’There’s no way I’m letting you two get all chummy right under my nose.’ With this conviction, Shen Yibin gritted his teeth and kept pace, wedging himself firmly between Hong Mian and Shi Gaofei. He refused to give them any space to interact alone, absolutely unwilling to let Hong Mian lure Shi Gaofei away.
And so, another lap was finished. Shen Yibin had now run a full four laps with them, which was already the longest distance he usually ran. Sweat had long since soaked through his clothes, his breathing had become ragged, and he was gradually falling behind Shi Gaofei and Hong Mian. They were already more than ten meters ahead of him.
But Hong Mian still showed no reaction; there wasn’t even much sweat on her forehead. This distance was nothing compared to her usual training. Normally, she ran faster and farther than this even with a weighted pack on her back. Shen Yibin’s plan to make her back down by exhausting her was clearly a miscalculation.
’So in the end, I’m the one with the worst stamina, huh?’ Setting aside Hah’Er, who was just howling excitedly from his skateboard, Hong Mian had run one more lap than Shen Yibin. Shi Gaofei had not only run more than him but had also been pulling Hah’Er, a furball weighing dozens of pounds. Even so, Shen Yibin still couldn’t keep up with their pace, which made him feel incredibly dejected.
"Alright, alright, no more running, no more running! That’s enough for today. Let’s... let’s rest on the side for a bit, shall we?" Another lap ended, and this time, Shen Yibin couldn’t run another step. He quickly grabbed Shi Gaofei’s leash to stop it. Shi Gaofei let out a dissatisfied huff, as if protesting that it hadn’t had its fill yet.
’Sigh. If I’d known, I would have had you run the full marathon during the competition. I wonder what kind of results you would have gotten against the professional runners?’ Shen Yibin panted, ignoring Shi Gaofei’s protest. He pulled it over to the lawn and plopped down on the grass himself, completely out of energy to get back up.
Over on the side, Bai Yanni quickly twisted open a bottle of Gatorade and handed it to him. After a moment’s thought, she took out another bottle and passed it to Hong Mian. They were in a similar line of work, after all. Although she felt very sympathetic toward Shen Yibin, this was just common courtesy.
Hong Mian didn’t stand on ceremony, accepting the drink with a nod of thanks to Bai Yanni. She twisted it open and took a few sips. Bai Yanni returned a smile and proceeded to open a bottle of honey water to feed Shi Gaofei. As for Hah’Er, that fella hadn’t exerted any effort, so a bottle of mineral water for it to drink on its own was good enough.
After chugging a whole bottle of Gatorade and resting on the lawn for a while, Shen Yibin finally felt the sensation return to his legs. However, the sharp pains from the soles of his feet told him he had probably gotten blisters.
’Hmph. As long as I can stop those two from getting friendly, what are a few blisters?’ Seeing Shi Gaofei and Hong Mian still making eyes at each other, Shen Yibin grew resentful again. He struggled to his feet, intending to grab the protective suit and start the next phase of training with Shi Gaofei.
However, Shi Gaofei recovered much faster than he did. Before he could even get up, Shi Gaofei had already scurried over to the protective suit, clamped its teeth firmly onto it, and started dragging it toward Hong Mian. It looked like it wanted Hong Mian to put on the suit and play with it today instead of Shen Yibin. Shen Yibin was suddenly hit with the feeling of having the daughter he’d painstakingly raised be stolen away by some other family’s brat. He felt utterly miserable.
"Huh? Is this for me?" Hong Mian recognized the purpose of the protective suit at a glance. Having seen K-9 unit training before, she understood Shi Gaofei’s intention in an instant. She pointed at the suit, then at herself, and asked, "You want me to wear this and play with you?"
HUFF! HUFF! Shi Gaofei nodded its head at an unprecedented speed and dragged the protective suit a little closer to Hong Mian. From Shen Yibin’s perspective, if the dog knew how, it probably would have tried to put the suit on Hong Mian itself.
"No need. I don’t need this." Hong Mian smiled confidently. She picked up the protective suit, tossed it back to its original spot, and returned to Shi Gaofei’s side. She stood before it in a relaxed stance and beckoned with her finger. "Come on. I can dodge you!"
’Do you have any idea how fast Shi Gaofei can scratch your face to ribbons? Uh, this girl is quite pretty. It’d be a shame if she got disfigured, wouldn’t it?’ Seeing this, Shen Yibin simply sat back down, planning to watch Hong Mian make a fool of herself. ’Shi Gaofei is a creature that can even take on a lion. She’s getting way too cocky.’
Shi Gaofei lowered its body to the ground, its eyes fixed on Hong Mian’s every move. Then, like a flash of lightning, it lunged at her, its claws swiping toward her calf with a powerful gust of wind... Well, considering Shi Gaofei’s height, that was probably as high as it could attack without jumping.
"Whoa, pretty fast." If that had been Shen Yibin, he probably would have had to just move his left leg to take the hit on the protected side. But Hong Mian simply took a single step back, causing Shi Gaofei’s attack to hit nothing but air.
’Incredible.’ Even though Shen Yibin disliked Hong Mian, he had to admit how much profound skill was hidden in that seemingly effortless move. After all, he had experienced Shi Gaofei’s attack speed countless times himself.
"Again!" Hong Mian remained in her relaxed stance, calmly watching Shi Gaofei. The dog, for its part, seemed to have its competitive spirit ignited, launching one fierce and swift attack after another. Shen Yibin was left dumbfounded. ’If Shi Gaofei went at it like this when playing with me, I would’ve been toast a long time ago, wouldn’t I?’
Gradually, Shen Yibin started to lose sight of Shi Gaofei’s form, only able to see a black-and-white blur darting around Hong Mian. Hong Mian was also feeling the pressure now; the expression on her face was no longer as relaxed as it was at the beginning. She was not only dodging rapidly but also occasionally raising her hands and feet to block Shi Gaofei’s attacks.
’Go, Shi Gaofei! If you win, I’ll give you an extra treat tonight!’ Shen Yibin stared, unblinking, at the situation unfolding, cheering for Shi Gaofei with all his might in his head. It wasn’t that he was afraid of Hong Mian hearing him; it was because he was still so exhausted from the run that he barely had the energy to speak.
HUFF... HUFF... After a flurry of attacks, Shi Gaofei lay on the ground, panting heavily, with beads of sweat gradually appearing on its body. Hong Mian’s face had also grown increasingly flushed; it was clear the exchange had taken a lot out of her as well. Even though these few rounds hadn’t taken much time, the energy they consumed was no less than running those laps earlier.
After a short rest, a new round of their contest began. This time, Shi Gaofei pushed its agility to the absolute limit, pouncing toward Hong Mian with both teeth and claws. After a few more exchanges, Shen Yibin suddenly heard a RRRIP! The match seemed to be over.