Early the next morning, Nina, Amy, and I meet up right on time at the cafeteria. Each of us grabs what we want to eat and sits down at the table.
At this point, I glance at Amy's tray and let out a sigh.
Amy says, a bit hurt, "What's wrong? My previous weight loss coach said I could eat whatever I want for breakfast."
I nod in agreement. "You're not wrong there. Eating breakfast on time is a good habit. It's actually fine for you to eat more at breakfast."
Amy's anxious heart settles down. The three of us keep eating like this, not noticing the stares from other students around us. However, one student happens to notice the scene and quietly discusses it with a friend.
"By the way, that new transfer student's only been here a short while. Why is he eating breakfast with her? Do they even know each other?"
"I have no idea either. It's really strange. So Ethan actually has a friend like that."
I ignore their little discussion. But as Amy is eating her second bun, I suddenly speak up. "Amy, can we share a bun with you?"
Amy looks a bit surprised and stares at me with confusion. She says, "Um, sure, that's fine, but why?"
I smile at her and say, "We haven't tried the buns from this stall yet. Watching you eat, it looks so good, so we're a bit tempted too. Could you share one with us?"
Nina is already very familiar with how I operate, so she plays along and nods, saying, "Yeah, exactly."
Hearing this, Amy feels a bit secretly delighted, because no guy has ever asked her for anything before, so she shares the bun in her hands with us.
I quickly thank her, break the bun in half, and give one part to Nina, then take a sip of congee and compliment her. "Amy, you really know how to pick. This bun really does taste good."
After breakfast, the three of us head to our classrooms. Nina follows Amy over to her classroom.
Amy is completely confused and asks, puzzled, "Why are you following me?"
Nina laughs and says, "Ethan asked me to come collect the snacks from your drawer, so I tagged along with you."
Amy feels reluctant for a moment and thinks, this is intense right from the start. Every day during the long break after running laps, I need to eat something. If all my snacks get taken away, what am I supposed to do if I get hungry?
Nina knows exactly what's on her mind and says, "Losing weight is your own responsibility. We're just here to help. Snacks won't help you control your weight at all. Think about it. Doesn't that make sense?"
Amy presses her lips together, then steels herself and says, "Fine, come with me then."
The two of them head to her classroom. Nina takes away all of Amy's snacks. She notices there's also a drink stashed in Amy's desk, and just as she's about to take that too, Amy quickly stops her.
"Hey, could you at least leave me the drink? I really don't like plain water. If everything gets taken away all at once, I'll get super anxious."
Nina doesn't push the issue and says, "Fine. I'll leave you two bottles of the drink. I'm taking everything else."
After saying that, she walks toward the door, then turns back around, flashes a mischievous smile, and says, "Oh, right. One more thing. Ethan wants me to come by your dorm tonight to collect the snack stash there too. So don't forget to take me to your dorm tonight."
Amy freezes on the spot, wearing an expression that's somewhere between laughing and crying.
Just then, Mia rushes over to Amy and says, "Hey, how do you even know Ethan? Why were you two having breakfast together? Do you have his contact info? Can I add him on WeChat?"
Amy is startled by Mia's sudden burst of questions. Hearing what she says, Amy frowns, a bit annoyed, and says haltingly, "He's here to help me with my weight loss."
This is the only excuse Amy can come up with. She thinks to herself, I heard that yesterday someone went to Ethan's classroom to try and humiliate him. Even though he came out on top, still, if word gets out that Ethan works as a part-time weight loss coach, would people look down on him for it? I know exactly how people around here can be. None of them are easy to deal with.
To Amy's surprise, hearing this only makes Mia even more excited. "I want to lose weight too. Could he help supervise my weight loss too, while he's at it?"
A few girls nearby overhear this and immediately burst out laughing, saying, "She should really take a look at her own figure. She's already skin and bones, and she's talking about losing weight. This is hilarious."
Amy lets out a surprised gasp. Oh my god, has this world already gone this crazy? She's as skinny as a rail, and she still wants to lose weight. Then, is there even a place left in this world for someone like me?
A guy standing nearby snickers and says, "Mia, you want to lose weight with a body like that? You trying to get light enough for the wind to blow you away? I think this whole weight loss thing is just an excuse. What you really want is to get closer to Ethan."
Hearing this, Mia lowers her head, a bit embarrassed, and says, "I don't mean I need to lose weight, exactly. I'm just trying to tone up. Hey, how about you and I work out together? At least we'd have company."
Amy presses her lips together, waves her hand in annoyance, and says, "He's the one who decides. Go ask him yourself."
On the surface, she pretends to be gracious and unbothered, but inside she's thinking, Ethan, please don't agree to this. I really don't want another person coming in to compete for your attention.
Not long after, the class bell rings and everyone heads back to their seats to begin class.
After class, seeing that my knee has mostly healed, I decide to go for a run. Meanwhile, after finishing her run, Amy is drenched in sweat from head to toe. She walks into the school's small convenience store, buys an ice cream along with a few other small snacks. After paying, she quickly hurries out of the store.
Just as she steps down the stairs, she vaguely hears someone calling her name. "Hey, Amy."
At first, she thinks she must have misheard, since why would a guy be calling out to her? But then the call comes again. "Amy."
She turns around and sees that it's me calling her. There's an unfamiliar guy standing next to me too. Instantly, her face turns completely red. She stands there frozen, unable to react at all. She thinks to herself, this is so strange. Why do I feel this weird guilt, like I've been caught doing something wrong? But I didn't actually do anything. I just went to the store to buy some snacks.
Inside, I feel a bit smug. I knew she'd come to the store. Hey, caught you red-handed.
I take a few steps forward, give a playful smile, cross my arms, shake my head, and say, "Amy, this really isn't going to work for weight loss." Then I notice the ice cream in her hand, raise an eyebrow, and continue. "Looks like you've been eating well. There's even ice cream in the mix."
Amy is so embarrassed she doesn't even know where to put her hands. I don't hold back at all. I step forward quickly and take all the snacks right out of her hands, then hand her three boxes of milk instead.
Looking at the milk in her hands, she looks a bit displeased and gazes at me with a wronged expression.
I curl my lips and say, "You already ate plenty this morning. It's only been two classes since then, so you're not really hungry. If you're actually hungry, drink milk instead. You've got three boxes. It's not like I'm banning you from eating altogether. Let's just switch out the habit of snacking during breaks with drinking milk first. We'll take it one step at a time."
She glances at the ice cream, then glances at me, able to sense that I mean well, so she just nods a bit gloomily. "Fine, I'll just drink milk if I get hungry."
With that, we each head back to our own classrooms. As I'm leaving, I wave my hand and say, "Amy, thanks for the ice cream. I won't hold back on eating it."
She thinks to herself, you already took it. What else am I supposed to say? Ugh, seriously, my poor snacks. I didn't even get a single bite.
On the way back to the classroom, Ryan asks me, "Ethan, so that's the student you've been helping with weight loss, huh? Her build's not going to be easy to slim down. Her starting weight's pretty high. This is probably going to take a while."
I scoop up a spoonful of ice cream, let out a satisfied sigh, and say, "Yeah, I know. We'll take it slow. Rushing it never works out well. I know weight loss is a long-term process. First, correct Amy's snacking habits, then gradually reduce the portions at lunch and dinner, paired with moderate exercise. Regardless of how much weight actually comes off, at the very least she'll build healthy eating habits, which lays a solid foundation for managing her weight down the road. That's a good outcome in itself."