As two of the few close friends Mu Jing had, Guo Luoling and Su Youyou both knew how picky this young lady was. Although Xu Ge was good-looking and had excellent grades, the facts that he had not awakened an ability and that his family was poor were already fatal flaws.
Logically speaking, Mu Jing should not have liked someone like him. Yet now this very person had become her boyfriend, which inevitably aroused curiosity.
“Yeah, why exactly do I like him?” Mu Jing frowned slightly, resting her chin on her hand as she looked at Xu Ge with a troubled expression, as if she herself was trying to find the reason.
Xu Ge remained silent. He reached out to take back the barbecue tongs that Mu Jing had snatched earlier and pulled her hand away.
“Be careful. The oil might splash.”
“Huh? Oh, okay…” Mu Jing withdrew her hand. At that moment, the grill suddenly made a small popping sound that startled her. “Xu Ge, you didn’t get splashed, did you?”
“No.”
Guo Luoling and Su Youyou exchanged a glance.
Alright then—such a considerate boyfriend. No wonder the young lady had taken a liking to him.
After eating, everyone first returned to the resort to drop off their luggage. Mu Jing accepted the room card Guo Luoling handed her and waved it in front of Xu Ge.
“Let’s go.”
Xu Ge frowned. Because there were still others nearby, he held back his question until they entered the room.
“We’re staying in the same room?”
“Why, can’t we?” Mu Jing raised an eyebrow slightly. But after only a few seconds, she broke into laughter. “Alright, alright. I’m just teasing you. Your room is next door to mine. I specifically asked the class monitor to book two rooms with large beds.”
The two room cards were stacked together, making it difficult to notice anything unusual at first glance. Mu Jing had already inserted her own card into the slot by the entrance, while the remaining one had been hidden in her hand until now.
She finally handed it to him.
“…That wasn’t funny.” Xu Ge could not quite tell whether he felt relieved or slightly disappointed. He accepted the card and slipped it into his pocket, then lowered his head to watch Mu Jing open her suitcase.
Mu Jing crouched down on the floor and took out a separated travel bag from the luggage.
“The things you’ll need are inside here.” She looked up, a bit tired, and complained casually. “Hey, I know you’re tall, but could you squat down?”
Xu Ge crouched halfway and took the travel bag from her. It was quite heavy.
“What’s inside?”
“Hmm… disposable underwear, swim trunks, beach shorts, things like that. And toothbrushes and stuff. I’m not used to using the ones provided by hotels, so I prepared a set for you too.”
Mu Jing counted on her fingers for a moment.
“That’s basically it.”
Xu Ge suddenly felt that the travel bag in his hand had become a bit hot. He had indeed thought she might prepare such things, but hearing her say it out loud still felt a bit strange.
Actually, earlier he had hesitated about whether to bring a change of clothes. But later, remembering the way Mu Jing had skillfully threatened him, he stubbornly decided to bring nothing at all.
“Oh right, did you go to the Superpower Testing Center yesterday?” Mu Jing suddenly remembered something. “What’s your ability?”
Xu Ge said nothing. Instead, he raised his hand.
Crackling blue arcs of electricity flickered in his palm.
Lightning?
Mu Jing’s eyes widened slightly. The book had clearly said it was fire…
Before she could react further, the small bolt of lightning disappeared as Xu Ge clenched his fist.
“You look surprised,” Xu Ge stated.
Mu Jing blinked. “Of course I’m surprised. Lightning is considered a very rare ability.”
Could her appearance have influenced the predetermined plot?
With the male protagonist’s ability, he needed to touch someone before he could copy their power. That meant he must first have come into contact with a lightning-type Ability User.
In the original story, the male protagonist’s fire ability had appeared because he had come into contact with a middle school teacher. But now this lightning…
Who had he touched?
Xu Ge watched the shifting emotions in her eyes and, rarely, showed a hint of mocking amusement.
“Heh… do you regret it?”
“Regret?” Mu Jing snapped back to attention and raised her hand to pinch Xu Ge’s cheek.
Xu Ge had not expected her to do that at all. He did not react in time to stop her. After being pinched, even his gaze became blank for a few seconds.
“Hmph. Wait until you’ve finished repaying the money you owe me and the life-saving favor before asking whether I regret it.”
Petty miser! Mu Jing added silently in her heart.
The mountain climb that afternoon tested not only physical strength but also endurance—qualities that both of them actually possessed.
People often said that children from wealthy families were pampered, but it was precisely such families that were most capable of educating children who were well-rounded and excellent in many aspects.
Of course, there were always exceptions.
Mu Jing had only climbed about a quarter of the way before she felt exhausted. Fortunately, a cable car queue was nearby. She informed the rest of the group and then pulled Xu Ge toward the line.
Seeing her pressing a hand against her chest, Xu Ge said, “You can sit down and rest. I’ll wait in line here.”
Mu Jing also wanted to rest, but after looking around, she saw that all the shaded spots were already packed with people. The few places where someone could sit were directly under the sun.
“No. Then no one would hold the umbrella for me.”
Xu Ge: …
Summer vacation was the peak season for tourism. No matter where one went, there were always huge crowds. With the heat and the cramped conditions—plus a few people with poor manners—conflicts could easily break out.
Just as Mu Jing felt she had finally recovered a bit, a small disturbance erupted among the people lining up behind them.
From the noise, it seemed that one family had only the father waiting in line. When the queue was almost at the front, five more family members suddenly squeezed in. The people behind them were unhappy, and an argument broke out.
Mu Jing glanced at the situation and said to Xu Ge, “See? If I had really listened to you earlier, we’d be the ones fighting with the people behind us right now.”
“Is Young Lady Mu afraid?”
“Me? Of course I’m afraid. You can’t even fight.”
Xu Ge looked at her for a moment before saying, “Let’s go. It’s our turn.”
After boarding the cable car, Mu Jing knocked lightly on her own legs. As she moved her arms, a black bracelet on her wrist was revealed.
It was equivalent to an identification card in this world. Every resident of the Federation had one. Besides proving identity information, it also monitored and recorded each person’s physical condition. Once someone awakened an ability, it would immediately detect it.
If a Federation resident failed to register their ability at the Superpower Testing Center within three days, the military would mark them as a dangerous individual. On the fourth day, they would come knocking on the door.
After registration, the identity bracelet would also monitor when an Ability User used their powers and whether there were any abnormal uses of ability.
The country currently imposed various restrictions on Ability Users and had even established specialized organizations to deal with ability-related crimes. However, in many places, incidents of Ability Users injuring others still occurred.
Mu Jing raised her hand and touched her bracelet, suddenly remembering something.
“Oh right, let’s add each other as friends.”
She had to admit that she had forgotten some small details from the original novel—like how the male protagonist was very poor and had still been using an old-fashioned phone during the first dozen chapters.
“Uh… if we can’t add friends, then let’s at least exchange phone numbers.” Mu Jing looked at the old phone with disdain. “You’re going to college soon. You should really replace that phone. Even old phones can do video calls nowadays.”