Chapter 4: Quiet Breathing

  He came out of Wang Zhen's residence and went to the internet cafe, where he sent out dozens more resumes, but since it was Sunday, he didn't receive any interview notifications.

  And his bad luck seemed to be haunting him again, as he made over a dozen part-time job calls and still got no results.

  At noon, he bought two mantou, ate one and left the other until evening.

  The heavy snow fell for a whole day and didn't stop until evening. The weather seemed to have gotten even colder, so he had to keep moving at night to fight off the chill.

  The effect was the same as last night, and the warmth brought by exercise only lasted for a while. After a short time, the heat dissipated, and he hadn't fallen asleep yet, but was awakened by the cold in a daze.

  After this had happened several times, he suddenly remembered what Wang Zhen had said to him in jest during the day: "Your ability to withstand cold is probably going to make you an immortal!"

  He felt bitter in his heart and couldn't help but think: If I were an immortal, I wouldn't be affected by the cold or heat, naturally I wouldn't have to fear the cold, but I'm unable to achieve that.

  Want to cry out loud, but can't. Then thought: If it continues like this, unable to sleep at night, even if a job is found, there's no energy during the day, and can't do well, need to solve this problem as soon as possible.

  He was lost in thought and suddenly remembered the idea from last night, if he could maintain his physical state during exercise even when calm, his body would continue to produce heat, which could indeed ward off the cold.

  In desperation, he grasped this idea and couldn't help but think deeply about it: This thought is naturally good, but how can I achieve it? What's the difference between quietness and movement?

  After the next exercise, he carefully realized that feeling and found that after intense exercise, compared to a quiet state, in addition to fatigue, it was rapid breathing and an accelerated heartbeat.

  Combining what he learned in school, he knew that a faster heartbeat was due to accelerated blood circulation.

  Due to the acceleration of blood circulation, the energy inside the body is continuously consumed, constantly producing a large amount of heat, so it doesn't feel cold.

  When it's quiet, blood circulation slows down, energy consumption decreases, and the heat generated also decreases, so you will naturally feel cold.

  "He thought to himself: 'If I can think of a way to consume the energy inside my body like when I'm exercising, even in quiet times, won't I be able to not fear the cold?'"

  As he thought of this, his heart suddenly stirred with excitement, how could he achieve it?

  The result of exercise, the massive consumption of energy and the acceleration of blood circulation, must bring about an increase in breathing rate and heart rate. Therefore, there is a certain connection between these three.

  Heartbeats can't be controlled by oneself, but breathing is different.

  If so, since there is a certain connection between the three, can you control your heartbeat and blood circulation by controlling your breathing with special breathing methods?

  He began to look for connections between these three during exercise and gave this theory a name, called - Static Breathing.

  It means that through a special breathing method, control one's blood circulation. Make your body, in a quiet state, can produce the effect of exercise, to defend against cold.

  But this seems to be just his fantasy, the method, although it sounds very reasonable in theory, is completely different when actually done, and after a night of hard work, no results were achieved.

  The next day he continued to hand in his resume, make phone calls, wanting to find a job or part-time work to earn some money to get through this difficult time. Fate seemed to be playing a joke on him, as the resumes and phone calls he made did not bring him any good news.

  He didn't go back all day and kept walking outside, hoping to find a job from the recruitment information posted everywhere.

  In the afternoon, when he passed by the nearby library, he saw a big poster at the entrance of the library, and couldn't help but exclaim "hmm", stopping in his tracks to gaze intently.

  The poster says that two days later, a hypnosis expert will come to give a lecture, and the lecture is free of charge, anyone can go in and listen.

  "Hypnosis, an interesting lecture, should I go and listen? At this time, he involuntarily associates everything with solving his own problem of coldness at night. 'If they hypnotize me, in a quiet situation, make me feel like I'm moving, will it really produce the results of exercise?'"

  "If I find a job and earn some money, my life will get better. I can buy a few more clothes, another quilt, and a duvet cover. Then I won't have to worry about this 'quiet breathing' business anymore. But what if I still can't find a job? Am I supposed to just freeze to death?"

  At that time, he decided that if he still couldn't find a job by then, he would go and listen to this lecture. Although he didn't know what the expert would talk about, hypnosis wasn't something easy to learn, but his theory might be of some help in withstanding the cold at night.

  At night, when he was exercising, he thought of this lecture again and began to ponder things related to hypnosis.

  If hypnosis can make people have false sensations, then this sensation is just like the effect of hallucinogenic drugs.

  High-end hallucinogenic drugs are mostly toxic substances, so it's not worth considering. However, alcohol can also numb people, if you buy some wine to drink and get drunk, can't you imagine the situation during exercise in a quiet state and achieve the result of exercising?

  The nearby supermarkets all sell low-quality white wine, with a very high degree and a very cheap price. He thought for a long time, decided to try it out, bought a bottle of white wine, and felt the numbness beforehand, like a dreamy feeling.

  He went out of the house, spent three dollars to buy a bottle of inferior white wine from the nearest supermarket, opened the bottle and smelled it. The strong smell of the inferior white wine suddenly rushed into his intestines and stomach, making him almost vomit.

  He gritted his teeth, held his breath, and brought the bottle to his lips, taking a small sip. Instantly, it felt like a ball of fire had been added to his mouth, and he swallowed hard, feeling his entire stomach burning up.

  The taste was really unbearable, he furrowed his brow, wanting not to drink it, but remembering the cold of the night, he ultimately didn't want to give up. Finally, with a sigh, he took a deep breath and brought the bottle to his lips, gulping down a mouthful, not daring to savor it, and swallowed it down.

  All of a sudden, his stomach churned like a boiling pot, as if there was a stick stirring non-stop inside his belly, making him feel extremely uncomfortable. After several minutes, he drank a large glass of water and finally calmed down.

  He drank hastily, and the intoxication didn't come easily. He felt a bit dizzy, but his mind was still clear. After drinking another big mouthful, he was hit by the wine's effects after a few minutes, his sense of taste became numb, and he couldn't taste the wine anymore. He divided it into several times, and finished the whole bottle of wine.

  His stomach felt uncomfortable, his face was burning, and then the wine went up in reverse. He couldn't help but vomit, but he had only eaten two buns that day, which had been digested long ago, and only spat out some sour water.

  His body was numb, lying in bed, still remembering his purpose, thinking to himself that he was exercising, trying to take advantage of the intoxication, creating an illusion in his own heart to achieve the result of not fearing cold during exercise.

  I felt a warmth spreading all over my body and a joy in my heart, thinking that my imagination was effective. As I grew tired, drowsiness gradually crept up on me, and before long, I fell asleep.

  In the middle of the night, the intoxication gradually dissipated, and he was awakened by the cold again. At this time, his mouth was dry and his throat felt like it had been scorched in the sun, making him want to sit up and drink some water. However, when he tried to move, he discovered that both his hands and feet were numb from the cold, and for a moment, he couldn't move at all.

  He was terrified in his heart and thought: I was drunk, imagining that I was exercising, clearly feeling hot on my body, why am I still frozen like this?

  He soon realized that he was feeling hot all over his body, but it was just the numbness of his nerves after getting drunk, which caused the wrong feeling. In fact, his body wasn't hot at all, and when the effects of the alcohol wore off, his body even felt colder, he just couldn't feel it.

  It seems that this method is not feasible, thinking about it also makes sense. The theory of quiet breathing, how can it be so easy to achieve? If it were really that easy, the vast majority of people who love drinking wouldn't have to fear the cold anymore.

  He let out a helpless sigh, rubbed his hands and feet, slowly got up, drank a cup of water, and then used a towel to wipe his frozen stiff hands and feet with hot water.

  His limbs had not yet regained their sensation, and his body was cold again. He shivered with cold, his teeth chattered, he felt suffocated in the chest, and breathed with difficulty, so he had to move again to warm up.

  Why is it that for the past two days I haven't eaten much, my stomach is hungry and I have no energy left in my body. Adding to that, the effects of the wine are still lingering, I'm exhausted to death, all I want to do is lie down and sleep.

  He gritted his teeth and secretly warned himself: if he fell asleep like this, he might freeze to death. In any case, he had to exercise first.

  Perhaps it was his firm will that took effect, and then a burst of energy emerged from somewhere, biting his teeth and exercising for a while, his forehead sweated, and his breathing became smoother, before he lay down.

  In the midst of this, he was frozen again and woke up once more. He exercised again, his body warmed up, and lay down anew. At the same time, he carefully felt the differences in his body, breathing, and calmness after exercising, seeking the rules within.

  As soon as I got up in the morning, I felt my throat was dry. After drinking two cups of water, it didn't help at all. When I went out to look for a job and was blown by the wind, I couldn't help but sneeze, and I caught a cold.

  His throat was itchy and he couldn't stop coughing. As he passed by the pharmacy, he glanced inside but comforted himself: "It's just a minor cold, not a serious illness, no need to take medicine, I can bear with it for a few more days."

  Deep down, I'm actually clear about it, I don't have much money left on me, and it's just that I really can't afford the medicine.

  Made a dozen more phone calls and sent out dozens of resumes, but still didn't get any response, the job was still unsettled.

  Bought two buns and brought them back home, remembering the lesson from last night that I couldn't exercise on an empty stomach. Didn't bear to eat at noon, one was left until afternoon, and one was left until nighttime.

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  PS: Thanks for the reward from brother Chu Chen Zhi 2007, also seeking a few recommendation votes for the new book