Chapter 23: Comprehensive Advancement!

At seven or eight in the evening, the gym was at its peak. At Like Fitness, the fitness enthusiasts were all drenched in sweat.

In the free weight area, Wei Lin gripped the barbell on a bench press rack that He Jingxuan had claimed for him. The moment he unracked the bar, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

"So light!"

During his first attempt at the empty bar, he had only managed a few reps before the weight crushed his chest. After his first round of life evolution, he managed 12 reps on the second attempt. Now, following the second round of life evolution, the empty bar felt effortlessly light.

"Add some plates."

After completing 12 standard reps, Wei Lin sat up calmly and pointed to the barbell plates on either side, cockily instructing, "Add 10 kilograms to each side for me."

The young coach hesitated, looking troubled. "Mr. Wei, you shouldn't add too much at once, especially since you’re still new to strength training."

"It's fine. If I can't lift it, you can spot me." Wei Lin rolled his shoulder blades, took a sip of water, and added, "Just add them. I know what I'm doing."

"Alright then."

Unable to refuse him, the young coach picked up the 10-kilogram plates and added one to each side. She stood nervously behind him, took a light breath, and said, "I'll spot you the whole way!"

"Professional!" Wei Lin praised before lying back down.

The 40-kilogram barbell felt smooth as he unracked it, and the first rep was effortless.

"Coach He, you don't need to help me too much," Wei Lin said, his head tilted back as he looked at the anxious coach, letting the bar rest on his chest. "I should be able to do two or three on my own."

"I'm not helping at all!" the young coach protested, feeling wronged.

As a professional and conscientious coach, she would only provide assistance when the barbell clearly began to dip, to prevent the member from accidentally crushing their chest. Yet just now, her hands beneath the bar hadn't felt the slightest downward drift. She felt not only aggrieved but also increasingly convinced that Wei Lin had only let the empty bar crush him a few days ago just to flirt with her. How could someone who could easily lift 40 kilograms be pinned by an empty bar?

"Are you sure?" Wei Lin asked, still doubtful.

"I’ve let go. I'm not touching the bar at all, see for yourself." Acting on a bit of pique, the coach pulled her hands away completely. "Go ahead, do one yourself."

"Fine!" Wei Lin took a deep breath and pushed.

He performed 10 perfect reps, touching his chest each time, finishing the final rep without even a grimace of strain.

"Damn! That feels great!" Standing up, Wei Lin let out an excited curse and puffed out his chest, putting on a show of looking powerful and impressive.

"Damn, acting like a pro over a 40-kilogram bench press," a muscular man nearby muttered, looking at his own 120-kilogram barbell with disdain.

"Mr. Wei, how much can you actually lift?" the young coach asked through gritted teeth. She now strongly suspected that Wei Lin was no novice; otherwise, it would be impossible for him to provide such constant surprises and achieve such breakthroughs in strength.

"That's all I can do," Wei Lin laughed. The increase in strength was intuitive. He had every reason to believe that his entire body—upper limbs, lower limbs, and his core—had significantly improved due to the second round of life evolution.

He glanced at the squat rack nearby, wanting to test his squat weight, but was ruthlessly shut down by the coach: "Mr. Wei, let's stick to chest day for now. Save legs for another time!"

"Fair enough." Wei Lin abandoned the idea, completed the rest of his workout properly, and moved on to other exercises.

After the hour-long private session, Wei Lin headed to the second-floor cardio area, hopping onto a treadmill for some incline walking. He kept the incline at 12 and the speed at 4. After thirty minutes, he wasn't panting heavily; he still had plenty of energy left.

"My cardiovascular function has improved significantly as well!" Wei Lin was thrilled.

He had originally intended to flirt with the female coach, but he was so immersed in the excitement of his strength breakthrough that he simply took a shower and changed into clean clothes.

"Coach He!" In the parking lot, Wei Lin, clutching his gym bag, saw He Jingxuan getting on her electric scooter to head home. He flashed a grin and enthusiastically invited her: "I'm hungry. Care to join me for a late-night snack to help with muscle recovery?"

"No thanks, I'm going home to sleep!" The young coach hurriedly revved the throttle and sped away as if fleeing from a predator. Because the parking lot had so many speed bumps and she was going too fast, the violent jolts made her ample, shapely bottom ache.

"Scumbag, I knew you were up to no good!" He Jingxuan muttered curses all the way home.

...

It was 10:30 PM at Yangyanghong KTV in Linjiang City.

Tucked away in a remote corner, this KTV was barely known even to locals, but it had a little-known service: male models.

In one of the private rooms, Fu Jintang, dressed quite differently from her daytime look, wore a sexy bodycon skirt and bold red lipstick, paired with wild, oversized earrings. She sat with her legs crossed, holding a glass of wine. On the table sat an opened bottle of Hennessy VSOP, a large fruit platter, and a few snacks.

In front of the muted giant LCD screen stood a row of young men dressed in tight pants, wearing either pointed-toe dress shoes or "bean" loafers. Their eyes gleamed as they winked at her, calling her "sister" with sycophantic charm.

A guest as alluring and sexy as her was exactly what these young men dreamed of—they would have gladly licked her toes. Compared to serving her, catering to the older, greasy "big sisters" was a nightmare.

"Is this it?" Fu Jintang swirled her glass, her beautiful face filled with disappointment. "Sigh, the quality in these small-town clubs is worrying."

"Sister, should I bring in another batch for you?" the manager asked, fawning.

"Bring them in." Fu Jintang shook her head, suddenly recalling the tall and handsome Wei Lin. *Good looks, good way with words, just a bit too thin,* she thought.

Born in Shanghai, she was naturally spicy and wild, and she lived a very open life in private. Unrestrained and bored, she enjoyed coming to places like this to find a decent-looking male model to drink with and treat her like a queen. She enjoyed the feeling of being served attentively, even if it was fake, and even if it cost money.

Before long, the manager brought in another group of young men. When they saw her, their eyes lit up. She took one glance, felt increasingly disillusioned, and kept shaking her head.

The manager gave a bitter smile. "That's all of them." He did have a few standout members on his team, but those were reserved for his regular wealthy benefactors, and Fu Jintang was just a random walk-in customer. It wasn't worth offending his big clients for a new face.

"So boring." Fu Jintang felt like the wine in her glass tasted fake, and her interest continued to wane.

For some reason, she suddenly thought of Wei Lin again. *If he had his looks and conversation skills, I could have a really good night of drinking,* she mused.

...

At Galaxy International, Wei Lin, who had just finished drafting a contract in his study, also crossed his legs and habitually checked the progress bar in his mind.

Affection: 5/100.

"Huh? Where did that extra 0.5 come from?" The 1 point increase was still from Lin Nanxi, but the affection value had gone from 4.5 to 5, which caught Wei Lin's attention.

"Is it still the little coach?" After focusing his mind, Wei Lin saw a blurry image, plus a stunningly beautiful figure that looked entirely different from her daytime appearance.

"Damn! She's into this kind of stuff?"

"The 0.5 affection is from her? She actually likes me?"

"Thinking of me while at a male model club... what does she take me for?" Wei Lin sat up straight, his expression flickering.

"That deal—I'm supposed to sign it with her tomorrow. Should I play along with her preferences?" He stroked his chin, feeling a bit of self-contempt. "It's just business. Do I really need to sell myself?"

*Slap!*

He lightly tapped his own cheek. "Almost forgot, I'm not exactly a saint myself!"

He hurriedly grabbed his phone, found the WeChat he’d just added before parting ways with Fu Jintang, and typed: "Ms. Fu, are you asleep? If not, want to grab a drink?"

He assumed that even if Fu Jintang agreed, she would want to meet somewhere else, as a male model club didn't have the best reputation.

However, Fu Jintang replied: "I'm at Yangyanghong KTV, Rose Room. You can come over now."

Wei Lin paused, then replied: "Yangyanghong? I've never heard of that place. Could you send me the location?"

The location was sent immediately. Wei Lin didn't even look at it; he grabbed the contract and his small bag containing the company seal, dashed to the basement garage, and headed straight for Yangyanghong.

On the way, he sent three messages to the manager he knew there: "If you see me, pretend you don't know me. Remember that!"