334: Chapter 334 Unless...

February 20th, the fourth day of the Lunar New Year.

Early in the morning, sunlight streamed through the window into the living room.

The three of them ate breakfast quietly—millet porridge with date cakes, simple yet comforting.

Xu Man finished the last sip of her porridge unhurriedly, picked up a tissue to wipe her mouth, then stood up and grabbed her handbag from the side:

"Alright, you lovebirds figure out your own plans. I've got a mahjong date. I'm off."

Without waiting for a response from the two, she slipped on her shoes, headed out the door in one fluid motion—a true master of the discreet exit.

Once Xu Man was gone, the room instantly fell silent.

Jiang Ye sipped his porridge leisurely, his peripheral glance catching Lin Wanxing sitting across from him, whose movements had suddenly stiffened.

The prey was alone. Time for the hunter to strike!

He quickly finished the rest of his porridge in a few gulps, set down his spoon, and got up to head straight back to his room.

Lin Wanxing watched Jiang Ye disappear behind the door and had just started to relax when he walked back out, carrying an uninflated rubber object of suspicious-looking material and a handheld air pump—with a super sleazy grin on his face!

"Wanxing..."

"W-wait! What... is that in your hand?"

"Huh? A Yoga Ball. Why?"

"Ahem... never mind. Carry on..."

"Weird..."

Jiang Ye scratched his head, spread the rubber skin out in the living room, connected the air pump, and pressed the switch:

"Look, it's already the fourth day of the new year, and My Mother's off playing mahjong. Shouldn't we... you know, officially schedule that... private yoga class?"

*Bzzzzzzzz—*

As the air pump roared to life, the dull gray rubber skin rapidly inflated and contorted, eventually taking on an extremely bizarre shape—

A dumbbell-shaped... *thing* with a distinct indentation in the middle and large spherical ends.

Lin Wanxing, with a half-bitten date cake paused at her lips, stared expressionlessly at the ominous-looking object taking shape in Jiang Ye's hands. The corner of her mouth twitched involuntarily:

"...What did you just say this was?"

Jiang Ye patted the fully inflated, bouncy "dumbbell" proudly:

"A partner Yoga Ball! It effectively assists in completing advanced poses and deepens the stretch! Pretty professional, right?"

He paused, as if suddenly remembering something, and added, "Oh, right! I also looked at those prone pillows and assist chairs, but their designs were just... too indecent. They made me blush, so I was too embarrassed to buy them."

Lin Wanxing: "..."

It's back! It's all coming back!

This feeling!

That abstract sense of instantly skyrocketing blood pressure, toe-curling awkwardness, and the desperate urge to vanish into thin air—it was back!

Forget about the weirdly shaped, dubiously-purposed "partner Yoga Ball" in front of her. Just the names "prone pillow" and "assist chair" alone were already dancing dangerously on the edge of being banned, okay!

Lin Wanxing struggled to keep her facial muscles steady. She swallowed the bite of date cake in her mouth with difficulty, expressionlessly got up, and started clearing the dishes, her tone flat and unemotional:

"At your current level, you don't need these flashy props. I'll teach you the basic Sun Salutation and breathing techniques first."

"Hey, hey, hey?!"

Jiang Ye immediately protested, hugging his precious Yoga Ball: "We agreed before that the advanced course would start with the Yoga Ball! Coach Lin, you're not the type to go back on your word, are you?"

"..."

Lin Wanxing glanced at the spherical object that looked nothing like something used for legitimate yoga practice. Her toes curled up awkwardly inside her slippers.

"Well..."

She took a deep breath and forcibly averted her gaze. "Let's do it tonight. I'm meeting a friend to go shopping in a bit. We'll talk about it when I get back tonight."

Jiang Ye clicked his tongue, instantly seeing through her "delaying tactic."

She was trying to stall until Xu Man came back in the evening.

With My Mother home, she could use "Auntie's here, it's inconvenient" as an excuse. Even if that didn't work, he, Jiang Ye, probably wouldn't dare to actually haul this thing out in front of his mom.

He pursed his lips, ready to launch a new round of "persistent pestering," when his phone on the table inconveniently rang—the sound of a WeChat voice call.

Jiang Ye picked it up and looked. The caller ID showed "Tian Lijuan."

A bit surprised, he swiped to answer: "Hello?"

However, the voice from the receiver was that of a middle-aged man: "Hello? Xiao Jiang, Happy New Year, Happy New Year!"

"Uncle Tian?"

Jiang Ye was taken aback for a moment, then responded with a smile: "Happy New Year! Is there something you need?"

Old Tian cheerfully exchanged a few pleasantries on the other end of the line, then his tone became somewhat apologetic:

"Well... Xiao Jiang, there's this little thing... I was hoping to trouble you with it..."

"Sure, Uncle Tian, go ahead."

Old Tian started rambling a bit, but Jiang Ye quickly grasped the key points:

Every year on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Old Tian's side of the family had a fixed gathering.

Tian Lijuan used to go, but because she was rather "individualistic," she often got backhanded comments from relatives at the gatherings. Eventually, she simply stopped going.

Even though she didn't go, those relatives didn't let Old Tian off the hook. During meals, they'd still make veiled or direct remarks about Tian Lijuan being "unreasonable" or "a disappointment," always comparing her to other people's children.

Old Tian had a good temper, and given that Tian Lijuan had indeed been quite unruly before, he could only swallow his anger.

But this year was different!

Ever since last month, Tian Lijuan seemed like a changed person. She actually started studying like crazy.

For this long stretch of time, aside from going shopping with a close friend once, she'd been holed up at home almost every day reviewing high school courses, saying she wanted to take the college entrance exam in June, aiming straight for university.

Old Tian initially thought it was a passing phase, but one day, three days, five days passed...

Seeing his daughter was truly determined, he secretly asked her the reason and promptly changed Jiang Ye's contact name to "Miracle Doctor."

Now that his daughter was so driven, Old Tian naturally wanted to take her to the family gathering to finally hold his head high.

But Tian Lijuan was still reluctant, saying she didn't want to listen to those people boast, unless...