Chapter 219: Mystery
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Subconsciously, Dai Li had examined all these men. The results showed that this group of more than twenty men were all ordinary people; only two of them had more than 80 point in abilities, with everybody else having little athletic ability, as low as aunts who did square dance!
Are they really athletes? If I consider their ability points alone, I would label them an elderly tour group! Dai Li's mind was filled with confusion.
Perhaps I misunderstood. They aren't cyclists at all, they just happen to be wearing uniform tracksuits, but based on an ordinary adult's physical standard, it is quite difficult to gather more than twenty athletes with poor physical qualities, like them.
At this moment, his phone's vibrating broke into Dai Li's thoughts. He lowered his head to check, the phone screen displayed Li Xue's name.
"Hello, coach, I'm in the airport right now, Coach Ding hasn't arrived yet." said Dai Li.
"Li, don't need to wait anymore. Come back now!" Li Xue's voice rang out. "Beikou training center has an emergency, Old Ding made a last minute change and flew directly to Donggang. I just received his phone call."
"Alright then, I'll come back now." Dai Li put his phone back into his pocket with disappointment, walking to the parking lot.
When he passed by the men's room, Dai Li suddenly felt like he needed to use the toilet, so he walked in.
To Dai Li's surprise, in the corner of the room, he ran full tilt into a man.
The man was middle-aged with cropped hair, not tall but stocky, even fatter than Dai Li. This man wore an Arsenal shirt, so he might be a Arsenal fan.
"I'm sorry!"
"Excuse me!"
Dai Li and that man had both talked at the same time.
Since people could hardly see each other coming around a corner, it was difficult to judge who was right or wrong. The two didn't argue about it, only nodding at each other, then continued on their own way.
That man was holding a phone, talking to somebody. "Uh, nothing serious, I didn't watch where I was going and bumped into someone."
"Alright, dear, let's end here. Those Thai cyclists have arrived, they keep pushing me to send them to the hotel," the man with cropped hair said to the phone.
Thai cyclists? Hearing those words, Dai Li couldn't help but think of the group of over twenty athletes with extremely poor abilities.
Are they indeed athletes? They look so bad, they shouldn't be! Perhaps a new group of real athletes has arrived at the same time.
...
Dai Li walked out of the bathroom, planning on leaving directly, but several steps later, he saw an old friend. This guy was wearing casual clothes, his hands in pockets and a Bluetooth headset in a ear, looking around.
It was Chong Lin, Dai Li's previous trainee at the Police Training Base.
That's Chong Lin! It's been a while since I finished the Police Training Camp. Is he here to pick up someone? Dai Li walked closer, and Chong Lin also recognized Dai Li.
"Officer Lin!" Dai Li greeted him with a smile.
"Coach Li!" Chong Lin greeted warmly. Without Dai Li, he might already have been transferred to be a civil servant.
"Officer Lin, are you still in the Anti-Drug Brigade?" asked Dai Li.
Chong Lin nodded. "That's right, I'm still in the brigade."
"How is your leg, can you still feel the pain?" asked Dai Li.
"Come on, stop making fun of me. My leg has never hurt since I was told it was fine. It seems that my pain is just a psychological effect." Chong Lin sighed. "Working on the front lines suits me better. If I ended up being a civil servant, I would have been bored as heck."
As Chong Lin spoke, he noticed that Dai Li didn't have any luggage with him, not even a bag to be seen. He realized that Dai Li had not just arrived, so he asked, "Coach Li, are you here to pick someone up?"
"Yeah, I was supposed to pick somebody up, but the plan changed." Dai Li replied with another question, "Are you waiting for somebody, too?"
"Haha." Chong Lin gave a dry smile, but didn't respond clearly.
At the same time, Chong Lin suddenly became serious. He nodded and said, "Sir, it's nothing strange, just an old friend, I haven't talked to him in a while. Yes, sir, no more conversation. I will return to the task right away."
Dai Li was slightly dazed, then realized that Chong Lin was talking to his Bluetooth headset.
So Chong Lin is on duty! Dai Li immediately understood, and felt embarrassed, because Chong Lin's facial expression indicated that he was scolded by his leader due to his chat with Dai Li.
While Chong Lin was on duty, casually chatting with old friends was not allowed.
Dai Li thought that he had interrupted Chong Lin's work, causing him to be yelled at. He looked at Chong Lin apologetically and said, "Sorry, I didn't notice that you were on duty, I won't bother you anymore. Bye."
"Coach Li, don't worry. Our team leader is always very strict about work," Chong Lin explained, then said goodbye to Dai Li, and watched him exit the terminal gates.
...
Near the parking lot, Dai Li saw the group of poor Thais again. They were gathered together, seemingly waiting for a car.
A tour bus approached them and stopped. The bus driver came out, the man with cropped hair and the Arsenal Shirt. He was the same man who had bumped into Dai Li.
The cropped hair guy opened the trunk, then used body language and half-English to motion the Thai to put their luggage in the car.
Dai Li looked at the scene, talking to himself secretly. I remember in the bathroom, this guy talked to his wife and mentioned he was here to pick up Thai cyclists, did he mean these poor 'cyclists'? Are they indeed here for the bicycle race? With forty to fifty ability points, they might not even be able to ride ten miles!
This Road Bicycle Grand Prix should be quite prestigious if even Europeans and Americans are here for it. The race must be of a certain standard, not some bogus race. What are the Thais doing, sending a group of weak people who aren't even professionals, even I can do better than them!
Dai Li stopped to take out his phone, beginning to search related news reports about this Road Bicycle Grand Prix.
The information showed that the participants for this Grand Prix were all professional cycling teams, no amateurs admitted.
That was weird! Dai Li's curiosity peaked. He couldn't help but move closer to find out more details.
The Arsenal-fan driver was busy helping the Thais move luggage.
One of the Thais seemed to feel his suit was too loose, and was bothering him while moving luggage, so he rolled his sleeves up to the elbow, then continued his work. On his bare arm, a tattoo was quite obvious.
Dai Li stared at that tattoo, but he couldn't tell what it was.
However, there was another sign on his arm that caught Dai Li's attention.