Relax

He packed his swimming gear: goggles, a swim cap, trunks, and a bottle of eye drops.

He didn't call his personal assistant, having already notified Lei Wei in advance to take the day off.

Carrying a plastic bag, he walked out the door, heading straight for the swimming pool.

The elevator was still broken, and the notice posted on it had been updated with a new date.

Wang Yiyang couldn't be bothered to look twice; he headed down the stairs. When he reached the third floor, he subconsciously glanced at Li Ran's home.

There was no movement from the security door. With the police involved, Li Ran was likely still busy handling the paperwork related to the inheritance.

Although he felt some sympathy for the young girl, Wang Yiyang had never been a meddlesome person.

He had always believed that everything in the world operated according to its own laws, and that managing oneself well was the greatest achievement one could hope for.

Helping out twice before was just a normal interaction between neighbors.

For Wang Yiyang, doing good deeds was a rather unique pastime.

Others might do good deeds in hopes of karmic rewards, but not him.

He never asked for anything in return when he did a good deed, and in any case, he rarely did them.

Furthermore, his purpose in doing good wasn't for others, but for himself.

It was just like tossing breadcrumbs to pigeons while passing through a square.

Wang Yiyang sometimes wondered if, in the absence of legal constraints, he might be just as casual and impulsive when doing bad things.

Walking down the stairs, he boarded a sparsely populated bus as he had done before. Watching the map on his phone, he followed the navigation toward the unfamiliar swimming pool, just like any other passerby.

This peace, which he once found somewhat annoying, now left him intoxicated and even somewhat appreciative.

The bus gradually filled with passengers. Wang Yiyang saw a mother holding an infant in the crowd, frowning as she swayed unsteadily, forced to hold onto a pole with only one hand.

He looked left and right.

The young man sitting in the priority seat for the elderly and disabled pretended to close his eyes and listen to his headphones.

The people in the other seats nearby also tacitly averted their gazes, looking elsewhere.

With so few seats on the bus, they looked everywhere—even at the trash can—but refused to look at the woman holding the baby.

Wang Yiyang smiled, fished his keychain out of his pocket, and used the tip of one of the keys to jab hard into the gap of the seat cushion beneath the young man's backside.

"Ouch!"

The young man jumped up as if stung, nearly colliding with a bespectacled man nearby.

Just as the bus reached the stop and the doors opened, Wang Yiyang stood up, let the woman with the baby take the seat, and stepped off the bus with an air of nonchalance.

The young man was still bewildered, searching for whatever had poked him in the seat. He suspected the person behind him had done it, but why would a stranger poke him for no reason?

When he saw Wang Yiyang stepping off the bus with a smile, he seemed to guess something and his face darkened with anger.

But it was too late; the doors had already closed.

Wang Yiyang carried his bag, checked his phone navigation, and strolled slowly toward the swimming pool.

Since the incident where the hotel rounded up the Mantis, the public security in Yingxing City had clearly improved significantly.

It was said that the head of the Municipal Bureau had taken the opportunity to sweep through all the criminal underworld forces in the city, taking down quite a few protective umbrellas in the process.

Wang Yiyang didn't care much about these things.

After turning a few corners along the street, near the edge of a high-end residential complex, he finally saw the swimming pool he was looking for.

The entire swimming pool building was cylindrical, with a large number of arcs and seemingly mysterious, complex alphabetic symbols on the walls, forming ancient patterns with a sense of cultural depth.

However, after Wang Yiyang examined them carefully, he immediately realized that those patterns were just a single sentence, repeatedly scrambled and rearranged.

The original sentence read: "Welcome to White Bear Swimming Pool, ten yuan per swim, annual passes available at a discount."

"...Creative." Wang Yiyang was taken aback.

This kind of creative advertising had become popular a few years ago.

The patterns on the exterior walls could actually be adjusted and controlled via software programs.

He pushed open the glass door and strode inside.

A female attendant approached, asking if he wanted to buy a pass—monthly, quarterly, or annual—and whether he needed swimming gear, before reminding him to be sure to wear a swim cap.

In the lobby, people were coming out from their swims, and the air was filled with a mixture of steam and a faint, fragrant scent.

Wang Yiyang sniffed lightly; surprisingly, he didn't smell any sweat.

He bought a single-entry pass, took the card to change, showered, dried off, and entered the pool area.

He didn't go straight into the water, but instead jogged on a treadmill nearby for five minutes to warm up.

Then, he stood by the poolside to stretch his arms, calves, thighs, and his waist and spine.

Once he finished his routine, he tilted his neck, feeling that everything was ready, and looked at the cold, sparsely populated pool.

Suddenly, he thought of something else.

I'll definitely be thirsty after swimming, so I might as well buy a hot drink and leave it on the side to have once I'm done.

Acting on the thought, Wang Yiyang hurried to the small counter nearby and ordered a cup of hot cocoa. He then found a table and chair by the pool to set it down.

With the weather turning cold, there weren't many people at the White Bear Swimming Pool. Most only stayed in the water for twenty or thirty minutes before getting out and leaving in a leisurely manner; no one swam for long.

Wang Yiyang grabbed a towel, placed the hot cocoa down, and his attention was immediately drawn to the projection screen hanging nearby.

The television was broadcasting a swimming competition, and right at that moment, an athlete suddenly suffered a cramp underwater.

Medical personnel rushed to the scene immediately and quickly carried the athlete away.

The television then began to explain various measures on how to avoid cramping while swimming.

Wang Yiyang studied it carefully for a while and realized his previous preparation hadn't been thorough enough; there were some areas he hadn't stretched properly, which made it very easy to cramp once in the water.

He began stretching again to make up for it.

By the time he finished, he realized the warm-up he had just completed had already gone cold.

So, he hopped on the treadmill for a light jog. Just as he was about to get into the water after running, he noticed the hot cocoa on the table was already cooling down.

Should I just drink it while it's hot? Wang Yiyang decided to just go for it, walked over, picked up the hot cocoa, and took several large gulps.

Two minutes later, the cup of hot cocoa was gone.

He let out a burp.

My stomach is too full to exercise immediately; I need to let it digest. Wang Yiyang felt this made perfect sense and had always followed this rule.

He looked at the azure swimming pool again, lay down on a lounge chair with peace of mind, covered himself with a white towel, and began waiting for his food to digest.

Twenty minutes passed before he knew it.

Feeling that he had digested enough, Wang Yiyang stood up decisively and began his stretching warm-up.

This time he was ready and prepared to start swimming at any moment!

He put on his swim cap and goggles, adjusted his swim trunks, and splashed some cold water on his body.

Wang Yiyang stood on the edge, standing still for a moment.

Splash!!

With a sudden leap, he dove into the water like a swimming fish.

Amidst a massive splash, Wang Yiyang spent ten minutes quickly completing a twenty-meter lap, then wearily grabbed the metal railing and climbed onto the deck.

He checked the time.

It had been an hour since he arrived at the swimming pool.

"Has it already been an hour? I'm afraid I've over-exercised today. Time to head back."

He exhaled, feeling as though his body and mind had been cleansed by the healthy, restorative atmosphere of the pool. He felt entirely rejuvenated.

Once on the deck, he draped a towel over his neck, panting. Walking alongside two burly men who had been swimming for dozens of laps, he didn't feel out of place at all.

Not far away, faint sounds of suppressed laughter drifted over.

Wang Yiyang looked up and saw a row of white lounge chairs on the opposite side of the pool, where several fair-skinned, beautiful girls in ponytails were laughing and joking with each other.

The white skin exposed by their one-piece and bikini swimsuits shone brightly under the pool lights.

Wang Yiyang looked away, assuming they were laughing at the young man in the pool who was wearing a swim ring.

Shaking his head slightly, he wiped the sweat from his forehead with his towel.

"In this weather, it seems it really won't do to not exercise."

He pulled back the curtain to the men's shower area and strode inside.

After swimming, showering, drying his hair, and cleaning his ears, Wang Yiyang walked out of the White Bear Swimming Pool feeling refreshed.

No crises, no threats, no pressure.

Emptying his mind and pushing his body to its limits was the only way to feel the comfort that followed exhaustion.

Wang Yiyang didn't go far; he found a hot pot restaurant nearby and sat down at a table.

After exercising all afternoon, a hot pot meal was the perfect reward for himself.

He ordered a pile of meat and vegetables for one. The thick, spicy beef tallow broth bubbled and boiled under the induction heat, emitting a rich, savory aroma.

Wang Yiyang picked up a slice of pork belly with his chopsticks and dipped it into the pot. He pulled it out and rolled it in his chili dipping sauce.

The red chili oil, green scallions, white meat, and pork skin, still steaming hot, were popped into his mouth by Wang Yiyang.

Slice after slice of meat, plate after plate of vegetables.

Soon, most of the plates on the table were empty. Wang Yiyang wiped his mouth with a look of satisfaction, leaned back against his chair, and let out a long breath.

"It's been a long time since I've eaten this well..." He rested in the chair for a while before preparing to call for the bill.

Just then, a group of people—men and women—entered the hot pot restaurant, and one of them looked somewhat familiar to Wang Yiyang.

Before he could remember who it was, the person waved at him first.

"Brother Yiyang! What a coincidence."

Su Ling greeted Wang Yiyang with poised grace.

Ever since they met on the bus, she hadn't run into him again.

However, Wang Yiyang had left an inexplicably deep impression on her during that ride, so the moment she saw him, she recognized him immediately.

She had recognized Wang Yiyang, but he was a bit bewildered, failing to recall who she was at all.

The events of the past few days had been so incredibly rich that the memory of meeting the two office ladies, Su Ling included, on the bus felt as insignificant as a grain of sand beside a pile of gems.

Still, since she had greeted him, he feigned recognition and returned a polite smile.

"It really is a coincidence. Are you here for hotpot too?"

"Yeah, I'm here with a friend."

"Maybe we can grab a meal together sometime?"

"Sure, I'll bring Shasha along when we do," Su Ling said with a polite smile.

Shasha? Who is that?

Wang Yiyang had completely forgotten the other girl who was with Su Ling back then. Even though he didn't remember, he kept his expression indifferent.

Because she had a friend with her, Su Ling couldn't say much more, and after a brief exchange, they went their separate ways.