Song Zhiyu was once a rare marathon prodigy in China.
After an injury forced him to withdraw from a race, he was slammed by the entire internet. Then he vanished from public view and moved into a guesthouse famous for its lazy, lie-flat lifestyle.
This guesthouse is paradise for the lazy. The moment you step inside, you can lie flat completely, and even check-in can be done without getting up.
The owner never asks anything except whether you're hungry, then has your food delivered right to your bedside.
Once guests move in, they can spend the whole day in bed, except when they need the bathroom.
Every guest who stays here never wants to leave, because they're too lazy to go.
But Song Zhiyu moved in only because the guesthouse offered round-the-clock, full-service care, making it the perfect place for him to focus entirely on recovering and training.
So, as someone who refused to lie flat, he became the enemy of everyone at the guesthouse as soon as he checked in. In a single day, he took more steps than all the other guests combined had taken in an entire month.
The guests filed a joint complaint against him: He was seriously ruining the guesthouse's atmosphere!
But the owner just sprawled on a recliner, narrowed his eyes, and dismissed every guest with a single, “Too lazy to deal with it.”
-
One late night, Song Zhiyu's leg injury flared up again, and the pain kept him awake. He secretly got on the little electric scooter he'd once sneered at and rode to the back hills to clear his head.
In the hazy moonlight, an incredibly agile figure was running through the mountains.
When Song Zhiyu got a good look, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. ???
The person running was none other than the guesthouse owner, Jiang Biexu!
Wasn't he supposed to be the leader of the lie-flat movement?
Why was he secretly pushing himself in the back hills in the middle of the night?
Song Zhiyu watched as Jiang Biexu effortlessly ran ten kilometers before stopping. He rolled up his sleeves and marched over. “Aren't you the laziest person at this whole guesthouse?! What are you doing right now?!”
Jiang Biexu turned around and raised a finger to his lips. “Shh. Keep it a secret for me. Help me maintain my image.”
-
A year later, Song Zhiyu returned to competition after recovering from his injury and won the championship at a double-gold event once again. After the race, a reporter asked, “How did you achieve such great results without a coach?”
Song Zhiyu turned his head. “Who told you I don't have a coach?”
The reporter was surprised and pressed him to reveal the identity of his mysterious coach.
Song Zhiyu smiled faintly. “I can't tell you. He has an image to maintain.”
Ten minutes later, in the locker room, Jiang Biexu bent down to tie Song Zhiyu's shoelaces. Gripping his ankle, he chuckled softly. “You've got your medal. Can we really unwind tonight?”
Song Zhiyu froze and asked warily, “Which kind of unwinding?”
[Track and field, marathon runners, two equally strong leads, sweet romance]
[A story about a bunch of extremely, extremely lazy lie-flat champions and two relentless overachievers living happily together at a guesthouse]
[Could this count as a road-trip story, too?]
[Kind reminder: Don't take lying flat too far. Health comes first.]
-
Theme: Don't take lying flat too far. Health comes first.
