Chapter Forty-two Competition

  The winter sports meeting has entered its third day and is now at a crucial moment.

  On the first day of competition, Class 1 of Grade 2, led by Leng Bing Han, burst out with unprecedented potential and took a huge lead in total score. However, due to the disparity in strength, from the second day onwards, although the players continued to fight hard and their scores far exceeded previous records, they were still caught up by many points by other classes. Currently, Class 1 of Grade 2 is still temporarily ranked first, but the gap with third-placed Class 3 is only a weak 4 points.

  If Class 1 of Grade 2 continues to perform well on the last day of competition, it is still possible to maintain its leading position and win the championship. However, it seems very difficult, as the advantages of Classes 2 and 3 are quite obvious in the third-day events, and they have vowed to surpass Class 1 on the last day, letting Class 1 continue to lag behind them and savor the taste of failure.

  The next event is the women's 1000m race. Since each class only has one participant, this competition is not like other competitions, it is not conducted by grade, but all school participants participate together, and then ranked by grade to determine the individual results, and finally determine the ranking of each grade.

  Wen Xin arrived early at the gathering point for contestants wearing a red sportswear, she thought red was more festive and might bring her good luck.

  There were still several minutes before the game started, and Wen Xin followed Leng Bing Han's instructions to do some simple warm-up exercises on the side while looking around for Leng Bing Han's figure. Leng Bing Han had promised to come and cheer herself up, but why hadn't she appeared until now?

  "Where's Xiao Han going? Why hasn't he come yet?" Wen Xi muttered to herself, her small mouth pouting as she anxiously whispered, her heart secretly worried, but still holding onto a glimmer of hope that Leng Bing Xue's icy figure would appear before her at any moment. But just as the registration was complete and the teachers had pinned the contestants' numbers on themselves, the contestants were about to enter the starting line, and the competition was about to begin, yet Leng Bing Xue was still nowhere to be seen. Wen Xi's heart sank, her eyes reddening, a disappointment and desolation that couldn't be put into words began to grow in her chest, spreading outwards, quickly filling her entire body.

  Wen Xin walked dejectedly with her head hung low towards the starting line, when she suddenly heard a familiar voice that sent shivers down her spine and made her heart skip a beat: "Xiao Xin, wait..."

  Warmly and excitedly, she turned around, only to see Leng Bing rushing through the crowd, hastily running in front of her, slightly panting: "Xiao Xin, don't worry first, come drink this." After finishing, he handed his hand over to her face.

  "Ah!" Wen Xin took a look and found that the two bottles in Leng Bing Han's hands were medical glucose, it turned out that he had gone to get them for himself. Wen Xin suddenly felt a warm current in her heart, and at the same time, she felt ashamed of misunderstanding and blaming him earlier. She looked at Leng Bing Han with tears welling up in her eyes, and was on the verge of bursting into tears.

  Glucose is not expensive, but at that time the hospital was not so commercialized and operated for profit. It was still very standardized and not driven by profit. Without a doctor's prescription, even if you had money, it wasn't guaranteed that you could get it. Cold Ice was able to obtain these glucose thanks to his extraordinary identity.

  "Hurry up and drink it, you'll have enough strength and energy later, come on!" The competition is about to start, Leng Bing Han didn't say much, just letting Wen Xin hurry up and drink. Actually, whether drinking this before the game has any effect or not, Leng Bing Han wasn't clear either, but since Wen Xin was on the field, he couldn't help her with anything else, let alone go run for her, all he could do was provide assistance in this way.

  "Uh-huh!" Wen Xi didn't know what to say anymore, she just nodded heavily, a firm thought flashing in her mind - she must run well and not disappoint Xiao Han Ge's good intentions towards her.

  After drinking two sweet grape juices, Wen Xin felt that her heart was sweeter than her mouth.

  "Bang!" With the sound of the starting gun, the competition officially began. Twenty girls rushed out from the starting line at the same time. Meanwhile, cheers and shouts of encouragement from classmates on both sides of the track rose up, mingling together in a deafening cacophony.

  "Xiaoxin, don't rush, take it slow, grasp the rhythm, pay attention to your breathing..." Leng Binghan ran alongside Wen Xin for more than half a lap on the track, cheering her on and reminding her of some key points.

  Warm and silent, she ran while listening to the cold wind talking beside her. At this moment, she felt her whole body full of strength, her footsteps light and easy. The people and scenes around her kept moving backward, the slightly cool breeze blowing over, lifting her hair, making her feel very comfortable. Her face was filled with joyful expressions, as if she were not participating in a 1000-meter long-distance running competition, but rather drifting in a spring valley, basking in the warm sunshine of spring.

  The track surrounds the playground, one lap is 400 meters, and a total of two and a half laps need to be run. After one lap, the teams have gradually opened up, with most high-grade students in the first team, and the second and third teams behind, with the fastest and slowest being about twenty or thirty meters apart, but everyone's speed has also slowed down.

  Wēn xīn is currently at the tail end of the second echelon. Although her legs have started to ache and her footsteps have become heavy and soft, she still remembers Lěng Bīng's icy warning, tightly closing her mouth, regulating her breathing through her nose, maintaining this speed neither too fast nor too slow.

  Leng Bing Han arranged classmates all along the track, and when Wen Xin ran past them, they would start running alongside her while cheering loudly. This arrangement allowed Wen Xin to receive support and encouragement wherever she went, unlike other classes' spontaneous cheerleading squads that clustered together in one spot, only able to feel the class's support when the athlete passed by.

  The second lap was not over yet, and one of the contestants' face turned white, his footsteps stumbled, his breathing was like pulling a bellows, his mouth was wide open, constantly spitting out white air, looking like he had already reached his limit. As he ran, his foot slipped, and with a thud, he fell to the ground, fainting away.

  "Ah!" Everyone was shocked by this sudden change, and the students nearby only knew to scream and were at a loss.

  He couldn't care less about the cold and immediately rushed up, shouting loudly: "Don't surround her, two of you come with me to lift her to the side first."

  When someone finally came forward to take charge, everyone seemed to have found their leader and rushed over, with several people lifting her onto the playground in a flurry of activity.

  He lowered his head and carefully observed the girl's situation. Based on his experience from his previous life, there shouldn't be anything serious, just a poor physical condition, overexertion leading to fainting. The air that had been stuck in his throat finally loosened up. If something terrible were to happen at the school sports meet, it would be a huge trouble.

  He asked the surrounding classmates to quickly report to the teacher, then he took out two tubes of glucose from his pocket and had the female classmate help her take them orally. He also directed the surrounding onlookers to disperse a bit, so that she could get some fresh air.

  Before long, the girl's tightly closed eyes fluttered slightly, and she should wake up soon. Seeing that she was not seriously injured, and seeing the teacher receiving the news and rushing over in a hurry, he had nothing to do with himself, so he got up and left.

  Although this episode occurred, it did not affect the progress of the game. By the time Leng Bingxue arrived at the finish line, many senior students had already crossed the finish line.

  Wen Xin also started sprinting, although her breathing was already very urgent, and she could no longer satisfy the oxygen needed for intense exercise through just her nose. Her mouth opened wide, taking big gulps of air, and the cold air stimulated her lungs, causing them to ache in waves. Her footsteps were heavy, and every time she lifted one foot, it seemed like she was using up all her energy. When her feet touched the ground, it felt like stepping on cotton, light and floating, with each step shallow and deep. Even the cheering voices by her ears sounded distant, hollow, and unreal.

  Several times, she even wanted to stop her heavy footsteps, take a few steps to rest and then run again. But thinking of the encouragement from her classmates and Xiao Han's expectations, she gritted her teeth and continued to move forward with heavy steps.

  In this process, she surpassed the students one by one in front of her and finally broke through the finish line. At that moment, her tightly stretched nerves suddenly relaxed, and she immediately felt like all her strength had run out, her feet softened, and she almost fell to the ground. Leng Bingxue and Chen Ting, who were waiting at the finish line, quickly reached out to support her.

  "Little, little Cold Brother, I...I finally ran to the end..." Seeing Leng Bing Xue, she completely relaxed her body, leaning tightly on Leng Bing Xue and Chen Ting, letting them support her as they walked forward slowly, a painful yet joyful smile hanging at the corner of her mouth.

  "Good job, Xiaoxin! You ran really well!" Leng Binghan gazed at Wenxin's appearance, and suddenly felt a pang of heartache. He took out his handkerchief to help her wipe away the sweat on her forehead.

  "Xiaoxin, you're amazing, really too awesome!" Chen Ting said with a smile all over her face. She was deeply impressed by Wenxin's persistence and performance today. After all, it was 1,000 meters! If it were herself, she might not even have the courage to go for a run.

  Wait for a while, Wen Xin and Chen Ting helped her into the classroom, just sat down, the staff on duty sent over the sugar and salt water that had been prepared early, to help her replenish the sugar and salt lost due to intense exercise.

  Although I wanted to lean on Leng Bing Xue's arm, in the classroom with so many classmates, it was still too embarrassing, so I could only lean on my desk and drink the sugar and salt water that Leng Bing Xue had fed me.

  After drinking a few sips, it seemed to quench her thirst. Wen Xin furrowed her brow and shook her head, saying: "Xiao Hanchen, I don't want to drink sugar and salt water, I want to drink Jianlibao."

  Jianlibao was born in 1984, with the health and vitality of the health care industry. In 1983, Sanshui County (now Sanshui District) Winery, Guangdong Institute of Sports Science, Guangdong College of Physical Education, and Guangzhou Food Industry Research Institute, based on Professor Ouyang Xiao's "Oxygen Absorption with Alkaline Electrolyte Beverage to Eliminate Exercise-induced Fatigue", developed a drink that allows athletes to quickly recover their physical strength and ordinary people can also drink.

  In fact, this is a drink containing alkaline electrolytes, which has the advantages of maintaining human body electrolyte, water and acid-base balance, and eliminating exercise-induced fatigue. After the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, it became popular overnight and was honored as "China's Magic Water". As China's first alkaline electrolyte beverage, Jianlibao introduced the concept of sports drinks to the Chinese people for the first time.

  Jianlibao entered the southwest market in the second half of 1985, and its presence could be seen even in small places like Xichang and Leshan. However, at that time, with a price of almost one yuan per bottle, it was not affordable for ordinary people.

  Some time ago, when they were training, Leng Bingxue bought several cans of everyone's drink. Perhaps it was because the packaging of the easy-pull can was novel and unique, or perhaps it was because the taste was different from other sweet drinks. Chen Ting didn't like it very much, but Wen Xin loved to drink it and often thought about it, so she also proposed to drink Jianlibao.

  After listening to Wen Xin's request, Leng Bing Han smiled wryly and shook his head, saying: "If you want to drink Gatorade, that's fine, but you must finish the saline solution. You just lost so much sugar and salt, how can you not replenish it? If you don't finish the saline solution, you can't have Gatorade."

  "Really?" Warm eyes lit up, staring at Cold Ice Han.

  Leng Bing Han nodded. Wen Xin immediately took the cup from Leng Bing Han's hand, and with a few gulps, she drank more than half of the salty water. She curved her eyes, raised the corner of her mouth, and said to Leng Bing Han with great satisfaction: "Little Brother Han, look, I'm very obedient, I've drunk it all up."

  "You little glutton!" Coldly, she pinched Wen Xin's nose and reluctantly went to buy some Red Bull, leaving Wen Xin there giggling away. The feeling was just like that of a sneaky cat who couldn't hide its inner joy and complacency.

  On the other hand, Chen Ting threw a white eye and muttered in her heart: What's so good about Jianlibao? If you want to drink it, why don't you go buy it yourself? At this moment, she also clearly knew that Wen Xin had just gone through intense exercise and needed careful care. However, she inexplicably resented Wen Xin's meticulous care for her, even feeling a little angry with Wen Xin because of this.

  Not long after, Leng Binghan returned with the things he bought. He not only bought the Jianlibao that Wenhui wanted, but also the Wangguo beverage that Chenting liked to drink (a local fruit juice drink that kids like). Chenting's earlier gloom was swept away, and it seemed as if all her unhappiness had been forgotten. She suddenly became happy and no longer polite with Leng Binghan, helping Wenhui open the Jianlibao and taking the Wangguo beverage from him. With a pleasant and elegant demeanor, she drank and chatted nonstop with Wenhui, laughing and speaking in clear and melodious tones, like a beautiful melody echoing in the classroom.