Peerless Martial Expert in the City
Chapter 596 - 592: Secured the Third Place!

Chapter 596: Chapter 592: Secured the Third Place!

Chapter Five Hundred and Ninety-Two: Secured the Third Place!

The young man who had just competed was too strong, over one meter eighty, nearly as tall as Fatty Tang. With such a height, he had already surpassed Xiao Yi’s stature. Although Xiao Yi was formidable in a fight, when it came to high jumping, could he jump that high?

His heart was filled with some worry.

"Look, that contestant from the School of Mathematics, he’s still so composed, not the least bit nervous. Does he have confidence?" someone said.

People noticed Xiao Yi’s relaxed expression, their faces showing a hint of surprise mixed with some doubt.

But their doubt was quickly dismissed by others.

"Confidence? I think he has completely given up after seeing so many strong competitors!"

"Exactly, him with confidence? You think too highly of him. Look at his demeanor, does he look confident? Just by looking at him, you know he saw all the strong players and figured he stood no chance, so he simply stopped caring."

"......"

Hearing those words, the surrounding crowd turned their gaze to Xiao Yi, looking at how unperturbed he appeared, expressions of contempt formed on their faces, and they began to ridicule him.

"Senior Brother Lin is making his move!"

Someone in the crowd shouted, redirecting everyone’s attention back to the event. They all watched excitedly as last year’s champion began his performance.

The renowned defending champion was indeed extraordinary and did not disappoint the crowd. Like the previous contestant, he started his jumps from one meter seventy, increasing by two centimeters incrementally—seventy-two, seventy-four, seventy-six—almost clearing every height on his first attempt with graceful and coordinated movements, eliciting admiring looks from the surrounding female students and cheers from the male ones.

Unfortunately, the defending champion was unable to retain his title, stopping at his record from last year, one meter eighty.

With a hint of regret as well as a touch of reluctance and gloom, he managed a forced smile towards the young man who had competed before him, then turned his head and left the field to stand at the side.

"Senior Brother Lin lost to Junior Brother Zhang. Actually, in the last attempt, Senior Brother Lin might have had a chance to win, but perhaps the pressure was too much for him."

"Yeah, he might have had a chance."

"It’s really a case of ’the new waves of the Yangtze River pushing the old waves’. In sports, being young is an advantage. Junior Brother Zhang was formidable, overpowering Senior Brother Lin and taking the championship as soon as he started."

"It’s not certain that he’s the champion yet; one person hasn’t competed!"

"Do we even need to compete? I bet he’s already given up. Even if he hasn’t, do you think he stands a chance? I think the rankings are pretty much set. Junior Brother Zhang is the champion, Senior Brother Lin the runner-up, and that short guy third place."

"Indeed, it seems to be decided. The rankings are probably just like that, nothing more interesting to see here, let’s go."

"......"

The students on the periphery started discussing as Senior Brother Lin left the field. Some expressed pity for Senior Brother Lin, others admired Junior Brother Zhang, but most of the discussion revolved around the rankings. Whether they were admiring Junior Brother Zhang or lamenting Senior Brother Lin, or talking about the rankings, there was one point on which everyone agreed: they all disregarded Xiao Yi.

Almost no one paid attention to the center of the field anymore.

The few competitors on the field, who were currently ranked first, second, and third, all believed that their places were set, especially the young man known as Junior Brother Zhang, whose face could not hide his smug triumph; his eyebrows were lifted in pride.

He seemed ready to receive his award.

The judges, too, seemed convinced of the outcome, and were ready to sign off on the scores. However, since Xiao Yi was still standing there and had not announced his withdrawal, they continued looking at him, instructing him to start his jump.

After all, they had been doing this for several hours now, so they didn’t mind this bit of extra time.

"Student, would you like to change into a short athletic suit?"

Seeing Xiao Yi walk onto the field in a full set of long-sleeve and long-leg athletic attire, still wearing a nonchalant expression, the head referee kindly reminded him. As an official for the high jump who was formerly a high jumper himself, he knew that this kind of attire was frowned upon in high jump competitions, which was also why he, along with many spectators, did not think highly of Xiao Yi. Just by his choice of attire for the event, he appeared to be an amateur.

Because in high jumping, the horizontal bar is not fixed; it can be dislodged by even a slight knock and will fall off, leading to a failed attempt, regardless of the reason. Even if you claim you had already cleared the bar and it was the wind that knocked it off, it would just be considered bad luck.

And wearing long sleeves and pants like that is most likely to knock against the bar. For lower heights, it might not matter much, but for slightly higher ones, it can be fatal, because many people barely clear the bar at most heights.

"No need, hehe, thank you for the reminder, teacher. I’ll start at 1.5 meters," he said.

Xiao Yi smiled in thanks to the referee teacher and then casually mentioned his starting height.

"Oh, suit yourself."

Hearing Xiao Yi’s words, the referee shook his head, but he didn’t say much more. Anyway, he didn’t have high hopes for Xiao Yi. He thought that starting at 1.5 meters probably meant he just wanted to jump casually and then give up.

The onlookers who heard Xiao Yi immediately started to think the same thing the referee did. Everyone began to feel more certain that their initial guesses were correct, not bothering to even watch the field anymore and simply waiting for the referee to announce the scores.

After signaling the assistant referee responsible for setting the bar to place it at the 1.5-meter height, the referee indicated to Xiao Yi that it was his turn to jump.

Xiao Yi looked at the horizontal bar before him, his face turned from its usual indifference to something more serious, as if the bar wasn’t 1.5 meters high but rather a bridge to heaven.

Seeing Xiao Yi’s expression, the referees and the few students still paying attention all couldn’t help but shake their heads. Just for 1.5 meters, he has to be this serious? Is this even a competition worth having?

Is the School of Mathematics’ athletic standard really that poor? Has it really come to this? They’re actually sending someone like this to participate in the school’s sports event?

Fatty Tang, seeing Xiao Yi’s expression, couldn’t help but feel his heart turning cold. No way, his boss had been so calm before, could it have all been just an act? Could it be that he truly couldn’t high jump?

Considering this possibility, Fatty Tang didn’t even have the mind to pay attention to the discussions around him. He just silently prayed in his heart, hoping that the boss wouldn’t perform too poorly or embarrass himself too much.

Fortunately, although he had started practicing at the last minute, perhaps his dedication had been a bit too sincere this time, touching God, so Xiao Yi’s jump was quite smooth, clearing the height without hitting the bar.

Despite Xiao Yi clearing 1.5 meters, most people were still not too surprised, reasoning that anyone participating in the school sports festival should be able to handle that height.

Next, everyone would have thought that Xiao Yi would choose a height of at least 1.55 meters, but to everyone’s shock, Xiao Yi chose 1.52 meters, a height no one had ever selected, leaving everyone speechlessly puzzled...

This person, does he have no confidence in himself at all?

Even Fatty Tang finally felt his ears burning with embarrassment, bowing his head and not daring to look up.

Luckily, Xiao Yi cleared it, although not smoothly; he succeeded on the second attempt...

Then, Xiao Yi kept adding two centimeters each time, 1.54 meters, 1.56 meters... Each time, he managed to vex the spectators, and even the referees started to become frustrated with him. Everyone gradually got tired of his antics; with each of Xiao Yi’s jumps, they would inwardly curse him and pray for it to be over so they could soon announce the results. Although his jumps looked dangerous, like the bar falling twice in a row, he always managed to scrape by, clearing the height on his third attempt several times...

"Ah, did he make it to 1.76 meters?"

Just when everyone was thoroughly frustrated with Xiao Yi, suddenly, someone in the crowd exclaimed.

"Huh, really?"

"How is that even possible? Gosh, he actually made it to 1.76 meters?"

"I also find it unbelievable, but it seems true. If he clears this height, he could at least take third place!"

"..."

Upon hearing that exclamation, people suddenly realized that Xiao Yi had inconspicuously reached a medal-winning height. Everyone was stunned, their faces showing disbelief.

The short contestant who had been confident of winning bronze had his expression suddenly tighten, balling his fists. Even those with better results were caught off guard.

No one had expected Xiao Yi, who seemed clumsy and slow, to survive each round and reach the height of 1.76 meters!

Fatty Tang was also shocked. He had been following every one of Xiao Yi’s jumps so closely that his nerves had been stretched to the limit, going numb to the point where he had even forgotten about the possibility of winning a medal.

It took him a while to snap back to reality, his face breaking into an expression of joy. His heart grew more anxious as he clenched his fists, silently shouting his support and praying for Xiao Yi!

Come on, boss, you have to keep it up, no matter what, hang in there. Just clear this bar, and at worst, you’ll get at least a tie for third place.

————————————————————————(To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian.com to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)