CHAPTER 389: CHAPTER 95: COMPREHENSIVE PHYSICAL EXAMINATION FOR ALL AT SACRED HEART MIDDLE SCHOOL

Not long after the noon recess bell rang, the B-section cafeteria at Sacred Heart Middle School was packed to the brim.

Zhang Yiyi, relying on her larger size, blocked the crowd behind her and allowed Xiao Xian to successfully break through and rush to the head chef’s window, snatching up a piece of braised pork ribs, a bowl of stir-fried bean sprouts and kelp, along with two chicken legs.

By the time the two of them emerged sweating profusely with their rice and complimentary tomato egg soup, they found that the cafeteria had long run out of seats.

"Sit over here," said Zeng Xuerou, who was seated with a senior student in a corner of the cafeteria. She had a gym class last period and was dismissed fifteen minutes early, giving her the leisure to eat without rushing or waiting.

After Xiao Xian and Zhang Yiyi sat down, they both lamented how difficult it was to just get a meal. Zeng Xuerou let her dining companion leave early and shared some news with them.

"Physical fitness test? Isn’t that just a physical examination? Isn’t this only required for new students and graduates?" said Zhang Yiyi, still munching on a bean sprout, which made it look like she had a mustache that wiggled as she spoke. Though termed a physical examination, it was in fact quite a hassle, with a wide range of checks from weight and height, to lung capacity, blood pressure, and heart rate. Zhang Yiyi had one when she graduated from sixth grade and moved up to middle school.

"This time it’s a bit different. They say it’s to cooperate with the Education Bureau’s study on comprehensive quality, and there will be subsequent improvement plans," Zeng Xuerou, as the Student Council President, had access to plenty of news. In previous years, the school would simply arrange for the relevant hospital departments to come to check the new students and graduates. This time, however, it seemed to be taken much more seriously, with all the results of the physical examinations to be collected, and every student was required to participate.

"Could it have something to do with what happened to Wang Ke?" Xiao Xian thought the Education Bureau must suspect more students at Sacred Heart Middle School might be involved in the incident with Wang Ke. It was said that Wang Ke had already taken a leave of absence and was still in the hospital, yet to regain consciousness. Although Xiao Xian didn’t like Wang Ke, the thought of her lying in bed for the rest of her life still made her feel a bit of pity for her.

"It’s likely not that. Xiao Xian, you are the sports representative for your class. The physical examination schedule is based on each class’s gym sessions. Your class is due on Wednesday afternoon, so you’ll need to organize everyone then," Zeng Xuerou informed her in her official tone, while Zhang Yiyi took the chance to tease them from the side.

Not only the middle school students at Sacred Heart but also the entire high school department, including the seniors preparing for college entrance exams, had to participate in this fitness test.

From the day Zeng Xuerou received the news, classes in both middle and high schools began taking turns to participate in the physical fitness tests. By Wednesday afternoon, when it was Xiao Xian’s class’s turn, the fitness tests were already more than halfway done. The data statistics report in the hands of Zhou Ziang and Aisha showed the following:

Thirty percent of the students had signs of anemia and low blood pressure. Twenty percent of the students lacked exercise and showed signs of mild obesity. Sixty percent of the students were myopic.

"This data is not very optimistic," Aisha remarked with a smile while looking at the physical fitness report on Sacred Heart Middle School students, "The Chinese government should provide more nutritional supplements for students. How could a reasonable dietary structure lack milk and beef."

During her half-month stay in China, she struggled to adapt to the Chinese breakfast. Fortunately, she stayed in a star-rated hotel that provided Western-style buffets. Despite this, Aisha had already made a call, complaining about these dietary issues.

"The Chinese diet is not so problematic. The same physical fitness checks in the United States wouldn’t necessarily yield much better data, especially in terms of obesity," said Zhou Ziang as he tucked the report away and left the temporary office that Sacred Heart Middle School had prepared for them.

"Ziang, where are you going?" Aisha immediately followed him, and Huang the interpreter quickly caught up, duty-bound.

"I’m going to check out how the physical fitness tests are being conducted. To find ways to improve physical fitness, you can’t just sit in an office looking at a pile of reports," Zhou Ziang turned towards the high school’s sports field.

Coincidentally, just as Zhou Ziang stepped onto the sports field, he spotted a familiar face.

The field had just finished a step exercise, which involved using a wooden platform about fifty to sixty centimeters high. Students would step up and down in rhythm for about three minutes, then student’s heartbeats and pulses were measured afterward to assess their heart rate conditions.