Demons Beside You

Most people wouldn’t be able to run ten kilometers, let alone Normans. She was around 280 pounds. This was like running with weights.

One kilometer was already enough exertion for her. Two kilometers was probably her limit. Chen Zhao’s requirement was clearly too much.

Just running didn’t actually have a big effect. It mostly exercised the muscles and fat on the thigh. The most effective way to lose weight was actually swimming. It used every muscle in the body.

If she wanted to lose 160 pounds in a month, she had to exercise crazily. Of course, she couldn’t do too much in the first two or three days.

Her lazy habits resulted in her body’s inertia. Once she started exercising, her muscles would accumulate lactic acid, causing soreness, weakness, and pain. The body could recover by itself though. After becoming accustomed to the exercise, the body would get used to it and adjust to the optimal state.

This had nothing to do with fitness. It was the same for extremes of the scale—nerds and athletes. Even athletes had to go through recovery training if they hadn’t exercised in a long time.

Fatties were the same. They could get used to the intensity of exercise. Plus, fatties had more fat to burn. They might not be able to exercise continuously, but if they exercised every now and then, their endurance wouldn’t be worse than professional athletes.

The only difference was in willpower. An athlete obviously had very strong wills and couldn’t be compared to a regular person, let alone a fatty who was used to a lazy lifestyle.

This was why Chen Zhao had to force Normans to move.

“Stop and rest,” Chen Zhao said. “Eat two apples to replenish your energy.”

“That’s it for today’s exercise. I’m too tired to stand.”

“Want a drumstick?” Chen Zhao took a drumstick out. He’d gotten it from the kitchen.

Normans gulped, her eyes shining with hunger. She hadn’t eaten meat in two days and now, Chen Zhao was chomping on chicken in front of her.

“What do I have to do?”

“Swim freestyle for one kilometer.”

“I can’t swim.”

“I asked your dad. You can swim. I heard that you were part of your school’s swim team too.”

“That was a long time ago. Do you think I can still swim like this?”

“Fat will help you float better. Don’t tell me you don’t have the strength. I’ll take it if you can get to one kilometer, no matter how you move your limbs.”

“I don’t have a swimsuit.” Normans chubby face actually looked embarrassed.

It wasn’t that she didn’t have a swimsuit but that she didn’t have one that fit. With her current figure, she wouldn’t be able to fit in any one.

“I have one.” Chen Zhao took out a swimsuit. He’d bought this supersized one before coming.

“You monster! If I have strength, I’ll definitely rip you apart.”

“You’ll have strength after eating this apple, but I advise you to preserve your energy for the swimming.”

“You think I’ll give in to you?”

Chen Zhao wiped the grease on his hands. “As you wish.”

“Fine. One kilometer, right?”

After changing into the swimsuit, Normans jumped into the water, causing huge splashes.

The pool that Mr. Dorman had built in his home was a standard 50-meter pool. This meant that Normans had to swim 20 laps to reach one kilometer.

After Normans got into the water, she looked at Chen Zhao. “Don’t forget, you have to swim with me.”

“Fine.” After changing, Chen Zhao also jumped in.

Swimming with Normans for one kilometer was nothing to Chen Zhao. He was twice as fast as Normans. The girl discovered that Chen Zhao was very fast and had shocking endurance too.

She started suspecting that he was a professional athlete. By the time she finished two laps, Chen Zhao had already done three or four.

Unbeknownst to her, Chen Zhao was having fun. He was completely immersed in his own joy of exercising.

That *sshole, Normans thought. Is he showing off his fitness? She was angry for some reason and sped up.

However, her large body gave her bigger resistance. It was harder to swim and used up more energy.

Chen Zhao finished the kilometer happily in ten minutes, but he continued to swim. By now, Normans had only completed six laps because she had to rest every 50 meters.

To be honest, she was jealous of Chen Zhao’s lean body in the water. Once upon a time, she’d been like that too, but that relationship had destroyed her life.

After some more swimming, Chen Zhao got out of the pool and sat beside Normans. She’d only completed ten laps.

Swimming used up more energy than running.

“You *sshole, why do you swim so fast? I need you to swim with me, not to show off your body.”

“Okay, I’ll continue to accompany you after you get into the water.”

“That’s better.”

Normans spent one whole hour on swimming 20 laps. By the time she got out, she sprawled on the side of the pool like a pile of dead meat.

“Get up and move around.” Then Chen Zhao took out a scale. “Come weigh yourself.”

Normans got onto the scale. It displayed 295 pounds. Admittedly, the two days of intense exercise had been effective. She’d lost more than 12 pounds.

However, Normans’ base weight was too high. In the beginning, any bit of exercise would release the water in her fat, so her weight would drop quickly. In the later stages, the rate would be much lower. While the beginning released water, she would have to go through even more exercise to burn her fat later.

“Want to eat a whole chicken?” Chen Zhao asked.

“Don’t tell me to swim 10,000 meters. I couldn’t do it when my weight was normal, let alone now.”

“No need. You only need 2,000 more meters.”

Two more kilometers and she could eat a whole chicken? This was a pretty big temptation for her.

“Okay, I’ll do it!”

“But if you can’t do it, I’ll reward you a drumstick according to the distance.”

Normans was tricked, because after swimming another kilometer, she realized that she couldn’t move at all. Her body had reached her limit. Her limbs didn’t even feel like hers anymore.

It was impossible to swim two more kilometers. Chen Zhao had figured out her limit and set up a trap for her.