Weak Chicken and Strong Chicken

"Shen Qi, you've changed," Xu Rui said to Shen Qi.

The gym teacher hadn't arrived yet, and the students of Class 2, Grade 2 were having free time on the sports field.

"Bro, people change, but you're my best brother, and that will never change." Shen Qi, who was 1.75 meters tall, patted Xu Rui on the shoulder. Xu Rui had grown taller again, must be around 1.85 meters now.

Xu Rui angrily flicked Shen Qi's arm away. "You jerk, don't call me brother. You secretly studied hard, how could you do this to me? What happened to your original intention, Shen Qi? We agreed to both fail miserably, but you broke your promise with a perfect score. Doesn't your conscience hurt?"

"Xu Rui, you're a high school student, not an elementary schooler. Please be more mature."

"Mature my ass, you're just being fake!"

Xu Rui turned and left, his sturdy body unable to suppress his confusion. Where could he find solace?

"This guy's inner world is truly bizarre."

Xu Rui's personality was a mix of twisted humor and distorted bluntness. Shen Qi knew him well; he'd be fine after a few days of appeasement. Brothers were still brothers, a lifelong bond.

"This is what top students are like. The longer you are one, the fewer friends you have and the more lonely you become." At this moment, someone walked over. It was Huang Zikun, who always seemed to step in and summarize things at opportune moments.

Huang Zikun was a veteran top student. His math scores were excellent, and he was equally outstanding in physics, chemistry, biology, Chinese, and English. With no weaknesses, he was very well-rounded. Not only that, but Huang Zikun was also quite handsome, the best-looking guy in Class 2, Grade 2.

"But I think as long as you get along, grades are secondary. Feelings are most important," Shen Qi said.

"No, swallows and swans can never be true friends because they fly at different altitudes." Huang Zikun floated away after saying this.

"Being so smart that you have no friends is actually a kind of sorrow?" Shen Qi thought carefully. What Huang Zikun said seemed to make some sense.

Beep beep~

At this moment, a sharp whistle sounded on the sports field. The gym teacher had arrived.

"Line up!" Teacher Sun, the gym teacher, gave the command, raising his right fist and extending his left arm horizontally.

The forty-odd students of Class 2, Grade 2 formed four lines, with slightly more boys.

"Warm-up exercises, begin. One, two, three, four. Two, two, three, four..." Teacher Sun led the students in warm-up exercises.

"Today we'll practice the 50-meter dash. Four people per group. Once one person finishes, you're free to move." After the warm-up, Teacher Sun led the team to the track.

"Shen Qi, let's have a go." Huang Zikun was about the same height as Shen Qi, and they were standing next to each other in line.

"Come on, let's be in the same group." Shen Qi accepted the challenge, and he and Huang Zikun were grouped together to race the 50-meter dash.

"Two weak chickens, what's the point of two weak chickens competing?" someone behind them said disdainfully. It was Xu Rui, the only subject where he could dominate those top students was sports.

"We're just playing around," Huang Zikun said unhurriedly, not paying attention to Xu Rui's nagging.

"Playing around, you're still a weak chicken. Not only are you a weak chicken, but you're also an academic bitch." Xu Rui's dislike for Huang Zikun wasn't new. Huang Zikun was always indifferent to everyone, including the underachievers. In Xu Rui's opinion, Huang Zikun looked down on underachievers from the bottom of his heart, and his outward demeanor was one of calm indifference, not bothering to argue with them.

"The term 'academic bitch' isn't suitable for boys," Huang Zikun replied calmly, truly unfazed.

"A weak chicken among academic bitches, a tractor among weak chickens." Xu Rui continued to chatter. Shen Qi was getting closer and closer to Huang Zikun, and Xu Rui felt increasingly disheartened. Shen Qi was going further and further down the path of betrayal.

"Okay, okay, we're weak chickens, and you're a strong chicken." Shen Qi quickly tried to appease Xu Rui and mend their relationship. He valued his friendship with Xu Rui, who had once fought for him and ended up in the hospital.

Xu Rui said proudly, as if it were obvious, completely ignoring the girls nearby who covered their faces and giggled shyly.

"Alright, alright, strong chicken, stand back. We weak chickens will go first." Shen Qi conceded.

"Shen Qi, you're a goofball." Xu Rui cursed, but inwardly, he forgave Shen Qi a little. He stopped talking and took a few steps back.

Shen Qi, Huang Zikun, and two other boys stood at the starting line. They were the first group of four to run the 50 meters.

"On your marks!" Teacher Sun gave the ready signal.

The four boys prepared to start in a standing position.

"Set!"

"Beep!"

The whistle sounded, signaling the start.

The four boys took off. Shen Qi had a quick start, leading for the first 20 meters.

Shen Qi's sports level was rated as Level 1 in the system, which was the average level for a high school student.

Boys had a competitive spirit, and even in a 50-meter dash practice, Shen Qi wanted to be the first to cross the finish line.

After 30 meters, Huang Zikun suddenly increased his stride. With a few long steps, he overtook Shen Qi.

"Go Huang Zikun!"

"Go Huang Zikun!"

The girls from Class 2, Grade 2 who were watching collectively cheered for Huang Zikun. The all-around "little prince" Huang Zikun, with his good looks, excellent grades, and decent athletic ability, had many fangirls.

Huang Zikun gained momentum and crossed the finish line first with an advantage of more than a body length.

"Huang Zikun is pretty fast!" Shen Qi, who had the lead early on, was overtaken in the middle and finished second.

"7.0 seconds! 7.2 seconds! 8.4 seconds! 9.0 seconds!" Teacher Sun repeatedly checked his stopwatch, calling out the 50-meter dash times for the four boys in the group.

"The first two are passable, the last two are useless. A koala could run faster than you!" Teacher Sun praised Huang Zikun and Shen Qi, while scolding the other two boys.

Huang Zikun's 7.0 seconds was a perfect score for the 50-meter dash. Shen Qi was slightly slower at 7.2 seconds, which was a 90-point score.

"Huang Zikun, you're really good," Shen Qi said to Huang Zikun, sweating profusely. He meant it sincerely. Huang Zikun had almost no weaknesses; his sports scores could also get a perfect score.

"7 seconds flat is just okay, barely satisfactory," Huang Zikun said calmly.

"Is that your limit, weak chicken academic bitch?" Xu Rui shouted, stepping onto the starting line. It was his group's turn.

Beep! The starting whistle blew.

Xu Rui took the lead right from the start. His running rhythm was incredibly strong, with a high hip-drive intensity. He deliberately controlled his stride frequency, clearly showing he had trained.

The other three boys in his group were truly weak chickens compared to Xu Rui; they had no power to resist.

With a lead of over 10 meters, Xu Rui was the first to cross the finish line.

"6.3 seconds! Xu Rui, you ran well. Come, come, have some water." Teacher Sun called Xu Rui over and handed him a bottle of mineral water. This kind of treatment wasn't given to every student.

"Thank you, Teacher Sun." Xu Rui respectfully took the mineral water, his usual playful demeanor gone. He respected the sports teachers the most and enjoyed sports class the most.

"Actually, you could be even faster. 50 meters is too short for you; you just reached your top speed and then the finish line." Teacher Sun greatly admired Xu Rui. With his physique and build, Xu Rui was a promising talent for sprinting.

"Recently, I've been training for the 100-meter dash with Teacher He."

"The 100-meter is the most suitable event for you. Train well with Old He; he's very good at coaching his disciples."

"Okay!" Xu Rui nodded heavily.

Seeing Xu Rui favored by the sports teacher, Shen Qi also felt happy for him. Everyone had their own unique strengths, and Xu Rui's strength was his outstanding athletic ability.

Next was free activity time. Most of the girls left the sports field to engage in free activities elsewhere on campus. The boys played basketball or soccer – the two most common ways high school students entertained themselves physically.

"Weak chickens, come on, take me on!"

On the basketball court, Xu Rui drove to the basket, knocking over three players before easily scoring.

"Too weak, you're too weak! Come on, someone strong, take me on!" Xu Rui boasted arrogantly. Whether on the track or the court, he had this strange aura of dominance.

The basketball rules for Class 2 of the second year were simple: three people per team, form teams freely, play half-court, and the first team to concede 5 points would leave, making way for another team to challenge the winners.

Xu Rui scored 5 points by himself, driving his opponents off the court. Then, another three players came on to challenge.

"Xu Rui, damn it, stop hogging the ball! Pass it to me so I can score a few points too." Shen Qi was unhappy. He was on the same team as Xu Rui but couldn't get the ball at all.

"Weak chicken, take the ball!" Xu Rui powerfully drove to the basket, knocking over two players, and passed the ball to Shen Qi, who was diagonally behind him.

Two opponents were brutally knocked to the ground by Xu Rui, tears streaming down their faces. The remaining player trembled and retreated to the three-point line. Shen Qi, unguarded, easily shot the ball into the hoop.

"Hahaha, that felt so good to shoot!" Shen Qi finally scored and expressed his joy.

Xu Rui's style of play was to first knock you down, and then reason with you.

That's why Xu Rui could only join the school's track and field team; the school's basketball team didn't dare to keep him.

Shen Qi's physique wasn't as strong as Xu Rui's. His specialty was a high shooting percentage when unguarded. In essence, he was just a squishy ADC.

Tank Xu Rui charged forward, responsible for drawing aggro, while Shen Qi stood his ground and shot to his heart's content.

The two cooperated with tacit understanding and clear division of labor. The friendship between brothers was back. The other male student on their team had nothing to do. His only role on the court was to inbound the ball.

Shen Qi and Xu Rui's team couldn't be taken off the court. They didn't lose until the bell rang for the end of class.

"This sports class was incredibly satisfying!" Shen Qi, drenched in sweat, enjoyed the overwhelming joy of dominating the court.

At this moment, a system prompt appeared: "Host gains 1 scholar point through physical exercise."

"Oh ho, running and playing ball can also earn scholar points? That's great." Although it was only 1 scholar point, it was an unexpected gain. Shen Qi felt he had profited.

However, on second thought, since reading and doing practice problems could earn scholar points, physical exercise could too, because sports were also one of the system's ten indicators.