Chapter 18 Chapter 18
A silver Volkswagen slowly drove into the parking lot of the China Shooting Association.
After the car stopped, Chu Xi opened the door and got out first.
Hu Yanming came down from the other side, locked the car with the keys, and turned to look at Chu Xi. "Sister, where are we going?"
Chu Xi raised her eyes and looked around. It was similar to the Chinese Shooting Association she remembered.
She pointed in the direction of the hall entrance and said, "Enter from that way."
Hu Yanming took a deep breath and said, "Okay, let's go."
It's quite abstract. He is an entertainment industry agent, but one day he can come to a place like the Shooting Association.
Walking into the shooting association hall, a girl in her early twenties was standing at the front desk sorting things.
Chu Xi walked over and said, "Hello, I'm here to take the physical fitness test."
The girl at the front desk was stunned for a moment and looked Chu Xi up and down curiously. It turned out that she was the one who signed up for the competition in her own name.
After coming to her senses, the receptionist smiled at her, raised her arm, and pointed to the stairs. "Go up to the third floor and turn left. A coach specifically for your test is waiting for you in the training ground."
Chu Xi nodded, "Okay, thank you."
She turned and walked up the stairs. Hu Yanming sighed softly and followed Chu Xi silently.
After entering the training ground, Chu Xi looked around.
A middle-aged man in a sports T-shirt was leaning against the window, smoking. When he saw someone approaching, he immediately put out his cigarette, pushed open the window, and fanned the smoke in front of him. "Who are you?"
Chu Xi directly stated the purpose of his visit, "I'm here to take a physical fitness test."
Wang Deyuan looked at Chu Xi curiously.
He had just learned from the staff that Chu Xi was the only player who registered for the National Shooting Championship in his own capacity.
"Okay, just warm up briefly first. The physical fitness test consists of two parts: strength and balance. Be ready. It will officially begin in five minutes."
"In addition, during the physical examination, no unrelated personnel are allowed to stay in the venue." As he said this, Wang Deyuan glanced at Hu Yanming.
Hu Yanming raised his hand and tugged at his collar, then cleared his throat awkwardly, "I'll go out and wait."
After saying that, he turned and walked towards the exit of the training ground.
Chu Xi crossed his arms, bent down, and began to stretch his legs.
Wang Deyuan picked up the physical test score sheet from the side, leaned against the wall, and looked at Chu Xi with an inquiring look.
Originally, physical fitness tests were conducted by the contestants in their own shooting team units.
This is the first time this year that a lone wolf has come.
But judging by the girl's skillful warm-up exercises, she should not be a pure amateur.
The five-minute warm-up period is over.
Wang Deyuan called a halt at the last moment: "The physical fitness test consists of three parts: strength, balance, and endurance. Each test has a different score, and you'll pass only if the total score exceeds 24."
"If there are no other questions, let's officially get started."
It was similar to her previous physical fitness test in the national team. Chu Xi flexed her wrist and nodded to Wang Deyuan, "Okay."
"The first strength test is push-ups, which are timed for one minute and must be completed continuously without interruption. If you stop in the middle, the score will be calculated based on the number of times you did when you stopped."
Chu Xi raised his leg and took a step forward, slightly bent his body, opened his hands and supported himself on the ground.
Seeing that she was ready, Wang Deyuan pressed the stopwatch and said, "Start."
During this period, Chu Xi did not forget physical training.
Shooting does not require high physical fitness from athletes, but still requires a certain physical foundation to support the athletes' stability and endurance.
After the countdown began, Chu Xi tensed his body and quickly started doing push-ups on the spot.
One, two, three times...
Wang Deyuan stood by and calculated the results with a serious expression.
Chu Xi's muscles were tense, her eyes fixed firmly on the front, her body trembling slightly as she pushed herself up again and again. Her flushed face looked like she was about to reach her limit, but her body never stopped moving.
After one minute, Chu Xi had completed eighteen push-ups in a row, with sweat running down her neck.
Wang Deyuan nodded and ticked the box on the physical fitness test score sheet.
The general standard for female athletes is that they are qualified if they can complete more than ten push-ups in a row.
This was followed by a test of sit-ups, pull-ups, and planks.
Chu Xi also performed very well, unsurprisingly.
Wang Deyuan filled in the score on the table and started the second balance test.
"Stand on one leg with your eyes closed, keep your body balanced, and try to hold on to your limit. I will time you."
After completing a set of physical tests, beads of sweat had already appeared on Chu Xi's forehead.
She wiped the sweat off her face and began to prepare for the balance test. "Okay."
After watching Chu Xi's performance in the first round, Hu Yanming, who was waiting at the entrance of the training ground, became less relaxed and a little distressed.
He thought Sister Xi was just in the mood to participate in the competition for fun.
But the determined look in Chu Xi's eyes and the image of her gritting her teeth and persevering again and again suddenly touched him.
Sister Xi...it seems like you are not joking.
About forty minutes later, Chu Xi successfully completed the three tests.
Wang Deyuan lowered his head and began to calculate Chu Xi's final test score on the spreadsheet.
"Not bad, I got full marks on the balance test. The other two were a little off, with two points deducted from each, but the total score has already met the qualification requirements. Congratulations."
Wang Deyuan put down the form and smiled at Chu Xi. Chu Xi felt relieved and bowed to the coach, nodding, "Thank you."
Wang Deyuan put away the results sheet and said, "I will submit this to the association as a backup. Once the specific arrangements for the competition are finalized, someone will contact you by phone."
After saying that, Wang Deyuan turned around and left with the form.
Hu Yanming, who had been waiting outside, trotted in and asked, "Sister, did you pass the test?"
Chu Xi nodded, "Yeah."
Hu Yanming felt complicated.
Originally, before coming here, he was hoping that Sister Xi would fail, so that everything could get back on track.
But just now, seeing how hard Sister Xi worked and how persistent she was, he was really looking forward to Sister Xi's success.
After hesitating for a long time, Hu Yanming shook his head.
Alas, how many opportunities can we have in life to fight like this?
Just accompany Sister Xi to fulfill her sports dream.
After making this decision, Hu Yanming stopped worrying and looked at Chu Xi with interest. "Sister, are there any other procedures required for the competition? I'll help you with it."
Chu Xi rested for a while, and after recovering, he shook his head and said, "It's nothing now. Let's wait for the notification of the preliminaries to come out and talk about it."
"OK."
…
The two-day break is over and the live broadcast of "Super Star Sports Games" continues.
With only one week left until the finals, the program team has strengthened the training arrangements for the artists.
During the preparation for the finals, Chu Xi temporarily put aside shooting training and began to concentrate on archery practice.
In any case, it was a game that everyone was looking forward to and she should take it seriously.
"Come, let me introduce you. These two are athletes from the Kyoto Provincial Shooting Team, Shi Lei and Song Jingbo. Coach Wang has to lead the team in training and doesn't have time to come here often, so he specially assigned two of his outstanding players to take charge of the physical training for our archery team for the next week. Everyone, welcome!"
The director led Shi Lei and Song Jingbo into the archery area.
The artist contestants who were originally practicing hard raised their heads and looked at Shi Lei and the others curiously.
Song Jingbo has tough and three-dimensional facial features and a strong body that is full of masculinity.
He stood with his hands behind his back, his body straight. He was over 1.8 meters tall, tall and broad, and immediately attracted the attention of many female artists.
"So handsome, and he's an athlete from the shooting team. The director is so nice to us."
"Hey, you idiot! He's here to take us for physical training. What are you thinking? He's really handsome though."
There are many handsome guys in the entertainment industry, but since all the artists are in the same circle, you see them everywhere, and no matter how handsome they are, you will get tired of seeing them. So people are more interested in this kind of fresh handsome guy.
The sound of discussion reached Song Jingbo's ears. He lowered his head awkwardly and coughed lightly, his ears becoming noticeably redder.
Wu Yuliang in the team muttered inwardly, "Why don't I usually hear anyone praise me for being handsome?"
The director raised his hand, signaling for everyone to be quiet. "Alright, I won't delay your training. Good luck everyone."
After the director left, the situation at the scene completely broke out. A group of people gathered around Song Jingbo and Shi Lei curiously, "Coach, what's your name?"
"Coach, can we not be too tired? I'm really exhausted after training these past few days."
Shi Lei frowned slightly and said seriously, "Stop arguing, everyone stand still."
The smile on Song Jingbo's face disappeared, and he became equally serious. "Let me introduce myself first. My name is Song Jingbo, and I specialize in the men's 10-meter air pistol event. The person next to me is Shi Lei, and I specialize in the same event."
"Let me tell you about the training arrangements."
His expressionless face, as cold as ice, immediately made the scene quiet.
The artists all shut up and finally started to listen to the lecture honestly.
…
A quarter of an hour later, the archery area began the devilish physical training that was so intense that no one could get any response.
The artists were all devastated and gnashing their teeth, silently complaining in their hearts: What a handsome athlete! He's simply a devil! Devil!
Song Jingbo and Shi Lei sat on the rest bench nearby.
Both of them were staring at Chu Xi.
Compared to other artists around her who looked exhausted during training, Chu Xi was obviously more relaxed when doing these physical exercises, and judging from her appearance, she probably still had some energy left.
"What on earth is Chu Xi thinking? She has already agreed to the coach to try out for the shooting team. Why is she still wasting her time here?" Shi Lei said indignantly.
Song Jingbo helped explain: "Such a program should have signed a contract beforehand, and she can't break the contract."
"Song Jingbo." Shi Lei called his name dangerously, narrowing his eyes and turning his head. "I've noticed that ever since you lost to Chu Xi, you've always spoken up for her. Where's your ambition?! At a time like this, shouldn't you seize this opportunity, train hard, and surpass Chu Xi?"
Song Jingbo replied calmly: "Why would I overtake her? We are not on the same track. What good would it do me to overtake her?"
Shi Lei was suddenly choked, it seemed to be true.
Chu Xi is in the women's group, and they don't even meet in official competitions.
Shi Lei stopped talking and turned his head to continue staring at Chu Xi in the field, with a hint of anger rising in his eyes from time to time. It was probably because he saw Chu Xi wasting time here, and he felt a sense of disappointment in his heart.
After completing a set of training exercises, Chu Xi stood up and went to the side to rest.
Soon, she noticed that two pairs of eyes seemed to be staring at her.
Chu Xi bent down to pick up the water bottle, ignoring the two gazes. She knew without looking that the two people must be Shi Lei and Song Jingbo.
She unscrewed the bottle cap, drank a few sips of water, and sat down on the bench to rest.
[Have you noticed that those two new athletes seem to be staring at Chu Xi the whole time? What's going on? Is this a secret crush?]
[No, no, no, the look in Shi Lei's eyes isn't one of secret love. It's more like a werewolf's assassination look, ready to kill Sister Xi with a knife.]
[I don't understand. Isn't this their first meeting? Why is it so complicated?]
Chu Xi leaned back in his chair, lowered his head, and fell into deep thought.
The finals will be held in a week, which is the moment with the most traffic in the entire program and also the best opportunity for her to earn emotional points.
"Look in the group, the program team has announced the final rules for the archery event." Someone suddenly shouted.
The artists who were originally taking a break all lowered their heads and took out their mobile phones.
Chu Xi also took out his mobile phone from his pocket and clicked into the group chat of the program team.
Archery Final Rules: Each competitor will shoot ten arrows within seven minutes. The total number of rings will be calculated and ranked. Afterwards, competitors will take turns shooting, with the rings accumulated. Each arrow shot will eliminate the last-placed competitor until the champion is determined.
"This rule is too exciting. Every time you shoot an arrow, you eliminate the last-ranked player. How stressful is that?"
"I felt like I was going to fail. My mental state was really bad. During the qualifying round, my hands were shaking."
Wu Yuliang sighed with a look of sorrow on his face, "Ah, these finals rules are exciting for the audience, but our contestants' hearts are fluttering."
On the other side, Xu Chongguang also frowned.
The rules for the archery finals last season were not like this. The sudden change this time is really confusing.
For a moment, all the contestants in the archery area complained bitterly.
Chu Xi's expression remained calm. He just unscrewed the bottle cap, drank two sips of water, and then stood up to continue training.
At this moment, Shi Lei walked towards her with a stern face and stopped in front of her. "After training, do you want to go to the shooting club to play?"
After Song Jingbo told him that he lost to Chu Xi last time, Shi Lei has remained skeptical.
This is a rare opportunity to come here, and he wants to test Chu Xi's strength personally.
"No, I still have to train. Maybe next time." Chu Xi refused him without hesitation.
After saying that, Chu Xi turned and walked towards the archery area to continue training.
Shi Lei stood there in a daze, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses.
He angrily returned to sit next to Song Jingbo, ripped off the program staff's headset, and said with suppressed anger: "See, she didn't even dare to accept my invitation. She must be afraid of me. She was definitely lucky to beat you last time."
Song Jingbo also turned off the microphone and glanced at him, "You've been talking about Chu Xi all the time lately. What's wrong with you?"
Coach Wang had clearly explained that Chu Xi was not a relative.
But Shi Lei's attitude towards Chu Xi remained unchanged.
Shi Lei's face showed a hint of coldness. "I hate geniuses. The word genius is an insult to all of us who work hard. No matter how talented Chu Xi is in shooting, she has no competition experience or training experience. She doesn't deserve a tryout opportunity for the shooting team."
Sure enough, Shi Lei still couldn't get over this hurdle in his heart.
Song Jingbo sighed softly, "If Chu Xi's talent is high enough to make the national team, or even stand on the Olympic stage to win glory for the country, do you still think she doesn't deserve this tryout opportunity?"
"If she can really do that, she'll ask me to do anything. But is it possible? We've both been in the provincial team for three years, and every time there's a national team selection, we can't even get in. She hasn't even made it into the provincial team yet, and you're telling me she's going to make it into the national team. Are you crazy, or am I?" Shi Lei's expression revealed some doubt.
Song Jingbo lowered his head and fell silent.
He and Shi Lei have indeed been in the provincial team for three years.
They were both considered the best in the team, but even so, they still couldn't make it to the national team, which was filled with top players.
After so many years, everyone has been holding a grudge.
"The Olympics are in two years. If we can't make the national team this time, we'll really have no chance." Shi Lei clenched his fists, his eyes red.
Every athlete has a golden age period. Shi Lei and Song Jingbo are now 23 years old. If they still fail to achieve good results in the Olympics two years from now, they will have to wait another four years for the next Olympics.
China is full of talented people.
In another four years, the country will be able to cultivate more young and outstanding talents, and if these older players do not achieve outstanding results, they will definitely not have another chance.
Song Jingbo patted Shi Lei on the shoulder and consoled him, "And Sister Nan, she's the one on our team who has the best chance of making the national team. She'll help us realize that Olympic dream."
After saying that, Song Jingbo looked up and his eyes fell on Chu Xi who was practicing archery in the field.
He and Shi Lei have different ideas.
He hoped that Chu Xi was a top talent.
Because in that case, maybe their team will have a second candidate who has the chance to enter the Olympics this year.
Their regrets in sports competitions may not be so strong.
…
Chu Xi's eyes were focused on the bull's eye in front of her. She shot arrow after arrow, repeating the archery action all afternoon.
This type of sport does not involve many skills or difficult operations; their training is just: repetition.
Chu Xi practiced from day to evening. The lights in the gym were turned on and it was still brightly lit at night.
Before I knew it, all the artists in the archery area had left.
Only Chu Xi was left.
"Sister, our photographer teacher has to go home." The staff member came over to remind her.
Chu Xi then stopped.
She put down the bow and rubbed her right shoulder. She felt soreness coming from her arm muscles. She probably pulled a muscle because she had trained too hard today.
"Okay, I'll leave now." Chu Xi came to the rest area, packed up and prepared to leave.
Today, she gained more than 10,000 emotion points, but it was still too little, and the time she could use to exchange for training space was only more than ten hours.
Chu Xi pursed her lips, pulled the chain of her backpack, slung it over one shoulder, turned around and walked towards the exit of the stadium.
The fans who had been waiting in the live broadcast room felt distressed when they saw this scene.
Who the hell said Chu Xi was an archery genius? I watched her live all day, and she was practically the entire time practicing in the archery area. She never left except for breaks to drink water and go to the bathroom. She's clearly working very hard.
[Just now, Sister Xi seemed to have been massaging her right arm. She must have strained the muscle after practicing too much.]
[There are no geniuses in the world! It's just that we don't see the hard work behind them.]
…
After returning to the hotel, Chu Xi took a hot shower and went straight into the training space without wasting any time.
This time, she exchanged for an archery training space.
The finals are approaching, and she has no extra time to waste. She must get herself into the best condition as soon as possible to prepare for the competition.
Moreover, He Yutong was no ordinary athlete. With her current archery skills, she was far from being able to secure a championship.
Still need to practice.
In the evening, Chu Xi converted all his emotional points into archery training space and began a forty-hour long archery training.
As time passed, beads of sweat slid down Chu Xi's cheeks, but her gaze at the target became more and more determined, and her archery posture became more and more standard.
The difference between a recurve bow and a traditional bow is that the recurve bow has its own precise sight, through which the archer can accurately lock the target position.
If the archer is proficient in the technique, he can even make the new arrow directly penetrate the previous arrow on the target, achieving a penetration effect.
This is also the main reason why Chu Xi was able to quickly improve his archery accuracy in such a short period of time.
One night passed, until the last round of training, Chu Xi was almost able to accurately control each arrow to hit the ten rings. She wiped off the sweat and finally a smile appeared on her face.
A few more days of practice should be enough.
…
The next morning, after Chu Xi finished breakfast, he arrived at the stadium at 7:30.
At this time, apart from the staff setting up the camera positions, there was no artist or contestant in the venue.
Chu Xi took the bow and came to the archery area. He stood in the same position as yesterday and continued to practice.
The staff nearby were all dumbfounded when they saw this scene.
"She practiced until very late yesterday, right? Why did she get up so early to practice today?"
"You really work hard, no wonder you are so good."
By the time other artist contestants arrived at the archery area, Chu Xi had already practiced for more than three hours.
When Wu Yuliang came to visit, he was stunned when he saw Chu Xi working so hard.
He asked Xu Chongguang secretly, "What happened to Sister Xi?"
"I don't know. She has been like this since yesterday." Xu Chongguang shook his head in confusion.
Wu Yuliang hesitated for a moment, then walked behind Chu Xi and asked in a low voice, "Sister Xi, do you want to take a break?"
"No need." Chu Xi didn't even turn his head and continued to practice with the arrow and bow.
Gradually, the news that Chu Xi had gone crazy from training spread among the artists.
Not only did the people from the archery project hear about it, even Qi Xiayan came over from the gymnastics team to inquire about the situation.
Seeing Chu Xi completely oblivious to the outside world and concentrating on archery, Qi Xiayan was a little confused. "What's wrong with Chu Xi? Why don't you two try to persuade her?"
Wu Yuliang raised his hands innocently, "I tried to persuade him, but it didn't work."
Xu Chongguang shook his head helplessly, "We don't know what's wrong with her either."
Later, Qi Xiayan went to persuade him, but Chu Xi did not stop and still insisted that he was fine and wanted to practice for a while longer.
During lunch break, the artists were discussing:
"Even a top seed like Chu Xi is training like crazy, we can't fall behind. We all have to work hard together this afternoon!"
"Yes, we must! Excellent people work harder than us, so why should we lie down and do nothing?"
Now, Chu Xi's personal involution has directly led to the collective expansion of the artists.
When training continued in the afternoon, the training areas of each project were as energetic as if they had been injected with chicken blood.
The archery athletes who complained about the hard physical training yesterday also started training frantically.
Whenever they felt tired, they would look at Chu Xi's back as he practiced archery, and then they would instantly become full of energy again.
Shi Lei and Song Jingbo had training in the morning, so they came to the training venue in the afternoon.
I thought the archers were all slacking off, but as soon as I entered the archery area, I saw everyone practicing hard and sweating profusely.
The two stopped and looked at each other in surprise.
"What happened?" Shi Lei asked in surprise.
Song Jingbo hesitated and analyzed: "It looks like he was stimulated by something?"
Soon, Song Jingbo's gaze fell on Chu Xi. Seeing Chu Xi's back as he repeated the archery action over and over again like a machine, he seemed to suddenly understand something.
This involutionary atmosphere has almost driven everyone. In gymnastics, swimming, rope skipping and other events, every athlete has been training more seriously than usual.
It was dark outside, but the lights in the stadium were still on, and every area was filled with athletes practicing extra training.
At the same time, He Yutong, who was taking a break on the set, quietly clicked into the live broadcast room.
After watching Chu Xi and everyone else at the scene fighting frantically for a while, He Yutong's eyes burned with fighting spirit.
She knew that Chu Xi must have been inspired by her outstanding performance in the qualifying match, which was why she started to practice frantically.
Can't lose to Chu Xi!
After work tonight, she will also start extra training!
…
Four days later, the crazy artists began to enter a state of numbness.
Wu Yuliang felt his whole body ache, as if he had lost his soul. He collapsed and complained, "Brother Xu, I really can't roll it anymore. Please persuade Sister Xi to stop."
Xu Chongguang rubbed his aching calf tiredly, "I want to persuade him, but it's impossible."
The two looked at each other, then turned their heads in tacit understanding and looked at Chu Xi who was still training frantically.
“…”
After three days of hard work, the artists finally arrived at the finals of the All-Star Games.
In the morning, the sky was just beginning to brighten.
Chu Xi got up energetically and went to the stadium with a shoulder bag.
She looked around the familiar gymnasium environment, and a hint of determination gradually rose in her eyes.
Today is the last episode of the variety show.
Regardless of whether she can win the championship or not, she will end this finals in the best condition.
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