Thinking of it made him mad.
Eating air for so long— no wonder he felt his body wasn’t as good lately. He’d thought it was from lounging at home without exercise, but it was hunger!
Bo Ting frowned. On his way to pick up the delivery, passing the Lele Fast Food Restaurant, he finally couldn’t resist glaring at it for two seconds.
Wu Ge, who had just come out of the restaurant: …
His heart skipped a beat. Wu Ge plastered on a smile and asked: “Up so early today, Little Bo?”
Bo Ting looked up at the little shop and noticed Wu Ge had taken down the Lele Fast Food signboard at some point.
Bo Ting nodded, then subconsciously asked:
“Wu Ge, aren’t you running the restaurant anymore?”
Why remove the sign?
Wu Ge rubbed his hands, a bit embarrassed, but told the truth:
“Business has been dead these past few days.”
“So I figured I’d just close up.”
At that, he suddenly remembered something, his voice trailing off as he awkwardly locked eyes with Bo Ting for a few seconds.
“Hahaha, Little Bo, here for a delivery?”
“Need help?”
Wu Ge stiffly changed the subject, not daring to meet the increasingly shifting gaze opposite him.
“No need, I can handle it. Not much anyway.”
Bo Ting’s tone was heavy, feeling like a total sucker.
Without him ordering every day, didn’t Lele Fast Food have no business?
And now it was closing.
Bo Ting took a deep breath expressionlessly and carried the several large boxes of instant noodles home.
On the other side:
Customer service noticed Bo Ting stopped messaging mid-conversation and wondered if she’d flubbed the flattery. She felt a bit baffled.
“What’s up with him now?”
Lou Xiaoshan leaned over to look at the screen, utterly perplexed.
Hadn’t they just been praising him?
How’d he go offline again?
Pang Juan shot him a glare: “How should I know.”
“People in love are like that—moods swing wildly, totally normal.”
“Doesn’t that prove the Lovers’ Bell is working?”
“Yeah.”
That finally reassured Lou Xiaoshan. Both sighed in relief.
Today showed clear changes, even emotional ups and downs. Once they fully committed, they’d offload this “death tribulation” and be safe for a while.
Their faces relaxed, and their relationship returned to normal.
Meanwhile.
After Bo Ting got home and set down the delivery boxes.
He suddenly remembered the “customer service” forgotten on his phone and prepared to reply, only to find they’d gone offline.
Well.
Whatever then?
It was their drop-off anyway.
Bo Ting nodded contentedly to himself, figuring he wasn’t in the mood to chat anymore.
He put down his phone and slumped onto the sofa. After a while, taking advantage of the cat and dog on the balcony not paying attention, he lowered his head and reached out to touch his abdomen.
Hmm.
Abs… gone!
The previously lean muscles had vanished, replaced by a flat stomach.
Though the texture felt pretty good.
But!
Still, no abs!
The few hard-earned lean muscles were gone, and Bo Ting gritted his teeth in frustration.
It was all those damn air conditioners’ fault!
He frowned slightly and looked at his phone again, hesitating.
Would Mr. Xu mind a brother… without abs?
No, he had to get back in shape.
Even if he had turned into an air conditioner, he couldn’t let his lean muscles disappear!
Otherwise, how was he supposed to subdue the cunning Gouzi and the stone-crushing strong cat?
He pursed his lips slightly. After forcing down two tasteless bites of instant noodles, Bo Ting put on his hat and sneaked a glance outside.
Seeing that it was a foggy day and everyone was staying home, with no one in the neighborhood at that moment, he quietly slipped out the door.
…
Xu Qinglai found Bo Ting acting very strange these past couple of days.
In Xu Qinglai’s expectations, after receiving the “Smiling Doll,” Bo Ting would intrude more into his life.
For example, like last time, asking if he had brought the “Smiling Doll” home.
But…
There was news now, just not the kind of “intrusion” he had anticipated.
Instead…
“Mr. Xu, do you like exercising?”
“Mr. Xu, how many abs do you have?”
“I ran ten kilometers today, not sure when I’ll get them.”
Xu Qinglai: …
???
What was this guy sending?
He closed his eyes briefly, his smile stiffening slightly.
But after losing those bizarre texts’ interference, the image from the last video call resurfaced in his mind—Bo Ting’s cold, handsome face.
Tch.
Feeling a bit irritated, he tapped the table and opened his eyes to look at his phone again.
Bo Ting was sporadically sending emoji packs, all of orange cats doing pull-ups on single bars.
Xu Qinglai’s expression turned odd, and he could only reply: “Not bad.”
“I have abs.”
As for what running ten kilometers would achieve.
Recalling the other’s slim, elongated figure, he paused.
“Maybe you’ll know in a week.”
At least from what he knew, human methods for building abs didn’t show results that fast.
Expecting overnight success… unless you disassembled and reassembled.
Bo Ting nodded, thinking Mr. Xu was right.
So Mr. Xu had abs too.
Who would’ve thought.
From Mr. Xu’s voice, he had imagined a gentle, scholarly type.
Turns out he was this impressive?
Bo Ting felt an itch to compare but thought it might ruin their brotherly bond, so he barely held back.
Once he got his old lean muscles back, he could show off to Mr. Xu then—it probably wouldn’t count as comparing, right?
…
For several days in a row, Bo Ting exercised stealthily whenever no one was around.
Doudou and Tang Yuan, sprawled on the balcony, saw a dark figure flash through the garden in the dead of night. They had grown used to it, not even bothering to bark a “woof.”
Doudou lazily glanced over, yawned, and leaned against the lounge chair.
After a moment, hearing the security door suddenly click open, it immediately sat up straight like a proper dog.
It was well-known: never show leisure in front of a “being” that had just eaten and gone exercising, or you’d end up busier than a dog.
Doudou knew this well and instantly spun in circles chasing its tail like a silly dog.
Tang Yuan was a step slower.
But luckily, she was cute and could provide some emotional value.
As soon as Bo Ting came in, he casually petted the dazed Tang Yuan.
After ruffling the calico’s head fur into a mess, he withdrew his hand with a sigh.
“Why are you spacing out every time I come back?”
“Little animals can’t stay still all the time. Next time if you’re bored, I’ll take you down to exercise with me.”
At those words, Doudou shot a knowing look.
Tang Yuan nearly went into shock!
How could a human be such a dog?
In an instant, she finally understood why that dead dog had suddenly acted retarded earlier.
The air fell silent for a moment.
The next second, as Bo Ting looked over questioningly.
Meeting those beautiful peach-blossom eyes, Tang Yuan shivered, leaped onto Bo Ting’s shoulder, and gently swept her tail across his cheek. “Meow~”
The sweet meow was clearly deliberately softened.
Doudou looked on in disdain, but humans fell for this trick every time.
Bo Ting instinctively softened for a second.
“Alright, we’ll weigh you tomorrow and talk.”
the calico’s body stiffened slightly as she was picked up by the scruff and placed on the sofa.
Half an hour later, Bo Ting came out refreshed after his shower. He checked his abdomen again.
Hmm, compared to three days ago…
Promising!
The refreshed young man’s eyes lit up, and he immediately jotted it down in his notes.
Just then, his phone buzzed.
The Smiling Doll’s customer service was persistently messaging, one after another—who knew what had happened?
Bo Ting opened it. The first message asked about meeting up.
“Dear, have you met up these past few days?”
Lou Xiaoshan and Pang Juan had thought that with major progress, they could finally relax. They had been quiet for days.
But this morning, they sensed something was off.
Shockingly, while Pang Juan was brushing her teeth, a surge of malice rose, and she nearly stabbed Lou Xiaoshan in the eye with her toothbrush.
Then, while Lou Xiaoshan was peeling fruit, he uncontrollably smashed an apple on Pang Juan’s head.
The rotten apple rolled across the living room. As they tore into each other, both realized something was wrong.
Wait.
They had nearly… lost control?
A intense emotion surged in their hearts, making them want to embrace and devour each other alive.
In a flash, Pang Juan snapped awake.
“Something’s wrong!”
“Problem with the customer!”
Her face darkened. She forcibly used her ability to step back and quickly opened her computer.
Lou Xiaoshan reacted too, slamming into the wall before walking over.
The two looked at the chat window in disarray, barely suppressing their anger.
“Dear, how have things been lately?”
Any issues with the relationship?
Pang Juan typed word by word.
After a while, the reply came as if the other had just remembered.
“Ah, no meetup yet.”
The relaxed tone even carried a sense of ease.
Lou Xiaoshan angrily snatched the keyboard: “Then what have you been doing these past few days?!”
Bo Ting: ???
“Me?”
Weird, why so agitated?
“I’ve been working on my abs at home.”
