Qu Yi was my first friend in high school. Since we started running together during the long break between classes, we gradually got to know each other better. We would also go to the cafeteria together to get our lunch and dinner. During dinner time today, Qu Yi wasn't at her seat, and she didn't reply to the messages I sent her on my phone. When I went to the girls' restroom to wash my hands, I vaguely heard sobbing sounds coming from one of the compartments. I recognized that it was Qu Yi. I knocked on the door of the compartment and asked, "What's wrong? Who bullied you?" She stopped crying and held her breath, pretending not to be there. "I heard you... Let's take a walk on the playground." "I feel so bad... I've been on a diet for a week, but I still gained two pounds this morning," Qu Yi poured out her grievances to me on the playground. I had always thought her soft and waxy appearance was really cute and never knew she had such troubles. "A diet?" I asked her. "Yeah! I haven't eaten any meat for a week, and I only have a bowl of oil-splashed noodles for dinner every day!" Qu Yi pouted and said, "This amount of food is half of what I used to eat. I'm so hungry at night that I'll buy a serving of fruit yogurt after the evening self-study." "Why do you want to lose weight? I think you're fine the way you are," I said honestly. "Fine? I'm so ugly! I'm already—" Qu Yi's voice suddenly became softer. "I'm almost two hundred pounds." I said, "But you're 1.75 meters tall!" This height was something I had always dreamed of having. Qu Yi said, "My parents forced me to wear braces, and I don't even dare to laugh with my mouth open!" I said, "Orthodontics costs around ten thousand yuan. Some people are reluctant to spend that much money even when they're adults." Qu Yi was taken aback. "Really?" I realized that although our family backgrounds were different, teenagers probably had all felt inferior about some of their traits that made them feel like they didn't fit in. "But I still have to lose weight. There's no size of the school uniform that fits me, and I'm always called out when walking in the formation," Qu Yi said pitifully. I thought for a while. Since I also wanted to build up my body and stay fit, I said, "Stop going on a diet. I'll arrange your diet for you, and come exercise with me in the afternoon. I guarantee that you'll lose weight." Qu Yi didn't seem to believe me. "You're so thin, and you've never even tried losing weight." I said, "You're wrong. I'm not going to help you lose weight. I'm going to help you develop healthy living habits."
