Chapter 34: An Upset! The Dark Horse Against the Odds (Extra update! Please vote and add to your library!)

Su Shen was still maintaining the lead during the mid-race phase. Even Ning Debao, standing on the sidelines, hadn't expected this.

That was Yi Xiaoqiang, a rising star in the Hong Kong track scene capable of breaking the 10.80-second barrier. Even Zhang Peimeng, who was rumored to be entering national team training soon, had lost to him before. Su Shen was undoubtedly talented—he was the prodigy in Ning Debao’s own heart—but a gap between 11 seconds and a sub-10.80 runner was at least four levels apart. How could he possibly close that distance?

Honestly, Ning Debao’s psychological expectation for this race was for Zhou Bing to fight for a medal, and for Su Shen to participate and secure a middle-of-the-pack finish. She never imagined it would turn out like this.

As the race progressed, Su Shen had somehow moved into first place. For a moment, Ning Debao thought she must have misread the track.

Yi Xiaoqiang tried desperately to catch up; if he lost the championship, he would be a laughingstock back home. But his body had only just recovered, he still couldn't break the 10.80-second mark, and he was struggling with the strong headwind. No matter how hard he pushed, he couldn't close the gap.

Su Shen was running with a posture different from his usual form; this was a matter of technique. Specifically, it involved:

Adjusting the distance between the landing point and the body's center of gravity at the moment of contact.
Adjusting the arm swing distance.
Adjusting stride width.
Adjusting the angle of the support thigh at the moment of takeoff.
Adjusting the knee angle of the lead leg.
Adjusting the knee angle of the trailing leg.
Adjusting...

It wasn't much, just about a dozen micro-adjustments. Perform them all simultaneously, train enough, and one could find the body's optimal state even under such headwind conditions. See? It was that simple.

Yi Xiaoqiang simply couldn't fathom it. Why was this guy running so fast in this kind of wind? Was he unaffected? What was he made of? Did he have a wind-breaking device installed in front of him?

Unaffected? Of course, that was impossible. It was just a matter of making the body more adaptable and minimizing the impact. But none of the current competitors had practiced in headwind conditions, nor did they possess the advanced, secret knowledge that Su Shen had. Naturally, in the face of the strong headwind, they were ruthlessly suppressed by Su Shen.

This was what you might call "heaven giving a helping hand." Under normal circumstances, Su Shen would have had absolutely no chance of winning; he hadn't even truly broken the 11-second mark yet. Against Yi Xiaoqiang, he would have had no path to victory. But life is full of surprises, and since fate was so generous, Su Shen certainly wasn't going to be modest.

Sprint.

Leaving the mid-race phase and entering the final sprint zone, Su Shen forced his body to stabilize, maintained his breathing depth, and pushed forward with all his might.

Whoosh—

In this rapid motion, the heavy wind felt almost like tangible resistance, stinging his face. But Su Shen could sense Yi Xiaoqiang beginning to close in from behind; he couldn't stop.

Keep it up.

Fifteen meters to go.

Yi Xiaoqiang was chasing with everything he had, but the high wind speed made his running feel "floaty." This was the importance of upper-body strength. In such high wind speeds, whether it was a tailwind or a headwind, your upper-body strength was the key to maintaining balance and stability.

This was a lesson Su Shen had only learned later. In the early stages, he was also a "stick-figure" in his upper body and had been plagued by this very problem. Looking at Yi Xiaoqiang behind him, because he was fighting against the strong headwind, his usual arm-swing strength and speed were no longer enough. He had actually resorted to an extremely non-standard "drum-beating" arm swing.

Even for a novice, a coach would severely reprimand them for such a technique and force them to correct it. But in this situation, when upper-body strength was insufficient and one desperately wanted to run faster, the only option was to sacrifice technical form. This, in turn, disrupted body balance, leading to a chain reaction.

Li Qing watched from the side. Even a veteran coach like him began to look at this lane-five runner with… wide eyes. Under such strong wind, his balance was… completely undisturbed?

Look at the state Yi Xiaoqiang was in! Although this was partly because Yi Xiaoqiang was so desperate to run faster that he disrupted his own rhythm, the impact of the wind could not be ignored. It was a combination of internal and external factors that led to such a problem.

Once the arm-swing rhythm was lost, it became even harder to fight the strong headwind. Su Shen maintained a one-body-length lead with 90 meters remaining.

95 meters, still leading.

Approaching the finish line, still leading!

Su Shen adjusted his body and lunged across the line with everything he had. Even without the electronic timer, anyone with a slight understanding of the sport could see it with the naked eye: this race had produced an upset.

The biggest favorite, Yi Xiaoqiang—who had come thinking he would just go through the motions and win the prize money easily—had somehow inexplicably lost to an unknown kid.

The reporters were initially confused and swarmed toward Yi Xiaoqiang, preparing for the victory interview. This situation was all too common in racing; Su Shen remembered that in his previous life, the first time he beat "Glasses Sprinter" Hu Kai, the reporters all ran toward Hu Kai, and no one paid any attention to him, the actual winner.

However… this was what being a "dark horse" was all about.

Yi Xiaoqiang felt awkward, for he knew very well that he hadn't won this race. Regardless of the wind's influence, and regardless of whether he could beat Su Shen under normal circumstances, the result of this race was set in stone. He had been upset by this boy from a small village in Xiangshan City.

The final results appeared on the electronic screen. The last place was Zhang Jun in lane one, with a time of 11.80. Zhu Huanjun ran an 11.47. Zhou Bing took third place; he had been chasing Su Shen closely and was actually pulled along by Su Shen’s speed, finishing with an 11.35. He had secured the bronze medal, which meant a medal and prize money—the trip hadn't been in vain.

Yi Xiaoqiang was second with a time of 11.29. Finally, there was Su Shen; the electronic screen displayed his time: 11.27.

Moreover, the wind gauge had recorded the wind speed for this race: a headwind of 3.3 meters per second.

???

The reporters stared, stunned. What was going on? The winner wasn't Yi Xiaoqiang from Hong Kong? Wasn't it already investigated that he had absolute strength? Su Shen? Who was he? A rising star? Why hadn't they heard this name before?

There was no time to ponder; they had to grab a spot for an interview. With that, a crowd of reporters immediately dragged their equipment and microphones, rushing toward Su Shen. The momentum was so intense that even Zhou Bing, who wanted to find Su Shen, was almost knocked over.

"Student Su Shen, as the winner, what are your thoughts?"
"Student Su Shen, does it feel happy, exciting, or incredible to beat Yi Xiaoqiang?"
"Student Su Shen, is this truly your first time participating in an invitational?"
"Student Su Shen, do you have any secrets to running so fast? Are you really only 15 years old?"

...

Regardless of the questions, Su Shen answered them all with ease, leaving no openings. Facing the cameras and the aggressive reporters, he remained calm and composed, showing no sign of panic. Ning Debao had seen this kind of scene before, but the others… they hadn't.

Zhou Bing muttered to himself, "Good grief, surrounded by so many cameras and microphones, he’s still this calm. Is this what they call talent?"

"Is this guy not going to let us 'mortals' live in peace?"

Li Qing watched as well. He withdrew his gaze from his shock and looked at the Xiangshan boy, who was surrounded but still maintained a natural expression and poised speech. He turned his head and said, "Peimeng, this kid is no ordinary person. You need to be careful in the future. He is very likely to become one of your rivals."

Zhang Peimeng nodded. Ever since losing to Su Shen on the first day, he had felt the same way. Moreover, he knew that if he were surrounded by so many reporters and cameras, he wouldn't be able to stay as calm and collected as Su Shen.

"With a 3.3 m/s headwind and a time of 11.27 seconds, it shows that his raw strength has already broken the 11-second barrier."
"If you account for the wind's influence, his actual condition might be even better."
"If he really is 15, his talent is quite something—top-tier, for sure."
"Well, you've been lacking motivation lately, haven't you? Have you found it now?" Li Qing was skilled at using provocation to push Zhang Peimeng to improve his winning mindset.

Zhang Peimeng remained silent for a few seconds before saying, "Next time, I will definitely defeat him. Whether it’s the 200 meters or the 100 meters."

Zhang Peimeng clenched his fists, looking toward Su Shen, who was still giving interviews. "I must win."

...

Because it was only a small-to-medium-sized invitational, the award ceremony was simple, but the first-place prize was a full 3,000 yuan. For the end of 2004 in China, this was a significant income. Many jobs back then only paid a three-digit monthly salary. In Gu Yi Village, it was a massive fortune.

Su Shen thought that when he returned for the New Year, he could finally bring his parents some comfort and prove that their son was not wrong for choosing this path.

When Su Shen returned, Ning Debao grabbed him immediately, her expression serious. "How did you manage to counter that strong headwind? Did you find some latest research in an SCI paper that you didn't tell me about?"

This expression made Su Shen feel a mix of amusement and frustration, but he could only nod vaguely and promise to translate it for her when they got back. Only then did Ning Debao nod with satisfaction.

As for Li Qing and the others trying to gather information, Ning Debao could only smile and politely decline. After all… she didn't actually know what was going on either. But as Su Shen’s coach, she couldn't admit such a face-losing truth. She had to cover for him, planning to "interrogate" him thoroughly once they returned home until he revealed all these "latest intelligence" details to her.

A thirst for knowledge ignited in Ning Debao was truly terrifying.

And so, the Pearl River Delta Invitational, which had been a quiet affair in his previous life, came to an end this time in a rather dramatic fashion.