Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

This was the same shocked expression he had just now when he looked at Shi Guang. Why had she suddenly slowed down?

Zhang Shulin’s face looked so terrible… Was she really going to lose?

Chu Mubei’s face screwed up slightly. Now, this lousy competition had nothing to do with him at all, and neither did he care whoever won or lost it. But, he knew how important it was for the girl in the waters right now.

If she lost, she would have to wait another year.

The span of an entire year was a long one. And perhaps, everything she had ever chased after might just disappear into the dust in the year as well.

But in a competition, there was no one who could help her—she was the only one who could help herself.

“Littly, Jiayou!”

The voice was neither too loud nor soft, but it brought with it an exceptionally penetrative property that glided through all the other cheers into one’s ears.

Chu Mubei followed the source of the voice. Out of nowhere, Lu Yanchen, who was seated behind him the entire time, had somehow already made his way to the nearest viewing platform at the pool area.

Littly, Jiayou…!

It had been a while since Shi Guang had heard those words.

She remembered that the first time she heard them was when she was in junior school and had attended a competition arranged by the schools. Her sister had specially taken a day off from her own school to come and cheer her on.

Back then, she swam terribly. For someone like her that was only good at short distances, the 1,500m Freestyle event was exceptionally strenuous.

By the time she was halfway through, she felt really uncomfortable. Her chest felt really tight as her lungs felt like burning up—she felt like giving up at that point.

A 1,500m endurance event was something she really couldn’t challenge that at all. However, her sister had been cheering out the entire time, “Littly, jiayou! Littly, jiayou!”

Everyone had given up on her by then—even she herself—but not her sister. She had been cheering for her the entire time, all the way… In the end, Shi Guang chose to ignore every single bit of pain she had in her body and adjusted her breathing properly. She did not care for any title at all—she just wanted to finish that 1,500m event.

And to her surprise and absolute amazement, she had actually gotten the 3rd place!

After the event, she asked her sister, “I was already swimming that badly. Why were you still cheering me on?”

“That’s because I believe that you definitely can do it!”

At that moment, Shi Guang felt so guilty that she wanted to cry, breaking out into an emotional smile. From then on, she told herself to never ever shirk from any single bit of difficulty, and face them all courageously.

She must have confidence toward herself! She must tell herself, ‘Yes, Shi Guang, you can do it!’

And even after all these years, those words had been like a vitamin boost that had continued encouraging her through her journey.

Even if the results were bad and she was unable to breakthrough herself, she still persevered through with her training.

Even if she had joined a club for the money, even if she had not much experience out in the world, even if she had no connections, and even if she were scolded and outcasted by everyone as though it was a part of her daily life, she still persevered on with her drive and guts.

There had been countless training sessions where she found herself lying by the poolside, totally exhausted. The thought of giving up streaked by her mind time and again. But even then, the next day, she was all up and ready to accept the challenges posed to her by the world.

She had gone through the toughest obstacles so far to get to this point.

How could she lose her guts in the face of a mere little cramp?

Wasn’t it just a cramp? Even if her leg was gone, she would have to swim like a fish!

Falling behind? So be it then! So what! Even if she were to really lose, she would have to lose with no regrets!

Suddenly, Shi Guang could feel her entire body getting lighter… In her eyes, there was nothing but waters and her ears could hear nothing but her heartbeat.

She was completely relaxed now as she pushed forward in her fastest, most fluent stance.

200m Freestyle—it was a competition of speed where life or death hinged on a single thread. This was an event that required the greatest burst. Since she had already fallen behind, rather than giving it her all in the last 50m, why not start bursting at the last 100m instead?

From that moment on, she knew she couldn’t let any single second slip by her. What she could do was to get faster, faster, and fastest…