The sky was clear without any clouds, a pure blue.
The autumn breeze was pleasant. The ginkgo trees along the road were glowing golden yellow.
Walking past this ginkgo forest, we would arrive at the site for this competition.
Xiao Qi and her coach had come early in the morning. There were many crows circling in the sky of the capital city. Occasionally they would sweep by, calling out loudly.
Hearing crows caw would make people feel nervous and uneasy in other places, as if it's a bad omen. But in the capital, it had become a common occurrence that people were used to.
The racecourse was very lively. Huge brand advertisements at the entrance made people feel it’s expensive at first glance.
The golden brand logo buttons and the dark red leather base color, plus the bronze carriage motifs, dragging a whole carriage of luxury goods. These were real exhibition items of this brand, giving a strong sense of history. There were also large screens next to it describing the brand history.
Interspersed were videos of horse racing. Almost every horse that galloped past the camera was just a fleeting glimpse, very beautiful.
Xiao Qi was a participating rider. She and Coach Steven had gone inside early. Her horse Drum was also ready and waiting.
After fasting yesterday, Drum’s mood today was good after being fed. When Xiao Qi walked past, Drum kicked his hooves excitedly as if to greet her.
By now other riders had arrived too. Most had foreign faces. A few had yellow skin and from their chatter sounded Korean. There were also riders from Japan. For such a competition held in the capital city, the riders representing domestic side turned out to be only three.
One was Xiao Qi, one a local rider from the capital city, and third is an ethnically Chinese born and raised abroad since young.
Other than Xiao Qi, the other two riders were male.
Female riders were rare. There were only four today – one from Sweden, one from Cyprus, one from Australia, and plus Xiao Qi herself.
The other three female riders looked quite sturdy. They were not very tall, because being too tall is not good for horse riding as it makes controlling the horse harder. So the male participating riders were generally not super tall either.
Amongst them, Xiao Qi’s oriental face looked tiny. Plus she was only 17 years old, really very little. She stood out distinctly amongst these middle aged people, like a middle school student hanging out amongst adults.
The competition had not started but someone next to her was already teasing Xiao Qi. It was a Korean rider with similarly yellow skin. Speaking Korean, Xiao Qi could understand basic conversation but not so much the professional terminology. But she understood fully his mocking words even though she did not respond. The competition had not begun; no need to argue about anything yet.
Although they had arrived early, there was the process of drawing lots and waiting in queue that took quite some time still before start. Xiao Qi did not wander around but accompanied Drum, taking out a Spanish language book from her bag to read.
Drum was obviously used to Xiao Qi’s behavior. Whether at the racecourse or not, Drum often accompanied Xiao Qi. As Xiao Qi would either draw or study, even the ever active Tyler would quieten down at times like this. He would flick his tail as he stood guard like a proud warrior.
While other riders busied themselves checking their horses, Xiao Qi had already read one page of content and seriously took notes. She discovered utilizing fragmented time to study was highly efficient. Do not underestimate five, ten minutes or half an hour. People often blink and that time would have passed just scrolling their phones. But used to study, it was doubly effective with deep memory and repeated reinforcement. Also it somehow seemed she had mysteriously much more time to study compared to others.
She looked very busy, with many things to do every day. Yet her studies were never neglected, even self-learning many languages, calligraphy and drawing, all thanks to utilizing fragmented time.
Of course Xiao Qi still checked on Drum. She first sniffed around the place upon arrival. Her sense of smell was very sensitive. The health status of a horse can be discerned from its smell already. Even a tiny discomfort would result in subtle smell changes - probably like new mums who examine their babies’ poop changes daily to assess their wellbeing.
Sensing Drum's mood, everything was normal. He had rested very well too. Only then did Xiao Qi feel assured to settle down with her book.
In fact it was because she felt a bit nervous with the noisy surroundings - a mesh of English, Korean, Japanese and other languages she did not understand. The incomprehension made her flustered. Xiao Qi felt her language skills were still lacking. Looking at others' expressions, some seemed excited and some nervous, making Xiao Qi nervously excited as well.
Plus Coach Steven paced around like the horses, making Xiao Qi dizzy.
Xiao Qi wore a black riding outfit. Slightly loose fitting, the satiny feel of the top was very soft and beautiful, yet its tailoring was like military uniforms, exerting a supple yet strong vibe overall. Sitting on a small stool reading her book, the picture she posed together with Drum waiting quietly was truly soothing.
It wasn’t that Xiao Qi was arrogant. It was based on the saying “strategically scorn the enemies, tactically value them”. The competition would soon start. All necessary preparations had been made already. She had readied herself too. Worrying now would be pointless and detrimental. At the actual competition site, every rider was highly professional based on their chatting - having participated in several competitions before, some even quite renowned already; some riders seemingly rather familiar with one another.
Xiao Qi was very apparently a complete new face here, a young clueless girl from Hua Country it seemed, whose family was rich enough to send her to experience life. Her riding gear looked really beautiful and her oriental facial features unusually pleasant.
Seeing Coach Steven did surprise some people though. Several recognized Steven and thus knew of his background naturally - he was an extremely outstanding rider once upon a time. A mishap later turned him to a coach instead. Steven still commanded quite a reputation in equestrian circles. Old time riders, in particular, understood him well. No one had expected him to really have fallen as rumored to accompany a little girl play house as her personal home tutor?!
As riders readied themselves in their own ways, the spectator stand also opened for regular audience to stream in.
There were giant electronic display screens on all four sides of the racecourse for every seating angle to enjoy an unblocked view of every scene happening below.
At the moment, the huge screens were playing a looped footage describing the history and cultural legacy sponsored this equestrian event.
Liu Shaowei carried two tickets to enter the spectator stand with his girlfriend Li Maomao, still feeling rather excited. This was his first time watching a horse race. He felt proud to take part in such a classy event, non-existent in Lvshan City he came from; rarely even heard of.
Everyone around was dressed so impressively, making him even more pumped up.
Especially when he first entered and saw those luxury good displays, after getting to know Maomao, he now had a rough idea how expensive those things were. Even if his parents were minor government officials, he could not afford those things.
Their seats were right at the back. Apparently tickets differed by seating position and prices increased exponentially for the first few front rows.
Of course Liu Shaowei did not feel slighted. Just getting in was already thrilling enough. He tried his utmost to conceal his excitement and avoid looking like a country bumpkin.
Li Maomao was quite excited too. Although a capital city native, these tickets were also gotten through connections. She felt it gave her face to have obtained them, a sense of achievement. The two found their seats as more people streamed in to sit around them.
Liu Shaowei thoughtfully took a bottle of water out of his bag for his girlfriend. He didn't know if water could be bought here, or if it was expensive like at the movie theater, so he carefully brought a bottle just in case his choice was wrong.
Although they were sitting far away, it took some effort to see the field. They could use binoculars, and right in front of them was a big screen where they could also see details of the field.
Liu Shaowei thought this spot was pretty good.
Just then, the brand introductions on the big screen suddenly ended, and scenes of the riders preparing backstage for this horse race began playing, along with introductions of the riders' backgrounds.
Liu Shaowei twisted off the bottle cap and courteously handed the water over, wanting to satisfy his girlfriend's vanity. The imported mineral water he had prepared cost over 10 yuan a bottle. He actually felt a little distressed about the expense.
Just then, he happened to glance up and see an exceptionally tall and sturdy brown horse on the big screen. Sitting in front of the horse was a girl with short hair—not wispy short hair, but pulled back in a little ponytail with a rubber band, revealing a smooth forehead. She was actually reading a book while sitting in front of a horse! The screen was so big he could see the details of the book, the words inside. Liu Shaowei didn't recognize them; they weren't English or Japanese or Korean. He didn't know what language it was...
Li Maomao was elegantly drinking water when she looked up and saw this scene. Pfft...
The sky was clear without any clouds, a pure blue.
The autumn breeze was pleasant. The ginkgo trees along the road were glowing golden yellow.
Walking past this ginkgo forest, we would arrive at the site for this competition.
Xiao Qi and her coach had come early in the morning. There were many crows circling in the sky of the capital city. Occasionally they would sweep by, calling out loudly.
Hearing crows caw would make people feel nervous and uneasy in other places, as if it's a bad omen. But in the capital, it had become a common occurrence that people were used to.
The racecourse was very lively. Huge brand advertisements at the entrance made people feel it’s expensive at first glance.
The golden brand logo buttons and the dark red leather base color, plus the bronze carriage motifs, dragging a whole carriage of luxury goods. These were real exhibition items of this brand, giving a strong sense of history. There were also large screens next to it describing the brand history.
Interspersed were videos of horse racing. Almost every horse that galloped past the camera was just a fleeting glimpse, very beautiful.
Xiao Qi was a participating rider. She and Coach Steven had gone inside early. Her horse Drum was also ready and waiting.
After fasting yesterday, Drum’s mood today was good after being fed. When Xiao Qi walked past, Drum kicked his hooves excitedly as if to greet her.
By now other riders had arrived too. Most had foreign faces. A few had yellow skin and from their chatter sounded Korean. There were also riders from Japan. For such a competition held in the capital city, the riders representing domestic side turned out to be only three.
One was Xiao Qi, one a local rider from the capital city, and third is an ethnically Chinese born and raised abroad since young.
Other than Xiao Qi, the other two riders were male.
Female riders were rare. There were only four today – one from Sweden, one from Cyprus, one from Australia, and plus Xiao Qi herself.
The other three female riders looked quite sturdy. They were not very tall, because being too tall is not good for horse riding as it makes controlling the horse harder. So the male participating riders were generally not super tall either.
Amongst them, Xiao Qi’s oriental face looked tiny. Plus she was only 17 years old, really very little. She stood out distinctly amongst these middle aged people, like a middle school student hanging out amongst adults.
The competition had not started but someone next to her was already teasing Xiao Qi. It was a Korean rider with similarly yellow skin. Speaking Korean, Xiao Qi could understand basic conversation but not so much the professional terminology. But she understood fully his mocking words even though she did not respond. The competition had not begun; no need to argue about anything yet.
Although they had arrived early, there was the process of drawing lots and waiting in queue that took quite some time still before start. Xiao Qi did not wander around but accompanied Drum, taking out a Spanish language book from her bag to read.
Drum was obviously used to Xiao Qi’s behavior. Whether at the racecourse or not, Drum often accompanied Xiao Qi. As Xiao Qi would either draw or study, even the ever active Tyler would quieten down at times like this. He would flick his tail as he stood guard like a proud warrior.
While other riders busied themselves checking their horses, Xiao Qi had already read one page of content and seriously took notes. She discovered utilizing fragmented time to study was highly efficient. Do not underestimate five, ten minutes or half an hour. People often blink and that time would have passed just scrolling their phones. But used to study, it was doubly effective with deep memory and repeated reinforcement. Also it somehow seemed she had mysteriously much more time to study compared to others.
She looked very busy, with many things to do every day. Yet her studies were never neglected, even self-learning many languages, calligraphy and drawing, all thanks to utilizing fragmented time.
Of course Xiao Qi still checked on Drum. She first sniffed around the place upon arrival. Her sense of smell was very sensitive. The health status of a horse can be discerned from its smell already. Even a tiny discomfort would result in subtle smell changes - probably like new mums who examine their babies’ poop changes daily to assess their wellbeing.
Sensing Drum's mood, everything was normal. He had rested very well too. Only then did Xiao Qi feel assured to settle down with her book.
In fact it was because she felt a bit nervous with the noisy surroundings - a mesh of English, Korean, Japanese and other languages she did not understand. The incomprehension made her flustered. Xiao Qi felt her language skills were still lacking. Looking at others' expressions, some seemed excited and some nervous, making Xiao Qi nervously excited as well.
Plus Coach Steven paced around like the horses, making Xiao Qi dizzy.
Xiao Qi wore a black riding outfit. Slightly loose fitting, the satiny feel of the top was very soft and beautiful, yet its tailoring was like military uniforms, exerting a supple yet strong vibe overall. Sitting on a small stool reading her book, the picture she posed together with Drum waiting quietly was truly soothing.
It wasn’t that Xiao Qi was arrogant. It was based on the saying “strategically scorn the enemies, tactically value them”. The competition would soon start. All necessary preparations had been made already. She had readied herself too. Worrying now would be pointless and detrimental. At the actual competition site, every rider was highly professional based on their chatting - having participated in several competitions before, some even quite renowned already; some riders seemingly rather familiar with one another.
Xiao Qi was very apparently a complete new face here, a young clueless girl from Hua Country it seemed, whose family was rich enough to send her to experience life. Her riding gear looked really beautiful and her oriental facial features unusually pleasant.
Seeing Coach Steven did surprise some people though. Several recognized Steven and thus knew of his background naturally - he was an extremely outstanding rider once upon a time. A mishap later turned him to a coach instead. Steven still commanded quite a reputation in equestrian circles. Old time riders, in particular, understood him well. No one had expected him to really have fallen as rumored to accompany a little girl play house as her personal home tutor?!
As riders readied themselves in their own ways, the spectator stand also opened for regular audience to stream in.
There were giant electronic display screens on all four sides of the racecourse for every seating angle to enjoy an unblocked view of every scene happening below.
At the moment, the huge screens were playing a looped footage describing the history and cultural legacy sponsored this equestrian event.
Liu Shaowei carried two tickets to enter the spectator stand with his girlfriend Li Maomao, still feeling rather excited. This was his first time watching a horse race. He felt proud to take part in such a classy event, non-existent in Lvshan City he came from; rarely even heard of.
Everyone around was dressed so impressively, making him even more pumped up.
Especially when he first entered and saw those luxury good displays, after getting to know Maomao, he now had a rough idea how expensive those things were. Even if his parents were minor government officials, he could not afford those things.
Their seats were right at the back. Apparently tickets differed by seating position and prices increased exponentially for the first few front rows.
Of course Liu Shaowei did not feel slighted. Just getting in was already thrilling enough. He tried his utmost to conceal his excitement and avoid looking like a country bumpkin.
Li Maomao was quite excited too. Although a capital city native, these tickets were also gotten through connections. She felt it gave her face to have obtained them, a sense of achievement. The two found their seats as more people streamed in to sit around them.
Liu Shaowei thoughtfully took a bottle of water out of his bag for his girlfriend. He didn't know if water could be bought here, or if it was expensive like at the movie theater, so he carefully brought a bottle just in case his choice was wrong.
Although they were sitting far away, it took some effort to see the field. They could use binoculars, and right in front of them was a big screen where they could also see details of the field.
Liu Shaowei thought this spot was pretty good.
Just then, the brand introductions on the big screen suddenly ended, and scenes of the riders preparing backstage for this horse race began playing, along with introductions of the riders' backgrounds.
Liu Shaowei twisted off the bottle cap and courteously handed the water over, wanting to satisfy his girlfriend's vanity. The imported mineral water he had prepared cost over 10 yuan a bottle. He actually felt a little distressed about the expense.
Just then, he happened to glance up and see an exceptionally tall and sturdy brown horse on the big screen. Sitting in front of the horse was a girl with short hair—not wispy short hair, but pulled back in a little ponytail with a rubber band, revealing a smooth forehead. She was actually reading a book while sitting in front of a horse! The screen was so big he could see the details of the book, the words inside. Liu Shaowei didn't recognize them; they weren't English or Japanese or Korean. He didn't know what language it was...
Li Maomao was elegantly drinking water when she looked up and saw this scene. Pfft...
