Whether it was simply one of those things people call hitting it off at first sight, or whether fate truly was at work behind the scenes, the instant Xingyun Liuge saw the girl, a thought flashed through her mind:
This kid is going to become somebody extraordinary someday.
As for right now...
She was tiny, and very cute.
Xingyun Liuge took the initiative to go over and say hello, and soon learned the girl's name: River Verdon.
The little girl called River Verdon had long, pale green hair and rare golden eyes. She was as pretty as a finely made doll, but she hardly spoke. Her ears and tail did not move at all, and there was not the slightest emotional ripple in those golden eyes.
If Xingyun Liuge had not gone up and spoken to her first, she probably could have stood there all day without saying a single word.
River Verdon came from Ireland. Whether it was because she had not adjusted well to the environment or not, her racing results were poor. Even after relocating to Hong Kong, that pressure had only weighed on her more heavily.
Because of that, she had become even more taciturn.
And yet, even so, she still longed to step onto the track and race alongside other horse girls.
In the other world, River Verdon had actually been an exceptionally accomplished racehorse. Though she had started out as an unpopular runner, had even finished dead last as a two-year-old, and had once been booed, that was only because she had not yet adapted to her environment or found the right distance for herself.
Once her ideal distance, preferred ground, and running style were properly identified, she went on to dominate three consecutive Hong Kong Gold Cups and four consecutive Hong Kong Champions & Chater Cups, becoming an undisputed local powerhouse.
Then in 1994, she swept the Hong Kong Triple Crown, becoming the legendary Hong Kong Triple Crown winner no other racehorse had matched for years.
In short, her racing career had been nothing short of legendary.
In a sense, did that make the River Verdon here a future daughter-in-law of China?
But right now, this River Verdon had not even entered her Classic year yet. She was still just an ordinary little horse girl who lost race after race and could not even win a local community meet. She was the sort of person whose cheering would go unnoticed even if she joined someone else's support squad.
Hong Kong was simply too small—so small that practically every local horse girl knew the strengths and records of every other local horse girl, and so small that even the horse girls themselves had no choice but to follow the crowd.
If you got too close to a weakling on your own, people would probably start looking down on you too.
So River Verdon had no friends.
But as a horse girl, of course she wanted to run freely, to give everything she had, and to stand on the winner's stage.
The problem was that she was too weak right now—so weak she could not even win a community race.
A horse girl like that could never debut. To put it bluntly, not being openly despised was already about as lucky as she could hope to be. Freedom? The winner's stage? Wouldn't people just laugh at dreams like that?
So River Verdon always watched horse girl races alone, and did her best not to let anyone notice her. She did not want to trouble anyone.
What she had never expected was that a foreign horse girl would spot her, talk to her, and even exchange names with her.
That little "chance encounter" sent a small ripple through the otherwise still sea inside River Verdon's heart.
She did not know what their meeting might mean, but it made her feel just a little bit happy.
This older girl seemed very friendly. Maybe the two of them really could become friends. Maybe they could even start as pen pals?
Could someone as weak as her really have a friend?
River Verdon did not know. But she wanted to try. After all, this foreign girl looked so kind that friendship did not seem impossible.
But just then, a blonde, blue-eyed horse girl walked over.
"This is time reserved for participating horse girls to familiarize themselves with the course. Unauthorized people aren't allowed in. Where are your parents?"
The blonde girl had her arms crossed and looked very strict, the sort of person who immediately made others think of a discipline committee member.
That was not far from the truth. She was one of the Hong Kong Gold Cup's event stewards, responsible for managing all sorts of matters related to the race. Guiding unrelated people out of Sha Tin Racecourse was one of her duties.
Xingyun Liuge immediately pulled out her entrant pass from her pocket, indicating that she was a competitor.
"Xingyun Liuge? I see. So you're that unusual overseas challenger. Although Japanese horse girls haven't exactly had good results abroad, still..."
Any more than that would have been flat-out rude, so the blonde horse girl hurriedly stopped herself.
Because of the difference in turf, even top horse girls from Central Tracen Japan often failed to post good results when racing overseas and were repeatedly crushed. So for a mere regional horse girl... well, as long as she did not finish dead last, that would probably count as success, right?
An unbeaten record in the regions? Regional Japanese racing barely even had turf races, so that was hardly useful as a reference point.
And even if she were unbeaten on turf in Japan, that still meant little, because Japanese turf was high-speed turf, much firmer than standard turf elsewhere. If she underestimated foreign turf, the embarrassment would be the least of her worries.
"Oh, Shining, so you're here. You... what's with these two little ones? 'Six-Star' River Verdon, and... hm, a new face."
Another blonde, blue-eyed horse girl walked over. But compared with the steward the other girl had called "Shining," this one's attitude was far worse.
Right off the bat, she used the insulting nickname other people had given River Verdon, wearing a sneering smile as she did so.
Clearly, she knew perfectly well it was a nasty nickname, yet she still used it right in front of River Verdon herself.
Xingyun Liuge already had the sort of natural prejudice one might reasonably have toward the British in Hong Kong. Seeing someone like this only made her dislike them even more.
She glanced at the nameplate on the steward's chest and found that her name was Coral September. That immediately made Liuge think of September Sea, the race's top favorite. Since they shared the same surname, they were probably related.
Coral September's attitude toward River Verdon was casual to the point of contempt, and she was not much better toward Xingyun Liuge. After confirming Liuge's identity as a participating runner, she said:
"So Japan still hasn't given up on sending challengers abroad? Well, Hong Kong is close to Japan, and there aren't that many horse girls here, so I guess it does make a decent stepping stone for overseas campaigns. But isn't this taking it a bit too lightly? A mere regional horse girl has come to join the fun? Don't let my family's September Sea hit you so hard you lose confidence. The turf difference alone is already decisive."
"The turf in Hong Kong is very soft, you know. Completely different from Japan!"
With that, Coral September threw back her head and laughed loudly.
"Coral."
The horse girl whose full name was Shining Sunlight looked utterly helpless with her colleague, and could only send Xingyun Liuge and River Verdon an apologetic look.
But would Xingyun Liuge really let the matter go just like that?
She let out a soft sigh, then pressed a hand to her forehead.
"I can tell. Hong Kong really is a small place. Perfect for fallen aristocrats to stand around here smirking to themselves while admiring the tiny patch of sky above their heads."
Coral September immediately snapped. She practically looked ready to bare the blades along her spine, and only Shining Sunlight's intervention kept her in place. Even so, she still barked:
"Hah?"
"Oh? I was only making an offhand remark. Did I happen to offend you somehow?"
Xingyun Liuge deliberately switched to formal speech.
"If so... would you feel better if I apologized?"
Coral September: "Hah?!"
Join here to read ahead.
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