Chapter 1507: No. 123: Tianlangxing Xiangzheng

No. 123: Tianlangxing Xiangzheng

In fact, most people in life don't have many people concerned about their life story or paying attention to their current situation, but when you are not lacking in popularity and gradually become a public figure, you should be on guard.

At this point, many of your traces will be placed under the spotlight.

It's easy for people who are clearly strangers yet constantly claim to know you well to appear around you.

The facts you painstakingly disguise and the secrets you carefully hide may be dug up by those who claim to be interested in you and call themselves your fans, then spread through their often unreliable mouths, forcing you to belatedly watch your words and actions, conceal your identity, and strive to squeeze yourself back into the life you're used to.

But obviously, the horse girls stepping onto the Saichang do not have this qualification.

When they stand on the Saichang, there must be a portion of the audience in the stands who are fans coming for them, and the two people in charge of hosting and guest commentary work will also do some homework for you.

The depth of this homework is usually proportional to the formality of the Saichang, and the Jiananbei, as the first leg of the Spring Ancient Horse Triple Crown G1 race, undoubtedly demands the most formal and professional level from hosts, commentators, and guests.

Thus, Tianlangxing Xiangzheng's expression as he looks up at the commentator's platform does have a smile, but it is not a very friendly one.

Clearly at the age when one should retire yet still stepping onto the Saichang, if it were Ludaofu Xiangzheng, there would be countless cheers; but if it were Tianlangxing Xiangzheng, there would be plenty of contempt, teasing, and mockery.

Even the introduction to the audience must be coupled with mention of Ludaofu Xiangzheng, as if otherwise the audience wouldn't know this athlete——frankly speaking, that's indeed the case.

The audience for important races like the Jiananbei is not only made up of old-timers from the horse racing circle, but also many fans from the outer layers of the circle, as well as casual viewers who happen to click on the live stream or broadcast.

The commentators' pre-race introductions are generally aimed at everyone while also needing to be brief.

And for horse girls like Tianlangxing Xiangzheng, whose experiences are rather tumultuous and whose records are comparatively subtle, this explanation is hardly blameworthy, at most drawing some dissatisfaction from fans.

But……

Obviously, Tianlangxing Xiangzheng's fans are not many either.

The algorithm for race popularity is not based on the follower count of public accounts, but on the popularity tickets that viewers cast when they actually buy tickets, and among these there is also a portion of gamblers' optimism.

——on this basis, the Tianlangxing that is still fourteenth in popularity, this kind of trailing position, can be called not many if put nicely, or bluntly……

Being able to obtain a slot to race relies entirely on the hype when those few Triple Crown horse girls successively announced their signings and were exposed together.

The three Triple Crown horse girls signing contracts with the same new trainer, preparing for the Dream Cup——this fact alone as a headline could cause a huge shock in the industry, let alone that the trainer also signed, at the same time, another horse girl who is similarly nearing retirement and also wants to compete in the Dream Cup.

What kind of deputy is this? Able to be ranked alongside those three? ——With such curiosity, the Tianlangxing Xiangzheng of those days, following the preceding news, also became one of the top ten hot-search names.

This also caused her fan count to once surge exponentially.

Although there have been losses since, it's hard to say now how many are meaningless zombie fans, but the result is undeniable.

She indeed stood again on the grass still dotted with water beads left from the morning drizzle.

Furthermore, she was carefully examined by those high-and-mighty commentators and hosts, who drew the aforementioned conclusion: whether this horse girl can prove something with this race.

Yeah, what am I trying to prove?

Having come this far, resorting to various tactics, and ultimately still shamelessly standing here again—what am I trying to prove?

Tianlangxing Xiangzheng knows deep down that his goal is to challenge that childhood friend, to stand shoulder to shoulder on the same track, just as in their earliest days together.

After that period, I was left behind.

Not abandoned, but unable to keep up.

Step by step falling behind, until far away only a blurry back could be seen, and eventually even that back could not be seen.

During that time, I grew accustomed to failure, accustomed to lagging, clearly still on the battlefield yet evidently lost my soul.

Still running, still training, everything as usual yet feeling something missing; as for the results of that running… they are indeed continually losing.

By now, I seem to have found what was missing, reclaimed my soul, and recalled my own vague determination.

Indeed, I want to stand beside her.

But when those two were originally together, what did I want?

She gazed toward the direction of the stands; the Saichang design of the Jiananjingmachang is like the Jiemen, the stands not only having oval tiered divisions, but also many floating in midair, temporary self-created dimensional stands formed by the wrinkles of divided spaces, making a marvel.

Those things are flashy, and the viewing experience for watching races isn't great either; instead of looking directly at the Saichang, they often give the screen-cast from the high-speed camera crew, letting one enjoy the audiovisual effect of a big-screen movie on site.

So her line of sight is not there, but rather in the middle section of the ordinary oval stands.

There, she indeed felt a familiar gaze.

A gaze that can make the noisy world fall utterly silent, that can turn the colorful scenery into only grayish white.

In that instant, only the origin of that gaze had familiar three colors.

Brown like a waterfall, black like a crown, and the white that rises with breath like the moon.

That is her stray hairs; the gaze beneath those stray hairs is the long-lost tranquility and anticipation.

Too often, she can't even count how many times, looking into those purple eyes, she sees only the latter.

Only anticipation.

Lofty anticipation.

As if I myself have nothing left but to be anticipated.

The Emperor is that radiant like the rising sun, like a thoroughly virtuous monarch anticipating every subject who steps into the mire to rise up, and that is precisely the gaze that Tianlangxing most despises.

Because she is not a subject.

She is an ominous star, the Tianlangxing obscured by sunlight; she wants to see the Emperor's solemnity, even urgency, and the best outcome is to make that Emperor no longer an Emperor.

Just like now.

That tranquility and anticipation are no longer what the Emperor would have, nor are they gentle like sunlight.

Only tranquility.

That is the moon.

Neither extending a helping hand nor lacking anticipation, she hangs silently high; although likewise contending for the starlight's glow, she no longer makes Tianlangxing feel so distant.

Her anticipation comes from her nature, her tranquility from belief.

She believes and also anticipates that you can display the radiance of pursuing darkness together with her, which is exactly the gaze Tianlangxing saw in her at first.

Indeed, I still prefer calling you Luna……

She, thinking that way, instantly showed a hint of a smile just as confident and wild as the one she had at first.

She also didn't look away; instead, she noticed a similar tuft of hair that had abruptly appeared not far from the seat—a pale yet steady lock.

Those blood‑red eyes also seemed to notice the rose‑colored gaze; the moment they met, her smile widened just enough to flash a hint of sharp fangs.

Undoubtedly, this was a provocation; though it might look a bit childish and cute to her opponent, it only served to stoke her fighting spirit even more.

Thinking from start to finish, it's these moons that can best let me leave a mark.

She also thought that one day she would pull it down from above, to prove that she is the symbol of the Heavenly Wolf Star (Sirius).