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Jiang Yining burst into aggrieved sobs. “Wuwuwu…”
He Chi was completely caught off guard, unsure how to comfort her. His brows knit tightly as he wrapped his arms around the person sobbing in his embrace.
When she finally finished crying, Jiang Yining pulled away from him. Seeing that the front of He Chi’s shirt was soaked with her tears, she murmured in a muffled voice, “Sorry… I dirtied your clothes.”
He Chi opened the car door and took out some tissues from inside.
As he gently wiped away her tears with his head lowered, he asked softly, “What happened when you went home just now?”
Jiang Yining choked on her words. “That place isn’t my home.”
He Chi understood immediately—there’d been some kind of unpleasant incident with her family. Since she clearly didn’t want to talk about it, he didn’t press further.
Following her lead, he said, “Alright. From now on, we’ll have a home of our own.”
Her eyes were red from all the crying. He Chi had never comforted anyone before, and seeing Jiang Yining like this for some reason tugged at his heart.
Noticing it was still early, he asked, “Do you want to go somewhere you can really let everything out?”
Only after the emotional storm passed did Jiang Yining realize how humiliating it was to have cried so hard while clinging to He Chi. Spotting someone walking by, she quickly turned her face away.
When she heard He Chi’s question, she gave a small nod.
Once they were back in the car, He Chi glanced over at Jiang Yining, then frowned slightly and asked, “Do you have any suitable clothes for working out at home?”
“I have a set. I wore it last year when the school held a student-teacher sports meet. Will that do?”
“That’ll do.”
He Chi drove her back first so she could pick up her outfit.
The moment he asked if she had any workout clothes, Jiang Yining had a bad feeling.
Normally inactive, she’d only worn that tracksuit once for the school sports event. It had been sitting untouched in the closet ever since.
Standing at the entrance of the gym, Jiang Yining stubbornly clung to a sliver of hope—but it was completely crushed.
He Chi said, “When your heart feels weighed down, you need to release it. Exercise is one of the most effective ways.”
Jiang Yining muttered under her breath, “A good meal would work just as well.”
He Chi heard her say something, but her voice was too soft for him to catch.
He Chi asked, “What’s wrong?”
Jiang Yining looked up. “I said food can lift your spirits just as well.”
The man beside her chuckled. It was a soft laugh, but enough to make the tips of her ears quietly flush red.
He Chi curved his lips. “We’ll eat something nice after the workout.”
Since they were already here, Jiang Yining didn’t want to ruin his good intentions. He was being kind, after all. So she adjusted her mindset and followed him into the gym.
He Chi had workout clothes stored in the car, and the two of them went to change.
Jiang Yining tied her long hair up into a high bun and changed into the gym clothes she had bought a year ago—still crisp and new since they had only been worn once.
When He Chi came out in his outfit, Jiang Yining didn’t dare to look directly at him.
He was wearing a tank top and athletic shorts. The defined lines of his arms were lean and muscular, his entire being radiating masculinity.
There were plenty of good-looking guys at the gym. Jiang Yining noticed one doing ab workouts on a mat and even found herself counting how many packs he had.
Zhang Qiao would probably love this place.
She was watching with interest when someone suddenly blocked her view.
At some point, He Chi had moved to her right, stepping directly in front of her, completely obscuring her line of sight.
Seeing her puzzled gaze, He Chi cleared his throat and said, “Let’s head over to a quieter area.”
Jiang Yining withdrew her gaze. “Okay.”
Just then, someone nearby called out, “He Chi?”
Both Jiang Yining and He Chi stopped in their tracks and turned toward the voice.
It was someone He Chi used to know. Judging by his appearance, he hadn’t come here to work out. With polite formality, He Chi greeted him, “Long time no see. You’re…?”
“This gym belongs to me,” the man said. “I remember you were working out of town. When did you come back?”
“Less than half a year ago,” He Chi replied.
The gym owner turned to Jiang Yining and asked, “And this is?”
He Chi answered without hesitation, “My wife, Jiang Yining.”
Jiang Yining was momentarily stunned, but quickly recovered and gave a soft smile. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too.”
The man seemed surprised. “You’re married? When did that happen?”
“Just got our marriage certificate recently,” He Chi said.
“Congratulations! Let me know when you have the wedding—I’ll drop by and bask in the joy.”
He Chi smiled. “Definitely.”
The man turned to Jiang Yining and added, “Come by often. We’ve got private classes in yoga and Pilates, which a lot of young women enjoy. I’ll give you a membership card.”
Jiang Yining didn’t decline and responded politely, “Thank you.”
He then asked He Chi, “Do you two need a personal trainer?”
He Chi declined, “It’s okay. It’s her first time at a gym. I’ll show her around the equipment myself.”
The man smiled. “Alright, I won’t disturb you two.”
By this point, Jiang Yining’s cheeks were already flushed from how many times He Chi had called her “my wife.” She thought to herself, He really adapted quickly to being a husband.
Even now, Jiang Yining still hadn’t fully come to terms with the fact that He Chi was now her husband. She was still carefully keeping her feelings hidden.
Is this how men are? Even if they didn’t feel anything before, they can just accept someone so easily, even…
Jiang Yining shook her head, trying to shake the inappropriate thoughts from her mind.
He Chi led her over to a treadmill. Seeing that she had her head down and seemed distracted, with her cheeks slightly red, he asked, “Are you feeling unwell?”
Jiang Yining lifted her head, her gaze a little evasive, and shook it. “No.”
He Chi still reminded her gently, “If you feel uncomfortable, let me know right away.”
“Okay.”
He adjusted the incline and speed on the treadmill and said, “Let’s warm up first. I’ll increase the speed later.”
Jiang Yining responded with a quiet “Mm.”
From across the gym, the owner watched them for a while and muttered to himself, “Are all young married couples this reserved these days?”
He Chi even seemed a little shy about holding his own wife’s hand.
The two stayed at the gym until evening. When they left, Jiang Yining was holding a gym membership card.
After working out all afternoon, she did feel much more at ease—but also completely drained.
He Chi took her to a high-end Western restaurant for dinner. Seeing that she looked tired, he sent her back to her friend’s place afterward.
As Jiang Yining was getting out of the car, He Chi said, “Get some rest tonight. If you’re too tired, we can push the move back a couple of days.”
“No need. Let’s move as scheduled.”
He asked for her opinion, “Do you want me to help you pack?”
She quickly shook her head. “It’s alright, I can do it myself.”
She had a lot of books—everything from foreign literature to romance novels. There were even old bestsellers of every genre. She definitely didn’t want He Chi seeing those.
When Zhang Qiao came home from work, she noticed the lights were on but the place was unusually quiet.
It wasn’t even ten o’clock yet. That wasn’t right.
She walked over to Jiang Yining’s bedroom, and since the door was open, she immediately saw someone sprawled out on the bed.
With a laugh, Zhang Qiao asked, “What happened to you? You look like all your energy’s been drained just from having dinner.”
“Was dinner that rough?”