"Yun, have you found a job yet?" Xia Weiwei reached out and gently brushed her hair back, her movement tender and charming.
"Huh? Oh! No, not yet..." Li Yun replied absentmindedly in a low voice, not even lifting his head. After all, his academic performance wasn't great, and the employment rate for college graduates was quite low these days.
"Have you thought about taking the postgraduate entrance exam?" Xia Weiwei didn't seem to mind. She was well aware that Li Yun didn't have a job; otherwise, why would he be attending the job fair at school?
Li Yun shook his head. For some reason, he felt a bit uneasy about Xia Weiwei's question.
"Everyone has their aspirations. It's fine not to pursue a master's degree, but you really should work on your English. I scored a perfect mark on the TOEFL, you know."
Xia Weiwei smiled and said, "How about I tutor you in English?"
Li Yun looked up in confusion. He knew Xia Weiwei's foreign language skills were top-notch in the entire school; even the teachers in the foreign languages department might not match her level. If she helped him, it would be a huge boost to his English proficiency.
But Li Yun was puzzled as to why she would offer to help him with English today, especially since he had already graduated.
"Well... um..." Li Yun didn't outright refuse but hesitated, "Weiwei, you must be very busy with your doctoral thesis."
"I'm not doing this for free, hehe. I do have a condition," Xia Weiwei paused for a moment and then quickly stated her request.
"I've heard that the apartments in Lotus Flower Community are very well-conditioned and quiet. I'll be working on my doctoral thesis next semester, and it's not very convenient in the dormitory. Neither my family nor my relatives live in Donglai City, so I'd like to move in with you and rent a place together.
I'll write my thesis there for no more than one semester, until I finish my doctoral thesis. During this time, I'll tutor you in English, helping you improve your listening, speaking, and reading skills.
As for writing and translation, it might be hard to see significant progress in the short term. In exchange for my tutoring, you won't charge me rent. How does that sound?"
"Is that all?" Li Yun swallowed hard, feeling like he was getting a great deal.
A stunning beauty was strongly requesting to move in and live with him! Moreover, in today's China, being able to speak fluent English is a huge asset in finding a satisfactory job.
"That's it!" Xia Weiwei nodded, her beautiful eyes sparkling like water.
"Alright, it's a deal," Li Yun agreed readily after understanding the reason. His house was empty anyway, and having someone around might help him stop thinking about Lin Yixin all the time.
After agreeing, Li Yun joked, "Then I should thank Teacher Liu..."
"So, it's settled," Xia Weiwei giggled, her smile enchanting and beautiful beyond words. "I'll move in with you this weekend and get used to the environment first."
"Okay! Weiwei, when do we start the tutoring?"
"Tomorrow! We'll start tomorrow. Um, get up at six in the morning, exercise on the school playground first, and then study in the study room..."
With that, Xia Weiwei picked up her LV bag, left the astonished Li Yun behind, and turned to leave. She didn't pay attention to, or perhaps didn't hear, Li Yun's painful groan, "6 a.m... exercise... study room... damn it..."
The next morning, the two alarm clocks on Li Yun's bedside table were proudly making noise: "Beep beep beep..." and "Ring ring ring..."
One alarm clock was right next to the pillow, within easy reach, so he could grab it and throw it away as soon as he heard the sound. The other was placed far away, so he had to get out of bed to turn it off, ensuring he was fully awake.
Li Yun sat up, took several deep breaths of the cool morning air, and his muscles subtly pulsed in rhythm with his breathing, driving away any remaining sleepiness. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and walked into the bathroom.
When Li Yun arrived at the playground fence, he could see from a distance the graceful and agile figure of Xia Weiwei, already stretching and warming up at the spot they had agreed to meet.
He quickened his pace and approached her. At the same time, Xia Weiwei, who was doing aerobics, noticed him. Her bright eyes flickered with a soft smile.
Stopping her light and nimble movements, Xia Weiwei wiped the sweat from her forehead and casually adjusted her ponytail.
As Li Yun got closer, Xia Weiwei greeted him with a smile and glanced at her delicate pink wristwatch. "Not bad, you're not late."
"Good morning, Weiwei, I'm here," Li Yun said, looking at her in her sportswear, ponytail, and rosy face from the exercise, feeling that she had a different charm today compared to yesterday.
"Don't just stand there staring when you get here. Go warm up. Go run ten thousand meters around the track! When you come back, I'll tell you about the future English tutoring schedule," she said, knowing what he was thinking from his gaze and gently pushing his shoulder to snap him out of it.
"If you really can't manage it, run half today!" she added, realizing that ten thousand meters was indeed a bit daunting.
"Sure," Li Yun replied absentmindedly. After taking a few steps, he came to his senses. "Ten thousand meters? Does she think I'm a marathon runner?"
He grumbled to himself, but, not wanting to back down from his promise to her, he kept running. Before he broke through the second layer of the "Fist Scripture," running ten thousand meters would have exhausted him.
But now that he had reached the second layer, the first five kilometers were quite manageable. However, by the eighth kilometer, Li Yun was starting to feel the strain. He wasn't jogging leisurely but running at a moderate pace—slower than the legendary Liu Xiang but not by much.
Breathing heavily, his legs felt like they were weighed down with lead, heavy and numb as if they weren't his own. His lungs and trachea ached from the cold air, and his head began to throb.
When he had just one kilometer left, suddenly a cool, refreshing flow of energy started at the top of his head and slowly moved down his cheeks, chest, and abdomen, then passed through his perineum and rose up his spine, returning to the top of his head, repeating this cycle continuously.
Li Yun was amazed to find that the pain from running gradually disappeared as the energy flowed. His body felt incredibly relaxed and comfortable.
This mysterious energy seemed like a small snowball rolling down from the top of a mountain, growing larger and faster as it rolled. In no time, it had become much larger than when it first appeared.
For the last kilometer, Li Yun's speed was so fast that he broke the world record for the hundred-meter dash, not just once but ten times in a row.
After completing the ten thousand meters, Li Yun slowed down and jogged back to Xia Weiwei's side.