When he went to work the next day, Li Bai noticed a pair of resentful little eyes staring at him.
“CEO Sun Lincheng, what’s wrong? Do you have any instructions?”
The way Sun Lincheng looked at him made Li Bai feel uneasy.
“Xiao Li, do you know that Assistant Liang?”
“Assistant Liang?”
“The beauty who asked you to go running—the dean’s assistant from Ocean University’s School of Management.”
“Oh, you mean Teacher Liang…” Li Bai replied vaguely, not sure what Sun Lincheng was getting at.
He pretended not to be familiar.
In truth, they weren’t that close anyway.
“Yes, her surname is Liang. Are you two friends?” Sun Lincheng probed.
“Just running partners, I guess. We’ve run together a few times,” Li Bai answered ambiguously.
“I see… Next week, aren’t we going to Ocean University for interviews?”
“Yeah.”
“Help me talk to her. Invite her to dinner this weekend so we can discuss setting up an internship base for their School of Management at our place.”
“Ocean University’s School of Management wants to set up a base with us?” Li Bai asked, feigning confusion, deliberately ignoring the real point.
“Well, I only thought of it after having dinner with Dean Hong Xueyi yesterday. As the assistant, right? If it’s done well, it’ll count as her achievement too.”
Sun Lincheng winked suggestively, his expression downright sleazy.
Li Bai saw through it clearly.
Back when he was still a student, he had heard rumors about pretty senior girls getting harassed by middle-aged managers after they started working.
Sun Lincheng was a married middle-aged man. Li Bai had even seen his daughter at the company.
Yet, past fifty, he still wasn’t satisfied—now he wanted to invite Teacher Liang out for dinner!
Was it really just dinner?
His intentions were obvious to anyone paying attention.
Li Bai could only play dumb. “CEO Sun Lincheng, but I don’t have Teacher Liang’s number.”
“What about WeChat? You went running together and didn’t add her?”
“No. I didn’t even know her name before, let alone that she was the dean’s assistant.”
“Xiao Li, I’m telling you, you really don’t know how to seize an opportunity! Such a beautiful woman, and you didn’t even get her WeChat?”
Sun Lincheng pointed at him in frustration, as if scolding him for wasting a golden chance.
“I tried, but Teacher Liang didn’t give it. She looks pretty cold. I was a bit scared.”
Li Bai acted convincingly—Sun Lincheng couldn’t see through him at all.
“Sort through the resumes. Pick out suitable candidates for me to review. Also, set aside the resumes of these three names separately…” Sun Lincheng waved his hand and walked off gloomily.
…
Soon, it was Sunday again—the day for long-distance training. Li Bai took a ride-hailing car early in the morning to the forest park.
Liang Manjun arrived almost at the same time. Without saying much, they each changed into their running gear with tacit understanding.
“Put your stuff in my car,” Liang Manjun called out when she saw Li Bai about to look for a place to store his bag.
“Thank you, Teacher Liang,” Li Bai replied with a polite smile.
“What’s your plan today?”
“29-kilometer LSD, with 16 kilometers at marathon pace.”
Li Bai was still following the sub-3-hour training plan Ji Ziyang had given him.
However, his current training wasn’t quite the same as the first week.
He had skipped ahead from the base endurance phase straight into the intensity phase.
Ji Ziyang’s full plan spanned six months, which was too long for Li Bai to wait.
Moreover, after training for a while, Li Bai had developed a good sense of his body’s condition.
The base endurance phase felt too easy for him.
There was no need to grind through it for two whole months.
So he jumped straight into the intensity phase, which could more effectively improve his aerobic efficiency while running.
“Let’s go.”
A hint of admiration flashed in Liang Manjun’s eyes.
She didn’t say more. Like last week, they carried supplies, took turns breaking the wind, and began their training.
This time, they ran 29 kilometers—longer than the previous 27.
And within that, 16 kilometers were at marathon pace.
Their marathon pace was 5 minutes per kilometer.
What did that mean?
At that pace, completing a full marathon would result in roughly a 3:30 finish.
That was also Liang Manjun’s personal best.
Don’t underestimate a 3:30 marathon!
For female runners, breaking 3 hours and 30 minutes meant entering the threshold of amateur elites.
Even for male runners, many amateur runners could never achieve that in their lifetime.
Of course, they weren’t running a full marathon now—just 16 kilometers at that pace.
For Liang Manjun, completing the full 29-kilometer session wasn’t a big problem.
Though she was clearly breathing heavier than last week.
Fatigue inevitably showed on her cold, elegant face.
Still, she maintained her composure and didn’t collapse on the ground.
Li Bai, however, was heavily drained.
After finishing, he collapsed again.
When he finally got up, his legs cramped, and Liang Manjun had to help massage them.
“Did I look like I was suffering the whole time?” Li Bai lay on the ground, covering his eyes in embarrassment.
“Not really. I think you ran better than last week.”
“How so?”
“You held on, and your pace didn’t drop in the last five kilometers.”
Liang Manjun’s phoenix-shaped eyes were beautiful, though her cold temperament made her seem distant.
But now, as Li Bai looked at her, she didn’t feel so unapproachable anymore.
Her voice was gentle, and her gaze was sincere.
“That’s not me comforting you. It’s the truth.”
After he stood up, Liang Manjun even let him rest his arm over her shoulder.
Supporting him like that, she helped Li Bai walk the remaining distance out of the forest park.
They had no choice.
They ran 29 kilometers, while one full loop of the forest park was 12 kilometers.
Even taking shortcuts, there were still 3 to 4 kilometers left to exit.
“Teacher Liang.”
Just before reaching the park gate, Li Bai suddenly called out to her.
“Hmm?” Liang Manjun frowned slightly.
“Be careful of my CEO Sun Lincheng—the other chubby guy at our booth last Thursday.”
Li Bai had hesitated for a long time before deciding to say this.
What he was doing—giving her a heads-up—might not seem like a big deal, but it could cost him his career.
If Liang Manjun accidentally let it slip, or if word got back to Sun Lincheng through someone else, Li Bai wouldn’t be able to stay at Dawan Mall anymore.
But looking at Liang Manjun now—slender, yet still supporting him without hesitation—he felt moved.
In the end, he chose to put friendship first.
Running partners counted as friends… right?
“What do you mean?” Liang Manjun raised her eyebrows slightly, clearly surprised.
After all that buildup, this was what he wanted to say?
Li Bai briefly explained Sun Lincheng’s plan to invite her to dinner.
He didn’t beat around the bush—he directly pointed out Sun Lincheng’s real intentions.
“I understand.”
As Liang Manjun listened, her gaze gradually turned cold.
When they returned to her Cayenne, Li Bai took his arm off her shoulder.
“Teacher Liang, I’m fine now. Thank you!”
He said it gratefully, meaning he would take his bag and call a ride to leave.
But Liang Manjun didn’t open the trunk.
Instead, with a sharp click, she opened the passenger door.
“Get in. I’ll take you for a massage.”