As soon as Ning Qi opened the door of the house, the three people who were immersed in their talks quickly turned their heads. Every one of them has different expressions on their face.
Yi Ran looked at him with a delight, but at the same time, there was a lot of struggle on her face, as though she felt that Ning Qi in person is kind of complex to understand and get close to.
Jia Li simply smiled at him as though welcoming him, while Li Ping gave him a questioning look, as though asking, where were you in the past few days?
Ning Qi smiled at all of them as he walked towards them before sitting beside Yi Ran, as that was the only spot left.
"Alright! Why are you looking like a housewife who is questioning her husband after not seeing him for the entire day?"
Ning Qi joked as he looked at Li Ping, which instantly made Jia Li burst into a laugh, while Yi Ran simply closed her mouth, trying to contain her laugh.
"You have the guts to joke around when you just disappeared for the past three days, after just dropping a message. I have tried to reach you so many times, but your mobile device is always sending the switched-off message. And you have not been coming here for the past seven to eight days... I want to know exactly what you are doing today. Don't try to talk out of it... I'm not Yi Ran!"
Li Ping finally burst out, making Jia Li and Yi Ran, who was still laughing, stop immediately as they saw that Li Ping was serious. But Yi Ran also rolled her eyes for making an example of her.
He also told them about this, but they didn't put much thought into it, as Ning Qi is not a child anymore.
He even informed them about Ning Qi's resignation issue, which did not bother them that much after learning about Ning Qi's track record.
They even felt that was a good thing. So that he can now look for a job, which will probably give him a higher salary with all those achievements under his belt.
Seeing his friend's serious face and questioning tone, Ning Qi didn't get angry at him. Instead, he felt warm in his heart, as he knew that the people who care for you are the ones who will look out for you and will get angry and concerned on your behalf.
But in the present society, many such good friendships are getting ruined, as people tend to listen to those who sweet talk with them and just support them on whatever they are about to do, whether it is correct or wrong.
Some people even instigate them on purpose, so that will seed some kind of distance between true friends.
"As I told you, I'm not doing anything that's against the law. I just went out on a trek in the Tianmen mountain range, with some other people at the party. We have four hunters guiding us through the entire time, as such, it was pretty safe and at the same time quite thrilling."
Ning Qi lied with a fake excited face.
"Ohh"
Li Ping, who was ready to rebut, didn't know how to respond to that, as that is pretty common these days and the three of them were also talking about something similar just a moment ago.
"What 'ohh'? You don't have anything to say anymore? Why don't you get angry again, Lao Li? It was quite funny to watch you being serious. Can please entertain us again?"
Ning Qi teased as he tried to ease the atmosphere. which worked like a charm, as Li Ping rolled his eyes at this shameless buddy of his.
"Whatever! As long as you are alive, I don't have to worry about explaining things to Uncle and Aunty."
Li Ping said nonchalantly, making Ning Qi roll his eyes this time, and just as he was getting ready to rebut again, he was immediately stopped by Jia Li.
"Stop bickering like lovers! It's kind of disgusting the way that both of you are trying to argue. Let's continue with our discussion, Li Ping!"
Jia Li said, stopping the both of them.
Both of them did stop and turned their heads away from each other, not wanting to continue anymore. But Ning Qi finally looked at Yi Ran instead of Jia Li, who asked for some attention on some discussion.
"How are you?" Ning Qi asked smoothly.
"I'm doing fine! But... I heard that you resigned from the job. It's pretty good, now that you can join another company that will pay you more than the last one with your track record. So, don't take it too hard and take a good break before trying to apply for jobs again."
Yi Ran is quite delighted that Ning Qi took the initiative to talk with her.
In the past few days, after she left Ning Qi's house, she had thought through the things so many times and felt Ning Qi is an ideal person for her.
Especially when she remembers that domineering Ning Qi when she made that villainous guy fall on his butt, with just a glare, will always make her feel like butterflies are flying in her stomach.
She even researched it online to see why she was feeling that way, and after knowing that, she felt quite conflicted.
From her online research, she found that this is the feeling you get when you look at your partner or fall in love with someone for the first time, which will make your dopamine levels increase whenever you are in the presence of such a person.
But she felt conflicted, as the thought of Ning Qi's domineering moment will always give her that particular effect.
Just a moment ago, when Ning sat beside her, she felt like her stomach had some winged insects flying inside her, and that too very intensely.
She understood that this is the initial stage of love and that she fell for Ning Qi without knowing the particular reason why.
Is it because Ning Qi is also a person like her, or is it because Ning Qi has another side, which she always lacks or tries to hide? She thought for many days, but she couldn't come to a proper conclusion.
"Yeah! But, I will be taking a break for at least some time to enjoy life while I still have some time, before getting busy again."
Ning Qi said vaguely, as he knows that he is going to be quite busy in the future. Once their sect has more disciples, he won't have much time to concentrate on living a peaceful life anymore.
"You--"
Just when Yi Ran gathered her courage and was about to ask Ning Qi to go on a date, Jia Li suddenly shook her shoulder, which immediately scattered her courage. Immediately, a rare angry look flashed on her face.
As she lifted her head to look at Jia Li, she saw the teasing smiles of both Jia Li and Li Ping, which immediately replaced her anger with a blush, as she just wanted to hide now.
Ning Qi also knows that they have behaved a bit too closely. But he simply looked elsewhere when they saw the teasing smiles on their faces.
"Alright! You both can have all the time you can get when we go out on a trek this Saturday! At that time, we won't disturb you anymore, you can do 'whatever' you want."
Jia said, and she pressed the word 'Whatever', making Yi Ran, who is still blushing, feel her face getting hot at the random thoughts that her best friend instilled in her mind.
Ning Qi, looking at the bright red Yi Ran, couldn't help but want to pinch her face. But he restrained himself as he didn't want to escalate their relationship, and she didn't know how to deal with this.
He already has a wife, and then Su Xiao... One more Yi Ran is going to give him a huge headache.
"Ahem! Jia Li, are we going on a trek this Saturday? And which place are you guys planning?"
Ning Qi asked as he tried to ease the overly lovely atmosphere, after grasping the words from Jia Li.
When he asked about the trek, his mind flashed back to the woman that he saved today, and naturally, he also remembered the flashes of white, which instantly made the blood rush to his brain.
He quickly calmed himself down and concentrated on the current situation.
"We are planning for the Maoe'r mountain range, as it is not far from here. It is around 140 km from here and around 50 to 60 km apart from the Tianmen mountain range that you went on. But the Mao Er mountain range is mostly in our Guangxi province and a bit stretched into other provinces. Before you came, we were all discussing going there... But since you came back, I will apply for four entry tickets now."
Li Ping said, not giving anyone a chance to reject. Ning Qi also didn't say anything, as he already knew it was useless to argue with Li Ping on such decisions, or else when the day comes, he will just drag him along.
And also, one must have permission from forest guards to enter this mountain range, and if someone were to get caught, they will be treated as smugglers or at least will be fined a huge amount of money before getting out of the mess.
"Yeah, Ning! We both are also quite excited, as this is our first time going trekking. I don't know what else to do, but Li Ping arranged everything, and he even arranged for a hunter to guide us through our journey! We even bought tents so that we can spend the night with nature."
Jia Li said it excitedly, and even Li Ping and Yi Ran are quite excited about this journey.
Ning Qi simply rolled his eyes at their excitement, as they don't understand how dangerous it is to trek in the forests in this dangerous world where no one knows where all those evil sects are residing.
But he didn't say anything to break their excitement, as he is also going with them and will be able to solve any trouble that comes their way. Naturally, if even he can't solve it, that is a huge end for them.
Soon, all of them started talking merrily as they ordered food to enjoy the night before Li Ping escorted them back to their room late at night.