"Your physical condition is somewhat sub-health. Starting with overly intense exercise right away is likely to strain your muscles, so I suggest you start with a week of aerobic exercise to let your body get used to being active."
Inside the gym, Shi Qianjin was earnestly explaining the custom weight-loss plan she had tailored for Ruan Shiyu.
Ruan Shiyu, however, looked everywhere except at Shi Qianjin, making her reluctance blatantly obvious.
Aside from hardcore fitness fanatics, most people who came to the gym did so out of sheer necessity, and all of them felt some degree of resistance. Even so, someone like Ruan Shiyu who simply gave up before even starting was rare. Feeling rather helpless but still determined to do her job, Shi Qianjin said, "Since you like running, let's start with a forty-minute jog."
"What? Forty minutes?" Ruan Shiyu cried out in dismay. "I just ran four laps around the neighborhood this morning!"
Why was she being made to run again? When she had asked Shi Qianjin for a treadmill earlier, she only meant to go through the motions to get the task off her hands! She certainly hadn't meant to run on it seriously the whole time!
Shi Qianjin frowned slightly, as if she hadn't heard a word, walked over to the treadmill, turned it on, adjusted the speed, and stepped onto it herself, standing with her feet on the sides of the running belt. "I'll demonstrate how to get on the treadmill. Be careful later and try not to get hurt."
Seeing that Shi Qianjin was already up there, Ruan Shiyu, despite her reluctance, walked over to the treadmill out of basic politeness and said, "Fine, I'm watching."
Shi Qianjin reached out to turn the treadmill on, stepped onto the running belt before it reached full speed, and began to run smoothly as the belt moved.
Her speed grew faster and faster. Her muscles moved rhythmically with each step, creating a natural sense of athletic grace—something Ruan Shiyu completely lacked. Watching her, Ruan Shiyu couldn't help feeling a tinge of envy, but the moment she thought about the price paid for that physique, her courage failed her again. She frowned and said, "That fast?"
Having finished the demonstration, Shi Qianjin quickly stepped off the treadmill, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and said, "No, this was just my speed. It's set to ten kilometers per hour. For you..."
She looked Ruan Shiyu up and down and said, "Let's set it at five kilometers per hour."
A normal jog was usually around eight kilometers per hour, but given this young lady's physical condition, she might not even be able to handle eight. After careful consideration, Shi Qianjin decided to lower the standard.
"Alright, get on the treadmill. You know how to turn it on, right?" Shi Qianjin stood by and urged.
Reluctantly, Ruan Shiyu imitated Shi Qianjin's actions and got on the treadmill, muttering under her breath, "Just finished running and now running again..."
Shi Qianjin acted as though she heard nothing, keeping her eyes fixed entirely on Ruan Shiyu.
Feeling that intense gaze upon her, Ruan Shiyu couldn't stall any longer. She reached out, turned the machine on, and stepped up.
Five kilometers per hour really wasn't very fast. After taking a couple of steps, Ruan Shiyu suddenly felt a surge of confidence, believing she might actually manage to finish the full forty minutes! Seeing her finally get on track, Shi Qianjin let out a subtle sigh of relief inwardly and said, "Keep running, I'm going to go take care of some other things."
"Okay!" Ruan Shiyu beamed, a bright smile on her face. "Don't worry, I'll finish it!"
"Mhm." Away from the exercise equipment, Shi Qianjin was still rather shy. Seeing Ruan Shiyu's smile, she felt too awkward to meet her eyes, nodded, and turned to leave the room. Ruan Shiyu was on the second floor of the gym, and for now, she was the only one there.
Running inside a gym was entirely different from running outside; the scenery around her never changed at all. After running for a little while, Ruan Shiyu began to find it boring.
She hadn't really felt it during her morning workout, but now, as she kept running, the aches and pains in her body started to creep up. After running a bit longer, her legs felt so heavy she could barely lift them.
This was simply torture! Her total workout volume for today alone had already surpassed an entire month's worth in the past!
The confidence Ruan Shiyu had felt just moments ago evaporated as she ran. Noticing that the room was empty, she suddenly conceived an idea: she wanted to step off the treadmill and rest for a bit.
Just for a moment... surely, surely nobody would notice? Harboring this wishful thinking, Ruan Shiyu inched her way downward off the treadmill. Just as her feet were about to touch the floor, Shi Qianjin's voice suddenly rang out from the entrance: "What are you doing?"
Ruan Shiyu hadn't expected Shi Qianjin to return at this exact moment. Already feeling guilty, she was startled out of her wits by the voice, and her body lurched violently to the side!
This was a treadmill! Was she about to ruin her face? Ruan Shiyu's eyes widened in horror, and she shrieked at the top of her lungs, "Help—"
At the doorway, Shi Qianjin saw what was happening. Frowning deeply, she sprinted forward like a flash of lightning and caught Ruan Shiyu in her arms just before she hit the floor. The muscles in her body suddenly unleashed a tremendous burst of strength, lifting Ruan Shiyu straight off the treadmill and setting her down securely on the ground.
Still shaken and stunned, Ruan Shiyu stood frozen for a long moment before finally coming to her senses. She grabbed Shi Qianjin's hand and said, "Coach Shi, you saved my life! Thank you!"
Faced with such exaggerated gratitude, Shi Qianjin blushed slightly. Awkwardly withdrawing her hand from Ruan Shiyu's grip, she said, "It was my fault. I knew it was your first time at the gym and yet I left you to work out alone. I'm done with my tasks now, so I can finish the rest of the workout with you."
"What? The rest of the workout is still happening?" Hearing this, Ruan Shiyu's face fell into a miserable mask of despair. "Coach Sh, you saw how I almost got hurt just now, and I've already run for so long. Can't you just let me rest?"
Hearing Ruan Shiyu trying to slack off again, Shi Qianjin's demeanor changed instantly. Frowning, she gave a short, decisive refusal to Ruan Shiyu's request: "No. You must finish these forty minutes."
"Coach Shi~ Just let me rest for a little while!" Ruan Shiyu whined, softening her voice into a plea.
Shi Qianjin remained silent. With a resolute expression, she walked over to the adjacent treadmill and readjusted its speed settings. "Come over here. Let's keep going, you still have twenty minutes left."
"Coach Shi! I'm genuinely exhausted! Just give me ten minutes to rest, ten minutes will be enough!" Ruan Shiyu stubbornly stayed put, attempting to use entreaties to make Shi Qianjin change her mind.
Shi Qianjin frowned. "Miss Ruan, you came to the gym for your own benefit. Jogging only works if you persist. If you stop now, all your previous effort goes to waste."
Ruan Shiyu refused to listen to a word of it. She hadn't wanted to come here in the first place, and she had assumed that once Mu Xiaoxiao left, she could just casually go through the motions. Who could have guessed this fitness coach would be so stubbornly upright and insist that she finish every last second?
Just as the two of them were locked in a stalemate, the main doors of the gym were suddenly pushed open. A staff member in gym uniform poked their head in and said, "Shi Qianjin, it's lunchtime. The boss asked me to let you know."
With that, the person left. Seizing upon this as if a divine savior had arrived, Ruan Shiyu grabbed Shi Qianjin by the arm and pleaded eagerly, "Look, it's lunchtime! You can let anything else wait, but you can't delay lunch, right? Let's go eat first!"
Shi Qianjin, growing somewhat irritated as well, brushed Ruan Shiyu's hand away and said, "No! You have to finish your run before you can eat!"
This declaration made Ruan Shiyu's eyes go wide. "Are you serious?"
"Get over here!" Shi Qianjin pulled Ruan Shiyu back toward the treadmill by the arm and said, "You must finish your task!"
Ruan Shiyu hadn't expected that this gym wouldn't even let people eat lunch. She was paying money to work out, not paying to suffer, so she shook off Shi Qianjin's hand and said angrily, "I'm done with this fitness nonsense, alright? Goodbye!"
Without waiting for Shi Qianjin's calls, she turned and stormed furiously out of the gym.
Downstairs, she ran into the staff member who had delivered the message earlier. The person smiled and greeted her, but Ruan Shiyu was too furious to even acknowledge it.
In her rage, she left the gym. Unwilling to wait by the roadside for public transport, she directly hailed a taxi and returned straight to her own building, determined to hole up in her cozy little nest for days and nights on end and never go fitness training again!
However, once she reached the building entrance, Ruan Shiyu's pace gradually slowed down. As she stepped onto the stairs, she remorsefully grabbed a handful of her own hair and muttered in regret, "Oh heavens, why did I go and pick a fight with her... she was only trying to look out for me!"
What Shi Qianjin said just now was entirely correct; she was working out for her own good, so how could she blame someone else for being too strict? But no matter how much Ruan Shiyu regretted it, she had already walked out of the gym. With a long sigh, she decided to head home first and figure out her next move later.
To her surprise, just as she entered the hallway, she saw Auntie Shi coming downstairs carrying a black garbage bag.
Auntie Shi was delighted to see Ruan Shiyu and immediately grabbed her by the hand. "Young lady, I ran into you again! I invited you over to my place for steamed buns last time, how come you never showed up?"
How could Ruan Shiyu take words spoken in a casual roadside encounter seriously? Besides, she had been a hermit for far too long; the last thing on her mind was visiting neighbors.
Caught red-handed by Auntie Shi, Ruan Shiyu offered an embarrassed, sheepish smile and murmured softly, "I've been a bit busy the past couple of days."
"Busy? That's alright, since we ran into each other today, let's do it today! You haven't had lunch yet, have you?" Auntie Shi invited her warmly.
Ruan Shiyu was just about to shake her head and claim she had already eaten when her stomach chose that exact moment to let out an untimely, and very loud, rumble! Well, that ruined that; she couldn't possibly lie now. Blushing deeply, Ruan Shiyu could only nod and say, "Thank you so much, Auntie Shi!"
"My, what a polite child!" Auntie Shi beamed with delight. Finally releasing her grip on Ruan Shiyu's hand, she said, "I'm just heading down to take out the trash. Wait here for me, I'll be right back up!"
"Auntie, I'll go down with you." Having received such a warm invitation, Ruan Shiyu felt rather sheepish. She accompanied Auntie Shi down to throw away the trash, and the two of them walked back upstairs together.