Chapter 101

Chapter 101

Jiang Nian quietly pieced together the information he knew while discreetly observing the two men. Even if they noticed, they wouldn’t risk looking his way again.

Among those present, apart from Cheng Jing, no one noticed the strange dynamic between Jiang Nian and the two men.

After a moment, Cheng Jing stood up from his chair and quietly approached Jiang Nian, lowering his voice to ask,

"You know these guys?"

He had only been away for a few days—how had his boyfriend ended up surrounded by all these sketchy characters?

"..."

Jiang Nian was slightly surprised by his sharpness. Raising a hand to his lips to mask his words, he mumbled evasively,

"I’ll explain later."

It was a long story—one that needed popcorn for that story.

"Mm."

Cheng Jing nodded in satisfaction and returned to his seat.

Good. His man didn’t give him some shady denial or make excuses—so it wasn’t anything serious.

Besides, those two were basic-looking and mediocre at best. They posed no threat to him.

Not that he judged people by appearances, but Jiang Nian really was a total looks person.

He hadn’t forgotten how their relationship had started—straight-up shallow, born entirely from someone’s thirsty first move:

"Damn, gorgeous, can I get your number?"

"Heard you’re single—wanna take me for a test drive?"

"It’d be such a waste if someone as hot as you didn’t end up with me, y’know?"

"No point beating around the bush—I wanna sleep with you. Give me a chance? I might not know anything, but I’ll be top of the class."

"I can’t control my hands when I fight—wanna help me manage them?"

"I don’t mind being on the bottom, but you can’t tell anyone. If you do, you’ll have to marry me..."

That little shit had spouted endless nonsense like this, and back then, Cheng Jing had acted all coy just to hear more—dying inside all the while.

"..."

After bossing her crew around to unload the supplies, Liang Xiaoyan didn’t bat an eye when she saw the others besides Jiang Nian, recognizing them as his companions.

An entire team of Superpowered members—except for Jiang Nian—and from what she’d heard, their abilities were perfectly balanced too.

A balanced, well-coordinated team, with a captain who was a double-threat mutant? A squad like that would be elite-tier no matter where they went.

She low-key envied their squad. With that thought, she walked over with a smile and greeted them,

"Brother Nian, we meet again. Didn’t expect you to be the boss here—you held out on me last time. Otherwise, we’d have hit you up first with anything good we found these past few days."

It was obvious Cheng Jing had fronted this store to keep his boyfriend from suffering. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t jealous—the place was so fully loaded, she figured the team must’ve dumped their whole stash here.

She truly couldn't understand—with Cheng Jing's qualities, he could have anyone he wanted. Why on earth would he take a fancy to Jiang Nian, a good-looking but powerless guy without even a superpower?

"No harm in knowing now. We can collaborate if there's an opportunity, just go where the market takes us."

Jiang Nian replied with a smile as well.

The woman's eyes and brows were curved in amusement, as if genuinely delighted. Her polite act was flawless—one had to admit, that innocent face of hers was misleading.

"Let's see what we've got first."

As the mediator, Li Shuhui briefly explained that the shop belonged to Jiang Nian before stepping forward to inspect the items.

Perhaps due to the tension between them, she now found Liang Xiaoyan's words got on her nerves more and more.

Originally, Jiang Nian had told her she didn’t need to come, but she couldn’t shake the feeling. After lunch at the canteen, she came by anyway.

The three boxes contained exactly what they had guessed:

Lemons, hawthorns, mulberries, hay, monk fruit...

Angelica, goji berries, red dates, and various floral teas—all common varieties. Even if some were unfamiliar, they had at least heard of them.

After all, they had raided a health tea store, not a proper traditional medicine clinic or herb store.

Jiang Nian skimmed through the stuff casually and immediately knew they could be used for many DIY tea blends. He nodded right away:

"Alright, I’ll take these. What’s your asking price?"

Li Shuhui had been helping at the base entrance recently, so she knew the going rates.

As the mediator and worried that Jiang Nian, being a man, might have trouble bargaining with acquaintances, she took the initiative to negotiate with Liang Xiaoyan and her two companions.

Having learned from past mistakes and heeding her father and brothers’ advice, she had grown wiser:

Though she didn’t understand why Liang Xiaoyan had sought her help, since Brother Nian had agreed, she would handle it professionally and see what the other party was up to.

Liang Xiaoyan acted perfectly normal, positioning herself as a familiar friend and cheerfully threw out a price that satisfied everyone—600 points for the three boxes:

"First time working together—let’s consider it a chance to get to know each other for next time."

"Deal."

Jiang Nian didn’t haggle either, immediately transferring the points via his phone’s verification app.

His teammates then eagerly carried the goods into the shop.

Liang Xiaoyan glanced at Cheng Jing, who had remained silent since earlier, kicking back in a chair like he owned the place while his teammates worked. She ribbed Jiang Nian:

"Aren’t you going to introduce us, Brother Jiang Nian? We’re all buddies here—it’d be awkward if we bump into each other outside and don’t know what to call one another."

With that, she introduced her two teammates—the tattooed, bearded man was Da Jun, and the skinny, tall guy was Xiao Liu. The rest of their team hadn’t come today.

Her tone seemed casual, but it was clear she was playing it close to the vest. Jiang Nian didn’t mind—a name’s just a name. He smiled and nodded, first pointing at Cheng Jing:

"Cheng Jing, my boyfriend and our team captain."

Then he introduced the others one by one.

After the introductions, they nodded at each other—good enough for an introduction.

The men, including Cheng Jing, were being too cold, so Liang Xiaoyan took the initiative to chat with Huang Qian, and the two even exchanged phone numbers in the end.

No one was worried—after all, how could a little fox like Liang Xiaoyan ever outmatch a veteran fox like Huang Qian?

After the deal was done, Liang Xiaoyan didn’t linger for long, saying she had to leave and would work together again if needed. Then she left with her teammates.

Liang Xiaoyan sat in the back while Xiao Liu drove. Once they got in the car, the tattooed man in the passenger seat turned his gaze back toward Jiang Nian.

But Jiang Nian happened to turn away to talk to someone else, causing the man to end up staring directly at Cheng Jing instead.

Cheng Jing’s expression was far from friendly—his intense eyebrows made him look ready to fight any second.

The tattooed man snorted in annoyance before reluctantly looking away.

As much as he hated to admit it, rare offensive-type Superpowered individuals were indeed much stronger than their physically-enhanced strength types. Damn it!

The car peeled out, kicking up dust. The moment their leader and the tattooed man had their glaring standoff was witnessed by the other teammates—except for Jian Cheng, who couldn’t resist dropping a bombshell:

“Cheng, what was that intense eye contact with that tattooed guy just now? You know him?”

Cheng Jing: “…”

Jiang Nian, who had been going through the flower tea crates with Huang Qian and Li Shuhui, overheard the important part while working and looked over in disbelief:

“What? Who was eye-flirting with who?”

“…”

The others all stared at Jian Cheng in horror, simultaneously distancing themselves from him. What a character—delivering the most punch-worthy lines with the most sincere tone.