"Of course not!" Beigang Huoshan quickly retorted, "It's just that I find that with my current concerts, it's unlikely to attract people to pay attention to Tomakomai and make them want to travel to Tomakomai."
"Maybe even if I work until I retire, there will be no effect."
Beigang Huoshan looked at Higashino Chihiro with a firm look in his eyes, "But last time I talked with Senior Oguruma, I wanted to ask her how she promoted her hometown."
"Oguruma-senpai told me that she didn't do anything but competed seriously. Then some reporters revealed where she was from. Because of her, many fans spontaneously went to Kasamatsu... and she never once recommended to her fans to travel to Kasamatsu."
"It was only then that I remembered that my aunt recommended me to come to Tresen College because the platform here is bigger."
"I want to promote Tomakomai and let more people know about Tomakomai. As long as I keep winning horse racing competitions, more people will know me and know that I am from Tomakomai. That's all I need to do!"
Higashino Chihiro nodded. This guy finally figured this out.
"As for the concert, I can still hold it when I become a famous horse girl and have the free time... By then, there should be more than just those people coming to watch."
Beigang Huoshan is looking forward to the day when she can become an outstanding horse girl and let more people know about Tomakomai.
Chapter 96 Tomakomai's North Port Volcano
Although the reason why Beigang Huoshan became a Uma Musume was not just to show off in the Shining Series...
But for Chihiro Higashino, as long as the horse racing girls have a dream to work hard for and support themselves to keep running, it is enough.
Victory is secondary; achieving dreams is more important.
"I'm glad you understand. Let's go. It's time for dinner. I'll treat you to a meal."
Looking at the hesitant Beigang Volcano, Higashino Chihiro thought she would continue training, so he said:
"You shouldn't train too much today. Just keep yourself in shape. Too much training will lead to poor performance in tomorrow's game. Come with me for dinner now."
Looking at the Beigang Volcano following her, Higashino Chihiro asked, "Is there anything you like to eat? If you like Tomakomai's specialties, I don't know if there is any in Tokyo."
"No, no, there's no need to train me so hard..."
Trainer, just eat something."
Neither of them had high requirements for dinner, and they were relatively familiar with each other...
So Chihiro Higashino took Beigang Huoshan directly to a ramen restaurant she often went to.
"This store is near Tresen College. It has the highest ratings among Little Chestnut Hat and Wonderful Posture. The food is really good. They both come here often."
Chihiro Higashino likes the pork bone ramen of this restaurant, while Beigang Huoshan, after some consideration, chose the seafood ramen.
"Do you like seafood?"
Beigang Huoshan nodded and said, "Because Tomakomai is near the sea, it is rich in seafood products. When I was a child, I especially liked to eat some of the special seafood snacks from my hometown."
It seems that the seafood ramen I brought her last time was a good idea.
"Actually, I have another question for you." Higashino Chihiro looked at the Beigang Volcano, "After you graduate, is there anything you want to do? Or do you want to continue promoting Tomakomai?"
Beigang Volcano thought about it and shook his head, "I don't know either."
"After I graduate, if my hometown becomes lively again... and people no longer have to close their shops because of no tourists and no income, I might do something else... If it remains the same as it is now, I might still work hard to promote my hometown."
After dinner and returning to the college, Beigang Huoshan said goodbye and prepared to return to the dormitory, but was stopped by Higashino Chihiro.
"Come with me to the office first."
Beigang Huoshan came to the office with doubts. Higashino Chihiro took out a piece of paper from the drawer, filled in something on it, and handed it to Beigang Huoshan.
"If you are interested in joining the Surpass team, please sign this application."
After hearing this, Beigang Huoshan looked at Higashino Chihiro in shock, with a look of disbelief on his face, "Huh? So I'm not a member of Surpass yet?"
"At first, I just agreed to help you adjust your training plan... and then I let you train with the team to make the adjustment easier."
Higashino Chihiro looked at her helplessly. This guy thought that Surpass was such an easy team to join... If the conditions were so lenient, there would be countless people who would submit applications to him.
"I want to invite you to join now because I see something special in you. How about joining Surpass?"
Beigang Huoshan hesitated for a moment, but soon made up his mind and wrote his name on the application form.
Although I feel that I am not worthy of such a legendary team now...but I didn't care before, and my trainer didn't care either, so there is no need to hesitate now, just believe in yourself...
She will definitely grow up to be a horse girl worthy of the name of the Surpass team.
"Okay, welcome to join Surpass..."
"Please give me your guidance, trainer!"
After sending Beigang Huoshan back, Higashino Chihiro came to the Student Union with the application form.
At this time, Maruzenski and Rudolf were busy dealing with the summer training and the horse girls' exams.
"Is this Huoshan's application to join the team? I always thought she had been recruited into the team by you, the trainer, a long time ago."
Maruzenski looked at Chihiro Higashino in surprise, put down the work in his hands and dealt with this important matter first.
After finishing the work, Higashino Chihiro waved her hand and said, "Okay, I won't disturb you guys to continue working. Remember not to work too late."
The next morning, Chihiro Higashino came to the training ground. The horse girls who would participate in the mud track event trials today were already warming up on the training ground.
"What are you doing here?"
Higashino Chihiro looked at the eye-catching flying eagle who came close to her and said, "Aren't you going to have your concert?"
"Concerts don't happen every day."
Xingmu Feiying rolled his eyes at Dongye Chihiro. This bad trainer just liked to bully him. But Lady Feiyingzi was very magnanimous and didn't bother with him.
"I'm about to retire, so it's normal for me to take a look at potential newcomers in clay track events, right?"
Higashino Chihiro didn't believe a word that Xingmu Feiying said.
It is true that they come to see potential newcomers, but they are probably not looking for excellent horse racing girls in mud track events, but to see if there is any potential to become an idol, to see if they can form a team with her, and be active in the entertainment industry as an idol after graduation.
This guy had previously approached Maruzenski and Silent Suzuka, but was rejected both times.
Ignoring this Yoshiko, Chihiro Higashino focused her attention on the current mud track trials.
The Beigang Volcano qualifiers were in the first round, and she had already entered the gate.
In the 1600-meter mud race, Beigang Volcano still used the strategy of taking the lead and followed closely behind the leading horse.
At the end of the second bend and entering the final straight, Beigang Volcano accelerated, and Higashino Chihiro also took out her stopwatch to prepare for timing.
"No. 6 Beigang Volcano started to speed up, surpassing the Fruit Wine in front and taking the lead!"
“Beigang Volcano continues to lead, the gap is getting wider, one length, two lengths! Cross the finish line!”
The moment Beigang Volcano crossed the finish line, Chihiro Higashino stopped the stopwatch in her hand.
Looking at the results displayed on the stopwatch, he was stunned at first, then Higashino Chihiro smiled and cleared the data...
Zero, "Who said it's hard to find the pearl-covered Uma Girl? Isn't it easy to find it?"
Looking at Beigang Huoshan standing at the finish line and breathing slightly, Higashino Chihiro murmured: "It seems that the regional idol from Tomakomai will be known to everyone..."
Chapter 97 Special Training
"Dongye, I want to discuss something with you..."
Early in the morning, Okino Mitsuji came to Higashino Chihiro... Higashino Chihiro, who stayed up late with him playing games yesterday, was a little confused for a moment. Why are you running to my place at this time instead of catching up on sleep in the office?
"whats the matter?"
"Look, we're both so sleepy now, and we probably won't have much energy in the afternoon. How about we give them a special training so we can have some rest?"
Higashino Chihiro splashed water on her face to make herself more alert, and said, "Tell me what kind of special training it is first. I will think about it carefully before making a decision."
The training of the racing girls cannot be sloppy. Even if it is just one day of training, Higashino Chihiro does not want to be perfunctory. Once there is a first time, there will be a second time, so there must not be a beginning.
Of course, if the special training proposed by Okino Mitsuji was really feasible, Higashino Chihiro would not refuse the opportunity to slack off occasionally.
"Don't worry, it must be a very useful training, otherwise I wouldn't tell you."
Mitsuji Okino handed a map to Chihiro Higashino. After taking the map, he looked at it carefully. There was a crooked red line on the map, starting from the academy and going to an unfamiliar place.
Chihiro Higashino took out her cell phone and searched, and found that the destination was a hot spring hotel on the top of a mountain. If she drove there, it would probably take two and a half hours to get there even if there was no traffic jam.
"so far?"
"It has to be this far to be worthwhile for training." Okino Koji pointed to the last quarter of the distance on the map and said, "And you can see this section of the road is basically uphill... It's also a good choice for training their uphill ability."
Higashino Chihiro thought about it for a while, feeling a little embarrassed, "But wouldn't this be too tiring?"
It takes an hour and a half to drive there, not to mention running.
Although the horse girls are faster than cars, one thing is that their endurance is no match for cars, let alone maintaining such a fast speed for more than an hour. If they can run for ten minutes, they are already a monster.
"If they want to get here, it will probably take at least three hours, right?"
"If you calculate it, it should be about four hours." Okino Koji said, "But they have an exam the day after tomorrow, and they don't have classes tomorrow morning... Plus, according to our previous style, we will also reduce the intensity and time of training at this time to let them review, so I don't think it's a problem if they are a little tired today."
"What about Xiaocao and Bourbon in my team? They have just recovered. Although they can walk normally, let alone running for such a long time, even adaptive training will not start for a while."
"Then why don't we take them there first?"
The more she listened to what Okino Mitsuji said, the more excited Higashino Chihiro became.
Only Senior Okino could come up with this extraordinary training mode, and it feels like the effect should be good. It might even exceed his expectations. In that case, why not give it a try?
Having made up her mind, Higashino Chihiro nodded and said, "Okay, we can do it."
Seeing that Higashino Chihiro agreed, Okino Mitsuji also smiled and said, "It's settled then. Let them gather at the entrance of the academy at 2pm. When they get to the hotel, they can take a shower and have a meal there. After eating, they can just take the bus back to the academy."
Just as Okino Mitsuji was about to leave, Higashino Chihiro suddenly remembered something and called him, "Wait a minute, have you forgotten about the poetry play?"
In a few days, it will be Nanban’s wedding day.
After the trials, he took a few days off to prepare for his wedding. The training of the horse girls in the team was helped by Chihiro Higashino and Mitsuji Okino in turn.
"Yes, it seems that I am in charge of their training today, so I will notify them later." Okino Mitsuji patted his head. It turned out that he played games too late yesterday, and now his brain is not working well.
"I'll pay for their expenses tonight, and you can pay for your own expenses in your own team."
It's not that Mitsuru Okino is stingy, but he doesn't have that much money now. There are too many horse girls in Chihiro Higashino's team, plus there is also a big eater named Oguruma. He can't afford it. It's better to let Chihiro Higashino pay for it himself. He is not short of money anyway.
"I'll pay for it all, Okino-senpai. You still have no money before the Japan Derby. Even if you have the bonus from the Derby plus this month's salary, how much will you have left after paying it all?"
Higashino Chihiro sighed, "Don't go out drinking on your holiday and find out you don't have enough money, then call me to help you out."
Okino Mitsuji did a quick calculation and thought, well... it is indeed possible that such a situation will occur. "Then I'll leave it all to you. Thank you."
"Don't thank me. If you really want to thank me, next time the manager leaves you to wash dishes in the izakaya, don't call me to save the situation. Just call Tojo-senpai."
"Huh? Why is everyone here?"
When she arrived at the entrance of the academy, she looked at the horse racing girls from the Spica team and the Canopus team with some doubts.
Ikuno Didus pushed his glasses up. "We received a message from Trainer Okino, saying that we should gather here... Now it seems that Trainer Okino and your Trainer Higashino want us to have a group training."
"That's it."
Chihiro Higashino walked over and handed three identical maps to Victory Ticket, Didos Ikuno, and Maruzenski respectively.
"You have only one training plan today, which is to reach your destination before six o'clock in the evening without using any means of transportation."
The Golden Ship took a look at the map and his expression changed immediately. "You must be kidding!"
"No kidding, your trainer and I have already decided on this. By the way, this training plan was proposed by your trainer."
This sentence stopped the Golden Ship from speaking. Higashino Chihiro looked at Maruzenski and Aicheng Zhiao and said, "You retired horse girls can choose not to run, or you can choose to run... but how to use transportation is up to you."
"Then, Xiaocao and Bourbon, your injuries haven't healed yet, so come with me to the finish line first."
After Higashino Chihiro got into the car with Kusagami Hi and Miura Bourbon, he rolled down the window and said to the group of people who were still in a daze, "I almost forgot. If we arrive after 6:30, we won't have dinner."
After saying that, he started the car and left.
"What should I do? Should I really run now?"
While the Golden Ship was still hesitating about the poetry drama, Maruzenski handed the map to Tamamo Cross and jogged out of the academy. Aldan, Chiyo and Crazy Moonlight also quickly followed.
Seeing the seniors and Crazy Moonlight, they all ran away...
Tamamo Cross and the other two quickly glanced at the route and quickened their pace to catch up. Narita Daishin, Meigiya Ziyou, Miyu and other horse girls did not hesitate and followed their predecessors' pace.
Victory Ticket put the map away and said, "Let's go too. We can't be worse than Surpass."
After saying that, he shouted "Dajin, wait a minute" and I chased after him.
"That's right! We won't lose to Surpass!" Twin Turbo grabbed the map, and when he found out he couldn't understand it, he immediately gave it back to Ikuno Didus. Anyway, all he had to do was follow it.
"Emperor! Let's have a race! Let's see who reaches the finish line first! This time I will definitely win!"
