The young guy had only just arrived, so he probably didn't know yet. Bei Wei seemed cheerful, outgoing, and especially easy to get along with. In fact, she was like that with everyone, always warm and friendly. Even when she'd first met him, Zhang Yang, she'd called him "Brother Zhang" at every turn.
That was just Bei Wei's way of getting along in the workplace.
Zhang Yang knew his own limits, so he naturally didn't get the wrong idea. But the new guy thought highly of himself, and before long, he'd fallen for her.
"Th-then... does that mean I can't even pursue you?" the young man asked, still a little reluctant to give up.
"Zhou Song, don't waste your time on me." Bei Wei shook her head with an amused smile. "Wouldn't it be better to spend that time on work and on yourself?"
After she'd put it that plainly, the young man—who had his pride—turned pale. Looking utterly dejected, he turned and walked away.
"How many guys have struck out now, one after another? Zhang Yang, what kind of man do you think Bei Wei's looking for? Why are her standards so high?" Xiang Youde muttered.
"She's got a great personality, and there are plenty of guys around her," Zhang Yang said with a shake of his head. "If you were a handsome guy with a bunch of girls around you, your standards would be high too."
"I may be a little bald on top, but I've still got thick eyebrows and big eyes. I've got some good looks left in me," Xiang Youde said stubbornly. Lately, he'd been making frequent trips to the hospital's plastic surgery department, hoping to get a hair transplant and, while he was at it, improve his chances on the dating market.
"But Zhang Yang, you... Huh? You've lost a lot of weight!"
Xiang Youde stared at Zhang Yang, his voice full of surprise.
"I've lost a little." It was only weight loss, so Zhang Yang wasn't about to announce it to everyone. Now that Xiang Youde had asked, he answered casually.
"Look at you, losing weight on the sly. Getting ready to find a girlfriend?" Xiang Youde looked him up and down, shaking his head. "But you've lost it too fast. The skin on your face is loose, so you look older. I've got some little rolls here. Want a few?"
As he spoke, he tossed several little French rolls onto Zhang Yang's desk.
Zhang Yang glanced at the rolls. Thinking of the cartons of milk and snacks still in his drawer, he felt a surge of appetite.
I skipped breakfast. It should be fine to eat a little now, right?
After all, skipping breakfast is bad for you. What if I get so hungry I feel dizzy and my blood sugar drops?
Go on, eat!
In just a few seconds, all sorts of obstacles on the road to weight loss came swarming out. Fortunately, in the end, Zhang Yang gritted his teeth and shoved all the rolls into his drawer.
Just hold out a little longer. Don't let all that effort go to waste!
With the prospect of earning ten thousand a day before him, every obstacle in his way instantly became a paper tiger.
Around nine or ten in the morning, his hunger reached its peak. But once he got through that spell, the hunger vanished in an instant. Zhang Yang knew his body had gone without the food it craved and had started using its glycogen reserves.
Intermittent fasting hadn't made him dizzy or light-headed. Instead, it had left him sharper and more productive.
Work that usually took most of the day was nearly finished before lunch.
As lunchtime approached, his coworkers gradually set down their work and got ready to head downstairs for a meal.
Nearby, Bei Wei passed by with several female coworkers, chatting and laughing.
"Xiang Youde, Zhang Yang, there's a new place opening downstairs with a special deal. You two are professional eaters—why haven't you gone yet?" Sister Liu from the Design Department joked as she walked past them.
Xiang Youde looked at Zhang Yang. "Coming? The two of us could order a large serving of sauerkraut fish and polish it off."
"You go ahead. I'm not going today." Zhang Yang shook his head, drinking some water as he tried to suppress the hunger in his stomach.
"You can't just stop eating because you're trying to lose weight. You could at least eat a little," Xiang Youde urged.
Zhang Yang didn't budge. He shook his head again.
When the female coworkers heard that Zhang Yang was trying to lose weight, they looked surprised. Bei Wei also glanced at him curiously.
Seeing that he couldn't talk Zhang Yang into it, Xiang Youde had no choice but to give up.
"Fine, stay here. I'll go by myself."
Xiang Youde went downstairs, and the other coworkers gradually followed. In the blink of an eye, Zhang Yang was alone at his desk.
"I've been hungry this long. Why haven't I finished the task yet?" Zhang Yang couldn't help feeling anxious. He was at a critical point, and earning ten thousand a day was right within reach. He absolutely couldn't mess this up!
It was the middle of the day, but he had no desire to rest. He simply went downstairs for a walk. Every bit of energy he burned was a bit more.
When work resumed in the afternoon, their supervisor, Wang Shijie, came by to arrange overtime that night.
"The project's on a tight schedule. Everyone on the project team will be working overtime tonight. We'll make it up with compensatory leave later."
A chorus of groans immediately rose around the room.
Zhang Yang listened absent-mindedly. In the past, overtime had been something he despised, but now it didn't stir even the slightest emotion in him. His mind was entirely on the task.
He swore that if his body would just cooperate and his weight dropped enough, he'd treat himself to a proper reward tonight. Of course, not that kind of reward. That stuff was bad for you.
"I've done everything I can. Whether I get to enjoy that long-coveted snowflake wagyu feast on time tonight is up to you."
With the prospect of earning ten thousand a day, talking about food seemed trivial.
By five thirty, the employees around them had gradually left, leaving only Zhang Yang's project team behind to work.
"Zhang Yang, you're still not eating tonight?" Xiang Youde asked.
"I'm not eating." Zhang Yang shook his head. It wasn't that he was stubborn about food. He had his reasons.
As evening fell, the sky outside the office windows gradually darkened.
Their office building was in Jiading, far from the center of Magic City. But at that hour, everyone could look through the floor-to-ceiling windows and see the brilliant skyline in the far distance, in the direction of the Bund.
The offices farther away were all dark. The leaders had gone home, leaving only their group of wage slaves. They gazed at the splendor of Magic City, though none of it seemed to have anything to do with them. Some of their coworkers couldn't help sighing.
"Busy every day, always busy. In the end, we still have to go back to our hometowns. How many people actually get to stay in Magic City?"
"What's the big deal about being busy now? In a few years, we'll get married, have kids, and raise a family like everyone else. That's when we'll really be horses in harness, forced to follow a set path with no chance to turn our lives around."
Outside the door, Bei Wei and several other women had just come back with their pizza delivery.
"Why don't we all share some?" Bei Wei opened several big pizza boxes and cheerfully invited the project team to join them.
The seven or eight people on the project team stopped talking and went over to eat, chatting and laughing.
"Zhang Yang, Zhang Yang! Are you coming?" Xiang Youde called from nearby, holding a slice of seafood pizza.
Zhang Yang waved him off.
"You really are stubborn, Zhang Yang. You won't give in at all, huh? Is one slice going to kill you?" Xiang Youde said, munching on the delicious pizza. He couldn't understand Zhang Yang's behavior today.
Stubborn, obstinate, and extreme.
How could he know why Zhang Yang was doing this?
The coworkers gathered around the table piled with pizza boxes all turned to look at him too, their eyes filled with confusion.
At that moment, the light from the computer screen fell across Zhang Yang's impassive face.
He glanced at the time in the lower-right corner. It was eight o'clock. There were still four whole hours before the day was over.
Why did I write about this? Because I've really been losing weight these past few months. I've lost forty pounds.
Every morning, I climb the stairs on an empty stomach, eat oats and gnaw on potatoes. While I'm climbing, my mind even starts playing some inexplicably rousing background music. Yeah...§
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