Xu Jiale was a fresh-faced college graduate, and this was his first time seeing a game through to completion. He was the most excited out of everyone on the tech team.
The others had more or less been through similar experiences before. It wasn’t that they weren’t excited, but they weren’t wearing it on their faces like Xu Jiale was.
Zhao Ningyuan, on the other hand, let out a long sigh of relief. He’d joined the game’s development halfway through and knew very well just how high-quality Plants vs. Zombies was.
Zhao Ningyuan believed that with this game, he could absolutely turn his fortunes around.
That evening, Luo Ming and Rong Mu treated everyone at the company to a big dinner to celebrate Plants vs. Zombies being finished. As the boss, Luo Ming got plenty of drinks pushed on him.
He stumbled home feeling dizzy, forced himself to buy a plane ticket to Shanghai for tomorrow, then collapsed and fell asleep.
He hadn’t told Lin Shuwen he was coming to Shanghai. He wanted to surprise her.
Early the next morning, still hungover, Luo Ming rubbed his throbbing head and boarded the plane.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Lin Shuwen stood in the Shanghai Stadium wearing black sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and a yellow numbered jersey over it, looking utterly lifeless.
The Shanghai Stadium, also known as the “Eighty Thousand People Stadium,” covers nearly 200,000 square meters with a building area of 167,000 square meters.
Its design is unique, with one underground level and a frame structure above ground. On the east side is a 16,000-square-meter sports club, and on the west side are the stadium’s main grandstand and a hotel.
The first Celebrity Sports Meet was being held right here at the Shanghai Stadium.
In recent years, the higher-ups had been promoting the idea that young people should develop morally, intellectually, physically, aesthetically, and labor-wise in an all-around way. The major entertainment companies were partly responding to the policy call, and partly wanting to exchange ideas with peers and see the skill level of other companies’ artists. That was why they’d organized this Celebrity Sports Meet.
Lin Shuwen was actually pretty good at sports—mainly because she spent about 200 out of 365 days a year on a diet.
The best way to lose weight is to watch what you eat and move your legs. Even someone who isn’t naturally athletic would get good at it after running that many days a year.
It was just that Lin Shuwen didn’t like exercising with so many people around, with cameras on her—especially running. Thanks to the “extra weight” on her chest, she really didn’t look great when she ran.
“Wen-jie, cheer up a bit! Look, everyone’s all smiles. Why are you pulling such a long face?” Chen Sichu said quietly.
“Because I never wanted to join this stupid sports meet in the first place. And my 400-meter preliminary isn’t until 11:30—why do I have to stand here at 9?”
“Sister Shan said it’s because the cameras in the stadium shoot randomly. You’ve been really popular lately, Wen-jie, so a lot of cameramen will definitely be looking for you. If everyone notices you didn’t show up before the race, maybe…”
“Okay, okay!” Lin Shuwen sighed. “Ugh! What a hassle.”
For the next two-plus hours, under Sister Shan’s remote control, Lin Shuwen wandered around the various competition venues, showing her face.
Chen Sichu followed Lin Shuwen the whole time, but stayed two or three body-lengths behind to avoid being caught on camera.
Chen Junmiao, meanwhile, was stationed at Huayue Entertainment’s artist rest area, in case Lin Shuwen needed touch-ups, water, or anything else.
Like Lin Shuwen, Chen Junmiao didn’t like this Celebrity Sports Meet either.
At least Lin Shuwen could wander around the stadium. Chen Junmiao could only sit here scrolling on her phone—bored to death.
Ring ring ring~ Suddenly, Chen Junmiao’s phone rang.
It was Chen Sichu calling. Chen Junmiao picked up right away. “Hello~ Chuchu, does Wen-jie need something?”
“No, sis. Boss Luo is here. He called me, but I can’t get away. Can you go pick him up?”
“Boss Luo? Luo Ming?”
“Yes, that’s him.”
“But I don’t know what he looks like!”
“He knows what you look like. Wen-jie must have shown him our photos.”
“Alright, got it. Which entrance is he at?”
“The east gate.”
“I’m on my way.” With that, Chen Junmiao hung up and hurried to the stadium’s east gate.
As she was looking around in the crowd, a voice sounded beside her ear: “Miss Chen, I’m here.”
Chen Junmiao quickly turned around. After sizing Luo Ming up and down, she asked, “You’re Boss Luo?”
“That’s me. When does Wenwen’s race start?”
“You came all this way specifically to watch Wen-jie compete?” Chen Junmiao asked curiously, looking at Luo Ming carrying a laptop and a travel backpack.
“Yeah.”
Chen Junmiao was taken aback. How did this guy just admit it outright?
She wasn’t like her naive, sweet younger sister. Wen-jie was very trusting of this Boss Luo on the phone—it was obvious at a glance that their relationship was anything but ordinary.
So her question just now had been a test.
But she hadn’t expected him to just admit it directly.
“Ahem! Boss Luo, Wen-jie’s 400-meter preliminary starts at 11:30.”
“Still 15 minutes to go. Better early than late. Miss Chen, could you take me in?”
Chen Junmiao nodded and led Luo Ming into the stadium.
The women’s 400-meter preliminary was on the stadium’s main track.
Whether it’s traditional sports or this more entertainment-oriented kind, running is always a highly watched event.
The female celebrities participating in the 400-meter this time included newly debuted rising stars, popular film actresses, singers like Lin Shuwen, and even trainees from various big companies.
When Luo Ming arrived at the main track with Chen Sichu, he happened to catch Lin Shuwen stepping up.
“Boss Luo, there are 32 people signed up for the 400-meter at this Celebrity Sports Meet. The preliminaries have 4 heats of 8 people each. The top 4 from each heat advance to the semifinals. Then the 16 semifinalists are split into two groups of 8, and again the top 4 from each group advance to the finals.”
Luo Ming gave a perfunctory nod, his eyes fixed on Lin Shuwen in lane 2.
At that moment, Lin Shuwen was doing her pre-race warm-up. First, dynamic stretching to activate her nervous system, boost muscle elasticity.
Then heel walks, lifting her toes as high as possible with each step about one foot long, toes always pointing forward. This stretches the calf muscles, activates the tibialis anterior, and improves balance.
Finally, more heel walks, lifting her heels as high as possible with each step about one foot long. This stretches the tibialis anterior, activates the calf muscles, and improves ankle stability and balance.
“Your Wen-jie’s movements look pretty professional. Has she trained specifically for this?” Luo Ming asked.
“No. Wen-jie needs to control her weight, and she has a body type that gains weight easily, so she runs a lot. She gradually picked it up.”
“So it’s just practice making perfect!”
Chen Junmiao nodded, but quickly realized—he couldn’t see her nod anyway!
This Boss Luo hadn’t taken his eyes off Wen-jie for even a moment.
Their relationship really wasn’t normal! She just wondered how far they’d gotten.
