Frustrated Baona

Chapter 16: Frustrated Baona

"Ah, Saitama—Mr. Xiang, you work out here too?"

Running into Xiang Kun here surprised Tang Baona as well. She almost blurted out "Saitama-sensei," but caught herself in time. After all, they'd only met once and weren't that close. It was fine to joke around with that nickname when they were alone, but calling him that in front of other people would've been a little odd.

"Yeah, I got a membership here just a few days ago."

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Tang Baona at the gym entrance, Xiang Kun left.

Neither of them mentioned Tang Baona's earlier invitation to get barbecue, which he'd turned down. For one thing, there were other people around. For another, it wasn't worth bringing up. She'd invited him out for a late-night meal, and he'd had something else to do. That was perfectly normal.

Watching Xiang Kun leave, the tall girl who'd been standing silently beside Tang Baona asked curiously, "So that's 'Saitama-sensei'? He looks so strong..."

Tang Baona was a little surprised by that herself. Xiang Kun had just finished working out, and since he hadn't sweated much, he hadn't changed out of his gym shorts and tank top. He really did make quite an impression. The last time she'd seen him at the café, he'd been wearing loose jeans and a T-shirt. She'd been able to tell he was strong, but she hadn't imagined he was this muscular.

The girl looked at Tang Baona. "But he's pretty average-looking, and he's totally bald. You said he's a programmer, right? Oh, wait, a programmer who just lost his job? Nana, why isn't he interested in you?"

"Why are you making it sound like I got dumped?" Tang Baona shot her friend a look. "I'm not interested in him either, okay? I just casually asked if he wanted to join us for barbecue, and he happened to have other plans."

The girl was Yang Zhen'er, Tang Baona's best friend and current roommate. The two of them could talk about anything, so Yang Zhen'er knew about Tang Baona's blind date. She'd also been there when Tang Baona invited Xiang Kun out for barbecue—in fact, she'd been the one who'd egged her on.

"Come on. He turned down your invitation that day, and afterward he didn't contact you or ask you out himself. Isn't that just his way of saying he's not interested?" Yang Zhen'er cut straight to the point.

Tang Baona had no argument for that. She could only grumble, "So what if he's not interested? I'm not some fairy everyone falls for... If you hadn't said you wanted to see 'Saitama-sensei,' I wouldn't have messaged him on WeChat in the first place. This is all your fault!"

"Aw, are you mad? Fine, it's all my fault! You're obviously everyone's favorite little fairy. That bald guy's just blind..." Yang Zhen'er laughed and put an arm around her friend's shoulders as they walked into the yoga studio together.

After yoga class, on the way home, Tang Baona found herself feeling more and more bothered.

She'd had plenty of admirers growing up, but she'd never met anyone she liked. She was also stubborn. If the "feeling" wasn't right, she wouldn't settle, so she'd never been in a relationship. As she got older, her family started to worry.

She'd always disliked and resisted blind dates, thinking they were too focused on the end goal. Her family had arranged plenty of them, and she'd refused every time. It wasn't until this year, after they'd "talked some sense into her" over and over, that she finally gave in and went on two. The one with Xiang Kun was the second.

She'd only gone along out of consideration for her older sister and her sister's classmate, Sister Han. She'd planned to put in an appearance, sit for twenty minutes, and make an excuse to leave. But she hadn't expected the bald "Saitama-sensei" to be so interesting. They'd had a great conversation, and she hadn't felt any of the pressure that usually came with a blind date.

At first, she'd even worried that they'd enjoyed talking too much and that the "bald uncle" might get the wrong idea. She'd already planned how to handle it if he started asking her out all the time, or kept messaging and calling her—how to turn him down without being too harsh.

But after they parted that day, the "bald uncle" hadn't sent her a single message. Not a greeting, not a casual chat, not an invitation. Nothing at all.

She hadn't been interested in Xiang Kun anyway, and she'd already decided she would turn him down if he asked her out. Still, the fact that he hadn't contacted her at all made her feel strangely unsettled.

At first, she hadn't thought much of it. After all, this was the outcome she'd wanted. But a few days later, while she was out eating barbecue with Yang Zhen'er, they brought up the "bald uncle" she'd gone on a blind date with. Yang Zhen'er said "Saitama-sensei" obviously hadn't been interested in her, or he would've contacted her by now. Then she made a bet with Baona, challenging her to see if she could get "Saitama-sensei" to come out for barbecue.

Sure enough, Tang Baona's invitation was turned down. It wasn't a big deal in itself; it was a last-minute invitation, and it was perfectly normal for him to have other plans. But Xiang Kun's reply had seemed so cold and casual, and he hadn't sent her another message afterward. It was almost as if he'd plainly said, "I'm not interested in you."

Tang Baona kept saying she didn't care, but Yang Zhen'er wouldn't stop bringing it up. It left her feeling a little aggrieved—and curious. Why wasn't Xiang Kun interested in her? Why turn her down so decisively, without even trying to get to know her better?

As she drove, Yang Zhen'er kept chattering about her theories on Xiang Kun. Maybe he liked women with big butts, curvy figures, and wide hips. Maybe he already had a girlfriend, and Tang Baona's sister's classmate didn't know about it. Maybe Xiang Kun was into men...

Tang Baona finally couldn't take it anymore. She pulled out her phone and sent Xiang Kun a message on WeChat.

Although running into Tang Baona at the gym had surprised Xiang Kun and left him feeling a little awkward, he hadn't given it much thought afterward. Given the way he'd replied to her before, he figured Tang Baona wouldn't contact him again. Besides, he really didn't have the time or the inclination to think about romance right now.

At the gym that day, he'd used a heavy one-arm curl to confirm that his left arm was considerably stronger than his right. That proved targeted training could determine the direction his body changed—or, rather, evolved—after drinking blood.

So Xiang Kun had adjusted his workout that day. He'd done just one set at his maximum weight to test how much strength each muscle group had gained since drinking blood. After that, he'd stopped training at or near his limit. Instead, he'd done sets of at least twenty-four repetitions, reduced his strength training, and added exercises for coordination, flexibility, and reaction speed.

He'd found many of the exercises and movements online the night before and put together a plan on the fly.

But with how well he could control his muscles now, he'd become proficient at each exercise after just two tries.

Next, Xiang Kun planned to train his senses—his eyesight, hearing, and sense of smell, for example. He wanted to see how far he could push those abilities.

As Xiang Kun sat at his computer working on his training plan, his phone rang. He picked it up and saw that Tang Baona had sent him a message on WeChat.