by Dragon King
The guys who were about to leave all stopped as they saw Xie Yujia.
She stood on her tipping toes and raised her arms trying to get the attention of everyone in the class. However, moving while standing on the dais made her look as if she was striking a pose.
Having a slim and colorful belt that showed off her gorgeous slim waist was what made her casual outfit stand out more.
“She is indeed the Class President and the most popular girl in the class,” Zhou Liren mumbled.
Seeing the crowd had stopped walking and went quiet, Xie Yujia finally gave a sigh of relief and continued, “I have reserved some spots, you can apply for the rest.”
“First, Yu Rong, shot put.”
Second, Cai Junjie, high jump.”
“Third, Chen Han, 400-meter relay race.”
“Fourth, Hao Ren! 1500-meter race!”
Her voice seemed especially loud when Hao Ren was up.
“No way…” Whoever was called by name appeared extremely helpless.
Zhao Jiayi and others looked at Hao Ren, feeling excited about his misfortune.
“Everyone be quiet for a second.” Xie Yujia raised her hands again. “The four I just mentioned are just on the reservation. It is up to the school whether they will be chosen or not. However, we should at least show our positive attitude.”
Receiving no response, she asked again, “There are still two empty spots. Who would like to apply? Most of the events are for men, and we only have a few girls in this class. Can you guys be more involved?”
Although she said that, who would like to show his face in public for the Athletic Games? It was known that there were numerous athletes in the university. In terms of the guys in the class, they were all geeks who were excellent at dealing with computers but had no talent in sports. Who would be willing to embarrass himself in public?
Xie Yujia gritted her teeth when she saw all the guys hesitate. “Fine. Then Zhao Jiayi and Zhou Liren! You two are up for the 100-meter race!”
Zhao Jiayi and Zhou Liren who were just very happy about the other’s misfortune started whining instantly.
“Em, that’s all! Everybody can go have lunch!” Xie Yujia bent down to write the names on a notebook and then announced the dismissal.
Zhou Liren helplessly watched as Xie Yujia walked out of the classroom through the front door. He then suddenly turn around to look at Hao Ren and said, “She seems to have something against our dorm room!”
“How would I know!” Hao Ren left his words and then strode out of the classroom through the back door.
The afternoon classes were the same; boring and insipid. Zhou Liren who sat beside Hao Ren complained endlessly about how Xie Yujia applied for him without his agreement. Would his “illustrious reputation” be swept down to the ground if he was the last one in the race?
“Stop worrying so much, it will never be your turn. There are countless athletes in the university, how could you be chosen?” Hao Ren couldn’t bear it anymore. He stopped writing and glared at him.
“That isn’t for sure. What if no one applies and they make me go?” Zhou Liren asked.
“Then you can throw yourself on the ground, then all the beautiful girls would remember your cute face and you can successfully complete your girlfriend-searching mission,” Hao Ren said.
“It’s always easy to say! Em, what a shame…” Zhou Liren covered his face and tried to put on an act,
Hao Ren didn’t bother to respond. He continued doing his middle school level English test bank. Tonight would be his first time tutoring someone.
Beep beep, beep beep……
The phone Hao Ren put on the desk suddenly vibrated.
He picked up the phone saw a message from Xie Yujia. “The university has decided to not pick the other five people. You will be the one attending the 1500-meter race. I know you are good at running. You can do it.
Hao Ren was stunned.
17 All Dangerous People
He thought about it, put away his phone, and kept working on his middle school English test bank.
They were taking University English courses, but Hao Ren was doing middle school English questions. Due to the small size of this course, Hao Ren was only in the same class with Zhou Liren. Cao Ronghua and Zhao Jiayi weren’t in this class.
The schedule for their sophomore year was always full. Hao Ren packed his bag to go to Zhao Yanzi’s house at five O’clock in the afternoon.
Hao Ren was even more anxious than the day before. He arrived at her house and rang the doorbell.
It was Zhao Hongyu who opened the door again in her apron. Her hair was tied up, and her hands were wet with water dripping down from them. She was obviously working in the kitchen.
“So early?” she let Hao Ren in and smiled.
“Zi hasn’t come back yet?” Hao Ren entered and asked. He was a bit embarrassed about being early. He lacked experience in being a tutor as it was his first time.
“No, her third uncle, her Third Uncle is picking her up because her dad is working late today,” she answered as if Hao Ren was a member of the family. “Take a seat on the couch and watch some TV.”
Hao Ren put the materials he brought on the coffee table and thought to himself for a few seconds. “Why don’t I give you a hand in the kitchen?” he said.
Zhao Hongyu looked at Hao Ren in surprise for a few seconds before she smiled. “Ok.”
Hao Ren rolled up his sleeves and went into the kitchen with her. He felt terrible eating their food while not helping out.
There were all sorts of ingredients and condiments in the kitchen, and they were all neatly placed in order. It seemed like Hao Ren was indeed too early since Zhao Hongyu hadn’t even started cooking yet. She was just about to start preparing for dinner.
Hao Ren could tell from the ingredients what dishes Zhao Hongyu was going to make. He walked over quickly and started rinsing the vegetables and cutting up the meat without Zhao Hongyu’s instructions. He seemed like a chef as he knew what he was doing.
“Ren, you always help out at home, don’t you?” Zhao Hongyu was cutting some meat into strips beside him in a smoother manner.
“Um…not really…sometimes I give my grandma a hand,” Hao Ren said.
“I could tell that you are a sensible kid. If only my Zi had half your sensibility.” Zhao Hongyu sighed.
“She’s still young. I only cared about games when I was her age as well,” Hao Ren answered without even thinking.
“Have your parents always been away?” Zhao Hongyu continued.
Hao Ren answered honestly, “They are both very busy, and I have spent most of my time with my grandma since I was a boy.”
Zhao Hongyu pondered, “Your grandma must be very lonely now that you are in university, right?”
“I usually go see her on the weekends…“Hao Ren sensed Zhao Hongyu’s second intention of the question. He looked at her confusedly.
“Once you and Zi are settled, I can invite your grandma here to live with us,” Zhao Hongyu said after thinking for half a second.
“That’s…maybe a bit too soon,” Hao Ren smiled in embarrassment. “She doesn’t know about Zi yet.”
“She will find out soon. I know about elders’ thoughts better than you, Um…but I’ll leave the opportunity of telling her that to you.”
“Uh…” Hao Ren nodded and continued chopping the potato into thin strips.
“Oh, what is an inspector?” Hao Ren suddenly remembered and asked.
Hao Ren had no idea why he had always felt comfortable with Zhao Hongyu. Maybe it was because the “motherly” figure to him had always been as virtuous as she was.
“Oh, you met an inspector?” Zhao Hongyu was a bit surprised.
“A professor in my university. Her name is Su Han,” Hao Ren said.
“It’s her…” Zhao Hongyu became deep in thought.
“You know her?” Hao Ren asked cautiously.
“They are not a group of people who are easy to g
et along with. But Su Han had a relationship with us East Ocean, so she shouldn’t cause you too much problem,” Zhao Hongyu said.
“Sounds like there are more than just one inspector? And it sounds like even she respects them,” Hao Ren thought as more confusion arose in his head.
Zhao Hongyu continued when she saw the confused look on Hao Ren’s face, “The so-called inspectors are a group of specially authorized figures of the Dragon Clan who are in charge of supervising Dragon Clan’s internal events. They have the right to interfere with anything that’s against the rules such as bribing and murdering. They have the right to handle it before reporting them to the higher-ups as long as they have evidence of crimes.
“Their power is as big as the imperial guards.” Hao Ren thought. (Imperial guards were a bunch of people who only listened to the emperors of Ming Dynasty. They were like special polices who had more power than most people.)
“Don’t underestimate them. Many of them are above the Heavenly Level. Elder Lu is already a master of the East Ocean Dragon Region. But two Elder Lu wouldn’t even be able to defeat Su Han,” Hao Hongyu went on.
Hao Ren didn’t have a definite concept of this so-called power. Neither did he know what the fights would be like. But Su Han’s power would probably be much stronger than he could ever imagine.
“How did she know about my identity?” Hao Ren continued as he defined Su Han as a dangerous person he should never get near.
“The fact is we all have our own auras. You are just too low-leveled to sense your own, not to mention others’. Su Han is an extraordinary inspector of the dragon clan. She can certainly see through you,” Zhao Hongyu explained patiently.
“Can’t I hide my aura?” Hao Ren asked immediately.
“You can. But if the person is much stronger than you, they can still see it,” Zhao Hongyu said as if she knew exactly what was on Hao Ren’s mind. She continued, “But don’t worry. We are not allowed to kill each other within the Dragon Clan. Su Han won’t hurt you as long as she recognizes your legal identity. She would even protect you.”
“Legal identity…am I an illegal character in Su Han’s eyes?” Hao Ren thought to himself.
“Plus we East Ocean Dragon Clan won’t let you get hurt easily!” Zhao Hongyu suddenly straightened her back and added confidently.
Hao Ren looked at Zhao Hongyu as her words touched him. She sure considered him as her son-in-law. If it weren’t for that, why would she let him help her in the kitchen and stand up for him?
East Ocean Dragon Clan…sounds like it’s really powerful. Su Han should have some respect for them despite her special identity.
“Is Zi’s dad of high status in the Dragon Clan?” Hao Ren asked the question that had always been bothering him. He thought it was a good opportunity to ask.
“He’s alright. He’s the king of the East Ocean. He is the leader of East Ocean which occupies 3000 squared kilometers,” Zhao Hongyu said lightly.
18 I Disagree!!
Click click click… When Hao Ren was talking to Zhao Hongyu, a clicking noise appeared as if someone was turning the door handle.
“Zi and her Third Uncle are back. Why don’t you go talk to them and I will handle this myself?” Zhao Hongyu smiled gently and said softly to Hao Ren.
Hao Ren replied with a gentle smile, “Sure.”
He walked out the kitchen and saw Zi who was wearing the same light-blue school uniform come in with a man with bushy eyebrows and big eyes.
“Hi, uncle,” Hao Ren hesitated for a moment and said to the man.
“Huh!” the man not only did not reply to Hao Ren but his face was also filled with disdain.
Zhao Yanzi didn’t try to smooth things out either. She threw her backpack onto the sofa, ran to the kitchen, and started talking to her mom.
Hao Ren was a little bummed out after he hit a snag. However, this man was older than him and was the uncle of Zhao Yanzi. Therefore, Hao Ren held back his anger and sat on the sofa as he started going over the stuff he was going to teach Zhao Yanzi.
“You are Hao Ren?” after he saw Hao Ren minding his own business and ignored him, the man with bushy eyebrows and big eyes finally asked.
Hao Ren wanted to ignore him at first. However, Hao Ren thought maybe this man didn’t hear his greeting in the first place.
He simply replied, “Yes.”
This Third Uncle didn’t say anything further and started to observe Hao Ren up and down with his eyes.
Hao Ren didn’t think much at first. However, he then realized that this Third Uncle was observing his cultivation progress; that gave him chills down his back.
“Useless. Swallowed Zi’s Internal Core and had this much time to cultivate, yet no changes to the body,” the man said after a few seconds of observation.
His words were harsh. Even though Hao Ren had a soft personality, he couldn’t hold back his anger.
While Hao Ren and the man were staring at each other aggressively, Zhao Yanzi came out of the kitchen and said, “Uncle, just ignore him. Mom asked me to ask you, what do you want for dinner?”
“Haha, anything will be fine. I am not picky,” the man with bushy eyebrows and big eyes suddenly turned soft like a little sheep as he heard Zhao Yanzi’s question.
“Okay…” Zhao Yanzi said as she turned back to the kitchen, “Mom! Uncle said anything will be fine, cook whatever you want!”
This Third Uncle’s eyes were filled with joy as he looked at Zhao Yanzi. It was obvious that he loved his niece very much.
Zhao Yanzi then ran happily to her Third Uncle and said, “Uncle, remember what you promised me in the car?”
“Alright, alright. How could uncle forget?” The man took out a wallet from his pocket and handed ten one-hundred-dollar bills to Zhao Yanzi’s. “Don’t let your father know about this!”
Zhao Yanzi was beaming with joy as she stuck out her tongue and put the money in her little pink wallet. She then hugged her uncle around his neck and said, “Third Uncle is the best!”
“You crazy little girl!” Her uncle rubbed her head with joy, and his face was filled with love.
Both the adult and the little girl ignored Hao Ren who was sitting on the couch as if he was transparent.
Hao Ren knew that he rubbed this Third Uncle the wrong way and Zhao Yanzi was obviously treating him coldly intentionally to irritate him.
Hao Ren knew that she was narrow-minded. Since the Third Uncle of hers loved Zhao Yanzi so much, he wasn’t going to give Hao Ren a good time when Zi disliked Hao Ren so much.
Hao Ren continued to look down at the study materials and ignore the two of them.
The awkwardness was finally broken when Zhao Hongyu came out of the kitchen with freshly cooked food.
“Zi! You bothering your uncle again?” Zhao Hongyu said reproachfully to Zhao Yanzi.
Zhao Yanzi was giggling and finally stopped playing the childish rock-paper-scissors with her Third Uncle.
“Come have dinner with us,” Zhao Hongyu said politely to Hao Ren.
Because of the attitudes of Zhao Yanzi and her uncle, Hao Ren didn’t really want to have dinner with them. However, Zhao Hongyu treated him well and he didn’t want to let her down. Thus, he walked to the table with a straight face.
The four of them got into their seats in order. Zhao Yanzi sat across from Hao Ren, her Third Uncle and Zhao Hongyu sat beside Hao Ren.
“This is Zi’s uncle, Zhao Kuo. You can call him Third Uncle just like Zi does. Like Elder Lu, he is one of the Elders of East Ocean. Zi can explain the details to you later on,” Zhao Hongyu introduced the man to Hao Ren after she sat down.
“Third Uncle,” considering Zhao Hongyu, Hao Ren greeted Zhao Kuo reluctantly.
“Hm,” Zhao Kuo replied in neither a hostile nor friendly way.
Zhao Hongyu noticed that the vibe wasn’t quite harmonious, so she said with a gentle smile, “Alright, let’s eat.” She handed Hao Ren a pair of chopsticks as she talked; she looked seemingly attentive to Hao R
en.
Zhao Hongyu was as gentle as water, while Zhao Kuo was unable to calm himself. “Sister-in-law, what are you guys thinking? How could an ordinary guy be worthy of a nice girl like Zi?”
“Hao Ren is a really good kid. I like him. Are you satisfied with this reason?” Zhao Hongyu looked at him and said gently.
“This…” Zhao Kuo was speechless as if an egg was stuck down his throat.
It was at this moment Hao Ren realized that Zhao Hongyu wasn’t as soft as she seemed. She had this persona where she never repeated herself. She looked like she was even more impressive than Zhao Guang.
“Others might not know, but I do. If he returns the Internal Core to Zi, Zi will not suffer any harm,” after a few seconds, Zhao Kuo finally said.
“But Hao Ren will suffer great harm,” Zhao Hongyu replied.
“He is just an ordinary human. Why should we care…”
“Enough!” Zhao Hongyu suddenly toughened up, “Your brother isn’t here, and now you dare to argue with me? This decision was agreed upon by the Elders Council. Say no more!”
The fight over Hao Ren had put him in an awkward situation. However, he could feel that Zhao Hongyu was defending him.
“But…” Zhao Kuo was not convinced, he wanted to keep on arguing.
“About Zi’s problem… we have our own judgments. She has to be responsible for what she did. I know you love Zi, but don’t spoil her! You have to stop cleaning up after her every time she causes trouble!”
Zhao Hongyu words had become more firm, and Zhao Kuo finally stopped speaking. However, his face was still filled with disdain. Zhao Yanzi’s face kept turning red and pale back and forth, yet she remained silent as she wouldn’t dare to speak up.
“It’s time for you to change your easily irritated temper. So violent. I would like to see how you are going to get through this year’s Tribulation,” Zhao Hongyu’s lowered her tone and said.
“Anyways, I still disagree with the decision of Zi marrying a guy like this,” Zhao Kuo mumbled quietly.
After a long sigh, Zhao Hongyu didn’t want to argue further. She looked at Hao Ren and said nicely, “Alright, let’s eat.”