Chapter 4: Morning Run

Night fell, Jiang Nian took a shower, returned to his room, turned on the air conditioner, and lay on the bed.

He opened the panel and smiled first as a gesture of respect.

Although Jiang Nian's grades were average, as one of the main players on the school basketball team, he silently ran five kilometers every day for an entire semester to build stamina for playing full games and showing off.

Five kilometers in one go, like drinking water.

His plan was to wake up early tomorrow, run five kilometers first, then three more, and finally two. After all, he understood the principle: one burst of energy, then decline, then exhaustion.

After reading the task, he pulled out his phone and checked his bank balance.

Money is a man's courage; the Jiang family wasn't well-off. A few years ago, his grandfather was ill, and they borrowed a lot of money—only this year did they finally pay off all their debts.

As a result, Jiang Nian's pocket money was never much—barely three or four hundred yuan a month at most.

But after just one afternoon, a thousand yuan had appeared in his account. If he finished running ten kilometers tomorrow, another two thousand would land in his pocket—totaling three thousand.

Money earned but not spent is money wasted; he opened the shopping website, JD. com.

He was in Gao San; even if a game company masked the source, the income was legitimate. But to his parents, earning money through gaming was a waste of time that distracted from studies.

Although he might face another round of family interrogations, Jiang Nian had thick skin and didn't care—he'd already said it, so he might as well take this chance to buy something.

The most straightforward ways for ordinary people to save money were two combos: buy fewer clothes and shoes, and save on water and electricity—don't buy new appliances, phones, or electronics unless they break.

The Jiang family was no different; Jiang Weizheng and his wife hadn't replaced their phones, clothes, or shoes in two or three years. The TV and air conditioner were rarely turned on, and rice-washing water was reused to flush the toilet.

Frugality is a virtue, but this kind of frugality was purely for saving money—there was no talk of quality of life, just tightening the belt to get by.

Clothes were hard to buy, and he couldn't afford phones or appliances—so he bought shoes.

Shoes were a necessity: you could wear a pair for dozens of yuan, but hundreds of yuan had its reasons. He walked every day; good shoes mattered.

Jiang Nian bought his father a pair of leather shoes costing over five hundred yuan, his mother a pair of soft-soled athletic shoes costing over three hundred yuan, and himself two pairs of shoes around two hundred yuan each.

After this entire purchase, thirteen hundred yuan vanished.

He checked the balance: one hundred yuan left.

Fine, time to sleep.

On the other side, Jiang Nian's parents couldn't sleep.

The master bedroom was pitch black; the couple chatted by the bed. Things they couldn't say in front of their child during the day could be spoken of now that the lights were off.

"Sigh, I didn't realize how big our child had grown until now," Jiang Weizheng said, hands behind his head, staring at the dark ceiling.

"He can earn money now, even cooked for us."

"Isn't it good that Jiang Nian is becoming sensible? Why are you sighing like that?" Li Hongmei glared at her husband in the dark. "Before, if you didn't beat him every three days, he'd tear the roof off."

"I do want him to be sensible so I can worry less. But now I'm afraid his money comes from shady sources—if he goes down the wrong path at such a young age, it's over."

"It's not that bad. I know Xiao Nian—he has boundaries." Jiang Weizheng pulled his hands back and frowned. "I checked that game company—it's a big one."

"I think earning a bit per month shouldn't be a problem, as long as he doesn't get addicted."

The couple chatted quietly for a while longer but reached no conclusion. Overcome by sleepiness and remembering they had to work tomorrow, they simply fell asleep.

The next day.

It was September; in this southern small county, dawn broke at five.

Jiang Nian woke up early, changed into his running shoes, and instinctively glanced at Xu Qianqian's door across the hall—locked. Xu had gone on a business trip; only she was home.

Whatever, I'll be generous and bring her breakfast.

The morning was chilly; in his short-sleeved quick-dry shirt, he stepped downstairs and goosebumps rose on his arms from the wind. Before him stretched an unremarkable street lined with old, self-built buildings.

"Damn."

At Nancheng Middle School's track, a figure stretched endlessly in the morning light.

Jiang Nian sweated profusely, his chest and back soaked through. Running wasn't hard—the morning air wasn't too hot—but long-distance running always made you sweat.

After finishing five kilometers, his phone buzzed. He lifted it—reward credited.

"Eh! It's here."

A thousand yuan arrived; he twisted open a bottle of water from his backpack and drank a few gulps. He rested in the shade of a sycamore tree in the southwest corner, preparing to sprint another three kilometers.

Soon after, he finished the three-kilometer and two-kilometer runs.

"XX Bank received transfer of 700 RMB... 300 RMB."

At this point, Jiang Nian was breathing hard. He felt as if he'd just crawled out of water—his forehead hairs separated strand by strand, yet his eyes were unusually clear.

Conservatively speaking, after resting a bit, he could still run another five kilometers. Aside from possibly being too tired to get up the next day, he had almost no aftereffects.

For some reason, Jiang Nian felt no resistance to training his legs.

He had no grand ambitions; as a naturally strong, single Gao San boy, like the young Qian Xuesen, he wished only for one thing in life: more...

Autumn wind was crisp and clear; the sun had just risen, warming the street with clean light. Morning rays filtered through tree branches, casting dappled patterns that traced the shape of light.

Jiang Nian leaned on his bicycle and bought four breakfasts before eight.

Prices in the county were cheap: radish and greens buns cost one yuan each, soy milk one yuan, fried dough sticks one point five yuan, meat buns one point five yuan.

"That's thirty yuan total, here you go."

Ding! "Paid."

"Alright."

The breakfast cost thirty yuan total—a full large bag. Jiang Nian could easily eat four meat buns, two fried dough sticks, soy milk, and two or three vegetable buns himself.

The two thousand just received, plus the remaining 161 from yesterday, minus thirty for breakfast, left him with 2131 yuan.

Many people carried large bags of breakfast like Jiang Nian, but they were mostly elderly—early to bed, early to rise, buying breakfast for their children or grandchildren going to work or school.

The bicycle wheels rolled over the dry road; the boy's flying silhouette was etched into the golden morning light.

Screech—he slammed the brakes and jumped off the bike.

He carried the big bag of breakfast home just as his mother, Li Hongmei, got up—hair messy, eyes tired from waking early, apparently planning to make breakfast.

Although prices in Zhennan County were already cheap, making breakfast at home still offered better value.

Four yuan's worth of rice noodles, chopped small millet chilies and green peppers, garlic and scallions, a bit of chili oil, peanuts, and cilantro, plus pickled long beans, and once the sauce is mixed in, it's enough to fill you up.

The curtains were drawn in the living room, the light dim.

Li Hongmei was wearing mom-brand pajamas that looked like curtains, slippers on her feet, looking at her sweat-stinking son who had just walked in, and the big bag of breakfast in his hand.

"You went to buy breakfast?"

"Mm, I picked it up on the way back from my morning run." Jiang Nian nodded and set the big bag of breakfast on the table. "Mom, you don't have to work so hard. From now on, I'll take care of breakfast."