Chapter 61 - 52: The Effect of Illumination

While his new glasses were being made, Chen Jue found a nearby fast-food chain to have dinner.

He had adjusted his biological rhythm, and as a result, his mealtimes were much earlier than before.

Back when he worked at Taisheng Finance, he would often put off dinner until 7 or 8 p.m. Sometimes, he’d skip it altogether and just have a late-night snack instead.

His mentality had been to just eat whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, and worry about the consequences later.

This irregular eating habit led to a disordered digestive system and a hormonal imbalance, which indirectly caused his obesity.

According to the information he’d looked up online these past few days, if a person could eat at the same time every day, it was like setting an alarm clock for organs like the stomach, liver, muscles, and pancreas. The digestive organs would prepare themselves in advance for mealtime.

The benefit of this was that it allowed the digestive and metabolic functions to operate more normally and efficiently.

Conversely, if the body was constantly in a state of binge eating, the digestive system would become disordered.

For example, the liver’s ability to process blood sugar would decline, causing blood sugar levels to spike after eating. In severe cases, this could lead to symptoms like diabetes.

"Work at sunrise, rest at sunset."

’Following a rural schedule, I’d be curled up at home watching some TV after dinner, then head to bed!’ Chen Jue thought of his late grandparents.

In his childhood memories, the elderly in the countryside always ate early. Some would even start lighting the stove to cook after 4 p.m. and eat right on the dot at 5.

Their daily routines were much healthier than those of city dwellers.

Of course, this was also related to the light environment a person lived in.

Cities have a lot of artificial lighting, especially the bright light from phone screens. At night, this light stimulates the retina, inhibiting the release of sleep-inducing melatonin from neurons that promote sleep, and in turn activates the orexin neurons in the hypothalamus.

This is why many night owls develop the habit of eating late-night snacks. It’s actually the light in the environment playing tricks, disrupting the body’s normal circadian rhythm.

...

After dinner, Chen Jue returned to the optometrist’s shop.

A new pair of glasses, plus three extra sets of lenses, cost him less than 300 yuan in total.

Although he could have found cheaper sellers on Taobao, Chen Jue didn’t want to waste time waiting for shipping, so he simply got all the subsequent lenses he’d need at the shop.

The reason he bought so many lenses with decreasing prescriptions at once was that he had gained some insights from practicing the Eye Health Exercises. He felt that if he kept at it for a while longer, he could get rid of his glasses completely.

However, he needed to drive, and not wearing glasses would be dangerous.

Until his vision was fully corrected, he would have to keep wearing his glasses and gradually transition out of them.

...

He drove back to the talent apartment building and picked up several delivered packages from the lockers.

Besides the imported cod liver oil he’d bought online, the body fat scale had also arrived.

He went up to his room, unboxed it, and checked it out. The new body fat scale also had electrodes, but its functions were rather basic. It couldn’t compare to the 50,000-yuan machine at Yi Lian Gym.

He took off his jacket, shoes, and socks and stood on the scale. Two lines of large numbers popped up.

"Weight: 80.5kg, Body Fat: 29.8%???"

"Hooray for the panel!"

"I’m finally losing weight!"

Looking at these two numbers, Chen Jue felt his spirits soar.

Compared to the data from his first body composition test, his weight had dropped by a total of 6 kg, and his body fat percentage had decreased by 3.4%.

He had lost 6 kg in just half a month. If he told anyone, they probably wouldn’t believe him!

According to the formula BMI = weight ÷ height², Chen Jue’s current BMI had dropped from 27 to 25.4. He was no longer in the obese category, but in the overweight range.

What is BMI?

Its full name is Body Mass Index.

It’s a standard used internationally to measure a person’s leanness or fatness and overall health.

In China, it’s divided into four standards: a BMI of

Besides measuring body fat, this index can also indicate the probability of developing conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, coronary heart disease, and stroke.

The higher the BMI, the higher the risk of developing these diseases.

Chen Jue hadn’t known any of this before. He had learned it bit by bit from a trial class at the gym and from his own online research.

’I can’t believe I’m losing weight so fast.’

’I’ve been looking in the mirror every day, but I didn’t even notice.’ Chen Jue went into the bathroom and carefully examined himself in the mirror.

The change in his face was significant!

His double chin had receded a bit, the dark purplish tint on his lips was gone, and even his skin no longer looked dark, ashen, and greasy.

Besides his eyes becoming more spirited than before, his complexion had also started to look rosy.

He felt his stomach. His potbelly was still there, but he could now feel the outline of the muscles beneath the layer of fat.

This was something he couldn’t have even imagined before!

’At this rate, will I be back to my old weight in another half a month?’ Chen Jue thought excitedly.

He rummaged through his suitcase and pulled out a group photo from his college dorm room, taken at graduation.

In the photo, his 21-year-old self had a full head of hair, a sunny disposition, and a frame that wasn’t muscular, weighing just over 150 pounds, but he was nowhere near obese.

That was Chen Jue in his prime!

He didn’t have much money in his pocket, but he was extremely confident, thinking he could make a name for himself in the world just by putting in the effort. He never expected to squander so many years after entering the workforce.

’Good thing I still have half a year until I’m 30. There’s still time to fix things! Keep exercising, and reclaim my youth!’ Chen Jue clenched his fists, cheering himself on internally.

...

After resting in his apartment for half an hour, Chen Jue noticed it was already dark outside and changed back into his sportswear.

He went downstairs, got his car, and drove a lap around the Laxi Street area.

That night, Chen Jue once again transformed into the City Hunter. However, because his cleanup yesterday had been too brutal, the usual culprits whose turf he’d staked out seemed to have been deterred by the deaths of their comrades.

After two hours of "hunting," Chen Jue had only nailed 18 rats, earning a total of 1750 Skill Level points for Hidden Weapon Throwing.

As for attribute points, he only gained 0.01 Free Attribute.

’My nighttime efficiency is starting to drop.’

’Should I try cockroaches next time?’ Chen Jue muttered to himself.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about shooting the large southern cockroaches with nails. After all, the number of cockroaches at the nearby garbage station far exceeded the number of rats he’d seen.

But the light near the trash cans was too dim, and the cockroaches had natural camouflage. With his current nearsighted eyes, it was difficult to lock onto such small, moving targets.

After missing every attempt, Chen Jue had no choice but to continue targeting larger rodents like rats.

’I wonder if this cod liver oil I bought will actually work.’

’I’ll take it for a while and see. If it really can improve my night vision, then switching to cockroaches to practice my Darts will definitely raise my Skill Level faster!’

He drove back to the talent apartment building and, following the instructions, took a translucent cod liver oil capsule.

He took a hot shower, tossed his changed clothes into the washing machine, set a timer, and went to bed.

Because he’d been "hunting" near the garbage station, he smelled pretty bad and had to wash up.

But before falling asleep, he took a look at his current Attributes:

——————

Name: Chen Jue

Strength: 0.89+

Constitution: 1.11+

Spirit: 1.08+

Skills: [Hidden Weapon Throwing Lv5][Eye Health Exercises Lv2][Climbing Lv1][Horse Stance Lv0][Squeezing Valley Dao Lv0][Tai Chi Strategy]

Assignable Free Attribute Points: 0.05

(Character Evaluation: No change, omitted)

——————

’I won’t merge the four Tai Chi forms for now. I’ll add to Constitution first!’

’The higher my Constitution, the more energetic I’ll be. I can exercise for longer each day, and it seems like it might even improve my sleep quality.’ After some thought, Chen Jue added all the free attribute points he had just saved up to his Constitution.

His Constitution Attribute rose to 1.16.

Right after he allocated the points, a warm current spread through his body. Chen Jue felt comfortably warm all over and drifted off to sleep without realizing it.

...

The next morning, he woke up at 5:40 a.m. as usual. Chen Jue discovered that after waking up, he didn’t feel the slightest urge to linger in his warm bed.

His body felt like it was spring-loaded; he threw off the covers and immediately rolled out of bed.

He went to the bathroom to relieve himself, then took the clothes from the washing machine and hung them up to dry on the balcony.

Seeing the sky begin to glow red, Chen Jue went upstairs and started his Eye Health Exercises.

Half an hour later, the sun had leaped above the city skyline, and a notification popped up on his panel:

——————

[Ding~]

[You have completed a perfect eye massage therapy session. Your vision has slightly improved.]

[Constitution Attribute +0.01]

——————

[Ding~]

[Skill Level has reached 100%. Skill has leveled up.]

[Eye Health Exercises Lv2 → Perfection]

[Your understanding of these 8 eye massage techniques has reached its peak. The acupoints, muscle groups, and nerve tissues around your eye sockets no longer hold any secrets for you.]

[Your finger massage technique has greatly improved. The effectiveness of your massage is now comparable to that of the founder of these Eye Health Exercises.]

——————

’It reached Perfection at Level 3?’

’I didn’t expect that!’

Chen Jue opened his eyes, which felt slightly warm from the sun, and found his vision was much clearer than yesterday.

He glanced at the panel notification. The Eye Health Exercises was the Skill with the shortest progress bar he had so far.

Both Stone Skimming and Tai Chi Twelve Forms had basically maxed out at Level 4.

He figured that these eight sets of Eye Health Exercises weren’t that difficult. Even kindergarteners could learn them, so it was only natural that the Skill leveled up quickly.

...

After half an hour of red light therapy and eye massage, Chen Jue went downstairs and headed to the park.

The four new Tai Chi forms he had learned yesterday still felt a bit awkward. He needed to keep practicing with Teacher Zhao for a few more days.

Just as he entered the park and was passing the chess tables where the old men gathered, Chen Jue unexpectedly caught sight of a familiar figure.

The beautiful and kind-hearted Wu Fang had finally reappeared!

’Did the hype die down? No more fans harassing her in person?’ Chen Jue’s heart leaped with joy. Seeing the pretty girl who made his heart flutter first thing in the morning would make any man secretly happy.

Besides, fame nurtures one’s charisma. Seeing Teacher Wu again after a few days, she looked even more heroic and graceful, with a wonderful figure.

However, before he could get closer to say hello...

...Chen Jue noticed that besides Elder Wu watching from the side, there was also a young man in a black training uniform enthusiastically handing Wu Fang water and a towel to wipe her sweat. They chatted from time to time, and it was clear their relationship was not a casual one.

’You’ve got to be kidding me.’

’Did someone make a move on her already?’ Chen Jue’s heart sank, thinking he had run into a love rival.

Unexpectedly, when Wu Fang saw him approaching, she actually ran over to greet him. "Long time no see, Master Chen!"

"Huh?"

"Have you been losing weight? You look so much leaner than before!" Wu Fang looked Chen Jue over curiously. She realized that in the few days she hadn’t been to the park, the puffy-looking young man from her memory seemed like a completely different person.

Not only was there no trace of "puffiness" left, but he didn’t even look obese anymore.

The Chen Jue before her now had a particularly upright posture. His eyes, especially after just finishing his Eye Skill practice, were exceptionally bright, filled with vitality and an indescribably sharp glint.

"I have been trying to lose weight recently. I’ve lost over ten pounds, so it’s been pretty effective." Chen Jue chuckled and replied.

Just then, the young man in black also came over curiously. "Sis! Is this the Darts master you and Grandpa were talking about?"

’Sis?’

’A relative? Or are they actually siblings?’ Chen Jue pricked up his ears.

Looking at the young man’s features up close, they did bear some resemblance to Wu Fang’s. The worry in Chen Jue’s heart immediately subsided, and he slowly retracted the shiny, silver Short Sword Dart he had been fiddling with back into his sleeve.