Back at his desk, Lin Shen suddenly felt that the people around him had become friendlier.
His menopausal team leader was no longer making trouble; even the middle-aged guy who always looked so tense greeted him with a smile.
It was as if they had learned manners and respect in an instant.
'Could a change in appearance really cause such a huge positive feedback loop?'
Lin Shen found it a little hard to believe.
The job that used to be incredibly frustrating felt much easier today.
After all, without the pressure of money, Lin Shen found he could handle his work with ease.
*
*
At five in the evening, Lin Shen went up to the third floor after getting off work. He stopped by Qin Yuenan's office but found she wasn't there.
Then, just like usual, he went to the fourth-floor gym.
Lin Shen looked around, but he still couldn't find that familiar figure.
'It's Monday. Is Qin Yuenan in a meeting?'
Lin Shen felt a surprising sense of emptiness, but he quickly adjusted his mood, stretching his hamstrings and doing high knees to warm up.
Today, he planned to push his running pace to under six minutes per kilometer!
Once he was ready, Lin Shen started running on the treadmill, set to a 5'50" pace.
At this moment, he felt that the strain on his body was much lower than before.
'There's a chance!'
Lin Shen grew more and more excited as he ran, keeping his breathing in time with the music in his headphones.
However, while the first three kilometers were fine, he found it hard to keep going for the last two.
Reluctantly, Lin Shen had no choice but to adjust the treadmill's pace to around six and a half minutes.
To be honest, when it came to just running, he still preferred running outdoors.
At least he could adjust his rhythm freely, unlike indoors where he had to manually change the treadmill's pace.
'What a hassle.'
In the end, his time for the five kilometers settled at 30 minutes and 20 seconds.
"I still couldn't do it, huh."
After getting off the treadmill, Lin Shen felt it was a bit of a shame.
Although his pace had improved so much from his first time, and his breathing was even extremely steady after the run.
But a week's worth of running still wasn't enough for him to break the thirty-minute barrier.
Not even with a 50% boost to his workout effectiveness.
"If you suck, you just have to practice more."
Lin Shen joked to himself, wiping away his sweat while taking small sips of an electrolyte drink.
Just as he was about to head to the pec deck machine to work on his chest, he suddenly spotted a familiar figure.
At that moment, Qin Yuenan was at the squat rack with a barbell.
You couldn't really tell when she was standing, but once she squatted, the full curve of her rear, outlined by her gray yoga pants, traced a tempting, heart-like arc.
It wasn't as plump as the photoshopped "peach butts" you see online, but it was extremely round and well-formed.
'Magnificent!'
Lin Shen couldn't help but admire her silently.
'Even though there were only two small plates, with the bar it had to be around fifty or sixty pounds, right?'
'Impressive!'
Perhaps sensing the heated gaze from behind her, Qin Yuenan glanced back at Lin Shen, her narrowed, cold eyes radiating a chill.
"Where are you looking?"
"I was worried you couldn't handle it, so I was thinking of giving you a spot."
Lin Shen rubbed his nose, feeling a little guilty, which just gave Qin Yuenan an opening.
"Perfect."
With that, Qin Yuenan walked over to the bench press, lay down, and gestured to Lin Shen.
"Spot me."
"Okay."
Just then, Qin Yuenan suddenly spoke.
"After evaluation, the proposal to expand into the lower-tier market for pet food was rejected."
"Why?"
Lin Shen was a bit puzzled.
"There aren't many pet food brands in the lower-tier market yet. It's a great opportunity to seize market share."
"Because market research shows that most people who can afford to own pets are from middle-class families. They care more about the quality of the food than the price."
After pushing out a few reps, Qin Yuenan reracked the barbell with Lin Shen's help, then immediately wiped her sweat with a towel hanging nearby.
"It's like raising a child. Would you be willing to give them cheap baby formula?"
'Why wouldn't it be?'
Lin Shen grumbled internally.
'Only the strong are worthy of being my child.'
"Anyway, a high-volume, low-margin marketing strategy isn't suitable for the pet industry. But your suggestion was still very useful."
Qin Yuenan hesitated for a long time before finally mentioning, as if nonchalantly...
"You haven't had dinner yet, right? My treat."
"No, thanks."
Lin Shen patted his stomach and smiled.
"I can't indulge too much, or all this effort will go to waste."
"You're surprisingly persistent."
Qin Yuenan didn't seem to expect to be rejected by Lin Shen. She flusteredly averted her gaze and changed the subject.
"I have a yoga class. I'm leaving."
"Wait!"
Lin Shen quickly called out to Qin Yuenan, then pulled a neatly folded A4 paper from his pocket and handed it to her.
"This is my resignation letter. You weren't in your office when I went by earlier."
"I was in a meeting."
Qin Yuenan glanced casually at the contents of the paper and, after confirming everything was in order, said softly.
"You can handle the work handover with Xu. I'll have the finance department issue your payslip early."
"Thank you, President Qin."
Watching Qin Yuenan leave, Lin Shen couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.
'I finally took that brave step!'
'Resign, and then welcome a wonderful future!'
*
*
「Thursday, July 31, 2025.」
[Construction Bank: A deposit of 1,700 RMB was made to your account ending in 7946 at 00:01 on 07/31. Current Balance: 89,000.]
Lin Shen's workload today was almost as much as a whole week's worth.
It wasn't a lot, but it was tedious.
First, he had to sort and organize his work files, then hand them over to Xu Lei.
"Be careful here. Don't mix these up with your own files."
"Okay."
Xu Lei nodded in agreement, but she had already secretly snuck several peeks at Lin Shen's side profile.
Egged on by her good friend, she had originally planned to wait until Friday to ask Lin Shen for his WeChat.
But who would have thought he'd be resigning today!
This caught Xu Lei by surprise and also made her feel inexplicably sad.
At the same time, it solidified the idea she had been hesitating about.
"Um!"
Just as Lin Shen was carefully explaining his work responsibilities, Xu Lei suddenly turned her face toward him and asked in a small voice.
"Shen, can I add you on WeChat? That way I can ask if there's anything I don't understand."
"Sure. My account is in the group chat."
"I mean your personal WeChat, not your work account."
'Personal WeChat?'
Lin Shen froze for a second. When he saw Xu Lei constantly fiddling with her hair, he instantly understood everything.
'This girl is up to no good!'
"Alright."
Lin Shen smiled slightly, his heart filled with a thousand emotions.
'It's true what they say. Once you change and improve yourself, romance comes knocking on its own.'