Chapter 236: Sudden Event on the Racecourse

Meanwhile,

Huoxiang City, Huoxiang University.

Li Xun returned to the guest room and took a sip of water from his thermos.

This was already the fifth city of his lecture tour.

Outside, large snowflakes were falling heavily,

from the window, the sky and ground seemed to merge into a vast white mist.

It was truly beautiful,

but also really cold!

"Judging by the weather, the planes will be grounded," Li Xun sighed.

Everything about Huoxiang City was fine, except for its unpredictable weather.

As Li Xun checked his flight tickets, preparing to reschedule his next lecture,

suddenly,

a burning sensation came from his hand.

Li Xun looked over in confusion,

only to see a golden card from his wallet had somehow fallen out.

"Why did you fall out?"

Li Xun picked up the Lang Ai Hotel's Golden Ocean Membership Card and was about to put it back in his wallet,

when his phone rang,

Li Xun glanced down and saw it was a call from the Nanjing Historical and Cultural Center.

"Old Li! Good news!"

As soon as he answered, a familiar voice came through,

Li Xun was stunned, "What happened?"

The voice on the other end said, "Your 'History of Nanjing Road' was a huge success!"

"It not only promoted Nanjing's history but also encouraged young people to retrace Nanjing Road."

"Just now, the Zhaomen City Historical and Cultural Center sent a letter, wanting to fund you to follow Zhaomen's historical route as well,"

"and produce an episode of 'History of Zhaomen'."

Li Xun's eyes widened, "Is this for real?!"

"Of course, it is!"

"Not long now, the Zhaomen City Historical and Cultural Center will contact you directly."

"Old Li, after conquering Nanjing, you're going to dominate Zhaomen!"

...

After hanging up,

Li Xun sat dazed on the sofa, the steam from his thermos misting his glasses.

Zhaomen City wants me to do a historical report…

It all seemed so unbelievable.

Typically, every region has its own cultural scholars to conduct historical research; they wouldn't usually look for out-of-province scholars.

After all, every place nourishes its own people.

Yet here he was, a native of Nanjing, being invited to Zhaomen for historical documentation?

Wouldn't the local scholars roll their eyes and spit at him!

But despite these thoughts,

Zhaomen, with its rich history, had plenty to explore.

For a scholar who loves to travel and research history,

the chance to explore Zhaomen's historical route

was a rare opportunity.

Especially since the funding was covered by them...

There was no reason to refuse!

The more Li Xun thought about it, the more excited he became.

Suddenly, he remembered something.

His eyes fell on the golden ocean membership card in his wallet,

"Could it be that this card brought me good luck?"

...

At this moment,

on the half-marathon track of Little Horse Island,

Chen Jianhai, exhausted, could never have imagined

the rapid rise in his hotel's social influence would have such a profound impact on Li Xun and Zhu Tingting!

"Are you kidding me, the system can't crash, right?"

Chen Jianhai looked at the system panel in shock,

the "social influence" value had already exceeded 100%,

the entire progress bar had turned from yellow to deep purple,

yet the trend was still surging upward,

showing no signs of stopping.

Oh my god...

I just hosted a "Little Horse" event at my hotel, did it really need to explode the system's social influence?!

"Ding!"

"Golden Ocean Membership Card influence activated, hotel and member fortune linkage increased by 4%,"

the familiar, icy voice of the system announced,

adding to Chen Jianhai's already confused mind.

"Where did this member fortune come from!!"

"What the heck is this all about…!!!"

Chen Jianhai was going crazy.

...

At the other end of the racecourse.

Sheng Yupi finally couldn't stand the stuffiness of the mascot head,

despite another reminder from the volunteer, he took it off and handed it to the volunteer.

His legs powered like motors, he ran forward with full force!

...

Two kilometers behind Sheng Yupi, Tang Tangtang was wobbling, feeling his vision darken.

I can't run anymore…

"Sir, please take a break, don't push yourself!"

A gentle but urgent voice sounded in Tang Tangtang's ear,

He waved his right hand in refusal, signaling not to disturb him.

Though he was a struggling manga creator, he had longed to stand on a marathon track for ages.

He had also done a lot of basic and systematic training beforehand,

Today, even if he had to crawl, he wanted to reach the finish line.

But despite his strong will, the uphill track ahead looked like a graveyard stretching upward.

This section of the race led to the northern slope of Little Horse Island.

After consuming his energy over the first 30 kilometers, running on the uphill track,

Tang Tangtang felt his heart rate soar, his physical strength depleting rapidly, and his pace becoming erratic.

"It's not difficult..."

"As long as the left foot steps in front of the right, and the right foot in front of the left!"

Tang Tangtang's vision blurred, his mouth filled with the taste of blood,

as long as one foot stayed ahead of the other,

no road would be too long, no finish line unreachable!

Unfortunately,

while determination can carry you through a half-marathon, a full marathon demands overall strength and athletic prowess.

Barely a few steps later,

"Thud..."

Tang Tangtang's vision went completely black, his body wobbled, and he collapsed to the ground.

Gasps of surprise came from around,

when he regained consciousness, two volunteers were pressing on his chest, performing resuscitation.

"Sir, you can't run anymore."

It was that same gentle but urgent voice.

"Thank you, I'm fine!"

Tang Tangtang weakly replied, then tried to stand up and continue running.

"You can't run anymore!"

Then, two volunteers with emergency kits stood in his way.

They were determined not to let him take another step.

"Can you let go of me!" Tang Tangtang shouted in frustration.

Meanwhile,

an overhead camera drone captured the scene.

"Dear viewers, there seems to be a minor incident on the racecourse."

"A participant just experienced a brief fainting spell while running, which is a very dangerous sign in long-distance running."

"If not careful, the runner could even suffer sudden death."

"Especially now, as the track is uphill, this poses a great challenge both mentally and physically for the runners."

"Here we remind everyone, if you notice abnormal changes in pulse or heart rate during the race, slow down."

"If you feel pale, have chest tightness, breathlessness, or pressure in your heart, you should gradually reduce the intensity of your exercise until you stop."

Sun Chicheng, watching the aerial footage, quickly explained during the live broadcast.

On the TV screen,

Tang Tangtang was held firmly by the two staff members, refusing to let him take another step.

Even through the screen, one could feel the tension on site.

Sun Chicheng said, "We can see that this participant seems to be arguing with our staff, wanting to continue the race, but our staff are firmly stopping him."

"Although being stopped on the track is hard to accept, our staff are all professional medical personnel,"

"Running is for health, and any behavior that goes against health should be carefully reconsidered."