The Bluff

After the Spring Festival, February arrived.

These days, Xu Qing had been staying at Qin Lin's place. He was happy every day because he got to eat delicious food.

Qin Lin also took him out to have fun.

By comparison, when he was at the Xu family's, Xu Xin rarely took him out. As the Xu family's young lady, she often didn't have much freedom.

Most of the time, Xu Qing stayed with Xu Xin at Xu Family Manor and rarely went out.

Of course, Xu Qing hadn't forgotten to practice the Guidance Technique every day. He had promised Qin Lin he would work hard to grow stronger.

Qin Lin had also taken up training again and practiced alongside Xu Qing every day.

"Come on, let's go to the Limit General Hall and have your Warrior level assessed," Qin Lin said one day as she took Xu Qing out.

She had unusually tied her hair into a high ponytail, giving her a spirited air. Even after several years as a university teacher, she had lost none of the presence of a War General Level Warrior.

The SUV sped along the broad road, reaching the Limit Dojo's downtown building in less than twenty minutes.

This could also be called the Limit General Hall of Jiangnan Base City.

This wasn't Xu Qing's first time here. It was his third.

"Come on," Qin Lin said with a smile. Taking Xu Qing's hand, she led him into the hall.

Qin Lin and Xu Qing entered the first-floor lobby.

"Oh, Qin Lin, you're here," a middle-aged man said as he walked over, surprise written across his face.

Xu Qing knew him too. He had met him twice before: Wu Jiang.

When Wu Jiang saw Xu Qing beside Qin Lin, he was surprised again. "Well, look who it is."

"Hello, mister," Xu Qing greeted him naturally.

"Uh, I thought you called me Uncle last time. Why am I 'mister' now?" Wu Jiang's eye twitched. Didn't "uncle" make him sound younger?

"Oh, it's all the same," Xu Qing said, waving a hand.

Only then did Wu Jiang notice that Qin Lin and Xu Qing were holding hands. He paused, looking between them. "Qin Lin, are you two...?"

"As you can see, Xiao Qing is my boyfriend now," Qin Lin said with a faint smile, admitting it outright.

Wu Jiang's mouth fell open. He remembered that Qin Lin was only seven or eight years younger than him, probably around twenty-seven or twenty-eight.

As for Xu Qing, the last time Wu Jiang had seen him, he'd been seventeen. By now, he should be eighteen.

They were a full ten years apart.

"Hey, mister, what's with that look? Is it so strange for us to be a couple?" Xu Qing stared at him.

Wu Jiang gave an awkward smile. "Not really. I'm just a little surprised. I didn't expect you two to get together."

He was a Warrior himself and had seen plenty of older male Warriors marry women much younger than themselves. Ten years was nothing; there were plenty of couples with a twenty-year age gap, like a forty-year-old marrying a twenty-year-old.

Besides, many high-level Warriors took several wives.

So even though Qin Lin and Xu Qing were ten years apart, it wasn't really a big deal.

"Anyway, Qin Lin, I wish you two happiness," Wu Jiang said.

Qin Lin smiled. "Thank you, Elder Brother Wu."

"Don't mention it. Oh, I should warn you: Ye Feng is here too, in the training hall," Wu Jiang said, shaking his head as he remembered.

"Mm," Qin Lin replied coolly.

Seeing how cold she was, Wu Jiang couldn't help feeling sorry for Ye Feng.

Ye Feng and Qin Lin had become Warriors around the same time. He was two years older than her and had always liked her.

Unfortunately, Qin Lin had never felt the same way. It was a case of unrequited love.

"Linlin, who's Ye Feng? Is he my rival in love?" Xu Qing perked up his ears.

"Of course not," Qin Lin said with a smile.

But Wu Jiang spoke up. "Kid, you're right. Ye Feng is your rival. He's always liked Qin Lin, and he still does."

"Linlin, this doesn't seem fair. I have a rival, but you don't," Xu Qing grumbled.

"I told you, there's nothing going on. Don't go making rivals for me, understand?" Qin Lin held his face and rubbed it hard a few times.

Xu Qing could only give in. "All right, all right. Stop rubbing—it's getting squashed."

Seeing the two of them interact, Wu Jiang knew their relationship was real and had no reason to doubt it.

"By the way, Qin Lin, why did you bring your young boyfriend here?" Wu Jiang asked.

"To have Xiao Qing's level assessed," Qin Lin replied.

"That fast? It's only been half a year, and this kid's already gone from Beginner Warrior to Intermediate Warrior? Isn't he in college? He's actually been training seriously too? Not bad," Wu Jiang said in surprise.

At this, Xu Qing's expression shifted slightly, as if he felt a little guilty.

"Elder Brother Wu, you know Xiao Qing?" Qin Lin realized.

Wu Jiang nodded with a smile. "Of course. When this kid came to take the Quasi-Warrior Assessment, Supervisor Bai assigned me to handle it. Later, he apparently passed the combat assessment too. A Warrior at seventeen, huh? Impressive."

"So that's how it was," Qin Lin said, understanding. She looked at Xu Qing with an amused smile.

She immediately realized that Xu Qing must have deliberately hidden his strength during the Quasi-Warrior Assessment.

Under Qin Lin's gaze, Xu Qing gave a sheepish grin and played dumb.

"Then, Elder Brother Wu, I'll take Xiao Qing to have his Warrior level assessed," Qin Lin said, choosing not to expose him in front of Wu Jiang.

"Perfect. I'm free right now, so I'll come along and watch," Wu Jiang said with a smile.

Xu Qing hurriedly said, "Mister, shouldn't you be training? How can a Warrior say he's free? You have to treasure every minute and work hard to improve your strength."

"No, I just finished training. I'm taking a break," Wu Jiang said, amused.

"Mister, you really have no perseverance. What do you mean, 'taking a break'? Look at you—you're not even red in the face or out of breath. What makes you think you need a break? You should get right back to training. We Warriors have to be determined to train until we drop—and then keep going. You still haven't quite grasped the spirit of it," Xu Qing said, raising a finger and wagging it.

He looked like some senior lecturing his juniors, all pompous and self-important.

Qin Lin nearly burst out laughing. She hadn't expected Xu Qing to make up a whole speech on the spot just to send Wu Jiang away.

"Train until we drop, then keep going? That's way too extreme," Wu Jiang said, the corner of his mouth twitching. That was brutal. There was no need for that.

"Look, look! I told you that you still haven't got the right attitude. And you think that's extreme? We have to survive fighting monsters, so there's nothing wrong with training as hard as we can. What's a little exhaustion?"

"Mister, listen to me and get back to training. The effort you put in today will definitely help you in the future. Trust me. I'd never lead you astray," Xu Qing continued, pulling his leg.