"Mr. Lu, you must be joking! How could this be?" A man in the crowd responded loudly, looking surprised.
Lu Yanting chuckled softly, "Then I'll bet on her hitting the apple, I'll bet 50,000 yuan!"
Upon hearing this, Hua Xiao exclaimed in surprise, "Yan Ting, are you out of your mind? You think she can do it?"
Lu Yanting turned his head to look at him, his eyes firm: "Why is it impossible?"
Hua Xiao sighed helplessly and earnestly advised, "Yan Ting, you're hopeless. She's just an ordinary girl. Have you ever seen a girl play with a slingshot? Even if she has, what makes you so sure she can hit the target? You're just blinded by love, your filter is too strong. You're... love-struck, yes! Love-struck!"
Lu Yanting withdrew his gaze and looked back at Qiu Mang.
Qiu Mang walked up to Han Feng and extended her fair and slender hand: "Young Master Han, you haven't given me the slingshot yet!"
Han Feng raised his eyelids, glanced at her, and then reluctantly took out the slingshot from his pocket.
Qiu Mang gently held the slingshot in his hand, examined it carefully for a while, and slowly stroked the almost worn-out "中" character on the wooden crack with his fingers.
In an instant, distant memories flooded my mind like a tide.
"Sister! They all have slingshots, but I don't... They won't play with me! Waaah..."
Beside a country path, a thin, five-year-old boy sat helplessly on the edge of the field. His small, tender hands kept rubbing his eyes, and large tears rolled down his cheeks uncontrollably, soaking the soil beneath his feet.
It was the height of summer, and the sun was blazing. Qiu Mang's small face was already flushed red, with fine beads of sweat on her forehead and her hair sticking messily to her face.
Even so, she didn't hesitate to gently place the only lotus leaf hat on the boy's head, then reached out and patted his back tenderly, trying to offer him some comfort.
They were fraternal twins. Roy Chiu was physically weak from a young age, so his mother always made him give in to his younger brother and take care of him.
Over time, Qiu Mang found it instinctive to want to comfort her younger brother whenever she saw him sad.
"Don't cry, Aze, I'll make you one! Look! I found a leather pouch yesterday, it must have been lost by someone!"
As Qiu Mang spoke, she squatted down, put her dirty little hands into her schoolbag, and after rummaging around for a while, pulled out a yellowed leather bag and handed it to the boy.
The boy immediately stopped sobbing, carefully picked up the leather bag with both hands, and examined it for a long time, turning it over and over. But for some reason, as he looked at it, his eyes reddened again.
"But we don't have any rubber bands!" the boy said, his voice trembling with tears, filled with grievance and helplessness.
"Don't worry, I've already thought it through!" Qiu Mang blinked her bright eyes as if she had been prepared.
After saying that, she raised her hand and pulled a rubber band off her ponytail.
Qiu Ze looked at the rubber band, then looked up at Qiu Mang, his eyes full of worry: "But you won't have any more rubber bands to braid your hair anymore!"
Qiu Mang shrugged nonchalantly, pretending to be relaxed, and said, "It's okay, I'll just cut it when I get home! I don't like tying my hair up anyway, and besides, Mom said the shampoo at home is too expensive, and my hair is too long, so it uses up a lot of shampoo. If I cut it, Mom will definitely be happy!"
The boy was finally relieved and nodded vigorously: "Okay! Let's get started!"
After much effort, the two children finally managed to make a slingshot.
The little boy held it in his hand, delighted with it, but he tried to pick up the small stones several times without success.
Seeing her younger brother pouting, looking like he was about to cry and feeling wronged, Qiu Mang quickly comforted him, "It's okay, Aze, I'll carve the character '中' (zhong, meaning 'to win') on you, so you'll definitely be able to hit the target every time!"
She originally wanted to carve the four characters "百发百中" (bǎi fā bǎi zhōng, meaning "hit the bullseye every time"), but unfortunately, she had only been in school for a few days and had only learned the character "中" (zhōng, meaning "hit").
So many years have passed. Qiu Mang looked up, scrutinizing Han Feng's face carefully.
It wasn't until I saw a faint scar on his forehead that I realized it had been there for many years. Its color was so close to the surrounding skin that it was barely noticeable unless you looked closely.
The outline of the little boy in her memory gradually overlapped with Han Feng's face. So many years have passed, and that little boy has grown up. Suddenly, Qiu Mang felt a lump in her throat, and her vision was covered with a layer of mist.
Seeing her like this, Han Feng panicked and said helplessly, "Hey! I'm the one being your target now, I'm not bullying you! Don't look at me like that!"
Qiu Mang snapped out of her daze, sniffed softly, and asked in a low voice, "Who gave you this slingshot?"
Han Feng rolled his eyes at her and replied impatiently, "Of course it's mine! Did you steal it?"
"Can you give it to me?" Qiu Mang pressed.
Han Feng looked at her as if she were a monster and sneered, "Seriously? You're trying to take my slingshot from me! I'm warning you, this is my treasure, I'm not giving it to anyone, so don't waste your time!"
Qiu Mang nodded slightly, then slowly backed away, creating some distance between them.
Seeing this, someone quickly brought an umbrella and handed it to Han Feng, telling him to take some defensive measures like Qiu Mang had done earlier. However, Han Feng flung the umbrella away, muttering, "No need. I'm a real man, I'll honor my bet. I don't need these things."
Qiu Mang held the slingshot, the small plastic ball resting steadily on the leather pouch. He pulled back gently, ready to launch.
"Um, Qiu Mang, wait a minute!"
Qiu Mang turned around at the sound and saw Han Bing standing there nervously, staring intently at her.
Han Bing looked troubled and stammered, "Qiu Mang, although Han Feng is a bit of a jerk, he's still my brother, so please don't go too far..."
"What are you doing, Han Bing?" Han Feng frowned and glared at Han Bing. "It's none of your business. I just caused trouble for someone, so it's normal for them to come for revenge. Every wrong has its perpetrator, and I, a grown man, naturally have to accept the challenge. Get out of my way!"
Han Bing's chest heaved with rage as she exhaled sharply, "Han Feng, you bastard! You don't need defensive equipment, fine, just turn around and face away from us! Let her shoot you in the back!"
Han Feng stubbornly refused, feeling it was too shameful, like he was running away, and would damage his masculine dignity. Han Bing got angry at his stubbornness, walked over, and stood on tiptoe to twist his ear.
Han Feng dodged in a flash, yelling, "Hey, give me some face, okay?"
"Then turn around!"
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