Chapter 33: The End-of-Month Ranking Match

  Mokie lowered her eyelids and adjusted her swim cap. She was now in the indoor swimming pool of Ripple Academy, preparing to participate in the monthly ranking match of Ripple Academy.

  As for what happened yesterday, she absolutely thought it was just her eyes playing tricks on her, or maybe she had stayed in the water for too long and got dizzy from the sun, otherwise why would she think that Long Yifeng classmate was a little bit handsome?

  Well, she must have been hallucinating. Mo Qi took a deep breath and threw off the distracting thoughts that had troubled her for an entire night, looked up and glanced around the indoor swimming pool of Liubo Academy, which she visited for the first time.

  At the end of the month's ranking match, she had no idea that so many people would come to watch. Mo QiQi found that both sides of the audience seats were packed with people, especially on the side of the diving competition venue, which was densely packed with spectators.

  As for them swimming over here, there were noticeably fewer onlookers than Mo QiQi had expected.

  "Hehe, Mo QiQi? I'm Coach Lu Yu from the swimming department. Nice to meet you, please guide me." In front of Mo QiQi appeared a smiling doll-faced handsome guy, looking like he's just over twenty years old, with raised eyebrows and a smile in his eyes, staring at her.

  Moki suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. It had been about a month since she last came to practice, yet no one had scolded her, and the coach was still smiling and chatting with her. She really felt guilty.

  "Good coach." Mo QiQi saw Lu Yu stretch out his hand and also stretched out her own to shake hands with him.

  "Heh heh, what project are you signing up for today?" Lu Yu asked, pulling out a scorebook and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

  "Fifty meters backstroke." Mo QiQi said with a smile. She can now confidently participate in this event. There shouldn't be any problem.

  Lu Yu wrote it down in his notebook. "Is this all?"

  "Hmm. Can't I? " Moki thought of other projects she didn't have confidence in doing well, turned around and made that technical move.

  Lu Yu nodded and said, "It's okay, you're a newcomer after all. However, many people were called away for training today because there will be a national swimming championship soon. So there are fewer people competing today."

  It turns out that's the case, no wonder she didn't see Fang Zikuan in the swimming pool. There was no way around it, she knew only one person in the swimming department, and naturally, she subconsciously looked for familiar faces here.

  "Ah. What was your best score on this project before?" Lu Yu hadn't finished asking and continued to ask.

  "Uh...I don't remember." Mo QiQi smiled awkwardly. She actually had never gone swimming, so what best record was there to speak of?

  Lu Yu didn't mind, and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose again, writing something in the scorebook. "Hehe, I'm really curious why so many people came today?" Lu Yu looked up to see Mo Qi staring blankly at the audience on the viewing platform.

  "Hmm, it's a bit unexpected." Mo QiQi withdrew her gaze and smiled faintly. She had thought that the end-of-month ranking match would only have people from their own school present, but she hadn't expected so many spectators to be there.

  Ryūga put the pen in his chest pocket and explained with a smile: "The monthly ranking match at the end of each month is one day for each department, and on this day, students from other departments can enter the venue to watch the game. Every time there is a monthly ranking match, a beautifully printed program comes out, which lists the competition schedule and highlights of each department's matches every day. I just happen to have one here, let me give it to you." Ryūga pulled out a small booklet from under the scorebook, and indeed it was beautifully printed.

  Moki Moki received it in her hand and found out that it was indeed something done by the CMFU school newspaper.

  "And that's why we hold a ranking match at the end of every month, not just to maintain the competitive spirit within the school, but also to create opportunities for national teams or professional teams to select personnel. The best way to observe an athlete's competitive state is naturally in a match." Lu Yu gestured for Mo Qi Qi to look towards the diving area on the other side of the swimming pool, and said with a smile: "Look over there, the level of our monthly ranking matches can compare to international levels, so many people come to watch."

  Mo Qi nodded, thinking that it might not be just that. She discovered a very hidden but seemingly not-so-hidden platform on the campus network that could be found by those who were determined to find it. On this platform, one could participate in gambling matches while hiding their identity. The monthly ranking match for each college was the main event of this platform every month.

  "Hehe, of course it's not just about watching the competition, each college has its own campus idol. For example, the diving department's golden twins, Gao Xian and Gao Yun. Ah, they're the ones jumping right now." Lu Yu said with a light smile. Along with his words, the stadium erupted in thunderous applause.

  Mo Qi's face turned dark when she heard the names. Turning her head, she saw two figures jumping into the water from the 10-meter platform with elegant movements, creating almost no splash, perfect and flawless.

  The swimming pool was filled with applause and cheers, including screams from girls.

  It's indeed a golden combination.

  Mo Qi withdrew her gaze and looked back at the swimming pool where a competition was being held without anyone paying attention, feeling even more deserted.

  Lu Yu just looked at Mo Qi Qi's expression and knew what she was thinking. Because the contrast was too obvious. "Hehe, can't help it, coincidentally, almost all the swimming idols were called away. Like Fang Zi Chuan, Zhan Xin and them, naturally there are fewer people coming to watch. Oh, right, Zhan Xin repeatedly reminded me that I must watch your match, what should I pay attention to? Ah no, I forgot." Lu Yu's face was flustered as he flipped through the scorebook in his hand, seemingly searching for something.

  Moki had seen reports on the school forum before that the swimming team's coach, Lu Yu, was a bit muddled. Today, she saw him and indeed he was like that. Luckily, it was best if no one found her. The audience for today's monthly ranking match was sparse again, and she was happy that no one paid attention to her.

  "Coach Lu, if I participate in today's qualifying match, can I not come for training next month? Or do I still need to come only at the end of next month for the qualifying match?" Mo QiQi changed the subject and asked all the questions she had in mind.

  "Eleven has a seven-day National Day holiday, and it's best to come once a week after that, because we need to study how to achieve good results in the autumn sports meeting. The third week of October is the autumn sports meeting. In October, there is no monthly ranking match due to the sports meeting."

  "?" Mo Qi's face was full of question marks. How would the autumn sports meeting be held? No one had told her about it!

  Lu Yu pushed up the glasses on his face and smiled: "Don't worry about these for now, this match is over anyway. You go do your warm-ups first, backstroke is coming up soon."

  Mokie's heart suddenly tightened. She had never swum in a standard swimming pool before, should... there be no problem?