After breakfast, Zhou Tai'an took Oguri Cap back to their room first. Brand New Shine, who had just woken up and finished washing, was just about to go for breakfast.
He and Oguri Cap sat opposite each other on the tatami mats, a low table between them. On the table was a new notebook Zhou Tai'an had bought.
He twirled a pen in one hand and spoke to the gray-coated Horse Girl he was training. "The destination of my morning run was Monbetsu Racecourse."
"The reason I went there was because I wanted to see for myself if the information I had gathered was accurate," Zhou Tai'an said with a helpless shrug. "Unfortunately, the information didn't lie."
"Trainer..." Seeing his expression, Oguri Cap knew that he was probably about to deliver some bad news.
"The most advantageous strategy at Monbetsu Racecourse is to lead, and the best gate position is on the outside," Zhou Tai'an paused. "The gate position is up to luck. As for the strategy, since this is an 1800-meter dirt race, we can't just charge ahead blindly like in the races at Kasamatsu or Nagoya."
"So this time, I need you to resolutely execute an aggressive 'Forward' strategy. No matter what gate you get, charge forward immediately after the break, aim for the leading Horse Girl, and stick with her."
Zhou Tai'an clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. "Although I've never explained it to you, I'm sure you've noticed that in a race, it's much easier to run when there's another Horse Girl a few meters in front of you."
"Yes," Oguri Cap nodded vigorously. "I had that feeling in my debut race. I thought it was just my imagination."
"It's not your imagination," Zhou Tai'an then explained the basic principles of "aerodynamics" to Oguri Cap in simple terms, teaching her what "slipstreaming" was—in short, following behind an opponent to reduce wind resistance and conserve stamina.
After hearing his explanation, Oguri Cap had a moment of enlightenment. Although she hadn't understood these things before, thanks to her innate racing talent, she would unconsciously "slipstream" during races.
After that, Zhou Tai'an didn't go into any more detailed analysis, just told Oguri Cap what kind of training she needed to do at the swimming pool for the next few days.
Swimming itself could train cardiopulmonary capacity, and the pressure of the water could also be used to do some training that was difficult on land.
Because of the presence of Horse Girls, the swimming pool in Hiratori was equipped with a lot of training facilities.
It just cost money. After selling his family's house, Zhou Tai'an had a huge sum of money.
But considering the yen had been appreciating for the past few years, even reaching a level where 1 US dollar could only be exchanged for 120 yen, the young man, feeling a little uneasy, chose not to convert his money into yen.
He had checked. Before the Plaza Accord was signed by multiple countries two years ago, 1 US dollar could be exchanged for 250 yen!
Zhou Tai'an was not an economist and didn't understand what the US government was doing, but he didn't believe those black-hearted capitalists would be giving Japan a handout.
"I'd better keep the US dollars," he thought. After the money from the house sale arrived in his account, Zhou Tai'an only withdrew a very small portion, exchanging it for a eight-figure sum of yen.
So now he could generously let Oguri Cap eat to her heart's content. That being said, he still hoped that this money could be used more to provide better training for Oguri Cap.
…
After Brand New Shine returned, Zhou Tai'an had her and Oguri Cap pack up and get ready for the swimming pool.
"What about you, Trainer?" Brand New Shine asked, confused. "If we're going to the pool, what will you be doing?"
Zhou Tai'an stood up from the tatami mat and tugged at his collar. "I'm going to the hot spring!"
"That's not fair!!" Brand New Shine's eyes widened and she cried out.
Oguri Cap also pouted.
"In any case, you two have to be back for lunch. You can rest in the afternoon," Zhou Tai'an said, not planning to give Oguri Cap a heavy training load.
"Okay," Oguri Cap nodded, indicating she understood.
Seeing this, Zhou Tai'an turned and walked back to his own bedroom. He wasn't lying. After the two Horse Girls left, he did indeed plan to soak in the room's private hot spring.
"Otherwise, it would be weird to walk past their bedroom wrapped in a towel," he thought. Hearing the sound of the room door closing, the young man took his toiletries and prepared to wash himself in the bathroom first.
He had worked up a sweat during his morning run and had been wanting to take a shower for a while. This was also a must-do before entering a hot spring.
…
After washing himself, Zhou Tai'an, holding a small towel, slowly stepped into the room's private hot spring.
He didn't sit down right away, but slowly walked along the edge of the pool to the west side, leaned against the bamboo wall, and slowly sat down.
"Hiss—" The moment he sat down, Zhou Tai'an sucked in a breath of cold air and then shot up like a rocket.
It wasn't because there was something in the pool that had poked him, but because the temperature of the hot spring was much hotter than he had expected. Other parts were fine, but the sudden heat on his sensitive areas was a bit uncomfortable.
"Phew—" He let out a long breath after standing up and muttered, "The breeze feels much better now."
Then he slowly sat back down.
This time, being much more cautious, he didn't get scalded again.
Leaning against the wall, Zhou Tai'an squinted at the vast, clear sky of Hokkaido, his mood instantly improving.
"From this perspective, coming to Hokkaido for the summer vacation was definitely the right choice," he said to himself.
Just as he finished speaking, he heard the sound of water behind him. Clearly, the hot spring pool on the other side of the wall also had a visitor.
Besides his group of three, the only other residents at Hiratori Onsen Yukara this summer were the team from Central.
In other words, on the other side of this wall, there was most likely a Horse Girl from Central Tracen Academy preparing to enjoy the hot spring alone.
Zhou Tai'an could already picture the scene in his mind—the chestnut-haired "Carrot" with a towel on her head, carefully tiptoeing to a corner of the hot spring, the rising steam from the pool clinging to the ends of her hair and condensing into droplets, then dripping down with the call of gravity...
"STOP! Wait a minute!" he urgently called a halt to his rude fantasy. "Even so, shouldn't Suzuka-san be off-limits?"
After all, the chestnut-haired Horse Girl was truly "plain," and fantasizing about her only brought guilt.
-------
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