Chapter 57 The Competition (600 words added) All the contestants are doing well…
Songhua County.
With a shout of "Run!", ten young men standing on the same starting line took off running forward!
The crowds standing on both sides of the track cheered loudly for the participants, creating a lively and exciting atmosphere.
Mo Jingchun stood by the track with two colleagues, watching the ten runners who had started running. As they ran, the gap widened, with two or three tall and long-legged runners quickly leaving the others behind, while two slower runners gradually fell behind.
Li Shurong is not tall. She stood on tiptoe to look at the track and saw a familiar face running towards her. It was someone from their Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Oh, the circular track, one lap already.
She was surprised, "Gu Shanxing runs pretty fast?"
Wei Ran couldn't help but laugh, "Is their running race supposed to be ten laps? Little Gu is already running this fast, what will he do for the next seven or eight laps?"
Li Shurong clicked her tongue, "Perhaps it's because he's physically fit and can run ten laps at such a speed?"
Mo Jingchun looked helpless. "I don't think he can..."
Wei Ran was surprised, "Minister, you don't think highly of Xiao Gu?"
Mo Jingchun pointed to the two runners in third and fourth place on the track, "Look how out of breath Gu Shanxing is, and look at those two."
Li Shurong peeked out and exclaimed, "Wow!"
Wei Ran laughed and said, "It's okay. Even if he makes it into the top three, he can't go when everyone goes to Anling for the finals during the Cold Dew season."
Gu Shanxing was able to sign up for the Songhua County Autumn Games only because they happened to be in Songhua County on business. After they finished their work there, they would head to Xihua County.
They didn't know if they would still be in Xihua County by the time of the Cold Dew solar term, but Gu Shanxing certainly wouldn't have time to return to Anling to participate in the finals.
Li Shurong glanced at him and teased, "Are you making excuses for his failure? Even though I lost, I deliberately lost because I couldn't participate in the finals?"
Wei Ran: "..." He quickly explained, "I didn't say that."
Mo Jingchun tilted her head, "What are you two saying instead of cheering on your colleague?"
The two immediately shut up and watched the game quietly.
Fuping County.
A petite figure leaped from the ground, easily bounding over the six-foot-high bamboo pole like a swallow, and landed on the mat on the other side.
The audience erupted in applause.
The girl straightened up, turned to the side, and gave a provocative smile to the few young women standing opposite her who hadn't yet jumped.
Her opponents: "!!!"
Ugh, that brat is so annoying!
"It's just six feet, isn't it?"
The girl who was about to jump next was so angry that her eyebrows shot up. She rolled up her sleeves, took a few steps back, flicked her high ponytail, took a running start, and jumped.
Her body traced a beautiful arc in the air before landing lightly on the ground.
The two women who had already jumped over exchanged a glance, sparks flying between them.
"Next is seven feet, can you handle it?"
"Don't underestimate me, I'm only seven feet tall!"
Gan Tang: "?"
She turned to Yun Youning and asked, "What's going on with these two girls?"
How could Yun Youning know? She didn't even know these two people.
Just then, an insider overheard Gan Tang's question and enthusiastically explained to them, "Xie Yingshi and Su Yue, these two girls' mothers have never gotten along since they were little, which has also led to a bad relationship between the two of them."
Gan Tang exclaimed in surprise, "Eh? Xie Yingshi? That's a nice name."
The insider chuckled, “Xie Yingshi was originally called Huahua. Last year, the goddess required all children to study. When the teacher of Qinglan Academy heard that she was born in spring, he named her Yingshi.”
"Xie Yingshi's mother was overjoyed and showed off the name to Su Yue's mother. Su Yue's mother was furious and immediately went to the teacher to change Su Yue's name from the 'Yue' in 'moon' to the 'Yue' in 'surpass'."
"From then on, the two girls stopped competing to see who could cook better, who could sew better, and who could farm better, and instead competed to see who could read better, who could be praised more by the teacher, and who could get higher grades."
Gan Tang was dumbfounded.
After a moment, she clapped her hands in admiration, "Amazing."
Yun Youning smiled and said, "Healthy competition is good."
Having a good rival can encourage both sides to be proactive.
The staff raised the bamboo pole from six feet to seven feet.
Of the six young women who had just jumped high, only three remain.
Xie Yingshi and Su Yue looked at each other, then turned their heads and snorted in unison.
The two jumped one after the other. Xie Yingshi's left foot touched the bamboo pole, but the pole didn't fall, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Su Yue also jumped over the bamboo pole with a very small leap.
The third woman knocked the bamboo pole away and didn't jump over.
The referee looked at them with a smile, "Want to try eight feet?"
Eight feet?
Xie Yingshi's eyes widened.
Su Yue also felt a little guilty.
Another foot higher?
Other staff members encouraged him, saying, "It's okay, just jump once."
"It's okay if you can't jump over it, anyway, you two are already the top two in our Fuping County."
Xie Yingshi and Su Yue exchanged a glance; the former's eyes ignited with a competitive spirit, while the latter's fighting spirit was also aroused.
Xie Yingshi: "Jump!"
Su Yue: "I want to try the eight-foot one!"
Gan Tang: "Pfft!"
She covered her mouth and laughed for a while, then said, "Eight feet, they probably can't jump over that, right?"
Yun Youning smiled and said, "If you can't jump eight feet, you can try seven and a half feet."
If seven and a half feet doesn't work, try seven feet fourteen, seven feet threeteen, and seven feet twoteen, one after another. Find out their limits.
Taoxi County.
Next up is the archery competition.
Men and women are compared separately.
The locals from Taoxi County, who were eager to watch the spectacle, happily gathered around, but were separated by ropes set up by the staff in charge to prevent them from interfering with the participants.
Unlike many other competitions that are mostly attended by young people, the archery competition had a few middle-aged people who were queuing up with bows and arrows.
The onlookers were very curious and started whispering among themselves.
"When you get older, you can't outrun or jump as fast as young people."
"Does that mean someone is stronger than a young person?"
"Hey, this is archery, not weightlifting."
"Speaking of weightlifting, did you watch a weightlifting competition just now?"
"Look at him, that burly man is really strong, look at all that muscle! I wonder what he's been eating."
"I'll go ask him later. I also hope my baby can grow up stronger!"
"Hey, look, the competition has started!"
"Stop talking, stop talking, don't disturb the archers."
"Look, he's drawing his bow..."
The young man, who was only five feet tall, stood there, nocking an arrow and drawing his bow, and he looked quite dashing.
With a "whoosh," the arrow shot out and pierced straight into the bullseye.
The people around him cheered happily for him.
The young man breathed a sigh of relief and smiled happily.
The second person in line was a man in his early thirties. As he stepped forward, his eyes met the young man's as they brushed past each other.
One of the onlookers exclaimed, "Wow! I think I saw swords flashing!"
Others: "?" What's wrong with you?
The man stepped forward, nocked an arrow, drew the bowstring taut, and fixed his gaze and the arrowhead on the bullseye.
He released his grip, and the arrow shot through the air like a bolt of lightning, striking the bullseye steadily.
The people, who had been tense, relaxed and clapped happily: "Good!"
"Beat the bullseye! Great job!"
"That's amazing!"
Wow, that was a really good shot.
"I never would have guessed that his archery skills were so good."
After the men's archery competition, the women's archery competition began.
At first, not many people had high hopes, thinking that the girls' archery skills were not as good as the men's and that it might not be worth watching.
Unexpectedly, the young woman who was first in line stepped forward, drew her bow and arrow, and looked heroic. Before the onlookers could react, the arrow had already pierced the bullseye.
The young woman's eyes were filled with disdain.
It's like you're saying I don't do farm work or use a slingshot to hunt birds!
If men can do it, so can I!
"Clap clap clap".
Someone started clapping.
Soon, applause erupted.
Along with cheers and applause, the surrounding noise was deafening.
Young woman: "..."
Huh?
Her face flushed slightly as she waved to everyone.
With the first place winner setting a good example, many curious people flocked to this area.
Watching the young women shoot arrows with such spirit, some of the girls also felt a desire to try it themselves. They looked enviously at the bows and arrows in the women's hands and really wanted to give it a try.
Will we be able to take riding and archery lessons next school year? I can't wait!
Anling County.
The football match between the city guards and the military camp was about to begin, and the people of Anling County who had nothing to do all went to watch in groups of three or five.
The football training ground at Longyuan Academy was packed with people, three layers deep.
He Qinglan, as a special guest, sat on the judges' table, next to Zhao Yong, who was keeping score.
The players from both sides enter the field.
Each person was tall and strong, with long arms and legs, standing upright on the field like two rows of young poplars.
The onlookers from Anling County exclaimed, "Wow!"
They cheered with joy.
"Tsk tsk tsk, they're all good young men!"
"Wait, are all the guys in the military camp this tall?"
"We've never seen anyone this tall and cool in the city guards before..."
"Oh dear, it's a competition, they must have deliberately chosen the tallest people to show the goddess."
"Are you stupid? Being tall doesn't mean you're good at football."
"Why can't they find someone tall who's also good at soccer?"
"That's right, they have a lot of people."
"The sixth one from the right is really energetic."
"I still prefer the fourth one from the left. I wonder if he's married yet?"
"The first one on the left is actually also..."
"No, he's a bit hunchbacked, not as upright as the one opposite him."
"...You actually picked one?"
"What are you saying? If you can be selective, why not be selective?"
Fang Qin was very satisfied listening to the discussions among the people.
When selecting players for this Cuju (ancient Chinese football) competition, Fang Qin suggested that they should not only look at how well everyone plays the game, but also at how tall they are, how strong they are, and how good-looking they are.
Xiang Yuesheng, Hu Dazhu, and Ning Huai'an: "???"
They were utterly puzzled.
Fang Qin said, "We want to let all the people of Anling County see the spirit of our soldiers!"
He counted his reasons on his fingers: to show the goddess the results of our training, to reassure the people, and to deter those with ulterior motives.
He persuaded the three of them.
But Ning Huai'an pointed out that we shouldn't pick the best players, because what if we lose to the city guard team?
Fang Qin didn't take it seriously. "I'll go talk to Huang Dade."
Thus, the first match of the Cuju game became a showcase of our outstanding employees.
He Qinglan: "..."
But the people of Anling County were quite happy, and their screams grew louder and louder.
He Qinglan pressed her left hand to her forehead and said, "Alright, then let's hold a military parade during the New Year and let all the people of Anling County see your might."
The match begins.
The tall young man charged towards his own goal with the football, but after only a few steps, a young man of about twenty-five or twenty-six years old from the opposite side launched a flying tackle, sending the football to the other side.
Players from both sides rushed forward simultaneously. A 30-year-old man reached the ball, whistled triumphantly to the others, and then ran towards his own goal.
With teammates protecting him and opposing players blocking and stealing the ball, the ball was taken halfway through the field, then kicked up and flew across the halfway point.
The gasps of surprise from the onlookers were incessant.
They watched as the football traced a beautiful arc in the air and landed on the other side of the field.
A boy not yet twenty years old leaped up, intercepted the ball, and carried it toward the goal.
He raised his foot, kicked, and the ball flew straight towards the goal.
The goalkeeper made a diving save, sending the ball flying.
"oops!"
The players on the field and the onlookers were all very disappointed.
He Qinglan: "..."
After a stick of incense had burned, the players from both sides were running all over the field, the football being fought over by the young men, but no one managed to score.
Huang Dade: "..."
Hu Dazhu: "..."
Ning Huai'an: "..."
Well.
He Qinglan raised her hand to her forehead. What did that mean?
You guys are tall and strong, how come you play football as badly as the Chinese men's football team on some distant planet?
Two incense sticks' worth of time.
Hu Dazhu and Huang Dade were furious, so they switched personnel, did ideological work, and encouraged each other.
The game has resumed.
The newly substituted young men charged forward fiercely. One of them, who was quite fast, leaped to grab the ball and kicked it with all his might. The ball flew like an arrow, grazed the goalkeeper's body, entered the goal, and landed on the ground.
Audience: "..."
After a few seconds of silence, cheers erupted.
Ning Huai'an breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this, and then glanced at He Qinglan.
Well, the goddess remained expressionless, her thoughts unreadable.
Unbeknownst to him, the goddess was already planning to train the students of the academy to play various sports, including football, basketball, table tennis, badminton, and tennis.
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Author's Note: This week's ranking word count remains at 20,000, I'll continue updating 3,000 words daily _(:з」∠)_
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