Running Towards You - Chapter 23

In the end, Ji Yin never told her that she was actually the owner of Yanhua.

She was being a little greedy.

During her days of scraping by, none of those in higher positions had ever truly respected her, and the friends she made were all just huddling together for warmth. Later, when she opened her own shop, people who respected and flattered her gradually started appearing around her.

But now, for the first time, there was someone who knew she wasn’t well-educated, who thought she was just a supermarket employee, someone fully aware of the vast gap in their education and social standing, yet still treated her with genuine equality, respect, and kindness. This left her both pleasantly surprised and unable to resist clinging to this stroke of luck.

She didn’t know whether Dr. Lu’s attitude toward her would change if she revealed the truth, and she didn’t want Dr. Lu to change at all. The way things were now was already perfect for her.

Just as she was feeling moved, Dr. Lu pushed her away.

“Alright, alright, it’s not too late to get to know each other now,” Lu Jiahe said with a laugh.

Ji Yin lowered her head and couldn’t help but pinch her own ear. “Was hugging you too tightly just now? Your ears are all red.”

Lu Jiahe coughed lightly and took two steps back, smiling as if nothing had happened. “Yeah, next time don’t hug me so tight, I almost couldn’t breathe.”

“Sorry, sorry, I’ll be more careful next time.”

Though the real issue wasn’t really about next time.

“It’s getting late, I’m going to bed. Make yourself at home,” Lu Jiahe said.

“I’ll sleep with you.”

“Eh?!” Lu Jiahe whipped her head around to stare at her, thinking, What nonsense are you spouting now?!

“Sleep together,” Ji Yin glanced at the time. “I’m going to bed too.”

Only then did Lu Jiahe understand, she meant they would go to sleep at the same time, in their own rooms.

“Goodnight, Dr. Lu,” Ji Yin said cheerfully as she headed to her room.

“Goodnight.”

“Oh, Dr. Lu, what would you like for breakfast tomorrow?” Ji Yin asked from the doorway.

Not knowing Lu Jiahe’s preferences, she had been buying wontons the past few days, but eating the same thing every day would get boring.

“Steamed buns and fried dough sticks,” Lu Jiahe replied without hesitation. She had already noticed that Ji Yin really did wake up early.

“Got it.”

Ji Yin had more or less figured out Lu Jiahe’s waking schedule. The next morning, she got up and timed her breakfast run perfectly, returning just as Lu Jiahe finished changing.

“Come eat while the buns are still hot,” Ji Yin said with a smile.

“Mm, thanks.” Lu Jiahe sat down at the dining table.

“You say ‘thanks’ a hundred times a day my ears are numb from it. ‘Thanks’ is today’s forbidden word,” Ji Yin declared.

Lu Jiahe chuckled. “It’s called being polite.”

“Too much politeness just creates distance.”

Lu Jiahe took a bite of her bun and thought about it that actually made sense.

Ji Yin inserted a straw into the soy milk and handed it to her.

“Than ” Under Ji Yin’s wide-eyed stare, Lu Jiahe quickly changed course. “any crab meat buns?”

“Nope. Clever save.”

Lu Jiahe couldn’t help but laugh, and she kept laughing as she ate, only stopping after a while. “Did you sleep well last night?”

“Really well. I always sleep great at your place. Every morning when I wake up and see the trees outside the window, it just feels so refreshing,” Ji Yin said.

On her second day staying over, she had noticed that the windows in both the bedroom and the study faced a large tree, offering a clear view of lush greenery. It would probably look even more beautiful in summer.

She was even looking forward to seeing the summer outside the window. It would be nice if she could live here too.

“Are there any apartments for rent in your complex?”

“I’ll ask in the owners’ group chat later to see if anyone’s looking for a roommate,” Lu Jiahe said.

“A roommate?”

“Yeah, otherwise you’d have to rent the whole place, and that’s not cheap. Could you afford it alone? Oh right, you have your sister and brother-in-law too you could rent it as a family.”

“That works too. Just ask around for me first. Any place is fine, but preferably on the third floor. Any higher and you won’t see much greenery.”

“Got it.”

“This place must’ve been expensive when you bought it, right?”

“We bought it early, so it wasn’t too bad back then. Why, are you thinking of buying?”

Ji Yin shook her head. “I don’t have any attachment to owning a place. I move around a lot and never stay anywhere for long. This is already one of the places I’ve stayed the longest. As long as I have somewhere to sleep, I’m fine. Renting is good, I can move whenever I want.”

After the meal, Lu Jiahe left for work.

Ji Yin went out too.

These days, she spent her mornings patrolling the supermarket and the pool hall, and by evening, she’d pick up Dr. Lu from work. Life had never been so routine.

Mostly because there wasn’t much else to do lately.

Even if she wanted to look for a shop or discuss business, she’d have to wait until after the New Year when clients were back. So she might as well enjoy a relaxed holiday, especially since she had company this year.

After walking around the supermarket, she realized Dr. Lu’s kitchen was seriously lacking in seasonings, so she decided to bring some back this time.

“Sister Yin, someone’s selling flowers at our entrance,” an employee came over to report.

“What kind of flowers?”

“Roses. It’s Valentine’s Day today, and they’re practically blocking the door.”

“I’ll take a look.” Ji Yin walked to the entrance and saw a crowd gathered outside. The security guards were dispersing people and shooing away the flower sellers.

A moment later, a teenage girl was escorted aside by a guard.

Ji Yin glanced at her and stepped forward. “Are these your flowers?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know we couldn’t sell here. I just saw people sitting and resting, so I thought I’d try,” the girl stammered, on the verge of tears under the guard’s stern gaze.

“How old are you? Selling flowers all by yourself?”

“I’m sixteen. My brother’s selling on the other side too.”

Ji Yin turned to look at the customers. One of them, who hadn’t left yet, called out, “She’s selling outside the store, it’s not like she’s disrupting business. What’s the harm in letting her sell?”

Ji Yin smiled. “We’re not stopping her. It’s just that crowding the entrance isn’t safe. Kid, you can sell over there, just not right at the door.”

She pointed to the tables and chairs set up outside. The girl asked timidly, “Really?”

“Sure. Old Fang, just keep an eye on customer traffic for safety.”

“Got it,” the guard nodded.

“Thank you, sister!” The girl stood in the corner, and soon a few customers came by to buy from her.

Noticing the girl’s hands were red from the cold, Ji Yin went back inside and asked an available employee to bring her a cup of hot water.

A while later, as she stepped out to leave, the girl ran up to her. “This is the last one. Do you want it, sister?”

“Sure, how much?”

“It’s free. For you. Bye, sister!” The girl handed her the flower and happily ran off.

Ji Yin made her way to Lu Jiahe’s home with practiced ease. As soon as she stepped out of the elevator, she spotted a familiar face.

“Ji Yin?” Li Chenyao stared at her in disbelief. “What are you doing here? Are you also looking for Zaozao?”

“Zaozao?”

“Oh, I mean Lu Jiahe.”

“I came back to drop something off, then I’ll go find her.”

Li Chenyao didn’t quite understand what she meant. Glancing down, she noticed Ji Yin was holding a bag of seasonings with a single rose sticking out of it. She couldn’t make sense of this at all.

Was she here for New Year’s greetings? But the gift was way too odd.

Or was she here specifically to deliver flowers? But a single rose seemed way too shabby.

Just as she was puzzling over it, she saw Ji Yin pull a key from her pocket, unlock the door, and even invite her in: “Come in and have a seat first.”

Li Chenyao:

“Oh, remember to sanitize.” Ji Yin picked up a disinfectant spray, gave it a quick spritz, and handed it to her. “You should know the drill.”

Li Chenyao:

Wait, girl, aren’t you a little too familiar with this?!

“How do you have a key to her place?” Li Chenyao felt like she had stumbled upon something earth-shattering. When she looked back at that lone rose in Ji Yin’s bag, her gaze took on a whole new meaning.

“Dr. Lu gave it to me,” Ji Yin said.

Li Chenyao sucked in a sharp breath, stepped inside to sanitize, sat down in shock, and immediately whipped out her phone for interrogation.

Li Chenyao: [What exactly is your relationship with Ji Yin?!]

Lu Jiahe was probably busy, there was no reply for a long time. Or maybe she was guilty and didn’t dare answer the question directly.

A faint noise came from the kitchen. Li Chenyao looked over and saw Ji Yin arranging the seasonings, looking incredibly domestic. The kitchen suddenly seemed full of life.

“She never cooks. Why did you buy so many seasonings?” Li Chenyao asked.

“I’ll be the one cooking. The worse the cook, the more seasonings they need,” Ji Yin replied.

Oh, bonus points!

Especially for someone like Lu Jiahe, who never cooked, having a girlfriend who could was definitely a plus.

Li Chenyao pressed further, “So when did you two?”

“When did what?”

“When did you two get together?”

Ji Yin instantly understood, she was asking when she had moved in with Lu Jiahe. “It was on New Year’s Eve.”

Li Chenyao thought for a moment, then it clicked. “That day she said she was having dinner with a friend that friend was you?!”

“Yep.”

Li Chenyao was stunned. She couldn’t recall any hints of them being together. The last time they played pool together, they had seemed completely normal. How had they suddenly started living together?!

What exactly had happened in between? She was dying to know it must have been very exciting, hehe.

“I’m heading out to pick Dr. Lu up from work. Do you want to wait here or come along?” Ji Yin checked the time, it was about time to leave.

“You even pick her up from work?” Li Chenyao was already following her out.

“Yeah, it’s not like I have anything else to do.”

Ji Yin hailed a cab to the hospital, arriving right on time at the outpatient clinic. Seeing there were still patients inside, she waited outside.

Li Chenyao sat on the other side of the door, instinctively pulling out her phone to scroll whenever she had a free moment. After a few swipes, she discreetly glanced over.

Ji Yin stood with her arms crossed, one leg slightly raised, her chin tilted up as she stared blankly at the slogan posted on the opposite wall.

Li Chenyao took the opportunity to observe Ji Yin closely. The first time she saw Ji Yin, she thought the woman was attractive, but she hadn’t seriously analyzed what exactly made her so appealing.

Now, upon closer inspection, she realized Ji Yin’s greatest charm lay in her aura.

From this angle, she couldn’t even see Ji Yin’s facial features head-on, but among the row of people sitting there, Ji Yin’s presence was the most striking. She sat casually, yet effortlessly stood out as the most eye-catching.

The next moment, Ji Yin suddenly pressed both hands to her forehead, thumbs massaging her brows.

“What are you doing?” Li Chenyao asked.

“First section of eye exercises massaging the Tianying acupoint,” Ji Yin replied, her eyes slightly strained from reading slogans.

“…”

How could someone switch between effortlessly cool and adorably clueless in an instant?

Lu Jiahe finished seeing her last patient and walked out with her hands in her pockets. Spotting Li Chenyao, she paused in surprise. “Why are you here? Didn’t you say you’d wait for me at home?”

“Someone insisted on picking you up personally, so I came along for the fun.”

Ignoring her teasing gaze, Lu Jiahe turned to Ji Yin and asked curiously, “What’s she doing?”

Li Chenyao deadpanned, “Massaging her temples and rubbing her eye sockets.”

Lu Jiahe: “…”

A moment later, Ji Yin lowered her hands, stood up energetically, and blinked. “Dr. Lu, are you off work now?”

“Yeah, let’s go home.”

During the drive, Lu Jiahe felt an inexplicable tension prickling at her back, which only eased once they stepped inside the house. She finally had the chance to ask Li Chenyao, “Why have you been staring at me the whole time?”

“Confess, when did you two get together?” Li Chenyao whispered.

“What?”

Li Chenyao pointed toward the bathroom door. “Her. When did you two start dating?”

“We’re not together. Stop spreading rumors,” Lu Jiahe clarified.

“Then why is she staying at your place?”

“She has guests at her house and didn’t want to go back, so I let her stay here.”

“That explanation is full of holes.”

“Believe what you want.”

Just then, Ji Yin emerged from the bathroom and mused aloud, “I’m actually feeling a little sleepy at this hour. Maybe it’s because I didn’t take a nap. Dr. Lu, are you tired?”

“No.”

“Did you nap?”

“No.”

“Weird. We slept together last night, so why am I the only one feeling drowsy?”

Lu Jiahe: “…”

Li Chenyao:

Watching Li Chenyao’s expression immediately spiral, Lu Jiahe felt the difficulty of explaining skyrocket.