Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
“Hey, Sai… Mr. Xiang! Are you a member of this gym too?”
Same as Xiang Kun, the encounter also took Baona by surprise. She had almost blurted out “Saitama-sensei”, but luckily she realized it in time and changed her choice of words. After all, they were acquaintances at most after merely one date. It would be fine to address each other using nicknames when they were alone, but things might start to look weird with other people around.
“Yeah. I just registered a few days ago.”
After some simple greetings, Xiang Kun left.
Neither of them mentioned the barbecue that Xiang Kun had not turned up to. Firstly, he did not want to embarrass Baona in front of her friend. Secondly, it wasn’t worth mentioning in the first place—she had invited him, and he had rejected her because he was unavailable. Nothing wrong.
When Xiang Kun was far, the tall girl beside Baona finally said, “Is that the ‘Saitama-sensei’ you talked about? He looks so buff…” Her tone was full of curiosity.
About that, even Baona was amazed. Today, Xiang Kun had not changed out of his gym attire because he hadn’t perspired much. That image of him was really striking to the eye. When they first met at the coffee shop, Xiang Kun was wearing loose-fitting jeans and a T-shirt, which revealed his muscular build. However, Baona had not expected him to be this strong.
The girl looked at Baona and commented in contempt. “But his looks are just about average. And that bald head! You told me that he’s a programmer, right? Oh! He WAS a programmer. Why isn’t he interested in you, Nana?”
“Hey! I wasn’t dumped…” Baona rolled her eyes. “I have no interest in him at all, okay? It’s just that I casually asked him if he wanted to join us when we were having barbecue, and he just happened to be busy.”
The girl’s name was Yang Zhen Er, Baona’s bestie and her current roommate. They shared almost every single detail of their lives with each other. Hence, Zhen Er was aware of Baona’s date, and actually, she was by her side when Baona invited Xiang Kun out for barbecue—that was actually Zhen Er’s idea.
“Stop fooling yourself. He rejected you and hasn’t taken the initiative to contact you ever since, nor has he invited you out. Do you need a stronger signal that he’s not into you?” Zhen Er’s words hit home.
Baona had no counter argument. She was slightly annoyed. “So be it. I’m not a princess whom every man will fall for… Besides, it’s all your fault! I wouldn’t have messaged him in the first place if you hadn’t insisted on meeting that ‘Saitama-sensei’!”
“Oh no, are you angry at me? Sure, my bad! But don’t get me wrong. You ARE a charming princess. It’s that bald head’s fault for not appreciating you…” Zhen Er laughed and wrapped her arm around Baona’s shoulders. The pair entered the yoga room together.
On her way home from the yoga lesson, a strange feeling grew stronger in Baona’s mind.
She had had numerous pursuers since a young age, but none of them had successfully won her heart. Moreover, she was a stubborn girl who would not be willing to “give it a try” once she felt that it was not “the right person”. As a result, she hadn’t had a boyfriend yet, which made her family worried sick as she grew older.
Personally, she was very much against “matchmaking” for its strong sense of purpose and lack of romance. She had turned down many dates arranged by her parents before but had finally started going this year after rounds of persuasion from her relatives. The one with Xiang Kun was only her second time.
In fact, she had only done it for the sake of her sister and her sister’s friend Han. She had even planned to excuse herself just 20 minutes into her date. However, that bald-headed “Saitama-sensei” was unexpectedly humorous. They had a pleasant time, and there was no pressure like other matchmaking sessions.
At first, she was worried that the “bald uncle” might have gotten the wrong signal. She had even come up with ideas about how to reject him politely if he frequently messaged, called, or tried to invite her out.
Nevertheless, the man’s passive attitude had caught Baona by surprise. There were no greeting messages, casual chats, or invitations. None.
Although she would have rejected him if he had asked her out, for some reason, she felt strange that he wasn’t contacting her.
At first, that did not bother her as that was exactly what she had hoped for. But a few days later, Zhen Er brought that “bald uncle” up again when they were having barbecue together. They made a bet on whether Baona could invite “Saitama-sensei” out for barbecue as Zhen Er insisted that he wasn’t into her.
In the end, Baona was rejected. The matter itself was not a big deal because it was perfectly normal for Xiang Kun to be unavailable when Baona made that sudden invitation. Yet the problem lay in Xiang Kun’s tone—it was too indifferent and casual. Besides, he had not messaged again after the rejection, clearly showing his lack of interest.
Although Baona had claimed that she couldn’t care less, Zhen Er’s words were still ringing in her ears. She felt confused and curious at the same time. “Why on earth is Xiang Kun not interested in me? He rejected me cleanly. Does he not have any intention to get to know me better?”
In the car, Zhen Er babbled on about her speculations. She first said that Xiang Kun might only be interested in voluptuous, fertile women and then asserted that he was attached, though Baona’s sister’s friend was unaware. A while later, she guessed that Xiang Kun might be gay…
In the end, Baona could not resist but whip out her phone and send Xiang Kun a message.
…
The encounter with Baona at the gym was both surprising and a tad awkward for Xiang Kun. But he did not put much thought into it afterwards. To him, it would be impossible for Baona to ever contact him again after all those cold replies of his. Indeed, he had no time nor energy to consider relationships now either.
Earlier at the gym today, he had confirmed that his left arm had become much stronger than his right through heavy-weight curls. This verified that targeted training could indeed determine how his body would improve after feeding.
Therefore, Xiang Kun had modified his workout regimes today. He had only lifted weights once at his limits to test the overall improvement in his strength. After that, he adopted an alternative training method of at least 24 reps per set of lighter workouts instead of constantly exercising at his limit. In addition, he focused more on building flexibility, coordination, and reflexes, a shift away from strength.
Many of the exercises had been found online and collated just the night before.
But given his accurate control over his muscles, he was already proficient at them after just two tries.
Following that, Xiang Kun planned to intensify the training of his senses, including eyesight, hearing, and his sense of smell. He wanted to know the limits in that area.
When Xiang Kun was editing the plans on his laptop, his phone beeped. To his surprise, it was a message from Baona.