Overnight, all the glory surrounding the young man was shattered.
Even though Shen Muran didn’t care about those empty titles.
Jiang Li’s heart skipped a beat.
The reversal in public opinion was too extreme—she could only think of two words: a setup.
Back then, it was after reading that post that she learned about Shen Muran and openly expressed her disdain for him without holding back.
Outside the window, on a large tree, two baby birds were fighting over food from their mother’s beak, even pecking at each other.
One of the birds, pecked until it looked dejected, flew over in a panic, crashed into the music room window, and fell at Jiang Li’s feet.
The rumors seemed strange, but Shen Muran usually kept such a low profile at school, like an unnoticed ant.
Jiang Li muttered softly, “Who’s jealous of him?”
“I’m jealous of him!”
Ji Chengyu shouted at the sky, “Why is it that when Shen Muran is busy, you drag me along for your physical training? It’s not fair!”
Jiang Li leaned forward with her hands on her knees, panting heavily, “Because your brother sold you to me. Got a problem with that?”
She gulped down a bottle of water, “Even if you do, keep it to yourself.”
Physical training was originally scheduled twice a week, but on Tuesday morning, Shen Muran suddenly had something come up. He sent over a prepared training schedule and told her to follow it.
Jiang Li lacked the motivation to exercise alone, so she dragged her “slave” along.
Unexpectedly, Ji Chengyu’s stamina was even worse than hers.
“Hey, with those skinny arms and legs of yours, you still expect to become a star? You’d probably faint after just one stage performance with singing and dancing!”
Ji Chengyu mechanically pounded his legs, his eyes lifeless, looking like a dead dog. “I’m a guitarist, not an idol who runs and jumps around on stage.”
Under the shade of a tree, a cool breeze blew past. Jiang Li sat curled up by the track, clutching the schedule and checking off the “interval running” section.
“Hey, hey, get up.” After resting for five minutes, Jiang Li felt her breath returning. “We still have sit-ups and frog jumps to do.”
Her husband had worked hard to create this plan for her, so she had to complete it.
She was counting on using this schedule to earn a reward~
Ji Chengyu really wanted to drink some soapy water and pretend to foam at the mouth.
“Shen Muran isn’t chasing you with a whip to train, so why are you pushing yourself so hard?” Ji Chengyu struggled to stand up, dusting off his pants.
“You don’t get it.”
Jiang Li stuffed the schedule back into her pocket. “Yesterday, I managed to do 17 sit-ups in a minute. That’s a huge improvement.”
Besides, Shen Muran’s training regimen was much easier than her brother’s.
“You’re proud of 17? Sister Li, have you ever considered that you’re just too weak?” Ji Chengyu knew exactly how to hit a nerve.
“Get lost.”
Jiang Li shot him a glare.
The girl had changed into a light blue fitted sports tank top today, revealing a slender waist. Paired with blue-and-white tapered sweatpants and a high ponytail, she looked fresh and full of energy.
Jiang Li hadn’t seen Shen Muran for four days, and his replies to her messages were always delayed. If she didn’t know his time was truly filled with work and studies, she would have thought he was deliberately avoiding her.
“Hey, take a photo for me.”
Jiang Li handed her phone to Ji Chengyu, then placed her hands on the track, forearms pressed firmly against the ground, toes digging in, and held a plank position.
“Make it look good.”
Ji Chengyu clicked his tongue with a smirk. Women were so troublesome.
But he didn’t dare disobey his Sister Li.
After all, she was someone who aspired to be an idol in the future, so her photography skills were quite impressive—precise composition, shots that looked like professional photoshoots, no need for filters.
Jiang Li smirked, sending the photo over while typing a message, “Teacher Shen, the plank is so hard! Is my form correct?”
If she couldn’t see him, then she’d make Shen Muran see her anyway~
Ji Guanyu noticed her smug grin and leaned over to look, his lips curling downward uncontrollably. “Sis Li, if you weren’t using that face of yours to reel in a guy, I’d definitely call you a little green tea.”
Jiang Li snorted proudly. “Different strokes for different folks. You’re single, you wouldn’t understand.”
“Tsk tsk, if I were Shen Muran, I wouldn’t even know how to reply to you.”
The next second, her phone dinged.
Shen Muran had replied.
Jiang Li triumphantly waved her phone. “He replied~”
Opening the chat, she saw: 【Your back is arched.】
A sharp burst of laughter erupted beside her ear.
“Laugh again and I’ll beat you to death,” the girl chased the silver-haired boy across the playground.
Jiang Li’s cheeks puffed up in anger as she kept hitting the boy in front of her.
The boy didn’t fight back, his smile unwavering.
Under the willow tree outside the distant playground, Shen Muran watched the scene, his finger hovering over the delete button.
In the end, he deleted the unsent message in the chat box—【I’ll come teach you now.】
After the daily training session, Jiang Li’s stomach growled with hunger.
She hadn’t finished the fruit Shen Muran had prepared for her that morning. Remembering he used to like honeydew melon, she decided to intercept him at the administration building.
She’d asked one of Ji Chengyu’s lackeys to track his whereabouts—apparently, Shen Muran had been visiting the counselor at the administration building a lot lately.
Jiang Li got lucky. Just as she reached the entrance, Shen Muran stepped out of the elevator.
“Shen Muran, what a coincidence!”
“What have you been up to these days? I’ve been following the training plan you gave me every single day~”
Jiang Li jogged over to meet him.
She unfolded the schedule, her eyes sparkling as she stared at him, as if saying, “Praise me now.”
Shen Muran recalled her playful scuffle with Ji Chengyu on the playground and replied coldly.
“Got it.”
“It’s noon now. Are you hungry? How about we go together—”
Before she could finish saying “to the cafeteria,” the man had already quickened his pace and walked ahead.
“What’s wrong? Are you mad?”
Jiang Li hurried to catch up, tilting her head to try and meet his eyes.
Though the man’s face remained expressionless, she could already sense the storm brewing in Shen Muran’s gaze.
Jiang Li didn’t know the reason, but she resorted to her usual tactic—sticking close.
“Shen Muran, I’m so hungry. Buy me some food, will you?”
“You have no idea, Professor Zhu might be going through menopause. I played one wrong note, and he hit my palm with a ruler. It hurt so much.”
“Oh, by the way, do you want some honeydew melon? You’ve been giving me too much breakfast lately. If you don’t help me finish it, I won’t be able to eat it all. Why don’t you wait until I’m around before bringing breakfast?”
Jiang Li chattered like a little bird, sticking close to him.
Shen Muran had originally planned to go to the sports department to pick up his racket, but hearing her say she was hungry, he changed direction and headed to the cafeteria instead.
“What do you want to eat?”
The man suddenly stopped, and Jiang Li, not paying attention to where they were, crashed right into him.
Her face collided with his firm, solid chest.
Shen Muran’s clothes were very clean, likely washed with a fresh pear blossom and jasmine-scented laundry detergent.
“I… want two steaks,” Jiang Li handed him her meal card. “One for you, one for me.”