It was already past two in the afternoon by the time he left Qiu Yunong’s company.
According to Qiu Yunong, the promotions on other platforms had already begun. The daily active users were growing, and with the added traffic directed to top influencers and the lure of cash rewards, the female influencer named Bubble should be breaking one hundred thousand followers very soon.
He drove back to Century Triumph, planning to do some more photo editing for Qiu Yunong, as he had just taken some new pictures in different styles at her office.
RING RING RING—
Lin Jiang had just gotten home when his phone rang. The caller was Qin Yangyang.
"Where are you? Are you busy right now?"
"Just got home."
"Wait for me at home. I’m coming over."
"Okay."
After hanging up, Lin Jiang had a good idea why Qin Yangyang wanted to see him.
Gaining four pounds in two days was definitely unacceptable for someone as paranoid about their weight as she was.
About half an hour later, the doorbell rang.
Lin Jiang went to open the door and saw Qin Yangyang standing there. She was still dressed in business attire, perfectly showcasing the cool and aloof aura of a female lawyer.
She was also carrying a bag, which meant she must have gone shopping earlier.
Lin Jiang looked her up and down. Four pounds of extra weight wouldn’t be noticeable on him.
But on Qin Yangyang’s smaller frame, gaining four pounds in two days was quite obvious.
"What are you looking at?"
"It looks like you really have gained weight."
"Even you can tell?"
Qin Yangyang deflated like a popped balloon, her cool and aloof aura vanishing.
Men were usually clueless about these things. The fact that even he had noticed she’d gained weight just showed how ridiculously obvious it was.
Lin Jiang nodded. "You don’t look as cute anymore."
Having been teased by Lin Jiang so many times, Qin Yangyang didn’t really care about this kind of remark anymore.
"It’s not just that *they’ve* gotten bigger, I even have a little belly now."
"So, do you believe in my secret method now?"
"Yes, yes, I believe you! I need to lose weight. Hurry up and help me."
As she spoke, Qin Yangyang handed the bag to Lin Jiang.
"What’s this?"
"Open it and see."
Taking the bag, Lin Jiang glanced inside and saw two pairs of swimming trunks, along with goggles, a nose clip, and earplugs.
"You bought all this?"
"Well, we did agree to go swimming together," Qin Yangyang said. "Otherwise, I would’ve bought the swimsuit for nothing. I can’t exactly wear it to jump rope, can I?"
"Do you have anything else you need to do? If not, want to go swimming now?"
"That’s an excellent suggestion."
"Then let’s go now. Swimming is good for toning. We can use your secret weight-loss method tonight. Does that plan work?"
"No problem. And my secret method works while swimming, too."
"Even better! We can lose weight and tone up at the same time."
"Let’s go."
The two of them left the apartment and went to Suya Fitness Center together.
[Check-in successful: Six days]
’One more day and I’ll have an eight-pack.’
They arrived at the swimming pool and went to their respective changing rooms.
Lin Jiang was a little curious about what exactly "Beginner Swimming" entailed.
’It would be embarrassing if it’s just a doggy paddle.’
"Tongzi, what level is ’Beginner Swimming’ exactly? Can you explain it?"
[Swimming skill is divided into five levels: Beginner, Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, and Master Level (All levels include proficiency in all swimming strokes by default)]
"So Master Level is basically an Olympic champion’s level, right?"
[Yes]
"Interesting..."
’If that’s the case, then Beginner doesn’t seem too bad.’
He came out after changing into his swimming trunks, but Qin Yangyang hadn’t finished changing yet.
Lin Jiang took out his phone and looked up swimming proficiency levels.
In China, there are five ratings for this: International Master, National Master, First-Level Athlete, Second-Level Athlete, and Third-Level Athlete.
Tongzi also had five levels for swimming skill, so Beginner probably corresponded to a Third-Level Athlete. There might be some deviation, but it shouldn’t be too far off.
’Looked at this way, Tongzi rating my Culinary Skill as Basic was actually quite generous.’
’Thanks, Tongzi.’
[The evaluation for Culinary Skill uses a different system. The player should not get complacent.]
’Fuck!’
After cursing out Tongzi, Lin Jiang saw that Qin Yangyang had come out.
She was wearing the same swimsuit as before. Looking at it now, it didn’t seem like a big deal, and it didn’t really spark any improper thoughts.
After all, in a place like this, everyone dressed this way, so you get used to the sight.
It’s like the first time you see a female ghost—you might piss your pants in fear. But if you saw her every day for a year, you wouldn’t feel anything anymore. You might even want to bang her.
After coming out, Qin Yangyang saw Lin Jiang waiting for her.
Her heart suddenly started to race.
Before, she had only pinched the fat on his stomach; she had never seen him shirtless.
His body fat was down to 8%. Although his abs weren’t perfectly defined yet, the outline was already there. If he actually got an eight-pack, wouldn’t that be fatally attractive?
And his calves—those lines were just too beautiful.
A male colleague at the law firm used to have an NBA player’s photo in a frame at his desk. She thought his name was McGrady.
That guy’s calves were unbelievably good-looking, without a single ounce of excess fat.
Lin Jiang’s calves seemed to be every bit as good as his.
But Qin Yangyang kept her expression indifferent. The "cold female lawyer" persona couldn’t be broken.
"I’ve gained four pounds in the last two days. I feel like my swimsuit is a little too small now."
"I can tell. The cleavage it’s creating is deeper."
"You’re so annoying! Why do you always stare there?"
"What normal guy wouldn’t look?"
"Uh..."
’He kind of has a point.’
"Teacher Zhang."
The two had just arrived at the swimming area when Qin Yangyang walked toward another woman.
The woman was wearing a black one-piece swimsuit that was hardly what you’d call sexy.
You could at least see a hint of cleavage with Qin Yangyang’s suit, but this woman’s style didn’t even show that.
"Let me introduce you two. This is Teacher Zhang Mingjing, the swimming coach I found. She used to be a Third-Level National Athlete. We can both learn from Teacher Zhang from now on."
"Teacher Zhang, this is my friend, Lin Jiang."
Qin Yangyang made the introductions, and Lin Jiang extended his hand to shake Zhang Mingjing’s.
"Since neither of you has any foundation, we’ll start from the beginning and take it one step at a time."
"Mmm."
"Well..."
Lin Jiang paused. "I already know how to swim, so I won’t be joining you."
’Zhang Mingjing is a Third-Level Athlete. I’m currently at the Basic level, which is about the same as a Third-Level Athlete.’
’But when she got that certification, she must have been in her prime. At her current age, her condition has surely declined. Her skill might not even be as good as mine anymore, so there’s no need for her to teach me.’
’Even if she has more teaching experience, I’m just doing this for fun, so there’s even less reason to take lessons.’
"Hmm?"
Qin Yangyang looked at Lin Jiang in surprise and pulled him aside.
"You know how to swim?!"
Lin Jiang nodded. "I told you before."
"Uh... I thought you were joking."
"Qin Lu, this is just blatant distrust on your part."
"It’s mainly because I really didn’t expect you to know so many things," Qin Yangyang said, feeling a little guilty.
"It’s fine. No need to get hung up on such a small thing. You go ahead and learn from her."
"When I was looking for a coach, I did some asking around. Coach Zhang’s skill level is quite good. Why don’t you learn from her systematically too?"
"I’d rather not. Her skill level might not even be as good as mine, so there’s no point in learning from her."
"Hmm?"
Qin Yangyang looked at Lin Jiang in astonishment.
"She’s a Third-Level National Athlete, and you’re saying her skill is not as good as yours?"
"She was a Third-Level National Athlete in her prime. Now that she’s older and doesn’t train every day, her condition and skill have definitely declined. She might not be better than me anymore, but she’s more than qualified to teach you."
"This..."
"Yangyang."
Just as Qin Yangyang was trying to decide what to do, Zhang Mingjing called out to her from behind.
"Teacher Zhang."
"I just heard your friend say that my skill level isn’t as good as his?"
Lin Jiang: ???
’My voice wasn’t even loud. How could she have heard that?’
’Are her ears that good?’
"No, my friend didn’t say that! Teacher Zhang, please don’t misunderstand. He meant he’s better than me," Qin Yangyang said, trying to smooth things over.
"That doesn’t seem to be what he said."
Zhang Mingjing looked at Lin Jiang. "Mr. Lin, were you also a national-level athlete once? Why don’t we two swim a lap?"
"I was just play..."
Lin Jiang didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble and was about to make an excuse to smooth things over.
But just then, a game notification appeared.
[A player has issued a challenge. Accept: Yes/No]
[Challenge: Swimming]
[Victor’s Reward: 200 grams of fat, 50,000 in cash]
’Huh?’
’There’s even a PvP mode?’
’But what the hell is with this 200 grams of fat?’
’Am I supposed to take it home and render it for oil?’
’Yes,’ Lin Jiang thought to himself.
’Whatever the reward is, since the challenge has been issued, I have to accept.’
[Challenge beginning. Good luck.]
"Teacher Zhang, actually, I’m just an amateur. I’m not as good as you think."
’Start with humility before showing off. Acting cocky from the get-go is a bit tacky.’
’Besides, this gives me an out.’
’My assessment of Zhang Mingjing’s skill was just my own estimation.’
’No matter what, she was once a Third-Level National Athlete. Even if her condition has declined, she still deserves some respect.’
’And my own "Third-Level Athlete" skill was just an estimate based on Tongzi’s rating. Whether it’s actually equivalent to a real Third-Level Athlete is still debatable.’
’In that case, it’s hard to say who will win or lose. There’s definitely some suspense.’
’I have to leave myself a way out so I don’t lose face if I lose.’
"But you seemed very confident just now, thinking my skill level was beneath yours," Zhang Mingjing said provocatively. "I think we should give it a try. Winning or losing doesn’t matter; just think of it as some fun. What do you say?"
’This woman’s competitive spirit is a bit much.’
Lin Jiang stretched a little.
"Alright. Since you put it that way, let’s give it a try."

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