108: Runner - 1

Thanks to ' What' for 10 Urge-Update Talismans~; 'Username20631266' for 5 Urge-Update Talismans~; ' Yiyeyy' for Inspiration Capsule and 5 Boba Milk Teas~; thanks to 'Autumn@.' for 3 Urge-Update Talismans~

Thank you all for the Urge-Update Talismans, flowers, blades, likes, and power-ups!

————

December 22nd, Monday.

Seven in the morning, dawn's light faint, the cold biting.

The deeply ingrained traditional notions of 'early to go, early to return' and 'better early than late' made Jiang Ye, who usually got up after eight, open his eyes at this ungodly hour for the first time ever.

Make money! Do tasks! Handle both, and handle both well!

Jiang Ye sat up in bed, rubbed his eyes, glanced sideways at the still-active WeChat voice call next to his pillow, and grinned.

After realizing Yaoyao had guessed his dual identity, looking back at their various online interactions over the past few days, all those awkward moments suddenly made perfect sense.

However, after dropping that screenshot of the account with a million diamonds yesterday, all the entanglement and awkwardness instantly vanished.

On the other end of WeChat, 'Brother's Good Baby' was back, and even clingier than before, even... more fawning than ever.

"Tsk, the power of money, truly something you love and hate."

Jiang Ye muttered to himself while stretching with a big yawn.

He was just about to roll out of bed when an all-too-familiar sound came from his phone—a sleepy, coquettish murmur of a girl just waking up:

"Mmm... hmm~~~~ Bro~ther~"

The voice was soft, slurred, with a hint of a nasal tone, like a little kitten not fully awake.

Jiang Ye paused, somewhat surprised.

This woman... why is she up so early today too?

According to her usual routine, shouldn't she sleep until 8:30 and then scramble to make her 9 o'clock slot?

"Yaoyao? You're awake?"

"Mmm..."

Her slurred, coquettish voice came through: "Huh? Brother, you're awake too? Why so early?"

Jiang Ye ruffled his bedhead hair, picked up his phone, walked into the bathroom, and turned on the faucet: "Got some things to take care of outside later. What about you? Up so early for something?"

"No~"

Yaoyao's voice gradually cleared, and she chuckled sweetly:

"Don't know why I suddenly woke up, maybe my heart sensed brother's presence... hehe, my body just woke up on its own wanting to get close~"

Jiang Ye bared his teeth at the mirror, squeezed out some of that whitening toothpaste hyped to the skies on TikTok livestreams—touted as 'whitens in one brush, shines bright'—and said while brushing, slurring his words:

"Alright then, since you're already up, keep working on your Letter of Repentance. You only wrote a few hundred words yesterday, right? A long road ahead, comrade."

Yaoyao's breath hitched: "Bro~! In the morning, can we not talk about that! I just want to linger by your ear and be lovey-dovey with you now~ Come on, bring your little mouth closer... Mua~~"

"Shi——"

Jiang Ye shuddered violently, goosebumps rising all over.

See, this is the powerful effect of that screenshot!

Not only did it cure her identity confusion, it even overcorrected a bit, racing headlong toward 'ultimate simp' territory.

"Act normal, speak properly! Or I'm hanging up!"

Yaoyao was clearly used to her big brother's lack of romance by now and chuckled: "Okay, okay, got it~"

Jiang Ye finished brushing, bared his teeth at the mirror again, and examined them carefully.

Hmm, as expected.

This influencer toothpaste is useless; the whitening effect is purely psychological.

He casually changed the subject: "Had breakfast yet? You're living with a roommate now, do you eat together?"

"No, she has to go to work, gets up early, she's eating now. I'll just fix something simple for myself later."

"Work, huh? That's indeed early, she should be heading out after eating, right?"

"Yeah~ Hehe, lucky I have brother, don't have to work hard~"

"Hmm... alright, hanging up now, I need to get ready to go out."

"Mhm mhm, be careful on the road, brother~"

————

On the other side, Room 1602, Building 7.

Lin Wanxing was sitting at the dining table drinking soy milk, watching her roommate across from her, who had been wearing headphones and cooing into her phone for half the morning. She couldn't help but ask curiously:

"Xiao Su, is this the... Top Supporter you mentioned? Maintaining the client this early in the morning?"

"Yes, it's him."

Su Ning took off her headphones and took a bite of the fried egg in front of her: "Don't know what's gotten into him today, up so early. I almost didn't react in time, good thing I'm quick-witted."

"So... just chatting like this gets you that many gifts? Without even having met you in person?"

"Yep, as a voice streamer, you're selling your voice and emotional value, no need to show your face. But not all big supporters are like this, you have to get lucky, it's not easy to find one who's willing to spend."

"That's really quite good..."

Lin Wanxing felt a bit envious: "Your monthly income must be much higher than mine, a Fitness Coach who clocks in and out on time and has to worry about performance, right?"

"No, Sister Wanxing, you don't know. Before meeting this big supporter, I only made two or three thousand a month."

Su Ning shook her head, telling the truth: "In this line, many people don't make money, some even lose money on electricity and internet. I just got incredibly lucky, ran into... uh, a rather special one."

As she spoke, seeing Lin Wanxing get up, put on her backpack and jacket, she asked: "Sister Wanxing, are you really running to MixC City? It's several kilometers away!"

"Yeah, I'm used to it."

Lin Wanxing jumped in place a couple of times, moving her ankles: "I go for a morning run every day anyway, now that I live closer, it's perfect to run there. Alright, I'm off now, see you tonight."

"Okay, see you tonight, be careful." Su Ning waved.

————

Lin Wanxing took the elevator down and did a few simple warm-up stretches in the small garden downstairs.

After loosening up, she started jogging toward the residential complex entrance.

As she ran, she suddenly noticed someone else running slightly behind and to her side—wearing a mask and a baseball cap, judging by the build, a man.

Lin Wanxing couldn't help but smile slightly.

After all, it's a high-end complex; there really are quite a few people who care about health management.

When she lived in the old neighborhood, she could occasionally meet a few neighbors running in the summer, but in winter, they basically disappeared.

She didn't expect to meet a fellow enthusiast on her second day here, adding a few more points of goodwill toward her new environment.

Reaching the complex entrance, Lin Wanxing did a few more large stretches, loosening all her muscles, then increased her pace to a 7-minute-per-kilometer pace, running steadily toward MixC City.

While waiting at a traffic light, she glanced back and noticed that figure had also caught up, seemingly having picked up speed too.

However, the other person's running form looked a bit awkward, not like someone who exercises regularly, probably an amateur enthusiast or just someone running on a whim occasionally.

After running for a while, Lin Wanxing felt her body was fully warmed up. Adjusting her breathing, she increased her speed to a 5-minute-per-kilometer pace—her usual rhythm for morning runs.

Subconsciously, she looked back again. The running buddy behind her had already disappeared, probably changed routes or stopped to rest.