Starting with Push-ups: Liver Experience Directory 4

Chapter 4: The Joy of Growth
January 21, 2025

Chapter 4: The Joy of Growth

The curtains gently blew, letting in a sliver of sunlight.

The wind flipped two pages of the calendar on the wall, making a rustling sound.

Faintly, there was the drip-drip-drip of a running tap.

Suddenly.

A jarring “ding-ding-ding” of an alarm broke the peaceful atmosphere.

The sliding door of the bathroom slid open with a whoosh.

Fang Cheng, shirtless, rubbed a towel in his hands, walked out in slippers, and quickly turned off the alarm clock.

He glanced at the time.

7:30.

He squinted at the morning light outside the window, and let out a sigh of relief.

How nice it would be to take a long, refreshing shower after a workout?

Unfortunately, the rental apartment was too small and didn’t have a shower, so he could only give himself a quick wipe-down.

Remembering this, Fang Cheng couldn’t help but open his panel again to admire his workout results from the morning.

【Push-up Experience +18】
【Boxing Experience +3】
【Focus Experience +2】
………………
【Skill Panel】
【Speed Reading lv1 (28/250)】
【Focus lv1 (65/250)】
【Cooking lv0 (34/100)】
【Cleaning lv0 (75/100)】
【Boxing lv0 (64/100)】
【Push-ups lv0 (51/100)】
【Potential Activation (23:09:12)】

Two days had passed in a blink of an eye, and all his skills had shown significant improvement.

Especially “Push-ups,” which had consumed most of his energy, the experience bar was already more than halfway full.

At this rate, he would be able to level up to lv1 in a few days.

After wiping the sweat from his chest and back.

Fang Cheng wet the towel, washed it again, and hung it on the rack.

Then, he looked in the mirror and touched his face.

He wondered if it was an illusion, but he felt his complexion was much rosier, and his arms seemed to have grown some muscle.

Looking at the character panel again, all the attribute values remained the same as before.

It was clearly unrealistic to expect significant physical improvement after just a few days of exercise.

But upon closer inspection, a very small percentage progress bar could be found to the right of the attribute column.

Focusing his attention and clicking it, a new interface would pop up.

This new interface listed a full screen of prompts.

………………
【You practiced boxing for 3 minutes, increasing constitution by 0.001】
【You practiced boxing for 4 minutes, increasing strength by 0.001】
【You practiced boxing for 5 minutes, increasing agility by 0.001】
【You mopped the floor for 10 minutes, increasing constitution by 0.001】
【You carried heavy objects for 5 minutes, increasing strength by 0.001】
【You walked 1000 steps, increasing constitution by 0.001】
【You walked 1200 steps, increasing agility by 0.001】
【You slept for 7 hours, increasing spirit by 0.001】
【You slept for 8 hours, increasing constitution by 0.001】
【You practiced push-ups 5 times, increasing strength by 0.001】
………………

He scrolled down to the bottom.

Scrolling up, he couldn’t find the very first message.

Like skills, physical attributes could also be upgraded by “grinding” experience.

With each workout or exercise, they were slowly increasing.

However, to avoid screen clutter and distracting the host’s attention, they were not displayed.

“Every piece of information here, every little increase in value, is proof of my hard work…”

Fang Cheng muttered to himself, his eyes shining with hope, like a farmer inspecting the growth of his crops.

It was slow, but a grain of sand can form a mountain, and small changes would eventually lead to a qualitative change.

Especially seeing that his constitution attribute had reached 99% progress.

His heart burned, and he clenched his fists.

“Hiss—”

It seemed that his movement was too large, pulling at a sore muscle, and Fang Cheng couldn’t help but gasp.

Intense training had its advantages, but post-workout recovery was a headache.

For the past two days, Fang Cheng’s arms, shoulders, and chest had been aching, stiff, and weak.

Without the help of the Focus skill, it would have been difficult to persevere.

Because of this, his training efficiency had decreased considerably.

Fortunately, the panel only counted the number of repetitions, not the average time spent.

Fang Cheng could choose to slow down and increase his rest time to achieve the same goal.

According to his plan, the 100 push-ups required each day could be divided into 10 sets.

After getting up in the morning, he would try to complete his training within an hour and a half.

If he was too tired, he wouldn’t force it and would make up for it during work breaks.

After work every night, depending on the situation, if he got home early, he would choose to do one or two extra sets as extra training.

The training volume of 100 push-ups seemed quite large.

But if it was broken down, it wasn’t excessive.

The main reason for the current situation was that his basic physical fitness was too poor.

Fang Cheng grimaced and shook his head, briefly tidying up the bathroom.

He threw the sweat-soaked underwear, and smelly socks into the creaking old washing machine.

During his student years, he spent all day burying himself in his studies and rarely participated in extracurricular activities, and his physical fitness was always ranked at the bottom of the class.

It was only after he started working and doing occasional manual labor that his physical condition improved slightly.

When people live in their comfort zone for too long, they get used to it.

After getting used to it, they become complacent and think that the world is just like that.

Laziness, desire, lactic acid, dopamine…

The difficulties to overcome during the process of becoming stronger were far more numerous than he had imagined.

“Just grit my teeth and bear it. Once the ‘Potential Activation’ cooldown is over, this should be alleviated.”

“And tomorrow morning’s training will unlock new skills…”

At the thought of this, although his whole body was still aching, Fang Cheng rekindled his fighting spirit.

He immediately put on his clothes and walked to the bedroom.

Next, it was time for morning reading and self-study.

Since unlocking the “Push-ups” skill, Fang Cheng felt like he had undergone a transformation.

He completely changed his late-sleeping, late-rising night owl habits and became unprecedentedly self-disciplined.

5 am to 7:30 am, training, rest, washing up.

7:30 am to 8:30 am, postgraduate entrance exam self-study.

Then he made his own breakfast, ate, and caught the 9:05 am bus to work on time.

The morning sets the tone for the day.

Fitness isn’t necessarily about how much you train, or what you look like.

The most important thing is to persevere every day, to defeat the lazy, anxious, and negatively emotional self.

………………

Tap tap tap.

Two eggs were cracked into a bowl, and oil was heating in the pan.

The knife blade danced quickly on the cutting board, slicing scallions, cucumbers, carrots, and chicken breast into fine pieces.

Then, he added the side dishes and seasonings one by one, and poured all the leftover rice from the rice cooker.

He stir-fried it evenly, ensuring that every grain of rice was coated with sauce.

He turned off the heat, took it out of the pan, and served it.

【Cooking Experience +1】

Smelling the aroma of the rice, Fang Cheng showed a satisfied expression.

Like yesterday, he simply made a fried rice with eggs.

“Even if I don’t take the postgraduate entrance exam, I’m qualified to open a breakfast stall. I’ll definitely not starve to death in this life…”

The physical exertion made Fang Cheng’s appetite surprisingly good, and he ate three bowls in a row.

He even licked the bottom of the pot clean before reluctantly stopping.

Previously, his breakfast was only two steamed buns and a bag of soy milk.

He quickly finished his meal and washed the dishes.

8:49.

Fang Cheng put on his black fleece jacket, his Keds sneakers, picked up his bag, and went out to work.

Walking into the corridor, he saw that He Auntie’s house across the way had just opened the door.

There was a sound of a mischievous child crying, and He Auntie’s nagging voice.

“Xiu Mei, these two are spicy, those don’t have chili, the rice is pressed at the bottom, remember not to spill the soup!”

“Oh.”

He Auntie, wearing a floral padded cotton pajamas, stood at the door, carefully instructing her daughter.

Looking up and seeing Fang Cheng passing by, she immediately smiled.

“A Cheng, are you working overtime on a Sunday?”

“Yes, where are you guys going?”

“Your Uncle Zhou and his colleagues are working on a murder case, they haven’t slept all night, I’m letting Xiu Mei take them some hot soup to warm their stomachs.”

As she spoke, there was a sudden “clatter” from inside the room, as if a bowl had been broken, followed by the sound of an elderly person coughing urgently.

“Oh, my little ancestor, you’re killing me… Mom, I told you to drink slowly, slowly, but you just wouldn’t listen…”

The door closed.

In the corridor, Fang Cheng and Zhou Xiu Mei walked one after the other.

Neither of them had any intention of talking.

Fang Cheng’s pace was faster, and he had already gone downstairs.

Zhou Xiu Mei still hadn’t come out of the dimly lit corridor.

She was wearing a white down jacket and cotton pants, a blue cloth headband on her head, and a woolen scarf around her neck.

The bulky clothing didn’t make her as plump and strong as her mother, but made her look rather clumsy.

Her slender fingers carried two large plastic bags, her brows slightly furrowed, full of care.

There were probably more than a dozen boxes of packed meals in the bags.

It was clear that they were quite heavy, and she was struggling to carry them.

Fang Cheng looked back.

Seeing this, he went back up and took the bags.

“Let me take them to the bus station for you.”

As their fingers touched, Zhou Xiu Mei’s shoulders slightly shrunk, as if wanting to refuse.

“No need…”

Looking up, she met Fang Cheng’s bright eyes, and immediately, like a startled deer, she lowered her head and looked away.

“Thank you.”

Her voice was as thin as a mosquito, whether Fang Cheng heard it or not was unknown.

Her face, however, was like a layer of morning glow, and the earlobes hidden by her long hair were even a little hot.

Fang Cheng didn’t pay much attention, only feeling some pity for his frail and sickly neighbor.

Speaking of which, they had met on the first day he moved in, playing together.

From elementary school to middle school, they were always used to going to and from school together.

It seemed that it was only after high school that they gradually became estranged.

Later, he went to Dongdu University, Zhou Xiu Mei dropped out of school due to illness, and they rarely spoke to each other alone.

Sunlight streamed through the towering old buildings on both sides, making the street alternately bright and dark.

Leaving the old apartment building, Fang Cheng withdrew from his reverie, glancing at the girl who was half a step behind him.

Her feet in white sneakers stepped over the potholes and sewage, silently following.

Her long hair fell smoothly over her shoulders, exuding a faint scent of shampoo.

The cold wind blew, lifting a few strands of hair, gently caressing her smooth forehead and jade-like delicate nose.

It also concealed her black jewel-like sparkling eyes, and the blush on her cheeks that hadn’t completely faded.

Although he had to catch the bus, Fang Cheng didn’t seem to be in a hurry, walking slowly with her.

The street was narrow, with many breakfast stalls set up on both sides.

Steamed buns, egg pancakes, zongzi cakes (sticky rice cakes), pork fat and shrimp wontons, all kinds of food aromas wafted into his nostrils.

Some neighbors who woke up late simply wore slippers, wrapped in cotton robes, and sat by the stalls, enjoying their meals.

Walking along this old street that hadn’t changed in more than ten years, with Zhou Xiu Mei.

He seemed to see his childhood self, picking up bottles with a little girl with pigtails, selling them for money to buy candy.

Fang Cheng shook his head and smiled.

Many people miss their childhood, mostly because they miss that carefree state of mind.

But he was different, and he couldn’t indulge in the past and escape reality.

Because he had to take on more responsibilities.

Leaving the old factory street, the bus station wasn’t far from the street entrance.

A No. 13 bus with a cosmetic breast enhancement advertisement just arrived.

The club and the Jiangbei District Police Station were not on the same route.

Fang Cheng returned the bags to Zhou Xiu Mei, reminding her:

“Remember to walk slowly on the road, pay attention to traffic safety, I’m going to work now.”

Zhou Xiu Mei’s eyes froze.

Their relationship hadn’t been this harmonious for a long time.

She immediately lowered her head in embarrassment and softly replied:

“Yeah, you too…”

Fang Cheng smiled and turned to run towards the bus that had arrived.

Zhou Xiu Mei looked up, her mouth slightly open, wanting to say more.

In the end, she only stared at his back as he boarded the bus, unable to speak.

Under the refraction of the sunlight, her eyes were soft and bright, yet hazy.

She felt that Fang Cheng seemed to be somewhat different…

(End of Chapter)

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