Sunday, the weather was pleasantly mild.
It had rained a little last night, and in the morning, gray-white clouds lingered in the sky. Even when the sun came out, it wasn’t too harsh.
Jiang City Forest Park was surrounded by mountains and water, lush greenery stretching as far as the eye could see. In weather like this, it was perfect for running.
Li Bai stood at the park’s main entrance, sending a message on WeChat.
“I’m here. Teacher Yijian, have you arrived?”
The “Teacher Yijian” he was contacting had been introduced by Ji Ziyang as a running partner.
Today, they were planning a long-distance run of 27 kilometers.
Since the goal was to adapt to long distances, there was no need to push too hard.
The whole run would take about two to three hours.
Running for that long alone would be quite boring.
Ji Ziyang had suggested that he find a like-minded partner to run with.
But where would Li Bai find such a person?
In his previous social circle, no one was interested in running or fitness.
So Ji Ziyang introduced him to a runner from his fan group in Jiang City, someone whose personal best had already broken 3 hours 30 minutes.
“Yijian Guanghan Shijiu Zhou” was the other party’s WeChat name. As for their real name, even Ji Ziyang didn’t know.
In any case, he passed the contact along and let them arrange a run together.
A sub-3:30 marathon time was already considered very strong among amateur runners.
By earlier standards, it was close to the elite level among recreational runners.
Even now, it still met the top-tier standard for amateurs.
Since Li Bai was still a beginner and not particularly fast yet, the two of them made a suitable pairing.
However, this partner was rather mysterious. After adding them for two days, Li Bai still didn’t know their name.
Their social feed only showed posts from the past three days, and even then, they never posted anything.
Fine, he would just call them “Yijian.”
Li Bai wasn’t as outgoing as Ji Ziyang. After setting a time to run together, they didn’t chat further.
“Almost there, just one more traffic light.”
A few minutes after receiving the message, a violet-colored Cayenne entered Li Bai’s field of vision.
“Is that Teacher Yijian’s car?” Li Bai thought instinctively.
It was only 6:30 a.m., and there were barely any people at the park entrance.
But soon, he shook his head.
Because the person stepping out of the driver’s seat was a woman.
From a distance, she looked quite beautiful… tall and slender, with the aura of an internet celebrity.
But “Yijian Guanghan Shijiu Zhou” was supposed to be a man!
Li Bai had just dismissed his own guess.
The next moment, he saw the woman take off her outer jacket, revealing a sports tank underneath.
She unzipped the sides of her pants and removed them, exposing the compression leggings designed for running.
“No way…” Li Bai stared in shock.
When she walked up to him and asked coldly, “You’re Li Bai, right?” he finally realized he hadn’t been mistaken.
“You’re Teacher Yijian?” he asked in disbelief.
This…
The WeChat avatar for “Yijian Guanghan Shijiu Zhou” was a cartoon image of a bearded tough guy!
The contrast with the beauty in front of him was just too great.
Although she had already tied up her hair, put on a cap, and wore specialized UV-protection running glasses, Li Bai could still tell that this “Yijian” was stunningly attractive.
A classic oval face, a high nose bridge, delicate lips.
Her figure was tall and slender, her limbs slim, and her skin exceptionally fair.
And she drove a Cayenne… a true rich beauty.
“Just call me Liang Manjun.”
She finally revealed her name, her tone cold and indifferent.
“Alright… I saw your profile picture and name, so I thought you were a man.”
“I didn’t expect you to be this beautiful. Teacher Liang, are you also a Douyin influencer like Ji Ziyang?”
Li Bai wasn’t particularly talkative, but compared to Liang Manjun, he seemed almost chatty.
“No. I teach at Ocean University.”
Liang Manjun answered briefly.
Li Bai was surprised.
She really was a teacher.
After that, aside from discussing their running pace, they didn’t exchange many words.
Especially after they started running, they simply ran side by side in silence.
Sometimes Li Bai took the lead, sometimes Liang Manjun ran ahead.
One lap around Forest Park was 12 kilometers.
During the first lap, Li Bai felt very comfortable.
Whether it was speed or distance, everything was within his usual running rhythm.
By the second lap, however, the challenge of long-distance running began to show.
Meanwhile, Li Bai quietly observed his running partner.
To his surprise, Liang Manjun, who looked delicate and slender, ran no worse than male runners.
Especially when she led the way, cutting through the wind, Li Bai could clearly see her graceful stride from behind.
It was flawless.
From her heel lift to the way she maintained her center of gravity and landing point…
Everything was textbook perfect.
Her legs were long and slender, her muscles well-proportioned, her lines athletic and elegant.
It was a pleasure to watch… smooth, efficient, beautiful.
After one lap, Liang Manjun’s breathing was even steadier than Li Bai’s.
It was as if those 12 kilometers had barely affected her.
She looked exactly the same as when she had started running.
In contrast, Li Bai’s breathing had grown slightly heavier.
His stamina was still good, but he needed to breathe more forcefully to handle the second half of the run.
What Li Bai didn’t know was that Liang Manjun was also quietly observing him.
Although they barely spoke, Liang Manjun had already learned quite a bit about him from the talkative and enthusiastic Ji Ziyang.
She knew he was a beginner and that his physical condition was decent.
But after running together, she couldn’t help but feel surprised.
You call this a beginner?
Maintaining a 5:10 per kilometer pace for over a dozen kilometers and still having this much energy?
Of course, judging from his somewhat unrefined breathing rhythm and cadence, it was hard to say whether he was truly gifted.
But she could confirm that he wasn’t an experienced runner.
Even so, Liang Manjun was quite satisfied with this running partner.
Not because of his running ability.
It was simply very hard for her to find a suitable partner.
Because she was, undeniably, extremely beautiful… the kind of beauty that tempted trouble.
The male runners she had partnered with before were either sneaking glances at her body, or talking nonstop, their minds not on running at all but on flirting with her.
Some even sped up midway just to show off, disrupting her pace.
With partners like that, she usually ran with them once and then quietly blocked them.
Li Bai was different.
He ran silently the entire time, not saying a single unnecessary word.
His gaze toward her was clear, without a trace of lust.
It was as if he was simply here to run.
And that was exactly how it should be.
“It’s time to refuel,” Liang Manjun said, finally breaking the silence at the 16-kilometer mark.