Strange Life of a Cat

Chapter 110: The Unattainable Six Pack

For most twelve-year-olds, these long distance runs were extremely difficult.

Zheng Tan felt sorry for Jiao Yuan.

However, Jiao Yuan and his buddies wanted to help Xiong Xiong. They decided to test their endurance that weekend. Whoever won would compete in the annual sports competition.

They were planning to start training tomorrow morning.

Papa Jiao was supportive of his plan in principle but warned them to be realistic. The sports tournament was only a week away. There was little they could do in just seven days.

Mama Jiao promised to cook him a special training menu.

Next morning, Jiao Yuan got up early in the morning and met up with his buddies after breakfast.

Youzi was bored at home. She didn't have a lot of homework and had completed most of it yesterday. She watched some television, then went to look for Jiao Yuan with Zheng Tan.

Youzi could now ride a bike without training wheels. Papa Jiao had adjusted the height of the bike seat for her.

Zheng Tan jumped into the basket and Youzi started pedaling. They were headed to the running tracks near the eastern quarters.

A lot of people were outside since it was a Saturday morning. The weather was still warm so people didn't sleep in.

People were surprised when they saw Youzi and Zheng Tan together on a bike. Youzi would stop to say hello to people she knew. Many people were walking their pets that morning, Mighty's owner was among them. Zheng Tan saw Mighty from a distance. The dog was too noticeable with those dark patches of fur around his eyes.

Zheng Tan always felt that it was Mighty walking Mr. Yan instead of the other way around. Mighty always led the way in the front and would stop every once in a while to mark more territory by peeing.

There were a lot of people exercising in the morning. Many of them were jogging.

Youzi parked her bike in the bike shed and went to the tracks with Zheng Tan. They spotted Jiao Yuan right away. He was huddled with his friends and fighting over something.

Shi Rui was sitting on top of the horizontal bar and giving the boys a tongue lashing.

Jiao Yuan, Su An, Lan Tianzhu and Xiong Xiong were either panting on the ground or leaning on some sports equipment.

"You guys won't even be able to make it eight hundred meters, let alone the fifteen hundred meters run."

Zheng Tan heard her say.

He looked at the boys. This was a bad start.

Jiao Yuan blushed when he saw Youzi and Zheng Tan. He hadn't expected them and felt that his little sister had caught him in a moment of distress.

Xiong Xiong felt more abashed. He was the head of the sports committee after all. He looked up at Shi Rui, "You make it sound easy. Why don't you try and see if you can do it?"

"I don't have to participate in long-distance running. I'm signed up for the two hundred meter relay. Besides, we girls have a secret weapon. Just you watch, she'll break records. You boys, on the other hand...you won't come in last, will you? That would be so embarrassing," Shi Rui said calmly.

There was a girl who was really good at sports in their class. She didn't go to elementary school here so Jiao Yuan and his friends didn't know her very well, but she was quite well known at her old school. She even took part in citywide sports tournaments.

The rising Yin and falling Yang, Zheng Tan suddenly remembered this saying. Jiao Yuan and his group were being looked down upon by girls.

"We still have a week. Wait until we're done training! We'll show you," Xiong Xiong said with his fist in the air.

He paused before continuing to say, "Maybe we'll even have six packs by then!"

Everyone was quiet for a second.

Lan Tianzhu coughed, "Xiong Xiong, I mean this in the nicest way possible. Some things you are born with, do you get what I'm saying?"

Xiong Xiong had never been the lean kind ever since he was little. He wasn't chubby either, though. He was very strong and had signed up for shot throwing.

Jiao Yuan panted and patted the dust off his pants, "It depends on your red and white muscles."

Everyone looked at him.

Jiao Yuan loved to be the center of attention. He had read this from one of Papa Jiao's magazines. He cleared his throat and went on, "People have red muscles that are for endurance and white muscles that are in charge of explosiveness. People are born with a certain red to white muscle proportion, which means some people are naturally better at endurance while others are better sprinters. We can train our muscles but can't change them."

"People do cardio to lose weight because cardio uses red muscles that can easily use up a lot of energy. If you look at long-distance runners, you'll see none of them...well, have your body type."

Xiong Xiong pretended to beat him.

Jiao Yuan went on, "As for six packs, you need to train your white muscles to look toned. You need to train with dumbells. It won't happen if you do yoga or tai chi."

Su An nodded and pointed at Xiong Xiong, "If you want to be toned, you need to at least lose all your fat first, then do non-cardio exercises."

"Probably." Jiao Yuan took a sip of water. His throat hurt after talking so much.

"Xiong Xiong, you can do the fifteen hundred meters. A six pack is awaiting you." Lan Tianzhu patted Xiong Xiong on the back.

Xiong Xiong tutted. "It's waiting for me too far in the future. I can't see it."

Two laps around the tracks already had the boys panting and moaning. Eight hundred meters was two laps and a bit more.

"Well, technically, not everyone can get a six-pack." Jiao Yuan decided to flaunt his knowledge some more.

Everyone looked at him again. Jiao Yuan was pleased.

"There's a thing called the inscriptio tendineae, it's what gives the muscles on your stomach a grid-like appearance. If you have three, then you get a six-pack, if you have four, you get an eight-pack. How many you have is predetermined by your DNA. That's why some people have an eight-pack while others only have a six-pack."

Xiong Xiong lifted his shirt. He sucked his belly in to see if he can get an eight-pack, but nothing showed up."

A toned body seemed impossible.

"Xiong Xiong, what are you doing!" Shi Rui shrieked and covered her eyes.

Zheng Tan rolled his eyes.

No matter if they were gaining eight-packs or not, they still had to run.

Zheng Tan and Youzi sat on the steps of the bleachers to watch. The boys did two laps then stopped to rest again. It was clear they were tired. People who didn't exercise normally couldn't do too much exercise in one go, or else they would feel the repercussions the next day.

After half a day of training, the kids went home to rest.

That night, Papa Jiao asked Jiao Yuan how training went. Jiao Yuan answered, "Eight-packs are looking more and more unattainable."

Jiao Yuan said he was training again the next morning. His parents exchanged a mysterious smile.

The next day, Jiao Yuan turned off his alarm then dragged himself into the living room to call his friends. He was hurting everywhere and didn't want to move.

Before he made a call, the phone rang. It was Xiong Xiong. He was hurting too and also didn't want to run.

Everyone was tired and experiencing muscle pains, so they all decided to just stay at home.

They didn't really warm up properly yesterday and were suffering from their lack of exercise. They rode their bikes daily and played basketball, but they didn't really run a lot.

Xiong Xiong was distressed. Who was going to do the long distance running?

The kids spent the morning resting that Sunday but got together in the afternoon. Xiong Xiong took out a list of names of everyone in their class. He asked his friends for advice, but none of them knew the other kids in the class that well.

As for Shi Rui, she was head of the academics committee and knew most people in their class, but was only familiar with the girls. She wasn't much help either.

"What should I do? I already promised." Xiong Xiong palmed his face.

"You're just worried the assistant class monitor would think poorly of you. Don't worry, I know her well. I'll put in a good word for you." Shi Rui patted him on the back.

Zheng Tan listened to them talk and sighed. How he missed being young!

He looked back to when he was in school. He never participated in any sports tournaments when he was a student. He never participated in any group event actually. He would skip school with his friends and spend the day at the arcade. He remembered going to a sports tournament during high school. There was a long-legged girl he liked who competed in the tournament.

The sports competition at Jiao Yuan's school probably wasn't worth watching for the girls, but he was still curious. Maybe he should check it out?