C11 Resting Is the Right Way

"Ring, ring, ring! Time to wake up!"

At 6:30 in the morning, the alarm clock by the bed went off right on schedule. The person in bed groaned and rolled over, trying to ignore the persistent ringing. The alarm was relentless, and ten minutes later, Ruan Shiyu's phone on the table started buzzing too.

With the duet of alarms, Shiyu couldn't stay in bed any longer. He sat up, hair sticking up in all directions, and without even looking, turned off the alarm and silenced the phone. He continued to sit there, dazed.

"Who am I? Where am I? Why am I here?" Shiyu shook his head vigorously, finally managing to shake off the fog of sleep.

Just then, the phone rang again. Shiyu reached over, picked it up, and answered.

A flat, mechanical voice came through: "Time to get up."

"Yeah, getting up," Shiyu mumbled, still a bit out of it. He climbed out of bed, went to the bathroom to wash up, changed clothes, and headed out the door.

The call was still connected, and the voice on the other end, unusually concerned, said, "Are you awake? Watch the stairs!"

"Got it, stairs," Shiyu muttered, repeating the reminder as he finally reached the breakfast stand downstairs. He ordered a basket of dumplings from the owner and sat at an outdoor table, waiting. When the dumplings arrived, he picked one up and took a bite.

Watching Shiyu munch on the dumpling absentmindedly, the system voice grew a bit worried. Could it be that he didn't get enough sleep last night and was out of it?

Just as it was about to suggest Shiyu go back and rest, a tall figure approached from a distance.

Seeing the person, Shiyu's dazed expression vanished instantly. He quickly hung up the call, took the dumpling out of his mouth, and smiled. "Good morning, Mr. Hsu."

It was as if the person with the blank expression earlier wasn't her at all. The system immediately felt its worries were unnecessary and quietly retreated back into the quirky software on Ruan Shiyu's phone.

Hsu Xiangqian had actually noticed Ruan Shiyu for a while now. The way she sat in the morning light, nibbling on a pastry, was unexpectedly endearing. However, seeing her work so hard to maintain her image, he simply nodded lightly and said, "Morning."

Ruan Shiyu flashed a smile and asked, "Are you out for breakfast too? You don't seem to come here often. Want me to recommend a couple of breakfast items?"

She was quite the expert on the local food scene!

Even though Hsu Xiangqian had already eaten before leaving home, he instinctively nodded at her eager expression, "Sure."

Ruan Shiyu happily stood up, leading Hsu Xiangqian to the counter of the breakfast shop. Pointing at the menu on the wall, she said, "Their shrimp dumplings are good, and so are the soup dumplings. How about trying their pancakes and fried dough sticks?"

She listed several simple breakfast items, but the way she described them made them sound like something special, and even though Hsu Xiangqian had already eaten, he felt hungry again.

Watching Ruan Shiyu's earnest profile as she introduced the food, Hsu Xiangqian didn't even notice the smile creeping into his gaze.

"And their rice porridge is great too, with so many varieties. You could..."

Seeing that Ruan Shiyu was about to continue, Hsu Xiangqian interrupted her, "It all sounds great, but I'm not very hungry today. I'll just have an order of soup dumplings."

"Just an order of soup dumplings?" Ruan Shiyu looked him up and down, a bit surprised. "I wouldn't have guessed you have such a small appetite!"

Hsu Xiangqian gave a slight smile, not bothering to explain. Instead, he pulled out his wallet, paid for the food, and returned with Ruan Shiyu to the spot where she had been sitting.

Ruan Shiyu had been lost in thought, only ordering a basket of dumplings. By the time Hsu Xiangqian arrived, she had nearly finished them. As she popped the last dumpling into her mouth, Hsu's soup dumplings were served, steaming hot. Shiyu couldn't help but swallow hard at the sight.

Stopping herself from eating more when she wasn't full felt like torture. Just as she was about to get up and order another basket, her phone buzzed twice. It was a message from the system.

"Just a reminder, you're still in the weight loss and shaping phase. Don't overeat at breakfast~"

Seeing the quirky tilde, Shiyu took a deep breath, kept a smile on her face, and set the phone aside, though she was secretly grumbling—systems are so annoying! She really wanted to throw her phone!

Noticing the change in her expression, Hsu glanced at her, prompting Shiyu to quickly compose herself and smile politely. Still, she couldn't stop her eyes from darting back to the dumplings.

Seeing her little actions, Hsu found it amusing. After casually eating two dumplings, he pushed the rest toward Shiyu. "Here, you can have these."

"What?" Shiyu was surprised, pointing at herself. "For me?"

Hsu nodded. "I'm full. You can have the rest. You don't mind, do you?"

The dumplings were untouched in the basket, so Shiyu certainly didn't mind. But he had only taken a few bites! Feeling a bit embarrassed, Shiyu asked, "Aren't you hungry?"

"I wasn't really hungry to begin with." Seeing her reluctance, Hsu nudged the dumplings closer. "You didn't get enough to eat, right? Go ahead, don't let them go to waste."

Listening to the man's words, Shiyu felt even more embarrassed. She nodded, picked up her chopsticks, and just before taking a bite, she looked up and explained, "I've been trying to lose weight by running lately, so I'm a bit hesitant to eat too much."

It's all because of the system, always watching her and never letting her eat her fill! Thinking about it, a hint of frustration appeared on Shiyu's face.

Seeing her expression, Xiangqian found her incredibly cute and couldn't help but smile. "Shaping up doesn't mean skipping breakfast. You need energy to exercise, right?"

Ever since Shiyu started using the fitness app, everyone around her had been strict about her workouts. This was the first time she'd heard such a forgiving perspective, and she was so touched she almost cried. She quickly nodded, "Exactly, you need to eat well to have the energy to run!"

She glanced at her phone, giving the system a triumphant look: See, Mr. Hsu knows what he's talking about!

The system, hidden in the app, thought: "What do I do if my user seems a bit clueless? Waiting online, kind of urgent."

Shiyu finished a tray of dumplings, feeling satisfied and full of energy, ready to run five or six laps without a problem!

She stood up and said, "Let's go for a run."

Xiangqian chuckled, "No rush. We just ate, so it's not the best time for intense exercise. Let's take a walk around the plaza instead."

"Really? No running?" Shiyu was pleasantly surprised.

With his long strides, Xiangqian quickly moved ahead of Shiyu and said casually, "Exercise is exercise, whether it's running or walking. The best choice is what suits you."

Hearing this, Shiyu felt even more at ease. This is the right attitude towards exercise! She hurried to catch up, "Wait for me!"

The two of them walked together along the neighborhood path, slowly at first. After about twenty minutes, their walk turned into a jog. Before they knew it, they had circled the neighborhood four times.

Looking at the sky, Xiangqian said, "It's getting late. I need to get to work. See you tomorrow."

Surprised by the invitation for the next day, Shiyu nodded happily, a bit dazed as she watched Xiangqian leave.

Even after Xiangqian's figure disappeared from view, Shiyu stood downstairs, smiling absentmindedly.

The system on Shiyu's phone couldn't take it anymore and called her, intending to remind her to hit the gym. But Shiyu quickly hung up, saying, "I know you're in my phone and can hear me. I need to get back to work now. I'll think about exercising this afternoon!"

With that, she turned swiftly and headed upstairs, eager to get back to her drawing. Remembering how frustrated she was last night, unable to draw anything, the system decided not to call her again.

Once home, Shiyu immediately went to her study, turned on her computer, and started drawing. She had been stuck on a scene where the main characters confess their feelings for each other—a major climax in her comic. But having just broken up with her boyfriend, she hadn't been in the mood to draw anything sweet, so she kept postponing her deadline.

Just now, she felt a fleeting sweetness from watching Xiangqian walk away. It wasn't quite like being in love, but it was enough to spark her creativity.

Fueled by this inspiration, Shiyu's pen flew across the paper. In just one morning, she finished the draft and sent it off to her editor.

The editor was stunned to receive the manuscript, sending a flurry of exclamation marks in the chat.

Big Mango: "You actually submitted it!!!!! And in the morning!!!!"

Misty Stone Rain: "(Sweating) It's just a submission, why so surprised?"

Big Mango: "It's still morning! Ten o'clock!! Usually, when I call you at this time, you're still in bed! Since when do you get up this early?"

Misty Stone Rain: "(Sweating)(Embarrassed) Hehe, that was before... But speaking of which, weren't you called Little Mango? Why the name change to Big Mango?"

Big Mango: "Oh, my colleagues said I wasn't 'big' enough. How can someone as handsome as me not be 'big' enough?"

Misty Stone Rain: "Not big enough? Imaginary limb?"

Big Mango: "Oh, stop it! Anyway, since you've submitted this month's manuscript, I'll let you off the hook for now. Keep it up next month, or Little Mango might send you a nasty surprise~"

Misty Stone Rain: "(Guilty) Okay, okay, I got it."