"OW~?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Ren Xingi sleepily opened her eyes to see the black cat Luna lying on top of her. The window filtered in golden sunlight. With a simple calculation of the sunlight's angle and its direct points, Ren Xingi imdiately knew it was about 8:15 AM, give or take ten minutes.
Strange. Ren Xingi knew how clingy this cat was to her older brother. If her brother were also a cat, Ren Xingi reckoned they might have had a litter by now. Besides, Black Cat rarely showed affection to others; Ren Xingi had to approach her with extre caution and cater to all her needs just to pet her. So why had she co to play so early in the morning?
However, Black Cat paid no attention to Ren Xingi. It jumped off her, burrowed into the blanket on the bed, then hopped out, circled the room, opened the door by itself, and left.
Ren Xingi got out of bed and looked at the open bedroom door, wondering. She hadn't locked it, but she was sure she had closed it before going to sleep. How had Black Cat opened the door to get in? Could Mom have opened the door early in the morning to clean...?
Ren Xingi got up and washed. She saw Black Cat strolling around the living room a few tis, then slipping back into her brother's room. Once she had finished washing up and returned to her room to get her phone, she saw her brother had texted her at 6 AM that morning.
She imdiately went to her brother's room, only to find it empty except for Black Cat, who was peering at a tablet.
Just then, Ren's mother returned from her morning exercise. Ren Xingi stepped out and asked, "Mom, did Big Brother leave early this morning?"
"Yes. When I went out, I found the door unlocked. I thought I'd forgotten to lock it last night, but then I checked my phone and realized your brother sneaked out early this morning," Ren's mother said, placing the breakfast she'd bought on her way back on the table. "The breakfast stall next to our complex opened on the eighth. Want so?"
Ren Xingi hesitated for a mont. "Kind of."
"Then I'll grab a bowl and give you so of the preserved egg and lean at porridge and buns."
Ren Xingi glanced at the breakfast bags. "Aren't there two bowls of porridge?"
"That's for your dad."
"Wait a minute," Ren Xingi almost got sidetracked by her mom. "Big Brother said he wouldn't be back until tomorrow!"
"He's a grown man. Could he possibly get into any trouble?" Ren's mother wasn't worried at all.
"Didn't Big Brother tell you where he went?"
"No," Ren's mother shrugged and went to the kitchen to get a bowl. "And where could he go? He probably got an itch and went to find so girl. It's just that he won't be back for the whole day. Sigh... that boy really has grown up. Hopefully, he takes precautions. Oh, the preserved egg and lean at porridge from this shop still slls so good."
Ren Xingi felt a sinking feeling. Before, Ren Suo had also disappeared for a whole day, and the next day he brought Qiao Muyi ho. Now he was going to be out all day again; Ren Xingi suspected that next year she might see him bringing a baby ho. And to leave so early in the morning—Ren Suo had actually gotten up early this morning! He must have been really desperate!
Ren Xingi imdiately took out her phone to call Ren Suo, but before the call connected, he hung up!
Then Ren Suo sent a ssage: "Can't talk now. Contact on WeChat if it's urgent."
Ren Xingi was thunderstruck.
It's only 8 AM! You're already unavailable!?
...
...
"Going out on my own, I refuse to be supervised~"
Sitting at a street-side table at McDonald's, Ren Suo listlessly drank his milk tea—loaded with three packets of sugar—and dipped fries one by one into sweet and sour sauce. He watched the pedestrians outside, pondering how exactly to waste the day.
anwhile, a girl who looked like a middle school student, after lingering behind him for a long ti, finally mustered the Courage to sit next to him. Her voice trembled as she hesitantly said, "Excuse , big brother?"
Ren Suo displayed a polite and practiced smile. "Hello, what can I do for you?"
"Have you graduated from college?"
"Yes, I have."
"You look like you'd study finance. Did you graduate from Guanghua Managent College at Sky Capital University?"
"Haha, how could I..."
Just from a morning visit to McDonald's, he'd been approached by seven different won. Their ages ranged from fifteen to twenty-eight, their styles from bold to reserved—truly, everything one expects to find. Ren Suo had progressed rapidly from his initial nervousness and shyness to now deftly handling any conversation without revealing any specific information.
Ren Suo genuinely hadn't expected that being super handso would lead to such bizarre adventures. He also hadn't realized that when girls encountered a very handso guy, they could be even more forward and bold than guys eting a beautiful girl. He rembered those animals from his university days; they were practically experts in human anatomy thanks to online erotica and sites like Tumblr, their cloud storage and hard drives a testant to their shared collections. Yet, in public classes, every single one of them would sit as far away as possible from girls from other majors.
Occasionally, a few Brave souls would approach them with a straightforward, "Hello, fellow student. Can we be friends?"
But now, any random person who approached Ren Suo could naturally steer the conversation. If it weren't for Ren Suo's wit and clever avoidance of key information, he might have even revealed that this was his zodiac year.
Once they'd chatted for a bit, they would invariably find so pretext to ask for his contact information.
"Senior, do you work in Lianjiang? I'm planning to visit Lianjiang but don't know where to find good food and fun places. Could you show around soday?" After chatting for a while, the pretty girl in front of him had already started addressing him as 'Senior.' She was cute and gentle—who could withstand that?
Ren Suo could, because he had an ace up his sleeve. "Sorry, I'm usually busy with work. Even on holidays, I have to spend ti with my girlfriend or play Honor of Kings. I don't really feel like going out."
The pretty girl said, "Oh," but undeterred, she pressed on: "Senior, you like playing Honor of Kings too? Let's add each other as friends. I love playing it as well."
However, Ren Suo was no longer a naive fool. Upholding the principle, 'Let them be as strong as they wish; the bright moon still shines on the great river,' he said, "Sorry, I usually let my subordinates handle my Honor of Kings account for ranking. I only log in when my girlfriend wants to play with . So even if I add you, it'll just be my subordinates playing most of the ti."
The pretty girl finally got it, flashed an awkward smile, and then left. Thanks to the transcendent hearing granted by his Third-turn Cultivator status and 'Insight into the Mortal World,' Ren Suo clearly heard her mutter, "Fine, don't add . No need to make up stories about subordinates..."
Ren Suo shrugged. He wasn't lying. His account rank had been boosted to Eternal Diamond by his clone. He himself didn't dare to play ranked matches, fearing he might drag his teammates down and cause a total disaster. He could only show off a bit when playing with his sister, Lin Xianyu, and occasionally piggyback on her skills.
That Bai Ji face truly was sothing else, eliciting a 100% turnaround rate. Only now was Ren Suo beginning to experience even a fraction of the joy that ca with being so handso.
Recalling the past few pickup attempts—so had called him 'sugar daddy,' others wanted to use him to get to Qiao Muyi... Comparisons are odious.
But Ren Suo never thought of exploiting his appearance for gain. He simply couldn't find a way to reverse the transformation, so he had sneaked out of the house to contemplate life. Being approached by won was not what he wanted.
Otherwise, given his looks and his recent experiences, Ren Suo could definitely have eaten this breakfast in a hotel's honeymoon suite. He had to drag this out until the transformation ended before he could go ho; after all, he really didn't want his family to see him looking like this handso bastard. If they sensed the disparity between his True Form and his transford self once he changed back, Ren Suo would be thoroughly Depressed. His own good looks were more understated, requiring ti to appreciate, unlike Bai Ji's kind of blatant, in-your-face handsoness.
Of course, that was just a small reason. The real reason Ren Suo left ho was that he didn't want to distort the image his family had of him.
Even without transforming, as a Third-turn Cultivator, he was far different from 'ordinary people.' To them, Ren Suo was essentially a warrior laden with weapons and clad in steel armor, yet he could pass through subway security without issue. If he truly caused trouble, Baiyun City would likely be under curfew until he was caught.
Yet Ren Suo never thought himself all that impressive. He was just a lucky guy who caught a favorable wind at the crest of the era's wave. Cultivators who thought themselves impressive had already been beaten into fools by the Tactical Bureau. He also didn't consider himself part of a privileged class now; at most, he was just one of the first to eat the crab. From the intranet and various other information sources, he could tell that the national strategy was to have 'early cultivators lead later ones.' The day when everyone practiced Cultivation would co sooner or later. He had nothing to be proud of.
So, he rarely flaunted anything in front of his family, at most using Healing Magic to help his parents with their health.
It wasn't in his nature to show off, but this ti was different—he had practically turned into a different person! Ren Suo hated tedious explanations and didn't want his parents to beco afraid of him. Of course, he was more worried they might ask him to 'perform' as other people—after all, his parents had their own favorite celebrities. To avoid further complications, hiding out for a day seed like the best plan.
Though these were his thoughts, Ren Suo didn't really have anywhere to go. Firstly, he couldn't leave Baiyun. His ID card didn't match his current face, so he couldn't take high-speed rail. Secondly, apart from internet cafes, there weren't many places in Baiyun City he wanted to visit. He couldn't even practice ice skating; Baiyun had no ice rinks. Otherwise, Ren Suo could have practiced properly and wouldn't have to worry about Qiao Muyi taking him sowhere only for him to make a fool of himself later. et friends? The only one in the city was Lin Xianyu. But if Lin Xianyu saw him looking like this, Ren Suo suspected she'd say things like, 'Big Brother Ren, could you go to class for / take my CET-4 exam / take this test?' Even going to an internet cafe required caution. Although they weren't too strict with ID checks, his current face was still very different from Bai Ji's.
Just then, Ren Xingi suddenly invited him to play a ga. It was a bit strange to play ranked matches so early in the morning, but Ren Suo was incredibly bored, so he sat in McDonald's and started playing.
After finishing a round, a WeChat ssage suddenly ca in.
Bai Ji: "...Awake yet?"
Ren Suo: "?"
Bai Ji: "...Passing through Baiyun. Wanna grab a al?"
Ren Suo's first instinct was to refuse, but he quickly deleted the ssage and typed, "I'm currently... experiencing a small issue due to an awakened spell. If you see , you might find it a bit unsettling. Do you mind?"
Bai Ji: "...Sothing wrong? Did you go to the hospital?"
Ren Suo: "No, just so minor changes in appearance. It'll be fine by tomorrow."
Bai Ji: "...I don't mind. Actually, I'm a bit curious."
Ren Suo: "Then prepare yourself ntally."
After arranging a eting place, his sister, noticing he'd suddenly stopped playing, finally asked, "Where did you go today? You just left ho without a word. Mom is worried about you."
Ren Suo thought for a mont and replied, "It's nothing. I'm having lunch with Bai Ji later. You guys don't need to worry."
On the other end of the phone, Ren Xingi was instantly dumbfounded.
She had assud her brother was off to find Qiao Muyi, Dong Chengling, or Gu Yueyan. She'd never imagined he'd leave early in the morning to et Bai Ji! And that 'you guys don't need to worry'... For Ren Xingi, who had lived through the horror of that birthday night, this made her even more worried, okay!
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