The ones paying Chen Sichu and Chen Junmiao’s salaries were both Lin Shuwen.
They knew very well who their boss was.
Sister Shan was different from ordinary managers. Normally, the relationship between a manager and an artist is actually artist-led.
But with Sister Shan’s position in the company and the industry, in a sense, she could be considered Lin Shuwen’s superior.
However, the Chen sisters were very clear about one thing: my boss’s superior doesn’t equal my superior.
From beginning to end, they were only responsible to Lin Shuwen.
So Chen Junmiao had no intention of prying into how far things had gone between Luo Ming and Lin Shuwen. Instead, she was thinking about how to keep Sister Shan from noticing anything unusual.
While Chen Junmiao was lost in her thoughts, the 400-meter race below was about to begin.
The weather today wasn’t actually very good. The sun had been hiding the whole time.
As it happened, right when the 400-meter race was about to start, sunlight broke through the clouds and spilled onto the track, draping the participating female celebrities in a layer of golden “gauze.”
It had to be said, this celebrity sports meet was quite well organized. The starting positions for each female celebrity had been carefully calculated, and they even had starting blocks with foot plates prepared.
“On your marks, ready~” At the referee’s command, the female celebrities all crouched down, adopting the crouch start position.
This position allowed them to exert a lot of force against the starting block’s foot plate, helping the athletes reach their top speed faster.
“Bang~” With the sound of the starter’s pistol, the women’s 400-meter race began.
These female celebrities, whether they were there to complete their company’s assignment or hoping to grab a few extra camera shots through this competition, all took it exceptionally seriously.
Lin Shuwen might have acted like she didn’t care, but when it came to the actual race, she didn’t want to lose either.
Since she’d already joined the competition, she had to at least place, right?
So when Lin Shuwen heard the gunshot, she shot off the starting line like an arrow released from a bow.
“Wenwen, come on!”
“Sister Wen, charge!”
“Wenwen, bring back first place.”
“Sister Wen, just qualify for now, save your energy for the next round.”
On both sides of the track, the celebrities from Huayue Entertainment, also wearing yellow short sleeves, were all cheering for Lin Shuwen.
Luo Ming and Chen Junmiao were standing at the middle section of the track, around the 220-meter mark.
So at first, Lin Shuwen didn’t see Luo Ming. She adjusted her breathing rhythm according to her usual running habits.
Anyone who knows a thing or two about running knows that in a 400-meter race, you generally don’t go all out at the start. As long as you don’t fall behind, that’s fine. Later on, it depends on your individual stamina to decide where to start your sprint.
And Lin Shuwen’s long hours of training weren’t for nothing. Among the eight female celebrities in her group, she seemed completely at ease, consistently staying near the front.
When Lin Shuwen reached the quarter mark, she rounded the bend along with the main pack and adjusted her direction.
As soon as she turned the corner, Lin Shuwen spotted a somewhat familiar figure ahead.
Lin Shuwen’s heart got a little unsettled, and her breathing rhythm got messy too: “Is that Luo Ming? No… impossible, right? He didn’t say he was coming today!”
Once Lin Shuwen’s rhythm got thrown off, her speed slowed down too, and before she knew it, she’d fallen to last place.
But at this point, Lin Shuwen no longer cared about rankings. As the distance kept shrinking, Lin Shuwen had confirmed it — that was Luo Ming.
“Why did he suddenly show up? I look terrible when I run. Will he secretly laugh at me?”
“Wenwen, come on!” Just as Lin Shuwen was overthinking, Luo Ming’s cheering voice reached her ears.
Lin Shuwen turned her head and saw Luo Ming smiling and waving at her, his eyes full of encouragement.
For some reason, Lin Shuwen’s heart suddenly settled down.
She took a deep breath and quickly adjusted her rhythm.
At this point, there were still about 180 meters to the finish line. Lin Shuwen’s eyes became determined.
As she ran, Lin Shuwen estimated the distance in hundred-meter increments.
150 meters.
130 meters.
110 meters.
100 meters!
Lin Shuwen started to push. She took a deep breath, kept her body upright, relaxed her shoulders, and pushed off with her toes to propel herself forward.
The gap between Lin Shuwen and the main pack ahead of her shrank at a visible rate.
At 80 meters, Lin Shuwen had moved into sixth place. At 50 meters, she’d surged to fourth place — enough to advance to the next round.
But Lin Shuwen didn’t stop chasing. At 30 meters, only one person remained ahead of her.
This person wore the same yellow short sleeves as her, clearly from Huayue Entertainment, but her face looked somewhat unfamiliar. Lin Shuwen guessed she was probably a trainee or something.
Due to the sudden burst of sprinting, sweat streamed down Lin Shuwen’s cheeks, and her breathing became rapid, but her steps remained firm, without the slightest waver.
The trainee also noticed Lin Shuwen closing in.
She too gave it her all and sprinted.
To be fair, Lin Shuwen’s training intensity wasn’t light, but compared to the trainee, she was still a bit behind.
These trainees practically spent all day practicing singing and dancing. Their stamina was genuinely no joke.
Even though Lin Shuwen had already given everything she had, she was always just one body-length behind.
Lin Shuwen felt a bit helpless. It looked like she’d only be advancing as second place.
“Wenwen, come on!” Suddenly, the scene of Luo Ming waving at her and cheering her on flashed through Lin Shuwen’s mind.
Lin Shuwen gritted her teeth. Luo Ming had come all this way specially — she had to advance as first place no matter what.
With that thought, Lin Shuwen unleashed her final burst of strength.
Just as the trainee, who thought victory was in the bag, crossed the finish line in the final second, Lin Shuwen overtook her by half a body-length.
She won!
After crossing the finish line, Lin Shuwen didn’t stop immediately. After an explosive sprint, a large amount of blood gets pumped to the lower limbs to meet the muscles’ activity demands.
If you stop suddenly, the blood in your lower limbs loses the squeezing effect of the muscles and is affected by gravity, which can cause blood to pool in the legs. This reduces blood supply to the brain and can cause cerebral anemia.
Although Lin Shuwen’s migraines couldn’t be traced to any specific cause, she had some sense of it herself — she knew under what circumstances she’d get a headache.
For example, right now — if she stopped immediately, a headache would start before long.
So after crossing the line, Lin Shuwen continued jogging for a bit, adjusting her breathing rhythm and letting her heart rate slowly come down before she finally stopped.
Chen Sichu, who had been waiting at the finish line, ran over excitedly: “Sister Wen, you’re amazing — first place to advance!”
Lin Shuwen didn’t pay attention to Chen Sichu. Instead, she looked around, glancing left and right.
“Looking for me?” Luo Ming’s voice sounded beside Lin Shuwen’s ear.
With so many people around, there was no need for Luo Ming to be secretive. On the contrary, acting sneaky would only draw more attention.
Lin Shuwen immediately turned around. When she saw Luo Ming, the corners of her mouth unconsciously curved upward, though her words carried a hint of complaint: “Why did you suddenly show up? You didn’t even give me a heads-up.”
