Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  “Yes, I am. Let me borrow it.” Shi Qing was frightened when Qiao Nan’s face turned sullen. “Don’t worry. I’ll wear it with care.”

  “Will you wear it with care? Or will you pay attention such that you’ll take it off before you bond with Zhu Baoguo?” Qiao Nan snorted coldly. She completely saw through Shi Qing’s mind.

  She lent her clothing to Shi Qing and set the rule of paying ten pieces for one because she wanted Shi Qing to restrain herself. There should be a limit to her ‘challenge’ with Zhu Baoguo.

  Qiao Nan understood Zhu Baoguo very well.

  If Shi Qing did not provoke Zhu Baoguo and the two maintained the attitude of minding their own businesses, Zhu Baoguo would not be willing to bother about Shi Qing, whom he had lost to and hurt his pride as a man before.

  In other words, Shi Qing was most likely the one who deliberately provoked Zhu Baoguo each time this happened.

  Fixing the crux of the problem, Qiao Nan did not even need to lay her hands on Zhu Baoguo. She just had to keep a watch on Shi Qing.

  “Me, bonding with that pigheaded fellow? Qiao Nan, are you kidding me?” Shi Qing’s expression changed. She was taken aback and terrified by these words of Qiao Nan. “I was bashing! I was clearly bashing him up!”

  “Oh, you’ve had so many exchanges with him this semester. How many punches have you given Zhu Baoguo? Did Zhu Baoguo’s eyes and nose swell? Or did he have any internal injuries that I can’t tell?” When Qiao Nan opened her mouth, the sharp words made Shi Qing speechless.

  “Did Zhu Baoguo boast to you?!”

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  “What do you think?”

  “Certainly yes. He’s a bigmouth. I really don’t understand. He’s a man. He had to make everyone know just because he didn’t lose to me. Did he need to be so proud and happy that he didn’t win against me previously?” At the thought that Zhu Baoguo’s physical skills had improved tremendously, Shi Qing felt unjustified.

  She had attained her skills after many years of consistent training. How could Zhu Baoguo catch up her within a short time span of six months just because of his congenital gender advantage? It was too unfair.

  “Yes. After all, he was not even able to retaliate previously when you defeated him. Now, he is on par with you. Don’t feel unhappy. Your father’s background is in the literary arena, whereas Zhu Baoguo’s father was from the armed forces. The situations of your fathers are different. To put it bluntly, Zhu Baoguo’s genes are better than yours by a little. It’s not difficult to understand that he improves faster in this area than you.”

  The draw with Shi Qing had made Zhu Baoguo feel happy for a long time.

  Zhu Baoguo had been telling Qiao Nan many times that the pain and suffering he endured during the summer vacation were all worth it.

  Shi Qing looked at her surroundings. When she saw that no one was paying attention to Qiao Nan, she then pulled Qiao Nan close to her and lowered her voice. “Qiao Nan, I’ll give you a suggestion. By your side, you have two…… Forget it, there’s only one. Brother Zhai’s physical skills are so good. You can learn from him. This is in case Qiu Chenxi, that moron, comes knocking at your door. You’ll only be beaten up.” Shi Qing was also worried that Qiu Chenxi would come looking for trouble when she was not around.

  Nevertheless, if Qiao Nan knew a few moves, as long as Qiao Nan was slightly better than Qiu Chenxi, then she would not be afraid that Qiao Nan would be at a disadvantage.

  “I don’t know how……” Qiao Nan smiled bitterly. “If you ask me to run, I know how to. But if you ask me to fight, I really don’t know how to.” It was not that she did not want to learn a few self-defensive strokes to protect herself. Brother Zhai had tried to teach her previously as well.

  However, unknowingly, she did not pick them up in the end. It was too difficult!

  “You have not even learned them. Why did you say that you don’t know how to? Bring out that attitude of yours when you study and follow Brother Zhai’s guidance. You’ll definitely be able to do it.”

  “I’ve tried before. It didn’t work.” Qiao Nan was not afraid of embarrassing herself. She openly admitted that she lacked the talent in this aspect. “Alright, don’t waste your effort on me. There’s no use. Facing someone who is very strong in this aspect, even if I learn it, I can’t win against the other party and won’t have the ability to self-defend either. If I’m facing someone who has the same physical strength as me, I’ll win against the other party with my brains. So, I won’t put in any effort in this area anymore.”

  “You’re giving up just like that?”

  “Don’t change the topic. I’ll lend you my jacket. Wear it with care. If there’s a hole, pay me back with ten pieces of them!” Qiao Nan was nearly muddled by Shi Qing and forgot the original topic.

  Other people could take on ten people with physical strength. At most, she could only fight three people with mental strength. She thus did not think much about it.

  Shi Qing snorted quietly but she dared not oppose Qiao Nan’s decision.

  This was not a piece of clothing that could provide Shi Qing warmth. It was a magic spell that Qiao Nan cast on Shi Qing. If Shi Qing dared to commit any wrongdoing, Qiao Nan would recite a spell and punish her.

  Covering herself with Qiao Nan’s clothing, Shi Qing sighed. This piece of clothing was no different from the Wuzhi hill in China where the Gautama Buddha used to subdue the Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal, many years ago. It felt so heavy!

  “Aright, don’t stare at me anymore. Qiao Nan lent me this. If I dare to spoil her clothing, she will kill me. We will put a temporary stop to our challenge. After I’ve recovered and put on another piece of clothing other than this, we’ll challenge each other again.” She did not believe that, given her many years of foundation, she would lose to Zhu Baoguo, who gained an advantage through trickery and spent just one to two years of effort to catch up with her!

  Zhu Baoguo tugged the corners of his lips with disdain. “I stopped being keen on challenging you a long time ago. You’re the one who didn’t know your limits and kept pestering me. Besides, don’t misunderstand. I’m not looking at you particularly, but your clothes. True enough, it belongs to Xiao Qiao and not you.”

  He could recognize Xiao Qiao’s clothing even if Shi Qing did not say anything.

  “You know that this belongs to Qiao Nan?” Shi Qing raised her eyebrows and looked at the clothing on her.

  Zhu Baoguo, who had held himself back for some time, pursed his lips. “Shi Qing, I won’t put some words so bluntly, but this piece of clothing does not belong to you. It doesn’t suit you.” So ugly!

  “Do you think it does not suit me, or do you feel I don’t deserve to wear Qiao Nan’s clothes? Zhu Baoguo, toward Qiao Nan, you……”

  “Shut up. I don’t have that kind of feelings toward Xiao Qiao. I treat her like my sister!” Zhu Baoguo blushed. He shouted softly and denied Shi Qing’s words. However, that quick and leaping heartbeat in his chest told him that the truth might not be completely aligned with what he had said.

  “If you don’t, then so be it. Look at how agitated you are. Whether it’s for Qiao Nan’s sake or for your own good, I have to tell you something. There’s someone that Qiao Nan likes.” Shi Qing was simply amused in her heart. If he did not like Qiao Nan, then why did he react so strongly?

  It was no wonder that when she asked Qiao Nan, Qiao Nan told her with certainty that Zhu Baoguo treated her as his sister.

  In that case, it was not Qiao Nan, but Zhu Baoguo, who was slow to react. He liked someone but did not even realize it. He kept addressing that person as sister all these while.

  Hence, even if there were no outstanding men around Qiao Nan, it was impossible that she would take a liking to Zhu Baoguo, who preferred to be her brother.