Chapter 17: Is There Anyone Sane Here Besides Myself?

The next morning, Lin Xiao was still groggy when Sun Zhiyuan woke him up.

He was suffering from a bit of morning grumpiness, and the sight of Sun Zhiyuan once again confirmed that he truly had been reborn into this world. Feeling a little irritable, Lin Xiao glanced outside at the still dim sky and couldn’t help but feel exasperated.

“Come on, man, what time is it? Why are you waking me up so early? If you keep this up, I’m seriously going to lose my temper!”

Sun Zhiyuan couldn’t care less about Lin Xiao’s complaints. This kid actually dared to talk to him that way—it seemed he’d been far too gentle with him. With a single pull, Sun Zhiyuan dragged Lin Xiao out of bed.

Now Lin Xiao was fully awake. Staring at Sun Zhiyuan’s arm, which was thicker than his own thigh, he immediately cowered. One must bow their head under another’s roof—especially when your own thigh is no match for his arm.

“Alright, alright, I was wrong! I’m getting up, okay?”

“Good, you know your place. Do you remember what I told you last night?”

“I’ll train, I’ll train, okay? But isn’t this a bit too early?”

“Early? It’s already half past five! The morning is the best time to start the day—you can’t waste it!”

Resigned, Lin Xiao accepted his fate. Since resistance was useless, he might as well get some exercise out of it; at the very least, it would be good for his health.

“So, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

“What’s the rush? Even if it’s a bit late now, we’re not leaving until after breakfast.”

With that, Sun Zhiyuan clapped his hands.

To Lin Xiao’s surprise, the service at the nursing home was impeccable. Hearing the sound, Xu Qing immediately pushed a breakfast cart into the room.

Lin Xiao dove back under the covers, suddenly remembering that he’d arrived in such a hurry yesterday that he hadn’t brought any change of clothes. After sweating so much, he was currently as bare as the day he was born.

But Xu Qing seemed unfazed. She simply pulled a clean set of clothes from under the cart and tossed them to him.

“Here are your clothes, Mr. Lin. Breakfast is here as well—please enjoy it at your leisure. When you’re done, just leave everything here—someone will come by to clean up.”

With that, Xu Qing didn’t linger. She quietly closed the door on her way out.

Lin Xiao was rather taken aback. When did Xu Qing become so thoughtful?

And what did she call him?

Mr. Lin?

To be honest, he rather liked the sound of that. Though he couldn’t help but notice a trace of sympathy in her eyes as she looked at him.

No use overthinking. With Xu Qing gone, Lin Xiao no longer hesitated. He quickly put on the clothes she’d given him.

The quality, he had to admit, was excellent—far better than anything he’d ever owned. It made him marvel once again at the comforts that money could buy; such attentive service was something he’d never even dreamed of before.

When he’d finished dressing, he found Sun Zhiyuan already about to start eating, so he hurried over. If he was slow, that old rascal would devour everything, and he’d be left with nothing.

One look at the food on the cart and Lin Xiao couldn’t help but nod approvingly. The breakfast was simple: large steamed buns, fried dough sticks, a tea egg, and a bowl of soy milk.

Sun Zhiyuan was already savoring a meat bun, the glistening juices inside making Lin Xiao’s mouth water. He quickly grabbed one for himself and took a big bite.

Muttering as he chewed, “Take it easy, old pal. Don’t eat so much, or you’ll end up with high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol!”

This time, Sun Zhiyuan didn’t respond—he just gave Lin Xiao a meaningful look.

Lin Xiao didn’t care. He stuffed the bun into his mouth in two or three bites, then peeled the tea egg and devoured it, before dipping the fried dough stick into soy milk and eating with relish.

“Mmm! This is delicious!”

Sun Zhiyuan watched in silence, even handing his own share to Lin Xiao.

Surprised, Lin Xiao didn’t stand on ceremony. “You’re a generous one, old pal. I won’t say no.”

Sun Zhiyuan smiled, thinking Lin Xiao must have been starved in a previous life, to eat so much so quickly.

After polishing off everything, Lin Xiao wiped his mouth in satisfaction.

“That hit the spot. It’s been ages since I’ve had such a satisfying breakfast.”

“Say, kid, don’t you feel anything’s off?”

Lin Xiao paused. “Wait, did you put something in the food? That can’t be…”

Before he could finish, he felt a familiar warmth surge within him. The sensation was unmistakable—the same he’d felt yesterday that had ruined his appetite at the birthday feast. Yet this time, the warmth seemed to build more slowly than before.

“No way! Not again!”

At last, Sun Zhiyuan laughed. “Kid, all of this is good stuff. Maybe not as good as yesterday’s, but still decent. The meat bun is made from a level-two spirit beast’s meat, the tea egg is from a level-three spirit beast, and the fried dough sticks and soy milk are just ordinary fare—but even so, it’s more than enough for you.”

Lin Xiao: (speechless)

Why didn’t you tell me sooner!

The heat in his body was growing unbearable, and Lin Xiao could no longer care about anything else.

“Save me, old pal! Quick, tell me which room Sister Liu Jiao is in—I need her help, urgently!”

“Forget it, kid. Liu Jiao won’t save you today. If you want to avoid being overwhelmed, you’d better come train with me—there’s no other way.”

Lin Xiao was almost in tears. So this was their plan all along.

But it didn’t matter; he was going to be dragged out to train today anyway.

“So what are we waiting for? Let’s go running!”

He grabbed Sun Zhiyuan, eager to get to the track, but no matter how hard he pulled, the man didn’t budge.

“Who said anything about running? There’s other training today—follow me!”

With that, Sun Zhiyuan strode off, and Lin Xiao hurried after him. The heat inside was driving him mad—he wished he could just sprint.

“Hurry up, old pal! I can’t take it much longer!”

“Just keep up and stop whining, or I’ll give you a good thrashing!”

Lin Xiao: (I surrender! No point in fighting!)

The walk was pure torment, but Lin Xiao could only try his best to suppress the fever burning inside.

Before long, they arrived at a place that looked like a gym.

“We’re here. Today, you’ll train right here.”

At this point, Lin Xiao couldn’t care about the details—so long as he could burn off this energy, it didn’t matter where he trained.

As he wondered where to start, he was surprised to see quite a few elderly people already working out in the gym.

As he entered, all eyes turned to him, and the old folks looked on with playful, mocking glances.

Did none of these seniors sleep in?

And what was he seeing? That old man bench-pressing—the weights looked to be at least two or three hundred pounds, and he was lifting them with one hand, as if to show off.

And that elderly lady on the treadmill—was she really running that fast? Three hundred kilometers per hour? Was that for real?

And yet…

Was this really a nursing home?

Was he the only normal person here?

What was he even thinking—now was not the time to dwell on such things. He needed to start training, or his body really might explode.