the 109kg class, there was basically no ability to contend for Olympic medals. The heaviest category, 109kg+, even struggled to secure an Olympic spot.

With the new weight rules and the one-year ban on all Chinese weightlifters in 2017-18, this Olympic cycle was tough for Chinese weightlifting.

"Meng Fan is participating in the Olympic selection trials?"

Each team received the athlete list. There weren't many competitors in the 109kg+ category—only eight in total, far fewer than other events. Plus, Meng Fan's name was last, making it hard to miss.

"Is this Meng Fan the same Meng Fan?"

"I checked, and yes, it's that Meng Fan!"

"Isn't he a wrestler?"

"He's also a judoka!"

"Really? Is he trying to sweep wrestling, judo, and weightlifting?"

"Look at his declared results!"

"...This! If I remember correctly, this is the national record for the 105kg+ category before the weight rule change, right? It hasn't been touched in over a decade! Not even after the weight change!"

"But these are just declared results; they don't count."

"Still, it roughly confirms that Meng Fan's performance isn't bad. Even if it's just the declared result, and according to the rules, your final total can't be off by more than 15kg, it's still the best result in this category in recent years."

"It can't be that far off—he's Asia's strongest man who flipped an SUV. The question is whether he'll foul."

News of Meng Fan's participation in the weightlifting Olympic trials quickly spread among the competing teams. Meanwhile, media outlets that received the athlete list also reported it, drawing attention.

Strangely enough, insiders were shocked, while the outside world wasn't surprised.

The shock among insiders stemmed from the fact that wrestling and judo were both combat sports. They had barely accepted Meng Fan's cross-discipline dominance in MMA, but now weightlifting? That was hard to swallow.

Weightlifting relies on strength, but not just strength—otherwise, why don't strongmen win weightlifting competitions?

Weightlifting involves too much technique, movement, and form, posing a hurdle for those with only brute strength. Additionally, the muscle groups required for strongman events differ from those in weightlifting.

And Meng Fan seemed even less qualified than a strongman—not in terms of strength, but...

At most, he had great strength. Without long-term systematic training, could he even complete the competition?

Many insiders, especially those well-versed in weightlifting, found it highly improbable.

The outside world, however, was different. Ordinary people thought that great strength meant you could do anything. If great strength wasn't enough, then Meng Fan had unmatched strength!

As for those in the know, they were also surprised, of course.

Still, surprise or not, it didn't stop them from paying attention.

If Meng Fan truly achieved something in weightlifting, there would surely be a flood of praise and admiration.

Compared to wrestling and judo, weightlifting was more familiar to the Chinese public—at least they could understand the competition: snatch and clean and jerk, three attempts each, two red lights meant failure, and the stronger you were, the later you went. Unlike wrestling or judo, where it was sometimes hard to tell how someone won or lost or scored.

Meng Fan registered for the heaviest category, so naturally, he had nothing to do during the first three competition days. The 109kg+ category was traditionally the closing event. Unlike past closing events that drew few spectators, this time there were quite a few—not only did athletes from various teams mostly attend, but there were also some genuine audience members.

(End of chapter)