Chapter 65: Girlfriend = Spouse?

Chapter Sixty-Five

“Brother An, weren’t you all on a mission? When did you get back?” Xiao Keran walked over to greet them.

Since they were heading toward her and speaking directly to her, An Ziyou couldn’t just pretend not to notice. He nodded and replied, “Mm, we came back to report the mission.”

“So that’s it! Then, Brother An, Brother Mo Chen, will you be taking on any more missions? Should we team up? My good friend Situ Qing is a fire-ability user, and she’s really strong!” Feeling Situ Qing nudge her, Xiao Keran hurriedly introduced her, not having the time to wonder why her idol seemed so cold today—so different from before.

Situ Qing looked at Mo Chen with expectation, hoping he would see her differently now, but unfortunately, he still didn’t spare her a glance. It was Lin Shaojie, standing by, who, seeing his companions either silent or simply watching the show, couldn’t bear to let the awkwardness drag on and stepped in, “May I ask, Miss Situ, what level is your team?”

“My Radiant Sun Squad is already a B-level team! Just a few more missions and we’ll be promoted to A-level!” Situ Qing replied with pride.

“Oh, then I’m afraid we can’t do missions together,” Lin Shaojie declined politely.

He’d heard that it was no easy feat for a mercenary team to rise in rank. Though he wasn’t sure what rank their own missions would earn them, B-level seemed out of reach.

“Not high enough? That’s fine, we can start with lower-level missions!” Situ Qing said, looking at Mo Chen.

Mo Chen let out a mocking laugh just as the staff finished tallying their mission rewards and swapped their original black card for a golden one.

Situ Qing stared at the golden card in disbelief, her beautiful face flushing red as Mo Chen’s derisive laugh echoed in her ears.

“Congratulations, your team has been promoted to S-level. This is the special gold card prepared by the base for S-level mercenary teams. With it, your team has priority in accepting missions!” The staff member handed the gold card to Mei with both hands.

“Oh, thank you!” Mei accepted the card, examining it curiously. The gold card was engraved with their squad’s name, surrounded by elegant patterns, and the privileges granted by the card were listed on the back.

A gold card team—an S-level squad—not only had priority in accepting missions but also the right to exchange for other special supplies, such as gasoline and the like. Additionally, gold card teams enjoyed other privileges: they didn’t need to wait in line to enter the base, and only 70% of the standard fee would be charged when posting missions, among others.

Mei glanced at the card, then tucked it into her bag. Hooking her arm through Qu Wenyuan’s, she said, “Sister Yuan, shall we go wander the market again?”

“Sure!” Qu Wenyuan readily agreed. With so little entertainment left in the apocalypse, she cherished what little she had and would not miss it.

“Are you coming?” Mei turned to the others.

“Of course. If I let this little scatterbrain go alone, I’m afraid she’d lose herself!” Mo Chen pinched her nose affectionately.

Mei rolled her eyes inwardly—this man was being strange again!

“Let’s all go together,” Ye Jingxuan said. With unrest brewing in the base, he wasn’t comfortable letting the two of them wander alone. No matter how strong Mei was, he still worried. If possible, he wished he could always protect her under his wings—for that was his goal.

An Ziyou had no objections, and Lin Shaojie could only yield to the majority.

“Big sisters, we have something to do, so we’ll be off first. See you!” Mei kindly said goodbye to the two women who had been thoroughly ignored.

Situ Qing, having been snubbed by Mo Chen yet again, felt a surge of anger and was about to chase after him to demand an explanation, but Xiao Keran grabbed her.

“Qingqing, wait!”

“They’re already far away, what’s the point in waiting?” Situ Qing’s tone was sharp, clearly furious.

She’d never in her life been so blatantly ignored.

“What would chasing after him accomplish? I heard Mo Chen is a Level Four ability user—do you think you could beat him?” Xiao Keran hurried to stop her, worried she’d get hurt.

But Situ Qing just looked puzzled. “That Mo Chen is the man I’ve set my sights on. Why would I hit him? Still, I didn’t expect him to be a Level Four ability user. No wonder I like him—he really is extraordinary!”

Her anger vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by pride in the man she’d chosen.

Xiao Keran was speechless at her reaction but still tried to reason, “Rushing at him like that won’t work; he’ll just keep ignoring you.”

“So what should I do?” Situ Qing asked.

How would she know? Her own idol was just as cold toward her.

Come to think of it, aside from Lin Shaojie, all the men in that squad seemed aloof. Especially Ye Jingxuan—just one look from him made your blood run cold. He was terrifying. And his temper was bad, too; she remembered the last time he caught a thief and crushed all the bones in the man’s hands—brutal.

Now even her idol was picking up bad habits, treating people with that distant, chilly air. Where was the warmth he used to show his fans?

As for Mo Chen, except when facing Mei, he seemed indifferent to everyone. She really couldn’t understand what Situ Qing saw in him.

Thinking of Mei, Xiao Keran suddenly had an idea. “Qingqing, did you see that little girl just now?”

“Little girl? What little girl? Which one?” Situ Qing had been too focused on Mo Chen to notice any little girl.

“The one who said she wanted to go to the market with Mo Chen—the cute, petite one. She even spoke to us before leaving!” Xiao Keran, almost dizzy with exasperation, explained.

“I didn’t notice. What about her? Is she connected to Mo Chen?” Situ Qing shook her head in confusion.

“Of course she is. Didn’t you notice that, except for her, Mo Chen ignored everyone else? Back when we traveled together, he was always like that. Apart from Mei, he only spoke to others when he was in a good mood.”

A wary look flashed in Situ Qing’s eyes. Her face turned cold. “What’s their relationship? Are they a couple?”

The last four words were said with a murderous chill, as if the moment Xiao Keran confirmed it, she’d chase after Mei with a whip.

“I don’t think so. Whenever Mei is close with other men, he never intervenes. I think Mo Chen probably sees Mei as a little sister,” Xiao Keran replied, shaking her head. She wasn’t entirely clear on their relationship, but from her observations, they didn’t seem like a couple.

“As long as they’re not a couple, she has nothing to do with me. Why should I pay attention to her?” Situ Qing relaxed immediately, still not understanding why Xiao Keran brought up Mei.

“Oh, Qingqing, I give up! I spelled it out for you and you still don’t get it? It’s like when my brother’s female classmates wanted to chase him—they’d always try to curry favor with me, his beloved sister. Since Mei is important to Mo Chen, if you want to get close to him, you should start with Mei!” Xiao Keran had no choice but to lay it out plainly.

Only then did Situ Qing have an epiphany—so there was a roundabout way! The more she thought about it, the better it sounded. She threw her arm around Xiao Keran and said, “Keran, you’re brilliant! This is a fantastic idea—I love you!”

“Spare me! Go love your Mo Chen—I only have eyes for my own idol!” Xiao Keran pretended to protest, but couldn’t help laughing before she finished her sentence.

“Oh, you dare reject me? See how I deal with you!” Situ Qing lunged to tickle her.

The two girls giggled and played in the mission hall, drawing many curious glances, though none dared openly stare.

Those who’d been in the base a while all knew Situ Qing’s reputation as a spoiled princess—with a whip in hand and the Situ family behind her, who would dare provoke her? So despite her looks and strength, not a man dared pursue her—most were too afraid to even look twice.

While Situ Qing and Xiao Keran plotted how to win over Mei and pursue Mo Chen, on the other side, Mei and Qu Wenyuan whispered to each other after leaving the mission hall. Mei then began to observe Mo Chen and An Ziyou with an odd look in her eyes. She even went up and sniffed them.

Mo Chen couldn’t stand her bizarre behavior and gently pushed her head aside. “What are you doing?”

“I want to see if there’s anything different about you two today,” Mei replied, her eyes wide with curiosity.

“Different? What could possibly be different?” Mo Chen was baffled.

An Ziyou was equally confused. They hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary today—what could be different?

“Siriel once told me that all male creatures, when courting, either try to make themselves look attractive to catch the eye of the opposite sex, or they secrete a special scent to attract a mate. Just now, Sister Yuan told me that Xiao Keran and Situ Qing like you both and want to mate with you, so I wanted to see if you were any different from usual!”

Mei’s clear, innocent eyes shone with curiosity; she had no idea how shocking her words truly were.

Lin Shaojie covered his mouth, barely holding back laughter. Ye Jingxuan pressed his lips together, regarding Mo Chen and An Ziyou with an appraising look, though his eyes sparkled with amusement.

An Ziyou looked both amused and exasperated, while Mo Chen shot a dark look at Mei and Qu Wenyuan, until Qu Wenyuan wished fervently she could disappear.

“I never said they wanted to do that with you! I only said they wanted to be your girlfriends!” Qu Wenyuan tried to clarify, her voice small.

“Is there a difference between being a girlfriend and being a mate? Isn’t the ultimate goal to mate, anyway?” Mei asked in all innocence.

Her words nearly brought Qu Wenyuan to tears—she truly hadn’t meant that!

My throat is sore and itchy, but at least my head doesn’t hurt anymore. Here are two chapters for you!