Cynisca's Olympic Games (2)

At the very start, the Sun reporter had already taken a commanding lead, and during the race, he further the Sun his advantage over the others. He swept across the finish line like a gust of wind, leaving second-placed Bauséant more than ten meters behind.

What's even more impressive is that this guy seemed quite relaxed after finishing the race. He was jogging along while waving to the others, while Bauséant was in second place, was already panting heavily.

Although he was left more than ten meters behind by the Sun reporter, Bauséant still finished second in his group, thus advancing to the second round.

There were still some preliminary matches in the group stage, but Marie- Henri Bell wasn't interested in watching any longer; he wanted to hurry down and celebrate with his friends. So he went down the stairs to the first floor and headed towards the athletes' rest area.

The athletes' rest area was already packed with people, and shouts filled the air. Marie- Henri Bell struggled to squeeze his way in, finally reaching the iron fence that separated the athletes' rest area from the spectator area.

During this process, a policeman shouted at him, "Hey, young man, don't push and shove!"

"My friend made it to the next round, I want to congratulate him!" Mary- Henri Bell replied as he continued to push his way in. Generally speaking, the police officers are relatively lenient with respectable people who can afford to buy tickets. If it were at a train station and a foreign worker continued to push after being warned by the police, the officer would most likely pounce on him, smash a baton on his head, drag him out, slam him to the ground, and then press his knee hard on the guy's neck until he cried out for his mother.

But here, things are clearly different, because those who can afford tickets and come to watch the game are all respectable people. Isn't the reason France has police precisely to serve these respectable people?

The policeman simply smiled, but didn't take any forceful action. He didn't pull out his baton, nor did he pull Mary- Henri Bell out, pin him to the ground, or knee him. Relying on his strong physique honed during his military service, he finally squeezed his way in.

"Hey, Bauséant! Bauséant!" Marie- Henri Berla shouted over the iron bars, though he couldn't actually see his friend there.

"Marie!" It was Bauséant first spotted Mari- Henri Berla, who was gesturing wildly by the railing, and walked over while responding to him.

"Ha, Jacques, well done! Congratulations on advancing!" Marie- Henri Berla exclaimed happily to Bauséant.

"It's nothing, just good luck." Bauséant didn't seem happy. "Just lucky that there was only one reporter in our team. Otherwise, as you saw, the gap between us and the reporters is huge."

"What's the big deal?" Marie- Henri Berla encouraged him. "Jacques, you can't challenge someone's profession with your hobby. And frankly, I don't think the gap between you and that journalist is as big as you think. Did you notice his unique starting method? When I came down, I thought about it carefully and realized that this starting method is so reasonable, so convenient for generating power, so suitable for starting. So just at the start, he immediately surpassed you by a lot."

"He was also much faster than me during the race, and he didn't seem to be exerting himself too much."

"Jacques, that's because his load is much lighter than yours," Marie- Henri Berla continued to encourage him. "You know, at high speeds, even the slightest bit of extra weight can noticeably slow you down. Hmm, you may have heard that General Augereau once captured an entire battalion of rebels with just a riding crop. Do you know where all his other weapons went?"

"We threw them all away to catch up with the enemy, you told me that," Bauséant replied.

"Ah, imagine, compared to a warhorse, a cloak, a saber, and a pistol are only a little heavier, but getting rid of these things can even make the horse run faster. Besides, trousers and the like don't just add weight; they drag your feet. So, you see, those ancient heroes, when participating in the Olympic Games, simply didn't wear anything at all."

"Damn, you might be right. I need to alter my clothes for the next game, but where can I buy clothes like that?"

"I heard that 'Chris Menswear' has clothes like this, called sportswear, but these clothes are just too... plus 'Chris's' clothes are ridiculously expensive, so nobody buys them," someone nearby interjected.

"Hey, bro," Bauséant said, patting Marie- Henri Berla on the hand, "Can you do me a favor? There's a train back to Paris coming up soon. There's a 'Chris Men's Clothing' store right across from the station. Could you go and buy me one of those outfits, and um, one of those running shoes—I just saw them, that guy's shoes even had studs on the soles. Um, wait a minute, I'll go get the money."

After saying this, Bauséant turned and left. A little while later, he returned with a large purse, took out a wad of banknotes, and handed them to Marie- Henri Berla, saying, "Brother, I have thirty francs here, I don't know if that's enough— 'Chris's' clothes are always ridiculously expensive. If it's not enough, could you lend me some? I'll pay you back later."

"Okay!" Marie- Henri Berla replied, knowing that his classmate's family was wealthy.

Marie- Henri Berla took the money, put it in his vest pocket, squeezed through the crowd, and left the stadium, running towards the train station. He hurriedly bought a ticket, and just as he boarded, the train started moving.

The main venue wasn't far from downtown Paris, so Marie- Henri Berla quickly returned to the city center. Across from the train station were the boutiques of "Chris Men's Wear" and "Chris Women's Wear," and a little further on was the Bovan Bank.

Marie- Henri Belle entered the store, explained her purpose to a smiling saleswoman, and with her help, found a complete set of sprint apparel, including running shoes.

"How much is this set?" Marie- Henri Berla asked.

"Ah, that's one hundred and ten francs in total," the smiling young lady replied.

"Why don't you just rob us! It's just a few pieces of cloth!" Marie- Henri Berla almost jumped up.

However, he wouldn't voice these thoughts aloud. He suddenly understood why there was Bovan Bank next to the "Chris" store...

Marie- Henri Berla finished his shopping and went into the train station again. Just as he was about to board the train, he saw someone leading a tall and beautiful Britain into the last specially made carriage.