Inside the hotel room, the curtains were left open. The harsh sunlight streamed in, shining directly onto the sleeping beauty on the bed, making her frown repeatedly.
She turned her head to the left, then to the right, but she couldn’t escape the glare.
Finally, she couldn’t sleep any longer.
Li Sha narrowed her sleepy eyes and glanced hazily at the annoying curtains.
Why hadn’t she drawn them last night?
Wait…
Last night?
That man!
Memories of the chaotic night came rushing back like a flood.
“Ah!”
She cried out, her expression instantly turning panicked.
No way…
With a mix of embarrassment and anger, Li Sha grabbed the blanket covering her.
But soon, her movement froze, her face showing a trace of confusion.
Her clothes were still completely intact!
She was still wearing yesterday’s outfit… jeans paired with a loose shirt, a blend of casual and business style.
The buttons of her shirt hadn’t even been undone…
So it wasn’t what she thought?
Before she had completely blacked out, she only remembered Li Bai pressing down on top of her, leaving her utterly unable to resist…
“He didn’t… sleep with me?” Li Sha muttered, her emotions tangled.
Whether anything had happened or not, her own body knew best.
There was no unusual feeling between her legs, and it was obvious her clothes hadn’t been put back on afterward.
If she hadn’t overheard Li Bai and his ex-girlfriend’s intense “battle” next door before, she might have even suspected he was incapable…
Clearly, he was more than capable. Then why, after pressing her down and already starting to “bully” her, did he stop in the end?
Even now, Li Sha had no idea that Li Bai ending up on top of her was entirely her own doing.
On one hand, she felt relieved that she hadn’t been violated. On the other, an inexplicable gloom settled in her heart.
Could it be that she was really getting old? Had she lost her charm?
She got up and looked at herself in the mirror, her hair messy and her appearance unkempt.
She was still beautiful!
Her figure was still amazing!
In every way, she wasn’t inferior to that girlfriend of his!
The only difference… was probably age.
But she wasn’t even thirty yet. How was that old?
Although Li Sha wasn’t entirely irrational, deep down, a woman’s nature still made her want to compare.
While looking in the mirror, she suddenly noticed a note pressed under her phone on the nearby table.
She picked it up.
The handwriting was beautiful… bold and flowing, strong and elegant.
It left a good first impression on her.
“Miss, when you’re out, don’t drink so much. It’s dangerous. No matter what happens, it will pass. Take good care of yourself.”
Reading the second line, Li Sha felt a warmth spread through her heart.
She knew that guy next door had clearly misunderstood!
“You think I got dumped like you? I wouldn’t drink just because of a breakup.”
A smile curled at the corner of her lips.
…
An hour later, refreshed and lightly made up, Li Sha arrived at the front desk on the first floor.
“Can you check if the guest in room 803 next to mine has checked out?”
She had knocked on the neighboring door earlier, but there was no response.
“Yes, room 803 checked out at 6:00 this morning.”
“So early?”
Li Sha was surprised.
“Then check the name of the guest who checked out from 803.”
“Sorry, ma’am, we cannot disclose guest information.”
Li Sha frowned and directly reached over to turn the computer screen toward herself.
“Ah! Ma’am, you can’t do that…”
“It’s fine. I’ll just take a look.”
Before the receptionist could stop her, Li Sha had already glanced at the screen and pulled her hand back.
“Li Bai… so that’s your name…”
…
Li Bai had indeed checked out early.
He caught the earliest flight and returned from the Magic Capital to Jiang City a little after 8:00.
Without even going home, he took a taxi straight to work.
“Morning, Li Bai. Why are you still carrying a bag? Going somewhere later?” a colleague asked.
They had no idea he had woken up in the Magic Capital that very morning…
Li Bai’s job was fairly ordinary. He worked as an HR specialist at the largest shopping mall in Jiang City.
In simple terms, he handled human resources.
However, his authority wasn’t great. His role was mainly to “assist” his superiors with recruitment, training, and evaluations.
Whether someone was hired or not was entirely up to the leadership. As a newcomer with only a year of experience, he had little say.
Naturally, his salary wasn’t high either.
His job didn’t offer commissions. With base pay plus performance bonuses, he could only barely reach the local average.
That was also why his ex-girlfriend, Gao Wenying, believed he couldn’t give her the life she wanted and decisively broke up with him.
But for the current Li Bai, although the pay wasn’t high, the job was stable and didn’t require overtime.
At 5:00 p.m., he was already packing up.
At 5:30 p.m., he clocked out on time and headed home.
This “home,” to be precise, was a single rented room in a self-built house in an urban village.
Li Bai’s hometown was Pinghe County under Jiang City. His parents were still working and hadn’t retired.
In fact, when he had just graduated, his parents had wanted to help him buy a house in Jiang City.
But at the time, Li Bai hadn’t settled down yet. He knew his girlfriend wanted to stay in the Magic Capital.
He himself wasn’t sure whether he would go there to develop his career alongside her.
“Now it seems… it’s better for me to stay in Jiang City and live steadily,” Li Bai shook his head.
Having just gone through a breakup, he felt somewhat repulsed by the idea of love.
Besides, wasn’t there a popular saying online?
“Women only slow me down from drawing my blade!”
Li Bai tightened the laces of his running shoes and stomped them against the ground.
Then he closed the door and stepped out.
Time for the running check-in mission!
Today, Li Bai didn’t run a full-speed 10 km like yesterday.
According to the sub-3-hour marathon training plan Ji Ziyang had sent him, he would do a 10 km aerobic jog.
Of course, Ji Ziyang’s plan actually scheduled Monday as a rest day, with Tuesday set for an 8 km aerobic run.
But Li Bai couldn’t rest. He had to complete a full month of running check-ins.
Moreover, his goal wasn’t just a simple sub-3-hour finish.
To obtain the most basic Bronze Chest, he needed to run at least a 2:30 marathon time.
So the extra training volume was simply his own additional practice.
“Hoo… hoo…”
Aerobic jogging was indeed much more relaxed than high-intensity running.
Li Bai ran 8 km in one go without feeling any discomfort at all.
His legs even felt full of strength. He estimated he could still sprint 2 km like yesterday without any issue.
But he didn’t do that.
Because Ji Ziyang had told him that marathon training wasn’t about running at race pace every day.
Even professional athletes didn’t train that way. Their usual training pace was often one or two minutes slower than race pace.
Long-duration, long-distance aerobic runs were more effective for building endurance.
So now, Li Bai followed the running form Ji Ziyang had taught him, maintaining a pace of 5 minutes per kilometer for 10 km.
“Hold back your power. Save it for the long-distance run this weekend!”
He finished in about 50 minutes.
He wasn’t overly tired, but his whole body felt refreshed, and his appetite surged.
“What a wonderful life of discipline… why cling to the past?”
Li Bai strolled along the seaside, watching the last trace of sunset fade from the horizon, while behind him, countless city lights shimmered brilliantly.