CSGM - Chapter 65
Chapter 65: You're On My Hair
And Ren Zhi wasn't stupid. After the groups were formed, she slowly realized the deliberate psychological suggestion Chu Xi had just used.
She pulled Chu Xi aside and condemned her in a low voice only the two of them could hear, "You'd resort to trickery even in a game?" She added a disdainful look for good measure.
Chu Xi was unconcerned. "I had to find a chance to let you see for yourself whether I'm weak or not, right? Tsk, Teacher Ren, I'll be updating your old, mistaken ideas in a moment."
She returned a provocative smile.
Ren Zhi's laugh escaped through her teeth. "Hah."
Very amusing.
And soon, Chu Xi seemed even more amusing.
Of the eight colors of pig costumes, Ren Zhi chose pink for her. Once on, the round, soft pig belly nearly enveloped her entire body. Below, she wore two short, matching leg covers, also filled with air, making them fat and puffy.
She put on a headset-style headpiece with two pig ears sticking up. Wearing this outfit increased safety against falls and collisions, but her agility was cut in half.
Any trainee who put on a pig costume had their lean, powerful figure instantly vanish, replaced by a clumsy, cute, round shape.
Their two arms rested at their sides like a penguin's, squeezed by the inflated suit, difficult to lift and impossible to put down.
Ren Zhi laughed heartily at Chu Xi, with a hint of deliberate retaliation.
Chu Xi smiled faintly along with her, as if completely immune to her ridicule. She even moved her flexible neck and tilted her head. "Cute?"
Ren Zhi admitted, "A little, I guess."
Chu Xi, wearing the cumbersome pig suit, said, "I can't squat down. Can you jump up?"
"Of course."
Ren Zhi wrapped her arms over Chu Xi's shoulders and around the front of her neck, then leaped onto her back. Chu Xi held onto her legs.
"You can train your stamina if it's lacking, but height is something you're born with," Chu Xi said, turning her head.
Ren Zhi tugged one of her "pig ears." A mere 2-3 cm difference and she was acting all superior.
"Shut your mouth, or I'll make sure you come in last."
"Don't get personal revenge!" Chu Xi frowned instantly.
She didn't like to lose, and coming in last was out of the question.
Just now, she had stared at the game mat, engraving its spatial coordinates into her brain. She had also memorized the positions of the balloon toys.
Because the "pigs" carrying the teachers had to be blindfolded.
The Director's Assistant handed out the blindfolds, and Ren Zhi put one on her.
Everyone had a comical blindfold with two big, dopey eyes that made you want to laugh on sight.
The laughter of others washed over Chu Xi's ears in waves.
She figured she knew what the blindfolds were for—to affect the trainees, and the teachers too.
Full of competitive spirit, she seriously reminded Ren Zhi, "Stop looking at them. Laughing will affect your performance."
Ren Zhi giggled into her ear.
"Don't turn your head. Yours are egg eyes, they're the funniest... Hahahaha..."
Chu Xi: "..."
Fine, my mistake.
She heard the faint rustling of a plastic bag, followed by the sound of small things falling to the ground. It seemed something else had been thrown onto the game mat.
Chu Xi listened with a tilted ear, concentrating as she asked Ren Zhi, "What else did they put out?"
Ren Zhi: "Very small inflatable balloons, they look like bombs..."
As the two were discussing it, the Director announced loudly, "I've now scattered some 'bomb' balloons on the mat. The teachers can pick up the 'bombs,' but they aren't worth any points. If the little piggies step on a 'bomb,' all the point balloons held by that team's teacher will be confiscated. Little piggies, watch your step!"
Ren Zhi patted Chu Xi's shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll warn you."
Chu Xi said, "Okay. When we start, I'll just run. When we get to a balloon, you just grab it."
She didn't even say Ren Zhi needed to give her directions?
Ren Zhi asked her, "You know which way to run?"
Chu Xi smiled mysteriously. "You'll find out in a moment, won't you? And also, whether my stamina is good or not."
She felt it was absolutely necessary to prove this to Ren Zhi.
She wasn't weak.
And while she was at it, she'd make Ren Zhi retract her previous preconceived notions.
Ren Zhi: "Heh, you'd better be."
As soon as the Director yelled "Start," the eight little pigs ran forward with their teachers on their backs. The mat was filled with a constant clamor of anxious shouts—
"Forward, forward, forward!"
"A little more to the left!"
"Right, right! Okay, stop, stop, stop..."
On the sidelines, there was the laughter of onlookers and occasional applause.
On the other teams, the teachers directed the blindfolded trainees, grabbing their shoulders like steering wheels in a frenzy. The trainees couldn't get their bearings, twisting and turning, spinning in place, looking utterly ridiculous.
But when it came to Ren Zhi and Chu Xi's team, it was the complete opposite!
Everyone just watched in amazement as Chu Xi ran in a straight line—
"Frog, get it."
"Sunflower, get it."
"Ultraman, get it."
She was even directing Ren Zhi to pick up the balloons at her own feet.
Onlooking trainees: "???"
How did Chu Xi know what was next to her?
Someone suggested a thorough check of Chu Xi's blindfold! Was it defective?
The Director also felt something was off. He called a timeout, and everyone froze in place.
He went over, took off Chu Xi's blindfold, and tried it on himself.
Huh?
It was pitch black. No holes?
The Director then had several teachers and trainees try the blindfold, all of whom confirmed its quality was fine. Chu Xi's blindfold was exactly the same as everyone else's.
At this time, Ren Zhi was covering Chu Xi's eyes with her hands, waiting for the Director to bring the blindfold back.
"How is it? Are you done checking?" she asked.
"All checked. No problem."
The Director returned the blindfold and put it back on her. Since she hadn't cheated, the game continued as planned.
Although Chu Xi was skilled, her luck didn't seem to be that great.
Ren Zhi picked up three balloons and saw that the points stuck to them were all "1 point" and "2 points," while another teacher next to them grabbed a balloon and shrieked with delight, "Wow! 5 points!"
Ren Zhi: "..." Envious.
She leaned close to Chu Xi's shoulder and directed, "You remember the way, right? Go to our bucket first, I can't hold any more."
"Okay." Chu Xi calculated the angle, turned, and ran like the wind with Ren Zhi on her back.
"Stop, stop, stop! We're here!" Ren Zhi, always afraid Chu Xi would crash, yelled for her to brake early.
She tossed the balloons in her hands into the pink bucket.
Chu Xi laughed at her. "What are you afraid of? I remember the map. You think I'd let you fall?"
Ren Zhi: "It wouldn't matter if I fell. I'd have you to break my fall anyway."
Because Chu Xi's skill was a bit too outrageous, as if she weren't blindfolded at all, she quickly attracted everyone's attention.
Not just the audience on the sidelines, but also the other seven teams on the field.
Two teachers picked up 'bombs' from the ground and deliberately threw them toward Chu Xi.
When the others saw this, they grinned, thinking it was a good idea, and immediately followed their bad example.
In an instant, four or five 'bombs' flew toward Chu Xi's feet.
The first-place team was so strong, of course they had to use a few little tricks!
The watching trainees, who just loved a good show, clapped enthusiastically. The more intense the game, the more fun they had watching.
Chu Xi was immersed in the space she had constructed in her mind, her attention focused inward, creating a natural shield against external signals.
As she ran forward, Ren Zhi saw the 'bombs' right in front of them and yelled, "Wait! Don't move, don't move!"
Chu Xi took a step forward and then pulled her foot back. The 'bomb' was just a hair's breadth from her foot cover!
"What's wrong?"
"They threw 'bombs' at your feet," Ren Zhi explained, then added, "It's your own fault for being too good."
"So you admit I'm good?"
"..."
Chu Xi seemed to have missed the point.
"Stop being so narcissistic. Be careful you don't end up in last place."
"Impossible." Chu Xi asked, "How many centimeters away is the 'bomb'? I'll step over it."
Ren Zhi estimated, "It's right in front of your foot, about the length of your tiptoe away. There's one on the left too, and one behind you. There's another to the northeast, a bit farther, about a foot's distance."
"Got it."
Chu Xi narrowly avoided them.
But the other teams wouldn't let her off. Whenever they had a chance to pick up a 'bomb,' they threw it toward Chu Xi.
This gave Ren Zhi the feeling of "the six major sects besieging Brightness Peak." At the same time, she felt like she was driving recklessly.
It was truly dangerous, with mines everywhere.
In the heat of the battle, although Chu Xi did her best to avoid stepping on 'bombs,' she inevitably collided with another little pig trainee who was running blindly.
Both of them stumbled backward, tumbling over.
Ren Zhi hit the mat first, then fiercely pulled Chu Xi into her arms.
Chu Xi didn't have time to react this time. Her head was yanked over at high speed, leaving her dizzy.
She crashed into Ren Zhi's chest, and it was she who let out a "mmph."
The place her head had hit was much softer than the mat beneath her...
It also carried the faint scent of perfume, which wafted into her nose.
When a person's sense of sight is deprived, their other senses become much sharper.
Ren Zhi's chin rested on her head. She poked her pig headpiece, and a gentle breath blew through her hair.
"You almost landed on a 'bomb'."
Almost.
Luckily, Ren Zhi was quick-eyed and fast-handed, pulling her over.
Seeing the other teams still scrambling to run toward the point balloons, Ren Zhi urged, "Hurry up, I'll help you up. Let's grab a few more balloons."
It turned out Ren Zhi's competitive spirit was no less than her own.
Chu Xi smiled. "Okay, I know."
However, unexpectedly, getting up in this clumsy outfit was much harder than walking.
Chu Xi's hands couldn't even touch the ground. The moment she tried to stand up a little, her body instantly lost balance and she fell again!
This time, her face brushed against Ren Zhi's as she quickly tried to move away, her forehead sinking into the soft, thick hair.
The inflatable suit pressed down on Ren Zhi. It wasn't life-threatening, but she couldn't help but cry out.
She looked up at the sky, speechless. "Are you trying to murder me?"
She couldn't even turn her head, so she could only say, "You're pressing on my hair."
Chu Xi blew away a few strands of hair that were stuck to her mouth before she could speak. "Stop breathing in my ear."
So itchy...
If Chu Xi wasn't a whole puffy, clumsy weight on top of her, Ren Zhi wouldn't want to be speaking this close to her either.
And they were surrounded by a crowd of onlookers who were either enjoying the show or roaring with laughter.
Ren Zhi sighed, "Aigh."
It was like a wave of heat washing over her, carrying countless fine, dense vapor molecules that clung to her auricle, turning into droplets of water that slid down her ear canal. A "drip" landed on her sensitive, delicate eardrum, causing Chu Xi's shoulders to involuntarily shrink toward her neck.
It felt as if the fine hairs on her shoulders were standing on end, and the skin on her neck felt completely uncomfortable.
—But in reality, it was nothing, just a fleeting breath from Ren Zhi.
Chu Xi frowned awkwardly. "Turn your head away!"
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