WebNovels

Chapter 5 - Ch.5

I entered the room that Mom used to guard so strictly. Now, it was wide open and completely empty. There was nothing left, though the air still seemed to carry a residual scent.

I stood frozen for a moment, then wandered through the room, searching everywhere, hoping to find a trace of Mom, but there was nothing. Mom had been completely ruthless; she left nothing behind.

Finally giving up hope, I went to the cabinet and opened the drawer. It was filled with various medicines. My mother had always prepared everything for my sister and me, but now, this no longer felt like it belonged to me.

I reached in, found a box, took out a tablet of Ibuprofen, and swallowed it with hot water.

Then, I stumbled to the bed, sat down to rest, and soon felt the drowsiness overtake me. I lay down and drifted off to sleep.

In my semi-conscious state, I felt a gentle small hand stroking my forehead, wiping away my sweat. I desperately clung to this tenderness, reaching out for more, but my arm met only empty air. I opened my eyes. The ceiling light was still on, but the room was still empty. The tenderness I had felt was nothing but a dream.

I smiled bitterly. Just a dream.

My fever had broken, but my cold was still present. I got up, ate a little something—I had no appetite—took the cold medicine, and lay back down.

This cold was severe. I was confined to bed for several days. I was terribly uncomfortable these days. It was hot, but because of the cold, I couldn't use the air conditioner. I woke up repeatedly, drenched in sweat and parched. I got the water bottle from the cabinet, drank a lot of water, and then lay back down again.

Only at night, when it wasn't as blazing hot as the day, could I finally find peaceful sleep.

Almost every night, I would dream of that gentle figure holding me, stroking my forehead, and wiping away my sweat. But every time I woke up, everything vanished. I was mentally distraught and confused, constantly feeling a sense of loss. I didn't understand why this dream kept recurring to torment me.

I spent a full five days almost entirely in bed. This cold tormented me, not just physically, but emotionally as well.

However, this time also gave me time to think about many things. For the past few days, I was mostly sleepless during the day, so I just lay in bed, overthinking. I thought about so much, but mostly about my mother and sister. Those two women were too important to me. I could not accept a world without them, from any perspective.

Through repeated contemplation, I finally made a firm decision: I must change. I absolutely have to change this situation.

A Plan for Change

When my cold was finally almost gone, I took a shower, washing away days of stale sweat. I couldn't tell if it was my imagination, but I felt like my body odor wasn't as strong.

After finishing my takeout, I sat on a stool and immediately fell back into a daze.

When a person falls into a difficult situation, they either give up and wallow in self-pity, or they find a way to break through the predicament.

I know I have grown accustomed to my comfort zone. I've tried to break out before, but it was always a three-minute passion. After a short period of effort, I would quickly relapse into sloth. Those attempts all failed without exception.

So, I knew that a person like me, who has been in decline for so long, needs a detailed and thorough plan, and it needs a final goal. But if it's just an ultimate goal without a process, that plan will likely fail.

Mom asked for a week's leave for me, so I still had two days to perfect my plan. I need to design a long-term, meticulous plan to achieve my true transformation, breaking the big goal into many small, time-bound objectives, specifying what should be done and when.

I love watching movies and anime, and I see protagonists suddenly awaken, as if by impulse, like their Cosmo explodes, and they instantly become incredibly powerful, punching out the monster.

In movies and anime, the protagonist's comeback seems to take only a short time—just a montage showing them working hard, being motivated, exercising diligently, and then succeeding.

Movies and animation cannot present that much content in a short amount of time. In reality, the effort and time required are often enough to destroy the willpower of many people.

My first challenge was designing the plan. That's right, I was stuck on the very first step.

I sat blankly at my desk, looking at the two large lines I had written on the notebook: "I want to become a muscular tough guy. I want to become a straight-A student."

Is that it?

Yes, that was it. I didn't know how to write any more. But I knew that if I left it like this, I would fail and be beyond saving.

Yet, I genuinely didn't know what to do. I seemed useless, with too many flaws. I didn't know where to start or what to tackle first.

This is so annoying.

I was inexplicably frustrated. I already hated writing this kind of thing—it took me half a day just to piece together an 800-word essay, let alone a meticulous plan.

"Sigh."

I sat there until evening without adding a single word to the notebook. I finally put down the pen and went outside.

I walked downstairs and came to the nearest apartment complex.

By now, the sun had completely set, and the air was no longer stuffy. The evening breeze felt incredibly cool, blowing away some of my gloom.

I sat down on a bench in front of a basketball court. Usually, the Square Dancing Aunties and the young men playing basketball would often argue here, once even coming to blows. This finally drew attention, and with police mediation, the aunties reluctantly conceded the court. But they didn't give up; they often tried to reclaim it. Because of the age gap, the young people didn't dare do much to the aunties, so conflicts were constant.

Tonight, there were clearly too many people playing basketball. The basketball team had the upper hand, and the dancers had to retreat disappointedly to find another spot.

I watched the agile figures on the court, sweating profusely. It was a lie to say I wasn't envious, but with all this fat on me, I couldn't even jump. If I went on the court, I'd probably be spun around and embarrassed.

I watched for a while, then went back to thinking about my plan, brainstorming in my head. As I thought, the faces of my sister and mother appeared in my mind. Just as I was spaced out, a large basketball hit me squarely in the face.

Submerged in my own world, I didn't react in time. I instantly felt a sharp pain in my face, the ball hitting me and snapping my head to the side, making me wince in pain.

"Ouch!" I cried out.

"Sorry, man, are you okay?" I looked up with a surge of anger, wondering who the careless person was, but a sturdy man about five foot seven walked toward me. He was truly a strong man. I don't know how he trained, but he was wearing a tank top, and the muscles on his arms were bulging. They were seriously thick.

Though he wasn't as tall as me, my aggressive posture immediately softened.

He walked up to me and apologized. I rubbed my face for a moment and complained, "That hurt like hell. How are you even playing?"

"My bad, buddy. Are you hurt? If you are, I'll take you to the hospital to get checked."

He looked at me apologetically. I didn't expect someone so rugged-looking to be so reasonable. Since it wasn't intentional, my resentment gradually faded.

Looking at his muscular body, I felt a little envious and asked, "I'm fine, a little rub will do. But man, you are really built. How did you train?"

I usually avoided muscle men, but today, for the sake of my plan, and since he seemed easy to talk to, I decided to ask.

"You interested in fitness, man?" Hearing this, he immediately became interested.

He ran a few steps to the ball and picked it up with one hand, then threw it back onto the court.

"You guys carry on. I'm gonna chat with this guy for a bit."

"Sure."

The group didn't say much and substituted in another player who was waiting off-court, then continued their game.

I was a bit embarrassed that he stopped playing basketball just to talk about this, so I said, "You can go play. I was just asking."

"It's fine, it's no big deal. I'm interested in you. Let me introduce myself, I'm Chen Ge. They all call me Brother Chen (Chen Ge), so it's all the same, call me whatever you want." Chen Ge grinned and sat down beside me.

I felt immense pressure sitting next to a fitness guy like him, especially with my bloated body. I unconsciously moved to the side, even regretting starting the conversation. But since he was here, I couldn't ignore him, so I said, "Brother Chen, I'm Lin Nan."

"Alright, Lin Nan. Now we know each other." Chen Ge nodded, then moved closer, with no reservation. "Let's talk about fitness."

"Brother Chen, sigh, I'm so fat, how can I lose weight?" I was still very unconfident, looking at my fat and sighing.

"You call this fat?" Chen Ge looked me up and down, then smiled. "You haven't seen fatter people."

"I'm almost 200 pounds! Isn't that fat?" I sighed.

"Talking to you, I realized your problem isn't your weight, it's your mindset. What's wrong with being a little fat? Is it illegal? And it's not like you can't lose it," Chen Ge said with a smile.

"Me?" I froze. He had a point. I definitely have a mental problem—I'm weak and timid.

"In our gym, there are tons of fat guys like you, or even fatter. It's normal. Why are you so down in the dumps?" Chen Ge looked at me with a knowing smile.

I immediately lowered my head. Of course, I couldn't tell him what was truly on my mind. I quietly replied, "I just want to lose weight."

"Okay." Chen Ge nodded. "With your frame, you'll definitely turn into a strong guy once you work out."

"Really?"

"You said there are people fatter than me at your gym. Did they all manage to lose the weight?" I asked curiously, wanting to know what those fat people looked like after slimming down—were they truly strong men?

"Uh…" Chen Ge suddenly looked a bit awkward.

"What's wrong?" I asked, confused.

"I don't want to lie to you, so I'll be honest. Generally, very few people weighing 200 or 300 pounds or more manage to stick with it. Usually, after a few days or a few weeks of training, they stop coming back."

"They all can't stick with it?" I was stunned. As a fat person, I deeply understood how hard it was to step out of one's comfort zone.

"Maybe you'll be the one who can stick with it," Chen Ge said, looking at me seriously. I felt that he wasn't malicious. Unlike others, he genuinely seemed to want me to train and lose weight. The fact that he was honest about the reality for those fat people instead of concealing it made my goodwill toward him soar.

"Me?" I smiled bitterly and shook my head. "I don't have much faith in my willpower."

"But a person always changes for something, don't they?" Chen Ge stared at me. This guy seemed incredibly earnest.

That sentence really hit home. It was precisely because of my mother and sister that I desperately needed to make a huge change.

"I own a gym right next to this complex. Are you interested in getting a membership?" Chen Ge asked, seeing my hesitation.

"Huh?" Hearing that, I was stunned, feeling a sense of being tricked. Was he saying all this just to sell me a membership? Just to make money off me?

My tone immediately changed: "I was planning to go to a gym anyway. How much does a membership cost?"

Chen Ge looked at me, paused, then smiled. "Buddy, you don't actually think I'm trying to sell you a membership just to make money, do you?"

"Uh?" I looked at him strangely. Wasn't selling a membership to make money?

"Honestly, membership fees don't really make me any money. I basically don't make a profit running this gym," Chen Ge smiled at me.

"Seriously?" I was skeptical. I felt like businessmen never tell the truth. They probably expected to make 500,000 a year, but only made 300,000, and in their eyes, that was a loss.

"Seriously. I opened the place mainly for my buddies. To be honest, if I wanted to make money, I would have made it back in college…" Chen Ge was about to say more but stopped himself, realizing it wasn't appropriate to discuss that with me.

"How about this? If you're interested, just come by. Here's my gym's phone number and address. If you don't like it after visiting, or if you want to switch to a different gym, that's up to you. I just think it's great that you want to lose weight; it's not really about making a bit of money off you." Chen Ge handed me a card. I took it. It read Brotherhood Fitness. A pretty silly name, I thought.

Just then, a tall, beautiful girl walked up, holding water, and waved to Chen Ge.

"Alright, I'm going to go play basketball now. Since I hit you earlier, I can give you a 50% discount on a membership card as an apology." Chen Ge nodded to her, said a few more words to me, then stood up and walked over to take the girl's hand.

"Okay," I replied.

Even after the two walked onto the court, I didn't look away.

"Is that his girlfriend? She's really pretty," I muttered in admiration.

My mind immediately went to Mom and Sister. I didn't stay long and stood up to go home.

I bought some fried rice on the way. Seeing the snacks in the convenience store, I hesitated, but finally resisted and didn't buy any.

After getting home, eating, and taking a shower, I lay in bed. I had no desire to play on my phone. I just stared blankly at the small paper card in my hand.

Honestly, I would have gone to the gym even without meeting him, but his appearance accelerated the idea. So, I decided to go check it out tomorrow.

I checked the money in my bank account on my phone—all of this semester's living expenses were in there…

But I wasn't excited about having control over this large sum. Instead, I felt lost. What if I couldn't control my spending and ran out of money? Would I have to beg Mom again? That would be so pathetic, but I know that's the kind of person I am. I'm aware of it, and that's why I urgently need to change.

I had slept too much over the past few days, and I was restless tonight. After lying there for a while, I opened my phone and went to a social media app.

"How a Fitness Beginner Should Start Training: Weight Loss for Fat People."

The title grabbed my attention. I clicked on it and started reading.

I went through several more titles like that, but lost interest quickly. They all boiled down to one thing: self-discipline.

However, one blogger's words stuck with me: "Take your first step."

This solidified my decision to go see the gym tomorrow.

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