Study Monster Cultivation System

Chapter 189 - 188 Once you give up, the game is over, right?

As soon as they heard this, the boys who rarely attended PE class all became irritable.

"Ah?"

"Why is it 1000 meters again?"

"Let’s play basketball, Teacher Qiao..."

Qiao Sheng, holding his notebook, cursed, "All you fucking know is basketball. This time we’re keeping score. Those who run 1000 meters within 3 minutes and 15 seconds can play basketball; the rest will keep running."

"No way, Teacher Qiao," Liu Xin said with a mournful face, "Isn’t 3 minutes and 20 seconds already an excellent score?"

"Don’t you fucking need to put on weight?" Qiao Sheng waved the notebook as he urged them on, "Spread out, spread out, let the class monitor lead."

Jiang Qinghua was reluctantly forced to step out and organize the warm-up exercises.

While the boys were begrudgingly doing their warm-ups, the girls had already picked up basketballs and begun practicing lay-ups.

Of course, there were also quite a few girls who simply joined hands and strolled around, which was related to the PE teacher’s management style.

Lin Yu Jing, who initially did not want to stroll, could do nothing about Zhang Xiaoke being so clingy.

"Come on, I’ll tell you an important secret..." Zhang Xiaoke pulled Lin Yu Jing aside to a corner of the sports field, beside the fence outside the plastic track, and whispered into her ear, "Tomorrow is Master’s birthday."

"Hmm..." Lin Yu Jing just pouted her lips and kicked away the dead leaves at her feet.

"What’s that reaction?" Zhang Xiaoke’s eyebrows tightened as she realized something was up, "Could it be that you know?"

"No... I don’t know." Lin Yu Jing’s face stiffened as she turned her head away.

"Oh, so you’ve learned to lie," Zhang Xiaoke seized the opportunity to grab and knead, capturing both ears with a pincer move, "Sneakily preparing a gift, how cunning."

"Hmm~~~~don’t... not here..." Although Lin Yu Jing was skilled, she was still no match for Zhang Xiaoke who ate meat at every meal, and wrestling in front of so many people was also undignified, so she struggled and begged for mercy, "Okay, okay... have you kneaded enough..."

"Not enough!" Zhang Xiaoke held onto the ear and threatened, "You still have to put on the hood."

"..."

After some tussling, Zhang Xiaoke finally got enough of seeing Lin Yu Jing in her hooded style and temporarily let her go, taking her hand and strolling away.

"Alright, let’s talk serious. This... actually, I did prepare a gift," Zhang Xiaoke said with a sly smile, licking her lips, "But if I were the only one to give it, it’d be too weird. So, how about we all give one, okay?"

"But I’ve already given one..." Lin Yu Jing started to say, then suddenly covered her mouth, before breaking away and fleeing.

Zhang Xiaoke only then realized what was going on and gave chase with a flailing threat, "Crafty! Yu Jing is crafty! A rub punishment!"

While they were chasing each other, the whistle blew, and the more than 40 boys from the two classes had already started.

Due to the large size of the group, competing for the front spots was especially important; otherwise, one would have to push and shove their way from the back.

Just like always, Jiang Qinghua excitedly secured the first row, and sprinted for the first 50 meters to get ahead of the pack, which made the rest of the race much more comfortable for an athlete like him.

Lake Ying Middle School’s sports field is 200 meters round, and you would hit the first bend just after completing 50 meters.

At this point, Jiang Qinghua would always glance back to ensure he had created a gap.

As he looked to the side, he saw the large group jostling at its core with Liu Xin.

Turning around once more, the closest boy from Class Three was also trailing by three to four meters, not daring to overtake forcefully.

Jiang Qinghua laughed.

The first place, again is mine...

He had not even finished the thought when suddenly he felt a gust of wind pass over his scalp.

Ordinarily, one would need to feel it pass by the ears or neck.

But he, Jiang Qinghua, could sense it with his scalp.

He quickly turned his head, only to find a shirt-clad boy had already completed a silent bend and overtaken him.

And he was fucking wearing oxfords!

Impossible, distance running was his absolute forte.

Jiang Qinghua did not have time to think further; abandoning his usual prudent strategy, he quickened his pace once again.

All of his hair lifted as he overtook within 50 meters, rising high.

Li Zheng, who had been running just fine, also glared in response.

Winning or losing was secondary; what he cared more about was getting an "excellent" for his sports grade.

As Liu Xin had said, the excellent score for 1000 meters for senior two boys was 3 minutes and 20 seconds.

Jiang Qinghua’s usual score ranged from 3 minutes and 5 seconds to 3 minutes and 10 seconds.

So as long as he kept pace with him, he could easily clinch an excellent score.

You should know, for over a month, Li Zheng has been diligently running five kilometers every morning.

A mere thousand meters, not getting an excellent score, how could that be possible?

Therefore, Li Zheng also abandoned his usual pace and forcibly kept up with Jiang Qinghua.

Not to mention the boys, even the girls wandering around the playground were shocked.

Before this, Li Zheng had always been the leader of the fourth group in the 1000-meter run.

The first group was Jiang Qinghua.

The second group consisted of a few people around 3 minutes and 20 seconds.

The third group comprised the large majority who finished between 3 minutes 30 seconds to 3 minutes 50 seconds.

The fourth group was the weaker crowd finishing after 4 minutes.

The fifth group included the heavyweight contenders aiming for 5 minutes, as well as the cool and leisurely members of the Fallen Sect.

Unexpectedly, this time, Li Zheng from the fourth group was actually challenging Jiang Qinghua, the last in the school sports meeting for their grade.

Jiang Qinghua was also desperate, glancing back every two steps, and as long as Li Zheng was still behind him, he clenched his teeth to maintain high speed, foregoing stamina management.

Li Zheng, aiming for an excellent score, was similarly determined, ignoring the heaviness of his leather shoes and the tearing of his shirt, he forcefully pursued.

Amidst gasps of surprise, Li Zheng actually completed a lap without falling behind.

The second lap was the same.

By the third lap, Jiang Qinghua truly couldn’t hold on any longer and slightly reduced his speed, and Li Zheng finally slowed down with him, avoiding running himself to death.

At this point, they had already left the second group half a lap behind.

When passing the starting point, Qiao Sheng couldn’t watch anymore: "Li Zheng, for heaven’s sake, take care of your body, there are limits to the heart."

Li Zheng actually had an idea in his heart, if Jiang Qinghua didn’t slow down, he would probably have given up himself.

By the time they reached the fourth lap, the two were still stubbornly biting at each other’s heels, incidentally lapping the Fallen Sect.

In the final lap, Jiang Qinghua’s stride and breathing became chaotic; after all, he had run too fiercely before.

Li Zheng was also suffering, mainly because of the stupid shoes.

Both dragged their legs as if they weren’t their own, running hard without any excess energy to even utter half a word.

Only their hearts were fiercely determined.

Jiang Qinghua thought, "I absolutely cannot lose... absolutely cannot lose..."

Li Zheng thought, "An excellent score in high school long-distance running... it’s really damn difficult... who the hell set this standard..."

The battle between men is often a simple yet absurd obsession.

When they reached the last bend, they even forgot what their obsession was, only remembering they had one.

For the sake of their obsession, they didn’t allow themselves to relax for even a moment.

The pair, locked in a grim struggle, could only hear each other’s violent gasps.

That was the only obsession left.

Run.

Keep running.

Don’t stop.

Even if there’s no feeling left, even if grimacing and drooling, even though you know you might collapse with the next step, you cannot stop.

Just like Coach An Xi said—

Whether it’s a dream or something else.

Once you give up, the match is over, isn’t it?

On the other side, the girls, hugging their basketballs, had drifted over to the finish line in advance.

Even though Lin Yu Jing didn’t care about this at all, she was still dragged there by Zhang Xiaoke.

"Wow, even the sports master is rising up!" Zhang Xiaoke stood beside the track, cupping her mouth and shouting, "Master! Sprint! Sprint! Sprint!"

"Hmm..." Lin Yu Jing looked at Jiang Qinghua and Li Zheng’s disheveled appearance from a distance and simply thought it was foolish.

Just as she was about to sneak away while Zhang Xiaoke wasn’t paying attention.

A grating voice suddenly erupted nearby."Go Li Zheng! Go Zheng Zheng!"