Chen Xiaolian waited through the entire afternoon but did not receive any call from old Father Qiao.
Logically speaking, old Father Qiao’s underlings should have reported matters to him this time around. However, the old fellow had yet to give him a call. That could only mean one thing: this old man had no intention of discussing things through and wanted to use the hard way!
Yu Jiajia was rather happy as she exercised in the fitness centre.
Later in the afternoon, while Chen Xiaolian was observing Yu Jiajia as she exercised, he noticed a young woman walking in through the entrance.
An excellent body with beautiful curves, the woman was a match for Yu Jiajia.
Unfortunately, although she possessed a beautiful figure, her face was simply average. Truly a pity…
The young woman was wearing a sleeveless, elastic sports shirt which revealed her flat and powerful abdomen. The 11 abs could be seen on her body while her waist slender and buttocks curved. She clearly possessed the body of a succubus.
The young woman entered with a towel draped across her neck. The surface of her upper and lower neck area that were exposed were covered in sweat. Her hair was tied into a ponytail and she gently wiped away her sweat. As she walked, a certain spring could be seen in her steps.
“Hi, little Xia.”
Naturally, this young woman was Nicole. After entering the door, the first thing she did was to greet Xia Xiaolei who was seated inside.
After Xiaolei saw Nicole, his face turned red and he cast an anxious look at Chen Xiaolian.
Chen Xiaolian narrowed his eyes as he observed Nicole who was walking inside… as for Yu Jiajia who was exercising beside, she seemingly felt something and was quick to turn around to look at Nicole with… a very peculiar expression.
How should it be described? It was as though a wild beast had felt another beast invading its territory…
The two females were quick to make eye contact and they assessed each other meticulously.
After a few seconds, Yu Jiajia relaxed.
Clearly, despite the beautiful body that was a match for hers, the woman’s face was inferior to hers…
It was not a simple ridicule on her part. Rather, it was the normal reaction of most beautiful women.
“You are?”
Chen Xiaolian stepped forward.
“Hello,” said Nicole who held out her hand warmly. “My name is Ye Zi, I just moved in. The yoga studio out there is the one I recently opened, so that makes us neighbours.”
Yoga studio?
Chen Xiaolian’s lips twitched.
Opening a yoga studio in a place like this, do you have too much money?
“Hello, I am Chen Xiaolian.” Chen Xiaolian simply shook her hands.
“Since we are neighbours, I hope you can help take care of me in the future.” Nicole squinted her eyes and smiled.
Chen Xiaolian responded to her request with a look of indifference.
Nicole then continued, “Back then, I had asked XIaolei about this; I had wanted to find a fitness centre that was nearby but could not find a suitable one. Then, I saw this place of yours…”
After saying that, Nicole deliberately paused.
Chen Xiaolian frowned and thought about it before answering, “This might not be convenient.”
“Oh?” Nicole smiled and said, “Before this, Xia Xiaolei had said the same thing. Also, the friend of yours known as Da Gang had said the same thing. He said that you are all mostly males who like to exercise without shirts on and it would be inconvenient to have females around. But, from what I can see today, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
As she spoke, she deliberately cast her gaze at Yu Jiajia. This move of hers meant: don’t you also have a female here?
Chen Xiaolian smiled and said, “It is not exactly the matter of male and female… however, this friend of mine is only visiting here for a moment. She does not normally come here.”
“According to whom? This place of yours is quite good and it just so happens that I need a place to exercise. In the future, I will be coming here to exercise every day. Xiaolian, you aren’t that stingy, are you?” Yu Jiajia asked in a dissatisfied manner.
Then, her eyes suddenly lit up and she turned to Nicole. “You have got a really good figure! Just now, did you say you have a yoga studio?”
“It’s just opposite from here,” replied the smiling Nicole.
“That’s too good!” Yu Jiajia clapped her palms and smiled, “I would normally exercise and flex my body and there are no good places here. Although he has a lot of good equipment here, I am a female after all. Exercising to keep a good figure is good enough. Those machine exercises can’t be done all the time, otherwise, I might end up as a terrifying lump of muscles. Back at home, I would always exercise and do yoga as well. Can I go to your place?”
“Naturally, that will not be an issue,” replied Nicole with a smile. Then, she turned to face Chen Xiaolian.
Chen Xiaolian felt his head aching.
“How about it, Mr Chen? Owner Chen, this friend of yours can come to my place to do yoga free of charge. But as an exchange, I will come over to your place to exercise. Surely you don’t mind helping me out like this?”
“… all right, let’s do that then.” Chen Xiaolian suddenly smiled.
The casual and relaxed way he had used to answer her surprised Nicole for a moment. Then, she nodded her head and said, “That’s good. It’s agreed then, do we start today?”
“As you please.” Chen Xiaolian pointed to his fitness centre. “Just use the things here as you see fit. If there are any issues, ask Xia Xiaolei to help out.”
After saying that, Chen Xiaolei made a hand gesture to Xia Xiaolei.
Although he was feeling doubtful, Xia Xiaolei nodded his head.
“Let’s go, you and me together.”
Yu Jiajia passionately patted Nicole and pulled her into the fitness centre.
Chen Xiaolian watched as the two females moved toward the fitness centre and eyebrows were raised.
Xia Xiaolei walked up from behind and said, “Guild Leader…”
“First, remember this important matter, next time there is an outsider, don’t call me Guild Leader.”
Xia Xiaolei shrunk back his shoulder. He gave a wry smile and said, “Sorry, on the spur of the moment, I forgot. Mm, then next time, I will call you brother Xiaolian.”
“Mm, that will do. Second, you need to take note, when an outsider is around, you need to be careful with your words. Hmm, tell me about this woman. How did a yoga studio end up opening here just a few days after I was gone?”
Xia Xiaolei thus told him about Nicole as he listened in while occasionally nodding.
After Xia Xiaolei was done, Chen Xiaolian frowned. Although there was something odd about this matter… he was unable to figure out what exactly that was.
Since she was willing to open up a yoga studio here, what could he do?
It was then that Da Gang walked in.
“Eh? Xiaolian, you are back.”
Tian Lie walked forward and hugged Chen Xiaolian warmly.
“I just came back today… you went back to Hangzhou, did you finish dealing with your home matters?”
“Mm, it’s done.” Tian Lie smiled and said, “Just now, I went out to buy some stuff. On the way home, I saw a group of men whose faces were swollen all over. It seems there were involved in a fight.”
Chen Xiaolian smiled and said, “It’s just a fight, nothing surprising there.
Tian Lie turned to look inside the room and saw the two women exercising inside. “Yu Jiajia came here?”
“Mm.”
At that moment, Yu Jiajia also noticed Tian Lie. She waved at him. However, she was in the middle of a set of aerobic exercises and was unable to immediately come over.
Tian Lie’s gaze then fell onto Nicole. “That woman…”
“Mm, I agreed to have her exercise here.” Chen Xiaolian nodded his head.
“Oh.” Tian Lie did not continue. Next, he whispered thoughtfully, “This morning, I met up with an administrator of this building and heard something interesting.”
“Something interesting?”
“That’s right.” Tian Lie said, “This young woman who had opened a yoga studio seemed to be quite rich. When she came to rent that lot, after hearing the rental price given by the administrator, she did not try to counter-offer at all. She simply nodded her head and accepted it. She also had the administrator help her find a renovation team to help her renovate the lot.
“You know those administrators. When it comes to the renovation team that they know, there will be some under the table benefits. Thus, the price will be higher.
“Unexpectedly, after hearing the renovators price, she still did not try to make a counter-offer and simply accepted. She had only given one request, to have it finished as soon as possible.
“The building administrators were so happy they could probably die from it. They had obtained quite some benefits from this transaction.
“This is the attitude of the rich.”
After hearing what Tian Lie said, Chen Xiaolian narrowed his eyes and looked at Nicole for some time.
Chen Xiaolian had a faint feeling that there was something wrong with this yoga studio woman.
However, he was unable to pinpoint where exactly was the feeling of wrongness coming from.
Even if he was to assume that she had an ulterior motive, they were just a bunch of youngsters who came together to open up a fitness centre. What’s in it for her to plot against them?
Unless… she knew who they really were?
But that did not add up as well.
Chen Xiaolian carefully recalled his experiences within those instance dungeons.
Those Awakened guilds he knew of that had some dispute with him… there seemed to be none that would come over to start a fight with him.
Considering those guilds he knew of, there were only Phoenix’s and Sawakita Mitsuo’s guild. As for the others, while it was possible that he had somehow entered a conflict with some other guilds in the instance dungeons, without knowing each other, why would they come over to plot against him?
Could it be… old Father Qiao?
However, thinking it through, he figured that should not be the case. Looking at the time, this yoga studio had been opened up before Yu Jiajia had come looking for him.
After thinking it through, Chen Xiaolian found that he was unable to narrow it down to any suspicious individuals. Thus, he decided to simply put the thoughts aside.
Perhaps… this was really just a rich person.
They stayed in the fitness centre until evening came, but old Father Qiao’s call never came. A sense of reservation came over Chen Xiaolian’s heart – this matter would likely not end in a good way. The other party would surely think of some way to forcibly take Yu Jiajia away.
However, this thought did not cause Chen Xiaolian to worry… I am not afraid of you, just afraid that I won’t be able to find you!
When night came, Chen Xiaolian had both Xia Xiaolei and Da Gang return with him to have a meal at his home.
Xia Xiaolei who was originally living at Chen Xiaolian’s home had no objection.
However, Tian Lie had gently refused.
Considering the fact that Da Gang had always been an aloof person who did not like being around many people, Chen Xiaolian did not think too much about it.
Chen Xiaolian brought Yu Jiajia and Xia Xiaolei with him as he left the fitness centre. Tian Lie stood on the second floor and looked out the window, watching as the three of them left. Then, when night fell, Tian Lie closed the lights of the fitness centre and cooked himself some stuff to eat.
At night, he sat on the table, pulled out his laptop, and surfed the internet.
At around nine o’clock at night, a knocking sound came from outside.
Tian Lie looked out and saw Nicole standing outside the glass door.
A peculiar smile appeared on the edges of Tian Lie’s mouth. Then, he stood up and walked over to open the door.
“Is there anything?”
“I saw that there are still lights inside,” Nicole said coolly. “What? Do you live here?”
“Mm.”
“What a coincidence, I also live here.”
Tian Lie raised his eyebrows and asked, “You live here as well? Could it be you do not have a home to live in?”
“What about you? I hear that Xia Xiaolei and Chen Xiaolian lives together. Why aren’t you staying with them?”
“I like a quiet atmosphere.”
“Likewise,” replied Nicole calmly. “I have just come to this city and have yet to find a place to stay in. So, I will be staying in my yoga studio temporarily.”
Tian Lie looked at her and said, “It’s late now. Do you need anything?”
“It’s simple. Being alone can be boring at times, so I came out for a walk. I saw that you are here so I came knocking,” said Nicole. “I have a bottle of wine here, do you want…” As she spoke, Nicole shook the bottle of wine in her hand.
“I don’t usually drink.” Tian Lie shook his head. However, after seeing Nicole’s expression, he suddenly smiled and said, “However… sometimes, drinking a little won’t hurt. Come on in.”
Tian Lie said and opened the door.
Nicole smiled and walked inside with the bottle of wine in her hand.
Tian Lie turned around to face the table as he reached for a cup. Seeing him turn his back on her, Nicole’s eyes abruptly turned cold!
Xiu!
Nicole raised her hand and threw the bottle of wine over!
Tian Lie turned around, reached out and casually grabbed the bottle of wine. Next, he calmly used his teeth to bite open the cover. He then sneered and said, “It’s such a good wine, are you not afraid that it will get spilled?”
Nicole did not reply. Instead, she strode forward quickly. Her right hand flashed out and a dagger appeared within her hand before stabbing toward Tian Lie’s chest.
Tian Lie harrumphed and he promptly jumped back and onto the table. The stab from Nicole struck thin air but she was quick to follow up. The dagger flashed out once more and one of the table legs were cut off!
Tian Lie was quick to jump up once more. His hand shot out and he gripped the chandelier fixed onto the ceiling. His body was like a monkey’s, hanging several metres above the floor.
Nicole sneered and her body furiously charged forward!
The two of them clashed in mid-air as Tian Lie finally stopped dodging. Seeing the incoming dagger, he used the bottle of wine in his hand to block it.
When the two of them put some distance between each other, Tian Lie lowered his head to see that the bottle of wine in his hand had been cut and only half a bottle remained, the contents spilling out.
Additionally, the place where it was cut off was smooth!
“What a pity, it really is a good wine.” Tian Lie sighed. “That’s quite a good dagger.”
Nicole replied with a faint smile and lowered the dagger before saying, “You’re quite skilled yourself.”
Tian Lie narrowed his eyes and asked, “And?”
“Nothing, just confirming my speculation.”
Tian Lie frowned. “Speculation?”
“It’s very simple. I speculated that Chen Xiaolian and the others do not know about your skills.” Nicole smiled with squinted eyes. “I’ve been here for a few days now and I’ve come to realize something interesting. That Xia Xiaolei is an Awakened. However, whenever you are with him, you never did anything to reveal that you have a strength that surpassed ordinary people.”
“You have been secretly monitoring us… humph.” Tian Lie shook his head.
“Which makes me curious… it would seem that you and Chen Xiaolian are not part of the same guild, are you? Or should I say, they don’t even know who you are.” Nicole looked at Tian Lie and continued, “You disguised yourself as an ordinary person to live together with an Awakened guild – just who are you exactly?”