The seventh and eighth periods in the afternoon are training times for student athletes.
After the sixth period, Shen Yixiao greeted his dad, who was seriously studying English grammar, and then left the classroom with Wang Yunpeng.
"Brother Xiao, your Uncle Shen is really studious."
"Anyone who doesn't know might think he's preparing for college too!"
On the way to the gym, Wang Yunpeng exclaimed, as his seat was right next to Shen Qiushan's, and because he wanted to impress the "father-in-law," he had always been quietly observing Shen Qiushan's every move.
Based on his observations, in the fifth and sixth periods, Shen Qiushan was intensely focused on the "Complete English Grammar," not even taking a break between classes.
"He's just putting on an act for me; this little trick won't fool me!"
Shen Yixiao shrugged, clearly seeing through it all.
"No way!"
"I saw Uncle Shen was very serious, he didn't even move during the break!"
Wang Yunpeng disagreed with his best friend's view.
"That's just what you see on the surface, 'Capital' says: Look through the phenomena to see the essence!"
Shen Yixiao cleared his throat and then said smugly, "Let this genius now lead you through the fog, unveiling the truth..."
"Brother Xiao, the wind-up is too long, you're unlikely to deal any damage!"
Wang Yunpeng reminded his buddy based on his experience this morning.
"That's because your skills are too weak."
Shen Yixiao retorted, then explained, "After secretly observing for a whole class, I found that although my dad was always earnestly reading, he flipped pages way faster than you normally would."
"Under normal circumstances, a whole page of English grammar would take at least three to five minutes to skim, but he often flips in ten to twenty seconds, at most dozens of seconds!"
"What does this indicate?"
"It shows he's just acting, playing the role of a diligent dad in front of me, trying to set an example for his son!"
"It's just that my dad overacted a bit, his acting is too exaggerated!"
"We've all seen people study hard, but have you ever seen someone study so hard as him?"
After speaking, Shen Yixiao whistled.
"It's true!"
"I was wondering why it felt odd!"
"Turns out it's the page flipping speed that's too fast..."
"Brother Xiao, you're the man!"
Wang Yunpeng gave a thumbs up, clearly agreeing with Shen Yixiao's viewpoint.
As they talked, the two arrived at the sports team's locker room.
By this time, six or seven people were already there changing into their gear.
When they saw Shen Yixiao walk into the locker room, they immediately gathered around.
"Brother Xiao, finally you're here!"
"Brother Xiao, we heard Uncle is quite strong!"
"Brother Xiao, even though losing to your own dad isn't shameful, we have to regain our pride!"
"Ah Xiao, don't worry, I'll handle it, the sports banner will fly high with me!"
"..."
Everyone was talking over each other, but Shen Yixiao looked confused: "Wait, what do you guys want to do?"
"Especially you, Ah Bin, what's your role in this?"
Shen Yixiao looked at Gao Bin, the skinny, dark-skinned guy with a buzz cut. He was a middle-distance runner from Yangcheng, and his Mandarin was heavily accented.
He was the best student among all the athletes at Sanjiang High School, having ranked 91st in the latest mock exam.
He's the only athlete whose academic performance is in the top 100 of the grade.
"Brother Xiao, you still don't know, do you?"
"We athletes have become the school's public mockery target!"
Beside Gao Bin, wearing a white Nike training shirt, Xu Zhishuai raised his phone to show them: "Brother Xiao, check out our school's forum."
Shen Yixiao and Wang Yunpeng immediately looked on curiously.
The post's title on the phone read: [Father-son showdown, Shen Yixiao gets thoroughly beaten]
Although this title stated the facts, seeing himself posted on the school forum with a negative image made Shen Yixiao naturally grumpy.
Little did he know, compared to the content below, this post's title was already polite.
3rd comment: What's the big deal about an athlete like Shen Yixiao losing?
7th comment: Oh, he's an athlete, that makes it way more understandable.
9th comment: As everyone knows, athletes are just muscle-brained idiots!
10th comment: Let's be mindful with our words, don't insult idiots.
14th comment: Athletes? Just a bunch of trash who only know how to date!
...
Sanjiang High School's forum usually wasn't lively since barely anyone uses forums these days, but today it was noticeably more active because of the big "father-son showdown" event that happened, which got all the students gossiping.
Initially, these comments were only directed at Shen Yixiao, but as the event drew more attention, the entire athlete group was dragged down.
Since they had the protection of anonymity, these people had no reservations when spewing insults, saying all sorts of harsh things.
Realistically, you'd find that these people mainly harbored personal grudges.
For example, someone saying athletes are trash only interested in dating.
It's likely because the girl he likes was probably stolen by an athlete...
These negative remarks were like a massive blow to Gao Bin and Xu Zhishuai.
Everyone naturally felt very indignant!
"Brothers, my bad."
"I'm really sorry for dragging you all into this and getting insulted!"
Shen Yixiao took full responsibility.
"Ah Xiao, don't say that."
Gao Bin patted Shen Yixiao on the shoulder: "As athletes, we share glory and disgrace!"
"Besides, we're all members of the school soccer team, we're a team!"
Xu Zhishuai immediately chimed in loudly: "That's right, We are a family!!"
Seeing the two of them so pumped up, Shen Yixiao instinctively frowned: "Tell me, what harebrained scheme do you have?"
"Ah Xiao, you're smart!"
Gao Bin chuckled, then revealed his plan: "I plan to form an avengers alliance!"
"Collectively challenge your dad!"
"Huh?"
Shen Yixiao looked puzzled: "How exactly are you challenging him?"
"We athletes will band together and have a contest with your dad over English vocabulary!"
"We'll prove through action that we athletes aren't trash, and that our overall level is high!"
"We'll crush the doubts with our achievements!!"
As he finished, Gao Bin pumped his fist strongly.
"Yes, crush the doubts!!"
"Crush the doubts!!"
Xu Zhishuai and the rest joined in, with fists raised, filling the locker room with excitement.
Seeing this, Shen Yixiao was flabbergasted. He never dreamed that his "father-son showdown" with his dad would trigger such a large ripple effect.
Could this be the so-called butterfly effect?
I lightly flapped my wings in the classroom of Class 5, Grade 3, and the entire athlete group at school just had to join in the frenzy!
"What if, and I'm just saying what if, we lose?"
Amidst the excitement, Wang Yunpeng tentatively asked.