Chapter 30: Xia Ruli's Boyfriend

"The Mecha Store, huh!" Upon hearing this, Le Han finally reined in her playful mood, lowered her voice seriously, and said, "Ordinary people can't get into a mecha store, and there's only one in our city of Ruxia. Why are you suddenly asking about it?"

As expected, Nangong Yuchen's interest was piqued. His irritation eased, and he grew curious. "What do you mean ordinary people can't get in?"

"The mecha store is exclusively for those who are at least first-rank in physical cultivation. It's nothing like the shops that sell nutritional supplements. If you haven't reached a certain level of strength or don't have a particular status, you can't even get through the door! And the prices in there are sky-high—don't even think about going unless you have hundreds of thousands to spare. It's just too expensive!"

Le Han explained all this to Nangong Yuchen while pretending to pay attention in class, her head tilted toward him.

"And the nutritional supplements they sell aren't the same as what we buy on the regular market. The purity is on a completely different level. Everything in ordinary stores is diluted, so it's not easy to get in there!"

Suddenly, everything made sense to Nangong Yuchen. No wonder the nutritional supplement Cheng Tianyou used had such a powerful effect—it turned out all the regular stuff was watered down! No wonder businesspeople have such a bad reputation!

"So how can I get in? You must have a way, right?"

"Hey, Nangong, what do you even want in there for? You haven’t broken through to first rank, you’re not buying a mecha, and we can’t afford those supplements anyway. Honestly, what are you up to?" Le Han didn’t agree right away. Instead, she pressed him for an explanation.

Nangong Yuchen fell silent. He didn’t know how to answer. After all, the matter of mechas wasn't something to be explained in a few words, and he didn’t want to drag Le Han into it. So he could only reply, "I can’t tell you yet, but I really do have something important to do at the mecha store."

"Something important?" Le Han saw his reluctance and reluctantly nodded. "All right, I’ll talk to my dad when we get home and see if he can get you in."

Nangong Yuchen was moved. When Le Han said something like this, it was almost guaranteed that she would deliver.

After a while, he asked Le Han about mecha prices. Unfortunately, she knew nothing about that either, and Nangong Yuchen had to give up.

He had hoped to find out the prices in advance so he could buy more supplements for Kexin and help her improve her strength as quickly as possible.

Lost in thought, the morning passed, and Nangong Yuchen and Le Han left the classroom together, heading for the cafeteria.

"Hey, isn't that the pervert from the community video who was caught peeking at Cheng Shiyu's underwear?" A girl, chatting happily with her boyfriend, suddenly saw Nangong Yuchen approaching. She quickly pressed down the hem of her skirt and hid behind her boyfriend, whispering nervously.

Her boyfriend recognized him too and hurriedly shielded his girlfriend, his wary gaze fixed on Nangong Yuchen as if afraid his girlfriend might also be spied on.

"Shh! Keep your voice down. He might be a shameless pervert, but he managed to go toe-to-toe with Cheng Shiyu, so he’s not someone we can mess with!"

...

"Look, it’s that pervert! Let’s take another route, just in case..." This time, three girls walking together down a campus path spotted Nangong Yuchen from a distance and immediately ducked out of sight.

"Damn it! Isn't that bastard named Chen? He dared to insult my goddess! Let me go beat him up!"

"Yeah, right. He managed to escape from Cheng Shiyu—you think you could?"

...

All along the way, Nangong Yuchen was left speechless. He couldn’t count how many such remarks he’d overheard, especially from girls who, upon seeing him approach, would press down their skirts, hunch over, crouch on the ground, or simply detour to avoid him—as if he were the worst kind of creep. He felt a surge of rage. Who was it? Which bastard uploaded that video? If he ever caught them, he would beat them half to death to vent this grudge!

"Haha! Nangong, you’re really famous now. Not only does everyone in the first year know who you are, I bet loads of people in the upper years do too!" Le Han found his ashen expression hilarious and couldn't help but laugh at him.

"Famous?" Nangong Yuchen grumbled. "Why don’t you try it for yourself?"

Le Han didn’t argue, only shook with silent laughter beside him.

In the end, Nangong Yuchen had little choice. To avoid being recognized, he kept his head down the entire way into the cafeteria.

As the place grew more crowded, he bent even lower, afraid of being noticed.

He found a spot in a quiet corner and sent Le Han off to get lunch, waiting quietly.

Bored, his mind drifted back to that morning’s events—Cheng Shiyu! If it hadn’t been for her, would he be in such a sorry state now?

As he thought this, he suddenly froze. Wait—Cheng! Shiyu! What was her relationship with Cheng Tianyou?

That morning he’d heard her say she wanted revenge for Lu Ling. If both families were involved, could Cheng Tianyou be her father?

The thought startled him. If that were true, he’d have to be extremely careful. If it ever came out that he was connected to her father’s death and had Cheng Tianyou’s mecha in his possession, the Lu family and Cheng Shiyu would hunt him to the ends of the earth.

"Thank goodness nobody knows about this. If it ever got out, there’d be nowhere for me in the whole city of Ruxia!" He patted his chest in relief.

Just then, a commotion broke out in the cafeteria.

"Tuoba Feng, how many times do I have to tell you? Stop pestering me! I don't like you!"

Nangong Yuchen paused, head still lowered. That voice sounded familiar. Just as he was about to sneak a glance, a boy’s voice sounded.

"Lili, don’t you understand my feelings? You don’t have a boyfriend now. What’s wrong with giving us a chance?"

"Lili?" Nangong Yuchen recognized the name at once—wasn’t this Kexin’s good friend from the other night?

He remembered she’d tried several times to persuade Kexin on his behalf.

He lifted his head subtly, glancing around first. Seeing everyone’s attention was on the scene, he straightened up and looked.

In the center of the cafeteria stood a pretty girl, carrying her lunch. She had short brown hair, neatly tucked behind her ears, and a delicate, fair face with dimples, a pert nose, and cherry lips—though now flushed with anger, her clear, bright eyes glaring at the boys blocking her way.

She was indeed his sister's good friend.

"A chance? Forget it," Lili retorted angrily. "Tuoba Feng, get out of my way!"

Her voice rang out, but Tuoba Feng and his gang just played dumb.

"You..." Feeling the stares from all around, Lili blushed even more furiously and snapped, "Who said I don't have a boyfriend? I’ve been dating someone for a long time!"

Tuoba Feng froze at her words.

Seizing the moment, Lili hurried past him toward an empty table.

"Xia Ruli! Explain yourself. Since when did you have a boyfriend?" Tuoba Feng stood stunned for several seconds before coming to his senses and chasing after her, tense and anxious.

"Xia Ruli!" Nangong blurted internally, realizing her full name. It had a nice ring to it.

Just as he was admiring the name, he was startled to see Xia Ruli walking straight toward his table, lunch in hand.

"Damn, don’t come here, big sis! There are so many empty seats... damn!"

As she drew closer, the stares around them began shifting in his direction. Nangong Yuchen quickly ducked his head again.

At the same time, Tuoba Feng had caught up, standing behind Xia Ruli, unwilling to give up. "You still haven’t told me—when did you get a boyfriend?"

Xia Ruli was exasperated. She’d only said she had a boyfriend to get rid of him, but he was so shameless, pressing her in front of everyone. She was lost for words, unable to answer.

Tuoba Feng saw her hesitation and immediately understood. Seeing her embarrassment, he realized she was just making excuses. He smiled gently, "Lili, don’t lie to me. I know you don’t have a boyfriend."

"I... I say I do, so I do!" Xia Ruli retorted stubbornly, though her confidence was wavering.

"Fine, then call him over. If he really exists, I won’t give you any more trouble—otherwise, you have to agree to be my girlfriend!" This was exactly what Tuoba Feng wanted. With this, he completely blocked her excuse and turned the tables.

"Don’t even think about it! Why should I do what you say?" Xia Ruli’s gaze flickered nervously. A boyfriend? If she really had one, she would have called him over already—she wouldn’t have let it come to this.

What should she do now? She glanced anxiously around, as if hoping for rescue.

But no one dared help her. Just as she was about to burst into tears, her eyes caught sight of a familiar figure.

Instantly, as if grasping a lifeline, she rushed forward, pointing. "There, he’s my boyfriend!"