It hurts a little.

After evening self-study that day, Fang Chang'an followed Wang Ke's schedule, knocking on her desk around nine twenty. The young girl blinked in confusion, saw him gesture toward the playground, and softly asked, "So early today?"

"Isn't this about the time you usually go back? For me, a bit earlier or later doesn't matter," Fang Chang'an replied as he packed his things. Wang Ke called Zheng Lili to join them, and he didn't mind. If it were just the two of them—one boy, one girl—running together every night, who knows what people would start saying after a few days.

He might not care, but Wang Ke clearly did.

The three of them walked to the playground together. Wang Ke glanced at the dark, empty field and whispered nervously, "How far do we run?"

"You two are running for the first time today, so just half a lap," Fang Chang'an answered casually. Since he had the girls with him, he would only run half a lap as well.

Improving physical fitness takes time; if running affected their daily routines, it wouldn't be worth it. Besides, he ran both morning and evening.

"Alright," Wang Ke said, looking at Zheng Lili for reassurance. She then turned to Fang Chang'an and whispered, "Don't run too fast, okay? Let's go together."

"Don't worry, I'll definitely run slower," he promised.

They stepped onto the track. Fang Chang'an first guided the girls through warm-ups. "Don't rush into running. Warm up first. Follow me."

He spread his arms, relaxed the muscles in his back like stretching noodles, then lunged forward, raised his hands high, leaned back, followed by side bends and knee hugs—his movements were precise.

The two girls had never seen such a routine, and it seemed even more professional than the PE teacher. They followed with earnest attention. Zheng Lili exclaimed, "You're amazing!"

Wang Ke nodded vigorously, "I think so too!"

"It just takes getting used to," Fang Chang'an replied modestly. "These are simple warm-ups, but they get everything moving. Zheng Lili, you're wearing sneakers, that's good. Wang Ke, you're in flats, so when you run, be careful not to land on your heels—it's too jarring and can hurt your knees."

"And don't take steps too big, that creates a braking effect; you'll slow down suddenly, can't run fast, and it's bad for your body."

"We're all just starting, so take it slow. No need to rush. I'll wait for you both."

With the air of a professional coach, Fang Chang'an instructed them. Both girls nodded dutifully, eager to learn.

"Come on, let's jog slowly," Fang Chang'an led the way, and the girls followed. The three ran side by side at first, but after a while, Fang Chang'an noticed something odd.

How did they both get ahead of me?

He sped up a little to catch up. Zheng Lili suggested, "Why don't we run faster and see how fast we can go?"

Before Fang Chang'an could object, Wang Ke chirped, "Okay!"

The two girls simultaneously began to accelerate. Fang Chang'an thought, No matter how weak I am, surely I'm not slower than these two girls? He too picked up speed.

At first, they stayed neck and neck, but after a hundred meters in the darkness, the girls' figures faded out of sight.

"Damn!" he cursed inwardly. "Where's my dignity? Can't even outrun two little girls?"

He berated himself for never liking sports as a child, quickly slowing down, even more than usual. Yet, after finishing half a lap, he was still out of breath.

"Why are you so slow?" the girls waited for him on the track. Wang Ke pouted, complaining as he jogged up.

Fang Chang'an stopped and tried to keep his breathing steady. "Can't rush it. For the high school entrance exam, we'll have to run a full lap. If you go too fast at the start, you'll—huff—huff—run out of steam in the second half."

He tried to maintain his dignified image, speaking calmly, but nearly suffocated himself and had to gasp for air.

Wang Ke eyed him suspiciously. "Are you very tired?"

"Of course, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Wang Ke admitted with a shy smile, forgetting to press him about his poor stamina. "The entrance exam's a whole lap, but there's still time... I don't think I could finish a lap right now."

Zheng Lili said, "We have two more years, we'll grow."

Wang Ke nodded and asked, "Fang Chang'an, have you ever run a full lap?"

Fang Chang'an tried to say as little as possible while catching his breath, but he couldn't avoid the question. "Not yet. We'll train slowly."

"Right," Wang Ke agreed.

As they chatted, they walked back toward the dormitory area. Near the track, the light from a canteen's bulb cast a glow. Zheng Lili suddenly proposed, "There's also the standing long jump, isn't there? Should we try it?"

Fang Chang'an had just caught his breath and opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say a word, Wang Ke chirped, "Sure!"

Zheng Lili drew a line with her foot. "I'll go first."

She stood with feet together at the line, crouched, swung her arms, and leaped forward, then drew another line where she landed. She turned and said, "Doesn't seem very far!"

Wang Ke paced out the distance, unsure how far it was, and asked Fang Chang'an, "How far do girls need to jump?"

Fang Chang'an thought for a moment. "Full marks should be one meter eighty, but I don't remember what counts as passing."

"So far?" Zheng Lili looked at her jump. "Definitely not one eighty—I’m barely over one fifty."

"We’ll grow," Wang Ke consoled her. She took her place at the line, mimicking Zheng Lili's stance. With her graceful movements, everything she did was pleasing to watch. She swung her arms a few times, jumped lightly, and landed on Zheng Lili’s line.

But Zheng Lili had marked her landing by her heel, and Wang Ke’s jump was shorter by half a foot.

She stood up, marked her own heel, and said, "I landed closer—several centimeters shorter."

Zheng Lili glanced at the mark. "We'll get better with practice."

Then both girls looked up at Fang Chang'an.

"Jump," Zheng Lili prompted.

"Jump," Wang Ke echoed.

Fang Chang'an took a breath, walked up to the line, stood with feet together, swung his arms, gathered strength, then paused to spread his feet a bit and swung his arms again. In the process, he shuffled forward a bit, reconsidered, and shuffled back.

He swung his arms over ten times, finally took a breath, gritted his teeth, and pushed off.

In his previous life, Fang Chang'an had terrible scores in the PE exams—especially in the standing long jump, and in throwing the medicine ball, and running wasn't much better. Before the high school entrance exam, he practiced the standing long jump in front of his classroom every evening, a memory that stuck.

As he grew older and exercised, his sports scores improved, and he realized his poor health in middle school was partly due to lacking technique.

For example, he hadn't known to stretch his legs forward in the jump.

Now, with the soul of his later self, Fang Chang'an was well aware, even if he hadn’t practiced jumping in years since college.

"Thud!"

The instant his feet hit the ground, he felt the heel of his canvas shoes slip, his body tilt backward, and he lost balance.

Reacting quickly, he reached behind to brace himself, feeling his palm press firmly against the earth, stopping his fall.

But he couldn't avoid landing on his backside.

He made close, solid, and forceful contact with the soil of September 2003.

It hurt a little.