NOVEL NEXT Chapter 271 Judges
Inside the venue, Zhou Shun navigated through numerous contestants and staff to finally see Hu Li chatting with the organizers in the distance.
Hu Li wore a light gray high-end suit, his gray-white hair slicked back into a classic pompadour style with hair oil, and his thick fingers holding a cup of water resembled steel bars, full of explosive power.
Apparently, he was clearly a robust professional bodybuilder in his youth.
"President Hu, long time no see."
Zhou Shun waved several times without getting noticed, so he approached and greeted loudly, "Didn't expect you to be a judge this year."
"Zhou Shun?"
Hu Li raised his eyebrows slightly as he saw the middle-aged man squeezing through the crowd. He glanced up and down at the other, "What, you're still competing at your age?"
"What a joke. Both of us are old-timers now, why would we still compete?"
Zhou Shun laughed and then directly shifted the topic to the question he wanted to ask, "I heard that Wang Xiao, who is participating this time, is your new apprentice?"
Mentioning Wang Xiao, Hu Li's eyes changed subtly and he squinted slightly, "Why, do you have any advice?"
"What advice could I possibly have? Previously, you competed alongside me and even ranked higher than I did. If anything, you should be advising me."
Zhou Shun showed a warm and friendly smile, "It's just that one of my brothers is also competing this time, and I wanted to ask what the exact scoring criteria are this time?"
"I'm sorry, this is something internal to our judging panel and cannot be disclosed."
Seeing the other's unfriendly approach, Hu Li frowned, replied coldly, and prepared to turn and walk away.
Zhou Shun immediately grabbed his arm, grinning, "I say, President Hu, both of us are veterans of this circle, and we both hope for healthy development of this industry.
Events like this determine the level of athletes representing our country on the world stage. We definitely need to select the best athletes to bring glory to our nation."
"Of course we will choose the best; you don't need to remind me."
Hu Li replied indifferently.
Seemingly guessing the other's intention, he showed a hint of mockery in his eyes, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, "If you want your person to win the championship, besides training him well, you need to become a competition judge like me.
Your guy, Huang Jun, right? Yes, I know, he has a lot of buzz online and indeed has championship potential.
But my apprentice is not bad either. To put it bluntly, if Huang Jun loses, he can't blame anyone but you for not being good enough as a mentor, lacking the qualifications to be a judge.
If you want fairness, then become a judge yourself and give him fairness, understand?"
"You..."
Hearing this, Zhou Shun's face changed slightly, wanting to say something, but saw the other already turning away, leaving only a glance carrying a hint of sarcasm.
Seeing this, Zhou Shun's face turned gloomy. After several deep breaths, he gritted his teeth, turned around, and returned to the athletes' waiting area.
Seeing Zhou Shun return, the man standing behind Huang Jun immediately stepped forward and asked in a low voice, "Brother Shun, how did it go?"
"Hu Li will definitely be biased towards his apprentice!"
Recalling Hu Li's words just now, Zhou Shun secretly clenched his fist, his eyes seemingly burning with fire.
"What should we do?" The man's expression changed slightly, "Should we report and complain about him?"
"We don't have evidence, report or complain about what? It would only affect Huang Jun's mindset."
Zhou Shun gritted his teeth, "Also, the event doesn't have a strict rule that apprentices can't compete while their mentors serve as judges. The biggest problem with this event is the lack of transparency in scoring, giving that guy too much loophole."
After hearing, the man looked worried, "The strength between Wang Xiao and Brother Jun isn't vastly different, and it is hard for non-professionals to see the gap. If he indeed purposely lets his apprentice take first place, there's no grounds for dispute..."
As these words fell, Zhou Shun's complexion changed several times and finally could only wave his hand and frown, "Forget it, seeing as we can't change it, let's leave it at that and not affect Huang Jun.
After all, Hu Li is not the only judge; I don't believe he can sway all the judges."
...
"Oakes, this is Mr. Hu from Hua Country, one of the judges for this event."
Inside the judges' lounge, the organizers helped the judges introduce each other and get familiar.
This time, there are three foreign judges, while the others are all native Hua Country judges, all professionals who have long participated in various international events as evaluators.
"Mr. Hu and I are friends, no need for an introduction."
Oakes grinned broadly, enthusiastically patting Hu Li's sturdy shoulder, and said to the organizers, "When we arrived in Hua Country, Mr. Hu took us to tour around various Tianhai attractions, making us experience the prosperity of Tianhai.
Honestly, Tianhai is truly a surprising ultra-modern metropolis; I really like it and think Westerners should come and see."
"Haha, Hua Country isn't what it used to be. The prosperity of Tianhai is no less than that of Western metropolises."
Organizer Xie Peng smiled warmly, "Organizing this international competition in Tianhai is also because the Celestial Sea Government strongly supports us to promote Hua Country."
"It seems the status of our fitness circle in the country is growing higher, and now we can catch the attention and support from the government."
A judge from Hua Country came over and added with a smile.
"Indeed, we should host more international events domestically.
Like before, our athletes had to fly to Europe and America to compete in international competitions, with Tokyo being the predominant host city in Asia. It's not just troublesome; acclimatization issues also affect our athletes' performance."
"Being able to host these international competitions domestically also shows our country's rising status internationally. We welcome friends from all over the world to Hua Country. Hahaha."
The group chatted enthusiastically, each wearing a smile, showing mutual respect, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.
Seeing this, the organizers nodded silently, said a few words, then left and went about other work.
And as Hu Li saw most judges gathered here, he seized the moment after the previous topic ended to speak up with a smile, "I wonder if you all have gotten acquainted with the contestants ahead of this event?"
"I've looked through some materials and watched their recent videos released online, thinking some are quite impressive."
Oakes spoke in agreement, "Especially a Hua Country contestant named Huang Jun. I noticed he's in great form, not sure how his preparations are these days."
Hearing Huang Jun's name, a slightly somber look flashed deep in Hu Li's eyes, then he continued with a smile, "Huang Jun is indeed impressive, a dark horse this year, but videos don't count; we still need to see their on-site state.
I previously learned about Wang Xiao, who's participated in two events, both times as the runner-up, with experience and training duration exceeding Huang Jun's."
"Wang Xiao?"
The Hua Country judges showed a peculiar expression upon hearing the name and exchanged a quick glance without speaking.
Meanwhile, the three foreign judges were taken aback for a moment and, after some thought, said, "I've also been following that contestant, and indeed he's good, but comparing him to Huang Jun, it still depends on their state on-site..."
"Mm, you're right."
Hu Li seemed to agree as he nodded, "His condition is personally adjusted by me; there should be no problem. I hope this time he achieves a good score."
"Adjusted by you?"
The three foreign judges expressed surprise and then seemed to have guessed something, immediately asking, "Is he your student?"
"Indeed."
Hu Li smiled, "Wang Xiao has put a lot of effort into this competition, and I've seen firsthand the dedication and hard work he's invested; he definitely has the strength to win the championship.
Once he claims the championship, I'll treat everyone at the Tianhai Center Building. I guarantee you'll all leave fully satisfied!"