That afternoon, a Skarmory flew into the farm and landed in front of the villa, carrying a man and a woman.
"Brother Chen Shi, I missed you so much!"
The moment Pheobe climbed off Skarmory, she spread her arms and lunged toward Chen Shi.
A look of alarm flashed across his face, and he hurriedly sidestepped her.
Faced with Pheobe's wounded stare, Chen Shi gave two awkward coughs.
"Men and women should keep their distance. Don't do that."
Steven, who had just walked over, gave his old friend a teasing look.
"I hope you'll dodge when Miss Cynthia wants to hug you, too, then tell her men and women should keep their distance."
"Exactly!" Pheobe nodded earnestly in agreement.
"What do you two know?" Chen Shi said with a perfectly straight face.
"I think of Miss Cynthia as a brother, so that rule obviously doesn't apply."
"Oh, is that so?" Steven drew out his words. "Then I'll be sure to tell Cynthia next time."
"No, no, no." Chen Shi hurried over and grabbed Steven. "You must be tired after coming all this way."
"Come in and have some tea. Come on in."
Amused, Steven let himself be dragged into the villa.
Left standing there, Pheobe stamped her foot hard and followed them in a huff.
In the living room, Chen Shi poured tea for the two of them himself, since his grandparents were both down in the laboratory.
"So, have things been going well for you lately?"
Steven sighed a little as he recalled the hardships of the past few days. "I've been all right. I visited my family's Mystery Realm and made some good progress with my strength."
"Anyway, didn't you say you needed me for something? Let's hear it."
Chen Shi took a sip of tea, pulled