Once everyone had their schedules, Chen Yu told them to start eating while also having someone wheel in a television.
Then, he started playing a video.
In the United States, meals are a fairly formal affair. Almost no one watches TV while eating.
But these kids were from China, so it wasn't a problem.
They might even enjoy their food more while watching TV.
Of course, the TV wasn't showing a soap opera. It was playing educational materials about training, produced by the media department of Chen Yu's company.
The video currently playing was about the relationship between building muscle and bulking up.
As it played, Chen Yu would pause it to provide explanations.
"Many of you are very skinny. The soccer players are a little better, but on the basketball side, many of your physiques are seriously below standard. That's why you need to bulk up."
"This is something many professional players often have to do. In the NBA, for example, weight management is extremely important. On our team, we typically assign players a target weight after the season ends, based on their tactical role and individual condition."
"When the new season starts, we check to see if they've met the target. If not, they have to go through the process of gaining or losing weight again."
"You watch the NBA often, so you should have noticed that many players are still very skinny when they first enter the league. But within a year or two, they're covered in muscle."
"Take Yao Ming, for example. When he entered the league, I demanded that he gain weight, and he spent an entire season doing just that."
"Because for a professional athlete, bulking up isn't as simple as just adding pounds. Too much weight will affect your athletic ability. That's why, as the video says, you build muscle first when you bulk up."
Putting on nothing but fat will only hurt a player.
Of course, someone like O'Neal is a special case.
The video also used illustrations and text to explain the basic principles of human muscle growth.
First, there's a limit to how much muscle you can build, and it's different for everyone.
Gaining 10 pounds of muscle in a year is enough to produce a very obvious, even dramatic, visual change.
When it comes to building muscle, diet is just as important as training.
The video was narrated in Chinese.
Han Zhilu could even tell that it was likely Chen Yu himself who had done the narration.
Being the academic type, he watched with intense focus.
The video introduced a basic concept: caloric surplus.
In other words, you can only build muscle when your caloric intake is greater than your expenditure.
He glanced down at his meal container.
Han Zhilu had read widely and come across fitness-related topics before. He remembered that fitness enthusiasts were said to have very particular diets, always eating things like boiled chicken, lean beef, and lettuce.
But after hearing Chen Yu's explanation, he realized that wasn't the case at all.
To build muscle, you needed not only high protein but also high calories.
That must be why the beef and pan-fried fish in his meal container were smothered in large amounts of dressing and cheese.
Combined with the huge portion size, it was practically a calorie bomb.
With that thought, Han Zhilu no longer hesitated. He speared a piece of cheese-covered steak with his fork and stuffed it into his mouth.
It felt like eating a giant burger from Burger King—so rich and heavy it was almost nauseating.
Later, the video explained the connection between diet and training.
For example, building muscle requires high-volume training—the kind that pushes you to your absolute limit. Afterward, a high-calorie, high-protein diet aids in muscle repair. This high-intensity stimulus forces the muscle fibers to thicken, which is what ultimately results in muscle growth.
Han Zhilu understood. 'In other words,' he thought, 'just eating isn't enough. You have to train, and train like your life depends on it.'
He glanced over at Sun Keming.
The guy had one leg propped up on the bench, happily chowing down.
He shook his head to himself.
'Enjoying your food now, are you? You're in for a world of hurt later.'
The food in the meal containers had to be finished completely. In Chen Yu's words, these were customized meal plans for each individual and had to be strictly followed. Furthermore, from this day forward, they were not allowed to eat any snacks or consume any other drinks.
They were to monitor each other, and there were rewards for reporting violations.
There would also be periodic dorm inspections to prevent anyone from secretly buying snacks.
Eighty percent of the kids finished their meals without any trouble.
Many of them came from families that weren't well-off and had never had the chance to eat their fill of meat like this before.
But a few of them only managed to finish everything, burping all the while, under the strict insistence of Chen Yu and his staff.
Just eating wasn't enough. There were also various vitamins and athletic supplements.
After the meal, they had a short break for some free time.
After just half an hour, Chen Yu ordered everyone to bed for their afternoon nap.
In fact, many athletes have a habit of napping. Scientific research shows that people experience a peak in drowsiness around one in the afternoon. Taking a nap at this time can stimulate the lymphatic system, boost immune cell activity, and provide definite benefits.
On the way to his room, Sun Keming was rubbing his stomach and burping. He smacked his lips and said, "I don't know about the rest of this, but the food is incredible. That steak, that cod... it's all top-quality stuff. If we eat like this every day, the food budget alone must be huge, don't you think?"
Han Zhilu didn't respond, but Sun Keming didn't seem to care and continued to mumble to himself, "And it tastes great, too. Eating good food and training every day... this doesn't feel half bad."
'Sure, the training will be tough,' he thought, 'but not unbearable.'
Just then, Han Zhilu suddenly turned his head. "Did you ever cry back when you were training at the sports academy as a kid?" he asked.
Sun Keming froze. A flicker of panic flashed in his eyes before he quickly shook his head. "No way. Back then, I was famous for being able to run forever. That little bit of training was nothing to me."
Then he shot back, "Old Han, are you worried the training will be too tough to handle? Don't worry, you just have to tough it out. If they're really going to feed us this well every day, a little hardship is worth it. The only thing that sucks is not being able to go out."
Han Zhilu took it all in, giving Sun Keming a pitying look. "It's good that you're keeping that attitude," he said.
With that, he turned and went into his room.
A typical meal for an average person is around five hundred calories.
Han Zhilu, however, had just done a quick calculation. He had consumed at least two thousand calories for lunch alone.
And that was just one meal.
'With an intake that high,' he thought, 'I can only imagine how intense the training is going to be.'
'The video said you need high-intensity training to build muscle.'
'So the logic is simple: the more you eat, the harder you train.'
Han Zhilu could already imagine how immense the training load would be after their nap.
Meanwhile, Chen Yu's staff acted like dorm supervisors, patrolling the rooms and making sure all the kids went to bed.
They definitely wouldn't be used to it at first, but that was fine. Over time, they would adapt.
"Chen, are you sure this won't be a problem?" Nelson asked worriedly.
Centralized management, confinement to the grounds, room inspections... Chen Yu had even installed a number of security cameras around the retirement center.
It was practically like running a prison.
If the media found out and reported on this—treating a group of kids this way, restricting their freedom—God only knows what kind of public outcry it would cause.
"Relax, it's not a big deal."
Chen Yu shook his head.
"In the United States, if you gathered a group of American kids for this kind of training camp, you'd definitely run into huge problems."
"But these kids are different. Back in China, many of them attended boarding schools. I've looked into it—a lot of those schools are also managed very strictly."
"If they don't see a problem with it, and their families don't see a problem with it, then there is no problem."
"We're just getting started. They've suddenly arrived in a foreign country. If we don't manage them strictly, it'd be easy for serious problems to arise."
Seeing that Nelson still had reservations, Chen Yu clapped him on the shoulder. "Alright, go get the training plan ready. We have to give them a proper surprise for their first day."

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