Lin Wanxing and Wang Fa shared a certain level of consensus when it came to "taking a walk."
They strolled along the old street from the cat café toward Wuchuan Road Stadium.
At one point along the way, Wang Fa bought a cup of milk tea and placed it at the doorstep of a residence.
He rang the doorbell but left without waiting for anyone to answer.
Lin Wanxing found it strange. For instance, when she fed stray cats, she would at least pet them. What was the point of just leaving a cup of milk tea?
Wang Fa didn’t offer much of an explanation, only saying, "Our family relationships are rather distant."
—
Wuchuan Road Stadium had an indoor heated swimming pool, but the place Lin Wanxing had arranged to meet the students was the gym on the second floor.
When she and Wang Fa arrived, Wen Chengye was sitting alone on a bench by the door, leaning against a rusted metal cabinet in the corner. The other students were gathered by the window, keeping their distance from him.
Given the argument from the day before, the fact that they were all in the same space without resorting to blows was a testament to their restraint.
To lighten the mood, Lin Wanxing smiled and asked, "Why is everyone here? I thought we were going swimming?"
Qi Liang, as always, played the role of the "chaotic neutral" party. Standing between Wen Chengye and the others, he said, "I don’t know either. Maybe they have nothing better to do?"
"What do you mean, 'they'? You’re here too, aren’t you?" Qin Ao shouted from nearby.
"I’m different. I’m here to ease the team tension and let Wen Chengye experience the 'warmth of the team.'"
Lin Wanxing exchanged a glance with Wang Fa. She could clearly read in his eyes what he was thinking—"People named Xiao Liang really are all a bit cheeky."
Xiao Liang had managed to annoy not only the team but also their "enemy," Wen Chengye.
Still, saying such things out loud somehow made the atmosphere a little better.
Just then, Coach Xiao Sun pushed the gym door open and stepped out.
He was dressed a bit more formally today, wearing a bright purple long-sleeved bodysuit, his mustache neatly trimmed.
"Brother Wang, Sister Lin, you’re finally here! I just tried to get everyone to come in, but they wouldn’t budge," he said, walking over to Wen Chengye. "Sister Lin, is this the new student you mentioned?"
"Yes, that’s him."
Lin Wanxing had already informed Coach Xiao Sun in advance, suggesting that Wen Chengye be charged the same rate as the other students. However, Coach Xiao Sun explained that the gym had often been empty before the students started coming. Since their arrival, more people had been working out, and the place had gained some vitality, improving business. After consulting the owner, he had enthusiastically decided to offer new members a 5% discount.
"You look sharp, young man! Are those AJs real or fake?" Coach Xiao Sun asked excitedly, eyeing Wen Chengye’s shoes.
Wen Chengye maintained a sour expression and didn’t respond.
It was already the second month of the students’ gym sessions. They were all familiar with the place—Wen Chengye was the only newcomer.
Coach Xiao Sun was used to dealing with all kinds of people, so Wen Chengye’s attitude didn’t bother him. Instead, he warmly took the lead and gave him a tour of the gym.
As for the other students, even though they had originally planned to go swimming, they unconsciously followed along and joined the tour.
The gym at Wuchuan Road Stadium…
By all accounts, was rather old and dated.
The air conditioning was on, and the air carried a mix of smells from the floor mats and faint sweat. Wen Chengye frowned in displeasure.
After showing him around, Coach Xiao Sun said, "Alright, take off your clothes. Your shoes too."
Wen Chengye finally lost his composure. His phoenix eyes widened in shock as he stared at Coach Xiao Sun."What's the big deal? We're all buddies here, what are you afraid of? If you want to go change in the locker room, that's fine too." Coach Xiao Sun said, pointing to the small cubicle next to them.
Wen Chengye remained guarded and unmoving. Lin Wanxing explained, "Our Coach Xiao Sun is very professional. He registers and creates files for every new member, recording changes in your physique, body fat, and other aspects before and after training. The main point is that with before-and-after comparisons, you can more intuitively feel the progress brought by fitness training."
"That's exactly it." Xiao Sun nodded vigorously and continued, "Our club also selects an outstanding member every month, rewarding them with protein powder and having their photo displayed on the wall for everyone to admire!" As he spoke, Xiao Sun gestured grandly toward the photos on the side wall.
The "October Outstanding Member" was none other than Qin Ao, who had taken off his shirt, raised his arms to show off his muscles, and struck a strongman pose.
Wen Chengye averted his gaze and said disdainfully, "I don't need that."
"Who says you need it? You'd have to actually be selected as outstanding first before talking about whether you need it or not," Qin Ao sneered.
"You guys keep training. I'll take the new student to get his photos taken." Xiao Sun tried to lead Wen Chengye toward the locker room, but Wen Chengye remained rooted to the spot, looking very reluctant.
"You're not scared, are you?" Qin Ao looked Wen Chengye up and down, finally breaking into a smile.
"Idiot." Wen Chengye finally couldn't hold back the curse.
"Boss, Wen dog really does look like a pale chicken," Yu Ming chimed in.
"He's definitely going to expose the fact that he has no muscles," Lin Lu added.
Finally, Qi Liang delivered the decisive verdict—"He's shy."
No matter how aloof and gloomy Wen Chengye appeared on the surface, at his core he was still a competitive young man.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have constantly moved around the field looking for opportunities during games, even though this "searching" was seen as nothing but trouble by the other team members.
So, provoked by the other players, Wen Chengye eventually followed Xiao Sun to the locker room.
After going through the entire process of taking photos, weighing, and measuring, Wen Chengye looked completely disoriented.
When he came out, the other boys had formed a complete circle around the entrance.
Wen Chengye wasn't particularly skinny, but compared to the boys who had been training for nearly two months, there was a noticeable gap in muscle and physique.
Therefore, when surrounded by several muscular guys, the shirtless Wen Chengye actually appeared somewhat frail.
"Wen dog, you've really fallen behind this year," Zheng Feiyang commented.
"You need more training," Chen Jianghe said.
"He really is a pale chicken." Surprisingly, this comment came from Fu Xinshu.
Wen Chengye snorted coldly and involuntarily glanced at the mirror in front of him.
The others had clearly defined muscle lines and tanned skin. Their eyes shone brightly, and both their physiques and energy far surpassed his. Compared to them, being called a pale chicken wasn't unjustified.
"Let's see what happens after a month," Lin Wanxing said, standing beside Wen Chengye and looking at the young man in the mirror.
—
Since Wen Chengye was new, he needed to be assigned training programs—the same ones the other students had been doing for dozens of days.
Wang Fa made some adjustments based on his situation, then gave Xiao Sun a challenging task: to familiarize Wen Chengye with the equipment and teach him proper strength training techniques.The fitness coach before them, clad in bright-colored tight-fitting attire and sporting a neatly trimmed mustache, had shed his earlier eagerness and now wore a serious expression.
"Don't be unhappy about this, Wen," Coach Xiao Sun said. "Back when I worked in the big city, my rate for a single personal training session was 500 yuan."
After putting Wen Chengye through that earlier ordeal, Coach Xiao Sun had gained some understanding of him. He knew this young man wearing AJ sneakers would be difficult to please.
Wen Chengye remained silent.
"The items you need to familiarize yourself with today have all been listed by your coach. You'll warm up first, then I'll show you the equipment, and we'll go over some basic exercises." Xiao Sun spoke earnestly, holding a small clipboard as he explained each point to Wen Chengye.
"Let me demonstrate the proper warm-up movements for you first."
As he spoke, Xiao Sun led Wen Chengye to the treadmill. "I'll set the speed for you this time. Remember it well—you'll have to adjust it yourself next time." While chattering away, Xiao Sun meticulously explained how to use each button on the console.
The other students had been rowdy earlier, and Lin Wanxing thought they would go downstairs to swim.
But in the blink of an eye, they had stretched their wrists and ankles, each starting up a treadmill to begin their regular training.
Wen Chengye and Coach Xiao Sun were on one side, while the rest of the group occupied the other area.
Lin Wanxing twisted open a bottle of mineral water and walked over to Chen Jianghe.
"I thought you were going swimming?"
Chen Jianghe kept his eyes forward, glancing at her briefly. "Not sure. We had gym training scheduled for today anyway, so we might as well get it done."
"Feels weird just resting!" Feng Suo chimed in.
"After we finish working out, swimming will be perfect for muscle relaxation and recovery."
Other students nearby nodded in agreement.
They each had their reasons—it seemed that since they were already here, they felt compelled to log some exercise.
For a moment, the gym fell into silence, broken only by the whirring of equipment.
The silhouettes of students jogging on treadmills were reflected in the floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
Lin Wanxing didn't quite know what to say.
"Balancing work and rest is important," she finally said. "It's my fault—I suddenly thought of bringing Wen Chengye to the gym."
"What does that have to do with you? We just feel like when we're idle, our minds get filled with thoughts about the competition." Qin Ao glanced at Wen Chengye, who was listening to Coach Xiao Sun explain treadmill incline settings.
"After the New Year, we'll be facing Yuzhou Silver Elephant. If we don't push ourselves now, what happens when we can't beat them?" Yu Ming said.
"Exactly! If we win against Yuzhou Silver Elephant, we'll get 6 points and still have a chance to advance from the group stage." Lin Lu made a charging motion.
On the treadmills, the students naturally began calculating their points for her.
"That's right. We got 3 points in the first round, which is quite important. Plus, we've beaten Yuzhou Silver Elephant before, so our chances are good in the next round." Lin Wanxing could only offer encouragement.
"So you see, teacher, we want to advance from the group stage," Fu Xinshu concluded. "We don't want to waste any more time."
The students hadn't shaken off the shadow of their defeat so quickly. Even during the break, they felt unsettled.
They had things they wanted and goals they aimed to achieve.
Although they hadn't considered those things particularly important before, for some reason, the thoughts kept circling in their minds, leaving them unable to relax.
Because they feared that if they stopped, they would have to face the specter of failure.
So they could only keep moving forward, running relentlessly ahead.
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