boyutpedia Chapter 28 Stinky Uncle
Chapter 28 Stinky Uncle
Before dawn, Lu Siye was awakened by a knock on the door.
He opened his eyes; it was still dark outside the window.
The alarm clock on the bedside table showed the time: 5:13.
The knocking continued.
He threw back the covers, walked to the door, and opened it.
The middle-aged man stood at the door, dressed in a dark blue tracksuit, holding two towels in his hands, looking quite energetic.
"Get up."
The uncle said to throw him a towel.
Lu Siye took the towel without saying a word.
It's not that I don't want to talk, it's that I'm still sleepy and my brain isn't working properly.
"You have five minutes to wash up. I'll wait for you downstairs."
After the uncle finished speaking, he turned around and walked to the door of the room next door where the steamed buns were, and started knocking on the door again.
Knock knock knock, knock knock knock.
"Get up! Five minutes!"
A painful groan came from Baozi's room.
"Five minutes!"
The uncle called out again, then turned and went downstairs.
Lu Siye stood at the door and looked down at the towel in his hand.
He remembered what the uncle had said last night.
"Come over tomorrow morning, and I'll arrange a training plan for you."
He thought "tomorrow morning" meant nine or ten o'clock.
It's not past five o'clock.
When he finished washing up and came downstairs, Baozi was already in the lobby.
He leaned against the counter, his eyes not fully open yet.
"What time is it?"
Baozi asked.
5:20.
5:20.
Baozi repeated it.
"Who in their right mind would get up at 5:20 to exercise?"
"Abnormal people will."
The middle-aged man poked his head in from the doorway, wearing the kind of smile that makes you want to punch him.
"Let's go, before the sun comes up, let's run a few laps."
"How many laps? Where?"
"Ice Lake".
Baozi opened its mouth, then closed it again.
He glanced at the uncle, then at Lu Siye, and then at the dark sky outside.
"Can I not go?"
"cannot."
Baozi sighed, zipped up his jacket again, and then walked out of the hotel.
The town of Xueshan was as quiet as a painting in the early morning.
The middle-aged man walked ahead with steady steps and even breathing, not at all like someone in his fifties.
He spoke as he walked, his voice particularly clear in the cold air.
"Do you know that I get up at this time every morning, regardless of wind or rain, regardless of spring, summer, autumn or winter, for thirty years now?"
"Thirty years?" Baozi yawned. "Getting up at five every day?"
"I run every day, on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. When I'm sick, I run a little slower, but I never stop."
Why?
The man did not answer immediately.
He walked to an intersection, stopped and waited for them to catch up, then continued walking.
Have you ever thought about this question?
"If today were your last day, how would you spend it?"
Baozi paused for a moment.
"Last day? What does that mean?"
"It means exactly what it says."
"If today were your last day, how would you spend it?"
Baozi thought for a moment.
"Then I definitely won't get up. I'll sleep until I naturally wake up, then have a good meal, and then..."
"And then you've wasted a day."
The man said it didn't sound like he was lecturing; it sounded more like he was stating a fact.
You think you have many tomorrows, but you don't.
"Every today is the tomorrow that those who died yesterday desperately wanted to have."
He stopped and turned to look at them.
The morning light shone behind him, outlining his silhouette as a golden line.
His face was in shadow, so his expression was not visible.
"The day you waste is the tomorrow that the dead longed for yesterday."
"The present you despise is the past you can never return to in the future."
Baozi fell silent.
Lu Siye also fell silent.
The two followed behind the uncle, walking along the stone-paved road out of town.
The ice lake is located about one kilometer north of the town.
The lake is not large, about three or four hundred meters in diameter.
A thin layer of ice has formed on the lake surface, and you can see the lake water flowing slowly beneath the ice.
The lake is surrounded by pine forests.
There are already people at the lake.
Several early risers, bundled up in thick down jackets, stood on the lakeside viewing platform, taking pictures of the snow-capped mountains and the frozen lake.
Seeing the uncle running over with two people, one of the old men waved to him.
"Mr. Yamada, are you running again today?"
"Run!" the uncle replied with a laugh. "I brought two kids with me today."
"Keep it up!"
The old man raised his camera and took a picture of them.
Baozi muttered softly, "We've become part of the scenery."
"Don't talk, save your energy," the uncle said. "Run around the lake three times. Begin."
Three laps.
One lap is about a kilometer, so three laps would be more than three kilometers.
The first lap went well.
The cold air filled my lungs, making me feel chilly, but my body warmed up quickly after I started running.
Baozi's pace was fairly normal; although he was panting quite a bit, he was at least able to keep up.
Lu Siye ran very easily.
Monthly training has made his leg and cardiopulmonary functions much stronger than the average person, so this kind of steady-paced running is nothing to him.
Starting from the second lap, Baozi's speed noticeably decreased.
"Is it alright?" Lu Siye asked.
"Okay..." Baozi said breathlessly, "Of course... I am, after all, a... Xia Lan..."
"Can't a Xia Lan run three kilometers?"
"This isn't... a matter of three kilometers... it's... a matter of not having eaten breakfast... since it was past five in the morning..."
Lu Siye thought about it and it did seem to make some sense.
His stomach started growling too.
By the third lap, Baozi had already started walking.
It's not that I don't want to run, it's that I really can't run anymore.
"I can't... I really can't..."
He was bent over, his hands on his knees, panting heavily.
"Let me... rest for a while..."
The middle-aged man ran over and stopped beside him.
His breathing was steady, not at all like someone who had just run three kilometers.
"It's alright, a little better than I expected," the uncle said. "I thought you'd leave on the second lap."
Baozi looked up at him with an expression that seemed to say, "Are you praising me or insulting me?"
The man ignored his gaze, turned around, and continued running forward.
Lu Siye followed and ran the last half lap.
As the three laps ended, the sun rose just above the snow-capped mountain.
The first rays of sunlight crossed the mountain ridge and shone on the frozen lake, turning the entire surface of the lake golden.
The frost on the ice surface glittered in the sunlight.
The distant snow-capped mountains changed from blue-purple to rose gold, and then from rose gold to dazzling silver-white.
The tourists by the lake exclaimed in amazement, and the sound of camera shutters clicking filled the air.
Lu Siye stood by the lake, looking at the scenery before him, and suddenly felt...
Getting up at 5 a.m. doesn't seem so bad.
"Let's go," the middle-aged man patted him on the shoulder, "to the gym, it's not over yet."
"Is it not over yet?"
Baozi's voice came from behind, filled with obvious despair.
"This is just the beginning."
The gym is about 500 meters north of the frozen lake.
A gray and white building, square and plain, with little decoration, looks like a shipping container.
There was a very simple sign hanging at the entrance.
The edges of the "Snow Mountain Fitness Center" sign are rusted, and the lettering is faded.
Lu Siye stood at the door and looked around.
The nearest building is the viewing platform next to the frozen lake, at least 500 meters away.
The town is a little further away, about two kilometers away.
There was nothing else.
What kind of mentality drives people to open gyms in places like this?
There's nobody here.
Who would specifically travel to the foot of a snow-capped mountain to work out? People come to the snow-capped mountain to either enjoy the scenery or soak in hot springs; who has the time to lift weights?
Just then, the gym door opened.
A young man came out from inside.
He was in his early twenties, not very tall, but very muscular, with broad shoulders and clearly defined muscles on his arms.
"Good morning, Mr. Yamada," he said.
"Good morning." The middle-aged man nodded. "Not many people today?"
"Just me." The young man smiled, his gaze falling on Lu Siye and Baozi. "And these two are?"
"I met them at the hotel last night, so I brought them here to practice."
The young man glanced at Lu Siye, then at Baozi, nodded, asked no further questions, and turned to go inside.
Baozi leaned close to Lu Siye's ear and whispered, "There are actually people who come to places like this to work out."
"Um."
"native?"
"Probably."
The two followed the man into the gym.
The equipment inside is as simple as the equipment outside.
Several rows of dumbbell racks, several treadmills, a few multi-functional training machines, several mirrors hanging on the wall, and black rubber mats on the floor.
The equipment wasn't new, but it was well maintained.
The young man sat quietly on a bench against the wall, holding a bottle of water. He didn't start training; he just watched them.
"Doesn't he have to go to work?" Baozi asked softly.
"It's probably already over," Lu Siye said.
Baozi glanced at his watch.
6:40.
"...What kind of job requires you to finish at 6:40?"
Lu Siye did not answer, because he did not know either.
The middle-aged man clapped his hands, drawing their attention back.
"Okay, let's warm up first. Jog slowly on the treadmill for ten minutes, then stretch."
Baozi glanced at the treadmill, then at his own legs, his expression as if he were looking at a death sentence.
"Can I...?"
"cannot."
Ten minutes of jogging is followed by stretching.
The uncle personally demonstrated, and every movement was performed perfectly and accurately.
His body is so flexible that it doesn't look like someone in his fifties. When he bends over, his palms can touch the ground, and when he stretches his legs, he can lift them to 180 degrees.
"Were you an athlete before?" Lu Siye asked.
"No," the man said. "I served in the army when I was young, and after I was discharged, I've maintained the habit of exercising ever since."
"How long did you hold that position?"
"Fifteen years."
fifteen years.
Lu Siye didn't ask any more questions.
He lowered his head and stretched along with the older man's movements.
He bent over and touched his toes with his fingers.
His flexibility wasn't very good; his fingers could only touch his ankles, leaving a long distance between them and the ground.
"Take it slow," the uncle said. "Flexibility can't be developed in a day."
"Keep at it every day, and you'll be able to touch the ground in three months."
Strength training follows stretching.
The older man arranged a basic training plan for them.
Push-ups, squats, pull-ups, and planks.
None of them are too difficult.
Push-ups.
The uncle first gave a demonstration.
Thirty. Fifty. One hundred.
His speed remained unchanged.
Two hundred.
Two hundred and fifty.
Three hundred.
He stopped, stood up, and dusted off his hands.
A thin layer of sweat appeared on my forehead, and my breathing was slightly faster than before, but that was all.
Three hundred push-ups.
Lu Siye stood beside him, watching him finish three hundred push-ups. His expression remained unchanged, but the shock in his heart had already rolled several times over.
He is a Xia Lan.
His physical abilities are stronger than those of an average person.
When his vital energy circulates within his body, it provides additional strength and stamina.
Three hundred push-ups wouldn't be an impossible task for him, but he definitely couldn't do it as easily as the older man.
The older man is an ordinary person.
An ordinary person without primordial energy, without the Xia Lan Seal, and without any supernatural powers.
It's all thanks to fifteen years of consistent training, the unwavering commitment to getting up at five every morning to run, and that kind of...
Lu Siye couldn't explain what it was.
But he could sense that it was something very powerful.
"It's your turn."
The uncle said, pointing to the mat on the ground.
"Not too many, just make a hundred to start."
"It's okay if you can't finish, just do your best."
Lu Siye lay down and began to do it.
He was much faster than the older man.
One hundred and sixty. One hundred and seventy.
His movements became distorted; his arms were trembling, his body was no longer in a straight line, his buttocks were sticking out, and his waist was slumped.
One hundred and seventy-five.
He can't hold on any longer.
He lay on the ground, his arms limp like two noodles.
Baozi is in a worse situation than him.
When I reached 140, I collapsed, my face pressed against the mat, panting heavily.
"One hundred and forty-two..." Baozi's muffled voice came from under the mat, "I made one hundred and forty-two..."
"One hundred and forty," the uncle corrected him. "The last two don't count; their movements were too distorted."
Baozi let out a wail and buried its face even deeper into the cushion.
The young man was still sitting on the bench by the wall, quietly watching them.
His expression didn't change much, but the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, as if he was suppressing a laugh.
Baozi rolled over on the mat, lying on her back with her chest heaving violently.
"You said...you were in the army...how many years have you served?"
"Fifteen years."
"Fifteen years..." Baozi repeated, his voice filled with deep reverence, "So you're still training now?"
"Every day," the uncle said. "I feel uncomfortable if I don't practice for a day."
Baozi fell silent.
He stared at the fluorescent light on the ceiling for a long time.
"I think I understand why you wanted to open a gym in a place like this," he said.
Why?
"Because it's quiet. No one is watching you, no one is urging you to finish quickly, and no one is hogging the equipment. You're all alone, so you can practice for as long as you want."
The uncle smiled, neither saying yes nor no.
He turned around, took two bottles of water from the shelf, tossed one to Lu Siye, and the other to Baozi.
"You still need to practice," he said.
Lu Siye unscrewed the bottle cap and took a sip of water.
The water was very cold, cooling down from my throat all the way to my stomach, which reduced the burning sensation somewhat.
Indeed, we still need to practice.
His physical condition was too poor.
Insufficient muscle mass and insufficient endurance.
If he exhausts his vital energy in a battle, he becomes a skinny man with no strength to even kill a chicken, and he might not even be able to defeat an ordinary person.
The same goes for steamed buns.
His physique was much stronger than Lu Siye's, but beneath that physique was a large portion of fat.
If a fight really breaks out, his stamina probably won't last more than ten minutes.
Although they are still a little short of the Four Symbols Xia Lan, they are still Xia Lan at least.
It's unacceptable that someone's physical abilities are inferior to those of an average person.
"We'll continue tomorrow," the uncle said. "We'll meet at the ice lake at 5:30 every morning."
"After running three laps, come here to train for an hour."
"Every day?" Baozi's voice rose two octaves.
"every day."
"We're going to stay here for seven days."
"Seven days is enough. Seven days is enough to form a good habit and break a bad one." The man glanced at his watch. "Alright, that concludes today's training. Go back, take a shower, and then you can go soak in the hot springs."
spa.
These two words struck Lu Siye's mind like a bolt of lightning.
He sat up from the cushion, the weariness he had felt earlier replaced by a new, subtle sense of anticipation.
spa.
A mixed-gender hot spring.
He had previously looked up information about this hot spring hotel online.
The webpage reads "Mixed bathing is allowed" and includes a photo.
The steaming hot spring pool is set against a backdrop of snow-capped mountains, and several figures can be vaguely seen in the water.
He admitted that he had some expectations for this part.
Not that kind, he thought for a moment and found a suitable word: the kind of healthy curiosity.
As a normal young man, it's not unreasonable for him to have some normal and healthy expectations about this kind of thing, right?
He stood up, stretched his still sore arms, and started planning in his mind to go to the hot springs later.
Which clothes should I change into? Should I wash my hair first? Can I bring my phone into the hot spring?
Then the older man spoke.
"Oh, by the way," the uncle said while tidying up the mats, "there's a small hot spring behind my gym, but it's not open to the public; it's just for my own use."
"You guys don't need to squeeze into the hotel area, come with me to that bar."
silence.
Lu Siye stopped moving.
Baozi's wailing also stopped.
The two men looked at the middle-aged man at the same time, their expressions as if they had been hit on the back of the head.
"What...what did you say?" Baozi's voice was a little dry.
"A hot spring."
"There's one behind my gym. It's not big, but the water quality is very good."
"It's better than the hotel's. The hotel's uses recycled water, but mine is self-spraying and all-natural."
The uncle stacked the mats neatly and clapped his hands.
"What's wrong? Don't you guys want to go for a soak?"
Lu Siye and Baozi exchanged a glance.
Their eyes met briefly in the air, exchanging information for about 0.3 seconds.
Then they both looked away.
"no."
Lu Siye said.
"Of course I want to soak in it," Baozi said.
Both of them were acting.
But neither of them were very good at acting.
The middle-aged man glanced at them, his gaze lingering on their faces for two seconds, and then he smiled.
That smile, how should I put it? It wasn't the kind of smile that saw through everything, but rather a smile that carried a hint of "I was like that when I was young."
"Let's go then."
The man said, then turned and walked towards the back of the gym.
Baozi followed behind, took a couple of steps, and then turned around to look at Lu Siye.
His expression was complicated.
Lu Siye followed behind him, expressionless.
He told himself it was okay.
A hot spring is a hot spring; it doesn't matter where you soak in it.
The hotel uses recycled water, while the uncle's water is a self-flowing, pure natural hot spring; the water quality is better and better for your health.
He came here to relax, not to...
What are you here for?
He didn't want to anymore.
Following Baozi, we entered the gym's backyard.
Xiaoman sat in the hotel lobby, holding her phone, the screen displaying a message from Lu Siye.
"We're not going to the hotel's hot springs. We're going with the uncle to the hot springs behind his gym. You guys go ahead."
She looked at the message for about ten seconds.
Then she sighed softly.
She flipped her phone over and placed it screen-down on her lap.
Then she reached out and touched Wen Ranran's head, who was sitting in the chair next to her.
"Dye."
"Um?"
Wen Ranran raised her head.
Today she was wearing the light blue sweatshirt that Xiaoman bought yesterday, and her hair was tied into two small braids.
"They're not going," Xiaoman said. "Let's go by ourselves."
Wen Ranran tilted her head and blinked. "Going to the hot springs?"
Xiaoman paused for a moment.
She remembered the photo on the hotel's hot spring brochure page.
The steaming hot spring pool is set against a backdrop of snow-capped mountains, and several figures can be vaguely seen in the water.
Mixed bathing.
She remembered that she had looked at herself in the mirror for a long time in the bathroom last night.
She wasn't the type of person who cared about her figure; she kept telling herself that.
But last night, she stood in front of the mirror and looked at herself for a long time.
Then, blushing, she retied the sash of her yukata, making it tighter than usual.
This morning, she spent a lot of time choosing a swimsuit again.
In the end, I chose a conservative, one-piece outfit that wouldn't attract too much attention.
It's black, very simple, and has no decorations whatsoever.
She stared at the message on her phone and remained silent for a while.
Then she stood up and put her phone in her pocket.
"No," she said, her voice softer than usual, "I've heard that the herbal baths at this hotel are quite good."
"Didn't you say you felt a little dizzy last night? A medicinal bath can help with dizziness."
Wen Ranran touched her forehead.
"My dizziness has subsided."
"Then soak it in the water as a precaution."
"oh."
Wen Ranran nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
She jumped off the chair, startling Fei Fei awake. Fei Fei jumped off her lap, squatted on the ground, looked up at Xiao Man, and then at Wen Ranran.
Xiaoman took Wen Ranran's hand and walked towards the medicinal bath.
After taking a few steps, Wen Ranran suddenly looked up at her.
"elder sister."
"Um?"
You look a little unhappy.
Xiaoman paused for a moment.
"No," she said, her voice even softer than before, "my sister isn't upset."
"Oh." Wen Ranran nodded and didn't say anything more.
Xiaoman lowered her head and looked at her little hands.
She took a deep breath and suppressed those chaotic thoughts.
"Let's go," she said, her voice regaining its usual calm, "After the herbal bath, let's see if they come back this evening. If they do, we'll go out for dinner together."
"Okay," Wen Ranran said, her voice crisp and slightly childlike.
The two walked towards the medicinal bath.