Chapter 5

He came out of Wang Zhen's place, went to an internet cafe, and sent out several dozen resumes, but since it was Sunday, he naturally did not receive any interview notifications.

His bad luck seemed to be playing tricks on him again. He made over a dozen calls to inquire about part-time jobs, but there were no results.

At noon, he bought two steamed buns, ate one, and saved the other for the evening.

The heavy snow fell all day and stopped by dusk. The weather seemed to get even colder, and at night, he had to continue exercising to keep warm.

The effect was the same as the previous night; the warmth from exercise only lasted for a while. Soon, the heat dissipated, and he had not fallen asleep. In a daze, he was awakened by the cold.

After a few such nights, he suddenly remembered what Wang Zhen had said mockingly during the day: "Your resistance to the cold, you must be close to becoming a god."

He felt bitter and couldn't help but think: If I were a god, immune to cold and heat, I wouldn't be afraid of the cold, but I can't do that.

He wanted to cry out loud but couldn't. Then he thought: If I keep this up, unable to sleep at night, even if I find a job, I won't have the energy during the day to do it well. I need to solve this problem quickly.

He was lost in thought and suddenly remembered the idea from the previous night: If I can maintain the state of exercise when I am quiet, and my body continues to produce heat, I can resist the cold.

In despair, he clung to this idea and thought deeply: This idea is good, but how can I achieve it? What is the difference between being quiet and exercising?

After the next exercise, he carefully experienced the feeling and found that after intense exercise, compared to being quiet, besides fatigue, his breathing quickened and his heart rate increased.

Combining the knowledge he learned in school, he knew that the increased heart rate was due to the acceleration of blood circulation.

Because of the accelerated blood circulation, the energy in his body was continuously consumed, producing a large amount of heat, so he didn't feel cold.

When he was quiet, the blood circulation slowed down, the energy consumption decreased, and the heat produced also decreased, so he felt cold.

He pondered: If I can find a way to consume energy like when I exercise while being quiet, can I avoid being cold?

Thinking about this, he suddenly felt excited. How can I achieve this?

The result of exercise is the large consumption of energy and the acceleration of blood circulation, which inevitably leads to quickened breathing and an increased heart rate. Therefore, there must be a connection between these three.

He couldn't control his heart rate, but he could control his breathing.

Since there is a connection between these three, can I control my heart rate and blood circulation by controlling my breathing with a special breathing method?

He began to deliberately look for the connection between these three during exercise and playfully named his theory "Quiet Breathing."

The idea was to control blood circulation through a special breathing method, making his body produce the same effect as exercise while being quiet, to resist the cold.

But this seemed to be just a wild idea. Although the method sounded reasonable in theory, it was not so easy in practice. He struggled all night but saw no results.

The next day, he continued to send out resumes and make calls, hoping to find a job or part-time work to earn some money to get through this difficult time. Fate seemed to be playing a joke on him; the resumes he sent and the calls he made brought no good news.

He didn't go back all day, walking around outside, hoping to find a job from the job advertisements posted everywhere.

In the afternoon, as he passed by a nearby library, he saw a large poster at the entrance and couldn't help but exclaim, stopping to read it carefully.

The poster announced that in two days, an expert in hypnosis would give a free lecture, and anyone could attend.

"Hypnosis, an interesting lecture, should I go?" At this moment, everything he thought about was related to solving his problem of being cold at night. "If I am hypnotized and feel like I am exercising while being quiet, will it really produce the same effect as exercise?"

"If I find a job and earn money, my life will improve, and I can buy some clothes, a mattress, and a quilt, so I won't need to worry about 'Quiet Breathing.' But if I can't find a job, will I freeze to death?"

He decided that if he still couldn't find a job by then, he would attend the lecture. Although he didn't know what the expert would say, and hypnosis wasn't easy to learn, his theory might help him resist the cold at night.

At night, while exercising, he thought about the lecture and began to ponder things related to hypnosis.

If hypnosis can create false sensations, then these sensations are similar to the effects of hallucinogenic drugs.

High-grade hallucinogenic drugs are mostly narcotics, which are out of the question. But alcohol can also anesthetize people. If I buy some alcohol and drink it, will I be able to imagine the situation of exercise while being quiet and achieve the same effect as exercise?

Nearby supermarkets sell cheap, high-proof liquor. After much thought, he decided to try it, buy a bottle of cheap liquor, and experience the numbing, dreamlike feeling in advance.

He went out, spent three yuan, and bought a bottle of cheap liquor from the nearest supermarket. He opened the bottle and smelled it; the strong smell of the cheap liquor almost made him vomit.

He held his breath, brought the bottle to his mouth, and took a small sip. His mouth immediately felt like it was on fire. He swallowed it with discomfort, and his entire stomach seemed to be burning.

The taste was unbearable. He frowned, wanting to stop, but thinking of the cold at night, he didn't want to give up. He sighed, took a deep breath, and brought the bottle to his mouth again, gulping down a large mouthful without savoring it.

His stomach immediately churned as if a stick were stirring it, making him feel extremely uncomfortable. After a few minutes, he drank a large glass of water to calm it down.

Drinking too quickly, the drunkenness didn't come easily. He felt a bit dizzy, but his mind was still clear. After another large mouthful, a few minutes later, the alcohol hit him, and his sense of taste was lost. He drank the entire bottle in several sips.

His stomach was uncomfortable, his face was hot, and the alcohol soon rose, making him want to vomit. But he had only eaten two steamed buns that day, which had already been digested, so he only vomited some acid.

His body felt numb, and he lay in bed, not forgetting his purpose. He imagined himself exercising, trying to create a hallucination in his mind to achieve the effect of not being afraid of the cold while exercising.

He felt his whole body heat up and was pleased, thinking his imagination was effective. Tired, he gradually felt sleepy and soon fell asleep.

In the middle of the night, as the alcohol wore off, he was awakened by the cold. His mouth was dry, and his throat felt like it had been exposed to the sun. He wanted to sit up and get some water but found his hands and feet numb and unable to move.

He was shocked and thought: After drinking, I imagined myself exercising and felt warm. Why am I still so cold?

He soon realized that the warmth he felt was just a false sensation caused by the numbing of his nerves from the alcohol. In fact, his body wasn't warm, and when the alcohol wore off, he felt even colder, but he just couldn't feel it.

It seems this method is not feasible. Thinking about it, the theory of "Quiet Breathing" is not so easy to achieve. If it were that easy, most people who love alcohol wouldn't be afraid of the cold.

He sighed in frustration, rubbed his hands and feet, and slowly got up. After drinking a glass of water, he used a towel dipped in hot water to wipe his numb hands and feet.

Before his hands and feet recovered, his body got cold again. He shivered, his teeth chattered, his chest felt tight, and he had difficulty breathing. He had to exercise again to keep warm.

However, he hadn't eaten much in the past two days, and his stomach was empty, leaving him weak. With the alcohol still in his system, he was extremely tired and just wanted to lie down and sleep.

He struggled, warning himself: If I fall asleep like this, I might freeze to death. No matter what, I need to exercise first.

Perhaps his firm will took effect, and he suddenly felt a surge of strength. After exercising for a while, he was sweating, and his breathing became smoother. He then lay down.

In a daze, he was awakened by the cold again, exercised until he was warm, and lay down again. At the same time, he carefully felt the differences in his body, breathing, and state after exercise, looking for patterns.

In the morning, he felt his throat was dry, and even after drinking two glasses of water, it didn't help. When he went out to look for a job, the wind made him sneeze, and he caught a cold.

His throat itched, and he kept coughing. Passing by a pharmacy, he glanced inside but comforted himself: A small cold is not a big deal; I don't need medicine; it will be fine in a few days.

In reality, he knew he didn't have much money left and couldn't afford medicine.

He made over a dozen more calls and sent out several dozen more resumes but still received no response, and he still hadn't found a job.

He bought two steamed buns and took them home, remembering the lesson from the previous night. He didn't eat at noon, saving one for the afternoon and one for the evening.

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PS: Thank you to Brother Chuchen Zhi Zi 2007 for the tip. Also, I'm in the new book period and need some recommendation votes.

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