mchenry-crisis.org Chapter 18 Showcase
Chapter 18 Showcase
The living room was deathly silent.
The fat woman's mouth was wide open, big enough to fit an egg. The skinny woman dropped the sunflower seeds in her hand and didn't bother to pick them up. The girl in the corner who had been playing on her phone looked up, her eyes wide open.
"How...how much?" The plump woman's voice trembled.
Song Chen repeated: "2.2, I just broke through a few days ago."
The thin middle-aged woman muttered, "2.2...that's...almost enough for a top university?"
Li Hao suddenly spoke up, his voice tinged with a hint of awe: "Top universities require a GPA of 1.5 or higher, and you've already exceeded that. With your grades, you're guaranteed a spot in a top university."
Song Chen continued, "That's not all, I also awakened a special ability."
There was a deathly silence, then an uproar broke out.
"Superpowers!"
"What kind of superpower?"
"Oh my god, Sooyoung, your son has awakened superpowers?!"
Li Xiuying's eyes narrowed into slits with laughter, but she said, "Oh, it's nothing, it's just good luck that I awakened my lightning ability..."
The plump woman almost jumped up: "Lightning ability? That's the strongest offensive ability! Sooyoung, your family's ancestors must have been blessed with incredible luck!"
"Xiao Chen, let Auntie see what lightning looks like!"
Song Chen raised his hand, a thought forming in his mind.
"Sizzle..."
A bolt of lightning, about the thickness of a thumb, shot from his fingertip, exploding into a small spark in the air with a crackling sound.
The plump woman was so frightened that she took a step back, but then she leaned in again, her eyes shining.
"It really is lightning! I saw lightning power with my own eyes!"
The thin middle-aged woman grabbed Li Xiuying's hand, so excited that she was incoherent: "Xiuying, you're going to be living a life of luxury from now on. Your son is guaranteed a spot in a top university, and he's even awakened a special ability. He'll be at least a second-tier martial artist in the future, and maybe he can even become a retainer in the Garrison Commander's Mansion."
Li Xiuying smiled broadly, still modestly saying, "Oh, it's nothing, I was just lucky..."
Song Chen withdrew his hand, glanced at his mother without saying a word, and said that he was lucky, but his face clearly said "My son is the best in the world".
He suddenly felt like laughing; in eighteen years, his mother had never been this happy.
The plump woman suddenly lowered her voice and leaned closer mysteriously: "Xiao Chen, you're eighteen this year, right? Do you have a boyfriend?"
Song Chen was taken aback.
"No...no..."
The plump woman slapped her thigh: "That's perfect! Let me tell you, my niece is seventeen this year, very pretty, with a blood energy level of 0.9. She's a year younger than you and also studies at No. 3 Middle School. Shall we arrange for you two to meet sometime?"
The skinny middle-aged woman chimed in, "Yes, yes, my niece is quite nice too. She's eighteen, beautiful, and gentle, but her blood energy level is a bit low, only 0.5. She might not be a good match for Xiao Chen..."
The plump woman immediately retorted, "Your niece's isn't good enough! 0.5 with 2.2? That's too much of a difference!"
"What's wrong with 0.5? My niece is beautiful."
"Can good looks put food on the table? Talent is the only true measure of success."
The two middle-aged women were about to start arguing, each trying to keep up the other's conversation.
Song Chen felt a bit overwhelmed. He stood up and said, "Um... I'm going out for a bit."
Li Xiuying was taken aback: "Where to?"
Song Chen made up an excuse: "My teacher messaged me and asked me to come over."
He gave the reason he had prepared long ago.
"Oh dear, you've just gotten back and you're already going out again..."
"Go quickly, don't keep your teacher waiting."
Although Li Xiuying was unhappy that her son was going to be away for so long again, she didn't pursue the matter further when she heard him mention the teacher.
In her heart, this teacher who did not exist was her son's great benefactor and also the great benefactor of her family.
Song Chen fled out the door as if escaping, the plump woman's voice still echoing behind him: "That child is really promising..."
And then there was Li Xiuying's smug laughter: "Of course, he's my son..."
Song Chen stood in the stairwell, took a deep breath, and could still hear her mother's boastful voice. Since she liked it, let her boast. It had been eighteen years, and it was time to make her happy.
As for blind dates... there's the possibility of being exposed... let's talk about that later, I can't worry about that now.
……
Song Chen stepped out of the building, took a deep breath, and was about to walk towards the city wall when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of his eye.
The man was standing at the entrance of the alley across from the building, wearing a drab gray jacket with his hat pulled low. He was peeking into Song Chen's building, holding a cell phone in his hand, as if he was taking pictures of something.
Song Chen's gaze swept over, and the man happened to turn his head and meet his eyes. In an instant, the man's expression changed, like a mouse seeing a cat. He suddenly shrank back and turned to run away.
Song Chen was stunned for a moment. He saw the face clearly and it looked familiar. It seemed to be one of Zhao Wei's henchmen. What was his name again... I think it was Liu San?
No, it's Liu Si? Anyway, he's a lackey Zhao Wei recruited from the streets, the kind who often hangs around the school gate, running errands and delivering messages for Zhao Wei.
Song Chen's face darkened. Zhao Wei's underlings were lurking suspiciously downstairs at his house? What were they filming? Who were they tailing?
A chill ran through him. He thought of his parents at home; they had just taken the qi-boosting medicine and their bodies hadn't fully recovered. What if that bastard Zhao Wei wanted revenge...?
"stop!"
Song Chen took off chasing after him.
The man ran incredibly fast, clearly familiar with the area. He slipped into the alley like an eel, twisting and turning, and disappeared into the complex network of lanes in the blink of an eye.
But Song Chen is faster. With a Qi and Blood value of 2.2, he no longer has to rely solely on skills to compensate for his strength, and he truly possesses the speed of a martial artist.
He rushed into the alley, his eyes scanning the surroundings. To the left was a dead end, to the right was a vegetable market, and directly in front was a straight alley where he could see the man's fleeting back.
Song Chen caught up, and the distance between them was rapidly closing.
The man glanced back, his face turning deathly pale. He ran even faster, shoving aside a trash can blocking his path, knocking over cardboard boxes piled up on the roadside, and charging forward madly.
Song Chen chased after him closely, but he didn't rush to catch up.
During the highest level of alert, there are many soldiers patrolling the streets and surveillance cameras everywhere. He cannot make a move on the street, otherwise he will definitely be arrested.
He needed a place where no one was around, a place without surveillance cameras or witnesses.
The person in front clearly didn't realize this and kept choosing back roads and going to secluded places, trying to shake off Song Chen. He didn't know that this was exactly what Song Chen wanted.
The two chased each other, weaving through the alleys of the slums.
Five minutes later, the man rushed into a dead-end alley, but by the time he realized there was a wall in front of him, it was too late.
He abruptly stopped, turned around, leaned against the wall, and gasped for breath.
"No...don't come any closer..."
Song Chen slowly walked into the alley. The alley was very narrow, with dilapidated building walls on both sides. There were no windows, and messy wires overhead blocked most of the sunlight. Garbage was piled on the ground, emitting an unpleasant smell.
No surveillance cameras, no passersby, a perfect place.
Song Chen stopped and looked at the person in front of him. As he got closer, he recognized him. It was indeed Zhao Wei's man, named Liu Si, in his early twenties, a small-time hoodlum who spent his days loitering around the gate of the Third Martial Arts High School, helping Zhao Wei by delivering cigarettes, buying water, and running errands.