Compared to the perfunctory attitude towards Mia, Zebulon’s eyes sparkled with excitement as he eagerly instructed the bulter behind him, “Go and see, try to invite the expert from the next room over.”
The butler nodded and left.
On this side, after seeing the target, Evelyn tossed the gun aside and casually sat in a nearby chair, sipping the coffee that Jonathan had bought earlier.
Jonathan watched for a while and couldn’t help but remind, “Zebulon came to the shooting range two hours ago. According to his habits, he will leave in another fifteen minutes. Master, if you don’t go over now…”
“Enough,” Evelyn suddenly spoke.
Enough…? What did she mean by ‘enough’?
Jonathan was still trying to understand the meaning behind Evelyn’s words when the door to practice room 3 was suddenly knocked open.
The butler saw Evelyn, was momentarily stunned, but quickly regained composure, smiling, “It turns out to be Miss Evelyn.”
“The old master is in the next room and would like to invite you over,” the butler said.
Evelyn, no longer displaying her earlier indifference, her eyes now filled with anticipation and eagerness, said, “Unexpectedly, grandfather is here too, how coincidental.” With that, she stood up and followed the butler.
Leaving Jonathan behind who had been forgotten: “…”
Finally, he understood what Evelyn meant by ‘enough.’
Since Zebulon was obsessed with shooting, he would surely be able to discern Evelyn’s skills.
As Zebulon looked toward the door, he saw Evelyn entering briskly.
“Grandfather,” she quickly put away her smile. Still, Zebulon saw the joy in her eyes and a hint of longing for family. “Evelyn, you’re here,” he said, then turned to the butler, “Where is the person you called for?”
“Miss Evelyn is in practice room 3.”
Zebulon was stunned. Before he could think more about it, Yulianna burst into laughter.
“Butler, do you really think the perfect ten-ring shots just now were done by Evelyn?” Yulianna said.
“Back when Evelyn was at home, she was afraid even to see a gun. How could she possibly shoot a perfect ten?” Mia chimed in.
“In practice room 2, there is indeed a man. I saw Miss Evelyn, so I forgot about the main matter,” the butler explained.
“A man?” Yulianna said with an expression of astonishment, as if she had discovered some earth-shattering secret.
She and Mia exchanged glances, their expressions becoming even more bizarre.
Evelyn whispered, “Grandfather, he’s the shooting instructor I hired. I remembered that you liked shooting, so I wanted to try it myself. However, I originally planned to practice secretly, and I didn’t expect you to find out.”
“You used to dislike this kind of thing the most.”
Evelyn shook her head, “There must be a different kind of pleasure in the things you like, grandfather. I also want to experience it.”
Mia glared fiercely at Evelyn. This cunning woman. She had spent so much time accompanying that old man, but never saw a single smile from him.
Yulianna immediately caught on, taking a step forward, “Evelyn has worked so hard to learn this, how about showcasing her achievements? Since Mia is here, why not have a friendly match between you sisters? Grandfather, with your expertise to guide them.”
“What do you think, Grandfather?”
Zebulon nodded, “It’s acceptable. Evelyn, what do you think?”
Evelyn knew that Zebulon wanted to verify the credibility of her previous words. She nodded obediently, “I’m fine with it, just that Mia…”
“If she lose later, will she burst into tears?” Evelyn blinked.
“You better win against me first.” Mia retorted.
Watching Evelyn’s arrogant attitude, Yulianna suddenly approached Mia, “Since she’s not afraid of death, let’s make her lose face completely in one go.”
Mia frowned, “What are you planning?”
“Just leave it to me. I’ll handle it alone.”
After saying that, Yulianna looked towards Zebulon, “Both Mia and Evelyn are Grandfather’s granddaughters. If Grandfather acts as the referee, you won’t be biased, right?”
This question caught Zebulon off guard.
He looked at his two granddaughters and shook his head helplessly. Indeed, there was a suspicion of bias.
“Then let the butler do it,” Zebulon looked towards the butler.
“No,” Yulianna immediately vetoed, “The butler is also Grandfather’s person. There should be many people in the shooting range, why not just find a few random players to act as referees?”
Zebulon nodded, “Then it’s up to you to handle it.”
Shooting, being a result-oriented activity, doesn’t require scoring. So the purpose of these people was to closely watch the two contestants, ensuring no foul play.
Mia was a regular at the shooting range, and her shooting skills were well-known, with almost no opponents. Rather than being referees, these people were more interested in seeing who dared to challenge Mia.
Upon seeing Evelyn, disappointment was evident on their faces.
“I thought it would be some expert, it turns out just an inexperienced girl. With such slender wrists, can she even hold a gun?”
“Probably just a momentary whim. Pity…”
“I heard she’s another granddaughter of The Taylor family…”
“How uninteresting…”
During the time Evelyn was being criticized, the staff had already set up two new targets.
The order of shooting was decided by drawing lots, with Mia going first and Evelyn second.
As the two checked their firearms, they distanced themselves from the crowd. Mia dropped her pretense as well. She arrogantly smiled, “Don’t feel too much pressure later, try to keep from missing the target. Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing.”
“Mind your own business.”
Mia walked up to the shooting position and quickly squeezed the trigger. After ten shots, she confidently returned to her original position.
“Ten shots, all in the bullseye,” quickly announced the staff.
“All in the bullseye,” Yulianna exclaimed excitedly, “We’ve won for sure.”
Upon hearing the result, the dozen or so people nearby expressed their amazement. When the target was brought back and they saw the ten bullet holes clustered closely around the bullseye, they couldn’t help shaking their heads, having no expectations for Evelyn’s next performance.
Evelyn was equally nonchalant. She loaded her magazine, walked to the firing position, and skipped the aiming process altogether, firing off ten rounds in quick succession.
The onlookers exchanged puzzled glances.
“Is this for real?”
“Is she kidding? So casual.”
“Seems like a waste of targets for someone like her to be shooting.”
“The staff haven’t said a word this whole time. I bet the result is embarrassing.”
Seeing the situation, Yulianna leaned in close to Evelyn and whispered, “Congratulations, you’ve just earned yourself an award for embarrassment.”
“People sometimes just need to know their place, otherwise they’ll end up embarrassing themselves,” she added.
Evelyn smirked, sending a message to Jonathan on her phone. Then, she glanced sideways at Yulianna, “Mind your own business. Otherwise, you might end up eating shit if you trip. I’m sure you wouldn’t want that, Yulianna.”
Yulianna stared back, speechless for a moment.
Evelyn stood aside, coldly observing. Some of the referees, familiar with Mia, approached one by one to offer their congratulations.
Suddenly, Zebulon walked over to Evelyn and offered some words of comfort, “Evelyn, beginnings are always tough. You’ve just started learning, so it’s normal to lose to Mia. Don’t get discouraged.”
“Grandpa, the results haven’t even been announced yet. Maybe I haven’t lost,” Evelyn replied with a hopeful smile.
Seeing the anticipation in her eyes, Zebulon sighed softly, unable to bear to dampen her spirits. “Let’s wait and see, then.”
“Evelyn,” Mia approached, but before she could speak, the door to practice room 2 swung open.
A staff member entered, holding up a target, their expression filled with excitement, “Excuse me, who is Miss Evelyn?”
All eyes turned to Evelyn, disdain and mockery evident in their gazes.
“The staff have come over. This result must be the most humiliating in history.”
“Haha, there’s even a hole in the target that the staff brought back. At least one shot hit the mark, not bad.”
“Well, one shot. I doubt the training grounds have ever seen such a dismal performance. Truly embarrassing.”
Yulianna, noticing this, actively approached to take the target, “Leave it to me. Although Evelyn’s performance is a bit lacking, there’s no need for you to personally bring it over, right?”
The staff was momentarily taken aback by her question, just about to explain when Yulianna had already turned away. She presented the target to Evelyn, intentionally showing it to everyone, “Evelyn, everyone shooting after Mia is under immense pressure. Your score is already quite good.”
Mia laughed, “Evelyn is just not very proficient yet. I believe she’ll surpass me next time.”
Yulianna continued loudly, “The shooting range always has championship awards, right? What about today? Can you show it to everyone?” If things went as expected, Mia would surely be today’s champion.
Hearing this, the crowd looked at the staff with curiosity. The staff, regaining their voice from a moment of confusion, explained, “Not only the daily champion, but this young lady has achieved the highest score in the shooting range in the past three years.”