Chapter Thirty-One: The Strong Bullying the Weak

The viewers watching the live comments began to grow tense as well.

“Su Wanning hasn’t done anything so far. By the way, why didn’t anyone try to eliminate her earlier?”
“Didn’t Yangyang go after her? Ended up leaving in regret.”
“Ha, Su Wanning is truly cunning. She’s just lying low, letting two kids and our male idol go out as her shields, and now she’s still hanging on till the end.”
“Shameless. She just sits there doing nothing after taking the show’s appearance fee. Director, get her out of here!”
Su Wanning paid no mind to the signals Vincent kept throwing her way from offstage, and she cared even less about the raging comments online.

No matter how she played it, she’d be in the wrong, so she might as well save herself the trouble.

Su Wanning was not the type to make things hard on herself for the sake of how others saw her.

“Auntie Su, aren’t you coming to join us?” Only three people were left on the field. The game paused as Qianqian stood in the square, calling out to Su Wanning.

She smiled and shook her head. “Director, can I forfeit? Let the two kids play on their own.”

“Tsk, what’s she pretending for now? Acting all generous when she’s just being lazy, making it look like she’s letting the kids have it on purpose.”
“But honestly, no matter what Su Wanning does now, she’s bound to be in the wrong. It’s two against one and her family obviously has the numbers advantage.”
“Come on, Su Wanning’s an adult. If she fights for the win against two kids and it gets out, how will she show her face after?”
“Director, don’t forget the appearance fee you paid her. Don’t let her off so easy!”
“Exactly! Our goddess left in regret, so why should she get to slack off?”
The comments kept flying by. The director, seeing all this, made up his mind and shouted, “Forfeiting isn’t allowed! That wouldn’t be fair.”

“Good on you, Director.”
“Isn’t this just stirring up drama on purpose?”
“Su Wanning, get in there!”
“She could just tear off Sui Sui’s name tag, then it would be one-on-one with Qianqian. Wouldn’t that be fair?”
“I bet a buck, Su Wanning wouldn’t dare go after her own son.”

Su Wanning had actually considered that plan, but quickly dismissed it.

Never mind whether Sui Sui, that difficult child, would even cooperate—doing that would still be unfair to Qianqian.

Her mother was an athlete; she’d grown up around competitions. Su Wanning knew that for a child like that, pride was everything, and winning or losing came second. If she held back on purpose, it would only embarrass her more.

As expected, when Su Wanning started walking onto the field, a confident smile lit up Qianqian’s small face, a faint shadow of Sheng Ying back in her athletic glory days.

Step by step, Su Wanning approached the stage, turning over possible strategies in her mind.

Not far ahead, Sui Sui’s dark eyes were fixed on her. His young face betrayed no emotion.

Su Wanning sighed inwardly. So clever at such a young age—what will he be like when he grows up?

When there were only the two kids left earlier, Sui Sui hadn’t immediately gone after Qianqian. Clearly, he had his own thoughts.

“This looks just like a game of Hawk and Chick.”
“Hahaha, I’m losing it, guys. Do you think Su Wanning is going to fake a fall in a minute?”

With everyone watching expectantly, Su Wanning walked steadily to her son’s side, facing the small figure of Qianqian across from them.

“Qianqian, Auntie Su won’t go easy on you, so you’d better do your best.”

Qianqian flashed a bright smile. “Don’t worry, Auntie. I’m really good!”

Qianqian was easily the most energetic on the field, her face flushed red from running.

Soon the chase began. The vast arena now held only three figures—one adult, two children—and running was far more exhausting than before.

Su Wanning, relying on her long legs, dodged Qianqian’s attacks, while Sui Sui stayed alert, keeping watch. Qianqian’s movements were so agile it was impossible to guess who she’d target next.

During the chaos, when Qianqian wasn’t looking, Su Wanning shot her son a glance, her brows knitting slightly, then nodded at Qianqian with a purposeful look.

A rare moment of understanding passed between mother and son.

“This is so intense! These three look evenly matched. Qianqian is awesome!”
“Please, if Su Wanning is struggling this much against two kids, that just shows she’s even weaker!”
“I don’t agree. Qianqian is faster than I ever was running the 800 meters in college. No way I could keep up with her.”
“Looks like Su Wanning is really putting in effort. She’s not holding back for the kids, is she?”

“Please, it’s so easy for Qianqian to dodge Su Wanning—she’s as quick as a little earthworm. Su Wanning doesn’t need to hold back.”

On the field, Su Wanning suddenly sprinted in one direction, deliberately exposing a vulnerability to Qianqian.

Qianqian smiled to herself, recalling her mother Sheng Ying’s advice: never use all your strength before the end.

She’d been holding back, but now, sensing the moment for a final strike, she picked up speed and shot toward Su Wanning like an arrow loosed from a bow.

Sheng Ying, watching from the sidelines, smiled—she knew her daughter had been saving her energy, and she’d done well.

“She’s coming, she’s coming! Qianqian is so fast! There’s literally an afterimage on my screen!”
“Production team, get our girl a high-speed camera next time, will you?”

Just as everyone thought Qianqian would succeed, Sui Sui unexpectedly intervened.

He seemed to be shielding Su Wanning, trailing behind her. Qianqian was moving so fast she couldn’t stop in time and had to instantly switch targets from Su Wanning to Sui Sui.

Rip—

A sharp sound, the director blew the whistle, and Sui Sui’s name tag ended up in Qianqian’s hand.

Su Wanning turned just then, her face displaying a trace of feigned surprise and regret as she glanced at Sui Sui, though her eyes shone with a faint smile.

Sorry, son, she thought. To keep Qianqian from feeling let down, this was the only way.

Su Wanning’s thinking was simple: no matter how convincingly she acted, if Qianqian eliminated her on the field, anyone would suspect she’d thrown the match.

She couldn’t lose on purpose, nor let Qianqian feel insulted, so she had to let her lose with all her heart.

After a brief rest, Qianqian charged at her again. Now only two remained on the field; the chase had lost its meaning. Besides, Qianqian’s stamina was spent. In no time, Su Wanning easily tore off the name tag on her back and the match was declared over.

“Congratulations, the Su Wanning family wins!”

Su Wanning reached out her hand to Qianqian. “Auntie owes you an apology. You kept running and using up your energy, while I was resting the whole time. My victory wasn’t fair.”

Qianqian didn’t mind at all. She flicked the sweat from her forehead and replied heartily, “No worries! Next time, let’s have another match!”

“Heh, can’t believe Su Wanning wouldn’t even let a kid win. Doesn’t she feel even a little guilty about her victory?”