20: Chapter 20 The Rich Man's Reward

When Jiang Li woke up, the entire bedroom had been cleaned until it looked brand new.

The scent of fried eggs, toast, and a hint of burnt bacon mingled together, drifting in through the gap in the door.

He put on his slippers and followed the aroma to the kitchen doorway.

Yuan Yan was standing in front of the stove, wearing one of his white T-shirts that she had dug out from somewhere; it was just long enough to cover the tops of her thighs, leaving her smooth, fair legs completely bare.

Jiang Li leaned against the kitchen doorframe and glanced at the system panel in his mind.

The auxiliary reward the system gave him last time was still in effect, and his health rating had increased a bit more.

Although he didn't have abs yet, he could feel that his underwear really needed to be changed; otherwise, it was feeling quite tight.

Under the circumstances, given that the two of them had been "communicating" until the early hours of the morning, the fact that Yuan Yan was still able to get up meant she was truly a virtuous wife and mother.

"Awake?"

Yuan Yan turned around when she heard the noise. Seeing Jiang Li leaning against the doorframe staring at her, a blush appeared on her face.

"Yeah, I'm heading to the Gym." Jiang Li stood behind Yuan Yan, grabbed a fried egg, and swallowed it in two bites. As he changed his shoes, he shouted toward the kitchen, "You guys eat at home; don't wait for me."

"Hey—can't you finish eating before you go?" Yuan Yan chased him to the door, holding a spatula.

"Not eating, I'm in a rush!"

Jiang Li waved his hand, opened the door, and walked out.

In reality, he wasn't in a rush; it was just that the situation at home was a bit delicate.

With Yuan Yan wandering around the kitchen in his T-shirt, her fair legs swaying before his eyes made him restless. He feared that if he stayed any longer, his Gym check-in task for the day would go down the drain.

The system task only needed one more transaction to unlock urban assets, and he still had to persist with his Gym check-in.

His body was his capital for "fleecing the system," so he couldn't neglect it.

At Xingyue Gym, Zhang Tong was already waiting in the strength training area.

"Brother Jiang, you're in great shape today!"

Zhang Tong looked Jiang Li up and down, a satisfied smile appearing on her face. "I see your complexion is much better than it was the past two days. Did you sleep well last night?"

Jiang Li's mouth twitched.

Sleep well?

After Yuan Yan had tackled him onto the sofa last night, the two of them had rolled from the living room to the bedroom, and from the bedroom to the bathroom, tossing and turning until the early hours before settling down.

If it weren't for his kidneys, which had been strengthened by the system, he probably wouldn't even be able to lift a barbell right now.

But he definitely couldn't say that to Zhang Tong.

"It's alright, my schedule has been a bit more regular lately." Jiang Li replied without changing his expression, then lay down on the bench press rack to start warming up.

After a morning of training, Jiang Li leaned against the equipment, panting.

Zhang Tong took a towel out of her bag and handed it to him, then hesitated for a moment before asking cautiously:

"Brother Jiang, at noon... should I still go to your shop and cook for you?"

The taste of yesterday's muscle-building meal instantly flashed through Jiang Li's mind, and the hand holding the towel stiffened abruptly.

"Actually, we could just buy something to eat." Jiang Li tried his best to make his tone sound not so desperate.

"That won't do, Brother!" Zhang Tong's expression was incredibly serious. "If you want to build muscle, you have to abandon your sense of taste!"

Jiang Li: "..."

Why did that sound so much like the slogan of some cult?

"How about this." Zhang Tong saw Jiang Li's struggle and took a step back, her eyes curving into two crescent moons. "We'll eat out today at noon, and I'll cook for you for the rest of the week, alright?"

"...Alright." Seeing that she had backed down, Jiang Li could only helplessly agree.

Normally, having a pretty young woman help cook would be quite enjoyable.

But in his current situation, he wasn't normal at all!

Was that food even fit for human consumption?

Still riding a shared bike, Jiang Li carried Zhang Tong as they leisurely headed to a nearby shopping mall.

Zhang Tong sat on the front bar, one hand gripping the handlebars and the other holding her phone, scrolling through a review app. Her ponytail swung in the wind, with the ends brushing against Jiang Li's chin from time to time.

Soon, Zhang Tong selected a light meal restaurant, brought Jiang Li into the mall, and ordered a string of several dishes.

Jiang Li looked at the dishes being served one after another on the table and silently did the math in his head.

This meal added up to at least three hundred yuan or so.

She didn't look like she had much money, yet she was treating him to such an expensive meal.

These college students really do repay kindness.

"But is it okay for me to eat this much?"

"Of course it is!" Zhang Tong pushed the salmon in front of Jiang Li. "Everything I ordered for you is high-protein; you have to trust your fitness coach."

Jiang Li picked up a piece of salmon with his chopsticks and tasted it.

The taste was actually quite good.

He felt relieved and began to eat heartily.

Halfway through the meal, Zhang Tong's phone suddenly vibrated.

She picked it up and took a look; it was a message from her roommate, Lin Meng.

"Zhang Tong, have you two made any progress yet?"

Zhang Tong secretly glanced at Jiang Li. Seeing that he was focused on tackling his steak, she lowered her head and tapped quickly on the screen.

"I'm treating him to dinner; does that count as progress?"

Lin Meng replied instantly: "..."

Immediately following that was another message: "Zhang Tong, you aren't actually dating, are you? You should just let a rich guy like him buy things for you; he won't marry anyone easily, so don't end up getting nothing out of it!"

"Don't talk nonsense, we're just friends." After Zhang Tong typed this, her phone vibrated again quickly.

"You need to reel him in!" Lin Meng at school was anxious.

"You didn't see it, I just swiped across a local Douyin video—it's you two riding on the shared bike."

"That video is really popular; lots of people have seen it."

"Don't end up getting no benefits and lowering your own status!"

Zhang Tong was stunned for a moment and subconsciously clicked on the link Lin Meng had sent.

A Douyin video popped up on the screen.

In the footage, Jiang Li was pedaling the shared bike, and she was sitting on the front bar, her ponytail flying in the wind. The two were passing through the main street of the county town, which was lined with osmanthus trees.

The background music for the video was a sweet song that had been very popular recently, and the caption read: "An encounter with a divine couple on the streets of the county town; this is just too sweet!"

The likes had already exceeded ten thousand, and the comment section was exploding.

"This guy is actually quite handsome!"

"Love on a shared bike, I believe in it again!"

"Wait, how can such a pretty woman be on a shared bike? Isn't my Cadillac CT6 better?"

"The guy above, you shouldn't be in the comment section; you should be in the foot massage parlor!"

Looking at the string of comments, Zhang Tong's face turned red instantly.

She subconsciously wanted to steal a glance at Jiang Li, but when she looked up, she met Jiang Li's gaze directly.

"What's wrong?" Seeing that she was blushing, Jiang Li asked casually, "What are you looking at so intently?"

"No, nothing!" Zhang Tong hurriedly shoved her phone into her pocket and picked up her fork to start eating the salad aggressively.

Jiang Li looked at her suspiciously and was just about to ask further when a crisp system notification sound suddenly rang in his mind.

"Ding! Special event trigger detected."

"As your personal coach, Zhang Tong has suffered grievances and criticism from the outside world while putting in effort for you outside of work. As a wealthy man, you should repay this sincerity."

"Mission issued—[A Wealthy Man's Reward]."

"Mission details: Spend over twenty thousand yuan on Zhang Tong."

"Mission reward: One BYD yangwang u8 (including all paperwork and license plates)."

The fork in Jiang Li's hand stopped in mid-air, and he froze.

yangwang u8?

He subconsciously searched his mind for the price of this car.

A million-yuan class domestic SUV; not only was it spacious, but it also had many trendy features.

If he had had this car yesterday, would Lin Xingchen have been so exhausted?

The system was truly generous!