To a tall, strong man, Cui Xiaoqiu's physique would make her look like a tiny, weakling.
"It's me." Cui Xiaoqiu raised an eyebrow, looking at the man with a half-smile.
The man snorted coldly, refusing to speak to him, but instead said to Yanran, "Miss, what good life can you expect with a sickly man like him? My family has fertile fields and fine horses, we have..."
Although Yanran herself says Cui Xiaoqiu is weak and incompetent every day, it doesn't mean that others can say the same thing.
So she immediately turned cold. "Even if your family has mountains of gold and silver, you still can't compare to him!"
The man was taken aback, but didn't immediately get angry. Instead, he looked at Cui Xiaoqiu and said, "Do you dare accept my challenge?"
Yanran her hand on the table. "I dare!"
The man had never seen such a tactic before and immediately froze on the spot.
Cui Xiaoqiu felt a warm comfort in her heart. She pressed Yanran's hand and said, "Don't be impulsive, sit down. This is a matter between men."
It's time to show off my skills.
This would also prevent Yanran from always saying he's weak.
Today's timing is excellent.
Yanran replied, "Let him fight me first. He can fight you after he beats me!"
If she loses, then Cui Xiaoqiu should just admit defeat.
It's not like she has to go with this man just because she lost.
She's a master at being cheeky and unreasonable.
The man refused.
Whoever tries to woo the girl first gets into a fight with her?
Even if he were completely stupid, he wouldn't do something like that.
"What are we comparing?" Cui Xiaoqi asked calmly, her brows relaxed, as if everything in front of her was insignificant.
The man looked down at him arrogantly and said, "You choose? Hand-to-hand combat, archery, wrestling... whatever you prefer."
Yanran rummaged around and realized that Cui Xiaoqiu wasn't good at any of them.
That's not fair!
Why not compete with words?
Let's see if Cui Xiaoqiu doesn't tear him apart!
Unexpectedly, Cui Xiaoqiu readily accepted the challenge. "Fists and wrestling are too crude; let's compete in archery."
Yanran was dumbfounded.
With Cui Xiaoqiu's small frame, he couldn't even draw a bow!
But seeing his calm and composed demeanor, Yanran suddenly understood.
Cui Xiaoqiu must have other tricks up his sleeve; he'll subdue the enemy without a fight.
She must believe him!
"Fine," the man said, "I'll give you a three-zhang head start!"
"No need." Cui Xiaoqiu said coldly.
The man slapped the second-floor railing and jumped straight down from the building; his movements were clean and swift.
Yanran: Oh no, she's a real expert.
She looked at Cui Xiaoqiu, "We may lose the game, but we won't lose face, right?"
"Shall we go down too?"
She could jump down with Cui Xiaoqiu, but could Cui Xiaoqiu jump as gracefully? Obviously not.
Even if we lose by a small margin, it's still a win for us!
Cui Xiaoqiu smiled and nodded, but before Yanran, she jumped down.
Yanran covered her eyes.
This started off like a king, but once it lands... it'll probably just be a toad!
The second floor isn't very high, so I hope I won't get hurt from a fall.
Yanran leaned down to look...
Huh?
You got up so quickly?
Cui Xiaoqiu, you're amazing!
As long as you move quickly enough, it doesn't count as falling.
Yanran also leaped into the air, her clothes fluttering, and landed gracefully and cleanly, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Yanran: If I win, then Cui Xiaoqiu wins.
I'm so tired of winning!
Liaodong is known for its martial spirit. As soon as they announced a competition, the restaurant had already prepared targets, bows, and arrows.
The target was placed right in the middle of the street, and the originally bustling crowd formed a circle around it, all coming to watch the spectacle.
Yanran: Everyone's got such a great love for gossip.
To intimidate Cui Xiaoqiu, the man first picked up a bow and arrow, stepped back several dozen paces, drew the bow, and aimed...
Yanran immediately sensed something was wrong when she saw this situation.
This guy's got some skills; you can tell he's really good just by looking at his stance.
Sure enough, the man fired three arrows in succession, all hitting the bullseye.
A burst of enthusiastic applause and exclamations erupted from the crowd.
Yanran glanced at Cui Xiaoqiu— "Hurry up, where's your escape plan?"
Cui Xiaoqiu stood tall and graceful, smiling slightly at Yanran. His smile was like a gentle spring breeze, warm and doting.
Then he walked towards the man with the bow and arrow and reached out to take the bow and arrow.
Yanran was dumbfounded.
They're really going to have a competition?
This is insane!
"Wait!" Yanran called out, "He trained me, let me do it."
She was still confident she could defeat this man.
We're about to win again.
Hearing that this beautiful girl was about to show off her skills, the crowd erupted in even louder applause.
Yanran silently breathed a sigh of relief; as long as everyone approved of her intervention, that was fine.
Unexpectedly, some people objected.
Cui Xiaoqiu said, "No need, I'll do it myself. I should teach him a thing or two."
Yanran: "..."
He's gone mad, this person is truly insane.
Then she watched as Cui Xiaoqiu stepped forward, took the bow and arrow, and calmly drew the bow and shot the arrow under the eager gaze of the crowd.
He didn't even aim!
Yanran covered her face, but couldn't help peeking out through her fingers.
Holy crap!
What did she see?
There were no arrows on the target, only three holes?
Where are the arrows?
Having practiced archery for many years, she easily realized that Cui Xiaoqiu's three arrows from behind had hit the back of that person's arrows, and carried the arrows from before through the target...
But is that even possible?
Cui Xiaoqiu is clearly a sickly person.
Yanran couldn't help but look left and right, trying to see if there was any hidden secret, or if he had any accomplices.
But it didn't happen.
Yanran was still bewildered until Cui Xiaoqiu returned the bow and arrow amidst the cheers of the crowd and came over to take her hand.
Even when she saw Lang Xuan in the crowd, she forgot to say hello.
She was utterly shocked.
Cui Xiaoqiu, who had just made her "debut," was clearly very excited and waiting to be praised.
On the way back, after waiting for a long time, Yanran finally realized that she was being led by the hand by Cui Xiaoqiu.
This "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" approach is a bit too quick.
However, she didn't dwell on that. Instead, she asked excitedly, "Cui Xiaoqiu, how did you do that just now?"
Cui Xiaoqiu: "... You did it just like that? Didn't you see it clearly?"
He wouldn't mind performing it again.
However, Yanran's thought process is clearly not that of an ordinary person; she is very clever!
Yanran asked, "Cui Xiaoqiu, are you also researching gunpowder?"
Cui Xiaoqiu was completely confused.
Yanran, believing she had uncovered the truth, excitedly asked, "Did you secretly use gunpowder just now and blow up the target? You must have, right? How did you do that?"
Cui Xiaoqiu: I did it with my own ability, but you insist that I cheated.
I'm so frustrated.
"Yanran," he looked at her, his gaze helpless, "Why can't I learn archery? Why must I be so weak and helpless?"
"Because you're naturally delicate and frail, unable to even kill a chicken. Why would you ask why?"
Yanran was stunned after she finished speaking.
What does Cui Xiaoqiu mean?
Does he mean this is his true level?
A lazy bum who's been by my side since childhood suddenly stops being a lazy bum and even leaps over the dragon gate?