Chapter 89: You Are My Person

Tuan Tuan looked at the stunned Wu Qilin and said, "Right, you come to compete with them!"

Wu Qilin's face showed difficulty, and he leaned toward her ear and whispered, "Young master, I'm not good at hammer‑marble, everyone knows."

Tuan Tuan was stunned for a moment, "Your Nine‑Link Chain and darts are great, but this one isn't?"

Wu Qilin awkwardly nodded, "Hammer‑marble requires a venue to practice; I've only trained a few times, so it's truly not doable."

The Outer Dorm students all wore dejected faces, "He's fine at everything else, but hammer‑marble he just can't!"

"Let's have someone else compete, young master!"

"Yeah! Letting him go is almost the same as just conceding outright."

Wu Qilin's face gradually reddened; he truly was outmatched, and had he known, he wouldn't have wagered so heavily earlier.

Tuan Tuan thought for a moment, knelt and opened the Embroidered pouch at her waist, fumbled for a while, and finally produced a dull‑colored, slightly frayed old silk cord, looking like a trinket that had fallen from some discarded sachet.

"Tie it on," Tuan Tuan handed the cord to him, "You're my person; I say you can win, and you will."

Wu Qilin was taken aback, staring at the unremarkable, even shabby little gadget, both amused and exasperated, "What good could this possibly serve?"

"Auspicious meaning? Young master, are you playing house like a child!"

Yet, when he met those bright, crystal‑like eyes in front of him, he inexplicably reached out, obediently tying the old silk cord around his wrist.

Xiao Ningyuan was puzzled, while Xiao Ningxun's heart leapt.

"Are you ready yet? How much longer do you need?" Cao Songhui urged impatiently.

"Wait!" Xiao Ningyuan said, "If we're to compete, there must be a judge; otherwise, should a dispute arise, whose word do we follow?"

The crowd listened and all nodded in agreement; indeed it was so.

Tuan Tuan looked at Zuo Zhengji, "You go ahead."

"Me?" Zuo Zhengji thought, "What about my business?"

Tuan Tuan wore a strange expression, "Right! Aren't you the teacher? You should be the one to go!"

Zuo Zhengji considered and indeed replied, "Yes."

He forced himself, leading the two groups into the "Hualie," the arena within Guozijian dedicated to hammer‑marble games.

On a carefully landscaped open field, the terrain had slight undulations, deliberately arranged with shallow depressions, sparse grass, and scattered stones as obstacles.

In the distance, several shallow pits were dug, each flanked by a small flag of a different color—these were the "ball nests," also called "ball holes."

Zuo Zhengji cleared his throat and raised his voice, "Since this is a contest, by tradition each side sends one person to strike in turn; for each hole, the one who uses fewer staffs wins, and the first to win three holes is the victor."

The students all wore eager expressions; this hammer‑marble match, though simple in rules, heavily tests precise hand skill and the eye for terrain, making it extremely difficult.

On the Inner Dorm side, the one put forward was indeed Cao Songhui.

And on the Outer Dorm side, it was Wu Qilin.

The two had just been shouting at each other outside the arena, and now they faced off again on the field—a true clash of spears.

Wu Qilin fully knew his own level, his palms sweating with nerves, his heart pounding like a drum.

Hammer‑marble is no easy feat; a slight mis‑direction sends the wooden ball into unknown obstacles, requiring extra staff strokes to reach the hole, which means defeat.

Cao Songhui had taken part in many hammer‑marble contests; his own abilities, perhaps…

His hands trembled slightly as he took the "ball staff" handed over by a companion, a wooden staff whose tip bore a slight curve.

In his bewilderment, a marvelous thing occurred!

The moment his hand grasped the staff, an indescribable coolness surged from his wrist through his limbs and bones, instantly erasing the previous agitation, tension, and panic.

Even the surrounding jeers and mockery fell silent in an instant.

The ball staff in his hand seemed to become an extension of his arm.

Raising his eyes, every rise and fall of the terrain ahead, each obstacle, and the location of the holes became instantly clear in his mind, a unprecedented sense of control welling up.

Wu Qilin stared in astonishment, "What… what is this?"

Tuan Tuan shouted from outside the field, "Wu Qilin! Beat them!"

The Outer Dorm students also cheered for him in succession.

"Play well!"

"Win them!"

"Don't let them look down on us!"

Cao Songhui hummed, a look of disdain on his face.

Zuo Zhengji shouted, "Begin!"

Cao Songhui struck the ball first.

He held his breath, focused, swung the staff, and with a "snap" sound sent the wooden ball flying.

The ball rolled a few strides, bypassed a shallow dip, and finally stopped only five or six steps from the hole, drawing a burst of cheers from the Inner Dorm side.

"Brother Cao, your aim's not bad!"

"One more round and we can take it!"

"Two staffs per hole, we're sure to win!"

Xiao Ningyuan wore a worried expression, while Xiao Ningxun lowered his gaze at Tuan Tuan, only to see his sister not watching at all but crouching, intently staring at a swarm of busy ants relocating on the ground.

"Your turn!" Cao Songhui urged with a hint of smugness.

Wu Qilin inhaled deeply, never having felt so confident, his heart untroubled.

His gaze measured like a ruler, gauging the path from his feet to the hole, needing to cross a small grassy patch with a slight slope.

He set his stance, swung the staff! Struck the ball!

The movement was fluid, executed in one breath!

The wooden ball shot out, not soaring high but skimming the ground at speed, rolling precisely over the grass, using the slight incline to turn deftly, racing straight, and with a "gulu" sound it rolled directly into the flagged hole!

"Huh? One staff per hole?!" The surrounding crowd shouted in amazement.

"This luck is also too good!"

"Yeah! I've played for years and still never managed a hole-in-one!"

"Hammer ball demands extreme skill; a hole-in-one can be called godly, and even an experienced player with slightly worse luck couldn't manage it."

"Cao Songhui's smile froze on his face."

"Wu Qilin himself also froze, incredulously looking at his own hand."

"Zuo Zhengji stared in shock for a moment, then loudly shouted: 'External Dormitory Class, first hole win!'"

"Cao Songhui spat: 'Just dogshit luck; I don't believe he can hole-in-one every time!'"

"In the following matches, Wu Qilin grew braver with each battle."

"No matter how tricky the ball's position or how far the distance, he always accurately judged the terrain, his shots becoming easier and more natural; the wooden ball obeyed as if it had eyes, rolling into the hole in the fewest strokes one after another!"

"Cao Songhui, meanwhile, grew increasingly anxious, failing to hit a better shot, not even displaying his usual level, and got worse the more he played."

"The students of the Internal Dormitory Class gradually fell silent."

"Without a doubt, Zuo Zhengji loudly announced: 'External Dormitory Class wins all three holes!'"

"The students of the External Dormitory Class burst into loud cheers, all rushing onto the field, excitedly surrounding Wu Qilin, Tuan Tuan, slapping him with many hands."

"All right! Brother Wu! When did you practice?"

"Exactly! You're so awesome, teach us sometime!"

"You really brought honor to our External Dormitory Class, Brother Wu! Great job!"

"Seeing everyone now looking at him with new eyes, even Zuo Zhengji's gaze toward him different from before, Wu Qilin was thrilled."

"He rushed out of the field, took Tuan Tuan's little hand, walked up to Cao Songhui's face: 'Accept the loss, Brother Cao, shout it out!'"