Chapter 6
Cui Youyi: ???
"Ice Fighting Competition?" Cui Youyi asked tentatively, "Isn't it an ice sculpture competition?"
"Miss Cui Wu, I'm actually in a difficult position regarding this ice competition," Wang Jun said with a feigned sigh. "Several old men from famous ice sculpture families in Ningguta visit me every day, hoping to meet a rising star like you. What can I do?"
Cui Youyi: So you choose to make things difficult for me?
"Ice fighting is fine, but what if I win? What if they keep giving me trouble? What's the price if I lose?"
Cui Youyi is very confident in her ice carving skills, but she also doesn't want to waste her time fighting with the Zhou family.
As the saying goes, it's not the thieves who steal that you're afraid of, but the thieves who are thinking about stealing that you're afraid of. If she keeps battling wits and courage with a group of villains, and has to be on guard every day to figure out how to slap the villains in the face, how can she improve her ice carving skills and carry forward the Cui family's ice sculptures in this era?
Besides, her most important task now was to help the Cui family survive in Ningguta, and the most important task at this stage was to repair the house they lived in. If winning the Ice Fighting Tournament could solve all their food, clothing, housing and transportation problems at once, then that was not impossible, but there were always people who were better than you, and some things were better understood first.
Wang Jun continued with a smile, "Don't worry, young lady. I've secured lucrative benefits for you. This time, the Zhou, Wu, Zhao, Chen, and Hou families will each send someone to challenge you in an ice fight. If you defeat any one of them, you'll receive fifty taels of silver."
"What if we lose?" Cui Youyi did the math. According to Ningguta's prices, this amount of money could at least support her family for a year. They needed money everywhere, so it was a good deal. However, these five families only contributed ten taels each. How stingy! If they lost, the cost would be too high. She would have to fight hard for her own interests.
"There's no price to pay. As long as you participate, the Zhou family won't cause you any trouble in secret."
This is the real prize of this ice fighting competition.
The news that Cui Youyi defeated Zhou Kaiyun in public spread throughout Ningguta overnight. The Zhou family would definitely not let it go after losing such a big person, and they had even sent people to contact gangsters to cause trouble.
Wang Jun also contacted the Zhao and Hou families in advance, which made the Zhou family cautious, but he did not expect that the Zhou, Wu, and Chen families would initiate a new ice fighting conference.
The current situation still has some promise, and it is the best result that Wang Jun can strive for within his control. He also wants to see how powerful Cui Youyi is.
"They went to so much trouble to invite you, the county magistrate, just to let me participate in the Ice Fighting Competition?"
Cui Youyi simply didn't believe that there were such fools in the world.
[The target person's favorability towards the host has been detected to have risen to 66%]
Cui Youyi had no idea about the direction of the mission. She really did nothing!
Wang Jun, who had hidden his achievements and fame, had to explain again and again before he took Cui Youyi to participate in the Ice Fighting Conference.
*
"Are you Cui Youyi who defeated Zhou Kaiyun?"
As soon as Cui Youyi got off the carriage, she heard a slightly cheerful voice.
Following the sound, I looked towards the arena and saw a boy about five or six years old looking at Cui Youyi with sparkling eyes.
"He's the young master of the Hou family, Hou Yi," Wang Jun introduced. "He's young and a bit erratic. If he's offended, Miss Cui, please bear with me."
When Cui Youyi heard Wang Jun's tone, she knew that this man named Hou Yi was one of her own, and she greeted him in a friendly manner.
"Hey, pretty sister, don't listen to what Brother Jun said about me." Hou Yi came to Cui Youyi's side familiarly. "I heard that a beautiful sister came from Ningguta, so I came here specially to see the world."
"You really are!" Wang Jun sighed deeply. How could he be so unstable even though he was almost six years old?
"Brother Jun, you go ahead and do your work. Leave the beautiful sister to me. I promise that no one can bully her." Hou Yi patted his chest and acted like a real man.
Wang Jun was busy arranging the trivial matters of this ice fighting competition, so he had to passively "entrust the important task" to Hou Yi.
As soon as Wang Jun left, Hou Yi became more like a wild horse that had broken free from its reins.
"Come on, let me introduce you." Cui Youyi was pulled onto the stage by the excited Hou Yi.
"The man in green is my brother, Zhao Baiqian. He's best at carving ice sculptures of landscapes and other scenes. At sixteen, he won first place at the ice sculpture competition with his sculpture of a winter scene in Ningguta."
Cui Youyi became interested when she heard this. Sculpting snow scenes with ice is extremely challenging for ice sculptors. Carving details takes a lot of time. To be able to carve out a first-place work within a limited time, the person must be quite capable, and his surname is Zhao.
Cui Youyi thought of Zhao Ming, who was the first person to vote for her last time, and her impression of Zhao Boqian improved a bit.
"Zhao Boqian greets the young lady." Zhao Boqian stepped forward and saluted, his demeanor quite elegant. "I'm sorry to ask for your advice today. I hope the young lady will be able to teach me."
Cui Youyi returned the favor with courtesy.
"Tsk, just putting on airs." Wu Wenxuan, the third young master of the Wu family, said unhappily.
The Wu and Zhao families have always been in fierce competition and have disliked each other for a long time. What Wu Wenxuan hates most is the Zhao family's righteous attitude.
Judging from the tone of the person, he had ill intentions. Cui Youyi raised her eyebrows and looked over.
"Who is this?"
"Wu family, Wu Wenxuan."
Cui Youyi looked at the people who had not spoken one by one.
"Chen family, Chen Wen."
"Hmph, Zhou family, Zhou Yunchao."
"Last time you were lucky enough to beat my good-for-nothing brother. I hope you can be so lucky this time." Zhou Yunchao said disdainfully, rolled his eyes and went to his seat.
Seeing this, Hou Yi was afraid that Cui Youyi would be unhappy, so he comforted her intimately: "Beautiful sister, don't pay attention to him. The Zhou family is like that. Don't be afraid, I will protect you."
Cui Youyi smiled faintly: "Sister is not afraid."
"In the art of ice sculpture, people always boast about their abilities. As for us, our true abilities will be revealed in the competition."
Cui Youyi led Hou Yi to their seat. Instead of talking nonsense, she might as well focus on this competition, which affected her life and the lives of the Cui family.
Cui Youyi looked at the positions of the six of them. Perhaps because she was afraid that someone would do something bad, she, Hou Yi, and Zhao Boqian were on the right side, while the left side was composed of people from the Zhou, Wu, and Chen families.
In front of each of the six people was a cylindrical block of ice, along with various ice carving tools. Perhaps thanks to sponsorship, the ice carving tools this time were much richer than last time.
Cui Youyi nodded with satisfaction. Although the competition had not yet started, she was not yet familiar with the ice distributed to her. She did not bother to greet others and carefully checked the ice block she was going to carve next.
Wu Boqian looked at Cui Youyi observing the ice cubes with approval in his eyes, and then he took Hou Yi to observe as well.
When the guests and spectators entered the venue, they saw two distinct factions - one faction, with Cui Youyi as an example, was making serious preparations before the game, and the other faction, with the Zhou family as an example, was making endless noise.
A servant struck a gong, and everyone's eyes were focused on Wang Jun who walked forward.
"Everyone has come from afar today," Wang Jun said loudly, "I believe you have heard that there will be a grand competition today. Since taking office, this is the first time I have witnessed an ice fighting competition that has unexpected events such as the ice sculpture competition."
"To ensure the fairness and impartiality of the competition, I have specially invited dozens of ice sculpture masters from Ningguta to serve as honored guests. Everyone present will also be eligible to vote for the entries. This ice competition will follow the rules of the ice sculpture conference. I hope everyone present can present their best work."
There was cheering from the audience and the scene was very lively. Cui Youyi was also infected by this emotion.
"Next, I will draw the theme for this Ice Fighting Competition."
Wang Jun opened the lottery box and randomly drew five slips of paper and unfolded them one by one to prove that the theme of this competition was not pre-determined. After a presentation, Wang Jun drew lots again.
The theme of this ice fighting competition is longevity and longevity.
Cui Youyi felt very uneasy when she saw this topic——
It would take at least three to four hours to complete a small, complex ice sculpture like the Crane Longevity Sculpture. It should be the Chenshi hour now, and the sun would be setting in three to four hours. What else could they possibly be competing for?
Moreover, she hasn't eaten a single grain of rice since this morning. If she were to compete for an entire afternoon, how would she have enough energy to do so?
"Sir, can I have a meal first?" Cui Youyi was unwilling to put herself in a difficult position.
She felt from the bottom of her heart that these people were mentally ill. They sent someone to drag a "weak woman" like her out of her home early in the morning to participate in some ice fighting competition. How presumptuous!
This was in ancient times, when etiquette and morality were important. Shouldn't one follow etiquette and send someone to visit first, then issue a challenge, and then arrange to fight again a few days later?
Cui Youyi, who didn't feel any respect, was hungry and exposed to the wind, and she was still a little angry.
"What a hassle! I was wondering why women would carve ice sculptures." Zhou Yunchao threw the ice pick in his hand and looked at Cui Youyi sarcastically. "What are you still competing for? Do you still want to go back and paint your eyebrows and put on powder? Do you want us to wait for you to come back and dress up again?"
Cui Youyi didn't bother to explain herself. Without even looking at Zhou Yunchao, she pleaded with Wang Jun and the other guests, "I was exiled from the capital to Ningguta. I've been living in poverty all the way. Before I even entered the city, the Zhou family's steward found an excuse to beat me up. I almost died."
"Even though my injuries hadn't healed yet, I fought the Zhou family non-stop in an ice hockey match to clear my name. After winning, I went to a nearby village to settle my family without even taking a break. This morning, the county magistrate sent someone to my house, saying that someone in the city had invited me to compete in an ice hockey match and that I needed to leave immediately."
Cui Youyi looked at Zhou Yunchao slowly, her eyes devoid of warmth. "I'd like to ask everyone present, are the rules of the Ningguta Ice Fighting a form of forced buying or selling?"
"But when I first invited the Zhou family to the ice fight, didn't the county magistrate ask if they wanted to accept? With the idea of exchanging skills, I stood on this ice fighting arena despite my injuries, my fatigue, and the fact that I was looked down upon. What's wrong with wanting to eat?"
"You're just making up stories! Never before in an ice fighting competition has a contestant asked to eat on stage!" Zhou Yunchao really didn't want to argue with a girl from Cui Youyi's class. If it weren't for the useless Zhou Yunkai in his family, he wouldn't have competed on ice with a girl. Every single one of these things was just bad luck!
"You're full, of course you're not hungry. Besides, didn't I tell you not to eat?" Cui Youyi feigned fear. "Sir, look at this..." Cui Youyi suddenly remembered something: her injury. Why didn't it hurt anymore? But now she couldn't contact the system to ask in detail.
"Cough cough cough..." Wang Jun started coughing.
Zhao Boqian stepped forward and said, "Everyone, today we were indeed careless and offended Miss Cui. Why don't we wait a while before we start the ice sculpture? That way, whether we win or lose, we will all be convinced."
"That's right. Sister Cui is so weak, why is it bothering you that she wants to eat? A man can't even have this little tolerance. This is unacceptable, unacceptable." Hou Yi continued to yell.
"In that case, let's officially start the Ice Fighting Competition in a quarter of an hour."
Wang Jun went backstage to have tea with Zhibin, while Cui Youyi began to eat calmly.
Looking at the Zhou family’s angry faces, Cui Youyi was very satisfied.
You can have an ice fight, but you have to follow her rules. You can only start when she says so!
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