He’d played basketball with the older boys at school since he was little, and daily exercise became essential as he grew up. Back when he first started high school, a chubby friend of his swore he was going to lose weight. To motivate him, Chen Yuan made a bet with him: they had to run at least five laps around the track after their evening study sessions.
In the end, his chubby friend didn’t stick with it.
But Chen Yuan, on the other hand, got hooked on running.
In high school, Mrs. Chen wouldn’t let him play video games and strictly limited his phone time.
Chen Yuan had to find other recreational activities, like playing badminton or table tennis with school friends, or sneaking off to the county’s only swimming pool.
Once he jumped in the pool, he swam like there was no tomorrow!
’If I don’t have abs, who does?’
He actually wished he could be like everyone else—flop onto his bed after getting home, grab his phone, and play games while chugging soda. But he never had the chance.
Chen Yuan was not happy about being questioned.
"I haven’t trained like crazy or anything, but I have a six-pack at least," Chen Yuan said, grabbing Jiangg Yao’s hand. He turned his head away, avoiding her gaze, and lifted his sweatshirt. "Feel for yourself."
’Oh, this is so embarrassing...’
’Gosh, I totally didn’t want to touch them!’
"You’re the one who said it."
"I said it."
Jiangg Yao was a master of playing hard to get.
Seeing her plan succeed, her heart leaped with joy.
She tentatively slipped her hand under Chen Yuan’s sweatshirt. The first thing she felt was the warmth of his body. Her hand trembled slightly, and her cheeks flushed red.
Both of them tensed up.
The scene looked just like a beautiful, intellectual doctor giving a physical to a male college student. If she’d been wearing a white coat, the image would have been perfect.
The air was so still they could only hear each other breathing.
Chen Yuan could clearly feel a soft, trembling hand slowly press against his stomach. At first, she was hesitant, as if afraid to touch him with any real pressure. But after a few light taps, Jiangg Yao grew bolder.
She wasn’t just stroking up and down; she was tracing the edges of his muscles with her fingertips.
"Feel them now?"
"I feel them!" Jiangg Yao nodded.
The well-defined abs, carrying that slightly higher body temperature unique to guys... She bit her lip, her mind exploding like fireworks. ’Wow, they feel amazing! It feels so good to touch them whenever I want, hehe.’
’I’ll touch!’
’I’ll pinch!’
’I’ll squeeze!’
Chen Yuan clearly felt how bold her mischievous hands were getting. They were even heading for his waist, and since he was ticklish there, he jerked back.
"Okay, stop," he said, pushing her hand away.
"I’m... I’m not done feeling them!" She’d wanted to say, ’I’m not done enjoying this!’ but suddenly felt that wording was too forward, so she changed her tune mid-sentence.
"That’s enough."
"Don’t be shy, little master. Look, your face is all red," Jiangg Yao said, leaning in until her face was just inches from his. They looked into each other’s eyes as she blinked repeatedly, her long lashes threatening to brush against his cheek. "Let big sis give you a check-up, hmm?"
"I don’t think that’s a good idea..."
"What’s not good about it? You’re not a kid... Oh, my, a blushing little master is even cuter." Jiangg Yao put on a deliberately saccharine voice that was almost wicked. Never mind Chen Yuan; the syrupy tone gave even her own skin goosebumps.
Even the hardest steel would melt before such tender affection.
Her voice grew softer and softer, so low that you had to strain to hear it. But focusing so intently only made that gentle whisper linger in his ear.
Impossible to shake.
"You’re so handsome..."
"And I really like your abs..."
"Your lips look so soft..."
With each whisper, Chen Yuan’s heart rate shot past a hundred. He couldn’t bring himself to look directly at Jiangg Yao.
The atmosphere in the living room was thick with intimacy. They were huddled close under the small blanket. Jiangg Yao leaned in, and Chen Yuan lowered his head to meet her.
She even closed her eyes, ready to give Chen Yuan her first kiss.
Suddenly!
BUZZ—
BUZZ—
A phone rang at the most inopportune moment. The sound was more jarring than anything he’d ever heard, shattering the atmosphere they had so carefully built. Chen Yuan froze for a second before looking over.
Jiangg Yao’s eyes snapped open.
She wanted to ignore it, but the sound was too loud to disregard.
’Damn it!’
Gritting her teeth, Jiangg Yao grabbed the phone. ’Who the hell is calling at a time like this? So infuriating!’
The caller ID read: Jiangg Ning.
The moment she saw the name, Jiangg Yao froze. She quickly sat up straight, a flicker of confused panic in her eyes.
’Why is my sister calling now?’
’Did something happen?’
Jiangg Yao wasn’t that afraid of her sister. What she feared was that her sister was at home right now, and if their mother was with her... At the thought, Jiangg Yao shuddered.
’No, no, no... It can’t be that bad.’
She shook the thoughts from her head and gestured for Chen Yuan to be quiet.
Chen Yuan nodded.
She composed herself, deliberately cleared her throat, and then cautiously answered the call.
"Hello?"
"Yaoyao, I’m at Uncle’s place right now. Have you eaten?"
Hearing this, the weight on Jiangg Yao’s heart lifted instantly, and her taut nerves relaxed.
"I just finished, Sis."
"Uncle was asking why you didn’t come. I told him you didn’t feel like going out. He’s worried about you, so he had me call and check... Why don’t you talk to him yourself?"
"Okay, put him on."
Jiangg Yao unconsciously reached up and began twirling a lock of her hair. Meanwhile, Chen Yuan had gotten up from the sofa and gone to the bathroom.
The two sisters had a pretty good relationship with their uncle.
When they were little, the thing they looked forward to most was their uncle’s visits. He would secretly bring them snacks and toys their mother had expressly forbidden, or he would take them out to play.
Those were their few moments of freedom, when they didn’t have to study piano, dance, etiquette, or a myriad of foreign languages...
But that was the extent of it, because their uncle was also afraid of Mrs. Jiangg.
It was the sort of situation where one cold look from Mrs. Jiangg would make all three of them tremble.
In truth, Jiangg Ruxue was a strange case. She was clearly beautiful and well-educated, and her family was a well-known, prominent one in Mingzhu City.
But her personality was absolutely terrible. In her youth, she was a master manipulator—selfish, vicious, and ruthless. To climb the social ladder, she stole another woman’s husband and took her place.
She gave birth to Jiangg Ning and Jiangg Yao.
For a while when they were very young, the two sisters did enjoy a warm family life.
But what goes around comes around. An even more skillful homewrecker came along and completely crushed Jiangg Ruxue. Unable to outmaneuver her rival, she ended up with a negotiated divorce, taking a considerable settlement. She then found a new target, started her own company, and built a massive business, despite her terrible reputation.
After the divorce, she no longer had to pretend to be a virtuous wife and loving mother. Her twisted need for control was unleashed, and she would resort to corporal punishment for the slightest infraction.
When Jiangg Ning’s father—Jiangg Ruxue’s ex-husband—died, Jiangg Ruxue didn’t shed a single tear. Instead, she was in court the very next day fighting over the inheritance.
In the courtroom, she wept like a damsel in distress.
She even made her young daughters testify in court to win sympathy.
The two little girls trembled under the gazes of everyone in the room.
Jiangg Ruxue was, through and through, a venomous woman.
It was a stroke of incredible luck that neither of the girls inherited her vicious nature.
However, it was worth noting that, compared to Jiangg Ning, Jiangg Yao was more like their mother—both in the way she could turn on the charm and in her flair for performance.
And in her youth, Jiangg Ruxue had been even more beautiful than both her daughters.
Such a beauty, yet she chose to be a villain.
Chen Yuan had no idea what kind of mother-in-law he would one day face. At that moment, he was just enjoying a satisfying piss.
Jiangg Yao exchanged a few brief words with her uncle, assuring him under his concerned questioning that there was nothing seriously wrong.
She hung up with a CLICK.
Chen Yuan walked back from the bathroom. "Who was that? You looked so tense."
"Oh, no one important. Let’s continue."