You're Not from Rongcheng, Are You

Brother Qiang tilted his head, looked over, and laughed, "Of course, why not!"

Hearing this, Su Yang was taken aback and glanced at Han So-yeon who was walking over. "Maybe I should just skip it?"

Han So-yeon gave Su Yang a sweet smile. "Just give it a try. I have a feeling you can lift it."

Su Yang chuckled. "I'm just here to watch the fun."

"If you lift it, we'll have the money for coffee afterward, right?" Han So-yeon said with a wink.

"Haha, so that's what you're thinking."

"Yep, come on, give it a shot. I saw your build back in Beihai Dao. You'll have no problem with this one."

Of course Su Yang could lift dumbbells of that weight. Forget 120 kg—even the 160 kg one he could hook with two fingers and lift effortlessly.

But for him, it was hardly a challenge. Going up there was just showing off, so he never intended to try in the first place.

Still, he couldn't resist the beautiful woman's repeated invitations. Su Yang shook his head with a smile. "Alright, fine. I'll give it a go."

As the two were talking, others started to notice Su Yang. Quite a few women watching the excitement had their eyes go wide instantly.

"Holy crap! He's so handsome!!"

The livestream camera also swung toward him at that moment. Among the seven or eight thousand people in the live chat, a small portion of female fans began spamming wildly.

— I need every piece of information about this handsome guy in thirty seconds!!

— Anyone know who he is? He must have a Douyin account, right? Whoever finds it and sends it to me privately gets 500 bucks transferred immediately!!!

...

Su Yang walked forward. Brother Qiang gave him a once-over and grinned. "Whoa, a handsome dude! Even with clothes on, I can tell you've got a killer physique. Do you work out regularly?"

Su Yang nodded. "Every now and then."

"Nice. I can tell you're into fitness, but even guys who lift can struggle with this. What do you weigh?"

"Around 160 pounds."

"Plenty of weight then. Think you've got it?"

Su Yang glanced at the dumbbell on the ground and smiled. "Mind if I try first?"

"Go for it!"

"Handsome, you've got this!! Lift it and I'll give you my WeChat!" a starstruck girl yelled.

"What's your name, handsome?!"

"You can do it, man!"

"Bull he can! That guy earlier, a 180-pound bruiser, couldn't do it. This guy's way skinnier. I'm doubtful."

Su Yang paid no attention to the crowd's chatter. He walked to the middle of the dumbbell, stood steady, and looked at Han So-yeon.

She immediately pumped her fist at him in encouragement. "Go get it!"

Su Yang nodded, bent down, and grabbed the bar in the middle of the dumbbell with his right hand.

"Okay, handsome, get ready. Take a deep breath, and use your legs and lower back together—gives you a better chance!"

"Got it." Su Yang smiled slightly, put in a little effort, and caught the dumbbell off guard, lifting it up with ease.

He stood upright with the dumbbell raised and winked at Han So-yeon.

She froze for a second, then jumped with joy. "I knew you could do it!"

"Whoa!!?"

The crowd erupted. Brother Qiang was a bit stunned too—he hadn't expected this good-looking guy to pull up a 120 kg dumbbell so effortlessly, and looking like he hadn't even tried.

"Handsome, easy now, you can set it down! You've completed the challenge!"

"Oh, right." Su Yang gently placed the dumbbell back on the ground.

"Legend!!"

Clap clap clap, the spectators burst into applause.

Brother Qiang's eyes went wide, and he walked up to squeeze Su Yang's triceps. "Damn!! No wonder—your muscles are harder than mine!"

"Haha, you flatter me. So does that mean this counts as a success?"

"Of course it does! Taozi! Come count out the cash!" Brother Qiang turned to the girl standing by the rules signboard.

The girl named Taozi smiled, picked up a black bag, walked over, and opened it. She pulled out a stack of red bills, ready to count out three thousand for Su Yang.

Just then, someone in the crowd shouted, "Handsome! You lifted 120 kg so easily—why not try the 160?"

"Yeah, go for the 160! That's 20,000 bucks if you lift it!!!"

Several others in the crowd joined in yelling.

Brother Qiang looked at Su Yang and smiled. "You hear that, handsome? Feel like giving it a shot? If you can lift the 160 kg dumbbell, that's 20,000 straight up. I'll keep my word."

Su Yang smiled and asked, "Has anyone actually succeeded with the 160 kg so far?"

Brother Qiang nodded. "Yeah, a few. But among random passersby, it's extremely rare. Even I find 160 a real struggle."

"Is that so? Then I'll give it a try."

"Alright! Hold off on the count—bring out the 160 kg dumbbell!!"

Moments later, Brother Qiang's male assistant behind the livestream went to a toolbox nearby and hauled out a gold-colored 160 kg dumbbell with both hands.

Even as an assistant, the guy was built solid with muscle.

He carried the dumbbell slowly to Su Yang, set it down, then turned and ran back to grab the streaming setup for the live broadcast.

'What dedication,' Su Yang thought to himself.

"Whoa! A gold dumbbell?" a man from the crowd joked.

"Haha, gold as a sign of respect for the 160 kg," Brother Qiang said laughingly.

Then he turned to Su Yang. "Whenever you're ready, go for it."

"Alright." Su Yang stepped up and stood in the middle of the gold dumbbell.

The spectators cheered: "You got this, handsome! I believe in you!"

"Show it who's boss!! 20,000 bucks is waiting!!"

...

Su Yang gave a token roll of his neck, then bent down into a horse stance and grabbed the bar.

This dumbbell was way too light in his hands. The 160 kg felt no different from the 120 kg.

After all, this was a man who could deadlift a yak and a bear with his bare hands—lifting two or three hundred pounds was nothing.

Brother Qiang cheered him on from the side. "Alright, handsome—that last one was 240 pounds, but this one's 320! Know your limit, don't force it if..."

Before Brother Qiang could finish his sentence, Su Yang had already stood up with the dumbbell.

"WHAT THE—?!"

Su Yang stood straight, holding the dumbbell, then casually did six or seven bicep curls with it.

[Ding, detected the host casually... no wait, intentionally showing off a massive flex. Reward: 5,000,000.]

Using a 160 kg dumbbell for curls—what does that even mean?

Han So-yeon was stunned. The fitness girls were stunned. The crowd was stunned. Brother Qiang and his two assistants were stunned.

Not to mention, everyone in the live chat was stunned.

Su Yang stretched his arm a bit, then bent down and set the dumbbell down gently—moving as if he were holding a five-kilo dumbbell.

Brother Qiang's mouth hung open, his eyes practically popping out of his head.

Lifting a 160 kg dumbbell wasn't too rare for him—he was a professional bodybuilder, after all, and plenty of serious lifters could manage it. He'd run this street challenge for many episodes, and a street dunk champion had pulled it off once. But lifting it and doing curls? That was absurd.

That was 320 pounds.

After a brief two or three seconds of silence, the crowd suddenly erupted into thunderous cheering!

"Holy crap!! Absolute beast! That's insanely awesome!!"

"This guy's a freaking god—he just did seven reps of curls with a 160KG dumbbell??"

"Am I seeing things?"

The cheers instantly snapped the dumbfounded Brother Qiang back to reality. He stared at Su Yang, sucked in a cold breath, and strode over excitedly, asking, "Bro, what's your name?"

"Su Yang."

"Su Yang? Can I get your contact info?"

"What?"

"Oh, no offense—I'm into fitness, as you can probably tell. I really admire your kind of beast mode, so I'd love to get to know you. Cool?"

"Bro, you're not from Rongcheng, are you?"

"Haha, you little rascal—of course I'm not!! I'm from the Northeast! A real man!"

"Oh, okay then, haha, just messing with you. Sure, let's add each other."

"Done deal." The two exchanged WeChat contacts.

After adding, Brother Qiang laughed: "Add me on Douyin too."

"Sure!" Su Yang smiled and followed Brother Qiang back on Douyin as well.

"Let me put it this way—what you just did, I'd say fewer than five people in the entire country could pull off. I... I don't even know how to describe it, so I had to meet you."

"Haha, no problem, I like making friends too."

"You're pretty young, right?" Brother Qiang asked with a grin.

"I'm 25."

"I'm 41. You don't mind being friends with a middle-aged dude?"

"Of course not. Since when does friendship care about age?"

"Haha, damn right. I like your attitude. Taozi, come on—count out the cash in front of everyone and the livestream viewers. Twenty thousand!"

...