Chapter Thirty-One: Run Naked, Brother!

“The track is four hundred meters per lap, which means we need to run one hundred and five laps,” Xu Gaofeng continued.

“One hundred and five laps!” Geng Haoshi’s face was drained of color. “How long is that going to take?”

“For professionals, it can be done in two and a half hours. For skilled amateurs, three hours is already impressive. Those who train regularly can finish in about four hours. If you don’t usually train, it might take five, six, maybe even eight hours,” Xu Gaofeng adjusted his black-rimmed glasses—he was every bit the model scholar.

“You said you were unstoppable just moments ago; now you’re wilting?” Zhu Di couldn’t resist a jab.

“I’m only good for ten rounds in a night, but a hundred times would be my undoing,” Geng Haoshi replied, his face mournful.

“You? Ten times in a night?” Zhu Di landed a playful punch on Geng Haoshi’s head. “You’d be lucky to manage once!”

“Mm, mm,” the other teammates nodded in agreement.

Geng Haoshi could only sweat in silence.

“Brothers, the road ahead is long. Let’s start early,” Captain Meng Lang declared.

As summer gave way to autumn, the nights were already growing chilly.

Geng Haoshi, bare-chested, shivered in the brisk wind as he and his teammates began their marathon.

“Captain, are your parents fans of Jin Lao Master?” Geng Haoshi asked, keeping pace with Meng Lang.

“How so?” Meng Lang replied, puzzled.

“Why else would they give you such a name?”

“What’s wrong with my name?”

“‘Meng Lang’—isn’t that the name Jin Lao Master used for the rendezvous between Xu Zhu and Meng Gu in ‘Heavenly Dragon’? Captain, do you secretly have someone called Meng Gu you’re in love with?”

Meng Lang said nothing, but a heavy fist landed squarely on Geng Haoshi’s head.

Clutching his head, Geng Haoshi slowed down—damn, this big guy really has violent tendencies! He’d only meant to pass the time and flatter the captain a bit.

“Gaofeng, I bet your dad is obsessed with big chests, right?” Geng Haoshi shifted his attention to Xu Gaofeng.

Xu Gaofeng was left speechless and bewildered.

“Gaofeng, Gaofeng—‘towering peaks.’ If your dad isn’t a fan of big chests, then maybe your mom is?”

Xu Gaofeng was caught in awkward silence.

Seeing no reply from Xu Gaofeng, Geng Haoshi turned his gaze toward the forward, Sun Peng.

“Senior Sun Peng—” Geng Haoshi started, but Sun Peng shot him a glare. Sun Peng had never cared for Geng Haoshi’s loose tongue and preferred not to waste words.

“Senior Sun Peng, your fly is undone.”

Sun Peng glanced down, and sure enough, there was a long gap in his trousers. He quickly zipped up.

“It’s late—so what if it’s undone? It’s a chance to toughen up the little brother, why not?” Zhu Di, the joker of the basketball team, chimed in, finding common cause with Geng Haoshi.

“You’re right, Brother Zhu,” Geng Haoshi grinned, delighted to find a kindred spirit. “I suggest everyone unzip, and let’s forge indestructible little brothers in the cold wind!”

The group was instantly frozen by the audacity of his words.

“Ahem, Little Two, your suggestion is…,” Zhu Di smirked.

“What about it?”

“It’s too childish to just unzip. Besides, your oversized shorts even have a zipper? Why not really set ourselves free—go streaking! Wouldn’t that be exhilarating?”

“Brilliant idea, Brother Zhu!” Geng Haoshi was eager.

“Come on, Little Two, take the lead! Let us follow your charge!” Zhu Di egged him on.

“Alright! I’ll strip first, as a sign of respect!”

With that, Geng Haoshi swiftly shed his shorts and underwear, standing bare before his teammates.

He really did it! The group was once again thrown into chaos by the wind.

“Brothers, follow me and let’s gallop together!” Geng Haoshi shouted, setting off at a run.

“Little Two, you’ve got guts!” In fact, Zhu Di had always wanted to try streaking. “In top universities abroad, streaking is a meaningful tradition—don’t you want to experience it too? Are we going to let those decaying capitalist societies outdo us? At the very least, we can’t lose to Little Two! Did you forget what Xiao Ling said earlier today? Are you really so lacking in nerve?”

Though his words were meant to provoke, Zhu Di’s own heart burned with excitement.

“Anyone who doesn’t strip will never have sons!” Zhou Xiaoshan quickly shed all his clothes. As Xiao Ling’s boyfriend, Zhu Di’s words hit him especially hard—if even his girlfriend looked down on him, what kind of man was he?

“Good!” Zhu Di followed suit and stripped.

“Bunch of lunatics!” Sun Peng said, but stripped as well.

“No escaping now,” Meng Lang resigned himself and stripped.

Even the most proper member, Xu Gaofeng, shed his clothes.

Captain Meng Lang faced the six substitute players, stunned into silence, and said, “We’re naked—you do as you like.”

With all the main players stripped, the substitutes dared not hold back. Before long, they too were naked.

“Alright then,” Zhu Di shouted, “Run, brothers!”

Under the night sky, stars shining above, the university track was soon filled with a team of naked men charging down the rubber lanes.

“This late at night, I’m stuck watching a bunch of crazed weirdos!” Old He, the track manager, sat before the surveillance monitors, wishing he could blow up the stadium.

“Little Two!” Zhu Di caught up to Geng Haoshi first.

Geng Haoshi glanced up and down at Zhu Di. “Brother Zhu, nice physique.”

“Of course! I’m known as the walking statue,” Zhu Di said, striking a pose from the famous Greek discus thrower sculpture.

9527 could only sweat—he hadn’t expected to meet someone as thick-skinned as his master.

“Great minds think alike! I’ve always wondered why the heavens made me so handsome. Brother Zhu’s words just now were a revelation—turns out, I’m the embodiment of ‘pure lotus rising from clear water, naturally unadorned.’”

9527 sweated even more—no, his master was still the thickest-skinned of all!

Gradually, the other teammates caught up.

“You truly are the pride of Tiansheng Polytechnic’s basketball team, Captain! Your little brother is the most heroic!” Geng Haoshi tried once again to flatter Meng Lang.

Everyone could only sweat.

Meng Lang made no objection, so Geng Haoshi pressed on, “Captain, let your mighty eagle lead us little fledglings to soar!”

Everyone was drenched in sweat.

Whether eagle or fledgling, on this autumn night, caressed by the cool breeze, the naked members of the basketball team were all becoming increasingly… stirred.

At that moment, a clear, beautiful voice rang out from the stadium’s broadcast room…