Chapter 42: Punishing the Creep

This scene instantly attracted the attention of almost everyone in the gym.

Liao Haibo was completely dumbfounded.

He genuinely hadn't expected Wei Lin to make such a huge fuss over a mere trifle, insisting on turning it into a public spectacle.

Then, realization struck him like a bolt from the blue—this bastard was sticking up for He Jingxuan!

"So what if I touched you?"

"Damn it! With that many people around, what's wrong with me brushing against you?"

"Do you want me to pull the security footage and see how I touched you, and how you touched her yesterday?"

"Do you want to? I'm asking you, do you want to?!"

Wei Lin pressed his advantage aggressively, acting as though he were the one being harassed, his finger practically touching the bridge of Liao Haibo's nose.

Liao Haibo's face turned livid.

He wanted to throw a tantrum, but the thought of his actions yesterday being exposed on camera made him realize he would undoubtedly make a fool of himself.

"Director Wei, is it really necessary to go this far?"

Seeing her financial backer being so thoroughly insulted and realizing the situation was turning ugly, Zhao Jie hurried over to smooth things over. "Crowded is crowded, but since you bumped into Director Liao, just apologize and be done with it."

"Exactly! Apologize, you must apologize to me!" Liao Haibo barked.

"Apologize to your mother!"

Wei Lin bared his teeth, pulled his personal trainer closer to his side, and continued yelling at Liao Haibo. "Why aren't you apologizing to her? Liao Haibo, is it? Shall I pull up yesterday's security footage and take it to your house for your wife and kids to see what kind of disgraceful things you've been up to?"

At these words, Liao Haibo instantly shrank back in cowardice, completely dropping the demand for an apology.

"And you!"

Wei Lin pointed his finger at Zhao Jie's seductive face. "You're the shameless one here, lacking all boundaries when training male members, making him think every female trainer is just as cheap as you!"

"Who the hell are you calling names?" Zhao Jie snapped, furious.

With so many eyes watching, Wei Lin was exposing her flaws without the slightest bit of subtlety, leaving Zhao Jie with no way to step down either. "How do I lack boundaries?! How am I any different from anyone else? You need to make this clear right now!"

"Make it clear, huh? Come here, put your ear close."

Wei Lin stepped forward and whispered into the ear of the red-faced, trembling Zhao Jie, "I happened to see you and your personal training client opening a room at a certain hotel recently. Would you like me to say it out loud right now?"

He had heard rumors about Zhao Jie more than once through the idle gossip of the male trainers while they were smoking.

He was merely bluffing her, yet he harbored a quiet certainty.

Sure enough.

As soon as those whispered words left his lips, Zhao Jie wilted instantly, losing even her previous fierce-looking bravado.

"Director Liao, perhaps... we should switch equipment and train somewhere else?"

Zhao Jie pleaded, looking toward Liao Haibo.

"Train my ass, I'm done!"

With a dark expression, Liao Haibo didn't even remember to grab his own gym water bottle. Amidst a chorus of amused and mocking gazes, he fled the gym in humiliated haste.

"Director Liao! Director Liao!"

Zhao Jie chased after him, using the opportunity to escape from Wei Lin and prevent him from uttering any more outrageous remarks.

"Alright, their equipment is free now." Acting as if nothing had happened, Wei Lin dropped heavily onto another lat pulldown machine and laughed, "Xiao He, spot me!"

"Okay." He Jingxuan's eyes curved into a smile with a bright look in her eyes.

Not far away.

The gym's training department manager, who had hurried over from the group exercise room intending to intervene, realized the situation had already settled itself.

He Feng let out a quiet sigh of relief. Staring at Wei Lin's back, a faint smile spread across the corners of his mouth.

He had secretly reviewed the security footage earlier and was certain that Liao Haibo had deliberately taken advantage of He Jingxuan. He held just as much contempt for Liao Haibo's behavior.

However, bound by his position and the need to protect the gym's image, it wasn't appropriate for him to step forward and hold a paying member accountable.

Since Wei Lin was also a private training client, it was entirely fitting for him to give Liao Haibo a hard time, ensuring Liao Haibo could never pin the blame on the gym.

"This Director Wei is actually a pretty decent guy."

He Feng chuckled casually.

...

"Well played!"

"Someone like that needed to come along and put him in his place!"

"Old Wang, you don't know the half of it. Yesterday morning when I came in to work out, I saw that guy named Liao wearing a suit pretending to be decent while harassing the new female trainer!"

"The poor girl couldn't take it anymore and complained, but he actually blamed the young trainer instead. There really are all kinds of birds in this big forest!"

On a treadmill on the second floor.

A middle-aged uncle from the civil service, a towel draped around his neck, embellished the story with colorful details as he described it to his old friend beside him.

"That Director Wei is quite loyal!" The man addressed as Old Wang stomped on his treadmill with a heavy thud, enraged. "It's a good thing the girl has a member like that backing her up, otherwise she'd have suffered an injustice with nowhere to seek justice!"

"You said it!"

The two men walked on an incline while continuing to curse Liao Haibo together.

Nearby, on an elliptical machine.

Mu Lanyan, dressed in pink sportswear, was leisurely doing her cardio while witnessing the entire episode unfold from start to finish.

When Wei Lin first walked in, his attention had been fixed entirely on Liao Haibo near the entrance, and he hadn't bothered to glance up at the second-floor cardio area even once.

While he hadn't noticed Mu Lanyan, Mu Lanyan had spotted him the moment he entered.

Seeing him whispering back and forth at the entrance with a voluptuous young trainer, Mu Lanyan had immediately concluded that he was harboring impure intentions toward the female coach.

Her impression of Teacher Wang's son, already poor, dropped another notch in her mind.

It wasn't until Liao Haibo lost his temper and Wei Lin pointed right at his nose and cursed him out that Mu Lanyan began to see things in a different light.

Now, listening to the two middle-aged uncles discuss the matter, she finally understood the whole story from beginning to end.

"Turns out he was standing up for the young trainer and putting a greasy, disgusting creep in his place!"

Little Teacher Mu nodded inwardly, suddenly feeling that while Wei Lin might be a bit of a playboy, he was actually a pretty good guy at heart.

...

Bench press, 60 kilograms for a working set, 10 reps per set.

Squats, 70 kilograms for a working set, 10 reps per set.

Deadlifts, 80 kilograms, able to manage 5 reps without a belt.

These were the data for the three major lifts that Wei Lin had just measured after undergoing his third biological evolution, and he expressed considerable satisfaction.

"Director Wei, have you really never worked out before?"

In front of the squat rack, He Jingxuan stared with wide eyes, absolute disbelief written across her face.

"Call me big brother!"

Wei Lin cracked a grin, his smile warm and brilliant as he replied, "I haven't worked out in a long time, but I have a great foundation. I was a sports star back in college!"

The young trainer looked at him half-in-credulity, half-in-doubt. "That was back in college. You just started strength training today, there's no way you could progress that fast."

"What they call having natural talent, being a dragon among men, one in a million—that refers to someone like me." Wei Lin shamelessly boasted, before suddenly changing the subject. "I haven't had dinner yet. How about the four of us—me, my younger brother, and Coach Yuan—have a muscle-building meal together nearby later?"

This was his second invitation to dine together.

He Jingxuan hesitated for a brief moment, then nodded gently and said, "It should be me treating you."

"Great!"

Wei Lin didn't stand on ceremony at all, readily accepting the invitation.

At the same time.

He habitually glanced at the progress bar in his mind, noticing that his affection value had increased from the previous 7/500 to 10/500.

Both points had been contributed by Lin Nanxi. When he locked his gaze on the number 10, he suddenly noticed that 1 of those points was actually composed of two 0.5s added together.

One 0.5 came from the young trainer He Jingxuan beside him, which didn't surprise him at all.

The other 0.5 surprisingly belonged to Little Teacher Mu, with whom he had only crossed paths once!

A blurry scene flashed instantly into his mind.

Wei Lin suddenly snapped to his senses, abruptly raising his head to look toward the second-floor cardio area, where he happened to catch Mu Lanyan staring straight at him from an elliptical machine.

"Hey! What a coincidence!"

Wei Lin smiled and waved at her.

Realizing she had been caught red-handed while spying and that he was actually waving hello, the peeping Little Teacher Mu hurriedly and flusteredly averted her gaze.

"What kind of person is he?!"

Little Teacher Mu muttered under her breath, pressing her lips together.

...

Dinner was at a nearby barbecue stall.

Aside from Wei Lin's group of four, training department manager He Feng had also come along, repeatedly raising his glass to toast Wei Lin. "Director Wei, you know I have my difficulties. Thank you for stepping up to help Xiao He!"

Most people in the fitness coaching industry possessed straightforward personalities, lacking the slick, weathered cunning of corporate office workers.

He Feng was precisely that kind of person.

Upon hearing that He Jingxuan was asking for time off to treat Wei Lin to dinner, He Feng, who had developed a favorable impression of Wei Lin, decided to tag along as well.

"I understand!"

Wei Lin downed his mug of beer in a single gulp.

"Director Wei! Let me toast you!"

Just as He Feng set his glass down, the carefree Yu Xiaorou picked hers up.

The northern lass let out a soft huff. "Members like Liao Haibo deserve to be taught a lesson by someone like Director Wei; otherwise, they'll just keep pushing their boundaries!"

An Xin clutched his beer mug, his head drooping as he felt she was talking about him indirectly.

"Director An is wonderful; he's always completely well-behaved when working out. Training a member like that is a joy!" Yu Xiaorou didn't hold back her praise.

An Xin puffed out his chest, looking righteous. "Just like my big brother, I hate those creepy old perverts the most. I'd beat up every single one I saw!"

"Then why didn't you say anything earlier?" Yu Xiaorou asked with a smile.

An Xin complained, "My brother didn't give me a chance to shine! Besides, that guy named Liao was too cowardly and left too fast, so I didn't get the chance to catch him."

In Wei Lin's mind, the affection value suddenly shifted from 10 to 10.5. After a quick glance, his expression turned slightly strange.

"Damn it, how did it end up being Yu Xiaorou?"

...

Ps: Please keep up with the latest chapters, everyone~~