Morning Run

It didn't take long before they reached Jinli Palace and returned home.

The lights were open as they entered the dining room, and Si Mu put down the keys before walking straight into the kitchen, tapping the dining table as he commanded, "Sit down."

Xu Anyi watched him in confusion as she pulled a chair out and sat down at the table. He had his back facing her as he stood in front of the stove, pouring something into a bowl.

Then, he grabbed a spoon and came out, holding a large bowl of warm snow fungus soup. He sat down across from her and pushed the bowl of soup over to her, "Drink it."

Xu Anyi looked at the warm steam coming out from the soup and she looked at him in surprise, "Did you make it yourself?"

He nodded.

Xu Anyi did not know how to react as she stood there frozen for a moment. In their marriage agreement, there was definitely no obligation for him to make her soup so late at night, and for a moment, Xu Anyi almost had the misconception that he actually married her for love.

She pressed her lips together as she bent down and took a large gulp of the soup, feeling the warmth of the liquid flow and spread through her cold body. The warmth reached her heart and tears almost threatened to reach her eyes, but she quickly closed them as she took another large gulp.

Her mother used to make her snow fungus soup with pear whenever she got sick, and the one he made tasted really similar.

There was the taste of love in it. . .

—

The next morning, Xu Anyi dragged herself up early in the morning, even though she had only slept for a few hours. She was used to sleeping little already.

She changed into a workout set and tied her hair up in a high ponytail, then left her room as she went down to the kitchen to get a drink of water.

She poured herself a glass of warm water and gulped it down. As she placed the cup back down onto the table, she heard a noise coming from the stairs and she looked over, surprised to see Si Mu walk down the stairs, also in workout clothes.

He looked equally surprised at seeing her, and he raised an eyebrow, "Did you wake up early to workout too?"

Xu Anyi had guessed that he was probably up to workout as well, and she nodded, "I used to go on morning runs. I want to get back to doing it."

Si Mu nodded as he slowly went down the stairs and poured himself a glass of water too, "Let's go together."

The two of them left the house together and Si Mu pulled out a pair of female running shoes from the left side of the shoe cabinet, which was filled with women's shoes.

They walked around the house together, where there was a small path that led to the back of the house. When they reached the back, she saw that there was a large park, or more like a trail that seemed to go up a hill, filled with colorful flowers and beautiful trees.

The flowers in the front faced the balcony of her room, which was what she had seen yesterday when she looked out the balcony.

"This is beautiful," she exclaimed as she stepped onto the dirt road, taking in a deep breath of the morning air. At once, she felt awake and the fatigue from her body disappeared.

"Stretch and warm up," Si Mu said as he bent down to tie his shoes, "It's easy to get injured."

Xu Anyi did as he said and then they started running. He was much taller than her and had longer legs, and she could tell that he purposefully slowed down to match her pace so she could keep up.

However, not only was she much older now, but it had also been over five years since she last ran, and she could not keep up for long. She was quickly out of breath, and her legs were sore as she placed both hands over her hips, gasping for air.

Si Mu's breathing was steady as he stopped and turned to look at her, "Let's go back."

"No-" She shook her head, "I'm okay, let's keep going."

Si Mu looked down the trail and said, "The trail turns to rocks after this and we ran a mile already. It will be a mile going back."

Xu Anyi looked ahead at the trail which was turning downhill, and she straightened her back as her breathing slowed down, "Let's go a little further then. Until the rocks."

Si Mu met her determined gaze and finally, he nodded, moving behind her as he ran a few inches behind her, watching her. Right after finishing the hill and going down, Xu Anyi saw what Si Mu was talking about, as the road turned into a trail of rocks.

The hill ended and in front, the rocks led into a large forest.

She stopped and turned around, "Let's go back."

They began running back up the hill, and Xu Anyi lifted her arm up to wipe the sweat from her forehead as she slowed down, going downhill.

However, as they were halfway down the hill, she felt slightly dizzy as she was exhausted and did not eat anything in the morning, and she slowed down as she took another step forward, but her leg wore out and she felt her lower body weaken as she fell forward, her feet twisting onto the side.

She gasped and she shut her eyes as she prepared to hit the ground, but she suddenly felt a strong arm grab her from behind, pulling her back as she landed back onto a hard chest, her heart almost jumping out of her body.

Her eyes burst open and their position looked like he was hugging her from behind, and it only made her heart jump faster. However, before she could look back or escape from his embrace, she felt a sharp pain shoot up her left leg, centering around her ankle.

"Ah!" She hissed in pain, grabbing onto his arm as she leaned onto her right leg.

Si Mu furrowed his eyebrows together as he looked down, keeping his arm around her waist to support her, but being careful not to touch anywhere he shouldn't touch.

He slowly bent down, reaching his arm down to feel her ankle, and he frowned, looking up at her, "You twisted your ankle."

She had guessed that she probably got hurt as the pain was very severe, and it must have been from when she tripped earlier. However, she could bear this pain, as she had suffered worse pain before.

"It's okay. I can still walk," she said, gently pushing his arm away as she tried to step onto her left foot. She sucked in a breath of cold air as the pain shot up her leg and body once again, and she clenched her fists together tightly.

Si Mu watched her trying to endure the pain with a grave expression and he knew that she was probably holding back tears, pretending to be strong.

Xu Anyi bit her lower lip as she thought about hopping forward on one leg, but as she looked up, she saw Si Mu walk around her, stopping a few inches in front of her.

Then, he kneeled down onto one knee, turning his head around to look up at her as he patted himself on the back, "Get on."