Chapter 342: Chapter 341

Lao Wenhong waved her hand indifferently: “What’s my identity got to do with having good wishes?”

After speaking, she grabbed Ling Chengyan’s arm and smiled: “Are you guys not in a hurry to go back after the competition? Come with me to Beijing for a couple of days. I’ll treat you to hotpot at Donglai Shun and barbecue at Old Ji’s house… it’s the real deal…”

Ling Chengyan glanced at Zheng Zhuoya and shook her head: “Unfortunately, we have to go back the same day, there are training tasks waiting for us.”

Zheng Zhuoya shook her head while meeting Lao Wenhong’s eager gaze: “Don’t look at Captain Ling, she’s definitely participating in the finals, so she won’t have time. And as for me, I need to stay until the competition is over… even if I don’t make it to the finals, I want to stay and watch, it’s a rare opportunity.”

Lao Wenhong lowered her head in disappointment then laughed: “Then I’ll stay here and watch too. Anyway, it’s a chance to say: hey, you guys don’t know, there’s a female captain with the surname Ling, she’s quite impressive, holding a weapon, firing boom boom boom, scoring a perfect score! Do you know what a perfect score is…”

This girl was really carefree, about to compete in the semifinals, yet she still had the mood to chat idly, directly imitating a storyteller.

The three arrived at the semifinal venue, Ling Chengyan took one look and noticed that the event was more tightly controlled compared to the preliminary rounds in the morning. Isolation lines were set up, and all personnel not involved in the competition were kept outside the lines. Inside the lines were only the referees; even the scorekeepers only entered the target area after all competitors had finished shooting, running in to tally and announce the scores.

Seeing this setup, Ling Chengyan felt a bit reassured.

No matter if the organizers could provide her a resolution, as long as measures were strengthened, it could warn those with ill intentions, further ensuring the fairness of the competition.

There were thirty people entering the semifinals, divided into three groups.

This time, Ling Chengyan was assigned to one group.

Ten minutes left to the match, Ling Chengyan stood up and walked towards the field.

Participants were allowed to enter the field three minutes early, with enough time to check equipment and shooting positions.

Entering the field, Ling Chengyan saw several technicians checking the equipment one by one, confirming everything was correct, then signaling to the referee group who then allowed participants to enter.

Picking up the equipment, Ling Chengyan glanced over and confirmed that it was a batch of new equipment.

Although the equipment model was the same as used in the morning preliminary rounds, it was not the same batch. The equipment showed maintenance marks intact, with no signs of use.

Confirming the equipment was new, Ling Chengyan didn’t skip the checking process, taking the allotted three minutes to carefully examine every part and structure, ultimately confirming everything was correct, then lifted her gaze towards the targets.

A row of targets at the end of her vision, with Ling Chengyan’s eyesight, she could clearly see the scale lines of each ring. On the specially designed target sheet, the ten-ring wasn’t completely colored red, but only the central half portion to more precisely differentiate scores within the ten-ring.

The whistle sounded—beep!

Ling Chengyan swiftly dropped down, holding the weapon, her gaze through the sight aimed at the target. Using the standard tool, the target was enlarged; she could clearly see the small red spot within the ten-ring, detailed scales visible, causing the corners of her mouth to lift slightly.

Beep! The short whistle sounded, the match officially began!

Well-prepared, Ling Chengyan confidently fired round after round, bang, bang, bang… she shot ten bullets without pause, didn’t continue to focus on the target, swiftly stood up, put down the weapon, raised her hand to signal: completed!

The referee waved the small flag, Ling Chengyan stepped away from her shooting position, stopped a few steps away, turning to watch other competitors continue the match while waiting for the results.

In the audience seats, many people nervously whispered, discussing this female soldier.

“…That was too fast, did she even aim properly?”

“You forgot, during the morning preliminary rounds, she was even faster than this and scored 99.7 rings!” The implication being that her even faster shooting could still achieve near-perfect scores, thus this speed certainly wouldn’t be a problem.

Some understood his pointed words and no longer doubted, only muttering in admiration. However, there always seemed to be opinionated critics, pursing their lips to express their superior arguments: “This is an all-army semifinal, those who made it are all top-notch, her attitude is just wrong, too careless!”

“She’s too arrogant, so conceited, she doesn’t seem to regard other competitors at all!”

…

Those who entered the semifinals had all gathered at the preparation area by the field, but a few who were eliminated in the preliminaries remained in the audience area watching. Most of those seated here wore standard military uniforms, apart from differences in rank, with no other distinguishing features, and under unfamiliar circumstances, nobody noticed the group from Eastern Province, whose discussions were quite loud.

Liu Guangyi, from an external unit and with a fiery temperament, listened in rising anger, unable to contain himself, stood up and shouted at those gossiping like old nags behind him: “You guys, who couldn’t even make it to the semifinals, what right do you have to be here criticizing? If you’ve got the guts, go score a perfect ring yourself!”

Li Ming and Xiang Haiqing pulled Liu Guangyi back from either side, their cold gazes sweeping over those who had been talking nonsense. Both had truly seen combat and blood on the battlefield, their gazes naturally carrying a chilling menace, causing those gossiping to shiver and shrink together.

Zhao Qingfeng remained still, but his gaze similarly swept the area, finally retracting his look after seeing a group of people shut up like obedient quails, speaking plainly: “Results are about to be announced, quiet down, don’t miss out.”

The four quietly and properly sat down as the scoring announcement began: “…Position five, Ling Chengyan, ten rings, ten rings, ten rings… total score 100 rings! Perfect score!”

Roar… Discussions simultaneously rose in both the field and audience, overshadowing the scores of several others reported afterward.

Zhao Qingfeng and the others, along with Xiang Yuhong, all frowned and tilted their heads to listen carefully to the scoring announcements. Even though the clarity wasn’t great, it was confirmed that the following competitors hadn’t scored a perfect ring!

After experiencing the unexpected preliminary round, their captain had finally proven herself in the semifinals with a perfect score!

Arrogant? We have the confidence!

Looked down upon? The phoenix soaring high looks over the vast earth and far horizons, who would pay attention to the insignificant wild chickens at its feet?!

Liu Guangyi proudly lifted his head, glancing back at those who were still talking nonsense earlier, snorting with a raised nose! That expression, that demeanor, as if he had gotten first place himself!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep