Qiao Rui

"Excuse me for asking..."

Lin Haoyang hesitated for a moment, then spoke in a low voice, "What is your relationship with Qiao Rui?"

"Huh? I don't know him."

Bai Xiaowen was momentarily taken aback, and this slight Transformation in expression was naturally noticed by the observant Lin Haoyang.

Beside her, Fang Ziyi chuckled softly, "Really don't recognize him? Because of you, Ouyang Heng almost banged his head against the wall in anger."

"Alright, Ziyi," Lin Haoyang shook his head and said, "It seems Bai Xiaowen really doesn't recognize Qiao Rui. Maybe Ouyang Heng is mistaken." Compared to words, Lin Haoyang trusted subtle expressions more.

"Which matter are you talking about? I don't understand a word of it," Bai Xiaowen said.

"If you don't understand, then we certainly can't explain it to you," Fang Ziyi chuckled, showing little sign of her defeat, and generously extended her hand. "Congratulations to you both, and thank you for going easy on me in the first match."

Bai Xiaowen and Fang Ziyi shook hands gently. He narrowed his eyes, lost in thought.

The two teams separated, with Jinghai University remaining on the stage. Flashes of white light followed as reporters snapped photos, making Jinghai University Team to advance to the CUAA finals, a media sensation. Information about Bai Xiaowen and others would become part of the entertainment news.

Bai Xiaowen, who achieved a one-versus-five victory in the first match and also performed exceptionally well in the second, received much media attention as the biggest contributor to Jinghai University's advancement. After selectively answering a few questions, Bai Xiaowen politely took his leave, leaving the interview opportunity to his other teammates.

Bai Xiaowen himself left the spotlight. One advantage of awakened celebrities compared to ordinary entertainment stars is their Psychic Field. By slightly expanding their field, they can push ordinary people aside and clear a path, without needing a throng of bodyguards.

"I didn't expect even Tsinghua University to lose. The strength of your Jinghai University... is really a bit of a surprise to me." A slightly familiar voice rang out.

Bai Xiaowen looked in the direction of the sound and saw Qiao Qi, a young man with a flamboyant, "punk" style, standing at the entrance of the auditorium's side door.

It's no longer appropriate to call Qiao Qi a "punk" or "emo" type. The last time we met, he had dyed his hair back to black. This time, he had even cut off a large section of his long hair, leaving only a slightly brooding middle-part hairstyle that barely covered his eyebrows and eyes, giving him a melancholic air.

"You're in the Beijing too." Bai Xiaowen nodded.

"Yeah, this is my territory," Qiao Qi said smugly, arms crossed. "If you have any trouble, come to me, I'll take care of it for you."

"Thanks, but could you please take care of these last few problems first?"

Several reporters caught up with Bai Xiaowen, relentlessly demanding an exclusive interview.

Qiao Qi coughed, a little embarrassed. "These reporters aren't from Beijing, they don't recognize me."

Seeing Qiao Qi's pretentious act collapse after only a second, Bai Xiaowen found it quite amusing.

Suddenly, a tall, muscular man in black walked over, arms crossed, and blocked the reporters' path. He didn't attack them, but the ordinary reporters couldn't squeeze past him no matter what they tried; it was as if an invisible wall of air was blocking their way.

"An Awakened One?" Bai Xiaowen was slightly taken aback. He sensed the black-clad man's Psychic Field, which was at least at the level of Advanced Awakened.

The man in black glanced at Bai Xiaowen, his expression hidden behind sunglasses, but a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth served as a greeting. Bai Xiaowen could sense a distinctive aura emanating from him, a mark of military service.

Even without wearing a military uniform, Bai Xiaowen could sense the soldier's aura from the other person's straight back and legs together.

"Uncle Wang?" Qiao Qi called out.

After the reporters gave up, the man in black nodded to Qiao Qi, then turned to Bai Xiaowen and said, "Come with me, someone wants to see you."

Bai Xiaowen quickly identified the man in black.

An awakened one, a soldier, the Uncle Wang that Qiao Qi mentioned... his identity isn't hard to guess.

"Who is this? Should we check if you are carrying any dangerous items?" Bai Xiaowen asked half-jokingly, though he was also testing the waters.

The man in black kept his mouth shut and remained silent.

However, the worst thing is having a useless teammate. Qiao Qi, who was following behind, shouted, "Uncle Wang, is my sister here too? Sigh, I wanted to ask her to come with me today, but she refused. In the end, she still sneaked over..."

Bai Xiaowen chuckled inwardly. He knew who was going to see him, but thankfully it wasn't an important elder from the Qiao Family, which made him feel much more at ease.

As they spoke, the three of them walked through the side gate to the corridor outside the auditorium.

"Qiao Qi." A soft voice rang out.

Qiao Qi, who had been chattering away, suddenly shrank back like a duck whose neck had been grabbed, and fell silent.

Bai Xiaowen was greatly surprised. To be able to subdue Qiao Qi so completely, this young lady of the Qiao Family must be quite capable.

The next second, Bai Xiaowen stepped across the threshold and saw the girl, who was the eldest daughter of the Qiao Family.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Qiao Rui."

The girl's clothing, or rather, the transformation she chose, was simple, but that simplicity became extraordinary and alluring because of her.

The light blue short-sleeved shirt could hardly conceal the peaks of her chest, and the hem of the shirt was tied in a knot, slightly revealing a small patch of snow-white skin at her waist. The dark green jeans made her legs appear even longer and straighter.

Bai Xiaowen looked up from Qiao Rui's legs to her face, and habitually replied, "Nice to meet you... um?"

Bai Xiaowen was somewhat stunned.

Qiao Rui wore a gentle smile on her delicate face, a smile typical of first meetings, but two tears quietly rolled down her cheeks.

Qiao Qi was stunned. "Sis, why are you crying?"

"Is there?"

Qiao Rui was slightly dazed. She took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the corner of her eye.

"Oh... I think a grain of sand just got in. Sorry to have made you laugh."

Qiao Rui smiled apologetically, then said, "Xiao Wen, I felt a sense of closeness to you the moment I saw you. I'm two years older than you, can I be your older sister?"

Qiao Qi's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

The man in black standing to the side, Uncle Wang, Advanced Awakened, also showed a look of surprise, as if he had just seen a rooster lay an egg.

"Elder sister?"

Bai Xiaowen was somewhat bewildered. Memories from the past were quietly replaying in her mind.

A tall, slender girl, like a birch tree, quietly emerged from the dusty memories. She had long, flowing hair that cascaded down her shoulders, and her smile was warm, seemingly able to heal all wounds and dispel all gloom.

"Xiao Wen, you're the older brother, you have to protect your younger sister. I'm the eldest sister, of course I have to protect you and your little sister. Xiao Wen, and Xiao Jun will never be separated."

"The answer to this riddle must be 'girl,' right? A girl standing next to you is of course a 'girl.'"

"Don't be discouraged, Xiao Wen. One day you'll become very, very smart, even smarter than your sister. That's what Dad said."

"Don't worry! Your sister will definitely find Dad and Mom, and no one will ever say we're children without parents again."

Memories surge, longing lingers.

In just 0.1 seconds, Bai Xiaowen snapped back to reality from his daze. He looked at Qiao Rui across from him, her delicate face slightly flushed with a hint of eagerness, and slowly but firmly shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Senior Qiao Rui."

No one can replace my sister. This is a thought that Bai Xiaowen keeps in her heart.

The hope on Qiao Rui's face vanished, replaced by a fleeting hint of disappointment.

"It's alright, I was just a bit abrupt."

Qiao Rui smiled gently, and Bai Xiaowen felt a little dazed again, as if she saw the shadow of her older sister, Bai Xiaohua.

"Speaking of which, I have to thank Lord Qiao ... If it weren't for his intervention regarding the Boutu Guild incident, Zhao Yannian might not have received the punishment he deserved," Bai Xiaowen said.

Qiao Rui shook her head slightly. "... I've heard about this too. Actually, if it were any other victim, Grandpa would have given the same instruction. So, no need to thank me..."

Qiao Qi opened his mouth to speak, but Qiao Rui glanced at him with her slender eyes, and he immediately fell silent.

This subtle expression, of course, did not escape Bai Xiaowen's eyes. His doubts deepened, but since Qiao Rui clearly did not take credit, he could not continue to inquire about the matter, after all, it involved the high-ranking and powerful Lord Qiao.

"What does Senior Qiao Rui want to see me about?" Bai Xiaowen asked, seeing that his teammates had finished their interviews and were walking in his direction. He then got to the point.

Qiao Rui said softly, "I'd like to ask you for a favor."

"Please just say it, senior."

"The International Alchemists Competition starts next Wednesday," Qiao Rui said quietly. "You have a spot in the Young Alchemists Exhibition Match."

Bai Xiaowen nodded. This spot was recommended by the Qiao Family.

"There's a pre-match training camp for this Exhibition Match. I've always wanted to go see it; could you come with me?"

"Shouldn't Senior Qiao Rui be able to get in too?" Bai Xiaowen asked. "Is the training camp closed to everyone except the Alchemist participating in the Exhibition Match?"

"No, it's not that. It's just that having a Alchemist with me makes me feel better," Qiao Rui said with a soft laugh.

At this moment, Yan Xiaoxin led the University Team members to Bai Xiaowen's side.

"Xiao Wen, what happened? Who is she?" Li Shuyi looked at Qiao Rui with some confusion, feeling that she looked somewhat familiar.

Bai Xiaowen glanced at Qiao Rui with a questioning look.

Qiao Rui was very generous, waving to everyone. "You must be Xiaowen's alumni, congratulations on a great match. My name is Qiao Rui, a member of the Yanda University team, nice to meet you."

Xiang Hui and the others were somewhat surprised. Qiao Rui was their greatest enemy, and her threat level was no less than that of Ouyang Heng's Hero Class.

They had already seen Qiao Rui's photos, but photos and real people are ultimately different. At first, they just felt that she looked familiar, but they never thought about it in that way.

Bai Xiaowen then briefly explained the International Alchemists Competition, and concluded by saying:

"Senior Qiao Rui invited me to visit the training camp... Teacher Yan, if the University Team doesn't have any important plans coming up, I'd like to ask for leave."

"Well, I'm resting today. I plan to go to Yanda University tomorrow..." Yan Xiaoxin paused here. Going to Yanda University tomorrow, of course, is to watch the match between Yanda University and Yunnan University. As competitors, she definitely needs to carefully study the latest information of her opponent. However, the opponent is Yanda University's ace support player, and she feels a little embarrassed.

Qiao Rui smiled slightly, "Actually, there's no need. Yunnan University can't force the Yanda University team to show its true strength... If you need it, I can send you the latest information on the team."

The students from Jinghai University looked at each other in bewilderment.

Chen Guowei looked at Bai Xiaowen with admiration and whispered to Xiang Hui, "What do you mean by awesome? Old Bai is awesome! He hooked up with their ace support right after meeting them. I think the finals are a sure thing. Qiao Meimei can just go easy on us, and Yanda University will have it easy!"

"Shut up." Xiang Hui kicked Chen Guowei in the butt.

Qiao Rui glanced at Chen Guowei and smiled, "Even if it's Xiao Wen's team, I would never go easy on them. Don't you think so, Senior Ouyang?"

Those with Mental Specialist do indeed possess remarkably keen perception.

Two figures slowly emerged from behind the side gate.

Bai Xiaowen also sensed the auras of two Awakened individuals lurking near the side gate, but he wasn't familiar with them and didn't think much of it. Looking at the two, one of them, a tall and muscular young man, had taken off his large sunglasses—wasn't that Ouyang Heng, whom he'd seen in photos and videos?

"I... I was just passing by," Ouyang Heng offered a blatantly obvious explanation.

Wu Chaojie, a square-shaped boy, said incredulously, "Sister-in-law, you're not really going to defect to the enemy, are you?"

Qiao Rui's slender eyes stared at Wu Chaojie, who shrank back.

Ouyang Heng felt somewhat stifled.

"Bai Xiaowen, have you met Qiao Rui before?" Ouyang Heng's voice was somewhat deep.

Bai Xiaowen frowned slightly, then smiled wryly and said, "I don't know either."

"You've got some nerve, daring to mess with the boss!" Wu Chaojie shouted.

Bai Xiaowen ignored Wu Chaojie and instead addressed the gloomy Ouyang Heng, saying, "If you had asked me this question before, I could have clearly told you I didn't know her. But now... I really don't know if I know Qiao Rui."

"You still dare to deny it? Last time on the Player Battle Platform, it was Senior Sister Qiao Rui who logged into your character account..." Wu Chaojie shouted.

"Outstanding."

"Wu Chaojie!"

Ouyang Heng and Qiao Rui almost simultaneously stopped Wu Chaojie, but Ouyang Heng's tone was rather low, while Qiao Rui seemed somewhat embarrassed and annoyed.

Ouyang Heng glanced at the shy and timid Qiao Rui, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

"Bai Xiaowen, see you on the field." Ouyang Heng said this and turned to leave.

"Boss, is it okay to leave Qiao Rui here?" Wu Chaojie caught up and whispered. However, even though he lowered his voice, those with high Divine Might could still hear him.

Ouyang Heng paused briefly, glanced at Qiao Rui, then turned and left.

"Xiao Wen, the University Team is staying at the Jinyue Hotel before the finals. Here's your room key... Remember to check in at the hotel after you've finished your business. Keep in touch."

Having witnessed this bizarre scene firsthand, Yan Xiaoxin felt it was best to retreat for the time being.

Qiao Rui's appearance took me a whole day to process...