54 53. Run Run

Does God hate me?

Ugh...

What kind of person does one have to be in order to be able to wake up at five in the morning willingly? And to do exercise on top of that...

Look around! It was only her and Li Minghao running around the school grounds. Nobody else was awake.

The only other human soul she would see would be security but... that is because they have the night shift!

"When... are we going to stop?" Chen Jingyun breathed heavily as she stubbornly did her best to keep up with Li Minghao.

Beside her, Li Minghao was in a much better state. His tempo was constant and his breath was stable.

"Soon."

It was the only word he said.

Soon?

Chen Jingyun had to admit that word made her feel better. It even boosted her energy. If soon meant she would be sitting down drinking water in a moment, she would happily run another minute.

Li Minghao tactfully stopped the work out session right in front of the cafeteria's vending machine. He paid for two bottles of water and sat down beside her.

Chen Jingyun gratefully took the bottle of water and unceremoniously drank all of it. Only after she had stabilized her condition, Li Minghao spoke up.

"You might still have your fighting skills, but all of that is useless without a good constitution. You need to get back in shape."

"Is that why you are suddenly insistent on making me do exercise?"

Li Minghao shook his head.

"Because you are also a pig. If you keep eating like you do without doing any exercise, you are going to grow into a round ball."

"..." Chen Jingyun's eye twitched.

Is he calling me... fat?

Somebody hold her back...

"So what if I am?" She huffed.

Whatever. What's wrong with being a pig? They are said to be the luckiest Chinese zodiac sign!

"What are you going to do if you get caught by those guys?"

"I will roll off like a ball."

"..."

This time Li Minghao gave her a look.

Sighing, he decided to let her in on his intentions.

"There is nothing wrong with being round, but... you can't really afford it right now. You need to be fast if you can't be the strongest. In case something goes wrong, you can run away from them."

"Oh..."

Chen Jingyun was genuinely surprised. She didn't think of it like that. In fact, she realized she didn't give too much care and thought into it. She began to feel appreciation for Li Minghao's cleverness.

"Isn't it better to just get better at fighting? I might be able to uproot the organization like that! Listen, my skills are- ow!" Chen Jingyun covered her forehead. "What did you do that for?!"

Li Minghao had flickered her forehead.

One look at his eyes and his arched eyebrow, and she knew its meaning.

Are you dumb?

"Not even I can do that." Li Minghao snickered at her. "Their methods are unknown to us so it brings a lot of variables to the table. It is too risky to just train you for fighting when we don't know what exactly you are fighting against."

Yeah but... did you have to flicker my forehead so hard? Chen Jingyun pouted.

"However." He continued. "I will spar with you when you get back to full condition. I heard you are quite talented."

"You seem to know quite a lot about me."

"I can't help it, you are quite notorious."

Chen Jingyun only smiled. Not out of pride but sadness. Her history wasn't a great story to listen to. Someone wanted her dead.

But alas, it already happened. What could she do?

"What else do you know about me?"

Li Minghao moved his head from side to side before looking at her with a condescending attitude.

"You aren't as brilliant as I thought you would be."

In other words... you are dumb?

"Excuse me?" Chen Jingyun began to crack her knuckles.

One insult after another... how could she take this lying down?

Li Minghao scooted away from her. His palms were up signifying peace.

"What I meant is that you are quite careless. You were trained with a military education yet you are quite sloppy in some aspects. You don't seem like the girl who achieved all those great merits."

Chen Jingyun lowered her hands. Although she didn't like being told these kinds of words, it has been a long time since someone pointed out her mistakes so bluntly. Especially her mistakes as someone who was trained to think like a soldier, like a general.

Those that witnessed her achievements before her fall would know she was an excellent military strategist. Almost perfect. No detail - as small as it was - would escape her eyes.

And just like her perfectly crafted strategy, her execution was devoid of mistakes.

But now... she was too careless.

The way she handled everything was out of character and her potential.

"I see. Thank you for your words. I have realized something." Chen Jingyun gave him a small smile. "I will carry on with your plan and get better."

Li Minghao studied her expression before nodding.

"Let's go for another round then."

OTL

Weren't we finished for today?!