The five turned around, no longer paying attention to the three on the treadmill, exchanged a barely perceptible glance, and hid their smiles at the corners of their mouths.
"The rest time at the end of each round shall not exceed two minutes."
"Can we get some food? We brought our own," Du Lanshan asked. He wanted to adjust the order of the weightlifting. Cheng Shuang's arm strength was definitely not an advantage. If he could set an example first, the remaining lighter weights would put less pressure on his teammates. But obviously, ten kilograms was the starting point. Once that was exceeded, this way of passing the test, which was tantamount to cheating, might not be recognized by the rules.
"Okay, but the flavor can't be too strong." The plastic coach was extremely accommodating this time. It's true that you only appreciate things when you compare them to others; the difference between spending money and not spending money is immediately apparent.
"It's best not to eat yet, it's a waste of time. We'll offer bananas and energy drinks when you're fully rested," it instructed, gesturing for Cheng Shuang to go first.
Cheng Shuang lay down, and Du Lanshan personally adjusted her grip and foot position. This action made the plastic coach increasingly uneasy. After seeing Du Lanshan stand up straight, he asked in a low voice, "Have you trained before?"
Du Lanshan smiled warmly, "I'm not as professional as you guys. I just bought some equipment at home and practiced randomly by watching videos."
"You can't just train haphazardly, you'll easily injure yourself." The coach's voice became somewhat cheerful again. "I see your muscle distribution is good. In my hands, it won't take more than half a month to adjust your deficiencies."
"Thank you so much!"
The conversation between Uncle Du and the plastic coach could be heard, but Cheng Shuang's eyes were fixed on the barbell. She first tried to push it up, and only when she felt that she could do it did she slowly push it up.
The first one to perfectly meet the standard.
The young girl paused for a moment. She usually lifted 10 kilograms during her workouts, and each time she practiced, she would lift at least 20. In theory, this hurdle shouldn't have been difficult for her. However, after the first one landed, she clearly noticed that the barbell felt a little off as it stopped at her chest and neck.
Cheng Shuang looked up at Du Jun and Liu Juan, who were watching her intently. Their expressions were perfectly normal...
The girl pursed her lips. The lever in her hand felt slippery and damp, and it was no illusion. She gritted her teeth and decisively pushed the second one... Ouch! She gasped, almost dropping it before she could react.
A spotted, pointed snake lay on her palms, its head spinning, looking down at her.
As the snake hissed, it emitted the earthy smell unique to cold-blooded animals, and its pair of red beady eyes were fixed on her face, as if it were about to bite her at the slightest provocation.
Cheng Shuang wasn't actually afraid. It was just a snake. Animal Planet had snakes that were hundreds or thousands of times bigger than this one, and they still swayed around in front of her.
What she feared was snake venom.
"Baby, put it down!" Liu Juan looked at the little girl with confusion and anxiety, her arms swaying as if she was about to give way.
"Is there something there?" Du Jun asked calmly, reaching out as if trying to grab something in the air above the barbell.
"Hey, hey, hey, you can't help," the plastic coach quickly reminded him.
Cheng Shuang gritted her teeth, opened her mouth wide in a fierce, biting expression, and put the barbell back down.
All everyone saw was the little girl let out a cute but fierce howl... and that was it!
A black man with a question mark face?
What's going on?
Just to act cute!?
Cheng Shuang wanted to say something, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. The snake wasn't fake; at least to her, it was real.
The only thing she can do better than it is have more teeth and a bigger mouth; the rest depends entirely on who has better luck.
The little girl sadly recalled a proverb: If a dog bites you, are you going to bite it back?
She used to think that puppies were so cute, and that they would never bite unless provoked.
But now, no, she'll bite back before the dog bites her!
Even though Cheng Shuang didn't say anything, everyone could tell something was wrong. What was with that eight-toothed, fake smile? Did she have to smile like that while lifting a barbell?
After the little girl safely finished five sets of ten kilograms and got off the stool, she rubbed her face and tried to speak, but her throat only made hoarse sounds.
Snake venom isn't just found in the teeth.
Cheng Shuang hurriedly fed herself a pink pill, and her fair face slowly returned to normal.
At this moment, the plastic coach urged Liu Juan to lie down on the bench. After completing a lift, she quickly followed in Cheng Shuang's footsteps and saw a spotted snake that was even thicker than the little girl's, ferociously lunging at her.
Liu Juan... Liu Juan was forced to give a professional smile, but her heart was filled with joy. After getting up from the bench, she spat several times in disgust before popping a pink pill into her own mouth.
The third one is Du Lushui. He clearly had a negative attitude towards the idea of competing with a snake to see who could bite faster, so much so that he ended up getting bitten on the lip.
Although the person standing couldn't see what was happening to him, Cheng Shuang knew from his rapidly turning ashen face and unfocused pupils that he was no match for a snake, so she quickly stuffed a powder pill into his mouth to relieve the pain.
Although the antidote seemed more like a targeted treatment, she wasn't sure if the snake was real or fake. If it was fake, the snake venom was probably fake too; all the damage occurred when the mind was relaxed, invading the nerves. Nothing was as effective as the powder pill, which could instantly replenish mental and physical strength, quickly bringing one back to consciousness.
Sure enough, with the replenishment of the powder pills, Du Lushui immediately recovered. The man who was usually incapable of exercising exerted all his strength and, almost without stopping, gritted his teeth and completed five repetitions of bench press while drenched in sweat. His standard movements caught Du Lanshan's attention, and he secretly began to increase the intensity of his brother's usual training plan.
It seems people are driven by necessity; that's the truth!
The person who finished the barbell lift couldn't explain what happened, which made Du Jun more vigilant. Noticing the action of inserting the pill, he put a powder pill in his mouth beforehand, lay down, and quickly started the press.
Perhaps the effectiveness of the pills outweighed the traps on the barbell, because by the time he got off the bench, he hadn't seen anything messy.
Du Lanshan followed suit, and Du Lushui, fearing that her brother was not strong enough, made him suck on an extra pill. The five of them managed to get through this test by taking shortcuts.
When Cheng Shuang saw the second petal of the shopping voucher at the gym, she breathed a slight sigh of relief. Just as she put the voucher away, a scream suddenly came from the treadmill.
Three burly men had somehow become so close to the smart screen of the treadmills that they were moving their legs rapidly in small, quick steps. The saw blades behind the three treadmills followed closely behind their heels, and one of their feet was already bleeding profusely from being cut. Even so, none of them thought of jumping off the treadmills; their bodies seemed to be one with the smart screen in front of them, inseparable.
"Oh dear!" the plastic coach exclaimed with utter insincere regret. "They must have been littering."
Du Lanshan noticed that the beverage bottles that the three of them had casually placed on top of the treadmill were gone. He remembered that some people in the gym had poor manners; after drinking water, they would think they were cool and just crush the bottles and throw them behind the treadmill.
It was clear that the three people on the treadmill made the same mistake.
He hissed and, mimicking the tone of the fake coach, feigned regret, saying, "What a pity!"
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