When Su Zi brought up the tug-of-war competition, Lin Feng found he really had nothing to say. After all, he also had a black mark on his record for bailing last minute. No wonder Su Zi had said what she did.

"Ahem... anyway, just you watch. For a competition with points on the line, I won't back out again!" Lin Feng casually promised Su Zi and headed to the starting line of the track, ready to begin his long-distance run.

Lin Feng learned his lesson from Wang Zikai and the others. In the 1500-meter preliminary race, where the top four qualified for the final, he barely used any energy. He unhurriedly followed the top three, finishing the entire race with ease and securing his spot in the final with a fourth-place finish!

After that, Lin Feng also participated in the 3000-meter preliminary race and, similarly, easily took fourth place, earning a spot in the final!

Those who had been closely watching the preliminary scoreboard finally breathed a sigh of relief—or perhaps felt a touch of disappointment regarding the Department of Economics and Management—when they saw that in both the men's 1500-meter and 3000-meter races, the top three spots in each of their respective preliminary heats were taken by students from the School of Physical Education.

"It seems those guys from the Department of Economics and Management were just a flash in the pan in the middle and short-distance races. Long-distance running is still where the School of Physical Education students excel! Look at this preliminary list; for the two long-distance events, everyone who made it to the finals is from the School of Physical Education! So dominant..."

"Hey, classmate, are you blind, or just pretending not to see? Didn't you notice that this student named Lin Feng also made it to the final? And he's from the Department of Economics and Management!"

"Hmph! This guy Lin Feng, his 1500-meter preliminary time was 15 seconds slower than the first place from the School of Physical Education, and his 3000-meter time was nearly half a minute behind their first place. With such a big difference in skill, even if he makes it to the final, he's just cannon fodder! Is he even worth paying attention to? Seven out of the top eight are students from the School of Physical Education; does their strength even need explaining?"

"No one's saying the School of Physical Education isn't strong. I'm just wondering if this suddenly prominent Department of Economics and Management can successfully stage an upset against them."

"In sprints, they look like they have a good chance, but for long-distance, it's basically impossible."

The students gathered around the list were all remarking that the athletes from the School of Physical Education likely held an absolute dominant advantage in long-distance events. That kid, Lin Feng, was just cannon fodder.

Meanwhile, on the field, amidst a crowd, "cannon fodder" Lin Feng was currently enduring a merciless interrogation from the two campus beauties.

"Well, well... Lin Feng, oh Lin Feng, didn't you say you were all that? And you only barely scraped into the final? You're really this weak? No way, you wimp!" Su Zi poked Lin Feng's shoulder with one hand, her eyes wide, and said with an arrogant laugh.

Beside Su Zi, Ning Aoxue also watched Lin Feng with a smile. She knew Lin Feng's abilities were definitely not as poor as he'd shown in these two long-distance preliminaries; that rascal was surely hiding his true strength. They were just curious why Lin Feng would want to hide it.

"You don't understand..." Lin Feng lit a cigarette, blew a smoke ring, then said lightly, "These preliminary results don't count for anything. What's the use of me getting first place? Since coming in first is pointless, why should I waste my energy? Isn't it enough just to make it to the final?"

"Tch! Cut the crap! Are you saying you can control your ranking?" Su Zi retorted, unconvinced and scornful. "I don't believe you for a second..."

Believe it or not, it's up to you... It's not like I need you to believe me anyway... Lin Feng gave Su Zi an enigmatic glance, didn't explain further, and drifted away.

「Next was the men's 100-meter semi-final. Lin Feng was going to watch Yang Ming compete.」

"On your marks! Set!" The referee raised the starter pistol and gave the command. All the athletes, like cheetahs, crouched at the starting line, poised and ready.

BANG!

At the sound of the gunshot, eight runners burst from the starting line almost simultaneously, sprinting forward.

The cheerleaders and students watching from both sides roared "Go! Go!", the atmosphere incredibly fervent.

In the blink of an eye, they were past the halfway mark of the 100-meter race.

As expected, Yang Ming in Lane 1 was incredibly fast, holding first place and leading the second-place runner by at least three body lengths.

"Go! Go! He's nearing the finish line!" the students watching from the sidelines yelled enthusiastically.

Inspired by the fervent atmosphere, Yang Ming, full of spirit, accelerated again, further widening the gap with the second-place runner. Instantly, the excitement in the stadium intensified, and almost all eyes were fixed on him.

But just as everyone was cheering, something unexpected happened.

A male student watching the race near Lane 1 somehow stumbled and lunged forward, suddenly falling onto the track.

"AHH—" Just before Yang Ming reached him, the male student suddenly clutched his head and screamed, as if in a terrified panic.

Yang Ming, sprinting at full speed, faltered for an instant. At that speed, he had no time to dodge the person on the track and could only instinctively leap. He jumped more than a meter high, clearing the student who had suddenly appeared, and landed heavily on the synthetic track some eight or nine meters further on.

CRACK!

A sharp crack of bone was heard instantly. In avoiding that student, Yang Ming had injured his foot. The immense pain nearly made him collapse on the spot.

However, Yang Ming only paused for half a second. Without even looking back, he gritted his teeth and kept running forward.

"Yang Ming, stop running!" Lin Feng roared from a distance, ordering Yang Ming to halt. He had seen clearly what happened and knew Yang Ming's foot was injured. Forcing himself to run now would only worsen the injury. If it was a fracture, continuing to run like this could cripple his entire foot! How could Lin Feng let Yang Ming be so willful?!

"What happened? Why was there an extra person on the track?"

"Yang Ming's injured, isn't he? Look at the way he's running!"

"He's still persisting? Oh no, Yang Ming's been overtaken! He's second, now third..."

All the students were stunned. Almost no one noticed that the male student who had "accidentally" fallen onto the track had, at some unknown point, already slipped back into the crowd and vanished.

In the end, the injured Yang Ming, despite gritting his teeth and persevering to the very end, only managed to secure seventh place in the semi-final—just 0.02 seconds faster than the last-place runner!

"Yang Ming, are you an idiot? Why would you do that?" At the end of the track, Lin Feng, while checking Yang Ming's injury, looked at him with an angry expression and asked in a stern voice, "Do you realize that finishing the race like that could have left you unable to walk for the rest of your life?!"

Yang Ming remained silent, but the look of shame in his eyes clearly showed his remorse.

"I've never considered winning or losing to be that important..." Lin Feng suddenly said to Yang Ming. "Remember what I'm telling you now: I've always valued my brothers far more than any victory or defeat."

"This incident was an accident," the teacher in charge of recording results said to Yang Ming and Lin Feng with a frown. "A spectator falling onto the track means there was a problem with our organization. However, cancelling the race results would be unfair to the other competitors. So, how about this: I'll allow your Department of Economics and Management to substitute another runner for the second semi-final round. You can discuss among yourselves who it will be."

"I want to run again…" Yang Ming suddenly looked at Lin Feng seriously and said in a determined voice, "Brother Feng, help me. I want to run one more time!"

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