Chapter 8: Su Xiaoqiang

This fitness center is fucking luxurious, Senior Brother Chu is fucking rich!

Lu Mingfei stepped out of the Mercedes-Benz, looking at the detached building that didn't look like a fitness center at all, but rather like a global chain five-star hotel, and couldn't help but marvel in his heart.

After finishing the braised large intestines from the street stall, Chu Zihang received a phone call, said he had something to deal with, asked Lu Mingfei what he was going to do next, and then arranged for Chen Shu to drive Lu Mingfei directly here.

Lu Mingfei initially wanted to refuse, but the situation was that before he could even get out a "That doesn't seem right," he saw Chu Zihang frown: "Refusing?"

How could he refuse with that tone!

It gave people the feeling that if he refused, he would be shot in the head by a Desert Eagle pulled out from who knows where!

It was still that same saying—"Since you can't resist, then enjoy it."

When it came to lying flat, Lu Mingfei still had some experience.

It was just that...

"Won't this place be a bit too expensive?"

Lu Mingfei muttered in a low voice; in the few hours he had been dealing with Chu Zihang, he had roughly understood the other's style—it was impossible for him to be allowed to pay for himself after being sent here.

But just the full set of clothes on his body was already of unknown value, and if he added the cost of this fitness center, which looked like it couldn't possibly be cheap to the naked eye...

The debt of gratitude to Senior Brother Chu would never be repaid!

"Young Master Lu, this place is free."

Chen Shu explained, "This shop is controlled by the young master's family; it is the fitness center with the best and most complete equipment in the whole city."

"Eh... what the hell is 'Young Master Lu'?" Lu Mingfei shuddered, "I'm just an ordinary poor guy, just call me Little Lu!"

"There aren't many people who can be friends with the young master... at least, I haven't seen any."

Chen Shu smiled and made a gesture of invitation, clearly not intending to change how he addressed him, "The young master has already given instructions; you can tell me if you have any needs."

Lu Mingfei sighed helplessly and walked toward the entrance of the fitness center. He knew Chen Shu was just following orders, and it was meaningless to dwell on this; it would be better to wait until tomorrow to talk to Chu Zihang...

Anyway, according to Chu Zihang's intentions, he was prepared to make "Teaching Basketball" a fixed daily item, and even set a time with Lu Mingfei before leaving.

This actually suited Lu Mingfei's wishes. He was originally going to follow his Schedule Plan, and now that he had a big spender like Chu Zihang providing teaching guidance and could keep mooching meals, it was exactly what he wanted!

Stepping onto the soft red carpet at the entrance, Lu Mingfei couldn't help but feel emotional. In the past, if he had come to a place like this alone, he would only have shrunk back and hesitated, at most looking from afar and guessing what kind of astronomical price it was.

But now he could stand here without shrinking his head or hunching his back, and was even interested in asking how much it cost later to evaluate how much of a bargain he had gotten...

Everything was the confidence given by Senior Brother Chu!

Although he still didn't know the reason why Chu Zihang was so good to him, Chu Zihang had already said he felt Lu Mingfei was a basketball genius and they could play together in the future, so he would just treat this treatment as a sparring fee.

Even though he knew it was unlikely, why think so much? Enjoy it first!

Thinking this to himself, Lu Mingfei took a step inside, and then—

His foot froze in mid-air, and after a moment's pause, he wanted to retreat.

"What's wrong, Young Master Lu?" asked Chen Shu, who was accompanying him.

This greeting made the pretty girl in front of the counter, who was playing with her phone nonchalantly and preparing to follow a female coach inside, pause and turn her head.

Their gazes met.

"Su Xiaoqiang???"

"Lu Mingfei???"

"Why are you here?" Lu Mingfei asked with some panic.

"I was going to work out and tone up anyway, it was already said in the class group!"

Su Xiaoqiang's wide-eyed gaze was full of disbelief, "And shouldn't I be the one asking you 'why are you here'?"

"Is there anything strange about me appearing here? I work out too!" Lu Mingfei felt a bit lacking in confidence when he said this.

"You? Heh..." Su Xiaoqiang sneered, as if she had heard a huge joke.

The two followed behind Chen Shu and the female coach toward the specialty of this fitness center—the VIP single-room area, which was said to be "for single use, disinfected and maintained daily, with customizable equipment changes, etc."

Su Xiaoqiang, Lu Mingfei's classmate, nicknamed "Little Heavenly Maiden."

To describe the relationship between Lu Mingfei and Su Xiaoqiang in one word, it would probably be "nemeses."

This "nemeses" wasn't the kind of lingering entanglement between "the boy has feelings and the girl has intentions," but a real grudge.

Speaking of this, classmate Lu Mingfei was completely in the wrong—on the first day of high school, Lu Mingfei stood beside Su Xiaoqiang and pointed at Chen Wenwen, saying, "This one will probably be the class beauty of our new class."

Praising another girl's beauty in front of a girl wasn't just unwise; in some sense, calling it "bullying" wasn't wrong either!

The problem was, if Su Xiaoqiang really couldn't compare to Chen Wenwen, that would be one thing, but Su Xiaoqiang was really not bad.

The "Little Heavenly Maiden" nickname was not just a name; she was of mixed heritage, her mother was Portuguese, her European-style clear facial features perfectly complemented the gentle warmth of an Eastern girl, her family had mines, and her grades were excellent—every single item was better than Chen Wenwen.

But liking someone is such an unreasonable thing.

Whoever you like is the most beautiful. Lu Mingfei thought Chen Wenwen was pretty, and he said so directly.

That day, Su Xiaoqiang stepped on Lu Mingfei's foot and left in a huff, and then they had been nemeses for nearly three years.

As time passed, Lu Mingfei also realized there was a problem with what he said, but he still liked Chen Wenwen; if he bowed his head and apologized to Su Xiaoqiang, wouldn't that be admitting Chen Wenwen wasn't as good as her?

Then he could only be thick-skinned and shameless.

"With your skinny monkey physique, I'm afraid you couldn't even beat me in an arm-wrestling match!" Su Xiaoqiang poured cold water on him without hesitation.

"Don't talk nonsense, I am a dignified boy..."

Lu Mingfei was anxious; these words were quite vicious. If he couldn't beat a heavy tank, so be it, but Su Xiaoqiang's figure was tall and slender. If these words spread, how would he be able to hold his head up in front of everyone in the future?

Although he hadn't really held his head up much in the past anyway...

"Then want to compare?" Su Xiaoqiang seemed to have victory in her grasp.

"... Not comparing."

After quickly weighing the consequences of their combat power, Lu Mingfei decisively used a delaying tactic, muttering, "I've exercised too long today, my condition isn't good, let's fight another day!"

"Fine, you pick the time." Su Xiaoqiang naturally wouldn't let Lu Mingfei off the hook just like that, and immediately pressed the attack.

"One month!" Lu Mingfei replied without hesitation.

He had his own considerations—since he could gain Proficiency upgrades from both Learning and playing Basketball, then Fitness must certainly work too.

In one month's time, even if the Proficiency for this Fitness plan didn't rise as quickly as Basketball, gaining a few dozen points, or even leveling up, was not impossible.

By then, mere Su Xiaoqiang could be suppressed with a flip of his hand!

"Fine," Su Xiaoqiang raised an eyebrow slightly, "A word once spoken?"

"Cannot be overtaken by a team of four horses!"

After this bet, Su Xiaoqiang and Lu Mingfei didn't feel much, but Chen Shu and the female coach walking ahead leading the way had heard seven or eight tenths of it, and had pretty much figured out the gist of it.

The two exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly, with a sense that everything was understood without being said.

"Hey, hey, you still haven't answered my previous question," Su Xiaoqiang glanced at Chen Shu and the female coach ahead, lowered her voice, and said to Lu Mingfei, "How did you end up here?"

"I... why shouldn't I be able to come here?" Lu Mingfei also lowered his voice, feeling a bit guilty.

"Hmph, this place is not cheap at all, you'd better have some sense! Also, what the hell is 'Young Master Lu'? And this outfit of yours, it's all authentic but the brands are all different, who wears clothes like this?..."

Su Xiaoqiang whispered, her expression growing increasingly strange as she spoke.

"You didn't get scammed, did you? Or did you take out some high-interest loan? If so, there's still time, calling the police might save you, and if that really doesn't work, I'll cover it for you first!

Hmm... from now on you'll be my lackey, and you won't have to pay back the interest!"

Lu Mingfei watched Su Xiaoqiang with the corner of his eye twitching slightly; where on earth had this young lady's thoughts wandered off to?

But at the same time, his heart stirred; he thought that although the Little Heavenly Maiden usually roasted him quite fiercely, she was still very kind-hearted and was even worried about him falling into a trap.

And Su Xiaoqiang was indeed still holding a grudge about him saying Chen Wenwen was the class beauty back then, right? Even now she was thinking of poaching him from Chen Wenwen's camp and then declaring a unilateral victory?

"Why not skip the principal and interest entirely?" Lu Mingfei decided to tease Su Xiaoqiang and simply went along with her words.

"Nonsense, who knows how big a hole you've stepped into? Just this down jacket on you is worth tens of thousands, okay?"

Su Xiaoqiang rolled her eyes, "It's already generous of me to waive the interest and give you an interest-free loan, you still want to skip the principal... selling you wouldn't even be worth that much!"

"Eh, so are you coveting my body?" Lu Mingfei hugged himself tightly.

"Yue!" Su Xiaoqiang simply feigned a retch, then suddenly smiled sinisterly, "If you put it that way, that's not wrong. Do you want to guess if my family's coal business knows people who deal in black-market organ trading?"

"I was wrong."

Lu Mingfei decisively performed a French military salute.

This was someone he truly couldn't afford to offend! In this day and age, for a family to have mines and run a large enterprise, it was practically impossible for them not to be involved in something shady.

"So what exactly is going on!" Su Xiaoqiang urged.

She was indeed very curious about what had happened to Lu Mingfei.

Saying Lu Mingfei had been scammed earlier was just a casual guess; thinking about it carefully, she knew it was unlikely.

What would someone gain from scamming a person like Lu Mingfei? Those running loan sharks weren't brainless; they had to consider whether they could recover the principal!

That left only other possibilities: either Lu Mingfei had become an overnight nouveau riche, or Lu Mingfei had been hiding his identity as a wealthy heir all along.

If he were a nouveau riche... although the brands of the clothes on Lu Mingfei were very chaotic, the style and coordination were complementary, not the result of someone suddenly rich shopping randomly.

But to say Lu Mingfei had been hiding it all along...

How is that possible?!

What would he gain from that!

Su Xiaoqiang's curiosity was inevitable, while for Lu Mingfei, the consideration was much simpler: it was just a matter of whether or not to tell the truth.

"I don't think you'll believe me even if I tell you." Lu Mingfei lowered his voice.

"You tell me first." Su Xiaoqiang listened earnestly.

"I went to the basketball court to play Basketball today and ran into Senior Brother Chu Zihang. He was playing Basketball by himself and even said I was a Basketball genius, telling me to play with him in the future."

Lu Mingfei finished in one breath, patted his body, and pointed at Chen Shu in front, boasting, "Look, that's Senior Brother Chu's family driver, Chen Shu. This treatment I'm getting is all future sparring fees!"

Su Xiaoqiang: "..."

"It's hard on you, being able to escape and move around freely while suffering from delusions, that's not easy, is it?" Su Xiaoqiang looked at Lu Mingfei with "pity."

"See, I told you you wouldn't believe me." Lu Mingfei spread his hands.

"You were the one who started joking with me first, okay?"

Su Xiaoqiang sneered.

"How about I record it so you can listen to what you just said yourself? You, ran into 'Senior Brother Chu', and he even praised you as a 'Basketball genius', and spent so much money to have you be a 'sparring partner' in the future?

Please, let alone the fact that Senior Brother Chu has already gone abroad to study, I've never even seen you touch a basketball, okay? Every basketball class you just lie on the lawn pretending to be profound!"

"I just disdain to step onto the court, otherwise the scene would become too unsightly, and it's also too boring." Lu Mingfei waved his hand, looking like a master who found it lonely at the top.

Since he had already set himself up, he naturally had to keep blowing this horn.

As for when it would burst... as long as his Proficiency in the Basketball project rose fast enough, it wouldn't!

"Haha..."

Su Xiaoqiang was practically laughed into anger by Lu Mingfei.

"You..."

"Sorry, excuse me."

The bickering between the two was interrupted by Chen Shu, who walked over holding a phone currently in a call, and handed it to Lu Mingfei, "Young Master Lu, a call from the young master."

"Uh... Senior Brother?" Lu Mingfei took the phone, glanced at Su Xiaoqiang who had leaned her ear in, and ultimately didn't push her away, even deliberately making some room for her.

"Have you arrived at the gym?" The voice from Chu Zihang's side sounded strange; he was panting, feeling somewhat unable to speak properly.

"Arrived, Chen Shu has arranged everything very properly!" Lu Mingfei praised him quite sensibly, then asked subconsciously, "Senior Brother, are you... exercising?"

"Exercising?"

Chu Zihang looked around.

The remaining flames were burning polymer materials, and the scorching hot air was mixed with an unmistakable stench.

On the ground before him lay a severed arm; it was unknown what creature this arm belonged to, but it was incredibly hideous while simultaneously possessing a strange, curved beauty, covered in scales with a few bone spurs protruding from it.

"I suppose so."

"Oh, oh... then, Senior Brother, what is the matter that you called about?" Lu Mingfei's intuition told him that Chu Zihang probably hadn't told the truth again, but he didn't dwell on it.

"I have something to do tomorrow, I will arrive a bit late."

Chu Zihang lowered his head to look; across his waist and abdomen was a wound that had undergone simple treatment, with transparent tape used in an extremely crude manner to bind together a wound that could almost be described as disembowelment.

"The Basketball court has already been reserved, you can go at any time."

"Oh, oh, okay..."

The call hung up.

Lu Mingfei scratched his hair, thinking to himself, Senior Brother Chu took time out of his busy schedule just to call about this?

Just to say he would be arriving late?

"It really is Senior Brother Chu!"

Su Xiaoqiang was also stunned; she looked at Lu Mingfei, and a bold guess suddenly formed in her heart.

"But for Senior Brother Chu to treat you like this... Lu Mingfei, you wouldn't happen to be the illegitimate son of Senior Brother Chu's father, would you?"

The end of the previous chapter has been slightly revised~

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(End of this chapter)