Chapter 16: One-Finger Planche

Chapter 16: Chapter 16: One-Finger Planche

Seeing Gu Qing agree to face off against the dark-skinned jock,

Xia Shuran, a minor Douyin influencer, quietly took out her phone and started recording.

She planned to record the entire showdown.

If Gu Qing won,

she’d edit the video and post it to Douyin to show her followers just how amazing he was.

If the dark-skinned jock won...

she would destroy the video on the spot!

It would never see the light of day!

"Don’t post me on Douyin. I don’t like being online."

Seeing Xia Shuran holding up her phone, Gu Qing was quick to remind her.

Xia Shuran made an OK sign.

"Don’t worry, Senior. If I do post it, I’ll definitely blur your face."

"Not even if it’s blurred."

"Alright then."

Xia Shuran pouted in disappointment but obediently stopped recording.

Just then, the dark-skinned jock chuckled.

"Xiaoxia, you can record me. I’d love for you to post me on Douyin and get you some more likes."

"Senior Hu, you might not believe this, but my phone just died..."

Xia Shuran said, holding up her dark-screened phone.

The phone still had power.

She had just turned off the screen.

Although she had smiled and called him Senior Hu earlier, making it seem like they were on good terms,

she actually had a very poor impression of the dark-skinned jock.

When school started last summer, he had constantly harassed her, sending her all sorts of pictures of his pecs and abs on WeChat, which made her extremely uncomfortable.

She really wanted nothing to do with such a sexually repressed guy.

"Ah, it’s dead? Well, nothing to be done about that."

The dark-skinned jock looked disappointed. He then turned to Gu Qing, his smile vanishing. "Senior, since I suggested this little contest, I’ll set the move, and you can try to copy it."

"Fine. You choose."

Gu Qing was indifferent.

The dark-skinned jock wasted no time. He walked straight to the nearest high bar and said with a composed expression,

"Senior, since we’re both experts, let’s start with something simple, like a Great Angel’s Double Strength Arm."

The so-called "Great Angel’s Double Strength Arm" is actually a reverse muscle-up.

It involves facing away from the bar and using a pull-up motion to hoist one’s entire upper body above it.

As the person pulls themselves up, their arms, shoulders, and back open up, making them look like an angel spreading its wings to fly.

Hence the name, Great Angel’s Double Strength Arm.

Soon,

the dark-skinned jock leaped up to grab the bar, his back to it. Once he was steady, he used every ounce of his strength to slowly pull himself up.

As his body rose,

his dark skin, plain looks, and the exaggerated contortion of his face as he strained made him look less like an angel and more like a giant, reddish-black cockroach.

After several seconds,

the dark-skinned jock finally managed to haul his upper body over the bar. With his arms straightened behind him, he had successfully completed the Great Angel’s Double Strength Arm.

He released his grip.

Landing and turning around,

the dark-skinned jock looked at Gu Qing, his tone dripping with unconcealed pride.

"Your turn, Senior."

The Great Angel’s Double Strength Arm was extremely difficult; only top-tier calisthenics masters could even attempt it.

And Gu Qing, at 1.8 meters tall with long arms, would find it nearly impossible—as difficult as ascending to heaven.

He didn’t believe Gu Qing could possibly replicate it.

Amidst the other man’s blatant condescension,

Gu Qing slowly walked to the bar, leaped up, and gripped it with both hands.

Then, with just a slight exertion of force, his body rose smoothly, his back to the bar.

Unlike the dark-skinned jock,

Gu Qing had fair skin, long, slender arms, and was ridiculously handsome.

As his body rose slowly,

his expression showed no trace of strain. He remained perfectly composed.

Combined with his arms spreading like wings, from a distance he truly looked like an angel slowly ascending from the mortal world, bathed in a sacred glow.

Under Xia Shuran’s nearly obsessed gaze and the dark-skinned jock’s look of utter disbelief,

Gu Qing effortlessly pulled his upper body up, his arms straightening out behind him on the bar. He had completed the Great Angel’s Double Strength Arm with a look of pure ease.

"Senior, you’re amazing!"

Xia Shuran was completely captivated by Gu Qing’s frighteningly powerful core strength. She instantly turned into a star-struck fangirl and couldn’t help but cry out in admiration.

Meanwhile, the smile on the dark-skinned jock’s face froze solid.

’How is that possible?’

’He actually did a Great Angel’s Double Strength Arm?’

’And it was even smoother than mine?’

’Shit!’

’I tried to show off and got completely owned!’

At that moment, the dark-skinned jock felt utterly humiliated.

He wished he could find a hole to crawl into and hide, rather than stay here to be tormented by this public humiliation.

’Huh?’

’Wait!’

’I think I still have a chance to turn this around!’

Suddenly,

the dark-skinned jock noticed Gu Qing’s fingers. They were long, slender, and very elegant.

An idea immediately sparked in his mind.

"Senior, not bad. I can’t believe you made the Great Angel’s Double Strength Arm look so good."

He looked at Gu Qing and smirked. "I just wonder if you’ll be able to replicate the next move so easily: a two-finger planche on the bar."

A two-finger planche on the bar involves supporting the entire body horizontally using only the index and middle fingers of each hand on the bar.

This move not only demands immense core strength from the abs, waist, and back,

but its requirement for finger strength is also absurdly demanding.

In the dark-skinned jock’s opinion,

Gu Qing’s slender fingers could never support his body weight. He would absolutely be unable to perform a move as difficult as the two-finger planche.

’With this two-finger planche, I’ve got him in the bag. Not even Jesus himself could save him now!’

Without wasting any time,

the dark-skinned jock, desperate to reclaim his pride, leaped up again. He grabbed the bar and performed a simple muscle-up to get on top of it.

He then quickly extended his body into a perfect planche.

Then, he slowly curled his other fingers, leaving only his index and middle fingers to support him on the bar.

The moment he retracted his other fingers,

the dark-skinned jock’s muscles tensed all over his body. Veins popped on his temples, and his face slowly turned a deep, purplish-red.

He was in agony, feeling as if his fingers were about to snap, but he gritted his teeth and held on.

He held the position for over three seconds.

Then, his face contorting in pain, he dropped from the bar, his body completely spent.

Rubbing his aching knuckles, he forced a relaxed expression as he looked at Gu Qing.

"Senior, that two-finger planche is extremely difficult and dangerous. If you’ve never done it before, you probably shouldn’t try. Don’t want you to fall and get hurt."

As he said this, the dark-skinned jock was feeling incredibly smug.

’So what if his arms are strong?’

’Who cares if his back muscles are developed?’

’If his fingers are weak, there’s no way he can do a two-finger planche!’

Seeing the dark-skinned jock’s expression, so certain of his victory, Gu Qing found it rather amusing.

The next second, he leaped up to the bar and effortlessly performed a muscle-up.

From his position on top of the bar, he looked down at the dark-skinned jock with a smirk.

"I’m not going to do a two-finger planche."

"It’s fine, Senior,"

the dark-skinned jock said with false magnanimity. "You’re not a PE major, so you haven’t trained as much as I have. It’s normal not to be able to do a two-finger planche. If you can just do a regular one, that’s good enough. We can still say we competed with style."

The words had barely left his mouth

when Gu Qing, still perched on the bar, gave a slight, amused smile.

"Junior, I’m not doing a two-finger planche because I’m going to do a one-finger planche."

’What?! One finger?!’

The dark-skinned jock was stunned, thinking he must have misheard.

Before he could recover,

Gu Qing immediately raised his legs and straightened his arms, holding his entire body horizontally above the bar.

Then, he instantly released his other eight fingers.

He clenched them into two fists, thumbs pointing up.

Only his two thumbs remained on the bar, steadily supporting his long, 1.8-meter frame.

...

PS: *The author holds out a bowl, begging for monthly passes and recommendation votes!*