November 24, 2023, Friday, clear, -4 to 3°C.
Zhu Xi Residential Area.
Early morning. Outside the window, everything was still shrouded in silent darkness.
Tang Song slowly opened his eyes amid Wen Ruan's soft warmth and fragrance.
Turning his head, he looked at Gao Mengting sleeping soundly beside him, a smile appearing on his face.
Accompanied by a bank deposit notification, Tang Song quietly got out of bed.
He put on thick clothes and went downstairs.
He pushed open the building entrance door.
A freezing wind carrying the scent of frost and snow instantly rushed in.
Tang Song tightened his coat collar, exhaled a cloud of white mist, and stepped into the pre-dawn stillness.
A thin layer of white frost covered the lawns and holly trees along the roadside.
The morning felt bitterly cold. Since he had not left any workout clothes here, he simply gave up on running and took a slow walk instead.
When the time was about right, Tang Song took out his phone, put on his Bluetooth earbuds, and dialed Liu Qingning for a voice call.
The call was answered almost instantly, and White Moonlight's slightly lazy voice soon came through the receiver. "Morning, Song."
"Good morning, wife."
"Ah!" Liu Qingning let out a soft cry, flustered and shy at his sudden form of address. "W-What are you calling me that for?"
"You don't like it?"
The two of them chatted idly like that.
About the weather in Yancheng and Shencheng, and about Xuanji Guangjie's upcoming industrial plans.
Tang Song slowly walked through the empty residential area, listening to the brisk patter of footsteps coming from the treadmill.
They talked for over half an hour.
Only after Liu Qingning finished her morning workout did they hang up.
Without realizing it, Tang Song had already walked out