The grand prize includes room and board? Dania's foodie spirit ignites!
I still think you're playing us.
Sigelica planted the broom on the ground; the dust in the winnowing basket hadn't been emptied yet.
Zhou Yu sat on a small stool at the warehouse entrance, the thermos in her hand steaming.
"Cleaning the warehouse is a sign of the organization's trust in you."
Linnai peeked out from behind the shelf, holding up a crumpled, colorful flyer.
"Brother Zhou! Brother Zhou! Huge good news!"
She hopped over the litter, the flyer landing on Zhou Yu's knee, the smell of ink mingling with the steam from the goji berry tea.
Zhou Yu glanced down at it.
[Registration Notice for the 74th Autumn Sports Meet of the Flamebearers' Academy]
"Group booking is the priority; we'll cover meals and accommodation for a three-day trip to the Lahai-Roi Seaside Resort."
Linnai's voice cracked.
Linnai:(✧Д✧)
"Three days. All-inclusive (food and lodging). I checked, and they have 18 different flavors of lobster at their all-you-can-eat buffet."
Aimis floated out carrying a half-full bucket of sewage, her mouth automatically opening.
Aimis:(￣ε￣)
"Ugh, I really want to participate! I'm bursting with energy for work right now."
She slammed the bucket on the ground expressionlessly, splashing water that soaked Chisaki's report.
Chisaki pushed up her glasses, and the densely packed formulas on the tablet were smudged by water.
Chisaki:(≖_≖)
"I did the math. With your current destructive power, if you knock over the buckets three more times, we'll have to work overtime until 8 PM."
"I didn't mean to."
Aimis's mouth retaliated automatically; she raised her hand and slapped herself.
Smack
Sigelica placed the broom against the wall, took out her terminal, and a follow-up appointment reminder from Lu Hesi made her ears burn. She locked the screen and emptied the ashes into the trash can.
"So what?" She brushed the dust off her hands. "You want to participate in the sports meet just to avoid cleaning the warehouse."
"First place in the 400-meter relay: 500 Star Coins, plus a three-day, two-night stay at the seaside resort."
Linnai tapped her finger on the flyer. "Sister Xixi, think about it, room and board included, lobsters galore, why would you worry about six figures?"
Sigelica's expression remained unchanged.
"The interest rate is in the six figures, increasing every day. You expect me to pay it off by running?"
"Every little bit helps."
Zhou Yu took a sip of tea and looked towards the end of the shelf.
Dania was dozing off against the sack that held the volleyball net, with sweet and sour pork rib sauce on the corner of her mouth and half a piece of sesame candy clutched in her hand.
Linnai was still shouting, "There are also twelve kinds of hot spring pools, a private beach, and fluorescent seaweed."
Dania's eyelashes fluttered.
The buffet restaurant is open 24 hours.
Her head tilted to one side.
Sigelica walked to the water dispenser to get some water.
"Stop dreaming. A 400-meter relay requires four people, and our class can't get a full team."
"Why can't we get all of them? You, me, and...?"
Linnai's voice trailed off as she looked at Dania sprawled on the sack and swallowed hard.
Dania ran the 800 meters, and Zhou Yu carried her back for the second half of the race, muttering that the braised pork was getting cold.
Linnai:(´--`;)
Never mind what I said.
A data table popped up on Chisaki's tablet.
"According to my calculations, Dania's muscle endurance curve closely matches that of a sloth."
Aimis pointed to the terminal, "Cheerleading is a team sport, but who would want to do that kind of twisting and turning? I'd rather clean toilets."
She slapped herself again.
Sigelica's terminal vibrated again; it was a message from Lu Hesi: "Take your medication on time; no follow-up appointment is needed once the side effects disappear."
Her ears burned even more.
Sigelica: (ꐦ°᷄д°᷅)
Chisaki and I have been assigned to the cheerleading squad.
Chisaki pulled up an energy consumption formula.
My suggestion is that the range of motion should not exceed the third section of the broadcast gymnastics routine.
"So the problem now is that we can't get four people together for the relay."
Linnai slammed the flyer on the table.
The sound of fabric rubbing came from the far end of the shelf.
Dania rolled over, dropping the half-eaten sesame candy from her hand.
She groggily opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling fan.
"Meals and accommodation included."
The voice was so soft it sounded like a dream.
Linnai bent down.
What did you say?
Dania sat up straight, her eyes still misty, but her pupils were surprisingly bright.
Dania:(๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧
"Can you eat all you want at a buffet?"
She snatched the flyer from Linnai's hand and traced a white mark with her fingertip on the line for "400-meter team relay".
"Seaside resort area. Buffet restaurant. 24 hours. Lobster. Grilled oysters. Napoleon cake. Chocolate fountain."
She read them aloud one by one, her voice instantly free of drowsiness.
Sigelica's hand, holding the water glass, froze in mid-air.
"Dania, are you serious?"
Dania flipped through the flyer, took a pen from Zhou Yu's pocket, and uncapped it.
"I want to report!"
Zhou Yu curled the corners of her mouth.
"You need me to carry you even when you run 800 meters, you snore on my back, and your drool gets all over my shoulder."
Dania's pen touched the paper, and she turned to look at him with a self-righteous look in her eyes.
"Because there were no lobsters at the finish line back then!"
She signed the first name, the pen tip cutting through the paper, and then moved on to the second.
Linnai gasped.
You signed my name too?
"You just said you wanted to participate."
I was speaking hypothetically.
Dania finished signing the second space and turned her pen to the third blank.
Sigelica took a step back.
"Don't sign me, I didn't agree."
Dania raised her head, her eyes clear.
"Xixi."
Her voice was very soft, Sigelica felt a tightness in her back.
Do you want to pay off your debt?
Sigelica:(;´д`)ゞ
"I want to pay off my debts, but I don't want to die on the track. My time is 800 meters in 4.5 minutes."
Dania ignored her, signed her third name, capped her pen, and slapped the registration form into Zhou Yu's hand.
"It's signed."
Zhou Yu smiled, took out another piece of paper, and began to write.
"OK."
He wrote and read aloud, "Draft of the 'Physical Cheat Intervention Draft for the 400-meter Relay Race'."
Linnai leaned closer to take a look.
[Article 1: According to Article 47 of the College Sports Meet Regulations, participants may prepare their own auxiliary equipment that meets safety standards.]
What are support items?
You'll find out then.
Chisaki's tablet captured the entire drafting process, and her eyes behind her glasses grew brighter and brighter.
Chisaki:(⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃
"Brother Zhou exploited a loophole in the logic of logistics resource allocation; I estimate his success rate is as high as 73%."
Aimis's mouth opened again.
"Holy crap! This is cheating! I'm so excited!"
She slapped herself, but with much less force.
Sigelica held her forehead.
"Sigh, you've got your eye on my scholarship again."
"The scholarship is a shared fund for the team, ensuring optimal resource allocation."
Just as Zhou Yu finished speaking, the loudspeaker outside the window started broadcasting.
"Urgent notice: All class arts and culture representatives, please collect your cheerleading uniforms from the Academic Affairs Office. Also, transfer student Yeqi, please complete your work-study assessment at the men's restroom in Building 8 by 4 PM today."
Zhou Yu's digital watch screen lit up for a moment.
A muffled thud came from the direction of Building 8, like something had been thrown into the water.
Meanwhile, in the men's restroom of Building 8.
Yeqi stood in front of the sink, her face in the mirror appearing ashen from the blue cleaning uniform.
As the broadcast blared, the mop handle in his hand screeched against the tiles, his foot slipped, and an irresistible force threw him overboard, sending him tumbling into the mop bucket filled with sewage.
Splash!
He lifted his head from the bucket, the texture of the mop strips imprinted on his forehead, and squeezed out two words through clenched teeth.
"... Zhou... Yu."
In the warehouse, Zhou Yu's digital watch screen went dark. He picked up his thermos and covered his mouth with the rim of the cup.
Dania grabbed the hem of his clothes.
What exactly are support items?
"The Logistics Department has forty pairs of scrapped roller skates. I checked them, and the bearings can still turn."
Chisaki's tablet displayed the calculation results.
"Roller skates have a 63% lower rolling resistance coefficient than running shoes, which can reduce race time by 21%."
Sigelica put down her water glass.
"Roller skates will slip on a synthetic track."
"Therefore, Chisaki needs to add a friction coefficient adjustment module to the sole of the shoe."
Zhou Yu tightened the cup lid.
Aimis was about to speak, Zhou Yu slipped her a rainbow candy.
"After taking it, the side effects disappeared."
Aimis threw the candy into her mouth and tried to open it, "I want to join you," her voice finally synchronized with her thoughts.
Aimis:(இஇ`｡)
I'm finally back to normal.
She collapsed to the ground and kicked over the bucket of water.
Chisaki retrieved the report, which was completely soaked.
Chisaki:(ㅍ_ㅍ)
"I'll recalculate, this time adding a waterproofing variable."
Linnai stared at her name on the registration form.
Should I really run away?
Dania walked over to Zhou Yu, peeled off the last sesame candy, and put it in his palm.
"Hehe, after the run I can eat lobster."
She paused, then said, "Eat with me, it's free, three plates."
Zhou Yu unwrapped the candy and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Okay, let's take first place then."
He stood up and pulled a dusty cardboard box from the top shelf.
The lid was lifted, revealing forty pairs of silver roller skates neatly stacked, the lubricating oil on the bearings not yet completely dry.
The setting sun peeked through the gaps in the tin roof and fell on the silver wheels.
Sigelica looked at the box of roller skates, then at the debt figures flashing on the terminal.
I give up.
She put the terminal back in her pocket and bent down to pull a pair of glasses out of the box.
The wheel turned halfway in the sunset, the bearings creaking.
The sports meet march played again over the loudspeaker, making the tin roof vibrate.
The orange cat outside the window jumped down from the electrical box, its tail brushing against the still-dripping dark blue cleaning uniform on the windowsill.