Chapter 186: Chapter 186 – Surreptitious Operation

“True strength is embracing any dish that life throws at you with grace.”

Ren Suo suddenly recalled the famous quote from a certain storybook series. Although the quote was similar to other well-known motivational quotes like “being happy is the most important thing as a person”, it was the aptest to describe Ren Suo’s present situation—

As fate would have it, dishes were awaiting him outside his door.

Calm down, Ren Suo, you are an upright and honorable man, with nothing to hide and nothing to be afraid of!

Don’t be afraid, she’s just one person!

At that juncture, Qiao Muyi had finished showering, and she opened the bathroom door–

“Hold on first!” Ren Suo said before hanging up the call in an instant.

“Mmm?” the slightly confused Qiao Muyi questioned as she turned to look at Ren Suo.

She was wearing a shirt and a pair of cropped pants that belonged to Ren Suo. He had a typical figure and so his clothes naturally looked slightly oversized on the slightly shorter Qiao Muyi. The clothes did not highlight her figure, but her pretty, flushed face made her look like an extremely ripe apple.

However, Ren Suo did not provide her with a clean set of undergarments.

On the other hand, Qiao Muyi mentioned that the Reiki channels of her Awakened Ability were currently in an extraordinary state, so she could not continue wearing her drenched clothing or she would risk suffering from undesirable consequences.

In that case, the rain was extremely heavy, so did it wet her… Did she change out of her…

It was risky to continue riding down that train of thought. Ren Suo took the initiative to walk over to Qiao Muyi and pointed to the mobile phone as he said, “I just received a call from Dong Chengling.”

Qiao Muyi was instantly energized. She asked, “What did she say? Is she in Lianjiang?”

“Yes, she is,” Ren Suo replied.

Qiao Muyi breathed a sigh of relief. She continued probing, “Where is she now? It was precisely because I could not contact her that I came over to find you. I have something to tell her–”

“That’s great then, she’s just outside the door, about to come in,” Ren Suo interrupted.

He pointed at the door, relaxed, and smiled. He continued, “In that case, I shall–”

“Hold on,” Qiao Muyi said.

She grabbed Ren Suo’s right hand and asked grimly, “You just… hung up Dong Chengling’s call?”

Ren Suo replied, “Hmm? Yeah.”

Qiao Muyi asked, “Why?”

“There’s no particular reason… I just felt that I should explain to you first before letting her in. After all, you used my bathroom to take a shower…” Ren Suo said.

Qiao Muyi pulled the corners of her mouth and replied, “How am I going to explain myself to her if you hung up her call? If she saw me here, in your house and in your clothes, wouldn’t she suspect that something unscrupulous is going on between the both of us?”

Ren Suo said, “Wouldn’t it do to explain the situation to her…”

Qiao Muyi clasped her forehead and said, “So why did you hang up in the first place? It could have been explained if you did not hang up on her, but now that you have done so, it is as if you want to make sure our stories are aligned properly.”

Ren Suo asked, “It’s not that complicated, is it?”

Qiao Muyi sighed, but she suddenly lost her strength and almost collapsed onto Ren Suo’s chest. Fortunately, Ren Suo reacted quickly and stepped forward to support her.

She said, “Listen carefully, I am unable to move about alone in my current state. The rain is also pouring extremely heavily outside, and I’m afraid that I would need to stay put in your house for the time being.”

Ren Suo grabbed Qiao Muyi’s hands and felt that her body seemed to be burning hot. He asked, “Are you having a fever? Do you need treatment? I can bring you to the school hospital for a fever reducer injection–”

“No, this might be due to… my Awakening,” Qiao Muyi said as she held onto Ren Suo’s shoulders. She leaned towards Ren Suo’s ears and seemed to be struggling even to speak. She said with all her energy, “I have persisted and held on for so long, I am almost unable to bear it anymore…”

Ren Suo felt an itching sensation on his ear, but he did not dare to turn around to face her—she was too close to him.

[Data Flow]!

Ren Suo glanced at Qiao Muyi’s data, ten lines at a time: Mmm, Tier 2, 8%, height and weight, upper bust measurement… ignore, ignore…

[In a special state].

That was the only unusual piece of information that Ren Suo found from the data stream, which was the same one Gu Yueyan’s data stream had.

Qiao Muyi said, “Since Dong Chengling has returned, I don’t want to bring any unnecessary drama to you. The reason why I came to find you was to represent the Countermeasure Division to persuade her to return… I don’t want her to harbor any wrong ideas because of my presence. It would lead to unnecessary anger and misunderstanding that might make her change her decision and leave Lianjiang.”

Ren Suo said, “I will explain the situation to her properly–”

Qiao Muyi interrupted and said, “Ren Suo, I don’t have high hopes about your EQ, nor do I want to explain to you that women can be just as unreasonable as men.”

“As such, I want to avoid any unnecessary trouble if it is possible to do so. Anyway, as long as Dong Chengling does not discover my presence while she is here, nothing will happen.”

“Do you have a guest room in your house? Help me in…” Qiao Muyi asked.

Ren Suo grandly opened the door to the guest room to let her have a peek—a whole family of cockroaches was lying on the floor, warmly welcoming the new guest.

“… Help me into your bedroom then. Remember to close the door…” Qiao Muyi said.

“Ding Dong ~”

At that juncture, the doorbell rang. Ren Suo and Qiao Muyi both trembled and a mysterious tingling arose in their hearts.

Qiao Muyi could not help but burst out in laughter. She remarked, “Haha, it feels as if we have really done something shameful… Just to be safe, you should hide my clothes which are still in the bathroom. There is also a box containing Stone Heart cotton pills inside my black vest.”

“As long as a Stone Heart pill is in contact with a body, it would be able to conceal the movement of Reiki of the surroundings due to the Practitioner’s own Reiki current. It is even able to diminish the sounds of the person’s breathing and heartbeat to make them inconspicuous. It is very useful for camouflaging and ambushing. With the Stone Heart pill, Dong Chengling would not be able to feel my Reiki current even if she is in the living room… Thankfully, the Countermeasure Division has distributed this piece of equipment.”

Ren Suo was surprised. He said, “I did not have such a thing when I was still with the Countermeasure Division.”

Qiao Muyi replied, “You have already been away for more than a month, of course, technology is still advancing with time… I can’t walk anymore. Hurry now, don’t make Dong Chengling wait any longer!”

Ren Suo quickly went to the bathroom and picked up Qiao Muyi’s clothes. He immediately saw a black lace bra that would make a guy’s heart flutter in excitement; indeed, she had also removed her wet undergarments.

Inside her black vest was a small square box. Ren Suo opened the box and found a few pieces of black cotton which were roughly the size of medicine pills.

He squeezed one of the cotton pills lightly with his fingers and found that it adhered very strongly to his fingers.

Ren Suo suddenly had an idea and retrieved two of the Stone Heart cotton pills from the box. He looked at Qiao Muyi’s clothes and thought that he would be exposed if Dong Chengling had to go to the toilet.

He initially thought of stuffing the clothes into the washing machine, but Ren Suo did not purchase a laundry basket and his dirty clothes had already been ‘partying’ in the washing machine for two to three days…

He pondered for a moment and decided to carry the pile of clothing out of the bathroom. In response to Qiao Muyi’s surprised look, he said, “I’ll hide your clothes first.”

Ren Suo walked into the bedroom and found a cardboard box under his computer desk to put Qiao Muyi’s clothes in. Fortunately, he had not discarded the cardboard box which his computer tower was packaged in.

Afterwhich, he squatted down and found that Gu Yueyan was still asleep, so he stuck a piece of the Stone Heart cotton pill onto the back of her hand.

“If only I could do the same in the games, I would not need to load multiple save files…” Ren Suo lamented in his heart. He went back to the living room and handed the other Stone Heart cotton pill to Qiao Muyi.

At that point, Qiao Muyi was fighting to keep her eyes open. She was holding herself upright by leaning against the wall, but all energy was lost from her legs, and she was kneeling on the floor.

“I can’t walk anymore,” Qiao Muyi said as she stretched her hand out to Ren Suo. Her cheeks were glowing red like fire.

Without hesitation, Ren Suo carried Qiao Muyi into the bedroom and placed her gently on the bed. He took a glance underneath the bed and thought, ‘Qiao Muyi should not have the energy to rummage through his room in her current condition, right?’

“Hurry now, don’t expose us,” Qiao Muyi said as she narrowed her eyes and a mischievous smile emerged on her face.

She added, “Haha, this sense of sneakiness… It’s so interesting…”

Ren Suo breathed a sigh of relief as he closed the bedroom door. He checked his facial expression and finally opened his main door.

Before he opened the main door, all he thought about was how to get Dong Chengling to leave quickly.

However, the moment he opened the main door, all of those thoughts quickly vanished.

“… Long time no see?” Dong Chengling greeted.

With a bag in her left hand and a large, black umbrella in her right hand, Dong Chengling was the only visitor that night who was not drenched by the rain. There was not a hint of anger or annoyance on her face even though he had kept her waiting. She smiled slightly as she greeted Ren Suo.

However, her dressing style had changed completely. Instead of her usual plain-colored top paired with denim jeans, she was wearing an ordinary, pure white pleated skirt. She also replaced her flats with platform sandals. Her short hair had also been kept long, and it was tied into a ponytail that was swaying freely in the breeze.

With the change in style, Dong Chengling turned into “the girl next door” with an increased sense of closeness.

Ren Suo was absolutely dazed upon seeing the contrast in styles.

Of course, the most important reason was that the intense feeling of attraction towards Dong Chengling emerged once again–

She had a key once again!

Seeing Ren Suo stare at her intently, Dong Chengling was also slightly embarrassed, but she still gathered all her courage and asked in smiles, “Do I look good?”

Ren Suo gave a ‘thumbs up’ and asked, “Why did you suddenly change your dressing style?”

Dong Chengling tilted her head slightly as she replied, “It’s because I realized that you were so mesmerized by Nine-tailed Fox that you did not even blink.”

“At that time, I felt that… It was probably time for me to put in some effort.”