บท 2: 2 Weight loss freak

Indeed, "Jenny, I have a special treat for you today," Johnny winked at Jenny from behind the bar. "Coffee and dessert on the house."

"Thanks, John," replied Jenny, whose shift had just ended. Her legs ached from eight hours of standing. "Just an Americano, black, and a Seagull Salad without vinaigrette, please."

Johnny gave her a curious look. "Are you dieting, Jenny? I can't see why you'd need to."

Jenny smiled without elaborating, taking the packaged meal from Johnny and waving goodbye. "See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," echoed Johnny amiably. "Be kind to yourself, Jenny."

Exiting the restaurant, Jenny bent down to unlock her bicycle and pedaled towards her home.

Her apartment wasn't far from the restaurant, conveniently located on a relatively flat terrain amidst LA's hilly roads – something she discovered on her first day working there. Right away, Chen Zhen invested a day's wage into purchasing a second-hand bicycle.

Twenty minutes later, she arrived at her rented one-bedroom apartment situated in a middle-aged building with no elevator, roughly twenty years old. Despite its proximity to Beverly Hills, the fifty-square-meter apartment was rent-controlled, with monthly rent set at merely six hundred dollars – a sort of inheritance left behind by the previous Jenny for Chen Zhen.

Given that the restaurant provided one meal per shift and often more for employees like Jenny who charmed customers with their beauty and friendly demeanor, she rarely had to spend much on food. Even American staples like coffee and hot dogs were frequently provided gratis. Thus, with a monthly income around four thousand dollars, and after deducting rent, she had little expense. In LA, buying fruits, clothes, and cosmetics could easily leave her with a two-thousand-dollar savings each month. Although Jenny didn't have a savings mindset typical of many Americans, especially not someone aiming for stardom in Hollywood, Chen Zhen was grateful that she at least wasn't buried in credit card debt, which was commendable for an American girl her age.

Jenny had indeed left some 'inheritance': most of her wages went towards clothing and shoes, turning her living room into a makeshift wardrobe (with over a hundred pairs of shoes). A portion of her earnings also funded acting classes, and when Chen Zhen stepped into her life, Jenny was still enrolled in a community college's acting program. Other than these expenses, she mostly enjoyed nightlife perks thanks to her beauty, sparing her significant costs.

To a certain extent, Jenny was a commendable go-getter. Though her dreams of fame were unrealistic, she genuinely strived to live purposefully and accumulate experience for her dream. Had she possessed a modicum of talent and won the proverbial lottery, perhaps she could have carved out a niche in Hollywood. Now, however, the responsibility to fulfill her dream fell onto Chen Zhen.

As soon as Chen Zhen returned home, she changed into workout clothes. She briskly completed household chores, using the speed to warm up. Sweating profusely, she turned on her newly purchased computer, launched Winamp, and danced to fiery Latin rhythms for an hour. Following that, she did a 15-minute stretching session, pushing her body to its limit. Exhausted, Chen Zhen collapsed onto the floor, napping for about twenty minutes until the cool breeze woke her. She then showered, washed her hair, and began her meticulous evening skincare routine.

Johnnie was right; her physique was quite fit and healthy. At five feet seven inches tall with a D-cup bust size, Jenny typically wore size 4 (US small), which was impressive for a Caucasian woman. Ordinarily, she wouldn't need to rush into rigorous exercise routines and could maintain her figure by avoiding overeating and relying on the calorie-burning effects of her eight-hour shifts on her feet.

But for anyone involved in the entertainment industry, be it actresses, singers, or models, 'ordinary fitness' was never enough. Due to modern cinematography ratios and the conversion between 3D and 2D formats, the phrase 'the camera adds ten pounds' was not just a comforting cliché for heavier individuals, but a genuine phenomenon that could visually add more weight than just ten pounds. This meant that to achieve a 'normal' appearance on screen, one must have a smaller-than-average face in real life—a common piece of wisdom taught in acting schools. Those with round faces or less defined features were thus compelled to rigorously diet, whereas those blessed with inherently chiseled and multi-dimensional features required less effort. Nonetheless, none could indulge without consequences. Anyone with ambitions in show business and averse to playing overweight roles was unlikely to enjoy a full meal every day, differing only in the degree of self-imposed starvation.

This pursuit of on-screen perfection came with a price: actors who appeared 'normal' or even slender on screen usually had shockingly small faces in reality, resembling hangers with little flesh. Many suffered from being too thin, with health risks aside, even finding obstacles in romantic relationships since most people preferred partners who looked 'normal.'

Chen Zhen was fortunate. In her previous life, she had joined the Weight loss craze during college, but due to her boyfriend's preference for a slightly curvier girlfriend, she didn't starve herself excessively. Upon graduation, she naturally transitioned into a rich housewife's life, maintaining her figure albeit not as rigorously as industry peers. As for this life, Jenny's pure Germanic heritage endowed her with deeply sculpted features that naturally provided a slimming effect on camera, despite the potential for aging faster.

While aging could be camouflaged with makeup, fat couldn't be hidden on camera. Caucasians did have a racial advantage here, coupled with Western aesthetics not fixating on extreme skinniness. Therefore, Chen Zhen didn't need to strive for a waif-like appearance like her Chinese counterparts. Instead, she aimed to shed excess fat through intense workouts, settling for a slightly leaner-than-average body size.

Her short-term goal was to fit into size 2 clothes. Without the luxury of a gym membership or a personal trainer, she relied on her past experience as a wealthy housewife where she maintained a regular exercise regimen, including years of Latin dance. Abstaining from dinner, cutting out sugar, dairy, and vinaigrettes was par for the course in her减肥 journey, something that came naturally to Chen Zhen, even in her previous life.

After eight hours of work, a forty-minute bike ride to and fro, and an hour and a half of intense exercise, Chen Zhen's body reached its limits. After showering and catching up on news, she quickly drifted off to sleep. The next morning at six sharp, the alarm rang, and she promptly rose to drink water, jogged for an hour, and then showered again before sitting down for her most important meal of the day.

Unpacking yesterday's salad, boiling two eggs, and adding a slice of poached chicken breast plus a large glass of milk, she devoured her hearty breakfast. Feeling her stomach finally satiated, Chen Zhen realized that this Caucasian body was resilient. After such a demanding workout, a satisfying meal refueled her with boundless energy.

With an hour and a half left before her work shift, she wasn't idle. Instead, she assumed a yoga pose in the living room, setting an alarm, and took a deep breath, activating her 'golden finger.'

Upon triggering her unique advantage, Chen Zhen suddenly plunged into darkness.