Chapter 32 Chapter 32
On the other hand, the athlete team was also busy filling out the roster for the competition.
Yang Ruoxue rested her hands on the table, holding a pen in her right hand, and was still hesitant to decide on a candidate.
"Who do you think Sister Xi's team will send for the first game?" Yang Ruoxue looked up at Jiang Zhiming uncertainly.
Jiang Zhiming pondered for a moment. "There aren't many boys on their team who practice air pistols. I think they'll probably just let Shi Lei and Song Jingbo go straight in. That way, they'll almost certainly win the first round."
"But Shi Lei and Song Jingbo can also compete in the fifth mixed air pistol match. Besides, they set the rules for this event. If Sister Xi brings Shi Lei or Song Jingbo to this match, our chances of winning won't be great."
Yang Ruoxue sighed and shook her head, "This match is really hard to win."
Jiang Zhiming's face was a bit serious. "To be safe, I'll go first. Then find a guy on the team who's good with air pistols, and we'll practice together. They're certainly strong, but we're not far behind either. If they make a mistake, we still have a chance of winning."
Yang Ruoxue nodded, her confidence slightly lifted. "That's right. They also have to bring along celebrity guests to compete. The pressure is greater than ours, so they're bound to make more mistakes and be more nervous."
…
In the afternoon, both teams submitted their roster of contestants to the program team.
Not long after, the program staff officially announced the competition information for the first event, the men's double 10-meter air pistol.
Star team first round participants: Shi Lei, Song Jingbo
Athletes team first round participants: Jiang Zhiming, An Xuyao
I knew Sister Xi would definitely send Shi Lei and Song Jingbo for the first match. The first match is all about morale; tactical strategies don't matter; winning is the biggest reward.
But Jiang Zhiming seems to be doing pretty well among the athletes trying out this time, and so does An Xuyao. They won't necessarily lose, right?
Those who make it to the provincial team for tryouts are definitely strong. It all depends on their experience and ability to maintain their composure.
…
Inside the shooting team training ground.
Wu Yuliang finished training, picked up the towel beside him, wiped the sweat off his head, and looked at Chu Xi expectantly, "Sister Xi, for the fifth game, have you decided on any rule changes? Tell me."
Ever since Chu Xi asked for compensation from the program team to set the rules of the competition, Wu Yuliang and others were particularly curious about how Chu Xi would make up for the loss he suffered from the program team.
Whether there is anything wrong or not, I have to ask Chu Xi.
"Keep it a secret." Chu Xi glanced at him without saying a word.
Wu Yuliang became even more excited.
Sister Xi would not do anything without confidence. Since she took the initiative to make this request to the program team, she must have thought of a solution.
If you calculate it this way, they will definitely win the fifth game.
In the best-of-five format, their team definitely can't lose.
"By the way, the fifth match is the mixed air pistol competition for men and women. You come with me." Chu Xi thought of the important matter and added.
Wu Yuliang was stunned. "I'll go? How can that be possible? I'm afraid... I'll hold you back."
"As long as you don't suddenly hit five or six rings for me, there will be no problem." Chu Xi's tone was calm, making people feel safe.
Wu Yuliang patted his chest and promised confidently.
"The athletes from the provincial team practiced with us, and it wasn't in vain. I can now basically guarantee that I can consistently score above eight rings."
"That's no problem." Chu Xi replied.
At this time, Jiang Wannan came back with Xu Qianqian and Su Mingzhi.
"No problem, they both agreed to play in the second game." Jiang Wannan and Chu Xi made a gesture.
The three of them just went out alone to discuss the list of contestants for the second women's double air pistol event.
Considering that the events of the second game were not very favorable to them, Chu Xi planned to let Xu Qianqian and Su Mingzhi compete directly.
The chances of them winning against professional athletes are slim, so this round is considered as the star team forfeiting.
Chu Xi explained, "After the third game, it will be our crucial round, so don't worry about losing the second game."
Su Mingzhi and Xu Qianqian had just started learning air pistol. They were both complete newcomers. No matter how much they practiced during this period, it would be impossible for them to achieve the effect of defeating athletes in a short period of time.
Even if Chu Xi were to lead the team, it would definitely be difficult for the women's double air pistol team to win.
Giving up decisively is also a strategy.
Su Mingzhi nodded, "We all follow the captain's arrangements."
Xu Qianqian didn't say anything, her attitude was the same as Su Mingzhi's.
At this time, there is no need for amateur players like them to be so stubborn. They should just follow the organization's arrangements.
"Captain, this is our fifth match. Have you decided how to compete?" Su Mingzhi cast a curious look.
Like Wu Yuliang, she was also very curious about what solution Sister Xi had come up with.
Jiang Wannan and Xu Qianqian also turned around and looked at Chu Xi.
They were all very curious about this question.
Chu Xi still refused to reveal a single word, "Keep it a secret for now. You'll know before the competition begins."
Everyone looked at each other and could only put aside their curiosity for the time being.
…
In the evening, night falls.
Shi Lei and Song Jingbo are still practicing at the training ground.
The team competition requires the two to have more trust in each other. These days, they basically train together.
"I heard that you two will be going on the court tomorrow to compete with the junior brothers and sisters who are on trial?" Wang Ruiguo walked into the training ground with his hands behind his back.
Shi Lei and Song Jingbo were startled by the sudden sound and turned to look behind them.
"Coach, why are you walking without making any noise? You scared me." Shi Lei was frightened and quickly patted his chest to calm down.
Song Jingbo nodded at Wang Ruiguo, "Well, the competition will be tomorrow morning. We thought we'd practice a little longer tonight."
Wang Ruiguo stepped forward and patted Song Jingbo on the shoulder, saying earnestly, "Tomorrow, the two of you, don't go too far. These are your future junior brothers and sisters, so be careful."
"I understand." Song Jingbo quickly gave him a look that said "I understand".
Then, Wang Ruiguo changed the subject, revealing a curious look in his eyes, and began to inquire, "How are your team's fifth game going to be played? Have you decided yet?"
Another person was curious about how Chu Xi would set the rules of the competition.
Song Jingbo kept smiling. "That...we don't know either. You should ask our captain."
Shi Lei also nodded, "I don't know either."
So far, Chu Xi has not revealed her thoughts to anyone, only saying that it needs to be kept secret for the time being.
"Okay, you guys continue practicing." Having not gotten any news, Wang Ruiguo didn't dare to ask any further questions. He waved his hand, said hello, and turned to leave.
Song Jingbo watched Wang Ruiguo leave the training ground and began to wonder, "Is the coach here to show concern for us, or to inquire about how Sister Xi came up with the rules of the game?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Shi Lei glanced at Song Jingbo. "How can the coach come over and pay attention to us alone?"
"..." Song Jingbo didn't want to talk anymore.
One by one, everyone wanted to inquire about the news of their team.
…
The next morning, a large number of viewers who were ready to watch the game poured into the live broadcast room of "Centripate Shooting".
[I saw the competition time announced by the production team. Is it starting today?]
Yes, this morning we're competing in the men's doubles air pistol event. I'm already looking forward to the exciting showdown between the two teams!
When will Chu Xi be on stage? The last time I saw the production team deliberately cancel an event because of her, it pissed me off. I want to see her win now.
[Sister Xi's match hasn't been decided yet.]
The director knew that today's official competition would definitely attract a large number of spectators.
After starting the live broadcast room, I started to keep an eye on the background data.
The number of people online in the live broadcast room has been growing steadily, and the number of barrages has increased several times compared to before. Although he can still occasionally see barrages scolding him, he has gotten used to it in the past few days and his mentality is still stable.
"Director, Teacher Zhou Yumei is here." The staff member came trotting over to report.
The director immediately stood up and went to the door of the commentary room to greet him.
Zhou Yumei was wearing a light blue formal dress today, her long hair was tied into a ponytail, and her makeup was neat and refreshing, revealing the temperament of a beautiful career woman.
"Teacher Zhou, thank you for coming here so early in the morning. Our competition will start in half an hour. Here is the information of the four contestants. Please take a look at it first." The director handed the contestants' information to Zhou Yumei with a smile.
The last time Zhou Yumei commented on the finals of the Super Star Games, the results were very good.
The director was also impressed by her commentary ability, and this time, he specially asked someone to invite Zhou Yumei over.
Zhou Yumei quickly scanned the contestants' information. Ten minutes later, she nodded and said, "I almost understand."
After putting down the information, Zhou Yumei looked up curiously, "I heard that Chu Xi is also on this show?"
The director smiled and nodded, "Yes, but she's not a guest on the show. She's a team leader sent by the shooting team."
Zhou Yumei's eyes showed a hint of surprise. "She joined the shooting team?"
The last time I saw Chu Xi was at the Super Star Sports Meet. I didn’t expect that not long after, when I heard about Chu Xi again, she was already a member of the shooting team?
"I was also quite shocked when I first heard about it. Moreover, Coach Wang from the shooting team also told me that Chu Xi had just won a shooting competition championship some time ago. That competition was very prestigious." The director continued seriously.
Zhou Yumei looked even more shocked.
"That... is quite surprising."
Seeing that the time was almost up, the director stopped chatting, gave instructions to Zhou Yumei, and then hurried to watch the staff set up the competition venue.
In the competition venue specially designated by the shooting team.
The audience seats were already crowded with athletes and coaches from the provincial team.
In the waiting area before the game, Shi Lei and Song Jingbo were doing warm-up exercises.
Chu Xi carried two bottles of energy drinks and handed them to the two of them. "You all have experience, so I won't give you any more instructions. Just do it yourself."
Shi Lei and Song Jingbo exchanged a glance, took the drinks in tacit understanding, and said in unison, "I know."
"Nice to meet you all again. I am Zhou Yumei, the commentator of this game." Zhou Yumei's voice slowly spread throughout the competition venue.
"The next event about to begin is the men's double 10-meter air pistol competition. The competition will be divided into two rounds. In the first round, each competitor will have five shooting opportunities. The shooting scores of two competitors on the same team will be accumulated to calculate the team ranking."
Hearing this familiar commentary, the audience's adrenaline immediately soared, and the number of barrages in the live broadcast room also began to skyrocket.
【It’s started! 】
[Already holding the watermelon and ready to start eating. ]
The four players representing the two teams entered the venue one after another.
Jiang Zhiming and Song Jingbo shook hands angrily, then stood on both sides and began to prepare for the competition.
In the audience seats, Yang Ruoxue and her teammates took their seats one after another and began to prepare to watch the game.
"Captain, can we win this game?" The team member asked worriedly after seeing the situation on the field.
Yang Ruoxue's expression was not relaxed. "It's very difficult."
The reason for choosing Jiang Zhiming to play was to take a gamble that the Chuxi team would not directly send two provincial teams to participate in the first game.
But now, they lost the bet.
In this game, with Shi Lei and Song Jingbo on the field, it will be difficult for them to win.
"It's okay, we still have other projects to do later." The team member said comfortingly.
Yang Ruoxue sighed softly in her heart.
Later on, two top masters, Jiang Wannan and Chu Xi, appeared.
If they can’t even win the first game, do they still have a chance when the next two players come on?
Yang Ruoxue could only keep the words in her heart and continued to watch the game with her eyes lowered.
As the game started, Shi Lei and Song Jingbo quickly got into the game.
After the referee announced that they could start shooting, they raised their air pistols almost at the same time, adjusted their shooting posture, and aimed their guns.
"We can see that Shi Lei and Song Jingbo of the star team got into the game very quickly, and their movements were very synchronized. They seem to be players who have a good understanding of each other," Zhou Yumei explained.
On the other side, Jiang Zhiming and the other man also raised their guns and began to prepare to shoot.
A few seconds of anxious waiting passed.
"Shi Lei from the Star Team took the lead in shooting the first shot, scoring 10.3, a good score above ten rings. His teammate Song Jingbo followed closely behind, also scoring a good score of 10.4."
Zhou Yumei looked at the other team and said, "An Xuyao from the Athlete Team scored 9.3 in the first shot."
The program crew gave An Xuyao a close-up. From the perspective of the live broadcast room, many people could see that An Xuyao's hand holding the gun was actually shaking slightly.
The degree of this tremor is negligible, but in shooting competitions, its impact is still very large.
"Let's take a look at his teammates' results."
The camera then turned to Jiang Zhiming.
Soon, Jiang Zhiming's first shooting result came out: 10.2 rings.
Jiang Zhiming was okay, but his teammates were a bit too nervous. They were so far behind on the first shot. If he can't adjust, it will be hard to catch up later.
[I checked and found out that An Xuyao had only participated in two city-level competitions before. He was sent here by the sports school to try out for the provincial team simply because of his strong shooting talent.]
[It's normal to be nervous if you don't have any experience. Looking at it this way, the Stars have a better chance of winning this round.]
The game is still going on.
Not long after, both sides completed their first round of shooting.
"We can see that the first round shooting results are out. First place goes to the Star Team. Song Jingbo shot a total of 52 rings in five shots, while Shi Lei shot a total of 51 rings in five shots. The combined scores of the two total 103 rings."
"The athletes' total score in the first round of shooting was 98.6."
The gap between the two teams began to emerge in the first round of shooting.
Zhou Yumei cleared her throat and continued, "Actually, I understand the pressure Jiang Zhiming and An Xuyao are under. They're both currently trying out for the provincial team, and to achieve such results, they've already done quite well."
"You know, Shi Lei and Song Jingbo are veteran athletes who once represented the Kyoto Provincial Shooting Team and participated in countless competitions."
"According to the information I have, Shi Lei participated in the men's 10-meter air pistol event a total of 28 times, winning five silver and four bronze medals."
"Song Jingbo represented the shooting team in a total of 34 competitions, winning a total of one gold, six silver, and three bronze medals."
"This number of medals is enough to demonstrate the strength and rich experience of Shi Lei and Song Jingbo."
At this point in the explanation, Zhou Yumei was actually more helping Jiang Zhiming and the other man out of the predicament.
After all, the gap in strength between the players on both sides is indeed huge.
Soon, the second round of shooting competition began.
"After this round, we will decide the final winner of the men's doubles 10-meter air pistol. Let us continue to pay attention to the performance of the four players on the field." Zhou Yumei said slowly.
Oh my god, why don't I feel nervous at all watching this game? What's going on? I don't remember watching Super Star Sports like this before.
Because Shi Lei and Song Jingbo's scores were so high, they were practically guaranteed to win, so it definitely wasn't that exciting to watch.
[What do you think, when they take turns shooting later on, will Shi Lei and Song Jingbo suddenly make a mistake or something?]
[It's difficult, it's already reached this level.]
While netizens were chatting idly, Shi Lei shot another 10.6 rings.
This is the fourth round of shooting.
Current field ranking:
First, Star Team: 185.4 rings
Second, the Athlete Team: 177.3 rings
The gap between the two teams is so big that even if Shi Lei and Song Jingbo suddenly go crazy in the last round and shoot a score of seven or eight rings, they will not lose the game.
But Shi Lei and Song Jingbo definitely wouldn't go crazy suddenly.
In the final round of shooting, both of them continued to perform stably, scoring 10.4 and 9.8 rings respectively.
In the end, he won the game with a total score of 205.6 rings.
"Let us congratulate the star team represented by Song Jingbo and Shi Lei for winning the men's doubles 10-meter air pistol competition!" Zhou Yumei's voice rose a little.
But in fact, she didn't feel too much.
The main thing is that the victory was normal, without any surprises or twists and turns.
Moreover, the gap in strength between the two sides was too big, and there was no sense of ups and downs throughout the game.
[Oh wow, how come I didn't feel nervous at all when I won this match? It was such a normal, smooth match.]
【Hahahahahahahaha, we won the game in a crushing manner. 】
I was really looking forward to seeing celebrities compete with professional athletes, but after seeing this, I guess the comparison is just like what happened just now.
Given the huge gap in strength between the two teams, the match wasn't suspenseful. If Shi Lei and Song Jingbo were to engage in a tense and intense match with their opponents, all their years of training on the shooting team would have been for nothing.
The first game ended successfully.
The Stars won the first game.
Immediately afterwards, the second women's doubles 10-meter air pistol competition began that afternoon.
The star team sent Xu Qianqian and Su Mingzhi to participate.
The Athlete Team sent two players who were ranked above average in the team.
Just as netizens predicted, there is a huge gap between the stars' strength and that of the athletes.
There was no suspense in the second game either, and the Athlete Team won.
At the end of the first day of competition, the star team and the athlete team were tied.
[No, what on earth did I watch all day? ]
[I'm dying of laughter. It was such a lonely experience. I thought both games would be exciting, but in the end, there was nothing interesting at all.]
[Don't even mention it. Tomorrow's match will be Jiang Wannan's Qibu-Jiang. There's no doubt about it. The Star Team will definitely win.]
So the purpose of the production team arranging this competition is to let us all watch several unpredictable matches together?
No, no, no, the suspense is all in the last match. The program team has released the competition list. Chu Xi will bring artist Wu Yuliang to participate in the final mixed men's and women's 10-meter air pistol competition. All I can say is, this is the match I'm most looking forward to right now.
The program team’s gimmick has been released.
On the second day of the game, the number of people online in the live broadcast room increased instead of decreased.
In the third game, the women's 10-meter air rifle, Jiang Wannan from the star team won.
In the fourth game, the men's and women's mixed 10-meter air rifle-gun event, the athletes' team won.
The current score between the two teams is tied at 2-2.
[Shit! What's going on? I thought the All-Stars were going to win, but they're tied again?]
[Goodness me, the pressure is now on Chu Xi in the final match. But she has to bring an artist to the team competition, which is not easy, right? In the last mixed air rifle match, it was because of that artist's mistake that he hit a five-ring shot, and the score was immediately pulled so low that he couldn't catch up.]
[Ahhhhhh why am I getting nervous? I wonder if Chu Xi will lose the fifth game because of the artists? I want to see Chu Xi win!]
Inside the shooting team training ground.
Jiang Lu lowered his head and apologized with a guilty look on his face: "If I hadn't missed that shot, we might have won the fourth game."
The fourth game was played by foreign players invited by Jiang Lu and Jiang Wannan.
Originally, in the first round, the two performed well. Although Jiang Lu's shooting results were a little worse, Jiang Wannan's friends were able to make up for it. The combined results of the two were not much different from those of the opponent. In fact, they even had the upper hand in the first round.
But when it came to the second round of shooting, Jiang Lu became obviously nervous and shot a five-ring shot.
After this shot, the score between the two sides widened instantly and there was no way to catch up.
The Stars also lost the fourth game.
"It's okay. We have already considered possible accidents before you came out. Our focus is mainly on the fifth game." Jiang Wannan said comfortingly.
It is normal for amateur players to make mistakes during competitions, and this was also within Chu Xi's expectations.
She raised her head and looked at everyone, "Don't be nervous, we still have the fifth game."
Everyone then remembered that Chu Xi still had the right to set the rules for the fifth game.
The originally tense atmosphere immediately eased a little.
Su Mingzhi looked at Chu Xi expectantly, "Captain, have you figured out the winning rules for the fifth game?"
"Yes." Chu Xi glanced at her and said, "I'll discuss the rules of the fifth game with the director later. The others don't have any games, so you can rest early today and go to watch the game on time tomorrow."
With Chu Xi's words, Jiang Lu and others immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's great. I know the captain has a solution. We can rest assured then."
Shi Lei and Song Jingbo looked at each other in confusion.
Both of them were very curious about what kind of rules would ensure their team's victory.
"Let's all go and rest." Chu Xi announced the disbandment.
Watching the others leave one after another, Wu Yuliang stayed alone.
After waiting for everyone to leave the shooting range, Wu Yuliang looked at Chu Xi hesitantly, "Captain, actually... have you never thought of the secret to our victory in the fifth game?"
Chu Xi raised her eyes to look at him, "Why do you feel so?"
Wu Yuliang organized his words and continued, "Because I've been thinking about various possible rule changes these past few days, any rule that benefits us will definitely be unfriendly to the athletes. So they definitely won't agree to this kind of competition rules."
"So, there simply isn't a rule that would be beneficial to us and that the other team would agree to."
Chu Xi nodded at him, "Yes, that's right."
Wu Yuliang's mind was struck by a bolt of lightning, and his tone became a little panicked. "So there is no rule of victory at all. Then why do you... keep saying that, Sister Xi?"
Chu Xi looked at Wu Yuliang and said, "Because if you say that, you won't be the only one who will be nervous about tomorrow's game."
Chu Xi picked up the bottle of mineral water at his feet, turned around and walked out of the training ground. "Don't be stressed. The other team should be stressed."
Wu Yuliang came to his senses and quickly caught up with Chu Xi, "Sister Xi, are you saying that Yang Ruoxue and the others are more nervous than we are?"
"Of course." Chu Xi looked back at Wu Yuliang. "If you make a mistake in tomorrow's game, I can help you catch it. If they make a mistake, it's just a mistake."
Wu Yuliang was stunned. So it could be like this?
But if you think about it carefully, the players of the Athlete Team did make occasional mistakes in the previous games.
This is basically because the athletes who are still in trial training lack experience in major competitions, and if their mentality fluctuates slightly, their shooting results will easily deviate.
The artists' mistakes are a little more exaggerated than theirs.
In a sense, the reason for both sides' mistakes is the same: lack of experience.
But Sister Xi is steady.
Ever since he joined the shooting team and met Sister Xi, he has never seen Sister Xi make serious mistakes in shooting.
"Are we going to change the rules for tomorrow's game?" Wu Yuliang followed Chu Xi happily and asked curiously.
"Of course it needs to be changed."
Changing the rules will make the other side more nervous, because they are not sure why Chu Xi changed the rules.
People are always afraid of the unknown.
Shooting skills cannot be improved in a short period of time, but unfortunately, shooting is a sport that requires a good mindset.
Not long after, Yang Ruoxue's team received a notice from Chu Xi that he wanted to change the rules of the fifth game.
"Teacher, the director wants you to review this rule change and see if there are any problems. If you agree with it, we will follow it in tomorrow's competition."
The staff handed Yang Ruoxue a piece of paper, on which was written the rules that Chu Xi had re-established for the fifth game.
Yang Ruoxue glanced hesitantly at the contents of the note, then turned to look at Jiang Zhiming in confusion. "This rule simply cancels the first round and goes straight to the second round of shooting. Do you think there's a problem?"
Jiang Zhiming frowned. "It seems that whether this rule is changed or not doesn't make any difference."
Both of them were confused at the same time.
In fact, in the past two days, they have done very careful research on Chu Xi's plan to change the rules, but no matter how they thought about it, they could not imagine what Chu Xi would do.
"Okay, we have no objection." After thinking for a moment, Yang Ruoxue was the first to agree.
The staff member smiled and nodded, "Okay, then we will follow this rule tomorrow."
After seeing the staff off, Yang Ruoxue returned to the table with a serious expression and sat down. "I think we're going to lose the fifth game."
Jiang Zhiming lowered his eyes, his emotions tense. "Well, I heard that Wu Yuliang had a year of shooting training experience. His shooting skills should be better than other artists."
"Sister Xi suffered a loss that day, but she didn't say anything. She directly asked the program team for compensation for the rule change. She must have planned it all out long ago. Wu Yuliang has learned shooting and his shooting skills are probably quite high. Then, if they choose a mixed men's and women's air pistol, they will definitely win." Yang Ruoxue quickly speculated.
Jiang Zhiming nodded. "I also took some time to watch some videos of her participating in the National Shooting Championships. Her shooting in the finals was very stable, comparable to that of the national team players."
The more they talked, the more discouraged they became. Before the game even started, they both began to feel that there was no hope.
After being depressed for a while, Yang Ruoxue was the first to raise her head and said, "Forget it, let's talk about it after tomorrow's competition."
Jiang Zhiming sighed: "Hmm."
…
In another dormitory, Wang Ruiguo was talking on the phone with Song Anshan.
"Please save a seat for me tomorrow. I'm taking a break and will go to your place to watch the game." Song Anshan's somewhat tired voice came from the other side of the phone.
Wang Ruiguo asked curiously, "Your voice suddenly sounds more than ten years older. Are you so exhausted from training these past few days?"
"I'm so worried. The World Cup is coming soon. The national team's performance is always unstable. I worry about what to do then." Song Anshan's pressure has been getting greater day by day recently.
After the World Cup comes the World Championships, and then the Olympics, which are held every four years.
These are all international competitions, and we cannot relax in any of them.
But up to now, there is still no player with very stable performance under his command. How can he not be worried?
"It's okay. You can come and see our team's Chu Xi's performance tomorrow. I think she and Jiang Wannan are both good."
Song Anshan was stunned. "Chu Xi? That artist I recommended to you before?"
Wang Ruiguo nodded. "Yes, that's her. She just won the gold medal in the National Shooting Championship a while ago. This was her first competition."
Song Anshan's eyes showed some surprise. "Winning the gold medal in the first game? Okay, I'll go and see tomorrow."
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