She was terrified that Gu Qing would get bored one day and start finding her a nuisance.
Take their martial arts practice right now, for example.
As long as Gu Qing was still practicing, she would never allow herself to stop and rest.
Seeing how stubborn she was, Gu Qing did not try to persuade her further.
But his eyes stayed on her, constantly monitoring her physical condition.
The moment anything seemed wrong, he would immediately force her to stop and rest.
Time ticked by.
Before they knew it.
The two of them had practiced from four in the afternoon until eight at night.
Four hours in total.
[Physical Constitution +1] x4 [Total Physical Constitution gained: +87]
Seeing the text notifications pop up, Gu Qing turned to Xia Shuran beside him and said:
"All right, junior, stop practicing."
"Let's sit down and rest for a bit, wipe off our sweat, then go eat together."
"We'll carry on tomorrow afternoon."
Hearing Gu Qing say that.
Xia Shuran could not hold out any longer.
She immediately stopped what she was doing, plopped onto the ground, and gulped down breath after breath.
She looked utterly exhausted.
"Have some water and catch your breath."
Gu Qing picked up the pink water bottle from the ground, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to Xia Shuran.
Xia Shuran took the bottle and began gulping down the water.
"Drink slowly. Don't choke."
Looking at Xia Shuran in front of him, Gu Qing felt as though he had gained another little sister, always finding himself wanting to look after her without even realizing it.
Once Xia Shuran finished drinking.
Gu Qing walked over and sat beside her, saying:
"Here, stretch your legs over. I'll give your muscles a good massage."
Normally, having her lie facedown on the ground would have been best for loosening her muscles.
But considering how much water she had just drunk.
Her belly was probably round with it.
If he had her lie facedown, she might turn into a water-spouting kid on the spot and spray water everywhere.
"Sorry for the trouble, senior."
Xia Shuran obediently stretched her legs toward him, her cheeks flushed and a little thrill in her heart.
After every grueling martial arts session, this was the one part she looked forward to most, most, most of all, without exception.
Seeing her blush, Gu Qing knew she was looking forward to this intimate part.
He merely smiled at that, then quickly lifted her legs onto his lap and began skillfully massaging them with his hands to loosen her muscles.
During the massage.
Gu Qing varied the pressure.
There was no pattern.
No warning.
Xia Shuran was often caught off guard by his pressing, covering her mouth as she let out little moans and gasps.
Her voice was soft and sweet, surprisingly pleasant to listen to.
As Gu Qing listened, he suddenly felt playful and began playing Xia Shuran's aching legs like a piano.
With every press, Xia Shuran let out a sound.
Pressing different spots even produced different sounds.
She really was a human piano.
"Senior, be gentler. Slower..."
Xia Shuran reminded him in a barely audible voice.
Gu Qing was pressing too hard and too fast.
It made her cry out nonstop, drawing strange looks from many passersby.
Their looks made her entire face turn scarlet.
She felt terribly embarrassed.
She kept her head lowered the whole time.
She did not dare look up at anyone.
Gu Qing was unconcerned. "Bear with it. Without enough pressure and speed, it'll be much less effective at relaxing your muscles."
Hearing him say that.
Xia Shuran could only bite her lower lip and endure it.
She also clamped a hand tightly over her little mouth.
Doing her best not to cry out too loudly.
The poor Junior Schoolmate had become her wicked senior's plaything, and she did not even realize it.
Half an hour later.
The massage ended.
Supporting the Junior Schoolmate on her wobbly legs, Gu Qing walked leisurely out of the sports field and went with her to the Living Area to eat.
They ate for nearly an hour before leaving.
By the time Gu Qing escorted the Junior Schoolmate back to the women's dorm, then returned to the men's dorm himself.
It was almost ten at night.
He took off his shoes and changed into another pair.
He fetched a clean set of clothes.
Gu Qing entered the bathroom and took an incredibly comfortable hot shower.
After coming out of the shower.
He walked straight over to Gao Fei and stopped beside him, saying to his roommate with the [Basketball Player] tag above his head:
"Gao, skip class with me tomorrow morning and play basketball. The whole morning."
"After this time, I promise I'll never drag you out to play again."
"What do you think?"
His progress toward obtaining knotted muscles had now reached [87/100].
He needed just thirteen more points to fill the progress bar.
Gu Qing's plan for that was as follows.
Tomorrow morning, he would play basketball with Gao Fei for five hours.
Then, in the afternoon and evening, he would practice ancient martial arts with Xia Shuran for another eight hours.
That way, tomorrow, Tuesday, he could grind out the musclehead attribute, knotted muscles.
"O-fucking-K!"
Gao Fei promptly made an OK gesture and agreed. "We're good brothers, after all. If you want to skip class to play basketball, of course I'll go with you!"
Better a short pain than a long one.
He would play with Gu Qing to his heart's content tomorrow morning.
That way.
Whenever Gu Qing asked him to play basketball in the evening afterward.
He could refuse with a clear conscience.
Early the next morning, just as dawn was breaking.
Gu Qing woke up on time and dragged Gao Fei off to skip class and play basketball.
They played straight from seven thirty in the morning until twelve thirty in the afternoon.
A full five hours.
[You played basketball with your roommate Gao Fei for over an hour] x5 [Basketball skills +1] x5 [Physical Constitution +1] x5 [Accumulate a total increase of 100 Physical Constitution points to obtain the attribute-knotted muscles] [Points currently obtained: 92]
Just eight points to go.
Next, he only needed to practice martial arts with the Junior Schoolmate for another eight hours to obtain knotted muscles.
Success was within reach!
Looking at the text notifications before him, Gu Qing was incredibly excited.
After calming his excitement a little.
He looked at the sweat-drenched Gao Fei nearby and said:
"We're done. Come on, let's eat."
Hearing the words he had spent all morning waiting for.
Gao Fei's legs immediately gave out, and he dropped to his knees with a thud, utterly drained.
Then he braced both hands against the ground, raised his head, and looked at Gu Qing with an expression of tearless misery, shouting out that classic line from Slam Dunk:
"Coach, I never want to play basketball again!"
He had always thought his girlfriend around her period was the terrifying being that drained his stamina the most.
But only now did he realize that playing basketball with Gu Qing was what drained his stamina the most.
He never wanted to play basketball with Gu Qing again.
After thoroughly tormenting his roommate Gao Fei.
The evil Gu Qing immediately turned his sights on the Junior Schoolmate, Xia Shuran, inviting her to practice martial arts at the sports field.
He took out his phone and sent the Junior Schoolmate this message.
[Gu Qing: Junior, I want to get to the sports field a little earlier to practice martial arts this afternoon. Around two, say. Would you be free?]
The Junior Schoolmate replied almost instantly.
[Xia Shuran: Senior, I have class at two this afternoon.]
Before Gu Qing could reply, she immediately sent another message.
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