Bench Press

"Forty pounds. How does it feel?" Su Lin glanced at the number on the bench press rack and asked.

"It's not very heavy." Chubby said with a relaxed look on his face.

However, judging by the veins bulging through the thick layer of fat on Chubby's face, Zhou En knew his buddy had definitely used all his strength.

Su Lin frowned. Clearly, he had also seen that Chubby was only putting on a brave front.

"Brother, being able to press forty pounds on your first try is already pretty good. You know, some people can only press twenty pounds the first time."

It went without saying that "some people" definitely meant women.

Chubby was clearly unwilling to accept that. His male pride had been dealt a serious blow, and he shouted for Su Lin to add more weight.

"All right, all right, I'll add some." Su Lin was helpless. If he had known this would happen, he would never have brought a beginner along.

Finally, after Su Lin and Zhou En's efforts, the barbell's weight became sixty pounds.

"Let me show you my chest muscles." As Chubby spoke, he tried to lift the barbell.

"Ah."

The barbell did not budge.

"Ah."

The barbell still did not budge.

"Ah."

The barbell remained completely motionless.

"Who is this guy? He's hilarious." Several girls nearby covered their mouths and giggled.

Hearing the girls' comments, Chubby deflated like a punctured balloon and slumped onto the bench. His male pride had been crushed completely.

"Brother, see? You can't do it." Su Lin spoke up.

Chubby climbed down from the bench press rack with a sickly look on his face, his eyes filled with disappointment.

"Ha, Su Lin, are you teaching a beginner?"

Since Chubby's voice had been so loud just now, it had attracted the attention of quite a few club members.

"Eh, isn't that Zhou En?"

"Who's Zhou En?"

"You don't even know? Zhou En is the tough guy who defeated Yue Hua this morning."

"Gasp, he's that impressive?"

"He seems to be doing a bench press test. Why don't we see how much weight they can lift?"

As a famous figure at school, Zhou En was recognized instantly. Everyone pointed and whispered, clearly wanting to see just how capable this newcomer who had suddenly risen to prominence really was.

Zhou En had originally wanted to quietly grow stronger at the club, but why had there been so much trouble?

"I'll give it a try." Zhou En said to Chubby.

"Could you set my barbell to forty pounds?"

The moment Zhou En said this, a burst of laughter broke out.

"Ha, this is the strongest newcomer? He actually wants to start with forty pounds."

"This is seriously lowering the standard for newcomers."

"Could this guy not even lift a forty-pound barbell?"

"Hahaha, that would be hilarious."

Zhou En ignored the many mocking looks and simply lay down on the bench.

After being mocked for the past two days, Zhou En had developed a certain immunity to these spectators who loved watching the drama.

Under everyone's gaze, Zhou En easily pressed the forty-pound barbell.

"He looks a little more like a newcomer." When everyone saw Zhou En press the forty-pound barbell, they could not help nodding slightly.

They acknowledged Zhou En's strength in their hearts.

"Yuyu, how much do you think Zhou En can bench press?" At the very edge of the crowd, Wu Min asked Liu Yu.

A layer of frost immediately covered Liu Yu's pretty face.

"Wu Min, how many times have I told you not to call me Yuyu? Call me Coach."

"All right, all right, Coach. How much do you think Zhou En can bench press?" Seeing the beautiful coach get angry, Wu Min immediately raised both hands in surrender.

Liu Yu frowned.

"It's hard to say. Looking at Zhou En's thin arms and legs, I estimate that he can bench press at most around eighty pounds."

In fact, even that was the beautiful coach's high estimate. If it had been an ordinary person, pressing sixty pounds would already have been impressive.

"Zhou En, I've increased it to eighty pounds. If you can't press it, don't force yourself." Su Lin warned him.

Actually, Su Lin was somewhat displeased that Zhou En had directly asked him to raise the weight to eighty pounds.

Normally, someone who could only press forty pounds would need at least two months of training to press sixty pounds.

What was more, Zhou En was only a beginner.

Beginners would often overestimate their strength, ultimately straining their tendons.

"Look, that guy's showing off again."

"Ha, he thinks that because he pressed forty pounds, he can immediately try eighty pounds. He's bound to injure himself."

The spectators sitting around still had this basic knowledge.

"Maybe he's trying to attract the girls' attention."

"Hahaha, what if he doesn't attract any girls and instead lands himself in the hospital?"

"That's the price of showing off."

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Zhou En slowly raised the barbell in his hands.

"Gasp."

Everyone sucked in a sharp breath when they saw this.

"Th-this... I'm not seeing things, am I? This kid actually lifted eighty pounds on his first try."

"Impossible, absolutely impossible. Zhou En must have trained at a gym before."

Some people began finding suitable excuses for themselves.

"Right, right. It must be like that. Otherwise, how do you explain it?"

"This Zhou En is clearly pretending to be weak so he can surprise everyone and attract the girls."

For a moment, the club became a sea of excitement.

"Coach, I never thought that even you, a former national-level coach, could misjudge someone."

Wu Min chuckled, unable to hide the smugness in his eyes. It was not easy to see the beautiful coach suffer a setback.

The beautiful coach knitted her willow-like brows, undisguised surprise filling her beautiful eyes.

"Strange. That shouldn't be possible." The beautiful coach pondered hard.

"Could it be that Zhou En really has received training before?"

"Logically speaking, if he had trained before, he could have said so directly and received better treatment."

"No one would hide their training history."

Wu Min watched the beautiful coach deep in thought and could not help speaking up.

"All right, stop thinking about it. But I think Zhou En still has some strength left after pressing eighty pounds."

"Why don't we make a bet?"

Liu Yu's beautiful eyes rolled thoughtfully.

"Fine. What are we betting?"

After analyzing the situation, the beautiful coach was certain that Zhou En could not have received formal training.

In Liu Yu's view, the reason he could press eighty pounds was probably that Zhou En usually paid attention to exercise.

But eighty pounds was Zhou En's limit.

Anything above eighty pounds required long-term training to achieve.

Wu Min smiled and said indifferently, "If I win, you'll treat me to a meal."

"And what happens if you lose?" the beautiful coach asked.

"If I lose, you'll treat me to a meal." Wu Min's big bad-wolf tail finally showed itself.

The beautiful coach let out a cold laugh. "If you lose, you'll give me the money for the meal."

Trying to hit on me? No chance.