"The ones running alongside, who cares!"
"Not sure. I’m more interested in whether the architecture department or the juniors perform better!"
"The architecture department has a provincial track champion and a city-level first place in the team! With such a strong lineup, it should be a good show!"
"Haha, the e-commerce department has juniors from various majors, all older and taller than the freshmen from other departments. I think they can win!"
"Doesn’t matter. I just want to see if they can finish the 400-meter relay in under 60 seconds!"
"The national champion team did it in 45 seconds!"
....
The crowd’s discussions made Han Yuan even more nervous, and the referee came forward to scold him.
"Don’t take it too seriously, just have fun!"
"Yeah, the more you care about something, the harder it is to achieve. Relax a bit. If you blow it, it’s not the end of the world!"
Wu You, Liang Dong, and Lin Beichen all came forward and patted Han Yuan on the shoulder.
This instantly made Han Yuan feel much better!
The murmurs in the stadium gradually faded in Han Yuan’s mind. He no longer paid much attention to external voices and felt less pressure.
He seemed to let go of everything and instantly felt less nervous!
When the referee raised his gun to start the countdown again, Han Yuan’s previous tension was gone, and he became much more composed.
This allowed him to focus on the starting positions of his competitors, and he quickly tried to imitate their movements.
With the sound of the starting gun, the six figures on the track shot out like lightning!
Everyone seemed to hold their breath, and the entire stadium fell silent, watching intently.
For a short while, the six competitors were neck and neck!
The start was almost even, but Han Yuan ultimately lacked some athletic talent and gradually fell behind. However, the gap wasn’t huge, and he was in fourth place!
Soon, it was time for the first handoff. Wu You started running, and Han Yuan smoothly passed the baton to him.
But from here, the lag began to show.
The architecture department made a smooth handoff and was already far ahead, while the e-commerce department followed closely!
The other three departments were catching up!
This made Liang Dong, who was third in line, extremely anxious. He saw the architecture department already close to his position while Wu You was still half a distance behind!
"Hurry up, Wu You!"
"Faster!"
If he could, Liang Dong would have run back to take the baton from Wu You himself. He was so anxious that he stomped his feet!
Wu You used all his strength, but one by one, the other runners surpassed him, and he had no way of catching up!
This was probably the difference in skill.
Eventually, Wu You handed the baton to Liang Dong, but by then, they were more than halfway behind the first place!
They were the last team!
Liang Dong didn’t say a word as he took the baton, sprinting forward with all his might. He had some professional training back in high school, and his feet seemed to fly!
He quickly closed some of the gap, moving up to fifth place!
Fourth place!!
When he reached the third-place runner, Liang Dong started to feel the strain and couldn’t keep up!
Wu You’s earlier lag had cost too much!
At this moment, Lin Beichen, the last runner, had already started to gather speed. At the same time, the architecture and e-commerce departments had completed their final handoffs!
Soon after, Liang Dong caught up and handed the baton to Lin Beichen.
"Beichen, it’s up to you!"
Liang Dong shouted as he slowly came to a stop, watching Lin Beichen’s back.
Wu You and Han Yuan also came over, the three of them standing shoulder to shoulder. They exchanged glances and could only laugh. They no longer cared about the outcome.
The important thing was that their bond as the F4 boys group had grown even stronger!
But suddenly, the stadium erupted in cheers and encouragement! Their laughter was cut short!
They instantly realized what was happening and turned their gaze to the track!
They saw Lin Beichen moving like lightning, his speed still increasing!
In the blink of an eye, he had caught up to the third place, closing quickly on the first and second!
This moment reignited the excitement in the three of them. Originally, they didn’t expect much from the race, but Lin Beichen’s performance once again amazed them!
They suddenly regained hope of making it to the finals!
"Go, Beichen!"
"Come on, Beichen!"
"Go, go, go!"
.....
Even the female teachers on the sidelines put down their phones, their eyes fixed on the familiar figure catching up to the first and second place!!
"How is this possible?!"
On the stands, Hao Jianhua got up excitedly, watching Lin Beichen close the gap from the last position to third in no time, now right behind the first and second!
The architecture and e-commerce departments sensed the tension on the field, turning to see Lin Beichen suddenly appear behind them. They were both shocked!
When they looked back previously, the third place was more than ten meters behind, and the last place was nowhere in sight!
When did this guy come up so fast!!
The pressure was immediate on them, pushing them to give their all in one final sprint!
The finish line was right ahead!
But no matter how they accelerated, that figure caught up and ran alongside them!
First place: "Architecture Department," "Physics Department."
Second place: "E-commerce Department!"
.....
The results were announced, and the stadium erupted in excitement!
Screams and cheers filled the air!
The female teachers were in shock. They expected Lin Beichen to be exceptional, but his teammates showed no particular strength. A relay race requires more than just one person’s effort, and not being last was the best they could hope for.
Yet, her highly regarded architecture department was matched by the physics department!
The juniors from the e-commerce department were pushed to second place!
No one had expected this outcome, and the spectators were initially only interested in who would be stronger between the architecture department and the juniors.
"53.73 seconds!"
On the stands, the referee announced the time!
The cheers erupted again, so loud they seemed to shake the ground. This result made the other departments who hadn’t competed yet start to lose confidence.
"The best national result is only 45 seconds, and Imperial University is unreal!"
"With this time, they could probably do even better!"
"Yeah, they didn’t perform at their best earlier. There’s room for improvement!"
"That’s terrifying!"
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"Breaking 60 seconds is already impressive. A time of 53 seconds is top-tier even at the provincial level!"
"Damn, I said the freshmen at Imperial Capital University were outstanding this year. Seeing it today has blown my mind!"
"You all focused on the wrong part. That young guy is the real deal!"
"He’s the one who turned the tide, catching up from last to first!!"
"Didn’t you see the end? He caught up so fast it forced the architecture and e-commerce departments to panic and sprint early!"
"It’s him again! The high school exam perfect scorer, Lin Beichen!"
"Academic genius!"
...
Lin Beichen’s name spread once again across the stadium.
Everyone gained a new understanding of Lin Beichen.
Only on the stands, Hao Jianhua was sweating, unsure whether such exposure to the public would be good or bad for Lin Beichen!
He knew geniuses had to stand out among the crowd and couldn’t stay hidden!
But he worried about whether he could nurture such a talent properly.
In the end, 12 teams made it to the finals.
Of course, Lin Beichen had also registered for other events like long jump, high jump, table tennis, soccer, and shot put, but they were not all on the same day.
Hao Jianhua also called him back to adjust his schedule and prepare for the Atlantis University trip in two days.
The remaining events were left to Han Yuan, Liang Dong, and Wu You to compete in.