“Xu Ge, there aren’t many customers at night, so get some rest.” The Convenience Store Shop Owner waved his hand and kindly said to the hardworking young man, “It’s fine if you close your eyes for a bit.”
“Thank you, Shop Owner.”
After Xu Ge watched the Shop Owner leave, he lowered his head and looked at a beginner’s photography book spread open on the cashier counter. He read it attentively, as if he wanted to improve his photography skills during his spare time.
It was already past ten at night. Occasionally someone would come in, but most of the time he stayed there alone.
Four girls walked in together. One of them saw Xu Ge and immediately stopped in surprise.
“Ah! Xu Ge? Why are you working here?”
Xu Ge closed the book and looked up, slightly stunned. The four people who had come in were none other than Mu Jing and her three friends, who had gone out to play together earlier that day.
After leaving the KTV, the four of them had wandered around the streets casually. They had originally planned to go to the night market ahead, but when they passed by here, Mu Jing suddenly remembered that Xu Ge worked part-time at this place.
But now that she had actually come in and run into him, she felt a little awkward and avoided his gaze.
“I’m going to pick some drinks. What flavor do you guys want?”
“Who wants drinks? Didn’t you say you were hungry and wanted to eat oden?”
Guo Luoling nudged the arms the two girls had linked together and smiled with an ambiguous look.
“Oh~ I get it now. Who wants oden? You just wanted to come see a man.”
“Don’t talk nonsense! I didn’t even know he worked here.” Mu Jing was pushed toward the cashier counter. Her pretty face turned slightly red as she stared intently at the oden, refusing to look at Xu Ge.
Guo Luoling pulled Guo Yuan and Su Youyou toward the shelves behind them. On the surface they looked like they were choosing products, but in reality, three pairs of eyes were secretly watching the scene.
Xu Ge rested his hand on the counter, his long index finger tapping lightly.
“Hungry?”
“You misunderstand—”
Mu Jing spoke at the same time as him. She pursed her lips. “Mm, I’m just hungry. How would I know you worked here… you agree, right?”
“Mm, you’re right.”
Xu Ge opened the warming cabinet beside the oden and took out a sealed bowl of millet porridge, handing it to her.
“Drink this.”
Mu Jing was stunned. “…I came here to buy oden.”
“It’s too late at night. Not healthy.” Xu Ge glanced at the wall clock and didn’t ask her to pay for the porridge. “Go home early.”
“Hmph.”
Mu Jing snorted softly. She held the warm bowl of porridge in both hands, squeezing it slightly, then turned and walked toward the three girls hiding behind the shelves and watching the show.
The three of them were startled and quickly pretended to examine the items beside them.
“Hey, why can’t I find the expiration date on this?”
“Idiot, isn’t it right there?”
Xu Ge watched Mu Jing’s departing figure and assumed the Young Lady had gotten angry and was about to leave, so he took out his book again and continued reading.
But after a while, he noticed Mu Jing standing at the entrance, waving goodbye to her friends.
Guo Luoling and the other two finally understood what it meant to value romance over friendship. Meeting a boyfriend and immediately abandoning your friends—this was just too much.
Even if they didn’t mind, the snack stalls at the night market ahead would definitely mind, okay?
Mu Jing walked back to Xu Ge with a smug expression.
“Did you change to a new phone?”
“No.”
Xu Ge’s mood became slightly complicated. Strangely enough, he found himself happy that Mu Jing had chosen to stay. Even the irritation he had been feeling from staying up late so often recently eased a little.
“Why haven’t you changed it yet?”
Mu Jing looked around, her gaze landing on the chair behind him.
“Give me the chair. I want to sit.”
Xu Ge: …
“It’s late. You should go home.” Xu Ge watched her sit on the chair, drinking porridge while playing with her phone, and couldn’t help but worry. “It’s not safe this late. Sleeping earlier is better for your health.”
Mu Jing grew annoyed from his nagging. She put down her phone and glared at him.
“Alright, alright, stop worrying about nonsense. I’m waiting for my driver here, idiot. And do you even have the right to lecture me? How many hours do you sleep in a day?”
Xu Ge had been a little angry at her earlier words, but when he heard the last part, he immediately asked sharply,
“How do you know how long I sleep each day?”
Mu Jing almost choked on her porridge.
“Hmph, I don’t even need to think about it. You definitely never sleep.”
Xu Ge stopped talking to her and lowered his head to read his book again.
After finishing the porridge, Mu Jing stood up, threw the trash outside, then returned and looked at his book.
“Shot scale? You’re reading… a photography book?”
“Just passing the time.”
“Oh~ passing the time.”
Mu Jing swayed her head lightly. Just as she was about to say something else, a white van stopped at the entrance.
The door slid open, and several men in black clothing and masks rushed in. They moved so fast that Mu Jing didn’t even have time to scream before someone covered her mouth and nose, knocking her unconscious.
Xu Ge’s eyes turned slightly cold. He obediently raised his hands.
“Boss, what about this guy?”
“Take him with us!” The masked man jerked his chin toward the outside, then hoisted Mu Jing onto his shoulder. “Behave yourself. When this is over, we’ll let you go!”
Xu Ge lowered his head and walked out from behind the cashier counter.
These people had been watching the Mu Family’s Young Lady for a long time. Today was the best opportunity.
As for the convenience store cashier, they had investigated him too. He was nothing more than a guy who had just registered his awakening. No matter what type of ability he had, someone newly awakened for only a few days would be only slightly stronger than an ordinary person. Among them, however, there were several Ability Users.
It was precisely this underestimation that made them realize their mistake.
When Xu Ge stepped out from behind the counter, swiftly knocked two of them down, and snatched the weapon from another’s hand, they finally reacted.
Blinding blue lightning wrapped around the steel pipe. Almost every time the air split with a whistling sound, another person fell to the ground.
Decisive and ruthless—nothing like a beginner who had just awakened.
“Give her to me. Maybe if you hand her over, I’ll let you go.”
Xu Ge held the bloodstained steel pipe in one hand while the fingers of his other hand curled in a beckoning gesture.
Inside the convenience store, only he and the man carrying Mu Jing remained.
The man was clearly frightened by Xu Ge’s skills—especially the intensity of his ability.
“Y-You… weren’t you just awakened? How could it be this powerful?”
“You’re not planning to hand her over, right?”
Xu Ge lifted his foot and stepped on one man’s neck. A crisp crack of breaking bone sounded, and large amounts of blood poured from the man’s mouth and nose. The blood quickly churned and bubbled as if it were boiling lava.
Outside, the sound of another car braking could be heard.
The Mu Family’s driver got out of the vehicle, immediately sensing something wrong inside the convenience store.
“Damn it, take her back!”
The man gritted his teeth, threw Mu Jing from his shoulder, and ran toward the exit.
The driver only saw a bolt of lightning descend from nowhere, striking the man and leaving him charred as he collapsed to the ground.
After doing all this, Xu Ge simply tossed the steel pipe aside and raised his hand.
Mu Jing, who should have fallen to the ground, instead naturally landed in his arms.
“This time, you owe me your life,” Xu Ge said calmly.
“Impostor Young Lady.”