IBABS Chapter 66.1 — Before Military Training

Su Zhe accompanied Chen Zhi in Germany for about a week.

During this week, he watched daily as Chen Zhi completed various rehabilitation exercises under the guidance of specialized rehabilitation therapists. Even when the injured area caused him pain during recovery, Chen Zhi remained as determined and calm as ever.

At first, Su Zhe just wanted to observe how the system’s halo effect would help repair Chen Zhi’s injury, but what he ended up seeing was Chen Zhi’s incredible inner strength and resilience.

Because of his passion, he moved forward without hesitation.

The desire for competition and the field that radiated from Chen Zhi’s very core made Su Zhe’s heart stir with excitement.

During this week, besides accompanying Chen Zhi to rehabilitation, he also found a gym nearby with Taylor Way’s help to complete the various training requirements in the system’s attribute enhancement plan.

On the seventh day, Chen Zhi’s attending physician and rehabilitation trainer came to his hospital room and informed everyone with amazement that Chen Zhi’s recovery was progressing incredibly well. At the current rate, Chen Zhi would be completely healed in about another month.

This estimated timeline was a full two months earlier than the hospital’s original projection. Tian Fangzheng and the others were thrilled about this news and repeatedly expressed their gratitude to the doctor.

Chen Zhi was also extremely surprised and happy about this. After all, once his injury fully healed, he would still face rehabilitation training and the technical adjustments he still needed to make. The sooner his injury healed, the more time he would have to achieve the Olympic standard.

After receiving the doctor’s clearance, Su Zhe finally put his mind at ease. At the same time, the national track and field team’s training plan was basically complete. Before next year’s Tokyo Olympics, he still had three training projects to complete. He really had no time to rest.

That day, Su Zhe said his goodbyes to Chen Zhi and the others, preparing to return home to await the start of the winter training program.

When Su Zhe returned to China, it was already late at night on October 20th. Since most of his luggage had been transported back to China with the help of the national team staff and his father, Su Zhe arrived in B City with ease.

Over these few days, Shao Xingchen had been sending him more photos he’d taken of Su Zhe at the World Championships, which Su Zhe happily posted on Weibo.

What Su Zhe didn’t quite understand was why, after posting these photos, there were comments on his Weibo saying things like “so sweet”…

Weren’t these photos of his highlight moments on the field? Shouldn’t people be calling them cool?

For a moment, Su Zhe questioned his fans’ aesthetic taste.

At the same time, Liu Zhengyan, the director of the “Chasing the Light” crew, sent him a message informing him that “Chasing the Light” had been scheduled to premiere on November 12th and asked if he could help promote it.

This was certainly no problem, but the track and field team’s winter training would officially begin in early November. So, Su Zhe frankly explained the situation to Director Liu, saying he could help with online promotions but probably wouldn’t be able to assist with other promotional activities.

Director Liu had no objections to Su Zhe’s honesty. He smiled and said that Su Zhe’s recent achievements had already given the TV drama enough exposure, and his team was capable of handling the remaining work. After thanking Su Zhe, he once again expressed appreciation for his accomplishments.

“You don’t need to worry about ‘Chasing the Light,’ Ah Zhe. We’ve already gained so much exposure by taking advantage of your popularity. If my team can’t handle the remaining promotion well, what am I keeping them for? They might as well go find their own mothers! Focus on your training. I’m looking forward to seeing you bring glory to our country at the Olympics! We’ll all come to Tokyo to cheer for you in person!”

As Su Zhe returned to China and reported to the national team, the winter training schedule was handed to him.

Along with the winter training schedule, he was also given the task of delivering a speech as the athlete representative at the winter training kick-off ceremony, as well as a seven-day military training plan before winter training began.

This was standard practice for the national team. To help athletes focus better and eliminate distractions during winter training, they typically arranged a period of military training beforehand. The purpose was to strengthen the team members’ discipline and obedience, so they could more actively cooperate with coaches and complete the overall winter training plan.

As for the athlete representative speech, it naturally fell to the star athletes of each event.

If Chen Zhi had been in China at this time, he might have been the representative for the sprinting events, but for hurdles, Su Zhe was undoubtedly the representative.

As someone who had always been a top performer since childhood, Su Zhe was no stranger to such responsibilities. So, when he was assigned the task, he accepted it without much resistance.

However, while looking at the speech assignment, Su Zhe finally remembered an important issue – he was still a student, and the school year was already half over, but he hadn’t even reported to school once…

When Su Zhe awkwardly called his academic advisor again, he was greeted enthusiastically. “Your father already handled your paperwork earlier, but the midterm exams for this semester are about to begin. Do you have time to come take them?”

The College of Liberal Arts at S University was one of the few faculties that consistently upheld the practice of holding midterm exams. These midterm results made up 30% of the total academic year grade. It was an important test that no student could afford to miss.

Su Zhe never imagined that, after returning to China, the first challenge he would face wouldn’t be grueling training, but a series of major exams after missing half a semester of classes.

When Jiang Hanning learned that Su Zhe had received a stack of course materials from his advisor, he sent more than a dozen laughing emojis, along with photos of the school’s honor board. The newly updated board now featured a large section dedicated to Su Zhe, using photos taken by Shao Xingchen and scraped from his Weibo.

“=w= Good luck on your exams! The pride of S University’s College of Liberal Arts! Gege will be cheering you on!”

As a certified troll friend, Jiang Hanning finally had another chance to tease Su Zhe, with smugness practically radiating through the screen.

After reporting the situation to the national team, Su Zhe rushed back to S City the next day and buried himself in studying for three days and nights in his apartment.

In the past two years, when his career had hit rock bottom and he had plenty of time to complete his coursework, Su Zhe had never experienced the struggle of cramming half a semester’s worth of content into just three days.

Even more challenging was when he stepped onto S University’s College of Liberal Arts campus on exam day and saw the honor board and a series of banners congratulating him on his excellent achievements and bringing glory to the department…

Although he already knew that the department had hung such celebratory banners for him before, this was Su Zhe’s first time facing such a scene in real life. He silently wiped his face before entering the teaching building that displayed the banner “Warmly congratulating our department’s student Su Zhe for his excellent performance at the World Athletics Championships in Country D, bringing glory to our country!” Then, under the watchful eyes of long-unseen professors and classmates, he found his exam seat and began facing the long-overdue tests.

By the time Su Zhe had dealt with all these matters and returned to the national team, it was already the last day of October.

During these days of exam period at school, he finally gained a new understanding of his current fame in real life. As Jiang Hanning put it, his two years as an idol didn’t compare to these few months as an athlete.

This comment left Su Zhe feeling dazed.

Before Su Zhe could reply, Jiang Hanning rambled on, “Hey, with your current popularity, if you had the chance to return to the entertainment industry, would you?”

Su Zhe’s answer to Jiang Hanning’s question was exceptionally firm.

“No, I wouldn’t.”

Just as he had said before, he didn’t regret the two years he spent struggling in the entertainment industry, but after returning to the track, he truly felt that the thrill of sprinting toward victory was what his heart genuinely desired.

On that short track, he rediscovered the blood-pumping excitement he had once lost, along with his most authentic self.

On November 2nd, the National Track and Field Team’s official Weibo released breaking news.

[#National Track and Field Team Winter Training Kick-off Ceremony# Prelude to the Tokyo Olympics! Starting November 9th, the National Track and Field Team will gather all members to begin this year’s winter training, making the greatest effort and preparation for the Tokyo Olympics! Today, the athletes have already assembled at the National Track and Field Base for the Winter Training Kick-off Ceremony. @Su Zhe and other athletes spoke as athlete representatives, vowing to overcome all difficulties, improve their abilities, and perform at their best in next year’s Tokyo Olympics!]

Along with the Weibo post, photos of speeches by athlete representatives and coaches were released. The official account also launched a routine engagement activity – repost and @tag a friend for a chance to win signed photos from Su Zhe and others.

This type of repost activity was one of the National Track and Field Team’s usual perks. Since the track team didn’t have many star members, with true “top-tier” athletes like Chen Zhi, engagement activities typically generated several hundred to a thousand reposts. The signed photos of the remaining team members attracted less attention, with some only getting four or five reposts.

For genuine track and field fans, it was fairly easy to get their idol’s signed photo through these repost activities.

When the National Track and Field Team’s official Weibo manager organized this repost lottery, they had made some preparations, expecting that with Su Zhe’s signed photo as one of the prizes, it might reach repost numbers similar to Chen Zhi’s – which would conveniently boost their Weibo performance stats.

The reposts originally followed their expectations. However, once Su Zhe’s fans, the “Philosophers,” discovered the repost, the number of reposts skyrocketed. When even more passersby who had followed the recent World Championships saw the post, the repost count surged toward the thousands and tens of thousands.