The Suppressed Baona

Chapter 16: Baona's Frustration

"Ah, Saitama... Mr. Xiang, you're working out here too?"

Running into Xiang Kun here was quite a surprise for Tang Baona. She had nearly blurted out "Saitama-sensei," but managed to correct herself just in time. After all, the two had only met once and weren't that close; using that nickname as a joke when they were alone was fine, but with others around, it would be rather strange to call him that to his face.

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

After exchanging a few polite words with Tang Baona at the gym entrance, Xiang Kun took his leave.

Both of them tacitly avoided mentioning the previous time Tang Baona had invited him for barbecue and been rejected. For one, there were others nearby, and for another, it wasn't really worth bringing up—you invite someone for a late-night snack, they have something to do and can't make it; isn't that perfectly normal?

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

Tang Baona was actually a bit surprised by this herself. Xiang Kun had just finished his workout and, since he hadn't broken much of a sweat, he hadn't changed out of his athletic shorts and tank top, which really did have a striking visual impact. When they met at the cafe last time, Xiang Kun had been wearing loose jeans and a T-shirt; she could tell he was fit, but she truly hadn't expected him to be this muscular.

The girl looked at Tang Baona. "But his face is just average, and he's completely bald. Didn't you say he was a programmer? Oh, a programmer who just lost his job? Nana, why didn't he take a liking to you?"

"The way you put that, it sounds like I got dumped..." Tang Baona shot her companion a glare. "I'm not even interested in him, okay? I just asked if he wanted to come along when I was getting barbecue, and he just happened to be busy, that's all."

The girl's name was Yang Zhen'er, Tang Baona's best friend and current roommate. The two were practically inseparable and shared everything, so she knew about Tang Baona's blind date. She had even been there when Tang Baona invited Xiang Kun out for barbecue—in fact, she was the one who had egged her on to do it.

"Come on, he turned down your invite that day and didn't reach out afterward, nor did he offer a counter-proposal. Doesn't that just mean he isn't interested in you?" Yang Zhen'er said, hitting the nail on the head.

Tang Baona had no rebuttal for this and could only say indignantly, "If he's not interested, he's not interested. I'm not some fairy that everyone falls in love with... If you hadn't told me you wanted to see 'Saitama-sensei,' I wouldn't have even sent him that WeChat message. It's all your fault!"

"Oh, are you mad? Alright, it's all my fault, all my fault! You are clearly a little fairy that everyone loves, it's just that bald guy who's blind..." Yang Zhen'er laughed, draped her arm around her friend's shoulder, and they walked into the yoga studio together.

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

Growing up, she had always had plenty of suitors, but she had never met anyone she liked. Being a particularly stubborn person, she had decided that if the "feeling" wasn't right, she wouldn't settle, so she had never been in a relationship. As she got older, her family began to get anxious.

In truth, she was quite repulsed by and resistant to blind dates, feeling that the process was far too transactional. She had rejected many arrangements by her family in the past, and it wasn't until this year that she finally gave in to their relentless "counseling" and went on two—the one with Xiang Kun was the second.

She had originally gone just to save face for her older sister and her sister's classmate, Sister Han, even planning to find an excuse to leave after twenty minutes. To her surprise, the bald "Saitama-sensei" turned out to be quite interesting; they had a pleasant conversation, and there was none of the usual pressure associated with blind dates.

She had even worried that if the conversation went too well, the "bald uncle" might get the wrong idea. She had even prepared how to respond and how to politely refuse if the "bald uncle" started sending frequent invites, endless WeChat messages, or phone calls.

But to her surprise, since they parted ways that day, the "bald uncle" hadn't sent a single message—no greetings, no small talk, no invitations, nothing at all.

Although she wasn't interested in Xiang Kun and had planned to refuse if he did invite her out, the fact that he sent nothing made her feel inexplicably strange.

She hadn't paid much attention to it at first, as it was the result she wanted anyway. But a few nights later, while out for barbecue with Yang Zhen'er, the "bald uncle" from her blind date came up again. Yang Zhen'er insisted that this "Saitama-sensei" definitely wasn't interested in her, which was why he hadn't contacted her, and even made a bet on whether Baona could get "Saitama-sensei" to come out for barbecue.

As it turned out, Tang Baona's invitation was indeed rejected. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal—it was perfectly normal for someone to be busy on such short notice. But Xiang Kun's reply had been so cold and casual, and he hadn't sent any follow-up messages afterward, which was practically a blatant way of saying, "I'm not interested in you."

Tang Baona claimed she didn't care, but she couldn't stop Yang Zhen'er from nagging her about it. It left her feeling both frustrated and curious—why exactly did Xiang Kun not like her? Was he really going to reject her so bluntly without even intending to get to know her better?

As Yang Zhen'er drove, she continued to chatter away with her assessments of Xiang Kun: maybe he liked women with big hips and a full figure who could bear children; maybe he already had a girlfriend and her sister's classmate just didn't know; maybe Xiang Kun actually liked men...

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

Although running into Tang Baona at the gym had surprised Xiang Kun and caused a moment of slight awkwardness, he didn't think much of it afterward. In his view, after his previous replies, Tang Baona would certainly never contact him again, and he truly had neither the time nor the mood to consider romantic matters.

Today at the gym, through heavy single-arm curls, he had confirmed that his left arm's strength was significantly greater than his right. This proved that targeted training could indeed determine the direction of his body's mutation—or rather, its enhancement and evolution—after consuming blood.

Consequently, Xiang Kun adjusted his training regimen today. He only performed one set at his limit weight to test the strength increase of his muscle groups after this round of blood consumption. Afterward, he avoided training at or near his limit, instead adopting a method of at least 24 repetitions per set, reducing strength training while increasing focus on coordination, flexibility, and reaction speed.

Many of the training methods and movements were things he had found online the previous night and organized on the fly.

However, with his current control over his own muscles, he had become quite proficient and natural after just two attempts.

Next, Xiang Kun planned to begin intensive training for his senses, such as his vision, hearing, and sense of smell. He wanted to see where the upper limits of these sensory capabilities lay.

Just as he was sitting at his computer working on his training plan, his phone rang. He picked it up to see that it was a WeChat message from Tang Baona.