If You Are a Dodder Flower

Part 13

Xia Rou still remembered that Cao Yang told her on the first night to wake up early the next day so he could bring her along for a morning run.

Only because she had run with him in the past did she know what he meant by "wake up early" – it was very early! She set the alarm before she went to bed, so she woke up way before the sky brightened up.

Actually it was quite wonderful to take in the sight of the early, early morning. She didn't need to use her eyes to see, she knew just by listening with her ears.

At first, the atmosphere was tranquil. Then a bird woke up in a tree, chirped twice, waking up a second one, then a third... Very soon, chirping was echoing all throughout the trees.

Some were melodious, some were mild. The chirping sound made it seem like the birds were greeting each other.

It made people who woke up early experience a blissful start to their day.

Xia Rou listened to the noises for a while before getting up. After brushing her teeth and changing her clothes, she went downstairs.

Just as she expected, Cao Yang was already stretching in the courtyard.

"I was just thinking that if you weren't coming down soon I would give you a call," he said. "Why are your eyes swollen?"

Actually Xia Rou had already used a cold towel to rub at her eyes, but they were still slightly swollen. It wasn't hard to notice.

"Edema," she said. "Uncle Zheng made some syrup yesterday, I drank too much before I slept."

It was obvious that her eyes were swollen because she had cried, but Cao Yang didn't unearth her lies.

Her mother had just passed away. It was normal for a young girl to think about her mother while hiding herself inside the blanket to cry. He felt pity just thinking about it.

"Stretch your muscles." He changed the topic, giving her some advice. "Morning runs shouldn't be as slow as night runs, let's up the speed this time."

Xia Rou was happy to see that he changed the topic, following the movements he taught her. Actually, she had learned this from him in the past, so naturally she could easily follow the movements up to his standards.

The last time she turned her waist, she saw a window open in the side building. He Lili had pushed the window open and looked in surprise at the two of them.

She seemed to be shouting something, but the distance was quite far, so Xia Rou was unable to hear clearly. When she tried again to listen carefully, Cao Yang called her with a "let's go" and started running. Xia Rou had no choice but to keep up with him.

She didn't turn back, but she could be sure that He Lili was staring at them from the window...

Their running speed was much faster. It was Cao Yang's intention to help her speed up, so she could improve her physique.

Xia Rou was so exhausted by his training, she almost just laid on the floor and faked dead. She tried to take in big gasps, the air bursting in to her lungs seeming to be almost too much, burning with pain as she tried to expand her lung capacity.

Xia Rou could feel that her efforts put in during her nightly runs weren't in vain. Her physique was at least much stronger than before.

"You okay?" Cao Yang asked. Translated by The Novelst

Xia Rou didn't have the energy to reply to him. She bent down to her knees with one hand out, waving at him in the universal: "Don't talk to me."

Cao Yang laughed, he opened the water bottle and reminded her: "Drink slowly."