Chapter 9: Pumping Iron at the Gym!

"By the way, did you bring the clothes you need for your workout?"

"Yep, I brought everything. I'll go change first."

After Li Changsheng spoke, he headed straight for the locker room. In fact, their house had its own gym. It barely got used, but for a family like his, whether they used it was one thing; whether it was equipped was another.

Zhou Huimin was changing into her own workout clothes as well. Because she trained often and kept a very strict eye on her figure, Zhou Huimin's body was naturally excellent. It was not the kind of body that screamed hot at first glance, but it was definitely the kind with curves in all the right places.

Because she was working out, she also tied her hair into a ponytail. She looked much neater, fresher, and more energetic, without that usual tired, gloomy look.

"You're working out dressed like that? Those shorts are way too loose. That's not safe at all. If you don't have anything suitable, I can have someone bring you a tighter set?"

Li Changsheng replied coolly, "No need. This is fine. I think it's pretty good like this."

As the saying goes, don't get too familiar too fast. Li Changsheng wasn't one of her fans. He was a young master from a wealthy family. Even if he was a little reclusive, it was obvious he had a strong will of his own, so Zhou Huimin didn't plan to keep persuading him. She would just start by guiding him through some basic lifting, and worry about the rest after they got more familiar with each other.

This private gym had nearly a hundred different machines, but broadly speaking they fell into three categories: 1. full-body training machines, such as the 10-station all-purpose trainer and the home 16-function machine; 2. localized training machines, such as exercise bikes, rowers, stair climbers, treadmills, as well as calf curlers, heavy-pulley cable machines, calf raise trainers, and so on; 3. small training equipment, such as the familiar dumbbells, kettlebells, cambered barbells, spring resistance bars, ab wheels, resistance sticks, grip trainers, and more.

Because Zhou Huimin wasn't sure about Li Changsheng's physical condition, she needed to assess some basic numbers first, such as body fat percentage and BMI. These were measured with special equipment, similar to a scale: you just stepped on it and held the dedicated handles, and the assessment would be done very quickly.

At first, Zhou Huimin thought that someone like Li Changsheng, a wealthy young master who stayed at home all the time, would probably be all show and no substance, with terrible stats. She had planned to be extra careful during the workout so she wouldn't accidentally wreck the young master. But then...

"9%!! How is that possible? How can someone have a body fat rate under 10%, and your weight is way too outrageous too. 86 kg? How is that possible? Is the machine broken? Changsheng, move aside and let me try."

Li Changsheng expressionlessly stepped aside. A body fat percentage under 10% while all other physical indicators were normal was the legendary "God's domain". It meant extraordinary athletic talent and explosive power far beyond ordinary people.

"23%, 48 kg, no problem at all... how... how is this possible?"

"All right, they're just numbers. Why take them so seriously? Don't worry about me. Since my family asked me to come work out and get some fresh air with you, just cooperate with me. You don't need to worry about anything else."

As he spoke, Li Changsheng grabbed the handles of the thick ropes on the floor and started playing with the battle ropes that had become hugely popular in Europe and America in recent years.

This was an explosive exercise with very little joint damage. It combined aerobic and strength training, and it was also very helpful for burning stubborn fat.

This magical rope was naturally no ordinary rope. The professional term was battle rope.

It was 3 to 5 centimeters in diameter, and weighed about 15 kilograms depending on the length.

To begin training, one end of the rope was fixed in place. Then you held the handles with both hands and started exercising.

Under normal circumstances, people trained twice a week, one hour each time. Thirty seconds counted as one set, and by alternating different movements, you could train your core strength, cardiopulmonary function, and muscles to a certain extent.

But this thing demanded a great deal of arm strength, endurance, and especially explosive power. Normally, very few people could complete a high-intensity, uninterrupted one-hour challenge in one go. Even many fitness trainers and professional athletes struggled to do it. They all had to stop and go, working in sets.

But Li Changsheng was obviously not like that. He immediately started with alternating up-and-down waves, double-handed side slams, alternating left-right waves, seated Russian rope swings, double-handed waves, inward and outward circles, and even the kind of jumping-jack rope work that most people simply could not do.

What was most outrageous was that Li Changsheng spent two full minutes on each movement, without even pausing for breath in between. He completed it all in one smooth, effortless flow...

A warm-up. Yes, for him, that was at most a warm-up. Not to mention gasping for air, he hadn't even broken a single bead of sweat.

"You... you... you're really from the Tsinghua Juvenile Class?"

"Of course. What did you think the Juvenile Class was? A bunch of mad scientists crammed together? Come on, we're very modern over there too. We have gyms and everything, and everybody trains scientifically. We believe in science a lot."

All right then. Zhou Huimin was completely dumbfounded. She realized she truly couldn't make sense of this math genius from the Juvenile Class, and even found herself curious about what kind of monsters Tsinghua's Juvenile Class actually trained.

But judging just from Li Changsheng's physical data and his athletic ability, his natural talent was probably already on par with top-tier professional athletes. What was even the point of training someone like that?

"How about we go watch the fighting match over at the combat department?"

"No need. I'm not interested in fighting. I'm a lover of peace. I prefer to reason with people and win them over with virtue. It's fine, don't mind me. Train however you want to train. I haven't been pumping iron at the gym in a long time either. I've really put on a bit of weight lately."

For a moment, Zhou Huimin genuinely had no idea how to evaluate that. Your body fat is already only 9%, so how much more can you possibly train?

Then she suddenly noticed that there seemed to be a hard object in Li Changsheng's pants, like a phone. Acting on concern, Zhou Huimin immediately stepped forward and grabbed the hard object, saying very seriously, "You can't keep... this... in your pocket when you're working out. This... this can't be, how can it be this big!!"