Chapter 129 Exhausted

In the gym, Zhou Yi put on the sandbags Guo Nu lent him and ran on the treadmill.

Guo Nu was on the treadmill next to him, running alongside Zhou Yi.

Yang Muge looked at the two of them and asked Sun Pan, "Aren't you going to run?"

"Why should I run? I'm not the one running out of energy," Sun Pan said, shrugging. "Besides, I'm the goalkeeper, what do I need so much stamina for?"

"Just keep Zhou Yi company," Yang Muge advised.

Sun Pan shook his head like a rattle-drum: "No way!"

Seeing that Sun Pan was adamant this time, Yang Muge had to get on the treadmill on the other side of Zhou Yi and run with him, but he didn't set the speed very high, just a jog. It was completely different from Guo Nu's running speed.

Seeing that all three of them were on the machines, Sun Pan didn't stay. He put his hands behind his head, whistling, and turned around and left!

"Damn it!" Zhou Yi said angrily as he saw Sun Pan leave, "That kid's really not cool! Damn!"

Guo Nu reminded Zhou Yi next to him: "D-d-don't shout while you're r-r-running, b-b-be careful a-a-affecting your rhythm, m-m-messing up your b-b-breathing..."

Zhou Yi turned his head to look at Guo Nu and opened his mouth in surprise: "It really has a big impact, my breathing got messed up as soon as I opened my mouth..."

"I-I-I... I'm a st-st-stutterer!" Guo Nu's face turned red.

"Ah... uh, sorry, sorry..." Zhou Yi quickly apologized.

※※※

While the three of them were running on the treadmills, Sun Pan, wearing slippers from the hotel room and walking with splayed feet, reappeared in the gym "pinching" a small ceramic cup—because the cup was small and his hands were large, he was holding the handle with his fingers and thumb, making it look like he was pinching the cup.

Steam was rising from the cup. Sun Pan walked to Zhou Yi's side, took a deep sniff, and exclaimed, "This hotel's coffee is really good, it's so fragrant!"

Zhou Yi turned his head and looked at him, but didn't say anything.

After smelling it, Sun Pan took another sip and smacked his lips, savoring the taste: "Mmm—that's the flavor!"

Zhou Yi's breathing was already heavy, but seeing Sun Pan's behavior, he couldn't help but pant and complain: "Are you... are you drinking... Master Kong Braised Beef Noodle soup?!"

As soon as he said that, Sun Pan couldn't keep up the pretense. He looked down at the coffee in the cup and seemed to smell the aroma of braised beef noodles.

That was truly a flavorful remark...

He rolled his eyes, and then in one gulp, he drank the remaining noodle soup... no, the coffee in the cup.

Then he looked at Zhou Yi, who was panting on the treadmill, and laughed happily: "Retribution, retribution. You were relaxing on the sofa drinking coffee while we were running around like crazy. You probably never thought you'd have this day, Zhou Yi!"

Yang Muge finally understood why Sun Pan didn't stay with them just now and insisted on leaving. He went back to make coffee to get revenge on Zhou Yi!

Next, Sun Pan sat down on the floor, "admiring" Zhou Yi's gasping running posture on the treadmill.

After running for about thirty minutes, Zhou Yi started to lose his grip. His breathing was heavy and erratic. He lowered his head as if he might collapse on the ground at any moment.

He had just finished a match today, and his stamina was almost exhausted. Now, running on the treadmill for another forty minutes was really too tiring. His legs were still tied with heavy sandbags, making Zhou Yi feel like he was running on the beach, and every time he lifted his leg, he felt like he was exhausting all the strength in his body.

Zhou Yi held onto the handrails on both sides, supporting his body so that he didn't fall down. His legs were still running on the treadmill, and he wailed, "I-I can't, I can't do it anymore!"

"A man can't say he can't do it!" Sun Pan sneered from the side, "Keep going! You'll give up after only forty minutes, how can you be a professional player!"

Hearing Sun Pan say this, Zhou Yi gritted his teeth and let go of the handrails, continuing to run.

Ten minutes later, Zhou Yi's steps became erratic again, and he had to continue holding onto the handrails.

"I-I... I can't do it anymore!"

"You have the strength to shout, how can you not do it? Keep running! With your stamina, how can you last a ninety-minute game? If you still want to be substituted after only playing half the game, then you can get off!"

"Damn..." Zhou Yi was too tired to even curse Sun Pan. He felt that Sun Pan was definitely taking the opportunity to get revenge on him for insisting on having Guo Nu train in his room.

But Sun Pan's words were like a grenade, accurately hitting Zhou Yi's heart.

With a bang, it exploded in his heart, blasting it into a bloody mess.

The feeling of sitting on the bench during the day resurfaced.

Also being a substitute, his previous four games of being a substitute felt completely different from this half-game substitute.

They could have avoided losing so badly, maybe they could have scored, and more than just one goal.

But all of this vanished when he was substituted at halftime, becoming a "what if"—what if he hadn't been substituted, how would the game have developed?

Zhou Yi felt good about playing as a midfielder. Coach Hao Dong was right, he was more suited to playing in midfield, and he loved the feeling of organizing the attack, organizing his teammates in an orderly manner, using passing and running to mobilize the opponent's defense, and then finding an opening, making a deadly pass.

But all of this was limited by his stamina.

If he couldn't run, seeing far was just empty talk.

Being substituted at halftime every time, was he satisfied with just being a super-sub?

Super-subs were respectable, like Ole Gunnar Solskjær, whose winning goal in the 1999 Champions League final became an eternal classic.

But Zhou Yi didn't want to just be a super-sub. Since he had the ability and the golden finger, wouldn't it be too lame to just be a super-sub?

Stamina, stamina, stamina!

I want to have the ability to run non-stop for ninety minutes!

Thinking of this, Zhou Yi suddenly gripped the handrails of the treadmill tightly, and then he raised his head and shouted, "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Then he let go of his hands and ran wildly on the treadmill.

Zhou Yi's crazy appearance scared the three people around him. Yang Muge even forgot to run and almost tripped over the treadmill.

※※※

Sun Pan, Yang Muge, and Guo Nu were squatting in a triangle, and in the middle of the triangle was Zhou Yi, lying flat on his back on the ground.

Zhou Yi fell to the ground as soon as he got off the treadmill, scaring the three of them. Fortunately, the hotel gym was carpeted, so he didn't hurt himself when he fell.

"Is he dead or unconscious?" Sun Pan asked.

"J-just... too tired, a-a-asleep, p-p-probably?" Guo Nu guessed nervously.

Yang Muge leaned down and listened to Zhou Yi's nose, then said, "He's asleep, I heard him snoring, very softly."

Guo Nu breathed a sigh of relief, then frowned again: "How do we g-g-get him b-b-back?"

Yang Muge pointed to Sun Pan: "Sun Pan, you carry Zhou Yi back."

"Huh? Why me?" Sun Pan was unwilling.

"Who told you to keep taunting him."

"Tch, if it weren't for my encouragement, he would have given up half an hour ago!" Saying that, Sun Pan bent down and pulled Zhou Yi up. "You two, come and help!"

Yang Muge and Guo Nu pushed Zhou Yi onto Sun Pan's back. Sun Pan got up, carrying Zhou Yi towards the outside, while Guo Nu and Yang Muge were on the left and right, holding Zhou Yi from behind, afraid that he would slide down.

"Ah, he's all wet, his clothes are soaked, it's so disgusting! My clothes are ruined too!" Sun Pan, carrying Zhou Yi on his back, kept complaining. But he put more strength in his hands, stabilizing Zhou Yi, who was sliding down, and the muscles on his arms bulged.

Behind them, where Zhou Yi had been lying, there was a dark human-shaped mark on the light-colored carpet.

※※※

He Ying was reading in his room when there was a sudden knock on the door, which surprised him.

Because few people would come to visit him, and if it was Zhou Yi, he had his own room card and could swipe it to enter, without needing to knock.

Although he was curious, He Ying put down his book and got up to open the door.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw Sun Pan's tall figure blocking the doorway, with veins bulging on his face.

Seeing He Ying stunned after opening the door, he shouted loudly, "Let me through!"

After saying that, he pushed past He Ying and rushed into the room. He Ying stepped aside, and then he saw that there was another person behind Sun Pan...

It was his roommate Zhou Yi.

Guo Nu and Yang Muge were following behind. Yang Muge saw He Ying, who was stepping aside to make way, and smiled and nodded at him as a greeting.

Sun Pan threw Zhou Yi onto the Simmons bed, then breathed a sigh of relief: "This kid is sleeping like a dead pig, he doesn't use any strength at all, I'm so tired! Okay, going back to sleep!"

After saying that, he turned around and walked out, without even looking at He Ying or greeting him.

"Are you sure you can sleep, Sun Pan?" Yang Muge walked out behind him, asking at the same time.

"What's wrong?"

"Didn't you drink a cup of coffee earlier?"

"Uh? Damn! Damn, damn, damn, damn!" Sun Pan suddenly shouted, "Damn, I was so busy provoking that kid that I forgot about that!"

"If you can't sleep, please try not to disturb me."

"Then you have to lend me your PSP to play!"

"Okay..." Yang Muge sighed.

Guo Nu glanced at Zhou Yi and followed them out, not forgetting to close the door for He Ying.

He Ying didn't react at all to what was going on—suddenly there was a knock on the door, suddenly Sun Pan rushed in with Zhou Yi on his back, suddenly put Zhou Yi on the bed, and then these three people suddenly left... He Ying didn't even understand the conversation between them.

He turned his head and looked at Zhou Yi, who was sleeping soundly on the bed.

Although Zhou Yi came back very late every night, at least he came back lively and kicking. How did he end up being carried back this time?

If he wasn't sleeping so soundly, He Ying would have really thought he had gone out and gotten into a fight...

He Ying found that he really understood Zhou Yi less and less.

He stood in front of Zhou Yi's bed, hesitating, should he just let him sleep like this?

Sleeping like this all night might give him a cold, right?

He should put a blanket on him.

Thinking of this, he reached out and lifted the quilt on the other side, then wanted to turn Zhou Yi over, but when his hand touched Zhou Yi's body, he was shocked and withdrew his hand—cold! Wet!

He Ying then realized that the T-shirt on Zhou Yi's body was basically soaked through, sticking to his body, and the white T-shirt had become transparent.

Did he fall into the swimming pool?

He Ying frowned—obviously, he couldn't just put a quilt on him like this. If he didn't take off his wet clothes, he wouldn't sleep well, and he might catch a cold.

So He Ying frowned and pinched Zhou Yi's wet clothes with two fingers on each hand, rolling them up little by little to take them off for him.

The wet and sticky sweat on Zhou Yi's body and clothes was definitely not a pleasant experience for He Ying, who was a bit of a neat freak...

PS, two things.

The first thing is that the football diary I wrote during my time in Madrid has been updated on the Qidian Chinese website's public platform. It contains my words, thoughts, and observations in Madrid, as well as many photos. If you are interested in football in Madrid and what I was doing in Madrid, you can follow the Qidian Chinese website's public account on WeChat, where it is being serialized. The other thing is that our book is on Sanjiang, and we are voting. I hope everyone doesn't forget to vote for Sanjiang. You can get one vote a day. Although we don't necessarily need to get first place, it's not very good to not even be in the top five... I think the quality of this new book is still very good, so I have a lot of confidence in the book. Thank you everyone!