30: Chapter 30 The Road to Becoming Stronger

Chapter 30: The Path to Becoming Stronger

"Beep——"

In front of the checkout counter, Fang Cheng took out a credit card from his bag.

After paying and checking out, he carried two large bags filled with items in both hands and walked out of the customer exit lined with promotional posters.

Outside the supermarket was a parking lot, and just past it was a crosswalk.

Fang Cheng stood at the intersection, looking at the shuttling vehicles back and forth, patiently waiting for the traffic light.

It was Friday, a little past two in the afternoon, and the weekend holiday was just around the corner.

All around him were shoppers carrying bags, looking much like Fang Cheng.

This Runhua Supermarket was adjacent to Jiangdong District, and its goods were of good quality and reasonably priced, so its business had always been good.

When Fang Cheng had free time, he would travel a bit further and come here specifically to purchase supplies.

At this moment, the bags in his hands were filled with food, melons, fruits and vegetables, fresh fish and meat, and two large 900ml bottles of pure milk.

The numbers on the red light jumped and turned green.

Fang Cheng then followed the crowd across the road to the opposite side.

There was a bus stop nearby with a route going directly to Jiuchang Street.

It only took four stops to get home.

He did not choose to take the bus, but instead slowed his pace and strolled down the street.

Both sides were lined with catering and clothing shops.

The rain had stopped for half a day, and the pedestrian flow had noticeably increased.

The wet, patterned floor tiles were covered with withered yellow leaves.

Fang Cheng's line of sight passed through the crowd and the long street, landing on a lush green and particularly eye-catching place not far away.

That was Jiangbin Park located on the bank of the Tai River...

Thick smog hovered in the sky, and the sun could only shoot out rays of light through the gaps in the clouds.

Fortunately, there was still wind, blowing coldly against his face.

It had been a long time since he had strolled around so casually like this, and his heart seemed to quiet down along with it.

Fang Cheng put down his shopping bags and sat alone on the bench by the river embankment.

Opposite the turbid river water was a lush garden green space, standing with dozens of high-rise buildings.

That was Dongdu's well-known high-end residential area, Cuihu Yipin.

The residents there were either rich or noble, and it was said that the price per square meter was over one hundred thousand, and even the property security fees alone were out of reach for ordinary people.

Under the flickering clouds, the green shade blocked half of the buildings, revealing only the shining top structures.

Resembling an island in the sky within the city, it formed a sharp contrast with the surroundings.

Fang Cheng looked at the scenery with a calm expression, his line of sight not focusing on the opposite side.

That place was too far away from him.

What he needed most right now was to continuously enhance his strength and firmly grasp his fickle destiny.

So that when a disaster struck one day, he would only be a bystander or a victim.

The explosion event that occurred in Xishan caused some ripples in Fang Cheng's mind.

Just like suddenly throwing a stone into a long-calm lake, causing ripples to rise.

The call made to his mother in the morning had never gone through.

That was the landline number of the nurses' station.

Fang Cheng knew that the hospital was quite busy at this time, so he did not continue to disturb them.

After taking a shower and passing some time, he tried calling again, but it was still busy.

Fortunately, after a short while, a call came back.

That was a nurse Young Miss whom Fang Cheng knew, and her speaking speed was rather hurried.

Clearly, because of the Xishan explosion event, many family members of the medical staff were calling to inquire about the situation.

She first told Fang Cheng that Renan Hospital was temporarily not affected by the wildfire.

It was just that starting from the early morning, many wounded people were sent in successively, keeping them so busy that they couldn't even squeeze out time to drink a sip of water.

Hearing this, Fang Cheng comforted her a few words and troubled her to pass a message to Li Biyun on his behalf.

By noon time.

Mother's call indeed came back, and the situation she described was roughly the same.

Fang Cheng finally set his mind at ease.

Then, he asked about his grandfather's condition again.

Mother said that grandfather looked pretty good in state, could drink some porridge now, and the key still depended on subsequent treatment.

When Fang Cheng mentioned the question of how much the surgery fee was still short of.

She said with a slight smile that her uncle had been busy negotiating a business deal these days.

If it could be successfully negotiated, let alone grandfather's surgery fee, even the bridal chamber for Fang Cheng's future marriage and family establishment would be guaranteed by his uncle to be covered.

Hearing this, Fang Cheng just smiled.

Hopefully, his uncle wouldn't brag like before and could be a bit more reliable in doing things.

The two cut the long story short, and Fang Cheng, not wanting to delay his mother's rest, took the initiative to hang up the phone.

Since he understood that the hospital side was safe and sound, he had nothing worth worrying about.

He couldn't go visit his grandfather today.

After Fang Cheng finished his self-study, he simply added a few more sets of Squats and Leg Raises.

The sun came out in the afternoon, so he then washed the clothes, hung them out to dry, and cleaned the room once.

After finishing the housework, staying in the house was a bit boring, and he couldn't continue excessive training.

Therefore, he decided to come out to relax his mind and relax his tense body and spirit from the past few days.

Having just returned fully loaded from the supermarket, he prepared to cook a sumptuous feast tonight.

Soon he would be able to become a sparring partner, which could also be considered stepping into the "High-income Class" with a monthly income of over ten thousand.

Rewarding himself in advance was not wasteful.

Besides, he could also practice skills along the way and increase experience.

Before his eyes, a blue light screen faintly emerged.

[Culinary Arts Lv0 (89/100)]

[Cleaning Lv0 (91/100)]

Looking at the skill progress bars that were about to upgrade, Fang Cheng couldn't help letting his imagination run wild.

"Culinary Arts" and "Cleaning", just like before, belonged to very ordinary daily life skills.

I wonder what enhancement reward will be given after upgrading to Lv1?

Perhaps similar to Boxing and Squats, it could also increase attribute points or strengthen a certain part of the body?

Thinking of this, Fang Cheng glanced at the sky, which had become somewhat gloomy.

No errors, first release, internal content, check it out one by one!

He then stood up from the chair, his gaze falling on a certain place where the sound of commotion vaguely came from.

Preparing to complete a scouting task before going home.

Walking on the pebble path of the park.

He could see groups of elderly people practicing Tai Chi around, practicing health-preservation kung fu.

There were also many trendy young people practicing street dance or riding skateboards.

Ahead in the fitness equipment area, a burst of noisy music and cheers came from afar.

There was a group of strong young fellows who had taken off their jackets and were bare-chested, gathered in front of the Pull-up bars.

Next to them was a cassette recorder playing high-tempo dance music.

They stepped forward one by one to do fitness movements, showing off their muscles while competing with each other.

Things like one-arm Pull-ups, bar planche, moonwalk, and 360-degree giant swings.

Various high-difficulty movements, extremely visually impactful, won waves of cheers and applause from the onlookers.

Fang Cheng's eyes flickered slightly as he joined the ranks of onlookers.

In recent years, with economic development, fitness sports have gradually tended toward civilianization.

Street fitness sports that focus on individual freedom and the pursuit of personal heroism have thus flourished.

Learning from the mouths of bystanders, those fitness practitioners were mostly school sports students, and some were even champions of amateur bodybuilding competitions.

Fang Cheng stared intently at their agile and relaxed postures, and a desire to try it out arose in his heart.

He walked over to another vacant Pull-up bar, grasped the steel pipe with an overhand grip, and tested the feel.

Then he took a deep breath, his arm muscles instantly tightened, his waist and back straightened, and he forcefully pulled his body upward.

The movement was smooth and the posture was relaxed.

Although the muscle soreness had not been eliminated, it did not affect him completing the most basic movements.

Only when pushing his chin over the bar, his facial expression inevitably tightened slightly.

This performance was unremarkable; even if someone glanced at him, they immediately turned their heads away.

Just taking him for someone playing around on a whim.

Instead, two girls who looked like companions of the sports students covered their mouths and laughed, raising their fingers to point, as if discussing Fang Cheng's clumsy imitation.

Indeed.

Comparing the two sides, the gap was truly too obvious.

Especially since Fang Cheng had a pretty-boy look, and his figure in a jacket looked quite thin.

It was simply the difference between a scrawny dog and a fierce wolfhound.

Pull-ups were inherently a challenging sport, regarded by fitness enthusiasts as a symbol of displaying male strength.

Fang Cheng's eyes were very calm, completely unaffected by others.

Although the movement was slightly deformed, he tried his best to follow the standard and completed 10 Pull-ups.

Feeling that the soreness and numbness in his arms, shoulders, and back had increased a bit, he did not continue further.

"It was just a trial run..."

Fang Cheng jumped down from the Pull-up bar, shook his hands, and let out a light sigh.

Then, he turned around silently and left.

Exercising the body had no shortcut to reach the sky in a single step; what it relied on was just bit-by-bit accumulation.

Even the auxiliary role of the panel lay more in real-time feedback and effect consolidation.

Therefore, wanting to become stronger still required unremitting efforts.

This was the path that must be taken.

However, Fang Cheng possessed incomparable self-confidence.

On this path to becoming stronger, all the opponents he encountered would sooner or later be surpassed one by one!

Including the somewhat eccentric Majima Goro whom he was about to face...

"It's going to rain!"

Suddenly, a shout rang out.

A few raindrops drifted down sparsely.

Fang Cheng looked up and saw the dark clouds moving rapidly from west to east.

"I hope this rain won't last too long and won't affect tomorrow's training..."

Muttering a sentence in his heart, he quickly carried the two large bags of ingredients and joined the crowd rushing home.