Wei Duan Gong's dog breeding is half a hobby and half a money-making venture. Although he only raises over ten dogs, their combined value can buy a luxurious villa in the Purple Gold Mountain range. More importantly, he operates a high-end dog fighting arena in Nanjing's Jiangning district. Unlike the rampant underground dog racing venues in Kaifeng, Henan, and other places in previous years, Wei Gong's arena is discreet and exclusive, catering to familiar figures from the Suzhou-Shanghai-Hangzhou circle. The safety level is high, with no mixed crowds of good and bad people. Of course, the minimum bet for each match is not a small amount of several hundred or thousand yuan; if you don't have five-figure cash on hand, don't even think about entering that door. Wei Duan Gong has two unwritten rules: first, bets must be made in person with cash; second, there's a maximum limit to the bets. As the saying goes, "big gambles hurt the body, small gambles delight the heart." Don't play too big, or you'll hurt your feelings and it won't be good for anyone. However, what he considers "small" betting refers to single bets of tens of millions of yuan.
Wei Gonggong was dragged down and drowned in the whirlpool, and the dog fighting arena was also shut down. After the dust settled and the Nanjing incident subsided, the arena began to prepare for normal operation. Today, **** called Chen Ergou and said that the dog fighting arena would resume gambling tonight with a wonderful program, and if he was interested, he could bring Chen Jia's eldest sister and her dogs. Chen Ergou wasn't surprised why Yu Hanliang, who was in charge of the arena, didn't notify him. Except for ****, this veteran, the others like Hu Siyi and Xu Dian were lukewarm towards him, with an attitude of "each to their own". Chen Ergou didn't think much of it either. The Nanjing incident had brought him the greatest benefit, and now it was time to consolidate his foundation.
According to the Wei family's old rules, at this time, they would all go for a spin. Yu Hanliang didn't dare to neglect Chen Ergou, an old man who was already famous in Suzhou and Zhejiang when he first started out. Moreover, Old Master Wei was also an old hand with dogs, and with him in charge, there was no need to worry about anything going wrong. Although there was a maximum limit, there had been a dog fighting arena that had once reached a staggering 13.48 million yuan, and without Mr. Wei's personal supervision, Yu Hanliang wouldn't feel secure. Because Master Wei would never drive, Fang Jie called Chen Ergou, and finally let Chen Qingzhi drive the Audi A6 to send Master Wei and several dogs. As Wang Hu and Wang Jiefang had been secretly investigating the sites left behind by Mr. Wei, Chen Ergou didn't bring them along. In the end, three cars - a Maserati, an Audi A4, and an Audi A6 - headed towards Jiangning.
The dog fighting arena was located in a remote area at the intersection of a provincial highway in Jiangning, Nanjing. It took about 20 minutes to drive from the intersection to the destination. There were two checkpoints along the way, one for checking license plates and another for inspecting the trunk. This was also a rule established during Wei Duan Gong's time. After all, this dog fighting arena had cost Wei Duan Gong nearly seven years of investment and a huge amount of money in the order of nine digits. Moreover, making a scene here wasn't just about losing face; it was also about losing money. The people who came to spend money here were all elites from high society, and no one wanted to lose face. Therefore, if there were new people joining, they had to register, and Chen Er Gou, Chen Qing Zhi, and Chen Yuan Shu were no exception. The dog fighting arena was like a resort area, with lush greenery, several villas surrounding a large circular building with a dome-shaped roof, and more than 40 cars parked around it. Chen Er Gou finally understood why the people from the Song Dynasty, such as Yu Han Liang, didn't want to surrender. They were all local warlords who had their own power and didn't need Wei Duan Gong or Guo Gu Du. Each of them was like a self-sufficient emperor in their own territory. Who would want to be subordinate to others? And Chen Er Gou was still an outsider to everyone.
Old man Wei Chi Gong De led two dogs out of the car, one was a Russian North Caucasian Shepherd Dog and the other was a Pitbull trained by Chen Er Gou for Chen Yuan Shu. At the entrance, **** and Yu Han Liang parted ways with perfect tacit understanding, **** came to greet Chen Er Gou and Chen Yuan Shu, while Yu Han Liang led Old Man Wei Chi Gong De into the venue without any intention of greeting Chen Er Gou.
"This place opens once a week, and basically every time there's something new, it's just a gimmick. Like one time the main event was a purebred Tibetan Mastiff versus a wild wolf, or Russia's Amanda versus Argentina's Emperor Duque. If the gimmick is big enough, the stakes are bigger too. But Wei doesn't resort to behind-the-scenes tricks, so he doesn't necessarily win every time. The wins and losses are basically 50/50. Over the years, most of the winnings have been invested in rebuilding the dog fighting arena, not as exaggerated or mysterious as some people say, like winning hundreds of millions.
As they entered the venue with Chen Er Gou and the others, **** glanced at Yu Han Liang's back, seemingly unintentionally, and said with a hint of curiosity: "Now it's hard to say, but this year things have changed. No matter what, the money earned is indeed more than before, but there's no sign of any dividend distribution."
"What's the main event today?" Chen Erdog asked calmly, as if the speaker had a purpose but the listener didn't care.
"I heard that a young man from Shanghai got a super-large Japanese Tosa, and he's boasting that he wants to challenge all the winning dogs in today's dog fighting arena. I've only seen photos of that Tosa, it's quite big, around 50 kg. Because I'm with the dog trainer, I didn't notice how fierce it is, we'll have to see during the match. That young man isn't from our circle, and he's making his debut today, so we don't know much about him."
"50 kilograms, not small, what level is it? At least there should be a small knot or a waistband?" Chen Er Gou said with interest, seeing Chen Yuan Shu's confused face beside him, he explained in a low voice: "The Japanese Tosa rank and the Sumo rank are the same, the small knot and the waistband are the seventh and eighth, the big waistband and the horizontal strip are the last two levels. In the fighting dogs, who is the most fierce has always been disputed, but the Tosa ranking in the top three is undisputed. A big waistband can be pulled out to intimidate people, after all, the horizontal strip is a national treasure level, very rare to see."
"What about the Tibetan Mastiff? One of those costs several million, what ranking can it get?" Chen Yuanshu asked curiously.
"It's cooked."
"Ha! Tibetan Mastiffs are only purebred if they can survive in the wild. Those raised domestically, no matter how pure their bloodline, are nothing but paper tigers. Take them to a dog fight and they'll get bitten to the ground. Not just by some mediocre Tsu or German SV VA Dobermann, but even a well-trained 30-pound Pitbull can take them down. Sister, do you know how I trained those dogs for you? At 6 am, we'd run with them for two hours to warm up, then at 8 am, put them on the treadmill with a live chicken tied in front. We'd make them sprint for two hours straight. Those were some foreign training methods passed down from those dog-raising brothers from Shanxi. I also have my own ways - like getting Old Wei to find an old millstone from the countryside and tying it to their harness, making them pull until they're exhausted. And then there's hanging a piece of cowhide from a tree for them to bite onto. My Black Panther can hang on for 27 minutes straight! Your two dogs aren't bad either, lasting around 14 minutes each. Raising a fighting dog isn't easy - the key is maintaining their fighting spirit. Tibetan Mastiffs aren't traditional fighting dogs, so who'd be stupid enough to use them in a dog fight? They're worth tens or hundreds of thousands, after all! To sell for a high price, they need to look good. Sister, think about it - if a Tibetan Mastiff gets bitten and its fur is all messed up, how can you sell it? Don't believe those swindling businessmen who exaggerate the abilities of their Tibetan Mastiffs. I do believe that wild Tibetan Mastiffs on the high plains of Tibet can chase away wolves, but as for those domesticated ones from breeding farms, no matter how good their bloodline or price, I just don't buy it."
"You're also an expert in drifting through life?" he asked in surprise.
"Experts don't count, just roughly play through."
Chen Ergou smiled and said, lightly passing over the matter. Under ****'s lead, he sat in a front-row corner seat. In the center of the dog-fighting arena was a half-person-high cement platform, surrounded by half-person-high iron cages, similar to a Roman amphitheater. The seats rose gradually in an elliptical shape. As soon as Chen Ergou and Chen Yuanshu entered this domed building, they were shocked, because it was like digging out a huge underground room. However, for the sake of privacy, there were not many seats. In each of the four directions - east, south, west, and north - there were only four rows, and each row had only two VIP box seats similar to those in a movie theater, equipped with long tea tables, tea, water, cigarettes, wine, and fruit plates. Sitting inside, except for the opposite direction's box seat, it was impossible to see what was happening on either side, even if someone was committing murder or arson. Originally, Chen Ergou should have gotten a top front-row golden position due to his special status in this dog-fighting arena, but apparently Yu Hanliang did not pay attention to his identity as the latest spokesperson for the Wei family and simply arranged for him to sit in an ordinary section. After some polite conversation, he went off to sit with old friends from his circle.
"This dog-fighting arena is really something, one ticket per bet, and one ticket costs 100,000 yuan. Just like what people outside said, there isn't a single casual guest. I thought it was already frightening that you brought tens of millions at once, but didn't expect those guys to bring money in suitcases, one suitcase after another. Sister, did you notice when we bought the tickets earlier? That guy with the Hunan accent, I estimate he had over 4 million yuan in that bag. The arena's commission alone took away over 400,000 yuan from him, and he didn't even bat an eyelid, really treating money like it was nothing." Chen Ergou sighed, taking a big bite of the apple he picked up from the fruit plate.
"Money is just a symbol." Chen Yuanshu smiled, expressionless. She liked this version of Chen Ergou, slightly resentful and dissatisfied with the world, yet carrying a hint of unspoken frustration and repression.
"Let's celebrate! Open it up and go get Hei Bao from the Zhongshan Golf Course." Chen Er Gou said gritting his teeth.
Chen Qing did not waste words and set off immediately.
"How about it? Have you also learned that a horse can't gain weight overnight and want to make some extra money?" Chen Yuanshu joked.
"Making money is one thing, that house was renovated with her own savings, I want to decorate it a bit better, also as a token of goodwill. Besides, since that Shanghai guy dared to speak nonsense, I'm really worried that Old Master Yu's North Caucasian Shepherd won't be able to take it down, Black Panther has been in the big city for so long, except for some small fights during training, it hasn't had a good bite in ages, I think it's about time to let it stretch its limbs and sharpen its teeth. Don't look at its small size, but its bite is vicious, just like Qingzhi's dagger and Fugui's bow." Chen Ergou was lost in thought, thinking of ways to let Black Panther relax its muscles and warm up its teeth, unaware that a seven-seater private room opposite him had opened, with people pointing and staring at him.
