"Then... why did you come over to encourage me?" Su Zhou scratched his head. To be honest, he still couldn't make sense of their dynamic. 'Our relationship shouldn't be like this,' he thought. 'Even for rivals who respect each other, this feels... off.' "From what you're saying, it sounds like we don't get along very well, do we?"
Ma Jing fell silent for a moment at his words. Then, to Su Zhou's surprise, he nodded and slowly replied, "Yeah, you're right. We don't get along. Ever since you showed up, the coach has been completely focused on poaching you. The rest of us, the student-athletes, were ignored. Most of our training became self-directed. Many of us even gave up on athletics altogether. The reason was simple: when there's a guy you know you can never surpass standing right in your way, what's the point of even trying?"
"But I kept at it. For three years, I never stopped training. I just kept running, day in and day out."
