What Does It Have to Do with Me?

Zhao Xin did not notice Shen Qian. He sat down with his mother at a nearby table.

"I didn't expect the South City branch to be this crowded either. We'll probably have to wait a while," Zhao Xin said with a frown.

"Who could have expected it?" Zhao Xin's mother, Zhong Xiaoli, said impatiently. "South City is practically a slum, yet even the martial arts hall has so many people. I'm in a hurry to play mahjong!"

"Maybe they all came over from other districts," Zhao Xin said dismissively.

Their conversation made Shen Qian feel rather uncomfortable.

Though in a sense, there was nothing wrong with their understanding.

Martial arts halls were not cheap. Families that could afford to let their children train at one year-round were at least middle-class. If Shen Qian had not just come into a windfall, he would not have chosen to come here either.

Just then, the reception room door opened, and a middle-aged man in a business suit walked over.

"Hello, I'm the sales manager of the South City branch. My surname is Zheng. Sorry to keep you waiting. Please come with me," the middle-aged man said to Shen Qian.

Shen Qian nodded. He had just stood up when he heard a surprised sound from beside him.

"Huh, aren't you that Shen, Shen... what was your name again?" Zhao Xin seemed to recognize Shen Qian. He stood up and spoke uncertainly.

"Shen Qian," Shen Qian replied flatly.

"Oh, right, Shen Qian... Mom, he's the son of Dad's colleague, the one whose family asked Dad for help last time. Dad and I even went to his house once," Zhao Xin explained to the puzzled Zhong Xiaoli.

Zhong Xiaoli suddenly understood. "The family that wanted to get into the military with just twenty thousand yuan?"

Shen Qian caught the contempt in her words and frowned. Too lazy to deal with the mother and son any further, he said to Manager Zheng, "Let's go."

"Wait a moment." Zhong Xiaoli suddenly stopped them and smiled at Shen Qian. "Little Shen, you see, Auntie brought Zhao Xin all the way from Chengdong, and Auntie has something to do later..."

"You have something to do... what does that have to do with me?" Shen Qian gave a dry laugh.

Zhong Xiaoli choked on her words, seemingly not expecting Shen Qian to snap back so bluntly.

"How about letting Auntie go first? You can wait a little longer, can't you?" Thinking Shen Qian had not understood, Zhong Xiaoli patiently repeated herself. "After all, this place is close to your home..."

"My home is indeed close, but... what does that have to do with you?" Shen Qian gave another dry laugh.

"You..." Zhong Xiaoli's expression changed. She narrowed her eyes. "You may not understand this very well, but if we don't handle that matter your parents asked us to take care of properly, it could affect you for the rest of your life."

"So if I let you cut in line today, you'll guarantee that I get into the military?" Shen Qian took out his wristband.

"Well, of cour—"

Zhong Xiaoli's expression froze, and she could not continue, because she clearly saw Shen Qian press the recording button.

Seeing this, Shen Qian sneered and turned to leave with Manager Zheng.

"I'm rather curious. Where did you get the money to apply for a martial arts hall membership card?"

Zhao Xin, who had remained silent until then, suddenly sneered.

Shen Qian did not want to pay him any attention, but he could sense Manager Zheng beside him beginning to hesitate.

It was mainly because Shen Qian's outfit really did look rather shabby: a washed-out school uniform, washed-out canvas shoes, and a washed-out backpack...

Zhong Xiaoli came back to her senses as well. She clicked her tongue at Manager Zheng. "Your Jiuzhou Martial Arts Hall is a chain, after all. A membership card costs at least several thousand yuan, doesn't it? This child's family isn't well-off. Last time, his parents emptied their savings just to scrape together twenty thousand yuan to ask me for help. Do you really think he has the money?"

Zhao Xin laughed. "Mom, you don't know this, but larger martial arts halls all offer a one-time trial experience. I remember some of my classmates who didn't have money loved doing that... Jing City has five or six martial arts halls. Whew, just freeloading like that is already a huge profit!"

Zheng Nanfeng seemed to recall some unpleasant memories as well, and the way he looked at Shen Qian turned cold.

"I'm telling you, we're definitely getting membership cards today. Don't you want that commission that's practically guaranteed?" Zhong Xiaoli looked at Zheng Nanfeng.

"Student, this lady does seem to be in a hurry. I'm very sorry, but how about you wait a little longer? I'll have another colleague receive you right away."

Zheng Nanfeng quickly made his decision. After saying that to Shen Qian, he turned and began attending to Zhao Xin and his mother.

Zhong Xiaoli curled her lips at Shen Qian disdainfully. With a faint smile at the corners of his mouth, Zhao Xin followed Zheng Nanfeng out of the reception room with her.

Shen Qian opened his mouth, but in the end, he said nothing.

What, was he supposed to slap his bank card in Zheng Nanfeng's face and shout, "Open your damn eyes and look"?

Shen Qian could not bring himself to do something that childish. It only strengthened his resolve to have his father get the money back as soon as possible.

Shaking his head, Shen Qian could not be bothered to wait any longer. He was just about to leave when Xiao Xuan, carrying a teapot as she came in, saw him and froze. "Oh, why are you still here? Didn't I ask Manager Zheng to receive you? I just saw him leading someone else over, so I thought you had already left..."

"I was just about to leave."

Shen Qian did not explain, but Xiao Xuan seemed to quickly figure something out. She set down the teapot and grabbed Shen Qian's sleeve.

"How about... I show you around?"

"You?" Shen Qian was taken aback.

"Mm, I help out sometimes when it's busy too. You... please don't be angry. Their sales targets are pretty demanding, so they might be neglectful sometimes. I'll apologize to you on his behalf."

Xiao Xuan spoke sincerely. "It's just that I'm still an intern, so I might not explain things very well. If you don't mind..."

Shen Qian looked at the girl before him, who seemed about his age. Her oval face was rather cute, and her dark eyes were filled with sincerity. In the end, he nodded.

It was not for any other reason... Jiuzhou Martial Arts Hall really was close to his home, and its facilities were among the best of the chain brands. Shen Qian could not be bothered to make an impulsive decision over one salesperson's attitude.

"Our Jiuzhou Martial Arts Hall was founded eighty-seven years ago, and our first branch was in Magic City..."

As Xiao Xuan introduced the history of Jiuzhou Martial Arts Hall to Shen Qian, she led him through the corridor and into the first floor of the martial arts hall.

The first floor was a spacious hall covering more than five hundred square meters. Various body-conditioning machines had been placed along one side of the hall.

There were machines for training strength, flexibility, speed, muscle activity, skin density...

Shen Qian swept his gaze over them. Although they were not as advanced as the school's Physical Testing Hall, they had pretty much everything one could need.

On the other side of the hall stood three arenas arranged in a triangular formation, with a rest area beside them that could accommodate around several dozen people.

"This is the martial arts hall's public area. Members of all levels can use it freely. Aside from cutting-edge machines like the Martial Arts Simulator, all the other equipment is new models from within the last three years," Xiao Xuan introduced with a smile.

"What are those people looking at?"

Shen Qian pointed toward one corner of the hall in confusion.

There were quite a few people in the public area on the first floor at the moment, but most of them had gathered before an electronic screen in one corner of the hall, quietly discussing something.

"Oh, that's our martial arts hall's rankings board. Let me take you over to have a look. That's part of the tour too!"

Xiao Xuan smiled sweetly and took the initiative to lead Shen Qian over.