However, after just a moment, the coach of the Martial Arts Team walked up to them and stopped.
Yet, contrary to expectations, he was not there to start trouble, but rather to invite Lin Zichen to join the Martial Arts Team.
"Zi Chen, I am Coach Guo from the school's Martial Arts Team. I witnessed your astonishing performance at the school's sports meet today, and I was deeply impressed," he said.
"In all the years I have been at Shanhai High School, I have never seen a student with such good academic performance and yet such extraordinary athletic abilities."
"I personally believe that your talent in sports is definitely more exceptional than your talent in academics."
"Therefore, I would like to invite you to join the school's Martial Arts Team."
"Of course, this invitation may seem a bit sudden, and you can learn more about the Martial Arts Team first before making a decision."
"Room C of the school gym is our Martial Arts Team's headquarters, and you can come over to get to know us anytime tomorrow or whenever you're free," he added.
Guo Xiangyuan finished his piece without giving Lin Zichen a chance to interject.
He truly believed that Lin Zichen's athletic talent far surpassed his academic talent.
After all, as a study prodigy who always came first in exams, he would surely spend most of his time on academics, with little time to exercise his body.
Despite that, Lin Zichen was able to dominate over the members of the Martial Arts Team at the school sports meet and win three gold medals.
Without a doubt, this was a rising star in the future martial arts world.
If Lin Zichen did not choose the path of martial arts, it would be an atrocity that provoked the wrath of both gods and men!
Watching the coach of the Martial Arts Team, who came up and spoke non-stop like a salesperson, Lin Zichen frowned slightly, not having a great impression of him.
So, as soon as he finished talking, Lin Zichen immediately responded with a polite smile, "We'll see. I need to go home now, goodbye Coach Guo."
After saying that, Lin Zichen pushed his bicycle and left with Shen Qinghan.
Once they were out of the school gates, he hopped onto his bicycle and said to the Shen Qinghan beside him:
"Han Han, get on."
"Xiao Chen, how about I give you a ride home today?" Shen Qinghan asked, holding a lollipop and hopping around the front of the bicycle, looking eager to try.
Upon hearing this, Lin Zichen adamantly refused:
"Forget it, you almost fell into a ditch last time you rode alone, let alone with me on it. It's more likely that you'll kill me."
"But that was just an accident."
"Give it up. With those thin legs of yours, you certainly can't pedal a bicycle carrying another person."
"Alright, I'll listen to you then."
Shen Qinghan wasn't stubborn and obediently went back to the rear seat of the bike, wrapping her arms around Lin Zichen's waist with practiced ease.
Once Lin Zichen saw she was secured, he started pedaling smoothly and took off.
He didn't seem to use much force, but the bike was not slow at all, quickly covering a distance of over a hundred meters.
Lin Zichen's cycling skills were excellent, comparable to a professional cyclist, as he weaved delicately through the bustling streets and alleys without causing a single pedestrian to curse at him.
Sitting at the back, Shen Qinghan wrapped her arms around Lin Zichen's waist, the lollipop still in her mouth, feeling the breeze in her face and a sense of exhilaration.
Many of the female students from Shanhai High School walking by the roadside looked enviously at Shen Qinghan as they saw her seated at the back of Lin Zichen's bicycle.
Shen Qinghan had lost count of how many times she had been the object of envy among girls her age.
Every time she felt envied, her heart swelled with joy.
And as she reveled in the feeling, she let out an involuntary, giddy laugh.
"Why are you suddenly laughing like a fool?"
"It's nothing."
"The green light ahead is about to change, I'm going to sprint, hold on tight."
"Xiao Chen, I'm holding tight, go faster, the green light is about to end!"
"Then I'm going for it!"
"Go! Fly, my little witch! Faster!"
With the lollipop in her mouth making her words unclear, Shen Qinghan urged him to pick up the pace, her bangs fluttering high in the breeze, her face beaming with excitement.
Lin Zichen, who was responsible for pedaling, was furiously pushing the pedals at the front, afraid of missing the soon-to-fade green light at the upcoming intersection.
...
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He stopped at the front door of his home.
Lin Zichen bade Shen Qinghan farewell before pushing his bicycle into the house.
As soon as he entered, Zhang Wanxin greeted him with a face full of enthusiasm, asking with a beaming smile,
"Xiao Chen, how did the school sports meet go today? Did you get all gold medals?"
"Yeah, I won three gold medals."
Lin Zichen took off his backpack, unzipped it, and took out three gold medals to hand to Zhang Wanxin.
Zhang Wanxin was overjoyed, her eyes squinting into slits as she spoke with exuberant joy,
"I knew it, my Xiao Chen is a genius, talented both in literature and martial arts!"
Having said that, she turned to look at Lin Yansheng, who was sitting on the sofa absorbed in watching a soccer match, and shouted at him with some dissatisfaction,
"Mr. Lin, your son won three gold medals at the school sports meeting. Aren't you going to come over and praise your son? What are you still watching the match for!"
"Eh, I'm coming, I'm coming!"
Lin Yansheng came over with a chuckling jog.
Afterward, the family of three each wore a gold medal and took a joyful family photo in the house.
It was mainly Zhang Wanxin's idea; she wanted to show off her son on her Moments.
...
After dinner,
Lin Zichen went up to the vegetable-filled rooftop to hunt for mosquitoes.
He wanted to test the effect of the "Survival of the Fittest" property to see if he could absorb the mosquitoes' Life Origin and thereby gain their attributes or abilities.
However, after killing more than 20 mosquitoes, there was no emergence of the anticipated text information in the void.
It seemed that mosquitoes did not possess a Life Origin.
Or rather... it was so negligible as to be insignificant.
In the interest of thoroughness, he stopped targeting mosquitoes and returned to the house to hunt cockroaches.
After more than two hours, he had killed over ten cockroaches.
But the result was the same; there was no Life Origin to absorb.
"Could it be that ordinary creatures don't work, and Exotic Beasts are required?"
Lin Zichen thought of this and felt it was almost certainly the case.
Perhaps only the powerful beings like the Exotic Beasts had enough Life Origin in them to be absorbed.
For insects like mosquitoes and cockroaches dwelling at the bottom of the food chain, the Life Origin they contained was likely so minuscule it was virtually negligible.
Otherwise, it would be hard to explain the results of the experiments.
After all, the annotation for "Survival of the Fittest" mentioned living beings, not specifically Exotic Beasts.
Having realized this, Lin Zichen decided to head to the mall.
In this world, malls sold products related to the Exotic Beasts.
Although the prices were astronomical and he couldn't afford them,
that didn't stop Lin Zichen from wanting to look and verify his own guesses.
Once he had this idea,
Lin Zichen went downstairs to find Zhang Wanxin, made up an excuse that he needed to buy something, and successfully got permission to go out.
"Xiao Chen, where are you heading?"
Just as he was pushing his bicycle out of the house, Lin Zichen heard a shout from the balcony of the neighboring house.
He looked up to see Shen Qinghan leaning out from her balcony to catch the breeze.
"I'm going to the mall to buy some stuff!"
"I want to go, too. Wait for me, I'll tell my parents and be right there!"
After dropping that line, Shen Qinghan quickly left the balcony and went back inside to inform Shen Jianye and Xu Meng that she was going out with Lin Zichen.
...
PS: Begging for Monthly Pass and recommendation tickets!
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