Chapter 1161: NO.65: They put in effort, but you're cheating!

NO. 65: They put in effort, but you're cheating!

I admit my previous behavior fell short of the standard.

In the equally quiet infirmary, the Ludaofu Xiangzheng, who had raised his right hand, was reflecting on his previous behavior: although his tone seemed calm, he had been constantly searching for the medicine box by himself, not talking to anyone.

But obviously, in this reaction, there was still something even more astonishing ahead of her:

"It's fine, I also have a bit of doing things my own way." While the back was still noisy, he efficiently contacted the infirmary, personally brought over a doctor—Aomo Lindun—and also symbolically reviewed his own behavior.

Hmm, symbolically.

Although there are times when members of the Symbol family exist, this remark comes off as somewhat a cold joke, somewhat borderline, but let's first not engage with this Ludaofu-style train of thought, and objectively look at Aomo's bluffing fact.

He simply didn't feel he was wrong at all.

Even though Qianming's representative, because of him, was surrounded and stared at by colleagues in white coats and nurse uniforms, pointing and gossiping, he remained completely composed.

He didn't care at all about the gaze coming from the former.

Staring with widened eyes won't help, he thought.

Since childhood, Aomo Lindun has often experienced that kind of resentful gaze—"How dare you tell on the teacher!"—and experiencing it again now is just like a gentle breeze.

He could even think to himself: "It's kinda cute that someone in their twenties is still doing this staring."

However, setting aside that subtle psychological activity of the little black sheep overhead, at this moment two people successively reflected, and Gechengwangpai fell silent for a moment, wondering whether he should also admit his own mistakes.

But like Aomo, the Gechengwangpai brother who didn't feel he was wrong also possessed a stubbornness that Aomo lacked.

"I think I did the right thing!"

His confident remark drew subtle glances from Ludaofu and Aomo, one from the left and one from the right, and left Qianming's representative speechless.

"——!"

It even woke the sleeping Chengtian Bai Ren in the next bed, as if he had awakened from a special dream, instinctively pulling his elbow in and clenching his fist, ready to strike the air opposite.

That punch ultimately wasn't thrown.

Instead, facing the gaze of everyone including the nurse, she twitched the corner of her mouth and silently withdrew her hand.

Then, as if recalling her memory before losing consciousness, the gesture of raising her hand to cover her face carried a certain weight.

"Bai, Bai Ren, are you okay?"

Gechengwangpai has always been the king of starting conversations; even amid Chengtian Bai Ren's strongly diffused 'keep strangers away' aura, she could still speak up first to show concern.

Then she got a somewhat cold response.

Conveyed from under the hand covering her cheek.

"It's fine."

"Just... no, never mind, did I lose?"

"Exactly, you were slow by a whole horse length~" Without waiting for an answer, the winner gloated, "Bai Ren, you still need to work harder~ ah!"

Before the happy tone could finish, it was turned into an embarrassing shout by pain; Qianming, who turned back immediately, saw that the end of the bandage tied to his foot was being pulled by a colleague with both hands.

"You ran your foot into this state and still feel proud, huh?"

"Uh... there's no way... at this stage, if I run full force a few times, it ends up like this..." Qianming pleaded with clasped hands, "Don't tell the chief, Mari."

"This isn't something I can decide; the whole academy forum is talking about you guys," said the middle-aged nurse with horse ears, who is also a horse girl, pursing her lips, "The chief will figure it out just by looking."

"What a bunch of people who don't take class seriously~" Qianming shook his head, "Back when we attended class, we were actually quite—"

"You used to skip class often back then, didn't you?"

Whether running or speaking, they can burst out unexpectedly—that is the Jidong ace.

"Ahaha, I'm talking about Ludaofu, Ludaofu, Ludaofu was so serious back then!"

The girl who once moved as freely as the wind now has her legs wrapped in layer after layer of bandages, and in the face of old friends tearing her down, her tone shifts awkwardly.

In Aomo's eyes, it truly serves as a palpable barrier showing the passage of time.

Or rather, it's the her I see, who has never appeared so three‑dimensional before.

"Qianming——! You'd better get mentally prepared! The chief already said you can't run at full force like this; if you really want to run, it should be on the official track, and you basically can't do it more than a few times!"

Unable to tolerate the girl's attempt to downplay the topic and keep acting nonchalant, this old colleague spoke words far more direct than what old fans have seen.

For a moment, the patient fell silent.

The patient's relatives also fell silent.

Even Gechengwangpai, who usually breaks the silence first, had his gaze wavering between the nurse and Qianming, and unconsciously turned toward Bai Ren, who had already used up one of the other's runs.

Frankly, she envied Bai Ren.

Because it's not just Qianming who holds regrets from back then; Gechengwangpai herself has also thought about returning to the track and chasing after the pace she once admired.

Just like before.

Recalling the Jidong Cup.

Recalling the excitement of the Jidong Cup.

Wanting to face Qianming's representative again!

But compared to Qianming, who has obviously put in too much, and Bai Ren, who has been recently rehabilitating, Gechengwangpai is truly unprepared.

Although she had already let go of that obsession and didn't think she'd get another chance to run with those old friends, Gechengwangpai suddenly realized—Qianming was secretly training!

She had no doubt that the other was doing it for Ludaofu's comeback next year, but no matter how……

Why didn't she tell me?

No, I actually already knew.

I clearly remembered how Qianming used to run with her shoes full of blood, and I clearly saw her biting her lip, trembling constantly, yet never shedding a tear, merely putting on a smile again.

Since the start of school, she has admired and longed to surpass Qianming's representative and run; her view always followed Qianming's figure, allowing her to notice things that Ludaofu never paid attention to.

Precisely for that reason, she knows all the more clearly.

That appearance, that dedication—how could Qianming possibly tell anyone about it?

Gechengwangpai clearly understood this, but she understood it even more clearly, even realizing another point for the first time:

That is, now it's like— isn't it just as if only I was left behind?!!

In the ward were four horse girls: one desperately chasing peak condition, one returning to peak condition, one silent but directly announcing a comeback, making everyone absolutely believe she could return to Saichang.

And the last one?

What is the last one doing?

Idly wandering.

As Ultraman's human form, with hardly any monsters to fight, he and the Light of Land captain from a few days ago form a steadfast duo of Torres idly strolling.

What the hell are you doing?!!

Her heart was a tangled mess, filled with anger and shame; she wanted to say something but felt nothing was appropriate, and even in this tense atmosphere, Qianming was actually in an emotional low, right?

Since the past, the ace has not been good at these heavy emotions.

She despised fixed notions, hated the stifling air, and once aimed to break them, trying to become the ace of the horse girl world.

But is she still that ace now?

She couldn't even take that step now, and deep down believed her current efforts were too late to catch up with these people… she simply couldn't stand alongside them…

"But we can't just give up like this."

A mature male voice suddenly sounded in her heart, letting her finally recall that there was another ace within her.

That ace is silent and reticent, yet shares one mind with her, and will naturally speak in such silence.

"They indeed have efforts you can't catch up to, but you also have companions they lack."

"Do you still remember what I once told you?"

"The fervent heart cannot be extinguished?" Gechengwangpai remembered it very clearly.

Especially whenever she brings up this topic, that uncle instead acts a bit shy.

But at such times, he can openly reproduce those words:

"Yes, the fervent heart cannot be extinguished, sympathizing with the weak, helping each other; no matter which country's people, we can become friends; even if this feeling has been betrayed thousands of times, this was once my final wish on that earth."

"But can you now speak your wish?"

""

"One who acknowledges being weak, admits needing help, can face oneself, and loudly speaks one's wish—ACE, I hope you can become such a person."