What a Terrible Feeling...

Qin Lele's bold move instantly brought Xu Nan a huge influx of Activity Points.

This was the city center, with people constantly coming and going. Most people had no interest in watching other people's gossip.

Besides, it was already 2019. The mutually consensual sugar-daddy routine was probably nothing unusual to most people by now.

The key was that Qin Lele and Xu Nan's appearances formed such a stark contrast that the visual impact was simply too obvious.

Qin Lele was originally quite pretty, the kind of lively, lovable girl who looked full of energy.

The moment she hung herself off Xu Nan, the effect of his disguise technique was displayed to the fullest.

Xu Nan could feel that if all those contemptuous stares falling on him had any weight, he would have been crushed to death already.

He yanked Qin Lele off himself, dragged her along as they ran for a while, then stopped and scolded her.

"Comrade Captain, did you even read the question properly? We need to be elegant!"

"After that stunt, everyone is uncomfortable, sure, but was it elegant?"

Qin Lele pouted. "I think it was pretty elegant."

"Never mind that..."

Xu Nan's teeth ached. He had actually been possessed by the devil to think Qin Lele might have some good idea?!

"Where's your mother?"

To be honest, Xu Nan was a little uneasy. Qin Lele had been neglecting her proper business lately and hanging around with him all the time. Anyone who did not know the inside story might think he was Loli Control.

Meeting the parent already? Wasn't that a little too fast... Pah! What if her mother misunderstood and thought he had ulterior motives toward Qin Lele? That would be bad.

"She'll be here soon. Let's go wait over there."

Qin Lele grinned at Xu Nan. "My mom has always scolded me for not doing proper work, so I had no choice but to bring you out as proof."

Xu Nan did not think much of it. He might hate trouble, but Qin Lele was one of his people. He still had to help his own people when they needed it.

"Do you need me to do anything?"

he asked.

"You don't need to do anything. Just be handsome... no, just be ugly on duty." Qin Lele smiled sweetly. "Anyway, I told her you're my boyfriend."

Xu Nan: "???"

You never said that on WeChat!

Xu Nan frowned. "What's going on? As a future Dungeon Lord, I never engage in messy romantic relationships with my subordinates."

Qin Lele looked at him pitifully. "I had no choice. I told her I started a study group and reviewed lessons with everyone every day, but she wouldn't believe me. She even scolded me for wasting time and neglecting proper work."

"Then I told her I found a boyfriend with money and influence. She immediately stopped nagging me and even booked me a plane ticket overseas... Before leaving, she wanted to check you out because she was worried I had bad taste."

Xu Nan was dumbfounded.

"...Studying counts as neglecting proper work? May I ask what your mother considers proper work?"

Qin Lele tilted her head and thought about it. "Finding a rich man, probably."

Xu Nan's entire worldview shattered.

No wonder Qin Lele and Zhang Yingluo, despite being cousins, were so different. With a mother like that, the fact that Qin Lele had grown up wild without becoming a delinquent was probably proof that she was outstanding herself.

"Fine. I'll meet your mother later."

Xu Nan felt a little sorry for Qin Lele.

This girl looked carefree and thoughtless, but she was actually incredibly sensitive and delicate. Growing up in a single-parent household, with a mother who was never around and spent all year messing about outside, really could not have been easy.

Just then, a woman wearing sunglasses hurried over.

Qin Lele lowered her head and reluctantly called out, "Mom."

Xu Nan instinctively wanted to call her Mom as well, but the woman's perfume hit him, and a shiver ran through him as the word caught in his throat.

"Is this your boyfriend?"

Honestly, if Qin Lele had not said this was her mother, Xu Nan truly could not have guessed her age.

Qin Lele nodded.

"Go wait to the side for a while. I want to speak with Mr. Xu alone."

Qin Lele's mother spoke slowly and deliberately, yet carried an imposing air. Even someone as mischievous as Qin Lele slipped away awkwardly, giving Xu Nan only an encouraging look.

Xu Nan forced himself to greet her. "Hello, Aun..."

Before he could finish, she interrupted him. "My surname is Fang. Call me Madam Fang."

"Young man, your makeup skills are quite impressive."

The moment Madam Fang opened her mouth, she sounded somewhat aggressive.

Xu Nan was slightly startled.

Could she be a professional too? Did his disguise technique not work on her?

As if she had seen his surprise, Madam Fang smiled faintly.

"No need to be shocked. Your makeup is practically a disguise, and I could not see through it either. But I know my own daughter very well."

"The boyfriend she found must certainly be a handsome man."

Xu Nan scratched his head awkwardly, unsure how to refute that or continue the conversation.

He could hardly say that he was actually ugly, could he?

Xu Nan did not like lying.

"She deliberately had you make yourself uglier, didn't she? Hehe, I know exactly what that child is thinking." Madam Fang sneered dismissively.

Sweat appeared on Xu Nan's forehead, but he still flattered her. "Madam Fang, you're perceptive!"

"I wouldn't call it perceptive. Like mother, like daughter!" Madam Fang said proudly.

Xu Nan: "???"

That made so much damn sense that Xu Nan did not even know how to argue back!

But was that really something you should be proud of? Wasn't that just insulting yourself?

Xu Nan could only give an awkward laugh to show his respect.

His conversation with Madam Fang was not particularly pleasant, mainly because she kept a firm grip on its direction.

Xu Nan's little tricks were nothing before a vixen who had dealt with who knew how many men.

He also knew that the more he said, the more he would expose. Since he was only playing the role of Qin Lele's stand-in boyfriend while her mother was back in the country, he simply kept quiet and listened to Madam Fang talk at length.

"...Lele said your family has considerable influence and can control a city?"

After talking for ages, Madam Fang finally got to the point.

Xu Nan thought about it. A dungeon seemed to count as a city too.

So he nodded. "More or less."

Madam Fang said happily, "She said Mr. Xu comes from a scholarly family and is skilled at reciting poetry?"

Xu Nan thought about it. The poems in Chinese textbooks counted as poetry too, right?

So he nodded again. "I can recite a little."

Madam Fang beamed. "She also said Your Excellency loves nature and animals, and keeps a national treasure at home?"

There was nothing wrong with that.

No matter how uninhibited A-Tang was, unless Xu Nan got her a new skin and turned her into a husky, she was still a national treasure.

Xu Nan nodded calmly. "It was a fortunate coincidence."

Madam Fang was very satisfied. She nodded. "I need to catch my flight. My daughter is in your care, Mr. Xu."

Xu Nan: "???"

She was just handing her daughter over to him? Was Qin Lele really her biological daughter?

Madam Fang called Qin Lele over. Xu Nan and Qin Lele escorted Madam Fang to her car. She gave Qin Lele several very obvious looks, but Qin Lele pretended not to see them.

Madam Fang's car slowly drove away.

Xu Nan let out a sigh of relief.

Qin Lele said somewhat shyly, "My mom is pretty easy to get along with, right?"

Xu Nan thought about the mothers-in-law in online stories who constantly looked down on people and called off engagements at the slightest disagreement. Compared to them, Madam Fang could be called kind and pleasant.

It was just that her values seemed a little crooked.

"My mom was thrilled that I stole you away from Zhang Yingluo. I heard she failed when she tried to steal a man from my eldest aunt back then..."

Qin Lele sighed. "Xu Nan, tell me, how did I end up with a mother like this?"

Xu Nan did not know how to comfort her, so he could only pat her head.

"Actually, Madam Fang is still pretty nice."

Qin Lele grabbed him at once, a wary expression appearing on her face. "You actually said she's nice. You've never said I'm nice!"

"Tell me, did you fall for my mom? Did she flirt with you just now?"

Xu Nan nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

He stared at Qin Lele in disbelief. "How could you possibly think that?!"

Qin Lele snorted and took out her phone. On the screen was a message Madam Fang had just sent her—

The boy is pretty good. Since he has money, influence, and looks, trick him home first. Turn the raw rice into cooked rice, and your mother can benefit from it too!

Xu Nan stared at it for a long while, feeling there were too many things to criticize and not knowing where to begin.

"As far as I know, she means well for you!"

Qin Lele stared at Xu Nan. "You really don't feel anything for her?!"

Xu Nan only rolled his eyes at her.

Qin Lele was overjoyed and grabbed Xu Nan's hand as she ran.

"It's rare for us to come to Fangzheng Square. Come shopping with me this afternoon!"

Xu Nan's expression changed drastically.

He had never gone shopping with a girl before. This was his first time.

But Qin Lele was bursting with energy and gave Xu Nan no chance to resist. She dragged and pushed him along the whole way, and he finally gave in.

The two of them wandered around Fangzheng Square for half the afternoon.

Xu Nan was exhausted and gasping for breath.

Inside a famous fashion store, under the astonished gazes of the employees, Qin Lele tried on a fur coat that clearly did not suit the image of a fifteen-year-old girl.

"How is it?" she asked eagerly, hopping in front of Xu Nan.

"Terrible!"

Xu Nan said only half of it. Then he covered his heart with one hand, signaling Qin Lele to figure out the rest herself.

The girl's face turned shy. "...Is it the feeling of your heart racing?"

Xu Nan raised his head with a cold smile.

"...It's the feeling of a heart attack."

Activity Points +2000, from Qin Lele

Xu Nan smiled faintly. As expected, damage dealt to professionals gave double experience!

After accompanying her shopping for so long, it was time to collect some interest.

That evening, Tianming Teahouse near University City.

Inside a private room.

The lingering notes of an elegant guqin drifted through the air.

Xu Nan sat there uneasily. Across from him sat a fashionably dressed middle-aged man who still wore sunglasses in the middle of the night, which was rather strange.

"...I've looked over your file. Your image is acceptable, so you'll be assigned to my department for now."

The middle-aged man's voice was rather magnetic. If nothing unexpected happened, he was Xu Nan's mentor in the Thousand Rays Society.

Xu Nan felt that this mentor looked somewhat familiar.

"My name is Wu Sanpao. The rookie Training Camp begins in three days, so don't embarrass our department."

"You may not know this, but they all look down on us warlocks. They think warlocks rely entirely on bloodlines for a living and have no future. They also think we have no technical skill at all. Hmph, aren't they just jealous because we're good-looking?"

"We have to bear the bad reputation left behind by those useless warlocks in Pro World. In truth, much of it is prejudice."

"For example, even within the Thousand Rays Society, many people still think us warlocks are sexually promiscuous and have poor private lives. I say bullshit!"

The mentor grew more and more excited as he spoke, even taking off his sunglasses!

"Do you think your private life is improper? I don't. Back when I was young, I merely clapped for love with a few fans. It was consensual, so what could they say?"

"I clapped because of my looks. Why does that make me promiscuous?"

Xu Nan's scalp went numb.

He suddenly remembered why the man before him looked familiar.

Wu Sanpao—wasn't he the celebrity who had been hugely popular in the entertainment industry a few years ago, only to be exposed for sleeping with countless fans and leave the industry in disgrace?

How the hell had he transformed himself into an insider of the Thousand Rays Society now?

The way he looked, he did not seem to have a military background at all.

Xu Nan's heart was filled with doubts.

But he decided to ask the most important question first.

"Teacher Wu, what exactly is this rookie Training Camp?"