Chapter 401: Big News

Chapter 401: Big News

On March 23rd, the final stop of the UWW Olympic Qualification Series concluded. After the points were tallied, the rankings were fixed with no further changes. The top sixteen in men's Greco-Roman, men's freestyle, and women's freestyle were announced, marking the issuance of the first batch of Olympic wrestling berths.

The Chinese wrestling team secured a total of 12 Olympic tickets through the qualification series.

Among them, five were in women's freestyle, with only the 60kg category failing to place a wrestler in the top sixteen; four in men's Greco-Roman, covering 70kg, 80kg, 90kg, and 130kg; and three in men's freestyle, at 70kg, 80kg, and 130kg.

This was the highest number of tickets the Chinese wrestling team had ever obtained through the Olympic qualification series. Women's freestyle was expected to achieve full participation through the qualifying tournaments, while men's events were conservatively estimated to secure at least two more tickets. The total was projected to exceed fifteen, setting a new historical record—except for 2008, when the host nation had full participation.

Two main reasons accounted for this increase in tickets: first, Meng Fan alone secured two tickets; second, Japan, a powerhouse in the lighter weight classes, did not occupy qualification spots, which was good news for China, a team similarly stronger in lighter weights than heavier ones.

Naturally, the media reported on the wrestling team's achievements. The coverage was professional, noting that Olympic tickets belonged to the National Olympic Committee, not individual athletes. Of course, they couldn't help but mention that Meng Fan had single-handedly earned two tickets for the national team.

Olympic tickets work like this: regardless of the sport or weight class, the tickets belong to the NOC, since athletes are sent by their respective National Olympic Committees. In other words, Meng Fan's two tickets did not yet bear his name; they would only be assigned after the final Olympic roster was determined, typically to the best-qualified athlete in that event and weight class.

For wrestling, a relatively weak sport in China, it was already impressive to secure even one qualification per event. In contrast, for dominant sports like table tennis, many athletes could qualify, and the Chinese NOC would then select the best based on the maximum number of participants allowed—hence why domestic table tennis competitions are considered hellish.

Regardless of the reporting, for the average person reading the news, it meant Meng Fan had secured two Olympic tickets and would appear at the Games. Although it had long been suspected that his recent frenzied competition schedule was aimed at the Olympics, the confirmation was still cause for celebration.

Other reports also chronicled Meng Fan's matches leading up to his Olympic qualification, citing official recognition that he was the fastest wrestler ever to earn an Olympic berth—"fastest" meaning the fewest matches and the least time spent. He was also the first wrestler ever to enter the Olympics with two intercontinental or higher championship titles. In short, another round of hype, with praise flowing like water.

The content wasn't new, but people loved to read and hear it.

Having secured tickets in two wrestling events through the final qualification stop, Meng Fan breathed a sigh of relief. Locking in the spots early was better than staking everything on the qualifying tournaments, even though he was confident of winning those as well.

—At this stop, he won two championships, and the system awarded three championship honor points each, bringing the total to 28, with a BUFF boost of 14%.

Returning from Lausanne to the capital on the 25th, there were still matters to attend to: the closing ceremony and the summary of the Olympic cycle qualification series took some time. Additionally, as a wrestling "celebrity," he had to participate in some arranged visits and interviews. The term "celebrity" was no mere courtesy; it was taken seriously. Besides receiving commemorative medals and such, Meng Fan was nominated for Wrestling Athlete of the Year, and a nomination for the Laureus World Sports Awards was also submitted.

The Laureus World Sports Awards are the only global awards ceremony in sports, held annually in February. Even if the nomination was submitted now, the final list wouldn't be confirmed until the end of the year, and the awards ceremony wouldn't take place until next year.

China also has its own Laureus, officially called the China Top Ten Laureus Champion Award, a collaboration between the Laureus World Sports Awards and China's Top Ten Athletes selection. It is a hallowed award in Chinese sports, a supreme honor for coaches and athletes, presented every December.

After a brief adjustment in the capital, Meng Fan headed to Moscow, Russia, for the final stop of the Judo qualification series. Reaching the top sixteen was impossible; Meng Fan had volunteered to compete, ostensibly to gain experience, but in reality to earn three more championship honor points. The result was, as expected, smooth.

There was still one more stop in the weightlifting qualification series, but on Dean Zhan's advice, Meng Fan did not participate. There was no special reason—just that the points were useless and he didn't want to reveal too much of his strength. The outside world's skepticism and mockery of his world-record-breaking lifts in the heavier categories were obvious to anyone with eyes. If Dean Zhan was holding back anger or even harboring a grudge, that was plausible.

Competition experience couldn't be gained from a single event; it was better to arrange more formal simulated training matches domestically.

Now, all that remained were the two qualifying tournaments in April. After those, securing the other two tickets would complete the final Olympic sprint.

"Ah! Why did I have to fight that fight!"

Looking back, he realized that the months since the Kyoto Dome had been consumed by wrestling, judo, and weightlifting. His life trajectory had completely veered off course. Meng Fan could only smile wryly, but it was just a wry smile—no regrets. In fact, he rather enjoyed it.

Before this, he had never known that deep down he was a competitive person. The matches had confirmed it. Although he won each one easily, even with the system's help, only Meng Fan knew how much effort went into the training behind the scenes.

Moreover, manga and voice acting were his romantic pursuits as a man, but now, lifting, wrestling, and judo had become the same. The Olympics were the ultimate romance!

Come to think of it, Meng Fan never expected to be so deeply connected to these three sports. He had thought it might be running, basketball, or even esports. But upon reflection, it seemed fated. First, his physique—even with the system, he couldn't have adapted to running so quickly. Second, after being reborn and facing a life-or-death crisis, he naturally chose combat sports. Third, it was related to Wu Tong, the NPC—the fight happened because of Wu Tong's brother, Wu Ji.

"What are you thinking about?"

Wu Tong entered the study carrying a fruit platter. Seeing Meng Fan sitting at the workbench lost in thought, she picked up a slice of apple and held it to his lips, smiling. "If you're tired, take a break."

Meng Fan opened his mouth and swallowed the apple in one bite, chewing as he said, "Not tired. I just suddenly remembered the first time I met you."

Wu Tong withdrew her hand and lightly slapped him. This guy was always flirting. Eating an apple was fine, but nearly eating her fingers too—what was that about? It tickled!

Hearing his words, she couldn't help but laugh. "Hey, I've actually wanted to ask you this silly question for a while. What did you think when you first saw me?"

Meng Fan smiled. "Do you want the truth or a lie?"

Wu Tong said, "The lie."

Meng Fan: "Love at first sight."

Wu Tong put her hands on her hips. "Then tell me the truth!"

Meng Fan pulled her into his arms. "The truth is, the moment I saw you, I couldn't wait to see you a second time. After the second look, I wanted a third. And even now, I still feel like I can't get enough of looking at you."

"Get back to your drawing!"

Wu Tong's ears burned. Someone was already getting worked up, and she still had class later. If they started this, who knew when it would end. She quickly stood up to leave.

"I'll pick you up later."

Meng Fan had no choice but to turn back to his drawing. It had been a few days since returning from Lausanne; he wasn't that easily ignited.

Currently, Meng Fan was working on the 42nd chapter of *Strange People of the Mountains and Seas*. The serialization had reached chapter 26. In terms of backlog, despite his various competitions, Meng Fan hadn't fallen behind on his drawing; in fact, he had over a dozen chapters in reserve.

Domestically, the third volume of the tankōbon had been released. The second and third volumes still contained eight chapters each, following the previous rhythm: the tankōbon was released when the web serialization reached the latest chapter. The first-day sales of the second and third volumes set new records, with clear growth. The second volume sold just under 150,000 copies, and the third reached 180,000.

As of the day before yesterday, the first volume had sold over 800,000 copies, the second had reached 500,000, and the third, just over a week after release, had already sold 400,000. Subsequent sales growth remained strong.

Of course, compared to the tankōbon, the web subscription sales were even more impressive. On the Penguin Comics website, the series started charging from chapter nine onward. Regardless of length, each chapter cost 50 Penguin coins. Excluding tips, the subscription revenue over the past two months alone amounted to a considerable sum.

Additionally, *Strange People of the Mountains and Seas* had moved to *Weekly Shōnen M* starting from chapter nine. Over the past two months, its performance had been excellent. The latest popularity rankings had it in the top ten of Kodansha's serialized manga, and it had broken into the top twenty of all manga popularity rankings in Japan, with strong staying power.

It was worth noting that this long-form manga had only just begun its story. As the content expanded, the editors at Kodansha were very optimistic about its future performance.

As for how much it had boosted the circulation of *Weekly Shōnen M*, honestly, it hadn't reached the point of miraculously carrying the magazine to new heights. But it had helped stem the decline; the downward trend in circulation was visibly slowing. Whether it would rebound depended on future performance.

After drawing for nearly two hours, Meng Fan put on a jacket and went out to pick up Wu Tong from class—recently, her lessons at Hu Heng's studio were mostly in the evenings.

Just as he reached the ground floor, he received a call from Hu Yijing.

Earlier, after Meng Fan secured his Olympic qualification, Hu Yijing had released the second batch of photos, followed by more. Today's call was also about the photos. The content was simple: she had arranged for Meng Fan to be featured in *Marie Claire*, one of China's top five fashion magazines.

Although it was a women's magazine, men did appear on the cover. For example, in 2017 and 2018, three men each year graced the cover of *Marie Claire*.

The other four of the top five also featured men each year, with varying frequency—at least once. *Harper's Bazaar* had the most, usually four to five times a year.

Hu Yijing chose *Marie Claire* for Meng Fan for simple reasons. First, it was the easiest of the top five to get into, as these magazines were fiercely contested by young actors and actresses. Since it was a fashion magazine, not a sports one, getting Meng Fan, who had no connection to the fashion world, onto the cover was challenging, so she had to pick the softest target. Second, *Marie Claire* was published by the China Sports Daily and supervised by the General Administration of Sport. Although it had considerable independence, it was still somewhat influenced, making it more likely to accept an outsider like Meng Fan.

Of course, the main reason it worked out was Meng Fan's popularity and the quality of his photos.

"I already know your upcoming competition schedule. The shoot will be tomorrow afternoon. Try to keep it within two hours. How does that sound?"

"Okay."

Since he had entrusted the matter to Hu Yijing, and she handled things methodically, without being intrusive or time-consuming, Meng Fan agreed without hesitation. He still hadn't fully grasped what *Marie Claire* was, only that it was a fashion magazine. Athletes appearing in fashion magazines wasn't new, so he didn't think much of it.

As for whether he was fashionable, Meng Fan thought he was fine. Even when he was heavier, most of his clothes were bought by Meng Caiwei and the others, and they weren't cheap. That might be fashion. Now, there was another saying: what suits you is the most fashionable. Anyway, he looked good in anything.

In short, it was fashion.

The next afternoon, the photography team arrived in Hangzhou. The shooting location was already set up at a photography studio in the city. After some posing and clicking, the photographer was thrilled and left wanting more. Meng Fan returned to Fengji to continue training. The timing was precise; including the return trip, it took less than two hours. Efficiency was high.

The *Marie Claire* photography team had a great time, but for the paparazzi "photography team" staking out Meng Fan, it was a different story—same work, different fate.

Every time Meng Fan returned from a competition, this paparazzi team would stake out near his apartment complex. Since the last time they captured Meng Fan with the little girl in the "Hero Unknown" scene, they hadn't gotten any juicy photos. The most infuriating part was that they couldn't even release that set of photos. They were paparazzi, but they knew better than to dig up certain things. That set of photos was a landmine—absolutely untouchable.

"Boss, how about we call it quits after this stakeout? Months of this, and we've got nothing."

"It's not like we've got nothing. At least we uncovered that Meng Fan and Wu Tong are living together and raising cats. We also got shots of the luxury car. That's valuable. You think this job is easy? Without clear leads, big news comes from staking out."

"Hey, they're coming out! At this hour, why are they both leaving?"

"Isn't that normal? Wu Tong doesn't stay here every night. She goes back to school every now and then. This is probably Meng Fan taking her back to campus."

Sure enough, not long after, Meng Fan returned alone.

"That's about it for today. Let's pack up."

It was already ten at night. Usually, after this hour, Meng Fan rarely went out, so they had no chance to capture any nightlife.

"Wait! He's coming down again!"

The paparazzi team, just about to pack up, suddenly saw Meng Fan coming downstairs and perked up. Then they spotted a high-end business van pulling up to the entrance of his building. Meng Fan, beaming, greeted a woman stepping out of the car, embracing her warmly. After that, he helped carry her bags, chatting and laughing as they entered the building.

"Holy shit, that's insane! Just sent off his official girlfriend, and now another woman shows up. Look at her—she's a bit older than Meng Fan, and her figure, though a little fuller, is still absolutely smoking! Awesome, awesome!"

"Even with the hat and sunglasses, she's definitely not bad-looking!"

"Interesting!"

"Who'd have thought Meng Fan, this unsung hero full of positive energy, had this side to him?"

"As they say, even heroes have a weakness for beautiful women."

"...Could she be a relative or something?"

"Boss, that's the wrong mindset. Aren't we here to dig up a big story? Why are you hoping she's a relative?"

"Heh, I'll say it even if you laugh—I kind of do hope she's a relative. I've been staking out Meng Fan for so long, and honestly, I've sort of become a fan. Deep down, I don't want to find any dirt on him. Just some glimpses of his daily life would be enough."

"Boss, I respect that! But if it's a big story, you wouldn't suppress it like last time, would you?"

"No way! Professional ethics come first! Deleting those photos last time was professional ethics. If we dig up something scandalous this time, we have to expose it—that's also professional ethics!"

"Boss, you're the man!"

"Alright, enough ass-kissing. Business is here. Pipi, go buy coffee, Red Bull, and chocolate. Daxia, keep watch for a bit—they probably won't come out anytime soon. I'll catch a quick nap."

The three-man paparazzi team immediately snapped into work mode, and time began its agonizing wait.

Soon it passed midnight. Seeing the woman hadn't come down, the trio basically confirmed she'd be staying the night. Then they took turns keeping watch, especially after three or four in the morning, when Red Bull and chocolate came in handy. By five a.m., their eyes were wide as brass bells—experience told them this was the most likely time for someone to emerge.

But the woman stubbornly didn't come down. At six, instead, Meng Fan appeared. One look at his outfit made it clear—he was definitely going for a morning run.

After all that, still running? Iron God indeed!

Meng Fan returned from his run, and the woman still hadn't come down. Not until around nine in the morning did the van from last night pull back into the complex, stopping at the building entrance. Finally, the woman came down, but Meng Fan didn't—to them, that was obviously an attempt to avoid suspicion.

The woman quickly got into the van, which started up and left the complex.

"Did you get it?"

"Boss, look!"

The paparazzi huddled together, all letting out a "holy shit." The daylight was much better than last night's, and crucially, the woman had probably rushed from the building into the van without time to put on her sunglasses and hat. Even with just a side shot, the three recognized her.

"Meng Caiwei!"

"Meng Caiwei spent the night at Meng Fan's place? Holy shit, this is a massive story!"

"Wait, boss! Both Meng Fan and Meng Caiwei have the surname Meng. Don't tell me they really are relatives, like you said!"

"...Still a massive story!"

(The End)