Chapter 39: Morning Run

To get the kids exercising, Chen Liyang had specially bought sportswear for everyone. Their outfits were identical except for size, and stepping outside together, they immediately made for quite a striking sight.

Aunt Zhao, who was in her yard feeding chickens, saw Chen Liyang leading the kids out in matching family outfits and asked curiously where they were off to.

Chen Liyang immediately smiled and explained that he was taking the kids out for a morning run.

Hearing that they were going for a run to exercise, Aunt Zhao thought of her own son still sleeping in at home and asked Chen Liyang to wait a minute.

She went and woke up her soundly sleeping son, and just like that, Liu Ziheng stumbled out of bed, still dazed in his sleep.

Before he could fully wake up, his mother hauled him out of the yard like a little chick, and he found himself jogging along in a confused daze.

Although Liu Ziheng was the same age as Zhou Chengdong, he was much shorter than him. Ever since elementary school, he had always sat in the front row, simply because he was the shortest boy in his class.

Neither Aunt Zhao nor Liu Puping were short, but their son seemed like a genetic anomaly, refusing to grow no matter how many supplements they fed him.

If he hadn’t looked like the two of them, they would have suspected he was swapped at birth in the hospital.

He was right in his growth phase now. If Liu Ziheng didn’t gain some height over the next two years, he really never would.

Having heard that running could help a child grow taller, Aunt Zhao had immediately woken her son the moment she heard Chen Liyang say he was taking his kids for a run.

Chen Liyang knew Wanning couldn’t run fast, as she was only a five-year-old child after all, so he kept a slow pace. He had the oldest boys run ahead while he stayed behind with Wanning, which also allowed him to see if the others were slacking off.

It was only six-thirty in the morning, but the sky was already bright. The sun was rising from the east, splashing orange sunlight across the sky. A gentle breeze brushed against their cheeks, breaking the quiet of the early morning.

Quite a few people were already up at this hour, and seeing Chen Liyang’s family out running struck them as quite novel.

Morning runs weren’t unusual in themselves, but usually it was young people doing them.

For a stepfather with a bad reputation like Chen Liyang to take his stepchildren out running looked more like he had ulterior motives, giving the impression that he was mistreating them.

After all, who takes a five-year-old child out running? The child was so young, weren’t they afraid of hurting her?

Chen Liyang paid no mind to people pointing and whispering. He glanced down at the little girl beside him; though Wanning didn’t say anything, he could feel that she liked running.

Her little short legs moved with great effort, and that unyielding spirit gave her a vibrant new energy.

Running ahead, Liu Ziheng asked the person beside him in confusion, “What kind of crazy mood is your stepfather in, making you all go running for no reason?”

By now, he was fully awake.

Now that vacation had finally started, he had planned on enjoying two months of pure bliss, sleeping in until he woke up naturally every day.

Who could have guessed he still couldn’t escape the fate of waking up early? If it was going to be like this every day, wouldn’t it be the death of him?

Zhou Chengdong had been running for several minutes without turning red or getting out of breath. With barely any heave to his chest, he replied in an unhurried tone, “He said it’s to build our strength.”

“You mean we’ll have to do a morning run every day from now on?” Liu Ziheng instantly felt like life wasn’t worth living.

“Probably. If you don’t want to run, nobody’s forcing you.” Zhou Chengdong didn’t understand why Liu Ziheng was involving himself when it was just their family running.

“You think I want to? It’s only because my mom thinks I’m short and wants me to grow by exercising.

“She used to tell me all the time to run, jump rope, or play basketball whenever I had free time.

“Now that she saw you guys out running, she’s definitely not going to let me off the hook.”

Hearing Liu Ziheng’s words, Zhou Chengdong nodded for once. “I actually think your mom has the right idea. Going to bed early, waking up early, and doing a proper morning run really can help you grow taller.”

“I don’t know how you grew so tall. We’re the same age, but you’re half a head taller than me,” Liu Ziheng said with unmistakable envy in his voice.

Zhou Chengdong thought of his deceased parents. His height was probably inherited from his father.

That was why, even though he hadn’t eaten well in recent years, it still hadn’t affected his height.

“Big Brother, Brother Ziheng, what are you two talking about?” Zhou Chengnan caught up to them, having heard them whispering from a distance.

Liu Ziheng cared about his pride and didn’t want to talk about his height, so he made up an excuse to gloss over it.

Speaking of which, Zhou Chengxi was two years younger than him, yet was almost the same height as him. It was truly embarrassing.

Although Chen Liyang couldn’t hear what they were talking about, he knew why Aunt Zhao had called her son over to run with them.

Such was the devoted heart of parents everywhere; she was probably deeply worried about Liu Ziheng’s height.

Still, Liu Ziheng wouldn’t be short in the future, because when the book described the five children repaying Aunt Zhao, it had mentioned Liu Ziheng.

He was described as being of average height with handsome features, married to a teacher, and having a son and a daughter.

It was also him who frequently visited the five siblings’ graves to pay his respects.

All in all, he was a good kid who valued loyalty and devotion.

Since it was only their first day running, Chen Liyang finally called an end to it after running for half an hour.

By this time, the clothes on everyone’s backs were soaked with sweat.

The sunshine, which had initially carried little warmth, had become somewhat glaring.

After returning home, Chen Liyang told them to take a quick shower while he went to make breakfast.

He made a simple breakfast: egg fried rice. Since he still had the whole milk he bought earlier, he gave each of them a carton.

A box only had twelve cartons, which would be finished in two days. Growing teenagers really could eat a family out of house and home, let alone with so many kids.

But Chen Liyang had never once complained about spending money, making sure every day’s meals had a balanced mix of meat and vegetables.

Zhou Chengdong knew Chen Liyang must have spent a lot of money over the past half-month or so, yet he hadn’t asked him for the government subsidies this month.

He didn’t know if Chen Liyang had forgotten about them or truly had no intention of asking for them.

But he didn’t want to owe him anything, lest it become leverage Chen Liyang could use to control him later.

So he pulled out a bank card and set it on the table. “This card has the government subsidies on it. Take the money out to cover household expenses!”

Chen Liyang was shoveling rice into his mouth when he saw the bank card placed in front of him.

Only then did he remember that the original host used to trick money out of the eldest child every month under all sorts of pretexts.

Because he had transmigrated here this month, he hadn’t asked for any, so he hadn’t expected the boy to offer it of his own accord.

But how could he possibly take this money? He pushed the card back without hesitation. “Dad has money. Keep the money on this card yourself, and only take it out when you kids need it later.”

“Once we grow up, we can earn our own. You should still take this money. After all, there are five mouths to feed every day, so it must cost a lot.”