As soon as she got off work, Fu Nanzhi couldn't wait to grab her bag and head out.
Recalling Shen Yi's address, she could only think of the most straightforward—and perhaps the most foolish—plan: pretending to run into him by chance.
"I'll just contact the landlord and buy all the apartments around his place. I'll move right across from him."
Clutching the steering wheel, Fu Nanzhi pouted. She wasn't exactly short of money.
For Shen Yi, a little expense was nothing.
With her living right across from him, they would inevitably run into each other every day, and familiarity would naturally grow.
Then, for some reason, Fu Nanzhi's face turned red, and she hummed a tune.
...
The cool evening breeze swept across the lake, dispersing the oppressive summer heat.
Shen Yi had spent the entire day in a state of easy leisure.
Not having to go to work, the mental relaxation was something others might find hard to understand.
His phone remained silent, behaving like a well-behaved child, not making any unexpected noises.
Wandering around aimlessly, the sense of freedom from having nothing to do was exhilarating.
Even just sitting on a stool and watching the hurried passersby was a pleasure.
Moreover, this was mainly to relax his mind.
The last dream simulation had almost left him with a psychological shadow.
He really needed to take some time off.
The simulator was bound to him, and no one could take it away. His life was steadily improving in all aspects, and Shen Yi wasn't greedy. He had nothing to complain about.
Running along the lakeside, he was most satisfied with his body.
The feeling of strength from within was so exhilarating that he wanted to shout out in joy.
Today, he hadn't been completely idle; he had focused on testing his newly acquired skills.
At the same time, he tested the compatibility of these skills with his own talents.
Since no one could demonstrate for him, Shen Yi had to rely on his own imagination for the tests.
First was the aspect of photosynthesis.
The conclusion was that as long as he stood in the sunlight, his body barely sweated, and the stronger the sunlight, the more comfortable he felt.
Secondly, he didn't feel hungry. He hadn't eaten all day, yet he could still run and jump without issue.
It wasn't that he had no appetite at all, but rather that he was in a state where eating was optional.
Another point was that his stamina slowly recovered in the sunlight, but this couldn't balance out the consumption from intense exercise.
So, the idea of perpetual motion was a failure.
According to Shen Yi's estimate, if he could grow roots and bury himself in the ground, absorbing nutrients from the soil while basking in the sun, he might be able to survive without eating for the rest of his life.
That would truly make him a sunflower spirit.
Lastly, there was the ability to heal wounds slowly.
At home, Shen Yi had taken a deep breath and cut three wounds of varying lengths on his arm.
Then, he stood on the balcony, basking in the sunlight.
The shallowest wound had stopped bleeding almost as soon as it was exposed to the sun, and it healed within about ten minutes.
As for the longest and deepest wound, it had also stopped bleeding quickly, but the scab had only just fallen off, taking about eight or nine hours.
Although the healing wasn't particularly fast, it was nowhere near the level of Wolverine or the mythical abilities of regenerating severed limbs.
But the good news was, it left no scars.
His arm was now smooth, just as it had been before the injury.
Following this discovery, Shen Yi placed the scar from a childhood knee injury in the sunlight.
As expected, the scar disappeared.
This wasn't the key point.
As a man, he didn't really care about scars, but the process of exploring his own body was incredibly fascinating, making it hard for Shen Yi to stop.
This evening's outing was to test the final aspect.
The goal was to see if photosynthesis would still work at different times of the day, even at night.
Running around the lake, Shen Yi faced the evening glow and slowly calculated in his mind.
"Roughly between 0.4 and 0.5."
Shen Yi didn't know how to quantify it, so he used the strongest midday sunlight as a benchmark, marking it as 1.
Comparing this, the sunlight at eight or nine in the morning was about 0.6 to 0.8.
Now, between six thirty and seven in the evening, the summer days were longer, and there was still some sunlight, so it was around 0.4 to 0.5.
"That's about it. Now, I just need to wait until it's completely dark to feel the difference."
The intensity of the sunlight affected the effectiveness of his skills, but the fluctuations weren't too significant.
There was also the question of whether cloudy or overcast weather would reduce the effect, which needed to be considered.
Today, the weather was perfect, with clear skies and no clouds, so these tests would have to wait for another day.
Shen Yi could only think of so much for now.
Perhaps there were more uses for photosynthesis, and he would slowly explore them.
Shen Yi slowed his pace to a walk.
"Young man, you've got a great physique. There aren't many young people like you who are willing to go out for a run these days."
As Shen Yi strolled along the lakeside, a tall middle-aged man approached and struck up a conversation.
Shen Yi was a bit puzzled; he certainly didn't represent the average young person, but he still politely replied,
"Thanks, I'm alright. Just running for fun."
The middle-aged man was naturally friendly and walked alongside him, continuing,
"I've been watching you for a while. Your pace is pretty good. Are you training for long-distance running?"
Shen Yi had run around the lake at least a dozen times, and the middle-aged man couldn't help but notice. Upon closer inspection, he saw that Shen Yi maintained a steady pace throughout, with even breathing and strong arm movements, clearly not an ordinary runner.
As soon as Shen Yi heard this, he waved his hand to deny it.
I am not a long-distance runner; at most, it's just a hobby for me.
He has only been running for a few days, relying entirely on his innate talent and a little bit of points from the system; he definitely won't take credit for it.
The man eyed Shen Yi suspiciously, feeling that he was quite modest.
In his eyes, Shen Yi's body was either naturally gifted or the result of hard training; his long legs and slender upper body gave him a streamlined physique, typical of a long-distance runner.
However, he didn't dwell on it much and said with a smile:
“Hobby? That pace you just mentioned would make quite a few professional athletes blush. Excessive modesty is just hypocrisy.”
Now Shen Yi could only gently smile in agreement, unable to respond to him further.
Just now, he was lost in thought, silently calculating the effects of the skill, completely not focused on running at all.
As for this speed, it only consumes a bit more energy for him than walking; he didn't even use half of his full effort, so it really can't be considered fast.
But since this middle-aged man said so, anything Shen Yi said would seem hypocritical, so he could only follow along and laugh.
"Are you really not a long-distance runner?" The man still did not believe it.
Shen Yi said helplessly,
“No, really.”
Seeing Shen Yi say this, he could only shake his head and sigh.
“What a pity…”
Shen Yi didn't want to entangle with him any longer, so he lifted his leg and prepared to leave.
“Then you go ahead and take care of your things, goodbye.”
“Hey, hey, hey, hold on a second, young man. Let me tell you, there’s going to be a big marathon event in the city soon.”
The middle-aged man tugged at Shen Yi's shirt corner to hold him back.
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“Um... this is just a personal hobby of mine, so I won't challenge someone's expertise.”
“Don’t be shy, I see you have some skills. Besides, how will you know if you don’t give it a try? Even if you don’t win, the important thing is participating. Anyway, you’re running anyway, and this race has a prize.”
“Besides, don’t you want to compare with others?”
A middle-aged man was chattering away, and his words were all about considering Shen Yi.
Shen Yi could not stand it any longer, so he had no choice but to respond verbally.
“Okay, I will consider it.”
After speaking, he ran away like the wind, leaving the middle-aged man sighing repeatedly.
On the other side, Cheng Jun parked the car and arrived at the entrance of a community.
The overall building is old and the environment is simple; she estimated that Shen Yi's financial situation is quite average.
“It should be here...”