Chapter 112: The World Champion Playing the Underdog

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Online, rumors and gossip kept circulating endlessly. Yet Bai Qingming remained completely oblivious to it all. Even if he had known, he wouldn’t have reacted. After all, it was Nanpai Third Uncle who had been caught soliciting prostitutes—what did that have to do with Bai Qingming? He pondered for a moment. Although he could no longer write “The Lost Tomb Notes,” he could still work on other projects. “Ghost Blows Out the Light” wasn’t a bad choice. He could write under a new account, tweak some elements, and it should be fine. After finishing that, he could also try “Battle Qi Horse” or “Tang Sect Continent.” Writing those novels, combined with the popularity gained from live streaming, hitting a hundred million views would be a breeze.

With that thought, Bai Qingming hummed a little tune, feeling quite cheerful. On a whim, he glanced at the system panel. After reaching 30 million popularity points last time, the system had given him an extra lottery chance which he hadn’t used yet. Feeling in a good mood today, he decided to use it. If he could draw something valuable, it would be a windfall. Bai Qingming focused his mind.

The next moment, a chime sounded.

“Ding~”

[Lottery chance used successfully. Acquired special skill: All-Around Athlete.]

“That’s it?” Bai Qingming said with some confusion as the system’s notification appeared. What was “All-Around Athlete”?

He opened the system panel, where a brief description was displayed:

[All-Around Athlete: Master-level proficiency in all skills related to competitive sports.]

The explanation was concise and clear. In other words, any skill related to competitive sports was instantly maxed out. It sounded good, but unfortunately, it was of little use to Bai Qingming. Still, since it was given for free, he didn’t mind. There was no loss anyway.

And so time passed, quickly arriving at the weekend. For some inexplicable reason, Diao Xiaomei woke unusually early, dragging Bai Qingming out for breakfast. After eating, Bai Qingming felt wide awake, so the two decided to take a stroll in the nearby Jiangcheng Park, calling it “morning exercise.”

However, it wasn’t long before Diao Xiaomei could no longer keep going. They had to sit down on a bench. Nearby sat a father and daughter. The father looked about fifty, while the daughter was around twenty, young and beautiful. They were sharing breakfast on the bench. The daughter was kindly peeling a tea egg for her father, and the two chatted and laughed warmly.

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Seeing such a scene so early in the morning, Diao Xiaomei couldn’t help but exclaim, “So heartwarming!” But just as she finished speaking, another scene unfolded before her eyes that left her stunned. She couldn’t understand why the father, after finishing the tea egg, would lift his daughter onto his lap and then, inexplicably, the two began kissing—tongue included. Could it be that the tea egg had gotten stuck in his teeth? It was hard to comprehend.

At that moment, Bai Qingming heard a series of crisp sounds. “Sounds like someone’s playing ping pong,” he said, looking toward the source. Not far away were several ping pong tables where some elderly men were enthusiastically rallying back and forth. Intrigued, Bai Qingming wanted to test the skill he had just acquired. Since he had just finished eating, it was a good opportunity to digest and exercise.

“You rest here, I’ll go check it out,” he told Diao Xiaomei, then walked toward the elderly players. “Sir, could you teach me how to play?” he asked.

Meanwhile, at the park entrance, a man was live streaming on his phone, filming a man wearing a flat cap sitting in front of him. Anyone passing by would recognize him immediately: the famed ping pong world champion, Zhang Ke.

Since his debut, Zhang Ke had won sixteen world championships, including three Olympic gold medals. He was also the youngest player in ping pong history to achieve a Grand Slam in the shortest time. His very name struck terror into foreign competitors, earning him the nickname “The Great Demon King” of ping pong.

Despite his dominance, Zhang Ke didn’t feel lonely. When not competing, he often posted daily life videos or live streams on short video platforms. Today, he was here to do something interesting.

“Brothers, I heard this park has a few old grandpas who play ping pong every day and are really skilled. Young players can’t beat them,” he said. “What do you think would happen if I pretended to be a novice and played against them? How would they react if I beat them? Let’s go teach these grandpas a lesson!”

With that, Zhang Ke pulled out a mask and put it on to avoid being recognized, which would spoil the fun. At this moment, his live stream was bustling. He had over ten million followers, and the barrage of comments filled the screen.

“People say you need to have won the Olympics to qualify to play against the grandpas here. I wonder if that’s true?”

“Don’t get it wrong, real experts usually keep a low profile, like the legendary monk who swept the floors.”

“Haha, can’t wait to see the Great Demon King get beaten.”

“I bet a bread machine that the Great Demon King can’t beat these grandpas.”

“I bet a sewing machine.”

Zhang Ke was pleased with the enthusiasm his live stream had stirred. He had learned this trick from watching videos abroad where some professional athletes disguised themselves as amateurs to play against casual players: feigning weakness before winning and then revealing their identity, delighting viewers with the surprise.

Though everyone joked about needing Olympic victories to challenge the park’s grandpas, none seriously believed that a world champion couldn’t beat some old men. Zhang Ke was confident he wouldn’t lose.

Now inside the park, Zhang Ke’s assistant was secretly filming the live stream. He immediately noticed two elderly men practicing ping pong. Both looked to be in their sixties or seventies, yet their intensity was no less than that of younger players.

Watching for a while, Zhang Ke realized these two truly had skill—they must be the park’s top players. After their game ended, Zhang Ke approached the winner.

“Sir, may I play a match with you?”

He expected agreement, but the elderly man shook his head. “Young man, I was the champion of last year’s community senior ping pong tournament. You’re no match for me.”

The old man spoke earnestly to the “ignorant” young challenger.

Hearing this, Zhang Ke’s live viewers burst into laughter.

“This grandpa’s showing off right away?”

“666, the world champion is being disrespected.”

“Haha, I’m curious to see the grandpa’s reaction if he gets beaten.”

The fans chatted animatedly.

Zhang Ke didn’t give up and continued to request a match, but the grandpa refused each time, leaving Zhang Ke frustrated. Without the match, how could the live stream continue? Eventually, the grandpa, irritated, pointed toward someone nearby.

“You young folks should play with your own kind.”

Following the grandpa’s gesture, Zhang Ke’s eyes landed on Bai Qingming. Suddenly, everything made sense. If he was going to dominate someone anyway, it didn’t matter who.

Zhang Ke then walked up to Bai Qingming.

“Brother, want to play a game?”

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