"Breathing?"
Listening to the first part of Lin Siqi's statement, Zhang Beixing's face darkened, but then he raised an eyebrow.
He had indeed thought about this issue while running just now. But fearing that changing his breathing rhythm on the spot would cause him to get a stitch, he didn't do it.
And now Lin Siqi brought up the matter.
"You have a way?" Zhang Beixing asked, somewhat surprised.
"Well, of course!" Lin Siqi said, "I also focus on fitness, you know. Don't tell me you think I only care about making money?"
Is that not the case? Zhang Beixing's expression turned odd, and he subconsciously wanted to say this, but as the words reached his mouth, he swallowed them back.
He changed his wording, "Of course not. It's just that seeing your skin so white and delicate, and your figure so fine, I thought you were naturally beautiful. I didn't expect it was all due to maintenance."
"Oh, stop your sweet-talking nonsense!" Lin Siqi hit Zhang Beixing lightly, muttering some incomprehensible dialect.
But from the smile in her eyes, it was clear she found his words quite flattering.
After all, Lin Siqi was just a college student, a young girl. Although she always seemed obsessed with money as if she cared about nothing else, that couldn't change her nature.
Just as men of any age like to look at beautiful women, women, no matter their age, like to hear others praise their appearance and figure.
Afterwards, the two chatted casually for a bit.
The conversation then returned to the earlier topic of breathing.
Lin Siqi took a sip of water and looked at Zhang Beixing, "Do you know the four-step breathing method?"
Four-step breathing method? Zhang Beixing was taken aback. He had heard of it, but never really looked into it.
After all, before his rebirth, he was completely indifferent to fitness. During his school years, he would sleep during the day and play games or browse through photos of beauties at night. After starting work, he slaved away for others all day and continued gaming and browsing beauties after work. Although he occasionally stumbled upon fitness videos, he mostly just glanced at them before skipping them to look at more beauties. If cancer hadn't ended his life prematurely, bringing him a profound realization, his life would probably have continued without change.
Seeing Zhang Beixing's silence, Lin Siqi guessed that he probably didn't know, so she started to explain, "The four-step breathing method, also known as the cellular division method, focuses on breathing through the nose only, not the mouth."
"The specific process is just as its name suggests: you inhale with each step for four consecutive steps, then you exhale with each step for the next four consecutive steps. This is the four-step breathing method."
"Of course, besides the four-step breathing method, there is also the abdominal breathing method, which is more suitable for jogging. If used for high-intensity workouts like tempo running, it might lead to breathing difficulties or cause you to run out of rhythm."
"And for this method, you inflate your abdomen as you inhale, and tighten it as you exhale."
[System detected two suggestions, suggestions recorded]
[Suggestion: Four-step breathing method, difficulty E, reward 0.1 Ability Points for every ten kilometers run using this method]
[Suggestion: Abdominal breathing method, difficulty E, reward 0.1 Ability Points for every ten kilometers run using this method]
Listening to Lin Siqi's words, as expected, the System popped up a notification.
Two suggestions with an E-level difficulty. Although the rewards were meager, the advantage was that they were easy; he could complete them casually during his regular runs.
"Thanks a lot, these two breathing techniques are quite useful. I'll stick to you for buying drinks in the future!" Saying this cheerfully, Zhang Beixing was in a very good mood.
And feeling good, he felt his fatigue fade considerably, giving him the false impression that running a few more laps would be no problem at all.
Lin Siqi nodded, "Sure, I'll take your word for it. As long as you remain my loyal customer, next time you buy water from me, I'll give you a... special price of 110%!"
"Wow, so being your loyal customer not only comes without any perks but actually means a reverse discount, huh? Zhang Wuji's mom was right, the prettier the woman, the blacker her heart!"
"Isn't it that the prettier the woman, the more deceptive she is?"
"Hey, it's all the same, Sister Qi. I've got to go now; those three dorks in the dorm are waiting for me to bring them food. If I don't get back soon, they'll starve to death in the dorm."
"Okay, someone over there is signaling to buy something from me, so I won't chat more with you. See you another day!"
"See you another day!"
After speaking, the two parted ways.
Lin Siqi continued pushing her cart and selling items on the field while Zhang Beixing, drinking his water, walked into the cafeteria.
He packed four meals to take back to the dorm, where he was greeted by a chorus of 'Dad!'
After eating and drinking their fill, and playing some games to unwind, evening arrived.
Looking at his status bar, his condition had changed from "Extremely Exhausted" to "Moderately Exhausted."
Zhang Beixing knew he had rested enough. So he got up and left the dorm.
This was the most comfortable time of the day. At least, that's what Zhang Beixing thought.
The cool evening breeze, the hazy sunset. The distant sounds of laughter and joy. And that vibrant, young, and healthy body. Everything was so beautiful, and there was still time for everything.
"Whew, time to start running!"
"I must get these 0.5 Ability Points today!"
Taking a deep breath, Zhang Beixing resolved.
Remembering the four-step breathing technique Lin Siqi had mentioned, he began to jog slowly to adjust. Once he felt accustomed to it, he gradually increased his speed.
"Inhale, inhale, inhale, inhale, exhale, exhale, exhale, exhale…"
Zhang Beixing ran, his breathing rhythmic and heavy.
Everything was normal for the first two laps. But later, as his pace picked up and he entered that 'comfortable agony' phase of tempo running, he realized that breathing through his nose alone, he found himself struggling to get enough air!
His cardio capacity was too poor!
In order not to run out of oxygen and break his tempo running progress, Zhang Beixing slightly opened his mouth to enhance oxygen intake.
He thought that this would interrupt the progress of the four-step breathing technique. However, the continuously increasing progress on the System panel made him realize that the four-step breathing strategy was not as absolute as Lin Siqi had stated. Using the mouth as a supplement for breathing was also viable.
It seems I should really look things up before exercising in the future, Zhang Beixing thought as he continued running.
Ten minutes later, he slowed his pace.
At the same time, the System's voice also echoed in Zhang Beixing's ear.
[Detected: Master has completed the suggestion: 'Tempo Running']
[Reward issued, current Ability Points: 0.5]
[Tempo Running progress updated, current progress 0.03KM/5KM]
[...]