Chapter 4

Chen Xiuxiu ate half a plate of smashed cucumber. With every bite, Jiang Feng would hear a wonderful system notification sound.

"Chime, gained ten experience points."

"Chime, gained eight experience points."

"Chime, gained eight experience points."

...

Compared to Comrade Wang Xiulian's miserly one experience point, Chen Xiuxiu was a very generous customer. The delightful notification sounds kept ringing, making Jiang Feng involuntarily recall the times he spent with Chen Xiuxiu in high school.

Grilled sausages, pan-fried tofu, pan-fried buns,肠粉, grilled wheat gluten, xiaolongbao, soup-filled buns, siu mai, pan-fried dumplings...

Just thinking about it made him a bit hungry.

Unconsciously, Chen Xiuxiu finished a full bowl of porridge.

She burped softly.

This bowl of porridge should feel honored; in the past, only the braised pork knuckle made by Comrade Jiang Jiankang could receive such treatment.

"Oh no!" Chen Xiuxiu's face, which had been filled with a happy smile from being full, suddenly changed. "Today's calorie intake has exceeded the limit!"

Jiang Feng didn't understand how a bowl of plain porridge without even a drop of sesame oil could exceed the calorie limit.

"Damn!" Chen Xiuxiu clenched her small fists and slammed the table in anger.

"It's just a bowl of porridge, it's fine." Jiang Feng tried to reassure her.

Chen Xiuxiu shook her head.

"You don't understand. Dieting is like this; if you indulge once, there will be a second time, and eventually, all your efforts will be in vain."

Women are truly terrifying.

Jiang Feng couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

"You can go running." Jiang Feng, struck by a sudden idea, suggested, "My roommate lost weight by running, it's very effective. You're so light now, it won't be tiring for you. I can easily run ten kilometers."

"Really?" Chen Xiuxiu looked doubtful, having seen Jiang Feng's knack for exaggeration since childhood.

"Of course." Jiang Feng looked sincere.

It was just that his roommate, who ran to lose weight, ended up making him, the running partner, lose weight instead.

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

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

Speaking of running to lose weight, one couldn't help but mention Jiang Feng's roommate, Wang Hao. In the nourishment of love, he became fatter and fatter until he lost his girlfriend. This relationship left him with nothing but a lot of fat.

After gaining a lot of fat, Wang Hao, determined to lose weight, decided to run. Worried that he wouldn't stick to it, he pulled Jiang Feng along to run and supervise him.

He did run, but he didn't eat any less.

His stomach, which had been expanded by his ex-girlfriend's love, became a bottomless pit after exercise, successfully transforming Wang Hao from a flabby fat person into a muscular fat person.

His roommate's tragic weight loss experience reminded Jiang Feng that exercise can greatly increase one's appetite.

Chen Xiuxiu now looked pale, having starved her elephant-sized stomach into a bird-sized one in just a year, looking like she was torturing herself to death.

Jiang Feng couldn't help but marvel at how Chen's father could be so carefree. If he did the same, Comrade Jiang Jiankang would use a funnel to force-feed him every day.

Comrades Jiang Jiankang and Wang Xiulian were already asleep. After washing up quietly, Jiang Feng returned to his room and checked his attribute panel.

(Repetitive parts omitted)

2. [Neighbor's Wish] Chen Xiuxiu, the daughter of Chen Duxiu, is obsessed with dieting and weight loss. Please help Chen Xiuxiu return to normal eating habits.

Task Prompt: Chen Xiuxiu has shown signs of anorexia due to excessive dieting and induced vomiting. Please act quickly. (Chen Xiuxiu likes slightly sour smashed cucumber)

The task prompt added a sentence, explaining why Chen Xiuxiu gained so many experience points from eating the smashed cucumber last night.

Please explore on your own, is this the reason?

The game only provides explanations when you discover something; if you don't find it, the game won't point it out.

Over the years, Jiang Feng only knew that Chen Xiuxiu liked to have a plate of smashed cucumber before meals, especially the ones she made herself. It turned out that it wasn't because he had practiced making smashed cucumber for years and made it particularly delicious, but because he always added too much vinegar.

Learning the truth, Jiang Feng almost shed tears.

Clicking on the level, the level and remaining experience points changed to:

Level: 1 (109/200)

Remaining Experience Points: 0

The attribute panel showed no changes.

Are experience points and levels useless?

Jiang Feng thought it was impossible; it must be because his level was too low to trigger the qualification.

He had already made plans to run with Chen Xiuxiu the next morning, so he didn't continue to study the attribute panel. He set his alarm for 6:30 and went to sleep.

The next morning, Jiang Feng, dressed in sports clothes, opened the door with sleepy eyes.

Chen Xiuxiu was standing at the door, wearing relatively loose clothes and a pair of running shoes.

To run, she had even tied her hair into a ponytail.

Seeing him, Jiang Feng paused.

"Why didn't you knock to wake me up when you came out early?"

Chen Xiuxiu glanced at her watch: "If you weren't out by seven, I would have knocked. How are we running?"

Chen Xiuxiu seemed eager.

Running in this area made her feel triumphant.

It was like the feeling of a 120-pound me coming back, no longer the 170-pound me of the past. This sense of achievement was something that losing two pounds by not eating for three days couldn't match.

"Let's run to No. 1 High School." No. 1 High School was Jiang Feng and Chen Xiuxiu's alma mater. The vendors around No. 1 High School might not know the principal, but they definitely knew Chen Xiuxiu.

After all, she used to be a well-known food lover in the area.

"Let's go to the back gate for breakfast." Jiang Feng said casually.

"Breakfast?" Chen Xiuxiu frowned. She had gone running to burn off the porridge from last night; eating another meal would be counterproductive.

The word "breakfast" didn't exist in a dieter's dictionary.

"With such a high intensity of exercise, not eating breakfast could make you faint." Jiang Feng said. It was about three kilometers to No. 1 High School, a considerable distance for a running beginner like Chen Xiuxiu.

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

Running slowly might sound easy, but it's not friendly to beginners.

Like Wang Hao, who on the first day of running, vowed to run ten kilometers but ended up running four laps and then went to the cafeteria to reward himself with sweet and sour pork.

The short three kilometers took a full hour.

Chen Xiuxiu, drenched in sweat, sat in a S County snack shop by the back gate of No. 1 High School, fanning herself.

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

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

Of course, she wanted to eat. She wanted to drink the freshly ground soy milk with two spoons of sugar sold by Grandma Zhang at the gate of No. 1 High School, eat the tea eggs cooked in the alley with the broth seeping in, have a bowl of fried sauce noodles with cucumber strips and scallions, and eat the steamed dumplings from this S County snack shop.

"Just a bowl of soy milk, no sugar." Chen Xiuxiu almost suspected that Jiang Feng had deliberately chosen this place as the destination for their run.

"Little girl, why don't you try our steamed dumplings? They're delicious. There used to be a girl from No. 1 High School who ate several baskets every day!" The shop owner, as usual, recommended her steamed dumplings to new customers.

"Jiang Feng, why don't you advise your girlfriend? Running and not eating can be bad for her health."

"Owner, she's Chen Xiuxiu." Jiang Feng smiled and ordered two baskets of steamed dumplings and a bowl of mung bean soup.

"Xiuxiu?!" The shop owner's voice was as loud as Comrade Wang Xiulian's.

"Xiuxiu looks so beautiful! Truly, a girl changes a lot in eighteen years. I didn't recognize you. How can you not eat steamed dumplings here? Come, have a basket, don't starve yourself. How can a girl not eat breakfast? If that's not enough, I have six more baskets, and I can make more for you!"

Under the shop owner's enthusiasm, Chen Xiuxiu could only retreat step by step, from a bowl of soy milk to a basket of steamed dumplings and a bowl of soy milk.

Chen Xiuxiu picked up a steamed dumpling and glared at Jiang Feng: "You did this on purpose, tricking me to come here to eat."

"What, are their steamed dumplings not delicious?" Jiang Feng looked innocent. "When I was young, I always thought these steamed dumplings were the best in the world."

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

"After going to college and leaving, I realized that these steamed dumplings are indeed the best in the world."

Chen Xiuxiu couldn't argue. After exercise, her blood circulation improved, and her insulin secretion increased. Her empty stomach began to contract rapidly, sending protests to her body.

She had been starving herself for a year and had already gotten used to hunger.

Seeing Chen Xiuxiu eating the steamed dumplings more hurriedly than she had eaten the cucumber last night, Jiang Feng pressed his advantage: "Shall we continue tomorrow?"

"Sure."

Chen Xiuxiu took a big bite of the steamed dumpling.