Chapter 221: How Can We Even Compare? Isn’t This Just Asking For A Beating!
After chatting, breakfast was finished.
Xu Li and her mother went to wash the dishes and pots, and packed their luggage.
After the Qingming Festival, the Jiang’s Food Factory in the Capital City had already started work.
Jiang Wen and Tian Xiaomei, who held the core secret recipe, had to return to the factory as soon as possible to lead the work.
While Jiang Tao and his father were smoking in the courtyard, Uncle Tian Xiaoguang and Tian Mingrong also arrived.
This morning, Third Sister took everyone back to the capital in a 7-seater Mercedes-Benz GLS, and there was plenty of room.
Jiang Tao had already given his mother the key to the apartment in Building 62 of the Bai Ge Zhuang Residential Area.
After everyone returned to the capital, Tian Xiaoguang and Tian Mingrong could move in directly with just their bags.
After some pleasantries with his father and uncle at home until past 8:40 AM.
Jiang Tao still remembered the appointment to meet Bai Yulan, so he left first.
He drove his Mercedes-Benz G-wagon and arrived at the White Magnolia Hotel at exactly 9 AM.
“Good morning, President Jiang~”
“President Jiang, you’re here!”
The security guards in the parking lot were already familiar with Jiang Tao’s car.
They all greeted him with respectful smiles.
After all, very few guests were personally escorted by President Bai.
“Good morning, here are a couple of packs of cigarettes for you to smoke.”
Jiang Tao also greeted the two security guards with a smile and tossed a pack of unopened Da Tian Ye cigarettes to one of them, showing no arrogance of the rich.
“Thank you, President Jiang!”
“Thank you, President Jiang!”
After receiving Jiang Tao’s cigarettes, the security guards thanked him again.
From being a truck driver, Master Jiang, to now President Jiang driving a G-wagon.
Hearing people call him President Jiang.
You can’t deny that it actually feels pretty good, and the emotional value was maxed out!
Saying goodbye to the two security guards, Jiang Tao walked straight towards the hotel entrance.
After the two security guards watched him walk away, they picked up the ice cream cones beside them and occupied the parking spaces to the left and right of Jiang Tao’s car.
This was to prevent anyone from parking too close to Jiang Tao’s car and affecting his boarding.
A pack of cigarettes had completely won over the two guards’ goodwill, and his treatment instantly improved by several notches.
“Good morning, President Jiang! President Bai said to take you straight up when you arrived.”
As soon as Jiang Tao entered, the client manager Wu Xiaolan, who had received them before, stepped forward to greet him with a smile and eagerness.
“Thank you for your trouble, Manager Wu.”
Jiang Tao also responded to Wu Xiaolan with a smile.
Wu Xiaolan had been a great help to him yesterday when he was looking for the Moutai bottle mentioned in the intelligence at the hotel.
“You’re too kind, President Jiang. This is all part of my job. Please come this way, President Jiang.”
Wu Xiaolan smiled and gestured for Jiang Tao to follow her towards the internal elevator.
Taking the elevator, they went up to the office area on the 5th floor.
Wu Xiaolan led Jiang Tao to the door of Bai Yulan’s office and gently knocked on the room door.
Knock, knock, knock—
“Come in.”
Hearing Bai Yulan’s voice from inside, Wu Xiaolan lightly pushed open the door and entered.
Jiang Tao followed closely into the office and saw a man and a woman inside talking with Bai Yulan.
“Oh, Jiang Tao, you’re here. Speak of the devil, we were just talking about you.”
“Come, come quickly, let me introduce you.”
“Xiao Wu, you can go, you’re not needed here anymore.”
“Okay, President Bai.”
Bai Yulan saw Jiang Tao entering behind Wu Xiaolan and got up with a smile, her face even brighter.
The man and woman sitting on the sofa to her left also stood up, their eyes turning towards Jiang Tao at the door.
Wu Xiaolan then turned and left, gently closing the door behind her.
“Haha, Sister Bai, are you praising me or teasing me?”
Jiang Tao chuckled and bantered with Bai Yulan, while also walking to the large coffee table in the office.
“Of course, I’m praising you. Little Huo and Little Peng can testify. Don’t wrong me.”
Bai Yulan said with a smile, pointing to the man and woman on her left, and introduced them to Jiang Tao:
“Jiang Tao, let me introduce you. This handsome guy is Leader Huo Chenyang, the group leader of our Ping County Running Group.”
“This beauty is the deputy group leader of the running group, Peng Xiaotong.”
“I’m just a hands-off secretary and don’t manage anything.”
“Usually, activities and regular runs of the running group are organized by Little Huo and Little Peng.”
“This is Jiang Tao, the mysterious expert we met at our regular run this morning.”
“Hello Leader Huo, hello Leader Peng, it’s a pleasure to meet you both. I hope for your guidance in the future.”
After hearing Bai Yulan’s introduction, Jiang Tao took the initiative to extend his hand to shake theirs.
“Hello Jiang Tao, welcome to the Ping County Running Group.”
“With a master like you joining the Ping County Running Group, the probability of bringing glory to the team will be even greater!”
Huo Chenyang and Peng Xiaotong shook hands with Jiang Tao with gentle smiles.
From the tone of Bai Yulan and Jiang Tao’s conversation, and the scene of them chatting happily this morning.
Huo Chenyang and Peng Xiaotong could conclude that their relationship was more than just ordinary friends.
People who can become good friends with Sister Bai must have an extraordinary background!
Although they are the group leader and deputy group leader, they hold a certain status and prestige among other runners in the group.
They could show off their superiority and act cool in front of ordinary members.
But in front of Bai Yulan and Jiang Tao, they didn’t dare to overstep.
After a brief introduction, everyone sat down again and chatted over tea.
Peng Xiaotong added Jiang Tao to the running group’s chat and registered his identity.
The Ping County Running Group was more formal than the average running group, with the backing of the Ping County Sports Bureau and Culture Bureau.
Positions like group leader, deputy group leader, and secretary were also appointed after strict selection.
After registering his identity information, Jiang Tao was now a legitimate member of the Ping County Running Group.
【Bring Glory to the Team】, the prerequisite for this task was to first become a member of the Ping County Running Group.
“I’ve already obtained the registration information for this Health Run.”
“Although there are no foreign athletes, there is a very famous running influencer and his disciple from Shi City.”
As they chatted, the conversation turned to topics related to the Health Run event.
Although Leader Huo Chenyang was not a member of the system, he had many connections within it.
It was not difficult for him to obtain information about the participants in advance.
“Is it Fang Yunpeng and Jia Feng? If they participate, our chances of winning a ranking will be even smaller.”
Upon hearing Huo Chenyang’s words, Peng Xiaotong’s expression became a bit dejected.
Huo Chenyang also said with some dejection:
“This is the first Health Run event in our Ping County, and it would be too embarrassing if we don’t win any rankings.”
The improvement of running performance is a long and slow process, and it is extremely difficult to make rapid progress in a short period.
Although it’s not impossible, it’s definitely very rare.
Huo Chenyang was self-aware.
He knew he definitely couldn’t beat Fang Yunpeng, and perhaps not even Fang Yunpeng’s disciple, Jia Feng.
This master is a well-known marathon bounty hunter in Shi City, often participating in marathon events all over the country.
He runs races while live-streaming, and he’s doing quite well.
Fang Yunpeng’s full marathon PB is 2 hours and 23 minutes, which ranks among the top masters in the Chinese marathon scene.
His level is similar to Da Zheng, the running streamer Jiang Tao follows on Kuaidou.
His disciple Jia Feng’s full marathon PB is also within 2 hours and 30 minutes.
Huo Chenyang’s full marathon PB is only 2 hours and 45 minutes.
Among amateur runners, breaking the 3-hour mark in a full marathon is considered elite.
However, compared to professional athletes like Fang Yunpeng who run for a living, this result is not impressive.
Peng Xiaotong’s full marathon PB is also over 3 hours, and she’s still working towards breaking the 3-hour mark.
Fang Yunpeng and Jia Feng, this master-and-disciple pair, put immense pressure on the Ping County Running Group!
However, there’s nothing that can be done about such a situation.
To uphold the fairness and justice of the Olympic spirit, all marathon events are open to all running enthusiasts worldwide.
It doesn’t even restrict participants’ nationality.
You can’t prevent runners from other provinces from participating in your own race just so you can win first place!
“Hehe, we have Jiang Tao joining us this time, so maybe we can get a ranking.”
“By the way, Jiang Tao, what’s your 15k PB?”
Bai Yulan looked at Jiang Tao and asked with a smile.
“A week ago, I ran an LSD long-distance run in the capital. I ran a little over 15 kilometers and the stopwatch read 43 minutes.”
Jiang Tao appeared to be thinking, and while thinking, he opened his sports tracking app on his phone to find the previous record.
“How… how much?”
“43 minutes?? Is it… is it 15 kilometers? Are you sure it wasn’t 10 kilometers!”
“15 kilometers in 43 minutes? An average pace of under 3 minutes per kilometer!”
Upon hearing Jiang Tao’s words, Bai Yulan, Huo Chenyang, and Peng Xiaotong all looked at him in unison, stunned!
They had already determined that Jiang Tao was a master when they saw him running this morning.
But none of them had expected him to be this ridiculously good!
So, during the morning run, you weren’t even using your full strength, you were just doing aerobic exercise??
“Found it. There’s a slight error. To be precise, it’s 43 minutes and 13 seconds.”
Jiang Tao said as he showed everyone the historical sports record he retrieved from his sports watch.
Distance: 15.03 km, Time: 43 minutes 13 seconds, Average Pace: 2 minutes 52 seconds!
“Running 15 kilometers at a pace of 2:52!”
“My goodness, this…”
Huo Chenyang and Peng Xiaotong were stunned again when they saw the sports record displayed on Jiang Tao’s watch!
If…
If Jiang Tao’s results were true, and his watch wasn’t broken.
His performance would be considered top-tier globally!
If he could maintain this level, he might even be the champion of the first Ping County Health Run!
“Amazing, amazing! I really couldn’t tell, Jiang Tao, you’re a master-level athlete!”
Bai Yulan wasn’t as surprised as Huo Chenyang and Peng Xiaotong, but her gaze towards Jiang Tao was full of admiration.
Runners naturally have a good impression of people who share the same hobby.
And even more so for those who are very good at running.
“Jiang Tao, the task of bringing glory to our Ping County is now in your hands!”
Although it’s hard to admit someone is better than you, facing such a huge gap, Huo Chenyang could only smile and offer his blessings.
If their performance were similar, he certainly wouldn’t steal Jiang Tao’s thunder in front of Peng Xiaotong and Bai Yulan.
But when the performance gap was so large, Huo Chenyang had no desire to compare himself with Jiang Tao.
How could he even compete? It would be like looking for trouble and making himself miserable!
“Amazing, amazing! Our Ping County Running Group now has a national-level master runner! Go, Jiang Tao!”
Peng Xiaotong’s gaze towards Jiang Tao gradually took on the look of a fan admiring an idol.
He’s handsome, has a great physique, and his running performance is so impressive!
He’s practically the Ping County version of Suguru Osako!
“I’ll do my best.”
Although Jiang Tao was very confident, he didn’t make any absolute statements.
It’s better to be safe than sorry; celebrating too early and getting overtaken would be too embarrassing.
After completing the group registration, discussing the first Health Run, and chatting for a while longer.
Around 10 AM, Huo Chenyang and Peng Xiaotong said their goodbyes and left.
With only Jiang Tao and Bai Yulan left in the office, Jiang Tao spoke first:
“Sister Bai, something I’m about to say might offend someone, but given our relationship, I can’t bear not to tell you.”
“What’s so mysterious? Don’t hold back, just say it directly.”
Bai Yulan looked at Jiang Tao with a delicate laugh, her expression clearly indicating “don’t play games with me.”
“Looking at your face, Sister Bai, I see signs of impending financial loss.”
“Have there been any anomalies in the hotel’s finances recently?”
Jiang Tao didn’t fear offending Bai Jianfeng, Bai Yulan’s cousin mentioned in the intelligence.
They had never met and had no acquaintance.
He felt no psychological burden in exposing him.
“Financial anomalies?”
Hearing Jiang Tao’s words, Bai Yulan frowned slightly.
Bai Jianfeng had followed Bai Yulan to the hotel when it opened.
Core positions like finance would definitely be staffed by trusted individuals.
Thus, Bai Jianfeng became the financial manager of Bai Yulan Hotel, and he had held this position for over a decade.
Bai Yulan paid him a monthly salary of 20,000 yuan, which was considered high in a small, eighteenth-tier city like Ping County!
Over the years, Bai Jianfeng’s ability to buy a house, get married, and buy a car was all thanks to his income from Bai Yulan Hotel.
Of course, Bai Yulan also knew that it was difficult for the finance department to be absolutely incorruptible.
If Bai Jianfeng skimmed off ten to eight thousand yuan a month, she would turn a blind eye and pretend not to see it.
“Could it be that the financial loss Jiang Tao mentioned is related to this?”
If it was about that, Bai Yulan didn’t really care.
“Hehe, thank you for the reminder, Jiang Tao. I’ll check it out later.”
Bai Yulan knew Jiang Tao’s reminder was out of good intentions, so she thanked him with a smile and changed the subject, asking:
“Anything else? Is that all? You only saw that I would suffer financial loss?”
“Sister Bai, have you been sleeping poorly recently? I see your blood circulation is also a bit sluggish.”
This statement by Jiang Tao was actually a “universal remedy,” suitable for anyone.
Bai Yulan nodded and said, “I have been having some trouble sleeping lately. I often don’t fall asleep until after midnight.”
【Ding! Congratulations on triggering the special mission 『Insomnia Terminator『! 』】
