174: Chapter 174 So sickeningly sweet it's unbearable

It was past six in the evening, in the parking lot downstairs from the company.

Inside a black Porsche, in the driver's seat, Chen Fan was leaning against the backrest, dozing off.

Just then, the passenger door was pulled open, and Qiao Linlin opened the door and climbed in.

A faint scent of perfume drifted in, mingling with the unique, warm aura of her body.

Chen Fan opened his eyes, turned his head, and glanced at her: "Where should we eat?"

"I want to have hotpot," Qiao Linlin said while fastening her seatbelt.

"Hotpot? Didn't we just have that last time? Let's pick something else." Chen Fan started the car, and the engine gave a low rumble.

"But I want to eat it—," Qiao Linlin turned her body, wrapped both arms around Chen Fan's arm, and shook it, pressing her entire body against him, acting coquettishly. "Pretty please, hu~sband~"

Her voice was sickeningly sweet, with a feeling that it could kill someone with its sweetness.

Chen Fan couldn't help but shiver.

Qiao Linlin usually addressed Chen Fan as Boss, even after they had gotten intimate.

Suddenly hearing her call him that really made Chen Fan unable to handle it.

Goosebumps rose all over his skin. He pulled his arm back, shifted gears, stepped on the gas, and drove out of the parking lot: "Fine, fine, fine, let's go have hotpot."

"I knew you were the best," Qiao Linlin said, turning and giving Chen Fan a light kiss on the cheek.

Chen Fan didn't speak, keeping his eyes on the road ahead. He moved his right hand from the steering wheel, rested it on her leg, and patted it gently twice.

Qiao Linlin looked down at his hand, the corners of her mouth curled up, but she didn't say anything, turning her head to look out the window.

The hotpot restaurant wasn't far; Chen Fan drove for over twenty minutes and arrived.

The car was parked in a spot at the entrance of the hotpot restaurant. After parking, the two took the elevator to the third floor.

The air was filled with the fragrance of beef tallow and tomato soup base, mixed with the pungent scent of minced garlic and sesame oil.

A waiter led the two to a window seat.

The two sat down facing each other. Chen Fan handed the menu to Qiao Linlin, who took it, opened it, and started ordering dishes one by one.

It was past 9 o'clock in the evening.

The two returned to Qiao Linlin's home.

As soon as the door closed, Qiao Linlin kicked off her flats, walked barefoot on the floor, and carried her bag quickly toward the bedroom.

"I'm going to take a shower first; I smell like hotpot, it's so uncomfortable."

Before she had finished speaking, she had already flashed into the room, followed immediately by the sound of the bathroom door closing.

Chen Fan changed into slippers, walked to the living room, flopped down on the large sofa, and scrolled through his phone in boredom.

Forty-some minutes later, the crisp sound of high heels clicking on the floor rang out beside Chen Fan.

He looked up to see Qiao Linlin wearing an off-white ice silk nightgown, her legs wrapped in sheer, cicada-wing-thin white stockings, and on her feet were a pair of white lace high-heeled sandals.

After so many days, she already knew Chen Fan's preferences.

She was confident that this outfit would definitely captivate Chen Fan.

Sure enough.

Chen Fan, who had been lying lazily on the sofa, was struck by something the moment he saw her, and he suddenly sat up straight.

Seeing this, a hint of a smile flashed in Qiao Linlin's eyes.

She didn't stop, walking straight to Chen Fan in her high heels.

A faint scent of body wash drifted through the air, mixed with the unique, indescribable sweetness on her body.

She walked up to Chen Fan in her high heels, then wrapped her arms around his neck and sat on his lap.

She tilted her head slightly, leaned in closer, her lips almost brushing against his auricle.

"Hus~band~"

The next morning, Chen Fan dropped Qiao Linlin off near the company and then drove away.

"happy elimination" had been successfully online for a week, and the data had stabilized, so he didn't need to keep an eye on it every day.

Zhang Tao had also started planning the new version, and the next batch of levels was already in design.

Meanwhile, "archangels sword" was still in development, with Technical Lead and his team rushing to meet the schedule.

So, Chen Fan didn't plan to go to the company today.

As for school, he didn't plan to go there either. It was already Friday; although there were classes, he didn't want to go.

Anyway, the dean had already put in a word for him, so as long as he didn't mess up his final exams, no one would give him a hard time.

It just so happened that he hadn't been to the gym for quite a while, so he might as well go work out.

For Chen Fan, working out now wasn't just about getting a good physique; it was more about enjoying the exhilarating feeling of working out.

After arriving at the gym, his fitness coach, Zhao Wenjie, was already waiting; Chen Fan had made an appointment with her before coming.

"Mr. Chen, good morning. Are we training upper body or legs today?"

"Let's do upper body. Help me measure my stats before we train."

"No problem."

Zhao Wenjie said, and began operating the equipment.

Soon, his current stats were out.

Height 186 cm, weight 89 kg. Body fat percentage 11.8%.

Flexed arm circumference 43 cm, an increase of 1.5 cm from last time.

Chen Fan stepped off the body composition analyzer, took the printout Zhao Wenjie handed him, looked at the two lines of numbers, and the corners of his mouth curled up.

A body fat percentage of 11.8% and an arm circumference of 43 cm—these stats weren't the absolute top-tier in the gym, but for an amateur who had only been training for a few months, it was basically impossible to achieve.

Unless one was cheating like Chen Fan, or using the Power of Nine Dragons, it wasn't possible.

In his previous life, he had been quite thin until he was over thirty. Standing at 1.7-something meters tall, his weight hovered around 50 kg for years, and he couldn't pull off any clothes.

Seeing those guys with broad shoulders, bulging pectoral muscles, and arms that could stretch out the sleeves of their T-shirts, he felt incredibly envious.

He had tried training blindly for a while, bought dumbbells and protein powder, but after two months with no changes, he gave up.

Now it was different; he could achieve this condition himself, and he didn't need to envy others anymore.

"Mr. Chen, your talent is truly excellent." Zhao Wenjie looked at the data on the screen, her tone carrying a hint of amazement. "You have the best talent among all the clients I've seen. To achieve in a few months what takes normal people several years—no one would believe your muscle growth rate if you told them."

Chen Fan smiled and said nothing. After all, his talent was a product of the system; his bones, muscles, and internal organs had all been strengthened, so it was normal to have these results.

"Honestly, with your talent, you could train specifically for bodybuilding." Zhao Wenjie handed him the printout, her tone becoming a bit more serious. "Large frame, good muscle shape, low body fat; just pack on a bit more muscle and you could compete."

"No interest." Chen Fan took the printout, folded it twice, and stuffed it into his pocket. "I work out just for a good physique; I never thought about competing."

"That's true." Zhao Wenjie gave an awkward smile. She just remembered that Chen Fan was a Black Diamond member of the gym; a single card cost hundreds of thousands, he paid personal trainers by the hour, and his gear from head to toe cost more than a normal person's annual salary. How could someone so rich go into bodybuilding? The prize money from a competition wouldn't even cover his gas money for a month.

Actually, there was one more thing Chen Fan didn't say: he didn't want to train for that kind of bodybuilding physique at all.

To be honest, he didn't know how others felt, but Chen Fan didn't like it.

That kind of overly exaggerated muscle mass, thick necks with bulging veins, and a gait that made them walk like penguins—in his eyes, that wasn't beauty; it was a deformity.

Furthermore, that kind of bulky bodybuilding physique was not only ugly but also harmful to the body.

If he was unlucky, he might just ascend to the planet of steroids.

As for Chen Fan himself, his requirement for his own physique was just to train to look like Eddie Peng.

And now, he had already reached that goal.