Chapter 4 Running

Chen Xiuxiu ate half a plate of smashed cucumbers, and with every bite, Jiang Feng would hear the system's lovely prompt tone.

"Ding, gained ten experience points."

"Ding, gained eight experience points."

"Ding, gained eight experience points."

...

Compared with Mrs. Wang Xiulian's miserly 1 experience point, Chen Xiuxiu was akin to a very generous client. The delightful tones kept ringing, prompting Jiang Feng to involuntarily reminisce about the times he spent with Chen Xiuxiu back in high school.

Grilled sausages, pan-fried tofu, pan-fried buns, rice noodle rolls, grilled wheat gluten, soup dumplings, buns stuffed with gravy, shumai, pan-fried dumplings...

Just thinking about it made him a bit hungry.

Before he knew it, Chen Xiuxiu drank an entire bowl of porridge.

She let out a small burp.

This bowl of porridge should feel honored, as only the sauce elbow made by Mr. Jiang Jiankang ever received such treatment.

"Not good!" One moment Chen Xiuxiu's face was filled with the happy smile of satiety, the next her complexion changed dramatically, "I've gone over my calorie limit for today!"

Jiang Feng didn't understand how a bowl of plain porridge without even a drop of sesame oil could cause her to exceed her calorie intake.

"Damn it!" Chen Xiuxiu clenched her little fist in frustration and slammed the table.

"It's just a bowl of porridge, no worries," Jiang Feng consoled her.

Chen Xiuxiu shook her head.

"You don't understand, dieting is like this. If you indulge once, there'll be a second time, and before you know it, all your previous efforts would have gone to waste."

Women are indeed terrifying.

Jiang Feng couldn't help but sigh to himself.

"You could run," Jiang Feng suddenly had a brainwave and suggested, "My roommate lost weight by running, it's very effective. You're so light now, it won't be hard for you. I can easily run ten kilometers myself."

"Really?" Chen Xiuxiu looked skeptical, as she had known Jiang Feng could spin a tall tale since they were kids.

"Of course," Jiang Feng said earnestly.

It just so happened that while his roommate did lose weight by running, it was actually him, his running partner, who ended up losing it.

"Let's meet downstairs at seven tomorrow morning," Jiang Feng decided resolutely.

Chen Xiuxiu hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

Speaking of running to lose weight, one cannot fail to mention Jiang Feng's roommate, Wang Hao. Under the nurturing of love, he grew fatter and fatter until he eventually lost his girlfriend. That relationship left him with nothing but body fat.

After coming to terms with his pain, Wang Hao decided to run to lose weight and, fearing he wouldn't stick to it, dragged Jiang Feng along every day for company and supervision.

He ran alright, but he didn't eat any less.

His stomach, pampered by his ex-girlfriend's doting, became a bottomless pit after exercising, successfully turning Wang Hao from a soft-bodied fatty into a robust fatty.

His roommate's tragic dieting experience served as a warning to Jiang Feng that exercise can greatly increase appetite.

Now looking pale and ill, Chen Xiuxiu had resolutely starved her elephant-sized stomach into that of a little bird's in just one year, torturing herself to near death.

Jiang Feng had to marvel that Mr. Chen was quite laid back about it. If he tried to do the same, Mr. Jiang Jiankang would stuff him like a foie gras duck every single day.

Mr. Jiang Jiankang and Mrs. Wang Xiulian had already gone to bed. Jiang Feng quietly finished his washing up and returned to his room to check his attribute panel.

(Repeat omitted)

2. [Neighbor's Wish] Mr. Chen Duxiu's daughter, Chen Xiuxiu, has recently become obsessed with dieting. Please help Chen Xiuxiu return to a normal diet to fulfill the neighbor's wish.

Mission prompt: Chen Xiuxiu is showing signs of anorexia due to excessive dieting and induced vomiting. Please hurry, as time is of the essence. (Chen Xiuxiu has a preference for sour-smacked cucumbers)

A new sentence was added to the mission prompt, explaining why Chen Xiuxiu received so many experience points for eating the smacked cucumbers that evening.

Does it mean the player must explore on their own? Only by making a discovery will the game provide an explanation. If nothing is found, the game will not point it out.

All these years, Jiang Feng only knew that Chen Xiuxiu liked to start her meals with smacked cucumbers and was particularly fond of the ones he prepared. It turns out it wasn't because he had practiced to perfection and made the cucumbers especially delicious. It was just that he always overdid the vinegar.

Learning the truth, Jiang Feng almost shed tears.

Clicking yes in the level column, he saw that the level and remaining experience points had changed to:

Level: 1 (109/200)

Remaining experience points: 0

The attribute panel showed no change.

Were experience points and levels useless?

Jiang Feng felt that couldn't be the case; it was probably just that his level was too low to meet the qualification threshold.

Since he had made plans to go for a run with Chen Xiuxiu the next morning, Jiang Feng didn't continue to study the attribute panel and instead set his alarm for 6:30 before going straight to bed.

The next day, as soon as Jiang Feng, still bleary-eyed, changed into his sportswear and pushed open the door...

There stood Chen Xiuxiu, dressed in relatively loose-fitting clothes and a pair of running shoes.

For the run, she had even tied her hair back into a ponytail.

Seeing her made Jiang Feng pause.

"Why didn't you knock on the door to hurry me up if you were out so early?"

Chen Xiuxiu glanced at her watch, "If you hadn't come out by seven, I would have knocked. How should we run?"

Chen Xiuxiu seemed somewhat eager to start.

Running in this area would give her a sense of exultation.

It was akin to a mystic sense of achievement as if to say, "The 120-pound me is back, no longer the 170-pound person I used to be."

This feeling wasn't something she could trade for even with three days of fasting to lose two pounds.

"Let's run to No. 1 Middle School." No. 1 Middle School was the alma mater of both Jiang Feng and Chen Xiuxiu, and the food vendors around the school might not know who the principal was, but they definitely knew Chen Xiuxiu.

After all, she was once a notorious foodie in the area.

"It'll be just right to have breakfast at the back gate," suggested Jiang Feng, as if it was a mere afterthought.

"Breakfast?" Chen Xiuxiu frowned. She had intended today's run to burn off last night's bowl of porridge, so having another meal for breakfast seemed like a loss.

The dictionary of someone on a diet did not include the word "breakfast."

"With such intense exercise, you'd better eat breakfast or risk passing out," Jiang Feng advised. The distance to No. 1 Middle School was roughly three kilometers, which was a substantial distance for a beginner runner like Chen Xiuxiu even at a jog.

"I'll just have a cup of soy milk," Chen Xiuxiu compromised.

Jogging may sound easy, but for running beginners, it's far from friendly.

It was like Wang Hao, who on his first day of running set an ambitious goal of 10 kilometers, only to end up sneaking off to the cafeteria after just four laps to reward himself with sweet and sour pork.

The short distance of three kilometers took them a full hour to run.

Chen Xiuxiu was drenched in sweat, sitting in the Shaxian Snacks behind the back gate of No. 1 Middle School, cooling off in front of the electric fan.

After slimming down to 120 pounds, she hadn't sweated this much in a long time.

"Want to eat something?" Jiang Feng's voice seemed like the devil's whisper to Chen Xiuxiu.

Of course, she wanted to eat. She craved the freshly ground soy milk with two spoonfuls of sugar sold by Madam Zhang at the gate of No. 1, the tea eggs stewed until the juice had soaked through in the alley, the zhajiangmian with only cucumbers and green onions, and the steamed dumplings from this Shaxian Snacks franchise.

"Just a bowl of soy milk will do, without sugar." Chen Xiuxiu almost suspected Jiang Feng had done it on purpose, picking this place as their run's destination.

"Miss, don't you want to try our steamed dumplings? They're really delicious. There used to be a young lady from No. 1 who ate several baskets every day!" The proprietress, as always, recommended her steamed dumplings to new customers.

"Jiang Feng, why don't you persuade your girlfriend? Young ladies can't handle exercising and not eating," she said.

"Madam, this is Chen Xiuxiu," Jiang Feng said with a smile, ordering two baskets of steamed dumplings and a bowl of mung bean soup.

"Xiuxiu?!" The proprietress's voice rivaled that of Mrs. Wang Xiulian.

"Xiuxiu's become so pretty! Truly, a young girl changes eighteen times between childhood and womanhood. I couldn't even recognize you. How could you come here and not have steamed dumplings? Come on, have a basket. Don't go starving yourself. If one basket isn't enough, I've got six more, and if that's still not enough, I can make some fresh for you right now!"

Under the proprietress's enthusiastic persuasion, Chen Xiuxiu was steadily pushed back, her order of a mere bowl of soy milk turning into a basket of steamed dumplings and a bowl of soy milk.

Plucking up a steamed dumpling, Chen Xiuxiu glared at Jiang Feng fiercely, "You did this on purpose, luring me here to eat."

"What, their dumplings aren't tasty?" Jiang Feng feigned innocence, "When I was young and didn't know better, I always thought these were the most delicious dumplings in the world."

Jiang Feng swallowed a dumpling in one bite, chewed a few times, and then swallowed.

"Then I went to college, went out and about, and realized that their dumplings really are the best in the world."

Chen Xiuxiu couldn't argue back. After exercising, her blood circulated vigorously, insulin was secreted, and her empty stomach began to move furiously, lodging protests to her body.

Having starved herself for a year, she thought she'd become accustomed to hunger.

Seeing Chen Xiuxiu abandon the slow and methodical way she'd eaten cucumbers the night before and instead hurriedly devour the steamed dumplings, Jiang Feng pressed his advantage, "Shall we continue tomorrow?"

"Mmm."

Chen Xiuxiu took a big bite of her dumpling.