"Classmates, let's start roll call now. I'm taking it myself today—are you all happy?" Zhou You kicked off every class with this routine.
Everyone was used to it by now; after all, it had been years, and they were curious what new tricks he'd pull.
"Happy..."
Having a teacher like Zhou You was both a blessing and a curse.
The blessing was that he was fun and interesting, and now he was even a big benefactor.
The curse was that it was really hard to skip class.
"I heard you're about to have a sports meet. Has anyone signed up?" Zhou You scanned the room, wondering who had the courage to challenge their own frail bodies.
The class monitor stood up. "Teacher, we have assignments. Our class signed up for ten events and found ten students. No one signed up for the 3000-meter, so we forced the sports rep to take it."
Ha ha ha ha.
The students burst out laughing as the unlucky sports rep stood up. "Teacher, I think the monitor should set an example and actively participate too."
Well, if it's mutual sabotage, two can play that game.
The monitor was a girl, her face flushed—whether from anger or excitement, it was hard to tell. "Teacher, I signed up for the cheerleading squad. I have to go to rehearsals."
Zhou You thought that was great. He told the sports rep to sit down and be quiet, then said to the monitor, "Cheerleading's good. The school's taking this competition seriously. To show harmony between teachers and students, I'm joining too. I'll sign up for three events: the 100-meter dash, the standing long jump, and sanda."
The students buzzed with chatter, whispering among themselves. "What's sanda? How is that an event?"
"Teacher, why are you joining? Do teachers have assignments too?"
Zhou You cursed under his breath—you little smart aleck.
He spread his hands. "Congratulations, you're right. As a newbie on the teaching staff, it's not easy for me either. I got sent out to the front lines."
Now the teacher-student relationship was harmonious—neither could point fingers, both stuck in the same boat.
Seeing this, the students hesitated.
"Teacher, are you telling us to come watch or not?"
"What if you embarrass yourself?"
"Teacher, can you handle sanda? Don't get beaten to tears!"
Zhou You enjoyed this feeling. With a good relationship with his students, they weren't afraid of him and could joke around to lighten the mood. Being too rigid was boring.
"Since I'm telling you all, it means I have full confidence. I won't dare hope for first place, but I definitely won't be last. Monitor, you're on the cheerleading squad—make sure to cheer me on then."
"Okay, no problem!"
"We'll tell the upperclassmen too, so they can come watch."
"Teacher, don't embarrass yourself—keep your image intact."
Two students in the class had events overlapping with Zhou You's and tried to suck up. "Teacher, should we go easy on you?"
Zhou You glanced at their unhealthy bodies. "Classmates, stay up less and exercise more. I'm really afraid you'll drop dead. Look at your physical condition."
Back in the day, Zhou You was just like them.
In the first few days of college, he could still get up in the morning.
But he slacked off too fast, couldn't stop himself, and went downhill quickly.
He barely ate breakfast, barely slept at night, and often stayed up like he was cultivating immortality. By sophomore year, he couldn't take it anymore and fell into sub-health.
Luckily, he caught it in time and adjusted. In the second semester of sophomore year, he started running in the morning. At first, he couldn't run much—no matter the pace, it was just one lap, only 400 meters.
After running, he'd eat breakfast.
Gradually, he could run more laps. Sticking with it for a few years finally got his body back in shape.
Illness strikes like a landslide, but recovery is like pulling silk.
A fat person isn't made in a day, and a thin person doesn't slim down overnight.
Nothing escapes self-discipline and persistence.
After class, Zhou You grabbed his bag and left.
By now, Zhou You's reputation in the library science program was soaring. Former students, hearing he was joining the sports meet, forwarded the news and said they'd come to cheer him on.
This saved the counselor a lot of trouble. Normally, each class had to provide 20% of its students as spectators in the stands, but now the spots were not only filled but had extras.
Except for sanda, which Zhou You was confident in, he didn't have much faith in the other two events. He'd only signed up because they were quick and easy.
But since he'd boasted, he couldn't embarrass himself too much.
He called Li Houliang and told him to meet at the school track for a test run first.
During sanda training, there was physical conditioning, and swimming built stamina too, but he'd never practiced speed—he didn't do many sprints in his usual runs.
The distance between the teaching building and the track was pretty far, a ten-minute walk.
By the time Zhou You arrived, Li Houliang was already there. Though they'd briefly discussed it on the phone, Li Houliang's first words upon meeting were, "Bro, you don't have running shoes, do you?"
Zhou You looked down—at least he was wearing sneakers.
"Since we're here, let's do a quick test. We'll buy running shoes later." Zhou You didn't mind.
He started stretching, slowly warming up his body.
The 100-meter dash was intense; if you didn't warm up properly, you could easily get hurt.
The setup was basic—they could only use a phone stopwatch to time it. No shoes, no suitable clothes, and no starting blocks.
"Ready..."
"Go!"
Li Houliang called out the commands.
Zhou You didn't use a crouch start; he stood upright.
At the signal, he ran forward, and Li Houliang ran alongside him to see the finish line.
Running with the wind, freedom was the direction.
The feeling of sprinting full-out was exhilarating. In the blink of an eye, he reached the end, still wanting more.
He slowed to a walk a few steps ahead.
Li Houliang caught up from behind. "13.11."
Zhou You didn't understand. "Is that good or bad?"
"Just shy of the national third-level athlete standard. If you practice your start and get better gear, hitting third level shouldn't be a problem." Li Houliang was a bit surprised.
"What's the third-level athlete time?" Zhou You was curious—could he really reach that level just by running casually?
"12.64." Li Houliang checked; he couldn't remember the exact number. "But third level isn't a big deal. It's usually the entry level for athletes. A lot of people can hit it with some practice."
"Alright." Zhou You had been a little proud, but now he realized this was just the starting point.
Let's test the standing long jump.
That was simple—just jump.
He held his breath, focused, swayed his arms, felt the moment, and leaped.
2.7 meters.
"Bro, how's that?" Zhou You pressed Li Houliang.
"Let me check. Different fields are like different worlds. I'll call some friends from sports school later, and we'll do a quick training session tomorrow. Then you'll be ready to compete." Li Houliang was a bit stumped too.
"There doesn't seem to be a specific standard, but it should be decent."
Zhou You thought it made sense.
His sanda training had boosted his fitness quickly—he could feel it himself.
Besides, since he'd reached a professional level in sanda, other events should at least be at an entry level, or his overall conditioning wouldn't hold up.