thout any reservation. He treated her like one of his own people, saying whatever he wanted. He wasn't like Zhuo Yu'an, who loved deeply but couldn't bear to express it. He wouldn't say a word in fron...His mother's words left him speechless. He stormed out of the Song household, a gloomy expression on his face, and returned to his small siheyuan courtyard. He needed some time alone to think things through, to make sense of it all.

Chen Ning replied that because she slept too much during the day, she naturally couldn't sleep at night. So, she sat up and leaned against the bed to learn Portuguese, which was a new language she had recently started learning. Although she had undergone systematic training, she rarely came into contact with it in her daily life. Besides, this language had a fast pace and a tendency to swallow sounds, making it particularly difficult for her to understand. She often felt lost even after listening to a section.

So she arranged her learning schedule to listen to one article every three days, not greedy for quantity or speed. She repeated each article until she understood it thoroughly.

Her efficiency tonight was astonishing. She listened at 0.5x speed the first time, and on the second listen at normal speed, she understood everything perfectly. She kept listening until early morning before falling asleep.

He only slept for three hours and got up early to go to work. When he looked in the mirror this time, he found a red mark on his neck, like a brand. Seeing it made him wince, but he quickly adjusted his mindset and went to work with light steps.

When I arrived at the office, the atmosphere in the department was a little off. Even Tao Kaiyan, who was usually very enthusiastic, tried to shrink into her seat and keep quiet as if she was afraid of being noticed.

Chen Ning was confused but knew that it was basic protocol to not ask questions about things you shouldn't. So, she silently observed her colleagues and noticed that everyone seemed unusually subdued today, with no one speaking out of turn. She simply kept to herself and worked quietly.

At lunchtime with Xu Haocheng, Xu Habo said, "Have you heard"

"What"

The department is going to send people to build a consulate in X country in Africa.

"What country" Chen Ling asked back, confused. Country Non-

It is small and underdeveloped, with a population of less than 100,000 people. Although there has been some interaction between the two countries in the past, it has never had its own independent library. Related work was handled by Chinese staff from neighboring countries.

"Yes, so the department is looking for people to build the museum. Because X country is too small, we're tentatively selecting two people, an experienced leader and an assistant to go over there." Xu Haichen said clearly.

Chen Ning understood immediately. The staff member was very likely to be selected from their new batch of recruits, which explained why Tao Kaiyan had hidden herself today.

If this had happened before, Chen Ning would have wanted to hide because she didn't want to be sent abroad, no matter which country it was.

But now, she was getting restless.

Xu Haocheng: "x Country is too small, and in the past, conditions were very difficult. I understand why people would want to avoid going there. While the top said it would be a 2-3 year training experience, it's also very possible that people could be gone for 5 years or even longer. Once the building is finished, we need staff to work there."

Chen Ning nodded, agreeing with him. "But since we're going to build a museum, we need staff. We work in this field, so we'll go wherever we're needed."

Xu Haichen smiled and responded: "Good awareness, I'll give you a thumbs up."

It was all in jest, knowing Chen Ling's biggest wish was to avoid being sent abroad.

She suddenly asked again, "Isn't X country's language Portuguese"

"Yes, that's right."

"I've been doing well lately." She also smiled, not telling Xu Haichen about her decision, as if everything was destined by fate, a matter of destiny.

Because of the personnel selection issue, their department has been very quiet these past few days, with everyone busy doing their own thing.

While others panicked, Chen Ning remained calm and collected. She simply dedicated more time to learning Portuguese.

I listen to it on my way to work in the morning, and also during my evening runs. Even when I'm talking to myself at home, I try to use Portuguese as much as possible. If there isn't a language environment, I create one myself.

During this time, Song Jingye would contact her every day. She could see that he was constantly wracked with guilt and self-blame, but she had already made her position clear before and accepted his apology. So if he continued to dwell in these emotions, there was nothing she could do but let him work through it himself.

That night, she changed into her workout clothes and went downstairs for a run. She had only run less than three kilometers when the phone rang in her earpiece. She answered, "Hello"

He stopped running, his breath coming out in ragged gasps. A low voice came from his earphones, "Outside" he asked.

"Well, running." He spoke as he strode forward.

"Isn't it unsafe to run so late" he asked again.

"Safe." The place she was currently at was bustling with neon lights and a lively atmosphere.

"Good," he said, and then hung up the phone.

Chen Ning didn't think much about it, walking forward on this street filled with the aroma of fireworks. After passing through the crowd, she would start running again.

The earphones still played Portuguese, but she started trying to listen to original Portuguese novels.

She didn't know how long she had been running, but suddenly a shadow loomed over her. She instinctively ran to the side, making way for the shadow.

The shadow immediately ran to her front, and she saw a familiar back and a familiar running posture. She stopped in her tracks and stared blankly at the back.

He was wearing a black T-shirt, and underneath it was a pair of black...

Army-style cargo pants, with the trouser legs tucked into black leather boots, a standard outfit for military training, exuding both elegance and power.

She stopped and looked at him. The person running ahead also stopped and turned to look back at her.

She ran until she was breathless, standing there with heavy pants, her chest heaving, beads of sweat dotting her forehead, staring at him who had appeared out of nowhere.

He turned and strode toward her, wiping the sweat from her forehead with his sleeve. Chen Ling stepped back, but he grasped her wrist.

She struggled, unsure of what he wanted.

He just lifted her wrist to look at the numbers on her fitness tracker and said, "Ran 6 kilometers, pace 6 minutes, heart rate 130, overall pretty good."

Like a coach, she finished and let go of her wrist.

Chen Ling returned to the cloud-like mist, unsure how he found her or why he sought her out.

But he didn't say anything, only asked her, "Are you running again"

Chen Ning replied, "Where would I even have the mood to run," shaking her head. "I'm not running."

This book also intends to run ahead and then return by the original road.

With him around, they chose to walk back.

He asked, "Do you run every day"

"No, I run four days a week. My knees can't handle running every day."

“How often do you work out Do you have other favorite exercises I can teach you,” he asked.

Chen Ning likes many sports, but she doesn't have time for them. Night running is the only exercise she can make time for.

Running six kilometers doesn't seem long, but now walking alongside him in silence, those six kilometers feel incredibly long. So when she saw a shared bike nearby, she stopped and scanned for one.

Song Jingye stood beside her, he

I've never ridden one, and I don't have any related apps on my phone. So when Chen Ling replied, I thought about taking the bike from her hand and riding it back with her. But when I found out there wasn't a seat on the bike, I couldn't take her, so I just decided to go all the way: "Can you scan me another one"

Chen Ling replied without being polite: "One phone can only scan one car."

(All of Chen Ning's work content and working methods mentioned here are fictional.)ly shut.Lu YaoYao suddenly found it uninteresting. She had been lively and energetic just a moment ago, but now she was listless. She even felt that participating in this dating show was no longer fu...