At the gym, working out felt exhilarating.
After practicing for an hour as the coach instructed, Xiao Qi continued to go for a run, feeling a little reluctant after running 30,000 steps.
Moreover, no one was surrounding her here. She was able to study while running, allowing her to be highly efficient.
Sometimes when running outside, the wind would be strong and she might accidentally take in one or two gulps if she ran too quickly.
She didn't feel tired. Just some of the moves the coach taught felt a little awkward. When doing them, she felt like her body was being exercised, but after finishing running, the sorest parts were surprisingly not her feet but her buttocks and waist. It was a strange sensation.
After resting and stretching for a while, Xiao Qi went to take a shower.
Leaving the gym, she remembered she had first signed up for a membership because she saw someone emerge from the gym flushed with a spirited look.
The feeling after working out was awesome—her body had a slight sense of fatigue yet her spirit felt highly invigorated.
If she were to study all afternoon, her mind would become numb, but at this moment she still felt quite spirited. And despite listening to so many audio materials, she didn't feel uncomfortable at all.
Xiao Qi bid farewell to her new coach Li Dan, declaring that she would come again tomorrow.
Li Dan neither confirmed nor denied, as students were usually highly enthusiastic at first but could hardly persevere for long.
Returning to her dorm at the hospital, Xiao Qi immediately started cooking, actually hoping to cook and show off her skills at home for her parents as well... Though they still couldn't bear to let her in the kitchen.
Xiao Qi made a Hongshao pork dish, stir-fried tomatoes and eggs, cold liangban woodear fungus, boiled greens soup, and made enough rice for four.
She now felt like she could eat endlessly, with her stomach feeling empty no matter how much she ate, as though she couldn't get full.
It had been a few days since Su Simei last saw her niece. Eating alone, she would just hastily eat whatever. Used to cooking and dining together with her niece, eating alone now felt uncomfortable and she struggled to adjust.
Thinking that her niece would soon have to go to school in a few days, with the neighbor Lin Mindu already starting to pack, she felt a little reluctant for her to leave.
In fact her own daughter attended the No. 8 High School, which wasn’t far from the hospital either, though her daughter disliked coming over and her ex-husband didn’t stop her.
The portions made for four people were finished by the two of them, with Xiao Qi eating about three people’s worth and auntie one person’s worth. Xiao Qi noticed her auntie was eating much less than before and had also lost a lot of weight.
Not having noticed when together daily previously, after returning from home for a few days then coming back, she discovered her auntie had really lost a tremendous amount of weight and her clothes now looked baggy on her.
Seeing her auntie wearing the blue work gown of caregivers, she looked rather good in it.
When smiling, she gave off a sense similar to Liu Sanjie’s character in the movie "Liu Sanjie". The impression was deep in Xiao Qi's mind, as her music teacher had played this movie clip in class once. On screen, Liu Sanjie’s face looked so big and round, yet also flushed red, unexpectedly considered a beauty back then.
“Auntie, you’ve lost so much weight, and your skin has improved a lot too. You look prettier!” Xiao Qi praised.
Su Simei hadn't expected her niece to actually compliment her.
Lately it seemed many people had told her she lost weight.
There were many long-term patients at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital who would be hospitalized for a period then discharged for some time, all familiar with her by now. They too remarked she lost weight upon returning.
With a frank and easygoing personality, hardworking, and attentive in her caregiving duties, patients were rather fond of Su Simei.
Hearing their compliments, Su Simei took them jokingly, aware patients were nice to her mainly hoping she'd be more proactive in serving them when needed. After all, with so many tasks at hand, there was an order of priority, and acquaintances would be put first.
But to be praised by her niece made her a little embarrassed. In her eyes, this daughter from her cousin’s family was outstanding—doing very well in school, obedient, and even became a foreign language teacher at a young age—extremely remarkable and capable. She didn’t feel the niece was taking advantage at all by eating at her home. Instead, having family willing to keep her company despite her status as a divorced woman made her very glad.
Even her own daughter was unwilling to come.
“I haven't lost that much weight, just reduced 20 jin. Coach Wu said if I persist in exercising, I could lose even more,” Su Simei said smilingly. (1 jin = 0.5kg)
From 150 to 130 jin, though she personally felt the difference was rather huge. She used to snore thunderously in her sleep, sometimes loud enough to wake herself. Now it seemed the snoring was gone.
Previously when fatter, there was more secreted body oil. Her face would be shiny all day and prone to acne, with visible red veins. After losing 20 jin, her complexion improved tremendously.
While 130 jin was still considered fat, it was a normal level without being too outrageous. Sturdily built, she now gave off an impression of being more robust.
“Then auntie, go for it. Losing weight is very difficult, so it’s impressive auntie has persevered until now,” Xiao Qi reckoned she herself wouldn’t last more than a few workouts at the gym. She planned to later introduce her personal trainer coach to auntie as it seemed very suitable.
Su Simei happily finished her meal then rushed to wash the dishes.
Xiao Qi tidied up the house briefly before resuming her studies, beginning with writing practice.
However, when sitting down she noticed her buttocks felt sorely painful ...Damnit... She brought over a pillow to sit on, which seemed slightly better but still uneven. Standing to write seemed even better. Having run quite a distance today, although she didn’t feel it while running, her feet started aching soon after standing briefly.
She truly felt sore yet invigorated.
Xiao Qi considered that she might nap first before studying later.
As it turned out, she ended up sleeping straight through until the next morning after this nap.
Opening her eyes to glance at her watch upon waking, she found it unbelievable.
What happened last night?
She had intended to sleep briefly then get up to study, even setting an alarm. Yet the alarm didn't manage to wake her either.
Perhaps the workout amount at the gym was a little excessive, or she had woken too early yesterday.
Sitting up now, the first sensation she felt was her buttocks aching ... that coach was too savage indeed.
Xiao Qi rubbed her buttocks, got up to stretch briefly, then went to freshen up.
After washing up and preparing breakfast while revision some material in between, she hurriedly set off after the meal.
Passing by Lin Mindu's stall at the door, Xiao Qi deliberated then went to buy three more pancakes.
She hadn't eaten her fill and found them very delicious, planning to give some to Teacher Zhou and Guan Jingzhi too.
The pancakes made by Lin Mindu's mother were truly tasty. They seemed to contain no other ingredients besides kneading dough with a little green onion and salt, yet when baked gave off an unforgettable fragrant flavor.
Xiao Qi ate her share as she walked along the way.
Arriving at the Culture Palace, she now moved freely with familiarity.
Seeing the plastic bag holding pancakes Xiao Qi brought, Zhou Meiling looked upon it with some disdain.
"Unhealthy street food. You're still growing and should eat less oily stuff."
Xiao Qi smiled. "It's the pancakes sold by my auntie's neighbor, made right in front of me. Looked very clean and happens to taste delicious too."
Zhou Meiling's expression said clearly that she doubted if this young girl had eaten any actually delicious food before. However, needing to put on makeup and dress up as she was late, she merely grabbed a carton of milk to heat up in the microwave. Then disdainfully eating the pancakes with the warm milk... she finished with reluctance and smacked her lips longingly.
Su Xiaoqi: ...A classic case of actions speaking louder than words regarding her teacher indeed.
After a while Guan Jingzhi arrived, the young lady impeccably dressed up beautifully as usual, wearing an orange skirt today that complemented her fair and tender skin, making her very lovable.
Xiao Qi also noticed that her student/classmate never repeated outfits, sporting new clothes each time they met.
With soft hair draped over her shoulders casually, she gave off a very refined impression.
Zhou Meiling was very warm to Guan Jingzhi, praising her looks profusely before starting the lesson.
The young lady was dressed so well and modestly that Xiao Qi truly didn't have the boldness to take out those pancakes.
The plastic bag just looked too oily. She felt that if giving Guan Jingzhi something, it should be presented properly on an elegant dish.
The lesson then commenced. Their progress was roughly on par.
Xiao Qi was learning quickly. Japanese felt simpler compared to English, and being her third language with an attentive focus from the start without falling behind, she discovered some commonalities between Japanese and Chinese. She wouldn't dare claim conversational fluency yet with others at present, but had grasped the foundations with basic phrases. It should be adequate for basic communication when travelling. At least, she now had the level of a first grader.
Zhou Meiling taught in a casual freewheeling style. Covering whatever came to mind, but with smart students, she enjoyed teaching them and would occasionally converse a little in Japanese too.
The class time flew by rapidly.
As usual, Guan Jingzhi left when her family driver came to pick her up by car. Xiao Qi stayed behind, hoping to ask Teacher Zhou about purchasing property.
It seemed a greater intimacy formed between them after watching a musical together then shopping around town. Hearing her student unexpectedly wanted to purchase an apartment, Zhou Meiling was rather surprised.
To be honest, housing prices have been driven up very high now. Prices in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou have skyrocketed.
The small city of Lvshan has not risen much, but in this era when everyone cares about housing prices, Zhou Meiling's colleagues would talk about houses when chatting. Zhou Meiling felt that housing prices in Lvshan would still rise. Although Lvshan is a small city, it has a reputable industrial product - Lvshan batteries are nationally renowned and should be considered an industry leader. When buying batteries, people recognize this brand.
In addition, she heard from an insider that Lvshan would also introduce a very large auto plant, with tens of thousands of employees. The factory buildings were under construction, one in the east and one in the west. When so many people come to Lvshan in the future, housing prices will definitely rise.
"What does your father do?"
"He's just an ordinary farmer, but my father is good at bamboo weaving. The things he weaves are pretty good," Xiao Qi said.
When Zhou Meiling heard this, she thought he was a craftsman. It seemed that she had seen this student was also good at bamboo weaving, it ran in the family. She should have saved some money. Zhou Meiling felt 300,000 yuan was not a lot. When her husband's business was good he could make that in a month.
Since Xiao Qi asked her for help buying a house together, Zhou Meiling felt this was a sign of trust in her. Buying a house was a big deal.
She readily agreed.
Xiao Qi immediately contacted the agent and made an appointment to go see the house again in the afternoon.
Not surprisingly, as a civil servant who had lived abroad, when negotiating with the agent and landlord, Zhou Meiling managed to talk down the price from 350,000 to 310,000 yuan. After paying the agent and other fees, the total came to 340,000 yuan.
Then getting the property certificate and other documents, Zhou Meiling made a few calls to friends to expedite processing.
The whole thing went unbelievably smoothly.
Xiao Qi was a little stunned. From beginning to end she hadn't said anything, she just watched Teacher Zhou go back and forth with the agent and landlord.
She had thought herself quite mature, but now felt there was still much to learn.
