The Secret Was Out

Zhou Yun led Tang Zhi Chu to a treadmill and had him step onto it.

"Running, jump rope, and swimming are all fine. You can choose one as your main form of exercise. But it's best not to train your abs. Usually, that's what people mean when they talk about getting a six-pack," Zhou Yun said, standing beside him with her arms crossed.

Tang Zhi Chu started the treadmill and looked straight ahead, deliberately avoiding Zhou Yun. From his angle, with her posture, one particularly prominent curve was impossible to miss.

"Why?"

"Because training your abs can affect your voice and how you control your breathing."

Tang Zhi Chu froze for a moment, then glanced at Zhou Yun again.

Zhou Yun tilted her head away, deliberately avoiding his gaze, but still said, "You'd better avoid training the trapezius muscles at the back of your neck, too. They can affect your voice as well."

Tang Zhi Chu looked away. "So I should just do cardio?"

"You can train your legs and do full-body workouts. Just don't specifically train those two areas I mentioned. The rest will definitely help you in the future."

Tang Zhi Chu smiled. "Looks like I'm destined to never have abs."

Zhou Yun rolled her eyes, then increased the treadmill's speed.

Tang Zhi Chu couldn't joke around anymore. He focused on controlling his breathing and pace as he ran.

With a professional like Zhou Yun watching, Tang Zhi Chu figured he wouldn't be allowed to stop before running for an hour.

From Zhou Yun's words, Tang Zhi Chu understood why she'd been in a mood.

She'd probably figured out who he was on DY. The exercises she'd mentioned were all tailored to singing.

It made sense. She'd discovered his little secret, gone out of her way to devise a workout plan for him, and then he'd shown up an hour and a half late.

If he were in her shoes, he'd probably feel like all his goodwill had gone to waste, too.

Zhou Yun got onto the treadmill beside his, setting it to a faster speed than his.

She really had discovered Tang Zhi Chu's secret.

Once she knew his account, uncovering his secret had been easy.

She'd just searched his account, and everything had come up.

He was one of the headlining singers at DY's biggest request-song channel, a performer who could hold the whole room.

A while ago, DY had held the online singing competition Magic Sound Cup, and he'd taken first place.

Zhou Yun knew about the competition. She'd almost entered herself, but after learning that a group of professional singers would be competing, she'd given up. If she was only going to be there to make up the numbers, why waste her time?

She'd also heard that one of DY's own singers had won. At the time, she'd suspected DY was trying to promote its own talent by using those professional singers as cannon fodder, so she hadn't paid much attention.

Who'd have guessed that yesterday, driven by curiosity, she'd search Tang Zhi Chu's account and find a whole pile of videos?

He never showed his face in the videos, but she recognized his voice immediately.

So this guy was the DY singer who'd won the Magic Sound Cup!

She'd watched Tang Zhi Chu's singing videos for over an hour and still hadn't had enough.

In the final, Tang Zhi Chu had sung Wish, a song Zhou Yun had tried singing herself, but as a woman, she couldn't hit the high notes. Wish was one of He Shuyuan's greatest works, from the Tianhe Trio.

He Shuyuan had won a singing show on Mango TV two years earlier with that very song.

Thinking back on it now, Zhou Yun could still feel the excitement she'd felt at the time.

First, her guess had been wrong. The Magic Sound Cup champion really was incredible. Many people had compared his version of Wish to the original and said it was just as good.

Second, it turned out this person had been right there beside her all along, claiming he couldn't really sing.

Zhou Yun had left home early that morning to come to the gym and put together a workout plan for Tang Zhi Chu.

She'd finished it in the morning, then planned to wait for him in the afternoon. Instead, she'd waited until five thirty.

Maybe the two of them weren't that close, but Zhou Yun felt there was a certain understanding between them.

She'd chosen him without expecting anything in return. Looking at it objectively, the program would benefit both of them, even if Tang Zhi Chu gave nothing back.

If she hadn't discovered Tang Zhi Chu's secret, she wouldn't have been able to reach certain conclusions.

Now that she had, wasn't it clear that Tang Zhi Chu had come in through DY?

So Tang Zhi Chu needed exposure, too. Even if he wanted to keep his distance from fame, DY wouldn't stand for it.

Since they shared the same goal, they could at least call it comradeship, couldn't they?

She'd already been generous enough to schedule their meeting for after four, and the guy had still shown up late.

Tang Zhi Chu ran at nine kilometers per hour for half an hour. He could barely breathe, and his legs only kept moving through sheer willpower.

He understood how out of shape this body was. Improving his fitness would take a lot of effort.

The original owner had been a massive homebody since college. If he had to guess why the guy hadn't woken up, it was because he'd been in poor health, hadn't gotten enough rest, and had overworked himself until he died suddenly.

If Tang Zhi Chu ever ended up in the same situation, there was no telling what might happen.

He really did take Zhou Yun's fitness advice to heart.

Just as Tang Zhi Chu felt he couldn't go on, a pale arm reached over and lowered the speed to six kilometers per hour.

For Tang Zhi Chu, that was basically a brisk walk.

"You don't have to push yourself that hard. Start at seven kilometers per hour and work your way up," Zhou Yun said.

Tang Zhi Chu was still panting hard. For a long while, he couldn't get a word out.

Seeing how miserable he looked, Zhou Yun burst out laughing and lowered the speed to five.

"Don't stop all at once after exercising. Give your body time to cool down first."

"D-didn't you set the speed?" Tang Zhi Chu finally managed to answer her.

"Once you're done, I'll help you relax your muscles, then show you how to train your legs."

"I-I know I need to cool down."

Zhou Yun frowned and complained, "How did running make your brain slow down, too?"

"Can I train my legs another time?"

Zhou Yun: "???"

It took Tang Zhi Chu five minutes to recover. He lay on the treadmill, not wanting to move an inch.

When he saw Zhou Yun walking over with something in her hand, Tang Zhi Chu hurriedly said, "It's not that I don't want to move. Let me put it this way: my soul really wants to move, but my body won't obey. Do you understand what that feels like? Never mind, you wouldn't get it anyway."

Zhou Yun stood there looking at Tang Zhi Chu. "Are you even up to this?"

Tang Zhi Chu got up.

Zhou Yun handed him a black, gun-shaped device. "Here. It's a massage gun. You're in pretty poor shape."

Tang Zhi Chu shot Zhou Yun an annoyed look and chose to keep quiet.

Only then did Zhou Yun's mood finally improve.

"We'll train your legs next time. Don't skip running. You need to run every day, five kilometers in the morning and five at night. And don't restrict your diet. That can affect your condition and breathing, too. First, improve your overall fitness, then work on the rest."

Tang Zhi Chu nodded. "So, are we done for today?"

"Of course not. You'll jog for another hour later."

When Tang Zhi Chu fell silent, Zhou Yun added, "You should be grateful. I've never been anyone else's personal trainer before."