At the whistle, Marketing's planks shot off the line.
"Run!"
Lu Heng yelled it and threw himself forward.
Zhou's feet didn't move.
His feet kept both planks pinned to the starting line. They jerked to a stop.
Lu Heng's upper body flew forward and got yanked right back. The whole row lurched forward, then swayed back into place together.
Song Xiaobei's forehead bumped into Zhou's back.
For half a second, the sidelines went quiet. Then the laughter exploded.
The buzz cut doubled over, slapping his thigh. The girl with the ponytail held her phone up higher.
Someone over by the benches cupped their hands around their mouth and yelled.
"Go, Stroll Team!"
The coworker at the very back stamped their feet in the loops, frantic.
"Move, would you?"
Lu Heng shot a glare over his shoulder. Through gritted teeth, he switched calls.
"Walk! Left! Right! Left!"
He called it fast, each beat chasing the one before.
Zhou stepped at his own pace. Every time Lu Heng got half a step out, the planks under him couldn't keep up, and he had to haul his foot back and wait.
Back and forth like that, the product team had only made it three or four meters. The planks had scraped two pale streaks into the turf.
Marketing was already way out ahead.
Zheng Kai led the way with the whistle between his teeth, and all five of them were pumping their legs as fast as they could go. The Marketing people on the sidelines chanted the count after them.
Around the ten-meter mark, their feet fell out of step.
The third person's right foot was stepping forward while the fourth person's right foot was still pushing back. The plank twisted, and all five went down in a heap, like a human pyramid collapsing forward.
Zheng Kai was at the bottom.
His whistle had swung around onto his back, and bits of grass were stuck to his bright orange quick-dry gear.
He wormed his head halfway out from under the pile.
"Up! Get up!"
The laughter changed direction.
The buzz cut was slapping his thigh again, this time at the heap.
Lu Heng's shoulders tensed under Zhou's hands.
"Quick, now's our chance!"
He took a big lunging step forward.
Right where his left foot came down, there was a bump swelling up under the turf.
One end of the plank tipped up, and Lu Heng pitched forward and to the left.
Zhou's hands, resting on his shoulders, were yanked forward hard, and the whole row tilted out with him.
The three behind them all cried out at once.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"
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"We're going down! We're going down!"
Song Xiaobei's hands, clinging to Zhou's shoulders, clamped down tight.
If Zhou let go now, all five of them would go face down in the grass, same as the other team.
Both his hands stayed on Lu Heng's shoulders. He didn't pull back. Before anything else, his knees bent, and his whole body sank.
The pull of Lu Heng's fall came through Zhou's hands, traveled from his shoulders to his waist, and sank all the way down into the soles of his feet.
It was as if the ground were pushing up from underneath to hold him.
Lu Heng hung at a slant in midair, both shoulders held up in Zhou's hands, and stayed there.
Then, little by little, he straightened back up.
The planks dropped back onto the turf with a smack.
Not one of the five had fallen.
Zhou's thighs were tight and aching. It was several seconds before his knees slowly straightened.
The laughter on the sidelines stopped.
The buzz cut's hand hung in midair, halfway to his thigh.
The girl with the ponytail still had her phone up, the screen lit. She'd forgotten to hit stop.
Someone on a bench sat with their mouth open, half a laugh stuck in their throat.
Lu Heng didn't step forward.
He turned his head halfway and looked at Zhou for two seconds.
"...You call it."
Zhou pressed down a little with both hands, planted his feet, and took a breath.
"Left... right..."
He called it slowly, dragging each word out long, in the same tone as the call that started off the morning exercise group's routine in the park.
Five left feet rose together and came down together.
Five right feet followed, all at once.
One step per second.
Behind him, Song Xiaobei counted along under his breath, each puff of air landing on the back of Zhou's neck.
"Left, right, left, right."
The planks slid forward, hugging the turf. They didn't leave another streak.
The Marketing pile finally came apart and got back on its feet. Zheng Kai yanked his whistle back around to his chest. Before his feet were even settled in the loops, he was yelling at the top of his lungs.
"Run! Come on, run!"
They charged off again.
"Left... right..."
The product team kept walking, one step at a time.
At eighteen meters, Marketing's planks jammed again, and all five went face-first into the grass for the second time.
The product team walked right past them.
Zheng Kai lay sprawled on the ground. The megaphone tucked under his arm slid out and rolled away.
He snatched it back and, without getting up, bellowed over his shoulder at the rest of them.
"Everybody listen to me! Left foot! Left foot first!"
They scrambled up and charged past the product team again.
Zheng Kai's calls were coming slower and slower, one at a time, landing right on this side's "Left... right..." beat. The two behind him were still swinging their legs forward.
At twenty-two meters, two of them got their feet tangled together, and all five ended up sitting in a lopsided huddle. None of them could get up.
"Left... right..."
Zhou kept his eyes on the white line ahead the whole time.
Then the white line was under his feet.
Five pairs of feet, on the beat, stepped over it together.
Nobody on the lawn made a sound.
He let go of it, tugged the megaphone out from under himself, and had to press the button twice before it came on.
"Product team... three points. Three to two."
His voice came out of the megaphone flat and dry.
Behind Zhou, Song Xiaobei let out a howl.
"We won! Bro Zhou! We won!"
The two coworkers at the back joined in, bending down and banging on the planks.
Lu Heng looked down and pulled his feet out of the loops. He didn't look back.
Once Song Xiaobei had yelled himself out, he dug his phone out of his pants pocket, opened his notes app, and jabbed at the screen with both thumbs.
Zhou pulled his feet out too.
His thighs still ached.
He looked over toward the bench.
Wen Yining was sitting there alone, one hand pressed against her stomach.
The can of iced coffee sat on the bench beside her. Beads of water still clung to it, and a small ring of damp had soaked into the wood underneath.
He turned and headed for the snack shop.
The stack of paper cups was still sitting beside the kettle on the counter. He pulled one out, unscrewed his thermos, and poured.
The water had been sealed in there since he filled it at lunch, and it came out no longer scalding. Wisps of steam still curled up from it.
Two of the goji berries soaking at the bottom of the thermos slid out with the water, turned half a circle in the paper cup, and floated up.
He carried the cup toward the bench.
Halfway there, there was a ding in his ears.
[Family Joy Task: Look after a youngster's health]
[Time limit: Today]
[Young people never take care of themselves! Elder Zhou, you look out for them. Get something warm in them!]
His step hitched for half a beat.
The thing sure knew how to pick its moments.
He kept walking.
He held the paper cup out in front of Wen Yining.
"It's warm."
Wen Yining looked up at him, then down at the two goji berries floating in the cup.
"...I don't drink goji."
He didn't pull his hand back.
The cup stayed right there in front of her.
She took it.
She turned half away, her back to the lawn. With her other hand, she reached into her jacket pocket and took out a blister pack. She popped out a pill with her thumb, put it in her mouth, and washed it down with the water from the cup.
Another ding in his ears.
[Family Joy Task: complete]
[Elder Zhou, you've raised them right!]
That was it.
Wen Yining held the paper cup in both hands. She didn't squeeze it.
The can of iced coffee was still on the bench, beads of water running down its sides.