Zhong Siji had just returned to the cluster of boys when he was immediately surrounded so tightly that not even water could leak through.
The outcome of a sprint could perhaps still be blamed on explosive power or an opponent who had underestimated him, but a 5-kilometer long-distance run, especially a contest of this caliber, could only be a contest of undeniable hard strength.
Yet where had that strength come from?
Judging by appearance alone, classmate Siji’s build certainly counted as sturdy among the boys, but his opponent, Ti Yusheng, was likewise an undisputed standout among the girls of Class 5.
“Siji, how on earth did you train for this?”
Zheng Zipan patted Zhong Siji’s thigh and asked with genuine curiosity.
If he had a physique like Zhong Siji’s, forget becoming an athlete—he could even become a model.
Zhong Siji had gradually grown used to these little intimate gestures from Zheng Zipan.
All he could say was that habit truly was a terrifying thing.
It was just that when it came to physique and stamina, he really had no good way to explain it.
When he was little, because he often got into fights, he was always covered in wounds.
One day, after yet another brawl with those bastards who bullied Xinya, he ran into a strange uncle on the way home.
The man had a stubbly beard, hair as messy as wildly growing weeds, and a set of cloth clothes washed until they were faded white.
Although he looked slovenly, he did not look dirty.
At first Zhong Siji had not planned to pay him any mind, treating him as nothing more than a middle-aged cosplayer passing by.
Who knew the uncle would suddenly block his path.
Just as Zhong Siji was about to yell that a child was being kidnapped, the man spoke: “Brat, do you want to become strong? Strong enough that no one will ever dare bully you brother and sister again.”
For some reason, after hearing that sentence, Zhong Siji found he no longer felt any suspicion toward the man and simply followed him to train every day after school.
The man did not teach any martial arts.
He only helped him train his body and passed on some practical fighting techniques.
Under that training, Zhong Siji’s body grew sturdier day by day, and those bastards were finally beaten until they no longer dared to come looking for trouble.
It was not as if Zhong Siji had never asked him why he would help a complete stranger, or how he knew he had a little sister who was always being bullied.
Training him so deliberately—he was not planning to sell him off to Africa as a black slave once he was strong, was he?
He only remembered that at the time the man had rolled his eyes and said, “If I wanted to sell you I would have sold you long ago. Why wait until today?”
That guy had vanished without a trace during the second semester of ninth grade.
It was not that Zhong Siji missed him or anything.
He just regretted never getting to see what the man looked like after the world flipped.
That way, if the world ever returned to normal, he could take a photo of the guy striking an orchid-finger pose and laugh at him.
Unfortunately the world was still this current world, and that guy was still nowhere to be found.
Already that old and still pretending to be cool?
He must have provoked some woman and gone into hiding.
Forget it.
If he hid, he hid.
Thinking about it carefully, it was a little hard to accept the thought of that guy after being flipped.
“Siji, what’s wrong?” Zheng Zipan looked at the dazed Zhong Siji with some concern.
Zhong Siji shook his head.
Aiyo, I started overthinking again.
“Nothing. I just remembered something.”
“If you guys want to train until you’re like me, the hardship you’ll have to eat isn’t ordinary, you know? Things like going to KTV to sing or chatting idly in a café—you won’t have time for that anymore, okay?”
In reality, no matter how much hardship they ate it would be completely impossible.
After all, they had been flipped by the world; there was already an essential difference from his own pure-man body.
But refusing them outright would inevitably make some people resentful, so he could only make them retreat in the face of difficulty.
When the boys heard him say this, they all showed difficult expressions.
Zheng Zipan scratched his head even more.
“How about you just say something that’ll make us give up directly, Siji? Not knowing the specifics of how it’s done always makes my heart itch.”
Zhong Siji pondered for a moment.
“Ten kilometers every day, then 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and 100 squats.”
Then say something useful but difficult.
That way, even if someone actually followed it, it would not be completely useless and make him look like a liar.
“Isn’t that the One-Kick Superman training method?” someone in the crowd said.
“Oh, someone knows it. That makes it easy to explain. You don’t even have to persist every day with this method; three or four times a week is enough. As long as you keep doing it, even if you can’t become like me, surpassing classmate Yusheng shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Siji, you didn’t actually train according to this One-Kick Superman training method, did you? By the way, how many times a week did you train?”
“Me? Back then I trained every single day.”
Although the amount had been increased gradually, and ever since that guy disappeared he had slacked off a bit.
Zheng Zipan and the group of boys looked at one another, and in the end it was still Zheng Zipan who asked the question everyone wanted to ask.
“Siji, are you really a boy?”
Zhong Siji did not speak; he only flashed his Adam’s apple again.
Shen Shengsheng let out a sigh.
“Looks like awakening the ‘male’ in classmate Siji’s heart is going to be even more arduous than we imagined.”
Hearing this, Zhong Siji was so startled he actually took a step back.
You have to know that even when facing Zhong Xinya’s bitter-melon attacks he had only frowned.
“Please don’t.”
Zheng Zipan still was not quite ready to give up.
“If I keep persisting, will I also be able to have a good figure like yours, Siji?”
So the focus was the figure!
Zhong Siji thought for a moment and still decided to tease him.
“If you keep persisting, your hair will fall out first.”
“Ehhhhhh!” Zheng Zipan was so scared he retreated again and again, clutching his head of beautiful hair as if protecting a treasure.
“But your hair hasn’t fallen out, Siji!”
Zhong Siji said with a face full of grief, “This is already the result of me stopping the loss in time.”
“Don’t tell me your hair, Siji, is all because of…”
Zhong Siji did not speak; he only nodded with heart-rending sorrow.
Zheng Zipan instantly felt his hair stand on end.
So the price of becoming strong was going bald?
But for a male, how was that any different from suicide?
Was this what Siji had been silently enduring all along?
Shen Shengsheng watched Zheng Zipan being toyed with by Zhong Siji until he was completely stunned and felt a little sorry.
“Class monitor, classmate Siji is just bluffing you. Hair falling out completely is a plot from anime. He just cut his hair short. Look, classmate Siji’s hair volume is still very dense.”
“…Siji! You actually dared to bluff me!”
“Ahem, sorry, sorry. I couldn’t hold it in for a moment.”
Zheng Zipan’s angry look, like a kitten hissing, made everyone unable to hold back their laughter.
…
“Classmate Siji seems to be getting along quite harmoniously with everyone.”
Xu Runhui looked at Zhong Siji in the distance, a little lost in thought.
“Of course, right?” Yan Yanyan said without a care.
“After all, classmate Siji won.”
“Isn’t it always like this? As long as you can bring victory, flowers will naturally be offered. It has nothing to do with what kind of person you are or what kind of personality you have.”
Xu Runhui seemed not to hear, watching Zhong Siji chatting naturally with the boys.
She suddenly had a feeling as if a lifetime had passed.
Just two days ago… before today it had all been a completely different scene.
Maybe this was how it was supposed to be, and she ought to feel happy, but why… why did she have this kind of feeling?
Clearly he was right within reach, yet she felt he was getting farther and farther away.