Chapter 1571: line with translation of chapter title

NO. 186: Just a misunderstanding

It is worth mentioning that, whether in Dongyan or Jidong, Gaoyue is another name for May.

This period is also called Puyu, Zhongxia, etc., because of the tradition of hanging calamus during the Dragon Boat Festival, because it is the month for transplanting rice seedlings, and because in Jidong it was originally called 'Early Seedling Month'.

Going to the fields, making sacrifices, praying for a good future harvest—these are the most meaningful activities of Gaoyue.

Oddly, the Gaoyue Prize named after it is permanently held in the first half of April; the reason for this is not worth mentioning, but the significance of Gaoyue is still preserved, allowing you to see on the huge screen outside the racetrack a golden arc tracing the golden trajectory of iris flowers and rice ears, encircling a slowly rising huge 【GI】 symbol.

This is the unchanging emblem of the Gaoyue Prize, like a golden moon symbolizing a prayer for harvest, adorned with the weight of the three characters 'Gaoyue Prize'.

The weight of a once-in-a-lifetime event, the weight of the starting point of the classic Triple Crown, and moreover the weight of the starting point of the highest-level races such as the Five Great Classics and the Eight Great Events……

After all these concepts pile on, such races have been endowed with added value beyond the races themselves; even if those standing here are merely a group of budding, inexperienced girls, it in no way dampens the audience's fiery enthusiasm.

——That literal sea of people, a crowd as vast as mountains and seas, has already filled the ground and air of the racetrack entrance at this moment.

At first glance it seems almost doomed, as if the racetrack's functions had completely shut down, but a closer look reveals the entrance steadily admitting people, with no drop in efficiency; it's just that the crowds awaiting ticket and security checks are simply too many, so many that any gaps in the line can be seamlessly filled.

Nevertheless, every staff member who is not an android, golem, or virtual projection AI, though their faces show some tension, is far from panicked or slacking; each is focused on the task at hand.

Nothing else, just practiced skill.

In the horse racing world, G‑level races never change their venue; Zhongshan Racecourse has organized the Gaoyue Prize for nearly a thousand years, and only newcomers get flustered, while the veterans have long grown accustomed to this annual general mobilization.

Such reception work also has its gradations, just like the racetrack's spectator seats, which are typically divided into different price tiers according to location, similar to live audience seating.

The expensive ticket channels obviously admit a more relaxed number of guests, but correspondingly they demand that you possess flawless, error‑free service quality.

Besides that, the racetrack's reception service has an even higher tier.

Not some super‑big shot, but something exceptionally pure——

The athlete's passage.

The staff responsible for receiving the competitors are naturally pure‑bred veteran elites, for if they were to receive them carelessly it could cause a major scandal, leaving no room for pulling strings.

Thus they are professional and skilled, able to handle the vast majority of sudden situations, including having to impromptu act as doctors or bodyguards; and in this context—the athletes even bring along their trainers, which is merely basic basics.

"Five people may use this staff passage; the athlete's passage does not allow anyone other than athletes to enter."

The receptionist, maintaining a courteous smile, greeted them thus, straining to keep the twitching corners of his eyes and mouth under control.

Wei Ji is the most senior elite employee at Zhongshan Racecourse, with 349 years of work experience, having seen all kinds of strange relationships between horse girls and trainers, and even witnessed dozens of trainers who are constantly startled over the safety of the horse girls, as if they often encounter disasters.

Fifty years ago he still had to rack his brains to persuade them to stop their all‑encompassing protection of the athletes, whereas fifty years later, now……

After recently experiencing several attacks that shook the industry's security standards, the industry has also seen some rule changes, for example: a horse girl's own security team, if it passes the audit standards in advance and registers, can accompany her all the way.

Although it has only been a few months, that outstanding flexibility and adaptability is also a facet of being elite.

Wei Ji could easily accept the sight of athletes passing by with a bunch of barriers, shields, and stances like a monkey show, and could also accept athletes walking between four or five ancient‑style bodyguards, but he never imagined that today four horse girls would walk up surrounding a trainer with their backs to him.

"What is this…… the athletes aren't being targeted, but the trainer is?"

Wei Ji did not utter those words.

Since the other party didn't speak, you shouldn't ask—especially since this trainer is none other than the renowned Aomo Lindun, who ought to have top‑tier strength among trainers and cannot tolerate the insolence of extreme s‑fans or casino thugs.

As for how to interpret this scene before us……

He watched Ailisuzhi, Meipu Bourbon, Mancheng Chazuo, and Aimu Zhiji attempting to shield Aomo Lindun's trainer like chicks protecting an eagle, with Meipu Bourbon and Ailisuzhi, as the rearguard, displaying a professional, stern gaze that retreated and scanned; after a brief thought he gave up thinking.

"Ah, okay, is it all right to temporarily switch passages?" Lindun the trainer asked.

Actually, if you look closely, the man surrounded in the middle also has an unusually stiff expression.

That expressionless look is less like nervousness or fear and more like the result of straining to keep a straight face, just as he himself was doing, exerting a bit too much force.

This might be some unique play…… a unique training method, the receptionist thought, while continuing to uphold the quality of elite staff on his lips:

"As for trainers, it's fine; please hand me your ticket, uh, then you can go through."

"Okay, thank you."

The ticket check passed; although the receptionist wanted to immediately get that gaggle of camera‑wielding combo out of his sight, he remained as patient as possible, and though he once drew the gaze of the four athletes, he still awaited their thanks and more substantive thanks——

——that strange combination quickly walked away.

In its place came another strange athlete.

"Although my trainer isn't here, can I still come this way?"

With a head of slightly wavy brown hair, a pair of confident golden eyes, and a chest badge marked JunglePocket, this Senlinbaoxue, who normally would join the athlete line alone like the others, abruptly ran up to ask this, prompting the receptionist to instinctively glance at the colleague who had just taken over his original post.

The moment their eyes met, he realized it was also an unavoidable reality, and he lifted his courteous smile again: "Of course, please go ahead; staff inside will guide your way……"

"That doesn't matter!"

Senlinbaoxue had already dashed off upon hearing your please, merely tossing out that sentence, leaving the receptionist watching her back, wanting to speak but holding back, then letting out a silent sigh and returning to substitute for the colleague just now.

His work is far from over, and those girls' battles have not truly begun yet.

Merely, the back‑and‑forth development has some continuity, making it hard for him not to form a subtle association, wondering what conflict could exist between the Senlinbaoxue athlete and Trainer Lindun.