Lin Wanxing and Wang Fa had a certain degree of consensus on the matter of “walking.”

They strolled along the old street from the cat cafe to the Wuchuan Road Sports Center.

Wang Fa stopped at one point, bought a cup of milk tea, and placed it on someone’s doorstep.

He pressed the doorbell but didn’t wait for anyone to come out before leaving.

Lin Wanxing found it strange. When she fed stray cats, she would pet them too—what was the point of just leaving a cup of milk tea?

Wang Fa didn’t explain much, only saying, “The family relationships at our home are rather cold.”

The Wuchuan Road Sports Center had an indoor heated swimming pool, but the place where Lin Wanxing arranged to meet the students was the second-floor gym.

When she and Wang Fa arrived, Wen Chengye was sitting alone on a bench by the entrance, his back against a rusty metal locker, while the other students were by the window, keeping their distance from him.

Having just argued yesterday, the fact that everyone could be in the same space without coming to blows showed considerable restraint on both sides.

To ease the atmosphere, Lin Wanxing smiled and said, “How come everyone’s here? Weren’t you going swimming?”

Qi Liang was still on the “chaotic neutral” side. Standing between Wen Chengye and the others, he said, “I don’t know either. Maybe they had nothing better to do?”

“What do you mean ‘they’? You came too, didn’t you?” Qin Ao shouted from a distance.

“I’m different. I’m here to ease team tensions and let Student Wen Chengye feel the ‘team’s warmth.'”

Lin Wanxing and Wang Fa exchanged a glance, and she could sense from Wang Fa’s eyes that he was saying, ‘Indeed, those named Liang are all sly.’

Student Liang had not only disgusted the team but also the team’s enemy, Wen Chengye.

However, once some things were said out loud, they somehow became better.

Coach Xiao Sun happened to come out from the gym just then.

Today he was dressed a bit more—in a bright purple long-sleeved tight shirt, with his mustache meticulously trimmed.

“Brother Wang, Sister Lin, you finally came! I just invited everyone to come in, but they wouldn’t,” he said as he walked up to Wen Chengye and asked, “Sister Lin, is this the new student you mentioned?”

“Yes.”

Lin Wanxing had spoken to Coach Xiao Sun in advance, thinking Wen Chengye’s price should be the same as the other students. But Coach Xiao Sun said that the gym used to be mostly empty, and after the students came, more people started working out. Now that it had gained popularity, the business had improved. So he consulted with the owner and decided to enthusiastically offer new members a 5% discount.

“Young man, you look quite spirited. Those shoes of yours—AJs, are they real or fake?” Coach Xiao Sun excitedly asked, looking at Wen Chengye’s shoes.

Wen Chengye kept a sour face and didn’t speak.

The students were now in their second month of training at the gym. They were familiar with the place, and Wen Chengye was the only newcomer.

Coach Xiao Sun was used to all sorts of people, so he wasn’t upset by Wen Chengye’s attitude. Instead, he enthusiastically led the way, showing him around the gym.

And the other students, who had allegedly planned to go swimming, somehow unconsciously followed along, accompanying the tour.

The gym at Wuchuan Road Sports Center…

In many ways, it was rather outdated.

The air conditioning was on inside, with the smell of mats and a faint hint of sweat mixed in the air. Wen Chengye’s brows furrowed.

Coach Xiao Sun gave him a tour and then said, “Now, take off your clothes. Your shoes too.”

Wen Chengye finally couldn’t maintain his expression, his phoenix eyes widening in shock as he looked at Coach Xiao Sun.

“What’s the big deal? We’re all brothers here, what are you afraid of? If you want to change in the locker room, that’s fine too,” Coach Xiao Sun said, pointing to a small cubicle nearby.

Wen Chengye remained very guarded, not moving an inch. Lin Wanxing explained, “Our Coach Xiao Sun is very professional. He’ll register and document every new member, recording changes in your physique, body fat, and various aspects before and after training. Mainly, with before-and-after comparisons, you can more intuitively feel the progress brought by fitness training.”

“That’s exactly it,” Xiao Sun nodded vigorously and continued, “Our club also selects outstanding members each month, rewarding them with protein powder and putting their photos on the wall for people to admire!” As he spoke, Xiao Sun swept his hand toward the photos on one side of the wall.

“October Outstanding Member” was none other than Student Qin Ao, who had taken off his upper garments, raised both arms to show his muscles, striking a strongman pose.

Wen Chengye withdrew his gaze and said disdainfully, “I don’t need this.”

“What do you mean you don’t need it? You need to be good enough to be selected as outstanding first before you can say you don’t need it,” Qin Ao sneered.

“You all keep practicing. I’ll take the new student for photos,” Xiao Sun said as he tried to lead Wen Chengye to the changing room, but Wen Chengye still stood motionless, looking very unwilling.

“Don’t tell me you’re afraid?” Qin Ao looked Wen Chengye up and down, finally revealing a smile at the corner of his mouth.

“Idiot,” Wen Chengye finally couldn’t help but curse.

“Boss, Wen the dog does look like a white-cut chicken,” Yu Ming chimed in.

“He’s definitely about to expose the fact that he has no muscles,” Lin Lu also said.

Finally, it was Student Qi Liang who concluded decisively, “He’s shy.”

No matter how cold and gloomy Wen Chengye appeared on the surface, he was still a competitive young man at heart.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be constantly running into positions looking for opportunities on the field, although this “searching” appeared to the other team members as creating trouble.

So, provoked by the other team members, Wen Chengye eventually followed Xiao Sun to the changing room.

Photo-taking, weight measurement, and data collection—after going through the whole process, Wen Chengye looked disoriented.

When he came out, the other boys had formed a complete circle at the door. Wen Chengye wasn’t particularly skinny, but compared to the boys who had been training for nearly two months, his muscles and physique showed obvious differences.

Therefore, when surrounded by several muscular young men, the shirtless Wen Chengye displayed a hint of fragility.

“Wen the dog, you’ve fallen behind this year,” Student Zheng Feiyang commented.

“You need more practice,” Chen Jianghe said.

“He is a white-cut chicken,” unexpectedly, this came from Fu Xinshu.

Wen Chengye snorted coldly, involuntarily looking at the mirror in front of him.

The others had distinct muscle lines, dark skin, bright eyes, and both their physiques and vigor far surpassed his. Compared to them, being called a white cut chicken wasn’t unfair.

“Let’s see what happens after a month,” Lin Wanxing stood beside Wen Chengye, looking at the young man in the mirror as she said this.

Since Wen Chengye had just arrived, the training program arranged for him was similar to what the students had done several dozen days ago.

Wang Fa made some adjustments based on his condition, then he gave Xiao Sun the arduous task of helping Wen Chengye familiarize himself with the equipment and teaching him the correct strength training methods.

The fitness coach before them, dressed in bright tight clothing with a meticulously trimmed mustache, changed from his previous eager attitude to a serious one.

“Wen, don’t be displeased,” Coach Xiao Sun said. “According to my previous rates in the big city, a private coaching session like this would cost you 500.”

After going through all that with Wen Chengye, Coach Xiao Sun gained some understanding of him. He knew this young man wearing AJs would be difficult to please.

Wen Chengye remained silent.

“Your coach has already listed the items you need to familiarize yourself with today. You’ll warm up first, then I’ll show you the equipment, and then we’ll go through a few basic exercises,” Xiao Sun said very seriously, taking out a small board and explaining to Wen Chengye one by one.

“I’ll first demonstrate the correct warm-up movements.”

As he spoke, Xiao Sun led Wen Chengye to the treadmill. “I’ll set the speed for you first. Remember it, because next time you’ll have to adjust it yourself.” Xiao Sun rambled on while conscientiously explaining to Wen Chengye how to use the various buttons.

The other students had been making a fuss for a while, and Lin Wanxing thought they would go downstairs to swim.

But in the blink of an eye, they had warmed up their wrists and ankles, started their treadmills, and begun their regular training.

Wen Chengye and Coach Xiao Sun were on one side, and the rest were on the other.

Lin Wanxing twisted open a bottle of mineral water and walked to Chen Jianghe’s side.

“Weren’t you going swimming?”

Chen Jianghe looked straight ahead, glancing at her. “Don’t know. Today was originally gym training anyway, so we just did it.”

“Feels wrong to rest!” Feng Suo said.

“After exercising, swimming will be perfect for muscle relaxation and recovery.”

Other nearby students also nodded in agreement.

They each had their reasons as if since they had already come, they might as well check in with some exercise.

For a moment, the gym was very quiet, with only the sound of equipment rolling.

The silhouettes of students jogging on treadmills were reflected in the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Lin Wanxing didn’t know what to say for a moment.

“Balancing work and rest is very important,” she still said. “It’s my fault for suddenly thinking of calling Wen Chengye to the gym.”

“What does it have to do with you? We just feel that when we’re idle, all we think about is the match,” Qin Ao glanced at Wen Chengye, who was listening to Coach Xiao Sun explain how to set the incline angle on the treadmill.

“After the New Year, we’ll be playing against Yuzhou Silver Elephant. If we don’t work hard now, what will we do if we can’t beat them then?” Yu Ming said.

“That’s right. If we beat Yuzhou Silver Elephant, we’ll have 6 points and can still fight for a chance to advance,” Lin Lu made a charging gesture.

On the treadmill, the students naturally started calculating points for her.

“It’s like this—we have 3 points in the first round, which is quite important, and we’ve also beaten Yuzhou Silver Elephant before, so there’s a big chance in the next round,” Lin Wanxing could only encourage them.

“So, Teacher, we want to advance from the group stage,” Fu Xinshu finally said. “We don’t want to waste time.”

The students hadn’t quickly emerged from the shadow of defeat. Even on vacation, they couldn’t relax.

They had things they wanted and goals they wanted to achieve.

Although they hadn’t felt it was that important before, somehow, they kept thinking about it and couldn’t calm down.

Because they were afraid that once they stopped, they would have to face the shadow of failure.

So they could only keep running forward.