At six o'clock in the morning, Cheng Che opened his eyes precisely on time.
It was still gray outside the window, but sanitation workers were already sweeping the streets downstairs.
He rolled over and sat up, moving his wrists and ankles; he was in good physical condition.
I fell asleep promptly at 10:30 last night.
He put on his [ Sneakers That Never Chafe ], tied his shoelaces, and walked out of the bedroom.
Jiang Xue was already busy in the kitchen.
On the table was a bowl of porridge, two eggs, and a dish of pickled vegetables.
Cheng Jianguo sat on the sofa looking at his phone, a cigarette dangling from his fingers. He had quit smoking, but he still had a habit of having one in his mouth after meals.
"Eat up," Jiang Xue said, handing me the chopsticks. "Rest for a while after you finish eating before you go out."
Cheng Che sat down, finished his porridge in a few gulps, and then peeled an egg.
Jiang Xue took a plastic bag out of the refrigerator and stuffed it with two bananas and a few packets of energy gels.
"Take some food with you on the way." She stuffed the bag into Cheng Che's backpack. "There are aid stations along the marathon route, but it's safer to bring your own food."
"Mom, you don't need so much."
"What do you know?" Jiang Xue zipped up her jacket. "It's over forty kilometers. What if we get hungry?"
Cheng Jianguo chimed in from the side, "Your mom went to the supermarket specifically to buy it yesterday, and spent the whole night studying the ingredient list."
Cheng Che glanced at Jiang Xue.
She looked away, pretending to tidy up the table.
After finishing breakfast, Cheng Che leaned back on the sofa for half an hour, closing his eyes to rest for a while.
At 7:30, the family of three left home.
Spring City Dianchi Road.
When Cheng Che arrived, there was a huge crowd.
The official website says that 15,000 people participated this year, and with the spectators, the entire Dianchi Road was completely blocked.
The road was cordoned off with barriers, and a security guard wearing a fluorescent vest and carrying a walkie-talkie stood every few dozen meters.
The starting area was divided into several groups, with full marathon runners at the front and half marathon and fun runners at the back.
Cheng Che spotted quite a few professional athletes in the crowd.
Dark-skinned, lean, and fully equipped, some with kinesiology tape on their legs, others wearing carbon fiber running shoes, they were clearly people who trained regularly.
Cheng Che!
He turned around.
Guo Xin, Su Qingyue, Lin Xiao, Zhou Mingxuan squeezed through the crowd.
Guo Xin carried the portable video recorder, Lin Xiao held up her phone, Zhou Mingxuan carried a camera bag, and Su Qingyue still had the handheld video camera.
"We're here to cheer you on!" Guo Xin held up the video camera and filmed Cheng Che from all angles. "We're filming the whole thing today! The footage will last us a year!"
"How did you get in?" Cheng Che asked.
"We snuck in," Guo Xin chuckled. "The security guard asked us what we were doing, and I said we were contestants. He asked where our bibs were, and I said they were in my bag, so he let us in."
Cheng Che shook his head helplessly.
"Oh, right," Guo Xin patted his chest, "I've already edited the video, I'll post it after the marathon."
"It's all cut?" Cheng Che, somewhat surprised. "Haven't you been training for a marathon these past few days?"
"I edited it last night," Guo Xin said. "Actually, we didn't need to wait for the travel footage. Zhou Mingxuan was right; editing other people's footage was better. I interspersed those promotional materials about Spring City from the internet with the footage of your training. The effect is much better than if we filmed it ourselves."
Zhou Mingxuan nodded in agreement.
"After analyzing it, I found that the quality of purely original footage is not consistent enough. Instead of forcing it together, it's better to use some readily available high-quality footage."
Cheng Che nodded. "Okay, you guys handle it."
As they were talking, a commentary came over the loudspeaker.
"Dear viewers, welcome to the live broadcast of the 2024 Spring City International Marathon! I'm commentator Zhou Yang, and next to me is my partner, former national marathon team member Chen Li."
Hello everyone, I'm Chen Li.
Cheng Che looked up.
A live broadcast booth was set up next to the starting area, with two commentators sitting inside and a monitor in front of them.
Multiple cameras were positioned on both sides of the track, and a camera car was parked on the side of the road.
"Today's lineup of participants is very strong," Zhou Yang's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Let's first introduce some of our elite runners. In the full marathon, last year's Spring City Marathon Champion, Kipkoech from Kenya, will be competing again this year, aiming to defend his title."
The camera cuts to a Black athlete doing stretching.
He waved at the camera.
"In addition, Li Guodong, who finished third in last year's National Marathon Championships, was also present at the event."
The camera then cuts to a lean, middle-aged man who smiles at the camera.
"There's another runner you might be more familiar with," Zhou Yang's tone suddenly lightened, "Actor Shen Chi, everyone calls him 'the athletic entertainer.' He enjoys running and has participated in three full marathons, with a personal best of 3 hours and 20 minutes. He's here today to challenge himself."
The camera cuts to Shen Chi.
He was wearing professional running gear, waving at the camera with a sunny smile and perfect posture.
"Hello everyone, I'm Shen Chi," he said to the camera. "Exercise is important for everyone. Whether you're doing it for your health or to challenge yourself, running is a joyful thing. I hope everyone can get moving."
In the live chat, Shen Chi's fans started spamming the chat.
[Go Shen Chi!][Athletic heartthrob!][Looking forward to you breaking your personal best today!]
There weren't many comments in the live stream.
Marathons are not considered a popular sport in China, with only tens of thousands of people online, mostly running enthusiasts plus Shen Chi's fans.
Then, the camera shook slightly.
The cameraman was originally filming Shen Chi, but after finishing, he casually turned the camera to film the next contestant.
The camera panned across the crowd, across the safety barriers, and across a group of runners stretching.
Then it paused for a moment.
In the video, a boy stands at the edge of a crowd, looking down to tie his shoelaces.
He was wearing a very ordinary white sports vest, dark shorts, and a pair of unremarkable running shoes.
But that face, that figure, shone brightly in the morning sunlight.
After tying his shoelaces, he looked up and glanced to the side.
Just one glance.
The chat was silent for a moment.
Then it exploded.
Wait, didn't a handsome guy just float by?
[I saw it too! So handsome!]
[Where's the camera? Turn the camera back!]
[Holy crap, who's that handsome guy? Cameraman, what are you doing? Cut back!]
The cameraman noticed too. He jerked the camera forward, focusing the shot back on the boy.
The [ Stars Surrounding the Moon ] phenomenon quietly took effect at this moment.
The boy in the video stands in the crowd, sunlight shining from the side, outlining a clean profile on his face.
His features were very defined, his skin was just the right amount of white, and his long legs looked exceptionally long in his shorts.
He did nothing, he just stood there. But the entire focus of the image was on him.
The comments section went completely crazy.
[Oh My God!!!]
[What incredible beauty!!!]
[I know who he is! Cheng Che! It's Cheng Che!!!]
[That Zhuangyuan in the college entrance exam! The tennis player! The one who had a rumored relationship with Yan Ruanning!]
Holy crap! He's running a marathon too???
[Oh no, I need to go for a run, right now!]
In the commentary booth, Zhou Yang also noticed the changes in the live broadcast footage.
He glanced down at the monitor and paused, momentarily stunned.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we seem to have caught a glimpse of something special." His tone held a hint of surprise. "This player... if I'm not mistaken, is Cheng Che, who has recently gained a lot of attention online. Eighteen years old, this year's top Zhuangyuan in the college entrance examination, National Youth Games tennis Champion."
Chen Li chimed in, "I know him; he's been getting a lot of attention lately. I didn't expect him to be running a marathon too."
Zhou Yang chuckled, "This is getting interesting. A tennis Champion taking on a marathon—today's live broadcast looks set to be more exciting than we imagined."
The production team had already realized what was happening. The director said into his headset, "Follow the car closely, especially the one in the white tank top."
The driver of the car following Cheng Che nodded and slowly moved towards him.
Meanwhile, in Cheng Che's fan page, a message was pinned to the top.
[ Guo Xin: Brothers! Sisters! Cheng Che is running the Spring City Marathon today! Live stream! Everyone hurry to the live stream room! Just search " Spring City Marathon " to watch!]
The comment section exploded within five minutes of the post being published.
[Really? Why didn't he tell me?]
Why would he tell you this? Who are you?
[Stop arguing, stop arguing, I'm already in the live stream!]
[Me too! I just saw him! He's so handsome I almost dropped my phone!]
Sisters, let's flood the screen with comments and show our support for our idol!
The live stream originally had only tens of thousands of viewers, but after Guo Xin posted this message, the number started to jump.
Tens of thousands become hundreds of thousands, and hundreds of thousands become millions.
In the live chat, Cheng Che's name began to flood the screen.
[ Cheng Che!][ Brother Che, Che-ge!][Brother, you're so handsome even running a marathon!][I never watched marathons before, but now I've decided to watch the whole thing!]
Zhou Yang looked at the backend data and was somewhat surprised:
"Viewers, the number of people in the live stream is increasing rapidly. It seems many new friends are joining us. Welcome, welcome!"
Chen Li smiled and said, "I guessed they all came to see Cheng Che."
A barrage of comments appeared: [That's right!]
The starting gun fired.
Fifteen thousand runners surged out of the starting line.
Cheng Che didn't false start; he ran alongside the crowd at his own pace. The camera followed him the whole time, and the live chat was full of cheers.
He ran with ease. His breathing was steady, his steps were light, and he was completely out of sync with the people around him.
In the live stream, he gradually ran out of the crowd and moved further and further forward.
Zhou Yang's voice rang out:
" Cheng Che Che's current pace is very stable, around 4 minutes and 30 seconds per kilometer. This pace is very reasonable for someone participating in a full marathon for the first time. Let's see if he can maintain it until the end."
What Cheng Che didn't know was that in the live stream chat, besides the cheers from fans, there was also a message from someone who had just entered the live stream.
[ Yan Ruanning: You ran well.]