Striving for Science C43

Their eyes met, and Dao Nian was the first to look away.

"I was passing by."

"Mhm, mhm." Shen Chang'an nodded with a smile, turning around to quickly say a few words to Shen Tu, then opened Dao Nian's car door and slipped inside. "Shall we go home for dinner now?"

Dao Nian looked at Shen Chang'an's face, full of smiles, and slowly withdrew his gaze.

All the way, Shen Chang'an kept talking about his performance during the run, and some funny incidents that happened today. Only when the car drove into the villa gate did he whisper, "I have another competition event this afternoon, do you want to come and watch?"

The car was very quiet, so quiet that he could hear his own breathing. Shen Chang'an's heart sank little by little.

"Okay."

Dao Nian said, "We're all free this afternoon."

He had seen many family members and friends of the contestants today, a whole bunch of them, serving tea and pouring water. As soon as the contestants left the competition field, these relatives and friends were eager to carry them away.

If others have it, Chang'an should have it too. He can't lose face.

Thinking about this, Dao Nian said with an air of mystery, "Don't worry, I'll take care of it."

Shen Chang'an: Huh?

He felt like something strange was about to happen. Was he overthinking?

At 2:30 pm, the Wuming City Employee Games continued. Many athletes and their friends arrived and found that many staff members in uniform were handing out free drinks and small gifts. These staff members' uniforms also had the words "Let's go for it!" printed on them.

"Wow, is this sports meet so rich?" A relative of an athlete took the small gift and free sports drink, and heard the staff member handing out the gifts say, "We are a relative of an athlete, and in order to respond to the spirit of 'Friendship First, Competition Second' promoted by the organizers, we have specially arranged some cheering gifts."

"Athlete's relative? Cheering?"

The person holding the small gift was a little stunned. Which rich second-generation kid was participating in the competition, and his family spoiled him like this?

When it was time for the competition, he saw more than ten people in uniform surrounding the shot put preliminary round, waving small flags and shouting in unison, "Mr. Shen, go for it!"

He was a little curious and squeezed into the crowd to take a look. At the shot put competition point, there was a young man in red sportswear. The young man was very handsome, but his face was a little red, he didn't know if it was from exhaustion or from being a little embarrassed by the cheering group around him.

He walked around behind the young man and took a look. After seeing the words printed on the back of the sportswear, he was surprised. It was actually the staff of the Civil Service Department?

It's said that the Civil Service Department is a retirement department, doing things similar to a neighborhood committee. Why would this rich second-generation kid choose to work in such a department?

But when this young man started throwing the shot put, the people watching couldn't help but applaud. Half of it was because they had received gifts and felt embarrassed not to applaud, and the other half was because the result was indeed good. It should be the furthest throw among all the contestants.

Shen Chang'an came down from the sports field, and brother Liu, uncle Zhao, and others surrounded him. They handed him three cups of different flavored drinks and several towels. He felt as if he wasn't participating in the city employee games, but in an international competition, fighting for the glory of the country.

He reached out to take the drinks and towels, covering half of his face with the towel. Shen Chang'an squeezed next to Dao Nian, "Dao Nian, are we... a bit too high-profile?"

"This morning, a teacher who participated in the competition had his whole class come to cheer for him." Dao Nian glanced at the bustling sports field, his tone flat, "In terms of numbers, we can't lose."

If he were to tour the four seas, with countless living beings bowing down to him, this scene would still be too shabby. However, humans are born with sensitive emotions and are prone to jealousy. He was afraid that too many people would make other humans jealous of Chang'an, so he had to compromise on the pomp and circumstance.

Seeing that Dao Nian seemed to genuinely feel wronged by so many people coming to cheer him on, Shen Chang'an wisely shut his mouth. He was afraid that if he continued, Dao Nian would call in another wave of people.

"Sir, the competition of Mr. Shen's colleagues has started. Should we go cheer them on?"

Dao Nian nodded slightly. It was necessary to show solidarity with colleagues.

So, that afternoon, the rest of the Civil Service Department also enjoyed the treatment of being surrounded by a crowd of admirers. Ding Yang, who had originally planned to walk the entire course, actually started running with all the cheers, and ultimately qualified for the semi-finals.

With trembling legs, he watched as people handed him drinks and towels, thinking to himself, "Human potential is truly limitless. If I hadn't given it my all, I wouldn't have known I could make it to the semi-finals."

After taking a sip of his drink, he looked up at Shen Chang'an, who was sitting on a small stool in the corner, surrounded by people giving him shoulder and leg massages. He silently withdrew his gaze.

The importance of having a powerful friend.

***

In the eyes of humans, this was just an ordinary sports event. But when the news reached other races, it caused a storm.

"What? The Lord personally accompanied that human to participate in a noisy and meaningless sporting event?"

"The immortals and yaos who serve the Lord also went?!"

"Wu Qu Star* stayed by My Lord's side because he was teaching that human how to exercise?"

TN: god of wealth, https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%AD%A6%E6%9B%B2%E6%98%9F/2958350

One piece of news after another came in, leaving them reeling, almost unable to believe what they were hearing. What was so good about that human that My Lord treated him so specially?

After hearing this news, the once-powerful Bird Clan elders sat in the Divine Phoenix Hall for a whole night. The phoenix was once a symbol of auspiciousness, but now, their Bird Clan had nothing left except a phoenix egg that hadn't hatched in thousands of years, and no leader to lead them to glory.

The Beast Clan wasn't much better. The Kirin had disappeared thousands of years ago, leaving the yaos leaderless.

"Perhaps we were wrong," Peacock Elder knelt before the Divine Phoenix statue. "This is all destined by fate. Our jealousy and resentment towards that human will only make the Heavenly Dao despise us."

The Divine Phoenix statue was lifelike, its wings spread as if about to bring hope and auspiciousness to the world.

Peacock Elder bowed to the Divine Phoenix statue: "Please, Divine Phoenix, bless your offspring to hatch soon and bring new hope to our Bird Clan."

The other elders followed suit.

In the cold hall, the Divine Phoenix remained silent. They looked up, staring blankly at the statue, their faces filled with uncertainty about the future.

"Elders, look at the Divine Phoenix's eyes!" Crane Elder suddenly cried out in terror.

All the elders looked up, only to see a line of blood tears flowing from the Divine Phoenix's eyes.

"Elders!" A young voice cried out from outside the Divine Phoenix Hall, "The phoenix egg is missing!"

"What?!" The oldest Peacock Elder, shocked and terrified, spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted, transforming into an aged peacock.

"Peacock Elder?!"

"Quickly, go seek an audience with My Lord!"

***

The sports meet lasted two days. Under Wu Qu's training, Shen Chang'an not only bravely finished the 1000-meter run, but also achieved a great second-place finish.

This time, he won a total of three first places and one second place, making a splash at the sports meet. Rumors about him being a rich second-generation also spread secretly among other departments.

Originally, the Civil Service Department was expected to finish last, but this time they actually won three gold medals and one silver medal. Director Du walked with a swagger, and when he encountered leaders from departments that had mocked them, he would touch his stomach and smile, saying, "Our department's comrades work hard, often going up mountains and down valleys, and working late into the night is also common. Isn't this how we built up our physical strength?"

Other leaders, seeing his smug face, felt disgusted, but they couldn't say anything. After all, their own colleagues called the Civil Service Department a retirement department. If even the retirement department could beat them, what were they?

Trash?

Winning first place at the sports meet came with prizes and bonuses. Shen Chang'an used the bonus to buy a bunch of small gifts, giving one to each of the employees in Dao Nian's villa, even the parrot got a special parrot snack.

After learning about this, Dao Nian felt a mix of emotions. Everyone had it, except him.

"Sir." Liu Mao secretly glanced at Dao Nian's cold face, "Mr. Shen is having dinner with his colleagues tonight. He said the restaurant is quite close to his home, so he won't be coming over."

"Oh." Dao Nian's face grew even colder.

"My Lord." Shen Tu rushed in, "Several elders from the bird tribe are here, looking panicked. They want to see you."

Hearing the words "looking panicked," Dao Nian didn't show any surprise. He closed his eyes slightly and let out a soft sigh, "Let them in."

"My Lord." The bird tribe elders, upon entering, immediately knelt down and wept, "The phoenix lineage of our tribe has gone missing. We beg for your assistance."

The phoenix lineage missing?

Everyone was shocked. Liu Mao turned to look at Dao Nian, finding his expression calm, as if he had anticipated this.

"Back then, when you left that phoenix egg behind, I told you, some things bring not just hope, but deeper despair." Dao Nian's expression was cold, as if he wasn't talking about the imminent extinction of a divine bird, but the rise and fall of the tides. "Leaving that phoenix egg behind, you already went against the laws of nature. Now, it's just…"

The elders suddenly remembered that when they begged the Lord to rescue the phoenix egg from the flames, my Lord had asked them if they would regret going against the laws of Heaven.

What did they answer back then?

"No regrets."

"Even if there's a sliver of hope, I wouldn't regret it."

At that time, my Lord's expression was the same as it is today, cold with a hint of pity.

"Could it be that our bird race is destined to never leave behind the phoenix bloodline?" The elders wept, their cries tinged with blood.

“The phoenix, to avoid its fall, even went so far as to borrow the human race’s fortune, leaving behind the legend of the dragon and phoenix in the mortal realm.” Listening to the cries growing louder and more mournful, Dao Nian shook his head. “I can’t help you.”

***

After finishing cold pot fish with his department colleagues, it was already past ten o'clock at night. He bought a bunch of barbecue from a street vendor, planning to take it back for the otaku ghost and Zhang Gu. To cater to Zhang Gu's taste, he deliberately didn't order beef.

As he reached the entrance of the residential area, something hit his head. He looked down and saw a colorful egg on the ground.

Bird egg?

He squatted down and took a closer look. The egg was intact, but it didn't look like an egg, more like those artificially made five-colored stones in scenic areas, used to cheat tourists out of money.

He reached out and gently poked it. It was cold and hard, indeed a stone.

"Who's so heartless, putting this kind of stone up high, trying to commit murder?" He touched the spot on his forehead where he was hit. Luckily, he didn't get a concussion.