Chapter 28: Zhuo Feng, It Hurts! Be Gentle!
The tree-lined path was beautiful in autumn.
When the ginkgo leaves turned yellow, a gust of autumn wind would send countless golden fan-shaped leaves drifting down, making the whole road look like an oil painting.
At that time of year, many people came every day to take pictures there.
But after winter arrived, the ginkgo trees were left with only bare branches. Only the evergreen banyan trees still showed their strong life.
The green leaves looked pleasant in the winter sunshine, but after sunset, those tall banyan trees no longer looked so friendly.
They formed a dark, gloomy forest. The weak streetlights could hardly shine through, and the shadows made the place look creepy.
After getting off the back of the bicycle, Lin Wan looked around and finally understood why so few people came here at night.
The place looked so eerie that it didn't seem like somewhere anyone would want to stay.
Zhuo Feng parked the bicycle and walked over to him.
"Before running, you must warm up properly. Otherwise, if you suddenly exercise too hard, you might strain your muscles."
Lin Wan moved his wrists and ankles.
"Like this?"
"You need to warm up all your muscles. Just copy what I do."
They started by marching in place, opening up their chests, then did forward lunges and standing thigh stretches.
During the last two exercises, Zhuo Feng seriously pointed out that Lin Wan's movements were not correct.
Then he personally helped him fix them, gently adjusting his arms and thighs.
The standing thigh stretch required balancing on one leg. Lin Wan could not keep his balance very well, so Zhuo Feng told him to hold onto one of his arms with one hand.
From a distance, it almost looked as if Lin Wan had thrown himself into Zhuo Feng's arms.
After they finished warming up...
Zhuo Feng sighed with admiration.
"Your body is really flexible."
Lin Wan also sighed with admiration.
"You're such a good friend."
"Let's start with a slow jog so your body can get used to it. Just match my running pace."
"Okay."
Lin Wan nodded. It looked like his good friend really did know what he was doing. He took back his earlier doubts.
"Let's go. One-two-one... One-two-one..."
Zhuo Feng started jogging slowly, deliberately keeping his pace easy while calling out the rhythm.
"Remember to swing your arms, tighten your core, breathe in through your nose as much as possible, breathe out through your mouth, control—"
Before he could finish speaking, he turned around.
Lin Wan was gone.
Looking back, he saw Lin Wan bent over with both hands on his knees, gasping for air.
Zhuo Feng: ???
They hadn't even run one hundred meters, had they? And he was already like this?
Zhuo Feng walked back.
"Are you okay?"
"I... *pant*... Let me rest for a moment."
Lin Wan's chest rose and fell violently. His throat felt like it was burning, and the muscles in his calves were as stiff as rocks.
"Spirit, is running really okay for me?" he asked in his mind.
"Don't worry~ You're just not used to it yet. Keep running, and you'll get better~"
"But it feels like my heart is about to jump out of my throat."
"It's fine. Keep it up~"
After resting for a little while longer, he felt much better and started running again.
Zhuo Feng slowed down even more so Lin Wan could keep up with him.
This time there was a big improvement. Lin Wan gritted his teeth and managed to run about three hundred meters before stopping again.
However, he was much more exhausted than before.
"After running, don't stop suddenly. Walk slowly instead," Zhuo Feng said as he looked at Lin Wan, who was squatting on the ground.
"I... I have no strength left... *pant*... I can't do it anymore!"
His heart was pounding like a drum, and even speaking took a lot of effort.
"Don't squat down."
Squatting down to rest after running can easily put pressure on your blood vessels. This makes it harder for blood from your legs to return to your heart, which can reduce the oxygen reaching your brain and make you feel dizzy.
In short, if you squat down after running, you'll probably get dizzy.
Zhuo Feng pulled Lin Wan to his feet. Sure enough, Lin Wan immediately became lightheaded and was about to fall to the ground. Zhuo Feng quickly wrapped an arm around his waist.
"Come on, brother, don't try to scam me!"
"Zhuo Feng... I feel like throwing up."
Lin Wan collapsed into Zhuo Feng's arms like a pile of soft mud. The dry heaving increased the pressure inside his body, forcing tears into his eyes. They looked watery, mixed with a hint of grievance.
The moment Zhuo Feng saw those tearful eyes, his own mind seemed to stop working. He gently patted Lin Wan's back and spoke in an unusually gentle voice.
"Come on, I'll support you. Let's walk a little."
After walking for a while, Lin Wan gradually felt better and was finally able to stand on his own.
Zhuo Feng told him to keep walking while he went to buy a bottle of water.
Lin Wan obediently walked around, swinging one ankle with every step. He felt as if his calves had become hard enough to crack walnuts. His muscles were unbelievably stiff.
After Zhuo Feng came back with the water, he let Lin Wan take a few small sips.
"Let's stop running for tonight, okay?"
Lin Wan shook his head. His eyes were full of determination.
"I can still do it! If you have something else to do, you can head back first."
He hadn't even completed a single meter of the mission yet. If he gave up a little today and a little tomorrow, who knew when he would ever finish it?
"Alright. Then let's change the way we run. We won't worry about speed anymore. Just jog slowly. When you get tired, walk. Once you've recovered, start running again. But don't stop completely to rest in the middle."
There was no way Zhuo Feng was going to leave. Lin Wan was a complete beginner when it came to exercise, and his physical condition was poor. If he collapsed onto the ground again like before, he joked that by tomorrow he'd probably be stiff, and the day after everyone would be attending his funeral banquet.
So the two of them started running again.
They alternated between jogging for a few dozen meters and walking. Even so, Lin Wan managed to keep going.
When Zhuo Feng felt it was enough, he stopped Lin Wan, who was now soaked in sweat.
As soon as Lin Wan realized they were done running, he lifted his foot and started heading back toward the school.
Zhuo Feng quickly called out to stop him.
"You have to stretch after running. Do you not want to be able to walk tomorrow?"
After Lin Wan's heart rate had returned to normal, Zhuo Feng personally showed him how to stretch, guiding him step by step. He adjusted him here, checked there, touched his arms and legs. But of course, it was all completely proper instruction!
After they finished stretching, Zhuo Feng led Lin Wan to a bench by the river and asked him to stretch out his legs.
Lin Wan looked confused.
"What are you doing?"
Zhuo Feng grabbed one of his calves.
"What do you think? I'm giving you a massage. Look how stiff your muscles are! After running, you have to loosen them up so the lactic acid can clear out. Otherwise, tomorrow is going to be miserable for you."
"Oh... okay."
"Bear with it."
"What? Is it going to hurt—AHH!!"
In Lin Wan's mind, a massage was supposed to feel relaxing.
But judging from how much force Zhuo Feng was using, it felt more like he was trying to tear the flesh right off his legs.
It hurt. It hurt so much!
Lin Wan's whole body jerked. He waved both hands wildly, trying to push Zhuo Feng's hands away.
Zhuo Feng simply grabbed both of his wrists with one large hand.
"Don't move around. If it's blocked, it hurts. Once it's loosened up, it won't hurt anymore. It'll be over soon!"
Lin Wan could only grip the back of the bench tightly and bite his lower lip as he endured the pain.
"I'm telling you, this isn't even that painful. Back then, after we finished running, we used fascia scraping tools. Now that was real torture."
Zhuo Feng switched to the other leg. Both of his hands squeezed down like a pair of iron clamps.
"Ah! Zhuo Feng, it hurts! Be gentler!"
"It's okay, it's okay. It'll stop hurting in a minute."
After the massage, Lin Wan lay flat on the bench, staring blankly into space, looking as though he had completely lost his soul.
His muscles really had loosened up...
But somehow it felt as though even the top of his head had opened up too. It was like his soul had left his body.
After resting for a while, Zhuo Feng pulled Lin Wan up from the bench.
"Let's go. We need to hurry back and take a shower and change clothes. Once your body temperature drops, you'll catch a cold."
"O-Okay."
Lin Wan followed Zhuo Feng back toward the school like a walking zombie.
"Zhuo Feng, thanks for today."
Zhuo Feng smiled.
You've already paid me back.
"Don't mention it. We're bros, aren't we?"
"But... you ran too. Don't you need a massage?"
"Here, feel for yourself."
Zhuo Feng took Lin Wan's hand and pressed it against his lower leg.
Lin Wan squeezed his calf.
Hmm.
It was very soft, not stiff at all. It felt almost like pork tenderloin. If you made sweet-and-sour pork with it, the texture would probably be amazing.