Chapter 271

After a while, the host came.

Xiao Qi had seen the host on TV before.

With ear-length hair, sky blue suit, very tidy. He smiled quite characteristically, with a deep dimple on the right cheek but not on the left.

Beside the host was a middle-aged man in a suit, another guest on the show tonight. The one million dollar grand prize this time was sponsored by his company.

He was the deputy general manager of a sporting goods company called Mingrui Sports.

So this show was probably doing some advertising for the company too.

Once on stage, the logo of Mingrui Sports started rolling on the big screen behind.

There were also some small Mingrui Sports logos on the surrounding details.

Xiao Qi felt these types of interview shows were quite silly. Nowadays variety shows on TV were becoming more lively, shifting towards reality shows. Mundane sofa interviews like this rarely attracted viewers, unless the guest was especially famous, had something particularly interesting to discuss, or was exceptionally humorous with some personal character.

But she guessed none of those applied here tonight. The most well-known person on the show was probably the host herself.

The show began. Staff members were still walking around, adjusting cameras, audience clapping, live atmosphere on set, and close-up shots of Mingrui Sports.

Only then did they come to the few people on stage. There was one host, and four guests.

A representative from Mingrui Sports, a college student, a track and field athlete, and a coach.

The coach was actually quite an experienced one, just that track and field was never a hot event in China, so the coach wasn't famous either.

Xiao Qi listened attentively like she was in class, carefully taking in the host's introduction of each person and the conversations. Although Host Liya hosted a sports channel, she was quite articulate. There was no awkwardness at all, the chat was quite lively. She even brought in some product placement. It didn't seem an easy job.

She didn't neglect Xiao Qi either. Occasionally she would ask Xiao Qi a few questions.

Earlier, an assistant had given Xiao Qi a list of possible questions to expect and prepare for. Now those were basically the questions being asked.

"Do you normally like running?"

"Yes, every day, at least 30,000 steps." Xiao Qi answered concisely.

Unlike the others who tended to ramble, Xiao Qi felt that on this kind of show, less was more. She always gave the most concise answers.

Seeing this girl with a cold and serious face, Host Liya truly found her...

The girl was very young, but looked very serious. She had a strong aura. If Host Liya hadn't read the guest information beforehand, she would've wondered if the wrong person had shown up.

The introduction said she was 17 years old, a freshman at Enhua University, originally from a village near Lvshan City. She already had an award under her belt too - recently crowned women's 200m freestyle champion at the Jingnan Province competition.

A swimming champion, so her physical fitness must be great. But now she abruptly grabbed the second place in the women's full marathon too. Quite extraordinary indeed. Technically she was first in China already, since the champion was from Kenya.

Anyway, her information gave off the impression that she was a girl gifted in athletic abilities. But seeing her in person, dressed very simply and neat in a bright red knit sweater, even when silent she attracted attention with her looks. She was very photogenic-pretty, unlike some people who looked fine normally but awful on camera.

She spoke very carefully too, not like a 17 year old at all.

In contrast, athlete Li Miaomiao was quite chatty once she started talking. Her words just kept flowing.

Boss Huang from Mingrui was the same, bragging on and on.

The coach was alright, not too talkative, answering only what was asked.

Hearing Xiao Qi ran 30,000 steps daily, Li Miaomiao found the units amusing. What athlete measured in steps? But roughly estimating based on the girl's leg length, maybe her strides were about half a meter, so 30,000 steps was over 10km a day?

Li Miaomiao found that impressive too.

Her own weekly training workload was large, with long distance cross country runs, sprint cross country runs, short distance full out runs, accelerating runs, varying pace runs, but adding it all up and averaging per day probably didn't reach 30,000 steps, since Sundays were rest days.

Yet the girl confidently claimed every day at least 30,000 steps, according to her WeChat step count record... It seemed her training amount exceeded even Li Miaomiao's own.

The coach also glanced over at the girl, actually wanting to chat with her, but she was still a college freshman now. Track and field required specialized training, plus the timing now wasn't right either.

"30,000 steps daily really is a lot. You clearly enjoy running very much. Was entering the marathon race this time coincidental or did you have a specific goal?" The host exaggerated her expression as she spoke.

Xiao Qi nodded. "When I run, I feel very free and happy. My mood is great too. I entered the marathon race initially due to the attractive record-breaking bonus."

Hearing about the record-breaking bonus, Boss Huang was eager to chime in, given that was what they had sponsored and paid for.

He wanted the girl to elaborate more, but she had finished speaking after that brief response.

"It seems Xiao Qi is very confident in herself. How about you, Miaomiao?" The host turned the mic to Li Miaomiao.

As a professional track and field athlete, naturally she couldn't say she did it for the money. She politely rambled a bunch about competitive spirit and similar things. It couldn't be helped, they were repeatedly reminded beforehand to say such things during interviews.

"...I'm honored to break the record, and look forward to achieving even better results next time." Li Miaomiao spoke a little quickly, slightly nervous. Her voice was louder too, but overall still fine. Clearly she was no stranger to being interviewed.

Sitting aside, Xiao Qi listened attentively, occasionally peering over at her dorm friends in the audience.

It must've been awkward for them too, having to mechanically clap whenever needed while sitting there so long without checking their phones.

Especially Yunshu, not being able to read her novels must be boring her tremendously, yet she still sat gracefully and clapped dutifully like a proper lady when required.

Honey was purely curious, constantly looking all around, even sneakily trying to snap photos of Xiao Qi on stage with her phone sometimes...

Despite visible signs prohibiting photography and video recording by the entrance.

Wei Cheng looked rather nervous, gazing at Xiao Qi and then at the cameras, since they occasionally turned to the audience seating too. Her expressions and body were quite stiff.

Xiao Qi briefly glanced towards the audience stands, then returned her attention to the stage.

By the time the host asked her feelings about breaking the record, Xiao Qi sensed the interview was nearing the end, close to the final round of thanks.

"I'm honored to have broken the record. Thanks to the organizers for the generous bonus, thanks to my parents for giving me a healthy body, and thanks to my dormmates for always being so supportive. I spend a lot of time running, less time contributing to dorm chores, yet they often help me out. I'm very grateful to have such wonderful dormmates."

The camera panned back to Honey and the others then. Honey waved boldly. Yunshu smiled elegantly. Wei Cheng smiled rather awkwardly and silly.

As the camera returned to Xiao Qi's face, she smiled beautifully, her first real smile tonight, with very neat teeth. She looked radiant and gorgeous.