Chapter 100: Running Alongside from the Sidelines

In a small studio newly rented.

Lin Xuan sat before the Personal Computer.

The screen displayed a chemical reagent ratio table for ancient text restoration.

Lin Xuan possessed extremely high talent in the field of artifact restoration and authentication.

Coupled with having read many books on the subject since childhood, he had laid a deep foundation.

Thus, after quitting his nursing job, he chose to enter the field of dealing with artifacts.

On one hand, there was ample time; on the other, it was what he loved.

In just a few short months, he not only mastered the skills but also completed his apprenticeship.

Last week, he even completed three substantial restoration orders.

Now, he was researching a suitable solution.

Suddenly, the Mobile Phone placed beside the Mouse pad vibrated, and the screen lit up.

A message from the PE teacher @ing all parents popped up in the parents' group chat.

【@All Members, Dear Parents, previously I was resting at home due to illness, 【Fist and Palm】【Fist and Palm】【Fist and Palm】, starting today I will officially begin teaching the children!】

It also included a photo of the children lined up in formation, with Xiao Sizi standing in the front row.

【This class content will be a physical fitness baseline test, item: 400 meters.】

Lin Xuan immediately stopped working.

He knew Xiao Sizi's physical condition extremely well.

Through modern anti-allergy medication and nutritional intervention, the physiological lesions triggering the asthma disease had been basically eliminated.

Xiao Sizi's respiratory tract was no different from that of a normal child.

But the psychological trauma might still remain.

A single bout of intense long-distance running was enough to awaken that terrifying memory of near-suffocation deep within the brain.

Pseudo-asthma triggered by psychological suggestion could similarly cause a complete collapse of physiological functions.

Lin Xuan immediately stood up and went out.

Upon reaching the downstairs area, he remembered that the car had just been sent for maintenance this morning.

A row of shared bicycles was parked by the roadside.

Anyway, the new small studio he opened in the school was not far away, just a two-kilometer journey.

He might as well treat it as physical exercise.

So, Lin Xuan took out his Mobile Phone and scanned the code.

A "Beep" sound rang out, and the bike lock popped open.

Lin Xuan mounted the seat and stomped hard on the pedal with his right foot.

The bicycle surged forward.

He hunched his back, his legs alternating as he pedaled furiously.

On the playground.

The boys were divided into two groups and had already finished running.

It was now the girls' turn for testing.

Xiao Sizi was assigned to the first group, standing in the third lane.

"On your marks," Teacher Wang raised his right hand.

Xiao Sizi bent down, her feet staggered front and back.

"Get set!"

Beep—

A sharp whistle sound cut through the air.

The five girls beside her swung their arms and rushed out.

Xiao Sizi took her first step, her gait extremely unfamiliar.

She trailed at the very back of the pack.

The amplitude of her arm swings was small, her body stiff.

Soon, she entered the first curve.

Oxygen in the lungs began to be consumed rapidly.

The frequency of the heartbeat increased.

This was a normal physiological reaction after intense physical exertion.

But in Xiao Sizi's brain.

this accelerated heartbeat and slight sensation of oxygen deprivation triggered an extremely dangerous alarm mechanism.

That night, heavy rain poured down.

The Imperial Physician held a bowl of bitter black medicine.

Zhangsun Huanghou sat by the bedside wiping away tears.

"I can't catch my breath..."

That extremely real sensation of suffocation from memory came rushing over without warning.

Xiao Sizi's cheeks rapidly lost their color, turning deathly pale.

One hundred and fifty meters.

She opened her mouth, gasping for air in large gulps.

But the brain issued a faulty protective command.

The tracheal muscles produced a spasm-like contraction, as if hallucinating.

She felt the air she inhaled becoming less and less.

"Huff... hhh..."

Her breathing rhythm was completely thrown into chaos.

Inhalation was short and rapid; exhalation was difficult.

Her legs grew heavy and sore, unable to summon strength.

The classmates ahead had already opened a gap of over thirty meters.

The girl in first place ran very easily, her ponytail swishing back and forth behind her head.

Outside the track, by the edge of the lawn.

"Lin Mingda! Go for it!"

Xiao Ya stood within the crowd.

Her hands cupped around her mouth, her face flushed red as she shouted loudly.

Several boys joined in, making a ruckus and shouting.

But Xiao Sizi could not hear clearly.

Only her own extremely heavy panting remained.

The sound of her heartbeat was startlingly loud, thumping against her eardrums, one beat after another.

Her vision began to sway.

The red-and-white track blurred before her eyes.

Two hundred meters; she had run only half the distance.

The fear of suffocation grew increasingly obvious.

Xiao Sizi slowed her pace.

She raised her left hand and grabbed the fabric of her school uniform at her chest.

She forcibly crumpled the smooth lapel into a ball.

She tried to squeeze her chest to draw in more air.

She stumbled with her next step; the sole of her left shoe snagged on her right ankle.

Her body lost its balance.

Xiao Sizi staggered backward two steps to her right.

She stepped on the white line at the track's edge, barely managing to steady herself.

But she could not move forward.

Her throat felt as if stuffed with a wad of water-soaked cotton.

She wanted to stop.

She wanted to bend over and squat on the ground.

Her knees went soft, and her body began to sink.

Xiao Sizi even closed her eyes, waiting for that familiar sensation of suffocation to completely engulf her.

Screech—!

A blue shared bicycle lay overturned on the sidewalk.

Its rear wheel hung in the air, the pedals still spinning rapidly in empty rotation.

Lin Xuan swung his long legs, leaped over the low winter-green shrubbery, and rushed to the edge of the playground.

His hands gripped the green plastic-coated wire mesh.

"Lin Mingda!"

Lin Xuan let out a thunderous shout.

Xiao Sizi's body jerked to a sudden halt, and she turned her head.

Separated by a lawn more than ten meters wide and a wire mesh fence, Lin Xuan stood on the sidewalk outside the school, his forehead covered in sweat.

Xiao Sizi's body jerked to a sudden halt, and she turned her head.

Separated by a lawn more than ten meters wide and a wire mesh fence, Lin Xuan stood on the sidewalk outside the school, his forehead covered in sweat.

It seemed that two kilometers of cycling had been quite frantic!

Lin Xuan released the wire mesh and swung his arms.

Running along the sidewalk outside the fence, he kept pace parallel to Xiao Sizi on the track inside, taking long strides.

"Stand straight! Keep running!"

"Go for it, you can do it!"

Lin Xuan shouted as he ran.

Xiao Sizi bit her lower lip; tears burst forth, blurring her vision.

She wanted to say she couldn't catch her breath, wanted to say she was about to die.

But Lin Xuan seemed to have seen into her heart and spoke first.

"I know what you are worried about."

"You are afraid of that suffocation from before; you have remembered those past instructions telling you not to exercise."

"But your root illness was removed long ago; the current breathlessness is you scaring yourself!"

Lin Xuan stared at the thin, small figure inside the wire fence and began issuing breathing commands.

He knew too well how to deal with psychogenic asthma; he had to forcibly take control of her consciousness with an extremely firm external rhythm.

"Follow my rhythm! Three steps inhale! Three steps exhale!"

"One, two, three, inhale!"

"One, two, three, exhale!"

Xiao Sizi listened to Lin Xuan's powerful countdown.

She forced herself to keep her mouth shut.

Abandoning that near-death method of gasping for air.

Left foot lands, right foot follows.

Fear in her heart pulled frantically, making her feel as though her lungs were about to explode.

Outside the net, Lin Xuan roared, "Keep your eyes on the track ahead, not on your feet!"

"Brother is here; modern medicine protects you. You will absolutely not suffer an attack."

"Please run with peace of mind, like a bird soaring freely, like a horse galloping with passion!"

"You can train properly and possess a healthier body!"

Hearing this, Xiao Sizi's nostrils flared.

Following the rhythm Lin Xuan called out, she inhaled forcefully.

The fear in her eyes began to recede, and her arms started swinging at her sides again.

One, two, three, inhale.

One, two, three, exhale.

Her strides were no longer chaotic; Xiao Sizi had regained the rhythm of running.

Crossing the two-hundred-and-fifty-meter curve, she entered the straightaway.

Outside the wire fence, Lin Xuan maintained a speed shoulder-to-shoulder with her.

His gaze never left her for a single moment.