ce, starkly contrasting with Zhuo Yunan's previous speech. It seemed like an act of mischief by the assistant.Sister Cui's face turned cold as she looked at the assistant, who wore an innocent express...On his way back home, Song Jingye also felt a little unbelievable. It was probably how it felt to be eager to return home.

When she got home, the courtyard was quiet. As long as the night light in the yard was on, she hadn't come back yet.

Chen Ning actually returned home earlier, but she went back to the supermarket to buy some daily necessities.

As she walked back, her steps suddenly stopped. At the alley entrance, she saw a tall figure leaning against the wall, staring at her.

Night fell, streetlights cast a dim glow. He leaned against the lamppost, motionless, only extending a hand, waiting for her to run towards him.

She rushed over with the supermarket bags in her hand, jingling and clanging. He hugged her tightly. After just a day apart, it felt like ages. They held each other for a while before finally letting go.

"What did you buy" Song Jingye took her shopping bag.

"Just some household items."

"Why don't you wait for me to come back and buy it together."

"I didn't expect you to be back so soon."

The streetlights in the alley cast long shadows of them, stretching across the brick road. The once distinct, big and small shadows, marching side by side, overlapped at some point and vanished before the gate of the courtyard.

It was night, and the temperature inside the room kept rising.

"Usually I can only do dozens of push-ups, should we challenge 100 tonight"

"I'll give it a try."

"I will help you."

Both of their voices were slurred.

After a while, he found her too slow, so he held her waist with both hands and guided her up and down. She lost control and let him lead the pace.

Song the instructor fell back into his devilish coach mode, very strict. Not fast enough, still not fast enough.

“Let me demonstrate,” he said, his voice tight. He rolled over to face her.

Tonight, 1000 is the starting point.

He did push-ups.

But it was she who was tired, it was she who cried and sweated.

The days together flew by. During the day, I was busy with work, and in the evenings, I would do push-ups, sometimes even having a late-night snack. I enjoyed it so much that my long-standing habit of running at night was disrupted for a while.

That night, she felt that if she kept going like this, she'd lose her motivation. So she changed into her workout clothes and went for a night run.

"Uncle, would you like to go together"

"Together." Song Jingye also changed into a training suit and went with her.

Chen Ning's running route is not a conventional night running route, it's rather offbeat.

"Last time I wanted to tell you this, in the future you should run by yourself and avoid these remote places, it's not safe."

"Don't worry, these routes are just less crowded but very safe. There's a police station right ahead, and a fire station too."

Song Jingye remained noncommittal and ran a few meters before suddenly approaching her from behind. He caught her off guard with a grappling technique, causing Chen Ling to fall directly to the ground. However, he controlled her fall, preventing her from truly hitting the floor.

Chen Ning responded with a bewildered "What". She tried to flip herself over from underneath to break free from his control, but she was simply no match for his strength and remained firmly pinned down, unable to move.

"What are you doing" she said angrily.

Song Jingye then pulled her up to stand straight: "I'm telling you, if someone were to harm you, you would be completely defenseless, wouldn't even have a chance to scream for help."

Chen Ning didn't even want to say a word back, was there anyone who dared to "test the waters" like this She almost fell to the ground just now.

But Song Jingye seemed not to know she was angry, and continued, “Later when we get home, I’ll teach you some self-defense. I can’t always be around to protect you.”

“No.” She stomped back, her desire to run gone.

Song Jingye only then knew she was angry. He took big strides forward, grabbed her arm, and forced her to stand face-to-face with him. He pinched her cheek: "Really angry"

Chen Ning turned her face away and ignored him.

"Okay, I'm not angry anymore. I'll be more careful next time."

"Is there another one" Chen Ling glared at him.

"Think about what I just said, it makes sense. You're a young girl running around here, what if something happens" He needed to teach her a lesson, safety was non-negotiable. Song Jingye wouldn't compromise on that, he just needed to be more tactful next time.

"Got it." Chen Ling replied. The route was very safe, and because they had gone out late today, there were especially few people around.

"I think what's more important than running right now is learning some basic self-defense."

She warmed up by running, and before long, he pulled her back for real training.

Chen Ning only found out tonight that the house east of his yard was actually a small training ground. It was equipped with all sorts of exercise equipment upon entering.

Chen Ling replied, “I used to learn martial arts with Xu Haochen. I can defend myself, it’s just that I wasn’t prepared and you took me down.”

“Learn from Xu Haocheng With his mediocre skills, who could he possibly defend against”

"It's about going to learn with him, not learning from him." Chen Ning explained.

"Is there a difference"

Chen Ling then fell silent.

He tapped her forehead again. "Not willing"

"I wouldn't dare. You are Commander Song, to be personally taught by you is my good fortune." She said it with a deliberately sarcastic tone, but in reality, her attitude was respectful and she was ready.

Song Jingye: "Real self-defense is different from the fighting you've learned." In his view, what's taught on the market are all flashy moves, just gestures, with no real use.

When it came to training, he was incredibly strict. He would demonstrate each move once and then have Chen Ning repeat it thirty times. If the movements weren't done correctly, he wouldn't hesitate to scold her.

Sometimes it's just professional habit, harsh words coming out of one's mouth.

"Shift your weight down a little, and power through with your legs."

Chen Ning turned and looked back.

He boomed again, "Legs, here! This is the leg." He crouched down and tapped her calf, urging her to put power into that area.

Chen Ning also worked hard, silently enduring everything. He did whatever he was taught, his legs aching badly, but he never complained.

After completing the basic movements training, Song Jingye said: “If I were the enemy now, and I grabbed your neck from behind, covered your mouth, what would you do”

As he spoke, he swiftly made the movements, grabbing her neck from behind.

Chen Ning followed his instructions, grabbing his hand that was covering his mouth with one hand and using the elbow of her other hand to strike him in the ribs.

But

After all, lacking experience, when he swung his elbow back, his palm accidentally hit him hard in the lower abdomen.

Chen Ling realized where she had hit, and jumped in fright.

Song Jingye was caught off guard and yelped in pain from her strike. He loosened his grip on her, “You actually came up with your own moves.”

"Does it hurt" she instinctively crouched in front of him, reaching out to take a look.

She was turned away by Song Jingye's large hand pressing down on her head.

Chen Ning didn't feel embarrassed at all, she was just worried. What she did just now wasn't light.

He was being held by the hand, his head pressed down as he struggled to turn back.

Song Jingye was only hurt for a moment just now, he wasn't really injured.yang accompanied her, she couldn't help but feel a little sour, and there was also a bit of longing for him. She wondered how he was doing now, if he was safe.She just sent him a short Spring Festival...