Kenneth Osborne was usually someone who went for a morning run daily as part of his exercise routine.
However, last night he had a bit of insomnia, and by the time he fell asleep, it was almost dawn. So, he couldn’t get up early for his morning run today.
Unexpectedly, on the very day he couldn’t get up for a run, Lawrence Winters decided to go for a morning jog for the first time, and was spotted by Joyce Shaw.
Kenneth Osborne stared at the message on WeChat for a full five minutes before slowly coming to his senses.
He ruffled his hair in frustration, sat up in bed, and picked up his phone to reply to Joyce: [Are you sure it was her? Didn’t you mistake someone else?].
How could someone as lazy as Lawrence Winters be up for a run?
Back home, he had tried to get her to run with him in the mornings, even using financial incentives, but nothing worked.
And now she’s running on her own?
This is really unbelievable.
He waited a while, but Joyce didn’t respond.
She was probably still running.
Kenneth didn’t wait any longer and got out of bed to take a shower.
After coming out, he found that Joyce had sent him a photo.
It was of Lawrence Winters, covered in sweat.
Her originally fair cheeks were now red like two little peaches. Her big eyes seemed misty, lacking the usual sharpness and energy, looking a bit dazed and confused.
She seemed cuter this way.
Kenneth unconsciously brushed his fingers over the photo of Lawrence’s face on his phone, reminiscing about what it felt like to pinch her cheeks.
He couldn’t bear it anymore once he started thinking about it.
So he decided to call Joyce.
After a few rings, the call was finally answered.
Joyce’s panting voice came through the line, "Kenneth! What’s up!? I’m running right now! Didn’t I send you the photo? I didn’t mistake her for someone else!"
Kenneth pressed his lips together, leaned against the window sill of his dormitory, glanced at the morning light outside, and asked, "Where’s Nora? Is she still running?"
"Yeah, she’s right behind me. But it’s not running, it’s more like a snail crawling!" Joyce clicked her tongue, then decided to open her phone video and show it to Kenneth.
Kenneth saw Lawrence Winters with her hands on her knees, bent over to catch her breath, then lift her head to jog a bit, then bend down to catch her breath again, and then continue jogging.
... This isn’t just a snail crawling, this is a baby snail crawling...
Kenneth thought to himself, noted the location, and said, "Alright, I’ll be there soon."
He hung up the phone, picked up a white sports towel and draped it over his neck, and left the dormitory.
He rode his bike and quickly arrived at the location where Joyce was.
Because of Lawrence, Joyce had stopped her morning run and was just keeping an eye on her.
Lawrence didn’t know how many times she had stopped to catch her breath, feeling like her chest was about to burst.
Where did all the oxygen in the air go?!
Did others breathe it all in?
The Earth’s population is really too much...
Lawrence continued moving forward in a daze, suddenly feeling lighter. Without thinking, she immediately leaned on the object that made her feel at ease.
Even if the King of Heaven showed up now, she would need a break.
She took a few deep breaths, and the overwhelming heat in her chest finally began to subside.
Her vision gradually cleared, and her mind could think normally again.
It was then that she realized she wasn’t leaning on an "object," but a person, a man.
She slowly lifted her head and saw Kenneth Osborne’s familiar perfect jawline, so impeccably smooth that it made one want to caress it.
Lawrence moved her fingers, but didn’t have the energy to lift them.
She weakly smiled, "Kenneth, did you come to rescue me?"
He couldn’t help but tease her: "You run so hard that you’re in such dire straits, Nora, how weak must your body be?"
"I’m not weak at all. I can keep going..." Lawrence wished she could demonstrate her strength by doing something impressive, but she couldn’t even move a single finger.
Kenneth easily hoisted her onto the back seat of his bike, and said with a laugh, "Keep going? I think you’re just barely hanging on."
Lawrence clung to his back silently, unable to argue.
Kenneth rode his bike to take her back to the girls’ dormitory, telling her, "Go take a shower, then I’ll take you out for breakfast. Whether it’s McDonald’s or KFC, it’s your choice."
"I want to eat McDonald’s pork congee with century egg! But I also want meat buns." Lawrence’s eyes lit up, then quickly dimmed, and she whispered, "Forget it, I want millet porridge, the kind for dieting."
Kenneth stared at the crown of her head and asked nonchalantly, "...You went running just to lose weight?"
"Mhm." Lawrence Winters nodded, took off his sweatband, and wiped the sweat off his cheeks.
"Why are you trying to lose weight? You’re not overweight at all..." Kenneth Osborne continued to pry.
Lawrence casually replied, "Fans of those two big stars said my favorite Lucas Harlow is only worthy of having a chubby fan like me! Hmph! I’ll prove them wrong with facts!"
He twitched his lips, "Just for that? Didn’t you already get someone in trouble with that case... Even if you lose weight, who are you doing it for?"
Lawrence shook his head, feeling something wasn’t right with Kenneth’s words, but after running for nearly an hour, he was severely oxygen-deprived and couldn’t think straight, so he didn’t argue back. He just frowned and said, "I’m so exhausted, I think I’ll just have a diet meal..."
"Don’t even think about it." Kenneth immediately stopped him, saying seriously, "Diet meals are too harmful to your body. Unless you plan to be a celebrity, why rush like that?"
Lawrence bit his lip, his bright black eyes flickering slightly, resembling a little ragged cat trying to act pitiful on the ground.
Growing up, this was always a look Kenneth couldn’t resist.
He quickly averted his gaze, saying, "If you insist on eating diet meals, I’ll tell your uncle and your mom."
"... No way, Kenneth!" Lawrence immediately gave up on the idea of diet meals, "I won’t eat them, I definitely won’t eat them!"
If this reached her uncle and mom, she wouldn’t be able to hide the fact that she got trampled at the airport yesterday...
Lawrence knew all too well about her mom Gabrielle Winters’ terrifying ability to imagine and overthink.
But thinking of giving up diet meals, how else could she successfully lose weight?! Get full chapters from 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝕟𝕖𝕥
It was just too difficult for her.
Lawrence felt like crying, and tears began to shimmer in her pure black eyes.
Kenneth turned back and patted her head, "I’ll go running with you every day, and I’ll supervise you."
After a pause, he added, "If you can’t run anymore, I’ll carry you back, you don’t have to exhaust yourself."
"Really?!" Lawrence’s tears immediately reversed, and she grabbed Kenneth’s hand, "Kenneth is awesome! Long live Kenneth!"
"Your flattery is worthless." Kenneth said coolly, "Actually, you’re not overweight at all. Why go through all that trouble for others."
Lawrence fell silent.
After a long while, she smiled wryly, "Kenneth, you’re so good to me, probably only three people in the world believe I’m not overweight. The other two are my mom and uncle."
"How on earth do I deserve to be compared with Uncle Nick and Aunt Gabrielle?" Kenneth smirked as he got on his bicycle, "Alright, you go upstairs and shower, I’ll make you a nutritious and weight-loss friendly breakfast."
"Hahaha... I said Kenneth is just as great as my mom and uncle!"
Lawrence praised Kenneth, always using the same few words, often pushing him into the "elder" position, but when it came to Lucas Harlow in the fan space, she had a lot of creative ways to praise him.
Kenneth thought of the fan space he spent half the night reading last night, half-mockingly said, "Where’s all your tidal wave of flattery? Without sincerity, it’s hard to lose weight..."
Just like when she was little, she tugged on Kenneth’s arm and shook it, "We’re family, so let’s not beat around the bush. If I were overly flattering to you, it would be fake, right? We’re so close, remember I borrowed so much of your New Year’s money and you never asked for it back..."
"Speaking of the money you borrowed, I actually kept a small ledger." Kenneth looked back at her, "If you can stick to morning runs and maintain a healthy diet, for every pound you lose, I’ll deduct a corresponding amount from your debt, how about that?"
Lawrence felt like slapping herself.
She really knew how to bring up the wrong topic...
She thought Kenneth was so good to her, he would have already "forgiven" the "debt."
It was all because her mom brought up the incident where she borrowed money from a neighbor to do a DNA test last night.
Whenever money was mentioned, Lawrence’s mind became clear, as she tried to argue, "Speaking of borrowing money from you, you actually led me into it, you were a predatory lender!"
"Nowadays, predatory lending is not allowed on campuses and has been banned by the government, so that portion of debt should also be erased." Lawrence tried to "state the facts and reason with" Kenneth.
"How did I lead you on with predatory lending?" Kenneth knew when the topic of money came up, Lawrence could "over-perform."
"My mom was so strict with me when I was young, I suspected I wasn’t her biological child, and it was you who said I could get a DNA test!" Lawrence puffed her soft peachy cheeks and poked Kenneth’s chest with her finger.
With just a light poke, Kenneth felt a bit uncomfortable, as if something was drilling into his heart.
He kicked the ground and moved the bicycle forward a few steps, "Well, you were always secretly pondering whether your mom was really your biological mom, I couldn’t take it anymore when I suggested you could get a DNA test."
"But I didn’t know that DNA tests cost money!" Lawrence argued confidently, "You were the one who willingly lent me the money!"
Kenneth didn’t argue with her.
Clearly, it was her crying and making a fuss, "forcing" him to use his New Year’s money to get her a DNA test.
"Alright, think it over yourself. Whether you’ll genuinely work out to lose weight and reduce your debt, or try to trick your mom and uncle into knowing the whole truth." Kenneth left one final word and casually rode off on his bicycle.
Lawrence waved her fist at his back, but ultimately submitted to Kenneth’s "carrot and stick" approach.
So for the next few weeks, Lawrence, Kenneth, Joyce Shaw, and Nora headed out to exercise together.
They did morning runs together, had low-carb meals for lunch and dinner, and added an hour of swimming in the evening.
By the day before Gabrielle and Nick planned to return to the Capital City, Lawrence had already lost ten pounds!
From 126 pounds down to 116 pounds!