"Huh? Eh? Ah?" Catching sight of Xingyun Liuge apparently getting into some kind of conflict with someone in the distance, Chihaya Yui let out three consecutive sounds of confusion before hurrying over at once. "Excuse me."
In Chihaya Yui's eyes, Xingyun Liuge had always been a good girl, so the other side had to be the one who started it. Liuge was only fighting back because she had no choice.
Even after noticing the steward's badge pinned to the other woman's chest, Chihaya Yui did not change her mind.
Japan might have long embraced the idea of "leaving Asia, joining Europe," and most Japanese people might instinctively feel a step beneath Europeans and Americans, but Chihaya Yui was different. What she loved was the romantic idealism of Ji Han.
Besides, Britain had always been a habitual stirrer of trouble under the banner of isolationism. And more importantly, they were standing on Chinese soil right now.
Granted, her entire understanding of Hong Kong came from only a few short hours on the plane, and all of it was secondhand from Xingyun Liuge, but she trusted Liuge. She also firmly believed that the ill-intentioned British people here would be driven out in the end, leaving only those willing to engage in friendly exchange.
"..." Looking at the young trainer in front of her, whose entire attitude screamed I don't know what happened, but my little Liuge is a good kid, so it definitely wasn't her fault, Shining Sunlight found a huge question mark forming in her mind.
This is supposed to be a Japanese person?
Weren't Japanese people supposed to be the timid sort, always bowing and nodding and mumbling "hai," the kind who looked like they had been broken both mentally and physically? What was going on with Chihaya Yui and Xingyun Liuge? Why were they both so spirited?
Seeing Shining Sunlight look over, Xingyun Liuge straightened her back even further.
"Because I'm a Chinese horse girl!"
Her pronunciation was crisp and emphatic.
Unfortunately, not a single person present understood what she had just said.
The only Chinese Shining Sunlight had ever encountered was Cantonese. As for the others, they had not even come into contact with that much.
Liuge instantly found the moment boring and switched back to English.
"In any case, the winner of this Hong Kong Gold Cup will only be me. So open your eyes wide and watch carefully!"
As for whatever threats Coral September might want to throw around, that was no longer Liuge's concern. After all, Coral September was not racing. Her actual opponent was September Sea.
The group quickly left Sha Tin Racecourse, and only then did Chihaya Yui ask about the little pale-green-haired horse girl who had silently followed them the whole way out.
After hearing the full story, Chihaya Yui felt that Xingyun Liuge had done nothing wrong. There was absolutely no reason to give ground to someone who looked down on others like that. Besides, they were not the ones who had started it. They were in the right, and they could stand tall because of it.
"But a small place..." Chihaya Yui looked up at the forest of towering buildings and the cramped strip of sky above, then sighed. "Liuge's right. Living in such a narrow environment really can mess with people's mentality."
She had heard that plenty of Japanese people who drifted to Tokyo ended up like that. Hong Kong was even smaller, and nowhere near the scale of Greater Tokyo. It was only natural for some people to end up as frogs at the bottom of a well.
Maybe, thirty years from now, many Hong Kong people would still be trapped in that same narrow-minded outlook.
"Don't worry about it, River Verdon. Heaven gave you talent for a reason. Maybe you're just a late bloomer? And besides, finding the right surface and the right distance is really important..." Chihaya Yui rambled on with one comforting thought after another, before finally bringing up the matter of escorting River Verdon home.
And then they discovered that River Verdon lived in a mansion. Her father was even a knight.
Thinking about it, that only made sense. Hong Kong was a city where land was worth a fortune. How could anyone attending Hong Kong Tracen possibly come from an ordinary household?
Though, in modern times, that title of knighthood did not really amount to much. Probably only the British themselves still cared about such things. They even fought bitterly over all sorts of medals and honors.
Xingyun Liuge remembered that British civil servants even had some bizarre "GOD" hierarchy for decorations, with the highest level basically amounting to "call me god." In short, it was all rather unhinged.
Even after Liuge and Yui left, River Verdon showed no sign of speaking, but she stood there blankly at the gate, watching the two of them go until they had completely disappeared from sight.
Even Chihaya Yui could not decide whether that counted as good manners or bad manners.
Still, she had no energy to dwell on it. They were here on an overseas campaign, and the most important thing before them was naturally the Hong Kong Gold Cup, the stepping stone to everything beyond.
The top two finishers would qualify for the UAE Derby at the end of March, but since they had stepped onto the track at all, then of course their goal had to be the championship. If they did not have at least that much resolve and confidence, then what was the point of this entire overseas campaign?
Chihaya Yui carefully explained all of her findings about Sha Tin Racecourse to Xingyun Liuge. She intended to use their final chance to adapt to the course tomorrow to test everything out, and then they would prepare for the race the day after.
No matter what, she would believe in Xingyun Liuge.
What Chihaya Yui did not know was that Xingyun Liuge could, in a sense, cheat a little. Even if Liuge had never physically gone to the racecourse, Samsara Desolation could perfectly recreate the real course conditions, and even let her adjust the weather however she pleased.
Everyone thought this was Xingyun Liuge's first time here, but in truth, she had already run this course countless times through her "meditative training method."
Whether it was the gradual uphill slope, the two sharp turns, or the final downhill stretch, she had already mastered the precise data and found the most suitable strategy.
If not for running into Coral September, Xingyun Liuge would not even have planned to use her champion powers here.
Because honestly, the local horse girls here were only so-so. In terms of raw ability, they were probably weaker than the horse girls of Japan's Central circuit, and far weaker than the top European and American runners.
She could have led them through training alone. If she added Ghost, then it would turn into an overwhelming lead. There was no need, and no point, in using her champion powers at all.
But since Coral September had been so aggressive, Liuge decided she might as well crush these British horse girls beneath a massive gap.
A truly strong runner ought to be chasing her own national Triple Crown, or even campaigning overseas. What kind of greatness was there in lording it over people while staying in Hong Kong?
With that thought, Xingyun Liuge locked the door of her single room behind her and entered Samsara Desolation to continue training. Her goal was the English and American Triple Crowns, and she intended to use every second along the way until victory was hers.
Seven hours passed in almost the blink of an eye.
Liuge glanced at Hong Kong at four in the morning, took a short nap, then waited for the cross-border route to open. There was no way she was going to eat so-called authentic Cantonese food in Hong Kong. At a time like this, she obviously had to go to Guangdong just across the river.
Come to think of it, this was her first time returning to her rapidly developing motherland as a foreign guest. In every sense, it felt a little strange.
To put it simply: Cantonese food, delicious!
The dishes at Hong Kong's international hotels? Sure, they had some Cantonese flavor.
The so-called authentic Cantonese restaurants scattered all over Hong Kong? Honestly, they were basically the equivalent of future influencer restaurants. Completely uninteresting.
And so, between eating, drinking, and training, the Hong Kong Gold Cup finally arrived.
Sunday, February 28, 3:40 PM.
Sha Tin Racecourse, Hong Kong. Course A.
A Taoist priest was performing a ritual.
"..." Xingyun Liuge let out a huge yawn. She knew this was an important part of the Hong Kong Gold Cup opening ceremony—possibly the most important part of all. She also knew she was supposed to respect local customs. But she still found it boring.
Compared with watching a Taoist priest with a little feng shui knowledge perform a ritual, she would much rather roll Tryndamere and see what bizarre changes his skill set had been given.
At that moment, the race favorite, September Sea, appeared.
Perhaps she felt Liuge was not showing enough respect to local traditions, or perhaps Coral September had stirred things up behind the scenes. Either way, she declared:
"A regional horse girl belongs rolling around in the dirt next door. Xingyun Liuge, I'll show you why the number one favorite is the number one favorite. So don't let my absolute strength scare you into tears!"
"What?"
For a moment, Xingyun Liuge felt like she could honestly voice Lord Rango:
Wait, what, sis?
This person actually said she wanted to race her into tears?
Oh wow. This woman was way too evil.
Join here to read ahead.
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