Reborn as a high school freshman with an awakened system, a fat boy transforms into a male god.

At 10:30, my phone vibrated.

Su Wantang sent a message: "My dad and the others haven't come back yet."

Lin Bei glanced at it and replied, "Don't rush, reporting a case takes time. Taking statements and preparing evidence will also take time."

The other side remained silent.

After about half a minute, Su Wantang replied with a single word: "Mm".

Then she sent another message: "Are you going for a run tomorrow morning?"

"run."

"Shall we have breakfast together after the run? I'll make it."

Lin Bei stared at the message for five seconds.

Is Su Wantang making breakfast?

Lin Bei stared at the screen, wondering if he was seeing things. He read the message twice to confirm that the words "I do" were indeed there, not a hallucination, not a trick of the system.

[The system has detected an accelerated heart rate in the host. Current heart rate: 98. Reason: Su Wantang said "I'll do it." The system advises the host to calm down; she's just making breakfast, not proposing.]

Lin Bei: ...

Ignoring the system message, he replied: "Okay. What time?"

"Seven o'clock."

Lin Bei put down his phone, turned off the desk lamp, and lay back down on the bed.

He closed his eyes.

He will go eat the breakfast she made at seven o'clock tomorrow morning.

He needs to get up early, go for a run, then come back to shower, and then... then go to her house for dinner.

It's not "she brought me food," it's "I went to her house for dinner"?

[The system has detected an increased heart rate again. Current heart rate: 102. Host, this is just a meal. The system advises the host not to overinterpret it.]

[Besides, what's wrong with going to her house for dinner? You've brought her food for so many days, isn't it normal for her to treat you to a meal in return? It's called reciprocity. It's not a date. It's not meeting the parents. It's not an engagement. Please stop imagining a wedding banquet menu.]

Lin Bei turned over and buried her face in the pillow.

He mumbled a reply, "Okay."

But my heartbeat still didn't slow down.

……

The next morning, at six o'clock.

Lin Bei woke up before the alarm clock went off.

He wasn't woken up by noise; he woke up naturally. He opened his eyes, stared at the ceiling for two seconds, then threw back the covers and sat up.

The system panel popped up:

【Task progress: 1.8/2.5kg】

[Today's Exercise: Not Started]

[System Evaluation: There are 2 days left until the mission deadline. The host's current weight is 98.7kg, a decrease of 1.8kg from the initial weight of 100.5kg. 0.7kg is still needed to reach the target of 98kg. At the current pace, the host needs to lose 0.35kg each day for the next two days. This is challenging, but not impossible. It is recommended to increase exercise intensity and strictly control the diet. If you can lose 0.4kg today, you can easily pass tomorrow's challenge.]

Lin Bei turned off the control panel, put on his sportswear, and went out.

The hallway was quiet. The motion-activated lights were still on, and the door to room 502 was closed.

He went downstairs and then went for a run. Not a brisk walk, but a full-fledged run.

The city of Jiangcheng looked the same in the early morning.

But he's different today.

After running today, I can go back and have breakfast made by Su Wantang.

[System Interruption: Since leaving home, the host has silently repeated "Su Wantang's breakfast" three times in their mind. The first time was downstairs, the second time was on the river embankment, and the third time was when they reached the three-kilometer mark. The host is advised to focus on running and avoid distractions. Distractions will affect pace, pace will affect calorie consumption, calorie consumption will affect weight loss progress, weight loss progress will affect task completion, and task completion will affect…]

Lin Bei: ...

I got home at 6:55.

He took a shower and changed into clean clothes. Standing in front of the mirror, he looked at himself. His stomach was still the same stomach, his face was still the same face, but his pimples had definitely decreased. It wasn't just psychological; they really had less.

【宿主的青春痘数量比昨天减少了约15%。皮肤光滑度提升了约10%。气色提升了约5%。综合颜值从4提升到了……还是4。因为这点变化在别人眼里，大概就是「你今天看起来气色不错」的程度。距离「帅」还有96分，宿主加油。】

Lin Bei put on his shoes and went out.

Standing at the door of 502, he took a deep breath and knocked.

Boom, boom, boom.

The door opened quickly.

Su Wantang stood behind the door, wearing a white loungewear set, her hair tied in a low ponytail, her face clean and without makeup. The dark circles under her eyes were still there, but they had faded considerably.

"Good morning," she said.

"Good morning," Lin Bei said.

Su Wantang stepped aside. "Come in."

Lin Bei went inside.

Su Wantang brought out two bowls of porridge from the kitchen and placed them on the dining table. The porridge was plain white, with a few red dates floating on top, and a small dish of side dishes and two poached eggs were placed on the side.

"These are all I know how to make," she said softly. "They might not taste as good as what Auntie makes."

Lin Bei sat down, picked up the bowl of porridge, and took a sip.

The porridge was cooked perfectly, the rice grains soft and sticky, and the sweetness of the red dates seeped into it. The poached egg was fried until golden brown on both sides, with slightly crispy edges, very similar to his mother's, but with an indescribable flavor.

"It's delicious," he said.

Su Wantang sat down opposite him, picked up her bowl of porridge, and took a sip.

The two ate breakfast quietly.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, falling on the dining table, the porridge bowl, and on Su Wantang's profile.

Lin Bei suddenly remembered something.

"What time did your dad get home last night?"

Su Wantang put down her bowl of porridge. "It's past eleven o'clock."

"How so?"

"We gave our statements and submitted the materials. The police said they would investigate and told them to go home and wait for further notice." She paused for a moment, "Zhang Mingqiang and Li Dong stayed in Jiangcheng last night and said they would go back tomorrow to submit the supplementary materials."

Lin Bei nodded. "What about the house?"

"My dad said he's not selling it for now. He went to the real estate agent today and had the listing removed." Su Wantang's voice was calm, but Lin Bei could hear the underlying emotion beneath that calmness. It wasn't happiness, but a sense of relief.

"Where is that woman?" Lin Bei asked.

Su Wantang ran her fingers along the rim of the bowl. "My dad didn't go to Cuiping Garden after he came back last night. He lives here, but he went out again around six o'clock just now."

Lin Bei didn't press further. What was he going out to do? Go confront Zhao Yumei? Pack his things? Go to lay his cards on the table? He didn't know, but that was Su Yuan's own business. A grown man has to clean up the mess he made.

He lowered his head and continued drinking his porridge.

Halfway through the meal, Su Wantang suddenly spoke up.

"Lin Bei".

"Um."

"Thank you so much for bringing me food these past few days, for helping me investigate Zhao Yumei, and for helping me find Zhang Mingqiang and Li Dong. You've done so much for me, I really don't know how to thank you enough." Her voice was very soft. "Without you, I might..."

She didn't continue.

Lin Bei looked into her eyes. There was something in those eyes that he had seen before—not sadness, but the feeling of surviving a catastrophe.

He put down his chopsticks and looked at Su Wantang.

"If you really want to thank me, then..."

Su Wantang raised her head, a hint of nervousness in her eyes.

"Be gentler when you teach me English in the future. I felt like an idiot when you corrected my pronunciation the other day."

Su Wantang was stunned for a moment, then the corners of her mouth curved up.

"You always have been like that," she said.

"These words from you are more damaging than Wang Jun's campaign for class monitor." Lin Bei clutched his chest, making a "stab in the back" expression.

He learned that expression from Wang Jun, but Wang Jun's version was comedic, while his was... still not very good-looking, but Su Wantang laughed.

It's not that polite smile, not that "socially friendly smile" where the corners of the mouth twitch slightly, but a genuine smile where the eyes curve into crescent moons.