Am I not the champion Why do I feel like I lost

Over twenty boys were crowded together, varying in height and weight. Some were doing professional stretches, while others wore a look of despair that screamed "Who am I and where am I?", clearly having been dragged here by their homeroom teacher just to make up the numbers.

Chen Zhi stood in the outermost lane and scanned the area.

Two people away from him stood a guy wearing a full set of fluorescent green tight sportswear. The muscle lines on his thighs made it obvious at a glance that he was a student athlete.

Looking back at himself, although he never skipped his morning jogs, compared to this kind of professionally trained athlete, he was just an amateur.

"Hey, over there!"

A crisp shout suddenly came from the bleachers.

Chen Zhi turned his head and saw Lin Wanwan holding a red plastic megaphone she had gotten from who-knows-where. Half her body was leaning over the railing as she waved frantically in his direction.

"Chen Zhi! Come on! Don't bother coming back to see me if you don't finish the race!"

This shout was incredibly piercing, completely drowning out the half-dead Athletes' March playing over the loudspeakers.

Immediately after, the base camp of Grade Seven Class Three erupted.

"Go for it, Class Monitor!"

"Chen Zhi is the most handsome!"

"Just do your best! If you really can't make it, just pretend to faint, it's not embarrassing!"

The chattering cheers of a group of girls seemed out of place among the dry howling of the all-male competitors, yet exceptionally pleasant to the ear.

The air at the starting line instantly froze.

The surrounding competitors who were originally shaking their legs to relax now had over twenty pairs of eyes glued to Chen Zhi. The emotions in those eyes were complex: envy, jealousy, and mostly a kind of anger that screamed, "Why does this punk get a cheerleading squad?"

Especially that fluorescent green student athlete.

He looked down at his professional running shoes worth over two thousand bucks, then looked at Chen Zhi's ordinary domestic brand sneakers. Finally, listening to the sweet and delicate shouts of "Go Class Monitor" echoing in his ears, he gritted his teeth until they creaked.

"Show-off." The athlete squeezed the words through his teeth, glaring fiercely at Chen Zhi. He then did high knees in place, stomping the ground with heavy thuds, full of provocation.

Chen Zhi shrugged helplessly and waved at Lin Wanwan on the bleachers, signaling her to keep a low profile.

As a result, the girl thought Chen Zhi was interacting with her and excitedly blew a loud whistle, making even Li Zhiyi next to her cover her face in embarrassment.

"On your marks—"

The referee raised the starting pistol.

The originally noisy starting line instantly quieted down, leaving only heavy breathing.

"Bang!"

White smoke rose.

Over twenty figures instantly dashed out.

That fluorescent green athlete was indeed the real deal. As soon as the gun went off, he shot out like an arrow from a bow, instantly establishing a leading advantage and leaving the main group ten meters behind.

For the first two laps, everyone could barely keep up with the rhythm.

By the time the third lap started, the pack had completely stretched out. Those students who were just making up the numbers began to fall behind. Their faces were flushed, their footsteps as heavy as lead, and they looked like they were about to collapse.

Chen Zhi ran unhurriedly in the second tier.

He wasn't in a rush to sprint. Five thousand meters wasn't a hundred-meter dash; if you ran too fiercely at the beginning, you'd have to crawl across the finish line later. He adjusted his breathing, taking two steps per inhale and two steps per exhale, his eyes locked dead on that fluorescent green back ahead.

The tactic was simple: draft.

With someone breaking the wind in front, the person behind could save a lot of energy.

By the fifth lap, Chen Zhi felt his body warm up and his footsteps became much lighter. He slightly increased his speed, bypassing several opponents who were already rolling their eyes back, and quietly stuck right behind the athlete.

The athlete was running on a high, thinking he was leaving everyone in the dust. When he looked back, he almost bit his tongue.

That show-off actually caught up?

And he was sticking less than two meters behind him.

"This kid..." The athlete felt a little creeped out, but mostly just annoyed.

He decided to teach this arrogant kid a lesson.

Accelerate!

The athlete swung his arms fiercely, increased his stride, and his speed instantly went up a notch.

A gasp erupted from the bleachers.

"Holy crap, is that guy crazy? Sprinting after only a few laps?"

"With this pace, he's going to lap people!"

Chen Zhi frowned.

This rhythm was wrong, too fast. But he didn't overthink it. He gritted his teeth, adjusted his breathing frequency, and forcefully kept up.

As long as he wasn't pulled too far behind, he could use the opponent's rhythm to drive himself.

The two were running very fast and had already begun lapping the competitors who were practically walking in the back.

When Chen Zhi passed the grandstand once again, a burning sensation had started in his lungs.

"Chen Zhi! Don't wimp out!"

Lin Wanwan's voice came again, carrying a trace of anxiety.

She leaned over the railing, the unopened bottle of water in her hand nearly squeezed out of shape.

"Come on, Class Monitor!"

"Chen Zhi, you're the best!"

The girls of Class Three all stood up, even running to the guardrail by the track to follow the direction of Chen Zhi's movement.

This spectacle completely shattered the mentality of the leading athlete.

He was clearly running in first place, clearly the one dominating the field, yet the eyes of those girls seemed to completely ignore him, all shouting the name of the copycat behind him.

"Damn it."

The athlete burned with anger, squeezing his stamina once more, and his speed increased by another fraction.

By the tenth lap, Chen Zhi was truly at his limit.

That extreme exhaustion shot straight from the soles of his feet to the top of his skull. His head was buzzing, and the scenery before him began to blur and sway.

But he couldn't stop.

If he stopped, even just slowing down for a second, the breath he was forcing himself to hold would dissipate.

"Huff... Huff..."

Chen Zhi stared at the fluorescent green vest ahead that was already soaked with sweat, cursing inwardly: What did this animal eat growing up to have such good stamina?

The final lap.

The referee's whistle blew.

The athlete let out a roar and began his final sprint.

Chen Zhi tried to muster his energy, but his legs were heavy. He knew he couldn't catch up for first place.

Since he couldn't catch up, he would secure second place.

He gritted his teeth, maintained his current speed, and mechanically swung his arms.

The finish line was right before his eyes.

The athlete crossed the finish line first, raised his arms high, did a celebration pose just like Cristiano Ronaldo, and then turned around panting, ready to enjoy the condescending thrill of a victor.

A few seconds later, Chen Zhi crossed the finish line.

He had no celebration pose, not even the strength to hit the brakes. Momentum carried him forward for several meters before he bent over, resting his hands on his knees, panting heavily.

Sweat dripped down his chin onto the red synthetic track, instantly spreading out.

"Second! Chen Zhi is second!"

Zhao Gang's booming voice exploded in the crowd.

The next second, a white figure rushed directly onto the track.

Before the referee could shoo her away, Lin Wanwan had already rushed to Chen Zhi's side. She grabbed Chen Zhi's arm, not offering a soft, gentle support, but using her shoulder to prop up his armpit, forcefully holding his upper body up.

"Don't sit down! You can't sit right after running!"

Lin Wanwan's voice was right by his ear, accompanied by a slight, hurried panting and a pleasant citrus scent that instantly diluted the metallic smell of blood in Chen Zhi's nose.

"Water... water..." Chen Zhi's voice was hoarse.

"Here!"

Several hands immediately reached over from the side, all holding bottles of mineral water.

The girls from Class 3 swarmed around him. Holding towels, fans, and glucose water, they surrounded Chen Zhi so tightly that not a drop of water could leak through.

"Class monitor, you're amazing!"

"You scared me to death, you looked so pale at the end."

"Hurry up and wipe your sweat, don't catch a cold."

"Second place is already incredible! That first-place guy is from the ninth-grade sports training team. He looks like a gorilla, let's not compare ourselves to him."

Chen Zhi took the water Lin Wanwan handed him. Not daring to take a big gulp, he held a mouthful to rinse his mouth, then spat it out onto the grass next to him with a "pfft."

Spitting out that mouthful of water made him feel like he had finally come back to life.

Straightening his back, with half his body weight leaning on Lin Wanwan, he looked at the circle of chattering girls around him and grinned. "Not bad, right? I didn't embarrass our class, did I?"

"Embarrass? You were absolutely stunning, okay!" a girl said, her face flushed with excitement.

Meanwhile, less than five meters away from them.

The sports student who had won the championship was standing there all by himself.

Only two boys in similar tracksuits walked over, patted him on the shoulder, and handed him a bottle of water.

"Brother Qiang, you're awesome! First place!"

Holding the water, the sports student looked at Chen Zhi, who was surrounded by girls and enjoying emperor-like treatment, and then looked at the lonely bottle of mineral water in his own hand.

He had clearly won the race, so why did it feel like he had lost so completely?

Especially when he heard that girl say he "looked like a gorilla," he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

This damn superficial world!

"Let's go, let's go back."

Chen Zhi felt his legs were still a bit weak; that five-kilometer run had indeed severely depleted his energy.

Lin Wanwan didn't mind his sweaty stench. She gripped his arm tightly, practically half-dragging and half-carrying him toward the academic building.

"Why did you have to push yourself so hard?" Lin Wanwan muttered as they walked. "If you couldn't run anymore, you should have slowed down. Did you really have to compete with that green toad?"

"Green toad?" Chen Zhi chuckled; the description was quite fitting. "He's a professional."

"So what if he's professional? You don't see that many girls bringing water to a professional," Lin Wanwan snorted, her tone carrying a hint of inexplicable sourness. "Our Eunuch Zhi is still the popular one, with so many girls serving you tea and water."

"Of course, all thanks to Heroine Lin leading the cheers."

"Stop being glib." Lin Wanwan glared at him, but couldn't help pulling a pack of tissues from her pocket. She took one out and somewhat roughly pressed it against Chen Zhi's sweaty forehead. "So dirty, you're covered in sweat."

Although her words were disdainful, her touch was very gentle.

The two supported each other like this, crossing the noisy sports field and heading toward the academic building.

At this time, most of the students were still on the field watching the relay race, so the academic building seemed rather deserted.

When they reached the stairs, Chen Zhi's legs suddenly gave out, and he stumbled to the side.

"Hey!"

Lin Wanwan was quick to react and grabbed his waist, but the momentum was too great. She lost her balance as well, and the two of them stumbled and crashed into the wall.

To steady herself, Lin Wanwan practically pressed her entire body into Chen Zhi's embrace, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. Chen Zhi, with his back against the wall, instinctively lowered his head, his chin resting right on top of her head.

In that instant, the air seemed to fall silent.

Both of their hearts were beating rapidly.

One was pounding violently from just having run five kilometers, while the other was fluttering in a panic from the startle.

"Are... are you okay?" Lin Wanwan's voice was muffled against his chest, sounding a bit shaky.

"I'm fine, my leg is just cramping a bit." Chen Zhi smiled wryly and was just about to straighten up.

Right at that moment, an angry shout suddenly echoed from the top of the stairwell:

"You two! Which class are you from! What are you doing?!"

Chen Zhi and Lin Wanwan froze at the same time and slowly looked up.

At the corner of the stairs stood a middle-aged man in a gray jacket with a receding hairline, glaring down at them.

Those sharp eyes, the glinting spectacle lenses, and the little notebook in his hand.

It was none other than the Director of the Disciplinary Office, Director Zhang, known throughout the school as Ghost's Despair.

Director Zhang pushed up his glasses and walked down step by step.

"In broad daylight, hugging and cuddling in the academic building, what kind of behavior is this?!"

Director Zhang walked up to them, his gaze burning like a torch. He pointed his pen at Lin Wanwan, who was still clinging to Chen Zhi, and then at Chen Zhi.

"Still hugging? Not going to let go? Do you want me to invite your parents over to pry you apart?"

Lin Wanwan finally snapped back to reality and sprang away as if she had been electrocuted. She stood there at a complete loss, unable to even speak clearly: "T-Teacher, no... it's not..."

Chen Zhi was much calmer.

After all, he was someone who had lived two lifetimes. Although the situation was awkward, it wasn't enough to scare him out of his wits.

He took a deep breath. Just as he was about to explain that this was "helping the wounded," he heard Director Zhang sneer and flip open the little notebook in his hand.

"No need to explain, explaining is just covering up. Students these days are getting bolder and bolder. You don't even bother trying to hide your puppy love anymore, do you?"

Director Zhang tapped his pen, his eyes locking onto the bib number on Chen Zhi's chest.

"Number 1352, Grade 7 Class 3, right?"

We're doomed.

Lin Wanwan closed her eyes in despair.

Chen Zhi's heart also skipped a beat.

Great. He had just won second place, and now he was about to be rewarded with a school-wide disciplinary notice?

"Come with me to the office!" Director Zhang waved his hand dismissively and turned to walk away. "Call your homeroom teacher over too! I want to see what kind of parents could raise such open-minded students!"