Ren He noticed that Yang Xi seemed to be startled when she heard the sentence. Duan Xiaolou spoke first, "Where did you get the money for the tickets? Right now, studying is what's most important."
The latter sentence was quite abrupt, as if hinting at something to Ren He, who replied with a smile, "Other students can go, why can't I?"
Suddenly, Yang Xi turned her head and asked, "You want to go to Jiang Siyao's concert too?"
Want to go too? Ren He pondered these words, was she also planning to attend?
Yang Xi continued with a smile, "Then you don't have to invite us to the concert, I'll invite you. I just happen to have four tickets to Jiang Siyao's concert."
Duan Xiaolou said excitedly, "Really? How come you never mentioned it! How did you get the tickets?"
Yang Xi whispered, "Actually, Jiang Siyao is my cousin and my idol. I've been watching her concerts since I was little. My biggest dream has actually always been to sing on stage like her."
Xu Nuo interjected, "Damn, you're actually Jiang Siyao's cousin, then just have her help you sing, I heard singing makes a lot of money."
"It's not about the money. I just want to sing on stage for people, no need for dancers or anything. Just quiet, singing good songs, it doesn't need to be noisy," Yang Xi shook her head as she explained.
What a mess, how did inviting people to a concert turn into scrounging for tickets... Ren He scratched his chin, thinking that since she liked to sing, maybe he could help her? But the entertainment industry is a huge dye vat; would Yang Xi be able to stay true to herself?
However, it was too early to talk about this. Ren He said, "Alright then, is it a deal? You invite us to the concert, and I'll invite you guys to a meal."
"Okay," Yang Xi nodded.
Duan Xiaolou glanced at Ren He and then turned away, seemingly deep in thought. The fact that Yang Xi was Jiang Siyao's cousin felt like a little secret kept within their small circle of four, and sometimes, the quickest way to close the distance is to share secrets.
These days, aside from midnight runs, Ren He also had to do push-ups until he was exhausted every day. As of now, he could do 81 push-ups in one minute, which was still short of the 90 target.
Ren He wondered, just what kind of beast was that person who could do 110 push-ups in a minute?
Lately, due to high-intensity training, Ren He's physique had become even more proportionate and firm. And he hadn't turned into a muscle man despite having an adult's physique in a young man's body; he still looked skinny when dressed. Although the Divine Punishment System enhanced his physical qualities, it hadn't added an ounce to his weight, which made the rewards truly unpredictable.
Recently, the performance of his novel was steadily growing, and there wasn't much to worry about. He had to complete his current push-up task before the second month's punishment task for royalties from the novel came from the Divine Punishment System; otherwise, if the two tasks overlapped, it was uncertain what kind of trouble would arise.
The most important thing about doing push-ups for one minute is actually explosive strength. It primarily trains the pectoralis major, triceps, and anterior deltoids, with the coracobrachialis, serratus anterior, and pectoralis minor acting as synergists. It could be said that these six muscle groups support the entire movement.
Ren He decided to seriously consider the push-up points of attention that the Divine Punishment System had instilled in him. The memories provided by the Divine Punishment System were the most accurate. These memories were so miraculous; for instance, if it instilled diving techniques into Ren He, then as long as his physical fitness met the requirements for the action, he could immediately perform it.
However, Ren He used to think that push-ups were so simple that they weren't necessary, but in fact, he was wrong.
He readjusted his position: he spread his arms apart, shoulder-width or slightly wider, supported his weight on his arms, with his toes touching the ground and his head slightly raised, gazing at the floor. His abdomen was tight, his back maintained a natural curve, and his elbows were slightly bent.
The most important thing was to keep his head and spine in a straight line, and to inhale on the way down and exhale on the way up. This breathing pattern was probably one of the most crucial elements.
Ren He glanced at the clock again and then started to quickly rise and fall on the floor. He had been practicing for so long that the ground was wet with sweat. Push-ups were very draining, so toward the end, he was almost relying solely on willpower to finish each one.
One minute was up, 88 push-ups!
Only two push-ups shy of the 90-goal, Ren He finally let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't so unattainable after all, and this was when he was already exhausted. After a night's rest, perhaps he could achieve it tomorrow morning. It seemed that the memory instilled by the Divine Punishment System was indeed correct.
Now, he could begin to anticipate what the reward would be for completing this task… To tell the truth, all the rewards provided by the Divine Punishment System so far had been quite satisfying to Ren He. The previously deemed unnecessary music theory knowledge now seemed to have its place. And what's the most important thing if you want to push yourself to the limits on a physical level?
Isn't it the physical fitness that's most crucial? So many extreme sports require an incredibly high level of physical fitness. Wouldn't it be absurd if you ran out of strength halfway through a freehand rock climb? To die up there? That's definitely not an option.
So the reward is to transform your physical fitness to that of a superhero? Or to become a versatile genius like with music theory knowledge? Either is possible.
During the night run with Duan Xiaolou, Ren He couldn't help but show a smile, leaving Duan Xiaolou somewhat confused, unsure of what was going on with Ren He today. However, after the previous experience with their classmates egging them on, she had started to deliberately maintain a platonic distance. So sometimes, she reined herself in, trying not to initiate too much conversation with Ren He.
But when she had such thoughts, she found herself conflicted because sometimes she really wanted to say something to Ren He.
This was the immature mindset of a young girl, which Ren He saw through but felt was unnecessary to point out.
When Ren He got up early the next morning, the first thing he did was to wash up and go out for breakfast. He didn't start his mission immediately because after deep sleep, it's unavoidable to wake up feeling sluggish, a result of the body's functions not having kicked in yet; usually, this is resolved after eating.
"Boss, a basket of xiaolongbao and a bowl of doufuhua!" Ren He cheerfully ordered. In the past, the body's original owner could only have frozen food from the fridge when he got up, but now Ren He had money, a lot of it—40,000! So why not eat and toss xiaolongbao to his heart's content?
After eating, ready to go out and do the task, Ren He felt energetic and his blood warmed up, definitely the right time to strike while the iron is hot.
But he heard the boss laugh and say, "Young man, you look so lively, and your body looks sturdy!"
Indeed, Ren He's vitality was much stronger than his peers in every aspect, especially full of youthful vigor.
The breakfast shop owner then watched in disbelief as Ren He walked out the door and started doing push-ups like crazy right in front of his shop… The speed was so fast that the owner could hardly imagine it!
"Uh… did I just motivate the young man with my compliment? Why start doing push-ups out of nowhere… Okay, okay, I get it, you're in good shape, please get up…"