He hesitated for a moment before speaking again: "Actually, what I want to show isn't utilizing animals. It's another method, one that doesn't rely on any animals and is more convenient for picking up arrows."
Ji Qingyi heard this and was somewhat surprised. She glanced at Su Cheng thoughtfully and then continued sipping her tea.
"How about we make a deal, Madam President?"
Seeing that she wasn't responding, Su Cheng tried to entice her further: "Unique and one-of-a-kind, there's none other like it."
Ji Qingyi didn't even lift an eyelid, merely saying indifferently, "Go ahead, explain."
Su Cheng, feeling a bit frustrated that she made him go first, pursed his lips and thought for a moment before proposing: "In situations like this, where students in school need to decide who goes first, we usually use a small game. This game is called 'Rock, Paper, Scissors.'"
Hearing him begin his explanation, Ji Qingyi naturally set her teacup down.
Su Cheng, noticing this, sneakily glanced at Ji Qingyi out of the corner of his eye and saw that she seemed a bit interested. He continued: "First to three wins, and the loser goes first. The rules are..."
Just as Su Cheng was about to explain the rules and how to play, Ji Qingyi interrupted him by extending her fair, delicate hand.
Although this hand was as white and smooth as jade, soft and fragrant, Su Cheng knew full well that she had the strength to crush a skull.
Su Cheng paused.
"Alright, that's enough. First to three wins."
"So then."
Su Cheng put his right hand behind his back and said, "When I finish saying 'Rock, Paper, Scissors,' we'll both throw at the same time."
"Okay."
Ji Qingyi agreed and then placed her right hand on the table.
"Rock, Paper, Scissors!"
As soon as Su Cheng finished speaking, he placed his right hand on the table, forming a rock, while Ji Qingyi's hand instantly spread out into paper.
Then, Ji Qingyi slowly closed her palm and opened it again, indicating her victory.
Su Cheng lost.
"Madam President, you're really amazing."
Su Cheng didn't feel discouraged; instead, he had an expectant expression on his face.
He looked at Ji Qingyi and continued, "Let's go again."
This time, he decided to throw paper.
"Rock, Paper, Scissors!"
The next moment, he was stunned as he lost again. Looking at Ji Qingyi's scissors, he sensed something was off.
So, he placed his hand on the table and decided to throw the same way for the last round.
"Rock, Paper, Scissors!"
This time, he decided to throw scissors.
Ji Qingyi placed her fist on the table, looking at his scissors. A sly smile appeared on her lips as she said lightly, "Seems my luck is good today."
Su Cheng: "..."
"I lost."
He lowered his head, feeling a bit defeated, but inwardly he didn't care much.
After all, he did have a unique arrow-picking method that only he could use. He hadn't lied to Ji Qingyi.
"With such good luck, Madam President, you should consider buying a lottery ticket."
However, Ji Qingyi merely took a sip of her tea, then slightly raised her head, signaling for Su Cheng to demonstrate his method.
"Alright, then please watch carefully, Madam President."
Su Cheng stood up, turned his back to Ji Qingyi, and let out a soft laugh to himself, signaling he was about to show off.
Su Cheng straightened his back and walked toward the stable.
Ji Qingyi watched his retreating figure, pondering for a moment before quietly standing up and slowly following behind Su Cheng.
Quietly, without him noticing.
When Su Cheng arrived at the stable and approached the place where the bows and arrows were stored, he looked at the arrows and a meaningful smile appeared on his lips.
As a transmigrant, conjuring things out of thin air was perfectly reasonable, he thought. All he needed to do was make a show of picking up the arrows.
Just as he was about to reach out and collect the arrows into his system, a slender, delicate hand suddenly extended and blocked his path, preventing him from taking the arrows.
Su Cheng looked at the hand, recognizing the familiar fragrance. He was momentarily stunned and turned to look at Ji Qingyi beside him.
Ji Qingyi looked at the arrows and asked, "So you were planning to cheat by conjuring them out of thin air?"
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Su Cheng nodded.
"It's just tricky techniques, no need to continue." Ji Qingyi said indifferently, though her disappointment was evident.
She had already seen Su Cheng conjure a potion out of thin air before.
"Then please teach me, Madam President. The arrow-picking method you think is suitable for me."
Su Cheng said earnestly.
Ji Qingyi turned and walked out, and Su Cheng followed her steps. They both sat down again, and Ji Qingyi picked up her teacup and took a sip.
She ignored Su Cheng's question.
Su Cheng sighed.
As the saying goes: "Laughing out loud while leaving, returning home leaning on a cane and sighing."
It perfectly described the plight of failing to show off.
"Now go practice. If you can manage it even once today, I will teach you." Ji Qingyi said coldly.
"Alright."
Hearing this, Su Cheng couldn't argue, so he just agreed. However, his eyes couldn't help but fall on Ji Qingyi's exquisite and beautiful profile. Inwardly, he sighed, thinking, "Perhaps even Madam President herself doesn't know."
Although Ji Qingyi didn't pay attention to Su Cheng, she keenly noticed a gaze fixed intensely on her. The intensity of the gaze was too strong for her to ignore.
At this moment, she had to turn her head and look at Su Cheng.
Feeling that it was no longer appropriate to stay, Su Cheng hastily ran toward the horse stable changing room, preparing to change into training clothes.
Ji Qingyi watched him hurriedly leave, then glanced at the dango on the table. She took out her phone, opened an app, and dialed a video call to a maid surnamed Ji, placing the phone on the tea set to face herself.
"Dudu～" After two rings, the video call connected.
"Young Madam."
Liu Qingyue's voice came from the video.
Ji Qingyi adjusted the position of the phone to focus on her face and didn't respond to Liu Qingyue, instead opening a box beside her and picking up a dango to chew on slowly.
Seeing this, Liu Qingyue in the video couldn't help but ask curiously, "Young Madam?"
Ji Qingyi nodded and continued to enjoy her snack.
Liu Qingyue saw this and asked doubtfully, "Why is the young madam eating toilet paper?"
"Toilet paper?"
Ji Qingyi paused, looking at Liu Qingyue and asking suspiciously, "Are you talking about this?"
She picked up another dango and held it in front of the camera, saying, "It's a dessert. Your eyesight isn't very good."
"No, it's just that the phone's pixel is too low, so the image transference isn't clear."
Liu Qingyue in the video brought her face closer to the screen and carefully examined it a few times, only to find that it was the same kind of dango that Su Cheng had previously given to Ji Qingyi. She retreated her head and muttered quietly, "Showing off..."
Ji Qingyi then stuffed another dango into her mouth, chewing it as she said vaguely, "Do you think he can succeed today?"
After she finished speaking, she held the phone up to point at Su Cheng, who was training in the field.
Subsequently, both Ji Qingyi and Liu Qingyue in the video froze simultaneously.
It turned out that Su Cheng, while trying to pick up the arrow, had fallen off the horse.
This wasn't the main issue.
The real scene that unfolded was that a crow suddenly flew down from the sky and pecked the horse's head. The horse, in pain, lifted its front hooves and tried to bite the crow.
In short, Su Cheng's two pets were fighting.
Roughly, the crow thought that Su Cheng's fall was the fault of the horse.
And the horse, having been pecked on the head without reason, naturally wasn't going to take it lying down and wanted to bite the crow to death.
Su Cheng was still lying on the ground reflecting on his failure and learning from his mistakes, completely oblivious to the situation.
"Is that black thing a bird?"
Liu Qingyue asked in confusion.
"Mm, it's the crow Su Cheng keeps."
Ji Qingyi glanced at the chaos in Su Cheng's training area and raised an eyebrow: "These two little guys are fighting."
"Mm."
Liu Qingyue responded and then was silent the next moment.
Ji Qingyi also fell silent because Su Cheng suddenly stood up, placing his hands on his hips as he lectured the two little creatures. Then he grabbed the crow's little feet and the horse's front hoof, putting them together in a gesture of making peace.
Only then did Su Cheng get back on the horse to continue practicing, while the crow flew back to its perch on the pole to resume its role as a statue.
"What is this crow called?"
Liu Qingyue asked.
"The crow is called 'Yaya.'"
Ji Qingyi simply replied and then picked up another dango to put into her mouth.
"Yaya?"
Liu Qingyue felt a bit weird hearing that title. How casual was this naming sense?!
The former Emperor of Flame City was the same, not even bothering to think it through.
While they chatted, they watched Su Cheng fail over and over again, though soon, he stopped falling off the horse but failed to grab the arrow.
After another ten minutes or so, Su Cheng finally succeeded once, picking up the arrow from the ground and firing a perfect shot.
"Success!"
He joyfully shouted from horseback.
The horse seemed to sense his joy and raised its front hooves, neighing, while Yaya, the raven, circled above before landing on a nearby pole, as if to celebrate as well.
Ji Qingyi noticed this, her lips curling faintly, then she picked up the last piece of mochi and ate it, chewing and swallowing before stopping, as Su Cheng walked over.
Then, she turned to look at Liu Qingyue on the screen.
Liu Qingyue looked back at her, her face saying, "I know what you're up to."
Ji Qingyi wiped her hands with a handkerchief, then directly ended the call and set her phone aside.
"Chief, can you speak now?"
Su Cheng, covered in minor scratches, walked up to Ji Qingyi.
Despite the good protection.
He still couldn't avoid some minor bumps and bruises.
Ji Qingyi glanced at his wounds and said coolly, "Take it easy."
Then, she tilted her head, indicating a female steward standing not far behind her.
Soon, the steward brought over a first aid kit, ready to help him treat his wounds.
Su Cheng quickly took it from her, indicating he could do it himself.
Ji Qingyi didn't insist and just nodded, then picked up her teacup and started drinking.
Su Cheng sat down and began cleaning his larger wounds with saltwater, then used iodine to disinfect them, followed by antiseptic and bandaging.
As for the smaller wounds, they didn't bother him much.
Ji Qingyi, noticing this, stood up with cotton swabs and some medication in hand, and then gently applied the medicine to Su Cheng's wounds that he couldn't reach, her movements skilled and professional.
Su Cheng was momentarily stunned, then stood up, looking at her, his voice filled with gratitude, "Chief... I can do it myself."
"Sit down."
Ji Qingyi's tone was calm, signaling him to sit.
However, Su Cheng still insisted stubbornly, "Chief, I can handle it myself, or let them help me..."
"Sit down."
Ji Qingyi's tone grew firmer.
"Alright."
Su Cheng obediently sat back down as Ji Qingyi had instructed.
Ji Qingyi dipped a cotton swab in antiseptic and, expressionless, tended to the wounds on the back of Su Cheng's neck.
Feeling the cool touch on his neck, Su Cheng shivered and instinctively shrank his shoulders.
Ji Qingyi ignored him, focusing solely on cleaning and tending to his wounds, her movements incredibly meticulous.
Seeing this, Su Cheng could only say gratefully, "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Ji Qingyi discarded the cotton swab in the trash, then took another, coated it with medicine, and continued applying it.
Originally, Su Cheng had planned to follow up with questions about his Chief's arrow-picking technique, but he dropped the idea, as his icy Chief was being so gentle with him right now.
It was hard to associate her with the cold Chief he knew at the beginning.
What he didn't expect was that Ji Qingyi would bring it up herself.
As she applied the medicine, she casually asked, "Curious?"
Su Cheng nodded.
Ji Qingyi tossed the cotton swab, then continued bandaging as she said, "Many people attribute failure to a lack of talent, but in my opinion, talent isn't a sufficient or necessary condition for success. Only effort is the sure path to success."
Su Cheng was a bit stunned and turned to look at Ji Qingyi behind him. She was looking down at him, her gaze profound.
Su Cheng couldn't help but ask, "But the question is, what does that have to do with the arrow-picking technique?"
Ji Qingyi's voice was a bit distant, "Although you possess a unique special ability. If you rely solely on that and forget about effort, you'll eventually be consumed by it."
"So, I believe the best arrow-picking technique for you is the one you've been striving for. Grab the arrow before hitting the bullseye, hold onto it no matter what, until you hit your target."
Ji Qingyi slowly shared her thoughts, then reached out and patted his shoulder before moving to sit beside him, picking up her teacup and drinking leisurely.
"Is... is that so?"
Su Cheng murmured, lost in thought.
After a while, he looked up and looked at Ji Qingyi seriously, then picked up his tea and sipped it, saying, "This method really suits me."
Ji Qingyi didn't respond or deny, just finishing the tea in her cup.
Then she stood up, ready to leave.
Seeing her back as she walked away, Su Cheng suddenly thought of something and hastily called out, "Wait."
Ji Qingyi stopped, turning her head to look at him.
Su Cheng pursed his lips, thinking for a moment before deciding to ask, as he wanted to clarify their relationship.
So he asked, "Chief, do you have a sister?"