Chapter 111: Cool

Chapter 111: Chapter 111: Cool

After the match, the staff awarded Xiao Heqing her prize. There was no gold medal, but there was a bonus of ten thousand yuan.

When she received the thick stack of prize money, Xiao Heqing asked in amazement, "Wasn’t it two thousand yuan? Why is there so much?"

"The amount was changed a few days ago," the staff member explained. "President Jiang raised the tournament prize pool to ten thousand yuan. How could you, the champion, not even notice?"

"HUH?" Xiao Heqing really didn’t know. She had been so focused on winning the match that she hadn’t bothered to check for any changes to the prize.

"Anyway, congratulations on winning the championship," the staff member chuckled.

"T-thank you."

Holding the money, Xiao Heqing looked out at the cheering crowd and waved to everyone from the stage.

Lin Zhengran’s phone gave a DING. The screen showed that he had won a second prize of twenty thousand yuan from a soda sweepstakes he entered last week... The system’s double cashback reward always found all sorts of excuses to deliver the money.

Xiao Heqing waved at Lin Zhengran from the stage, and Lin Zhengran smiled back at the little girl.

[Over the past few days, you and He Fairy returned to her sect to participate in the annual sect tournament. Relying on the cultivation incantations and Immortal Magic you taught her over the years, He Fairy’s strength has increased significantly. Although she encountered a formidable opponent, He Fairy relied on her overwhelming power to easily defeat them and claim victory in the sect’s martial arts competition.]

[After winning the competition, He Fairy told the sect elders that she wanted to go down the mountain with you to gain experience for a period of time.]

[After some discussion, the sect elders concluded that He Fairy’s strength had already far exceeded the level of her fellow disciples. Therefore, they felt reassured in letting her travel and train with you to further improve her abilities.]

[After winning the competition, He Fairy wishes to give you a gift in return. For you, this is yet another fortuitous encounter.]

After the competition, the coach and some of the students realized something clearly amidst their celebrations. Xiao Heqing was definitely not just a little koi in a small pond. She would never stay in this small town forever just to practice this child’s play. She was bound to step onto a larger stage in the future.

The coach took out a business card, doing whatever he could to help. "He Qing, Lin Zhengran, this is an old friend of mine. He runs a taekwondo studio in the city that’s better than mine. You can check it out if you want. Although it can’t compare to the major ones, he’s a pretty good guy."

Whether it would be useful or not, Lin Zhengran naturally accepted the business card. Even though they hadn’t spent that much time together, they had still been friends for a few years.

"Thank you, Coach."

Watching this scene from afar, Lin Xue, who had lost the match, suddenly realized something. In the past, whenever she won and everyone celebrated for her, she had barely paid them any attention.

With so much prize money in hand after the match, Xiao Heqing declared she would use two thousand yuan to treat everyone to a meal. The little girl from back then had actually learned the ways of the world. After all, it was unknown whether she would ever see these people again.

Right before they left, Xiao Heqing went to the locker room to change and was surprised to see Lin Xue changing alone in the corner. Lin Xue’s expression had shifted from her usual seriousness to one of dejection as she took off her taekwondo uniform and packed it into her bag.

After a moment of thought, Xiao Heqing slowly walked over to greet her. "Lin Xue?"

Hearing the greeting and seeing Xiao Heqing, a hint of awkwardness and shame flashed across Lin Xue’s face. It wasn’t just the shame of losing the match. It was because Xiao Heqing was two years younger than her and looked as soft and sweet as a little sister.

Now that she had calmed down after her defeat, Lin Xue recalled her own ruthlessness during the match. She suddenly felt that her actions on the mat had been completely disgraceful. Let alone losing, even if she had won, she wasn’t sure if she would have genuinely felt happy.

Xiao Heqing stared blankly at Lin Xue for a moment before giving a goofy smile. "Your taekwondo is really amazing. Yesterday, before it all started, I was actually a little scared that I wouldn’t be able to beat you."

Lin Xue’s movements slowed down, and she offered her a small smile.

Xiao Heqing scratched her head, looking a little embarrassed. "Although I won, I still feel like I had some luck on my side today. You didn’t seem to be in your best form, after all."

Lin Xue was surprised by the little girl’s innocent cuteness, which only deepened her guilt. "There was no luck involved. That’s my usual level—I might have even overperformed today. Losing to you was purely because my skills weren’t good enough."

Xiao Heqing waved her hands in denial. "No! I could tell you were just too anxious because you wanted to win so badly! If you had fought calmly, you definitely wouldn’t be at just this level! You’d be much stronger!"

Lin Xue was stunned. She smiled. "You really are kind... Please don’t be mad at me for looking at you like that on the mat earlier. I’m sorry."

Xiao Heqing blinked and grinned.

"I was also acting a bit... ummm... I don’t really know how to put it toward the end of the match," she said. "But your talent is genuinely great! I think you’ll definitely become even stronger in the future.

"Even though winning is important, we practice taekwondo because it’s fun, isn’t it? It’s super cool! If we just fight messily, it ruins the fun... right?"

Xiao Heqing spoke earnestly, "Anyway, I’m looking forward to the day we can compete again! When that time comes, I hope you’ll fight me seriously, and I’ll do the same. We’ll see who’s truly the stronger one, instead of ending things as hastily as we did today!"

A light flashed in Lin Xue’s eyes. Just then, Xiao Heqing heard Lin Zhengran calling out for her from outside.

She replied to him and waved goodbye to Lin Xue. "My boyfriend is calling me, so I have to go! Bye-bye!"

Lin Xue waved back at her. "Bye-bye." Then, she suddenly called out to stop her, "He Qing! Let’s meet again in the future!"

Xiao Heqing paused and looked back, continuing to wave with a smile. "Yeah! We’ll definitely meet again."

Only after the little girl had completely left did Lin Xue heave a sigh of relief. She stood there in a daze for a moment before taking out her phone. She looked at the resignation text she had been planning to send to the coach and slowly deleted it. She remembered that she had originally started practicing taekwondo purely out of passion. But somewhere along the line, she had become obsessed with winning, casting her passion aside.

She mused, "I really lost to that girl in every way, from the match to my own heart..."

Lin Xue put away her phone and suddenly stretched her back vigorously. After finishing changing, she slung her bag over her shoulder, walked out of the locker room, and returned to her taekwondo team.

Everyone in the team, including the coach and the students, watched as Lin Xue walked out. They all knew her proud and aloof personality. Following this defeat, no one knew what kind of expression she would wear or what she might do. They had even collectively thought of one likely possibility, so someone hurriedly stepped forward to comfort her.

To everyone’s surprise, Lin Xue looked at their concerned faces and pulled her three-thousand-yuan runner-up cash prize from her bag, waving it with a smile.

"Even though I lost today, I still won the runner-up prize. Let me treat everyone to a meal," she said. She paused, taking in their confused expressions, and thought of the little girl from just now. "What’s wrong? I’m fine. I just lost once. The next time we compete, I definitely won’t lose."

The others exchanged glances and quickly broke into smiles. "Exactly! You’ll definitely win next time, Lin Xue!"

"Yeah, you’ve always led us to victory before."

The coach felt a wave of relief and walked over. "That girl is simply too strong. Not being able to beat her isn’t your fault. Her skills are just on a completely different level from ours. Let’s just work hard in training from now on."

Lin Xue smiled and sighed, thinking of He Qing. "Anyway, let’s work hard to surpass her. Together."

Although Lin Xue had a proud personality, when that defeated girl warned Xiao Heqing yesterday afternoon and cheered that Lin Xue would win, He Qing knew that this girl must actually treat the people in her taekwondo studio quite well. Otherwise, no one would have rooted for her to win.

Later that evening, after having a simple dinner with everyone, Xiao Heqing and Lin Zhengran took a ride back to school.