CHAPTER 980: CHAPTER 566: THESE VOLUNTEERS (PART 2)

Xue Chuchu smiled lightly: "Very impressive."

Then there was a moment of silence.

Jiang Ning instructed: "I’m going to participate in the competition later and help break the wind; can you please take Tongtong to eat something?"

He handed over a thin metal badge: "This is for food at the finish line. Once you have this badge, you can eat."

Afterward, Jiang Ning found Yang Sheng and headed to the starting point.

...

Time ticked closer second by second.

The students from the Fourth Middle School participating in the marathon gathered in one place, talking incessantly among themselves.

Dan Kaiquan stood at the edge, quietly stretching.

Guo Kunnan looked towards the distance, where junior Lan Zichen was chatting with Wu Yunzhi. He said to his good buddy: "Brother Quan, good luck, your athletic talent is not bad."

Dan Kaiquan also spotted Wu Yunzhi’s unpleasant face, especially the show-off expression he had in front of Lan Zichen.

Wu Yunzhi spoke loudly enough for others to hear, telling a familiar male student beside him: "Follow my pace when we run, and your ranking won’t be bad."

The senior sports student Tao Nian, while stretching, remarked: "Dude, have you ever run a marathon?"

Wu Yunzhi ignored him.

Shang Wanqing, noticing Tao Nian’s professional demeanor and handsome looks, smiled warmly: "Have you run a marathon before, senior?"

Tao Nian, hearing the junior’s response, smiled brightly: "I previously participated in a full marathon in An City and luckily made it to the top hundred."

"Senior, your stamina is really impressive, to make it into the top hundred."

Shang Wanqing, with her standout appearance and exquisite attire, slightly parted her lips, showing just the right amount of admiration, accompanied by a faint sparkle in her eyes, making it all feel very genuine and not at all forced.

Tao Nian felt a warm spring breeze, and his fondness for the junior skyrocketed. Who doesn’t enjoy the admiration of a pretty girl?

As they chatted a bit, Wu Yunzhi watched from the sidelines, his eyes twitching, feeling a surge of jealousy as his arrogant self witnessed this scene.

He did not look pleased, speaking with a slightly stern tone: "Shang Wanqing, come over here."

Tao Nian noticed this and also felt annoyed, calling out: "Who are you?"

Shang Wanqing, feeling embarrassed: "Senior, wait for me a moment."

Then she followed Wu Yunzhi to a slightly more distant spot.

Wu Yunzhi, unhappy, questioned: "What were you talking to him about? What’s there to discuss?"

Under his stern tone, tears welled up in Shang Wanqing’s eyes, and she looked down:

"I acted like that towards him to help my brother, hoping he would achieve a good result. If you don’t like it, I’ll stop in the future..."

Wu Yunzhi’s heart softened, and he took a deep breath: "Okay, Wanqing, I don’t need you to sacrifice yourself."

Shang Wanqing: "But I want to see my brother win awards even more."

Nearby, Lan Zichen watched coldly.

Suddenly, a voice sounded beside her: "Jiang Ning, are you also participating in the competition?"

Yang Sheng was quite surprised.

"The official organizer sent me an invitation to participate." Jiang Ning replied.

"Is that possible?" Yang Sheng was stunned but didn’t dwell on it, asking instead, "Are you planning to win an award?"

Yang Sheng was well aware of Jiang Ning’s physical abilities; he broke records in track and field, was elite level in gym bench pressing, and in fights, he could take on multiple adversaries at once.

Even though he was not the best in any single discipline compared to the top athletes, he was very well-rounded. Yang Sheng’s father worked in sports, and having been influenced since childhood, she’d seen some provincial-level athletes, but none like Jiang Ning.

"As for winning an award, it depends on the situation. I promised to cheer for you, so I have to fulfill my responsibility." Jiang Ning said casually.

Yang Sheng laughed: "You’re loyal as always."

"But your own competition is more important."

Jiang Ning: "It’s fine, I’ll just play around a bit first."

Yang Sheng looked around, aside from the dense crowd, she saw many police officers maintaining order, further away, many white-coated medical staff, and countless volunteers.

"For this marathon, Yuzhou has put in a lot of effort." Yang Sheng remarked.

On the surface, many were attracted by the huge prize money, but behind the scenes, it was the result of countless officials’ hard work; otherwise, it would be impossible to maintain such a large-scale event.

"Yang Sheng!" All of a sudden, a tall figure appeared.

...

o’clock is approaching.

The sunlight shines on a huge blue billboard, illuminating the entire platform. Large letters read: 2014 Yuzhou Half Marathon.

On a new line: Happy Yuzhou, Everlasting Evergreen.

Thirteen black-clad marksmen stand in a row, holding starting guns high.

Ten thousand participants wearing bright athletic clothes have determination written on their faces, their eyes fixed ahead, tension filling the air.

Countless spectators crowd both sides of the track, watching to see who will win the championship and take the 660,000 prize.

And in front of all the runners, several pink electric scooters are parked steadily.

Xue Chuchu is one of the riders.

Phones and cameras flash continuously as many people take photos of this girl with a perfect appearance, the likes of which some might never witness in their lifetime.

Xue Chuchu’s expression remains unchanged. She often encounters such situations in life, so she is quite used to it, unlike Tongtong behind her, who has buried her small face completely in her shadow.

Xue Chuchu glanced at the stopwatch, looked at the twins on her right, lightly twisted the throttle, and the electric scooter surged forward first.

The marathon route is completely closed, so she can go as fast as she wants.

Outside, a young woman said to Shen Qing’e: "Why is someone riding an electric scooter in the race?"

Shen Qing’e gazed intently at Xue Chuchu and Xue Yuantong and said to her sister: "They must be volunteers."

’With Xue Yuantong around, Jiang Ning is probably here too, where is he?’ Shen Qing’e searched the crowd, but there were too many people. She couldn’t find him.

A bit farther away, Li Shi complained: "Are we here to see people?"

In front of the billboard.

The host in a white suit shouted: "3, 2, 1!"

"Bang!" The gunshot rang out.

Countless runners rushed past the starting line, casting dazzling shadows. Drones soared into the air, flying towards the track ahead, capturing the crowd from above like dumplings.

At the same time, Yu Zhou TV Station is broadcasting the event live.

...

Some are running, some are riding scooters.

At the 5-kilometer mark, along the edge of the track, an ice jelly stall appeared.

A chef wearing a chef’s hat was making ice jelly with skilled hands. One by one, sparkling bowls of ice jelly were placed at the stall, topped with various ingredients: crushed hawthorn, raisins, dragon fruit, mango...

The spectators gathered here originally planned to wait for the leading runners to see who had an early advantage, but they were immediately attracted to the beautiful ice jelly. They could tell it was delicious without even tasting it.

Someone asked: "Boss, give us a bowl."

"Yeah, give us a bowl!"

The boss shouted: "No, this is for the participants!"

"I’ll pay!"

"Even if you pay, you can’t have it!"

Of course, the boss wasn’t inflexible. He saw the security personnel in uniform nearby and handed over two bowls: "Thank you for your hard work!"

The onlookers were fuming silently.

Someone managed to resist the temptation and looked towards the track, seeing several pink electric scooters zooming their way.

The scooters slowed down, and Xue Yuantong curiously stuck her little head out to look at the ice jelly stall.

She took out a sign to show her identity: "We’re volunteers!"

The stall owner immediately handed over a bowl of colorful ice jelly and even thoughtfully prepared small stools.

Xue Yuantong and Xue Chuchu sat on the small stools facing the half-marathon track, eating ice jelly while chatting with the twins.

Chen Siyu: "Mmm, it’s delicious!"

The chef uncle laughed loudly: "I’m a chef from Evergreen Liquid, how can it not be delicious?"

"From Evergreen Liquid!" Chen Siyu was stunned.

The crowd just watched them eat ice jelly.

Many people were so angry their noses were bent: "Are you volunteers here to eat?"

Chen Siyu replied confidently: "We’re taste-testing for the participants!"