Chapter 20
She was definitely interested.
Early the next morning, before the weight-loss training camp officially opened for business, Luo Jingyao arrived at the place she had arranged with Lin Jiafan the night before—the side entrance of the shopping mall—with a box of milk in her arms.
At that moment, Lin Jiafan was still wearing the same dark blue work uniform that didn’t quite fit him. It made his already long arms and legs look even more awkwardly prominent, giving him a slightly out-of-place air.
When the man saw her, he casually raised a hand in greeting.
Neither of them wasted time on small talk. They hurriedly entered through the mall’s side entrance, one after another. Luo Jingyao walked ahead, expertly turning into the same corridor they had passed through the previous night.
Because only a few inconspicuous vents had been installed near the top of the walls, even though the sky outside was already bright, the lighting inside the corridor was hardly any better. They still had to rely on the dim yellow motion-sensor lights to barely make out the surroundings.
Two minutes later, the small door beside the mall storage room finally appeared in front of them.
Knock, knock, knock.
Under Lin Jiafan’s signal, Luo Jingyao swallowed nervously. Every muscle in her body tensed as she stepped forward and knocked on the door.
Very soon, rustling noises came from inside. Then Zhao Weiqing’s slightly hoarse, sleepy voice sounded.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me! Little Luo, one of the coaches from Sister Jiang’s training camp!”
She cleared her throat and answered softly.
The moment her voice fell, the other side of the door went silent.
A few seconds later, what sounded like footsteps approached, and soon the door opened from the inside, revealing Zhao Weiqing’s slightly darkened face.
“Oh, it’s Coach Luo. Is something wrong? Why are you here so early?”
Luo Jingyao smiled sweetly and lifted the box of milk in her hands.
“Nothing’s wrong. I just came to see if you’re feeling any better.”
As she said that, she seemed to suddenly remember something. She shifted slightly to the side, revealing the man standing behind her, and explained:
“On the way here, I happened to run into Master Xiao Lin. When he heard you were sick, he insisted on coming over to check on you too.”
Hearing this, Zhao Weiqing hurriedly waved his hands.
“I should be the one thanking you, Coach Luo. How could I trouble you to come all the way here just to see me?”
“We’re all on the same side, Brother Zhao. Don’t be so polite. Sister Jiang told me before that you’ve helped the training camp a lot.”
As she spoke, Luo Jingyao hugged the box of milk and took two more steps forward.
Perhaps because he had heard Jiang Qi’s name, or perhaps because he felt awkward being crowded at the doorway, Zhao Weiqing hesitated for a moment before finally stepping aside and inviting the two of them in.
Maybe it was just her imagination, but the moment Luo Jingyao entered, she felt that the room was even darker than the corridor outside.
The room was long and narrow. Near the entrance sat an old, worn-out desk covered with all kinds of miscellaneous daily necessities. At a glance, it was difficult to tell what half of the things even were.
Beside the desk was a rusty bunk bed. The lower bunk had a messy blanket and pillow, while the upper bunk was piled high with various odds and ends.
Opposite the bed stood an outdated refrigerator. Perhaps it was simply too old, because even while running, it kept making a constant buzzing sound.
From the moment Luo Jingyao entered the room, her eyes never left that old refrigerator.
So… was this the place?
The place she had visited that night?
Her eyes shifted slightly, and she quickly came to a conclusion in her mind.
While Lin Jiafan was still pretending to care about Zhao Weiqing’s health, Luo Jingyao suddenly moved with lightning speed.
She opened the box of milk right away.
Then, under the two men’s surprised gazes, she cheerfully said:
“This brand doesn’t have a very long shelf life. Brother Zhao, I’ll help you put it in the fridge first.”
Zhao Weiqing didn’t even have time to refuse. He could only watch helplessly as she opened the refrigerator door.
The mixed smells of various foods rushed into Luo Jingyao’s nose all at once.
Amid that overwhelming scent, she quickly scanned every corner of the refrigerator.
Unfortunately, there was no thrilling discovery waiting for her.
There was not only no black plastic bag inside this fridge—the entire interior layout was completely different from the one she had seen before.
Slowly placing all twelve cartons of milk inside, Luo Jingyao lowered her eyes, hiding the disappointment flashing through them.
“Oh my, thank you, Coach Luo. I’m sorry you had to see this mess.”
Zhao Weiqing looked embarrassed.
“I’ve always lived alone, so I’m used to things being a little messy.”
But before he could finish, his expression suddenly twisted in pain.
His left hand unconsciously moved to clutch his right arm.
After the muscles at the corner of his eye twitched uncontrollably twice, Zhao Weiqing slowly shuffled over to the desk under the two people’s watchful gazes. He picked up a half-used blister pack of pills from the tabletop.
He popped two pills out, tossed them into his mouth, and swallowed them with a gulp of water from the cup beside him.
“What kind of medicine are you taking?” Lin Jiafan asked after a moment of silence.
“Just some ordinary painkillers.”
Zhao Weiqing’s expression was unreadable as he answered.
He casually tossed the empty foil blister pack into the trash bin beside the door.
After that, he picked up his phone from beside the pillow, glanced at the message on the screen, and then turned around to take down the work jacket hanging on the wall.
“The manager said he needs to talk to me about something. Besides, you two should get back to work too.”
“You’re feeling this bad and you’re still not taking the day off? Besides, you’re only on the afternoon shift today. What does the manager need you for?”
Lin Jiafan looked genuinely puzzled.
“With my health condition, being able to keep this job is already something I should be grateful for. The manager knows my situation and still lets me work the night security shift part-time. A person should know how to be grateful.”
Zhao Weiqing shook his head with a sigh, picked up the tool bag beside the door, and prepared to leave.
Luo Jingyao and Lin Jiafan exchanged a glance before following him out of the room.
Just before stepping over the threshold, Luo Jingyao casually bent down and smoothly picked up the plastic bag from the trash can.
“Leaving trash sitting around too long isn’t good for your health either.”
Zhao Weiqing only smiled gratefully.
When he finished locking the door and reached out to take the bag from her, Luo Jingyao’s smile didn’t fade at all as she urged:
“Brother Zhao, don’t you still have to go see the mall manager? I’m going out to buy breakfast later anyway. Throwing away trash is no trouble.”
Perhaps he really was in a hurry. Zhao Weiqing didn’t argue with her any further. After thanking her once more, he turned and left first.
She and Lin Jiafan followed not too closely and not too far behind him.
Once they confirmed that Zhao Weiqing was indeed heading toward the manager’s office, Luo Jingyao quickly opened the trash bag and took out the foil blister pack, handing it to the person beside her.
Lin Jiafan took it, slipped it into his pocket in one smooth motion, and the two of them didn’t even exchange a glance during the entire process.
They merely brushed past each other before going their separate ways.
It was already 8:30 in the morning.
After throwing away the trash, Luo Jingyao thought for a while and still decided to return to the training camp on the basement level.
She had barely walked a few steps inside when she ran into Coach Xiao Ping—the “little kid brother” coach.
The moment he saw her, his whole face turned bright red. He awkwardly raised a hand and scratched the back of his head.
“Sis Luo… thanks for last night.”
“Are you okay? Did you feel uncomfortable anywhere when you woke up this morning?”
She asked with concern.
“N-no… I’m fine…”
Xiao Ping stammered, but quickly regained his energy.
“Oh, right! I have good news. Sister Jiang isn’t here again this morning, so we can slack off a little.”
“Really? That’s great.”
Because she was still thinking about Zhao Weiqing’s situation, Luo Jingyao was clearly distracted.
That state continued until she helped one of the trainees stretch his legs and do sit-ups.
When the trainee was lying on the floor with his knees bent, something suddenly fell out of his loose pants pocket.
Two small objects rolled several times across the floor before finally being stopped by Luo Jingyao’s sneaker.
She looked down at the pills near her feet, then at the trainee lying there with his face flushed red.
For a moment, the atmosphere became awkward.
Luo Jingyao didn’t miss the uneasiness in his eyes.
She picked up the two suspicious little pills between her fingers and hesitated.
“These are…?”
“They’re vitamins handed out last night. My stomach hasn’t been feeling well these past two days, so I haven’t had a chance to take them.”
The trainee nervously glanced around and lowered his voice in pleading.
“Coach Luo, please don’t report me! Otherwise, five hundred burpees as punishment will literally kill me!”
“Shh…”
Luo Jingyao quietly slipped the pills into her coat pocket, then winked at him.
Time dragged on, and eventually afternoon arrived.
Luo Jingyao sat alone in the coaches’ lounge, staring blankly at the ceiling lights.
Other than visiting Zhao Weiqing that morning, it felt like she hadn’t made any progress for the rest of the day.
Jiang Qi had no idea why she still hadn’t shown up.
As for Xiao Ping, with so many people watching, she couldn’t get too close to him either.
She let out a silent breath and adjusted her posture, accidentally touching the two small pills in her pocket.
Frowning, Luo Jingyao was just about to take them out and examine them carefully when the training area outside suddenly erupted into noise.
Someone shouted:
“There are a bunch of police cars outside!”
“Oh my god, what happened? Did someone get into a fight?”
“Are you crazy or am I crazy? Aside from the mall staff, the few tea shops still open, and our training camp, there isn’t even anyone else in this whole mall. Who would they even fight with?”
“Then why are the police here?”
Because Jiang Qi wasn’t there to keep things under control, both the coaches and trainees rushed out the moment they heard there was something interesting to see.
As they ran toward the first floor, everyone began guessing what had happened.
Luo Jingyao blended in among them and smoothly made her way near the mall’s main entrance.
Sure enough, several police cars were already parked outside.
The red and blue lights on the roofs kept flashing as officers stepped out one after another.
Could this mean Lin Jiafan had found something?
She just didn’t know whether the result was about Zhao Weiqing…
or about Jiang Qi.
