Idiot Idiot

"Let's just take the bike!"

Making her run a kilometer to the park early in the morning, only to have to walk back afterward? She would literally die of exhaustion!

Xia Yanchun didn't care about Shen Nian's opinion; she had already run to the parking shed on her own and straddled Shen Nian's bike.

"You're taking the bike for such a short distance? You're lazy as hell."

"So what? What about it?"

"I'm speechless. I ought to punch you, believe it or not." Shen Nian fished the keys out of his pocket and tossed them to her. "If you want to take the bike, you're driving. I'm not doing it."

"Fine, I will."

Shen Nian nimbly hopped onto the back seat, his hands slipping from her shoulders down to her waist.

Xia Yanchun rode carefully and quite slowly, especially since she was carrying a passenger.

The sky hadn't completely brightened yet. At this hour, the only people out were those exercising or opening breakfast stalls; they hardly saw a soul along the way.

"Let's grab breakfast on the way. We won't come back; we'll head straight to school."

"Huh? Aren't you coming back to shower?"

"I'm not doing any intense exercise, so I won't sweat."

"Oh, okay."

They bought soup dumplings and corn on the cob, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived at the park.

Whether it was the park for fishing or the one for daily exercise, Shen Nian hadn't visited in a while, and he suddenly felt a bit nostalgic.

Looking at the other middle-aged men exercising—love to see it.

Looking at the park's resident NPC grandpas—love to see it.

Looking at the aunties square dancing—love to see it.

"Yo, I thought you stopped coming."

"It's cold out. When it's cold, I don't really feel like coming."

"Young people afraid of the cold? Back in my day, I was chopping wood shirtless in twenty degrees below zero."

"Grandpa, since when did the south ever hit twenty below?" Shen Nian was exasperated.

*This damn old geezer is really acting tough. He'll learn his lesson when no one gives up their seat for him on the bus.*

"You don't know jack." The old man stroked his beard. Noticing the girl following behind him, he looked her over curiously and smiled. "Your girlfriend?"

"I'm his older sister!" Xia Yanchun corrected him.

"Is that so..."

Xia Yanchun leaned in close to Shen Nian and whispered, "How do you know him? Is he a relative?"

"I don't know. We just started chatting and it ended up like this."

Shen Nian rubbed his chin. Forget names—he didn't even know the old man's surname. Yet, they had somehow become familiar enough to chat a bit every day during his workouts.

The old man wasn't exactly a decent fellow, but luckily, neither was he. It was a case of birds of a feather flocking together. Every now and then, they'd exchange some crude banter, and the old man often said things that made Shen Nian's face turn dark.

"You seem pretty close. You really don't even ask for names?"

"Guys are just like that. I once met a teacher online who taught me a lot of things. We talked a lot, but in the end, I never knew his name."

"What kind of teacher?"

"He taught me how to download Galgames," Shen Nian sighed with emotion. "Now that was a true mentor..."

"Why do I feel like I don't understand?"

"It's normal that you don't. This is a bond between men. Heroes don't ask about origins or background. Sometimes, a name really isn't that important."

Xia Yanchun rolled her eyes, unable to hide her disdain. She knew just by thinking about it that it definitely wasn't anything good.

She heard boys would form small groups to share websites and resources. It was so creepy; reporting them would definitely get them banned.

The old man had already turned around, hands clasped behind his back, to watch the square dancing. Shen Nian took off his outer jacket and draped it over Xia Yanchun's head. "Hold this for me. I'm going to run a bit to warm up."

"Mmh."

Xia Yanchun folded his jacket, hung it over her arm, and sat down on the nearest bench.

While Shen Nian warmed up, she sat nearby eating breakfast in small bites. Her eyes followed Shen Nian; when he ran further away, she would look down at her shoes, waiting for him to run back from the other side.

The warm-up run didn't take long. For Shen Nian, a casual few hundred meters was enough. It only took two or three minutes. When he returned, he saw Xia Yanchun gnawing on a corn cob.

There were bits of corn on the corner of her mouth. She looked like a silly roe deer, her big, dark eyes staring his way. She didn't speak, just ate.

*So cute.*

Shen Nian didn't say a word. He just did his own workout, pretending Xia Yanchun didn't exist.

Because the exercise intensity wasn't high, he didn't break a sweat at all. Since he was heading straight to school, it was best to control the sweating.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to snuggle with Chunbao at noon; Chunbao would be disgusted with him.

After running laps for about ten minutes, Shen Nian went over to the fitness equipment, planning to do two sets of pull-ups.

He hadn't done many when Xia Yanchun followed him over, standing to the side drinking soy milk and watching him.

"Go on, I'll count for you."

"The moment you came over, I lost the urge to do them."

"Tch, then I won't watch." Xia Yanchun turned around glumly, popping a small soup dumpling into her mouth.

Hearing the sound of a jump behind her, she immediately spun back around.

Shen Nian had merely hopped in place. Mimicking Xia Yanchun's tone from earlier, he teased, "Yo, yo, yo, I won't watch anymore~"

Xia Yanchun stomped her foot in embarrassment, glaring daggers at him. "People who parrot others usually have weak kidneys!"

"Someone's triggered."

"...!!"

She was going to cough up blood. Xia Yanchun felt that her period next month was bound to come early from being so angry at Shen Nian.

Fortunately, Shen Nian didn't continue to provoke her. Otherwise, she would have secretly ridden the bike to school while he was exercising and let Shen Nian walk there slowly!

"Then help me count. Don't shortchange me."

"Just start already. I'm so done with you."

Shen Nian leaped onto the highest bar, hanging from it. With a standard overhand grip, he pulled himself up again and again.

Three, four, five...

Eighteen, nineteen, twenty...

*It's one thing to be good at push-ups, but how is he so good at pull-ups too?* Xia Yanchun pinched her own arm through her clothes. It was soft; she felt like she had no muscle at all.

They had been tested on pull-ups in P.E. class too. Back in the second year of high school, Shen Nian could only do four or five. He had used momentum to jump up for the first one, and the rest were a struggle. Now he was really amazing; Shen Nian had been working out all along!

Yet she was still the same weakling, likely to be punched into a wall by Shen Nian so hard she couldn't be pried out.

"Phew, I'm exhausted. It's all your fault." Shen Nian pretended to be completely worn out, bracing his hands on his knees and gasping for air, his lungs burning.

"What does it have to do with me?"

"With you watching, I wanted to do a few extra. I almost went to failure."

"Who told you to show off? Caring about that little bit of pride in front of me... stupid pig." Xia Yanchun hurriedly draped his jacket over him. "If you're tired, stop training. Let's get to school a bit early today!"

"Whatever you say. Let's go. By the way, how many did I do just now?"

"Thirty-four. I guess you're pretty tough."

"You just realized? I've known for ages."

"Hmph. Next time you do push-ups, I'm going to ride on your back."

"Are you a grandmaster in the field of back-stepping massage?"

"If you keep spouting that nonsense meme stuff, I'll stuff my shoe in your mouth."

Shen Nian smiled faintly, nudged her to the side, and helped himself to the leftover breakfast in her hand.

The soup dumplings and soy milk were meant for two, but the corn on the cob was something Xia Yanchun had bought for herself. She had gnawed through more than half of it, leaving only a bit at the bottom unfinished.

"I can't eat anymore," Xia Yanchun spoke up first. "You finish it off for me. Don't let it go to waste."

"You really remind me of my sister..."

"I am your big sister."

"Yeah, yeah, sure."

Xia Yanchun looked up at Shen Nian, imaginary pink and white flowers blooming around her in abundance.

Big sister. I'm the big sister!

This time, Shen Nian admitted it with his own mouth! With absolutely no threats or coercion, Shen Nian actually acknowledged that I'm the big sister!

Xia Yanchun’s eyes curved into happy crescents, her smile dazzling. "Heh heh, heh heh..."

Shen Nian gnawed on the leftover corn on the cob. Seeing how happy she was, he held it out to her. "Have a bite."

Xia Yanchun opened her mouth and took a tiny bite, her lips moving rapidly as she chattered, "I already told you to finish the rest, so why are you feeding it to me? You dummy."

"Well, you ate it anyway, didn't you?"

"That still makes you a dummy."

The pale light of dawn hung on the horizon. The six o'clock sky, usually the most dreaded sight, could occasionally look this beautiful with its azure expanse and drifting clouds.