Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Qinchi drove for nearly ten minutes, and the young teammate in the passenger seat maintained her position of leaning her head against the window.

In between, the lotus flower spirit had appeared; its petals hadn't even touched her face before it was retracted.

Qinchi remembered their first eye contact in the division hall, the surge of moisture that instantly filled her eyes.

Qinchi seemed to understand this emotion.

His father's education was stricter with him than with his older siblings. While other children played and ate at amusement parks, he memorized various mutated creatures at home. When other children were still sleeping in, he had already started his morning physical training.

He dared not show any dissatisfaction in front of his stern father, only when his mother came to see him would he...

Xu Qiao had no elders in her family. Lu Yang could be considered family, but he was only sixteen and still needed to be taken care of by Xu Qiao.

No matter how mature she acted, encouraging the stuttering Sun Fushan, taking care of the socially awkward Meng Li, she was just twenty years old after all, suddenly taken to the police station.

Of the three, Jiang Rui had his mother to protect him, Zhao Feng seemed to be the perpetrator, while only she, innocent as she was, had no one around her.

Even if he was just a teammate, he could evoke her sense of grievance. If it were her late grandfather, she probably wouldn't have cried secretly like this.

"Would you like some milk tea? There's a shop up ahead."

Glancing out the window, Qinchi slowed down the car.

Xu Qiao didn't dare to speak much, quickly glanced over, and nodded.

Qinchi parked the car by the roadside: "Wait here, I'll send you the menu."

Xu Qiao nodded.

Watching him get out of the car and walk towards the milk tea shop, Xu Qiao hurriedly took out a towel from her small space, wetted it with her ability, and applied it to her face.

After wiping her face, Xu Qiao lowered the sun visor and looked into the makeup mirror, seeing her red-rimmed eyes.

The lotus flower spirit emerged again.

Xu Qiao hugged the flower and whispered, "I didn't mean to earlier; the more you comforted me, the more I couldn't help it."

Water condensed in front of her, forming words: "That woman is too bad, it was clearly Jiang Rui who insisted on coming over."

Xu Qiao: "That's family. When they get angry, they will definitely favor their own child and tend to blame others first."

She believed Jiang Rui would explain to his mother, but she didn't care about what Jiang's mother thought of her. She cried because of all the mess.

Qinchi sent a photo of the menu.

Xu Qiao, distracted, ordered a strawberry yogurt.

Qinchi: "It's good for your appetite; eat more later."

Xu Qiao smiled, looking towards the milk tea shop, coincidentally catching Qinchi holding a plate of strawberries seemingly out of nowhere.

Xu Qiao was stunned; was he asking the staff to make yogurt with his own strawberries?

Given Qinchi's attention to detail regarding food, the strawberries he bought must be naturally ripe and flavorful, right?

With this small incident distracting her, Xu Qiao finally shifted her focus away from her bad mood.

When Qinchi returned, he held only one cup of yogurt, which he handed to Xu Qiao.

Xu Qiao smiled as she accepted it: "Thank you, you're really a great teammate."

She didn't lean away, inserted the straw, and took a sip.

Qinchi saw her surprised look, though her eyes were still red, she had regained her usual vitality.

"It's delicious, and I'm actually a bit hungry," Xu Qiao said contentedly.

Qinchi: "I bought two cups; the other one is in the space. Next time, I'll treat you again."

Xu Qiao nodded. As the car started moving again, she sighed and began recounting the incident with Zhao Feng and Jiang Rui, omitting Zhao Feng's crude remarks.

Qinchi didn't comment on the behavior of the two suitors, only asked: "Do you need my help?"

Xu Qiao: "How can you help? I think I can persuade Jiang Rui to give up, but Zhao Feng won't listen to reason. Even if I don't mind exposing my strength, I can't beat him now."

Uncle Lu could intimidate Zhao Feng before because Zhao Feng was inexperienced back then, and Uncle Lu's stern demeanor easily commanded respect.

Even if Qinchi is strong, he's still B-level and quite gentle and elegant. Zhao Feng probably wouldn't fear him.

Xu Qiao's plan was to continue ignoring Zhao Feng. She didn't care about his gifts; in the base, Zhao Feng wouldn't dare to force anything. Once she reached A-level, she would personally invite Zhao Feng outside the base and beat him half to death, seeing if he'd still dare to approach her.

Qinchi: "It's simple. I'll challenge him on your behalf. If he wins, I won't interfere with his pursuit of you anymore. If he loses, he should stop bothering you. Given his arrogant nature, he either won't accept the challenge or, if he does, will honor the bet."

Xu Qiao: "Won't you expose your strength then?"

Qinchi: "I won't use my ability; I'll only use a B-level sword."

Xu Qiao stared at him in shock.

Qinchi quickly met her gaze, then looked forward: "Do you trust me?"

Xu Qiao looked at his hands on the steering wheel, feeling conflicted: "I want to trust you, but I'm afraid you might get hurt."

Anything could happen.

Qinchi: "First, he can't hurt me. Second, even if I do get injured, you can heal me in time. So there's no need to worry."

Xu Qiao was unable to make a decision right away.

They arrived at the restaurant, which Qinchi had chosen—a hot pot place with a private room reserved.

At this moment, Xu Qiao was indeed very hungry, and it was a kind of hunger that sought release. She asked Qinchi, "Can you handle spicy food?"

Qinchi: "How spicy?"

Xu Qiao: "Medium spicy, I guess. Too spicy and I can't handle it either."

Qinchi: "Sure, I've tried spicier before."

After selecting the broth, they each ordered several large plates of meat.

There were two sets of utensils for the hot pot. Xu Qiao didn't hesitate to serve herself. When she was halfway through her second plate of beef, lotus flower's spirit form emerged, finding an empty bowl to shrink into and comfortably soaking in water rather than enduring the spiciness with Xu Qiao.

Xu Qiao smiled and offered a piece of cooked meat to the lotus flower's petal, "It's really good, why don't you smell it again?"

The lotus flower closed its petals, refusing the offer.

Qinchi moved the bowl with the lotus flower's spirit form to the edge, ensuring it wouldn't be scalded by the steam.

Xu Qiao focused on eating.

After finishing their meal and leaving the restaurant, it was nearly eight o'clock. The night had fallen, and the streets were filled with teammates who had just finished dining and couples out for a stroll.

Qinchi sat in the car and looked at his little teammate, who was lazily leaning back into the seat, saying, "You might not have had a good day today, but I envy you."

Xu Qiao looked at him in confusion, "What do you envy about me now?"

Qinchi: "I envy you being only twenty years old yet having such rich life experiences—being pursued, going to the police station. Compared to you, my life is quite dull."

Xu Qiao: "If I didn't know you better, I'd think you were mocking me."

Qinchi: "Your experience of being pursued isn't worth envying, but being taken to the police station is something I actually want to try."

Xu Qiao exclaimed, "Are you serious?"

Qinchi hadn't started the car yet and looked at her with a smile, "Have you ever thought that your distress at the police station was due to lack of experience? If you go more often, you'll get used to it and won't mind it as much next time."

Xu Qiao: "I don't want to break the law."

Qinchi: "I'll break it, and you can come along to experience it."

Xu Qiao stiffened, "What law are you planning to break?"

Qinchi pointed upwards, "Something minor, like violating the base's air traffic regulations?"

Flying-type spirit forms could carry psychics, and wind-type abilities allowed psychics to fly. So when the bases were first established, flying was a common mode of transportation for these psychics, leading to accidents over time, whether due to competition among flying spirit forms or distracted psychics causing collisions.

Thus, all four bases implemented air traffic regulations, prohibiting psychics from flying except for law enforcement or specific emergencies like encountering mutated creatures or natural disasters.

Xu Qiao found Qinchi's behavior unusual, almost like a spoiled young man in a TV drama after drinking.

Qinchi unlocked the car and gave her the choice, "I'll give you one minute. If you don't get out within that time, I'll drive the car into the sky."

Xu Qiao's adrenaline surged, torn between getting out or staying. In the end, just as the minute was about to end, she gripped the armrest tightly and asked, "We won't suddenly drop while flying, will we?"

Qinchi: "Relax, I won't joke about a teammate's safety."

Xu Qiao closed her eyes.

Since they were flying, there was no need to start the car. Qinchi directly controlled the wind to lift the car, rising above the ground amidst the startled screams of nearby pedestrians.

Xu Qiao felt a slight jolt and cautiously opened her eyes. Outside the window were tall buildings along the road. Through a bedroom window without curtains, she saw a mother playing with a child and a couple dancing to music in the neighboring apartment.

Xu Qiao leaned closer to the window and realized the car had risen to about ten stories high.

The car window suddenly lowered, letting in a cool breeze.

Xu Qiao resisted the urge to cry out and turned to look at Qinchi, seeing the wind ruffle his short hair and the usually composed Qin teacher smiling.

As the car ascended higher, surpassing the height of nearby buildings, sirens sounded in the distance.

Qinchi changed direction and sped up.

Xu Qiao: "Is this the way to the district?"

Qinchi: "Yes, it's just an experience; we shouldn't keep the police waiting too long."

Xu Qiao: "..."

It was the seventeenth day of the lunar month, with a bright moon hanging high. As Xu Qiao felt both nervous and exhilarated, a figure suddenly flew towards them under the moonlight.

It must be from the police, so Xu Qiao chose to look down and avoid eye contact.

Qinchi stopped flying upon hearing the warning.

Captain Gao approached the car, shone a flashlight inside, and though he didn't recognize Qinchi, he recognized the girl in the passenger seat with flushed cheeks. Captain Gao frowned, "Xu Qiao?"

Xu Qiao felt even more embarrassed.

Captain Gao directed his anger at Qinchi, "What are you doing crazy at this hour? Are you drunk? Get down here!"

He automatically assumed Qinchi was Xu Qiao's boyfriend or another suitor, as the other two suitors were already jealous.

A minute later, Captain Gao held a breathalyzer in front of Qinchi and made him blow into it.

Seeing the results, Captain Gao became even angrier, "Not drunk and still acting crazy? Come on, get into our car."

Xu Qiao accompanied Qinchi on another ride in a police car.

It was a minor case, and Captain Gao focused on questioning Qinchi's mental state. Qinchi answered every question cooperatively.

Captain Gao's punishment for him was: suspension of his driver's license for fifteen days and a fine.

Qinchi handed over his driver's license, transferred the penalty points, and after listening to a lecture, he left the station with Xu Qiao.

Standing outside the station's main gate, Qinchi asked the young teammate beside him, "Now that you've been here twice, do you feel that as long as you haven't broken the law, going through the procedures at the police station isn't such a big deal?"

Xu Qiao looked at their shadows cast on the ground and whispered, "Thank you."

Qinchi smiled and took out a bicycle from his storage space: "I bought this because I saw how much you enjoyed riding. I didn't expect it to come in handy tonight."

Xu Qiao: "How long will it take to ride back from here?"

Qinchi: "If we're not in a hurry, about an hour?"

What was there to be in a hurry about at night?

Xu Qiao hopped onto the back seat and asked, looking at his back, "Since you can't drive for half a month, how will you get around?"

Firstly, the subway system was extensive, and secondly, low-level ability users rarely spent large amounts of points on cars, so taxi services in the Second Ring were virtually nonexistent.

Qinchi: "The Second School is on summer break. I usually rest at home, and if I need to go out, I can take the subway or ride a bike."

Xu Qiao couldn't envision this individual squeezing onto the subway.

Qinchi: "How are you considering Zhao Feng's matter?"

Xu Qiao fell silent.

In the end, between troubling her teammates once more and enduring Zhao Feng's persistent harassment for a long time, Xu Qiao chose the former.