Why Is Your Nose Bleeding?!

With the new check-in attraction revealed, Lin Zhe went to bed full of anticipation.

The night passed uneventfully.

Early the next morning, Lin Zhe woke when the sky outside was only just beginning to brighten.

He raised his wrist and checked the time on his sports watch. It was only 5:06 a.m.

In the past, he would definitely have gone back to sleep. Getting up before nine would have been an achievement.

But the thought of checking in today and receiving a new reward instantly chased away his sleepiness.

He rolled out of bed, put on the athletic T-shirt and shorts he had laid out the night before, and slipped into his running shoes.

After brushing his teeth and washing his face in the communal washroom on the first floor, Lin Zhe headed straight outside.

"Oh? Morning exercise for you too, Boss Lin?"

As soon as Lin Zhe stepped outside, he happened upon Jiang Yining bouncing around the inn's courtyard, warming up for her run.

She wore only a solid black sports bra on top, with two clearly defined lines of muscle running down her flat stomach.

On the bottom, she wore fitted light gray shorts.

Her long legs looked fair and shapely, slender yet powerful.

On her feet were pink ASICS running shoes.

She also wore a COROS sports watch on her wrist, while a selfie stick and an action camera sat on the bench nearby.

Jiang Yining spoke with a strong Capital City accent. She was probably a born-and-bred city girl.

"Good morning, Jiang Yining. You've got quite the running setup. Are you a fitness streamer?"

Lin Zhe smiled and greeted her.

Jiang Yining had been staying at the Fortunate Inn for several days. They had crossed paths coming and going often enough to be casual acquaintances.

"Just shooting a little footage to make a living~"

Jiang Yining continued her running drills as she spoke to Lin Zhe, her voice remarkably steady, without the slightest hint of breathlessness.

That alone told Lin Zhe that her running ability had to be far beyond his own.

She wasn't one of those running influencers who wore provocative workout gear and struck sexy poses just to attract attention.

"Want to run together? How about being my running buddy today?"

"I'm not familiar with the trails around here. I'm worried I'll get lost on the mountain."

Jiang Yining tipped her chin toward the mountain trail outside the inn and invited Lin Zhe with a sweet smile.

When a girl as pretty, fit, and cheerful as Jiang Yining invited someone for a run, even a guy in a wheelchair would have struggled to turn her down.

Lin Zhe smiled. "I'm pretty terrible at running. If you don't mind that, I'd be happy to be your pacer for once."

In running, a "pacer" was someone who set the pace and guided the way.

A pacer's main responsibility was to provide a steady pace and the correct route, helping participants finish a race at an appropriate speed.

"Sure!" Jiang Yining said with a smile. "Sorry for the trouble, Boss Lin. Be my pacer this time! I'll treat you to breakfast afterward. Eat whatever you want, as much as you like."

"No need for that," Lin Zhe said with a smile. "It's hardly any legwork. I have something else to do up the mountain, so I'm not sure when I'll be coming back down."

"Another day, then. Go ahead and warm up. I'll wait."

"No need to warm up. Let's go."

"Huh? No warm-up at all? You should at least do a little, or you could get injured!"

As a serious runner, Jiang Yining always did dynamic warm-ups before running and static stretches afterward. Neither step could be skipped.

"It's fine. I'm just running for fun."

"Uh... all right, then. Give me a second to get a GPS fix."

Seeing that Lin Zhe didn't want to warm up, Jiang Yining couldn't very well force him. Everyone had their own habits.

Once she had put on her heart-rate strap and her sports watch had acquired a GPS fix, the two headed out together at a run.

Penguin Offering a Peach was north of the Southern Garden Scenic Area within the Mount Sanqing scenic area, in the same section as the Fortunate Inn.

There were two routes to Penguin Offering a Peach.

One was a stairway trail that went straight up the mountain. The other was a sloping boardwalk that wound around it without any steps.

Like a belt wrapped around the mountainside, the boardwalk circled the entire Southern Garden Scenic Area, spiraling upward loop after loop.

Running the whole boardwalk route covered roughly seven kilometers.

Penguin Offering a Peach lay right around the halfway point, about three and a half kilometers from the Fortunate Inn.

Although it was only a little after five in the morning, plenty of men and women were already exercising in the scenic area.

Many were male-female pairs, just like Lin Zhe and Jiang Yining.

At 182 centimeters tall, with a lean, well-proportioned build and handsome features, Lin Zhe stood out most among the male runners.

Jiang Yining was over 170 centimeters tall herself, with a superb figure and equally stunning looks, complemented by professional running gear with a touch of sex appeal.

The moment she appeared, she became the most eye-catching sight on the mountain trail.

Quite a few runners in professional gear clearly had the ability to overtake them, but instead followed behind at an unhurried pace.

Who could resist having a gorgeous woman with a fantastic figure leading the way?

"Hey, Wang, why is your nose bleeding?! Do you have heatstroke?"

"Huh? Is it? Damn... do you have any tissues?"

"Ow! Oh, my goodness~"

"Lin, did you hurt yourself in that fall? How could you be so careless? Can you still run? If not, let's head back."

"I can run, I can run! This little scrape is nothing. Help me up! Let's keep going!"

One mishap after another unfolded on the mountain trail behind Lin Zhe and Jiang Yining.

Some suddenly developed nosebleeds, some tripped, others twisted their ankles or collided with people. It was quite a scene.

With his running ability, Lin Zhe could manage seven or eight kilometers on a road without much trouble.

But this mountain boardwalk, uphill all the way, was far harder than running on level ground.

Before he had even covered a kilometer, Lin Zhe was drenched in sweat and panting like an ox.

Jiang Yining was sweating quite a bit too, but her breathing remained fairly steady.

She could even hold up her selfie stick and film with her action camera while running.

"I can't keep going, Jiang Yining. Run ahead. I'm going to walk for a bit..."

When Lin Zhe truly couldn't go on, he didn't force himself. There was no point suffering just to save face.

"How could I abandon my own pacer?"

"Hehe, it's fine. We're not racing, and nobody's keeping time. If you can't run, take a break. We can take it slow~"

Seeing that Lin Zhe could no longer run, Jiang Yining slowed down too and began walking beside him.

"Now I've seen it for myself. You're definitely an expert runner. Have you done a full marathon? What was your time?"

Still gulping down air, Lin Zhe turned toward Jiang Yining and asked.

Jiang Yining tossed her hair and smiled. "What kind of expert am I? I'm just an ordinary running enthusiast. I just set a personal best of 3:44 at this year's Capital City Marathon."

"You're being far too modest! A women's full marathon in 3:44 puts you at the national level-four athlete standard! You're a two-star runner!"

Lin Zhe was amazed by Jiang Yining's time. For an amateur runner, a result like hers was seriously impressive.

The two chatted on and off as they ambled along the mountain trail, running for a while whenever he recovered and walking again when he got tired.

At six o'clock sharp, after practically wearing himself half to death, Lin Zhe finally reached his destination and arrived below Penguin Offering a Peach.