Chen Xu woke up to the sound of his cell phone alarm. He fumbled to turn off the alarm and sat up.

It was still dark at this time, and everything was pitch black. Only a faint white light came in from the small window. It was the street light outside.

He turned on the switch at the head of the bed, and the LED bulb above his head lit up with a dazzling white light. This was a not very spacious attic, with a high roof in the middle and low on both sides, covered with tiles, and not insulated at all.

He rubbed his face and forced himself to get up from the warm bed, only to feel a chill.

In the cold winter, this is undoubtedly a painful thing, especially when it is still dark.

After getting up, he quickly changed into sportswear, walked downstairs, brushed his teeth, washed his face, and then did some warm-up exercises in the store.

When everything was almost ready, he opened the rolling shutter door. A gust of cold wind blew in his face, making him shiver.

After locking the door again, he glanced at the electronic watch on his hand and wrote down the time. He exhaled, turned into a puff of white mist, and began to run.

The buildings here are relatively old, and the street lights are also of the old type, not very bright, and you can only see one from more than 20 meters away.

It was quiet everywhere, with only the occasional barking of a dog.

When we were almost at the intersection, there was a stall selling buns with a lamp on. Even from a distance, we could see a white mist rising up.

On the street at five in the morning, he seemed to have found a sense of being in a dream.

A few minutes later, he ran out of the urban village and reached the nearest square, where he started running around.

In the middle of winter, there are many people doing morning exercises here, most of them are middle-aged and elderly people.

There was a big lamp in the middle of the square, and the orange light illuminated the square. There were already some middle-aged women dancing in the square.

Chen Xu admired their perseverance.

You can also see some people running, mostly middle-aged and elderly people.

Chen Xu did not control his speed deliberately. After running two laps, he was a little out of breath. He looked at his watch and saw that he had been running for ten minutes. He gritted his teeth and continued to persevere.

After running another lap for thirteen minutes, he finally slowed down, breathing heavily as he walked. The cold air went into his lungs through his mouth, making him feel a little stinging in his chest. His throat was also very dry and very uncomfortable.

He took out a stainless steel thermos from his waist bag, poured some water into the lid, and drank it in small sips to moisten his mouth and throat.

After drinking, he closed the thermos again and stuffed it back into his waist bag.

He didn't stop to rest, but just walked slowly for a few minutes. The numbness in his lungs finally subsided and his breathing gradually became smoother.

He walked around and felt almost recovered, so he looked at his watch, rested for about thirty minutes, and started running again.

Fifteen minutes later.

He once again felt the uncomfortable feeling that his lungs were about to gasp and he could hardly run.

At this time, a middle-aged man with a bald head happened to pass by. Seeing him like this, he said, "Young man, you have just started running. Don't run too hard all of a sudden. Be careful not to get hurt."

Chen Xu panted heavily and forced a smile on his face to express his gratitude.

The man ran away quickly. Chen Xu supported his waist with his hands and walked forward step by step. Although he felt uncomfortable, he felt a sense of joy in his heart.

Today is the second day that he gets up in the morning to run. He was out of breath after running for five minutes at the beginning, but now he can persist for fifteen minutes. It can be said that he has made rapid progress.

After getting the basic "Endurance" card, his recovery ability was greatly improved. No matter how tired he was, he could recover quickly after taking a break.

What he is using now is the simplest and most brutal training method. He reaches the limit of his body again and again, runs until he can't run anymore, takes a break, then continues to run, rests again when he is tired, and then continues to run.

Just like playing games, the leveling process is boring, but after the character is upgraded, all attributes are improved, which makes you feel satisfied and motivated.

Chen Xu’s current situation is similar. He is almost addicted to practicing and can’t stop.

…………

Before I knew it, it was already daybreak.

After Chen Xu finished his fourth run, he found that there were more and more people around him. He glanced at the time and saw that it was already half past seven, so he walked back.

I bought breakfast on the way and when I returned to the rental house, Chen Ziqi was already awake. He was lying in bed, wearing headphones, and reciting English.

"Well, don't come over here." She looked up with a look of disgust on her face, pinching her nose, "What have you been doing these two days? You're all sweaty."

"Eat your breakfast."

Chen Xu put down the rice noodle roll in his hand, took his clothes and went into the bathroom.

After taking a shower and having breakfast, he went to work.

Today is a special day. When he came to the company, he clearly felt that the atmosphere was much more enthusiastic than usual.

"Chen Xu, what do you think? Does President Liu's promise of overtime pay count?" Even Dai Zixin, who was always carefree, looked expectant.

“It’s hard to say.”

Chen Xu felt that with Liu Kun's style of doing things, he would not go back on his word, but he did not say anything definite either.

In his previous advertising department, overtime was rare. Only at the end of the year, when it was the busiest, would overtime be worked for one or two hours. At the end, a symbolic bonus was given as overtime pay. There really was no such thing as a prescribed way of paying overtime. It was a bit helpless, but this was reality.

As usual, today is payday, and because of this, everyone is a little absent-minded.

After the morning meeting, Secretary Guo considerately distributed everyone's pay slips.

"Go to the Human Resources Department later." Secretary Guo mentioned this when sending the letter to Chen Xu.

Chen Xu knew that it was probably about his resignation. After receiving the pay slip, he opened it and was a little surprised to find that the actual salary was over 10,000. After looking at the items, the bulk of it was overtime pay.

Mr. Liu is very generous.

He was delighted that the money came at the right time, and he also developed a good impression of Liu Kun.

Looking at other colleagues, they were all beaming with joy.

I believe that from now on, everyone’s enthusiasm for work will be raised to a higher level.

Just like what he said to Liu Kun last time, as long as the overtime pay is in place, it doesn’t matter if the work is hard.

Chen Xu went to the Human Resources Department as he was told, and he was greeted by the tall and thin Manager He again.

"We asked you to come here this time to adjust your work." Manager He looked at him through his glasses with a slightly strange look, "Your CEO Liu proposed that you be the deputy director of the e-commerce department, responsible for advertising. Correspondingly, there will be some adjustments in salary and benefits. Here are the details, take a look."

"Deputy Director?"

Chen Xu looked up in surprise; this proposal was completely beyond his expectations.

(End of this chapter)