Chapter 59#
Wandering Photograph 05#
Tang Beihe stared blankly for a long moment, instinctively stubborn: “This can’t be your ability, can it?”
Chu Chenli pointed to the ability monitor hidden in a corner of the alley: “Do you know what that is?”
Tang Beihe struggled to lift his head and glance at it, then silently closed his mouth and obediently lay back down.
The ability monitor—before installation, the entire district had been looping public service announcements, reminding newly awakened ability users not to harbor any Take a chance , to report their information in time, to avoid making a big mistake they’d regret later.
So close, and yet he hadn’t seen the monitor flicker even once.
Tang Beihe fumbled at his chest, pulled out the stone, and held it out to Chu Chenli.
This time, he finally witnessed with his own eyes Chu Chenli jumping down from the wall, nimble like a feline. No matter how intently he listened, he couldn’t hear the slightest extra sound.
Chu Chenli took the stone, casually stuffed it into his pocket, then extended a hand toward Tang Beihe.
“I’m not really good at teaching others, but I’ve observed many times. I’ll try to learn from other people’s experiences and hold myself back a little.”
Tang Beihe inexplicably felt a chill run down his spine, but at this moment, he still hadn’t realized what this subtle premonition meant.
He hesitated for a moment, then finally placed his hand onto Chu Chenli’s palm.
Chu Chenli pulled him up in one motion.
“…What do you need me to do?” Tang Beihe didn’t know where to start.
If this was about teaching him something, then that would practically make him a master… right?
“My name is Chu Chenli.” Chu Chenli wrote his name on Tang Beihe’s palm. “As for what I need you to do, the most important thing is to live well.”
Tang Beihe felt a ticklish sensation in his palm.
This time, Chu Chenli didn’t exert much force, but Tang Beihe didn’t withdraw his hand either.
He stared fixedly at the person in front of him for a long moment, and when the last stroke of the character fell, he slowly nodded and said, “Okay.”
…
The next morning after returning.
The sky was just beginning to lighten, but the morning exercise in the S District had already ended.
Xiao Bai was trailing far behind the main group. As soon as he stepped out of the training ground, he bent over with his hands on his knees, gasping for breath. If there weren’t so many people around, he would have preferred to just lie flat on the ground and play dead.
Ning Zheng came around from the front, handed him a bottle of water, and asked with some concern, “You okay?”
Xiao Bai waved his hand, unclear whether it meant good or bad.
After gulping down half the bottle, he seemed to come back to life, breathing heavily and saying to Ning Zheng, “Thanks, thanks.”
As for whether he was okay—let’s just say he was barely alive.
Ning Zheng gently patted his back to help him catch his breath and offered a few words of comfort: “At least you kept up with today’s training.”
Xiao Bai wiped the torrent of sweat from his forehead and forced a bitter smile. “Yeah, being last is still better than being that delicate little crybaby who passes out halfway through.”
He couldn’t even compare to the female doctor he worked with in the consultation room, who looked so relaxed.
That dealt a heavy blow to Xiao Bai’s self-esteem.
Although he later found out that the female doctor was a former military professional who had retired from the front lines due to injury, that knowledge didn’t make him feel much better. He could only grit his teeth and persevere through the next unified training session.
Maybe he’d get used to it after a while.
Ning Zheng patted his shoulder again, wanting to console him.
Actually, Xiao Bai’s performance was already decent—for someone who had never undergone systematic training and had no natural athletic talent.
The reason others could so easily keep up with the morning exercise intensity was largely because they had always been active on the front lines. Even the desk workers were trained to the brink of death on a regular basis; their physical fitness alone was far beyond what Xiao Bai, a newcomer, could match.
Once the new ability users transferred from other districts to the S District finished all the review procedures and joined the morning training, Xiao Bai probably wouldn’t be the only one falling behind anymore.
But seeing that Xiao Bai wasn’t completely crushed, Ning Zheng hesitated and then swallowed back his words of comfort.
Turning grief and anger into motivation for training wasn’t a bad thing either.
Ning Zheng accompanied Xiao Bai as they slowly walked back to the dormitory building. Their dorms happened to be on consecutive floors, so they occasionally met along the way and gradually formed a habit of walking together.
Xiao Bai was the last to leave and walked slowly, so by the time they returned to the dormitory area, the crowd had mostly dispersed.
In the empty building, the person standing on the semi-open balcony became especially conspicuous.
But Xiao Bai, who habitually walked with his head down, only looked up after hearing a voice from above.
Chu Chenli was leaning against the railing on the third-and-a-half floor balcony and waved at him.
Xiao Bai was momentarily stunned, then his face lit up with surprise: “Ah Li?”
Chu Chenli made a gesture, indicating for him to wait downstairs.
Xiao Bai obediently nodded, focused on looking up, and didn’t notice the flash of fright and faint awe on Ning Zheng’s face beside him.
Just now, it wasn’t just Xiao Bai; even Ning Zheng hadn’t noticed that someone was standing upstairs, watching them the whole time.
Even now, so close, he couldn’t detect any obvious presence.
If it were an enemy…
Ning Zheng instinctively touched his neck and shuddered, not daring to think further.
In that short moment, Chu Chenli quickly came downstairs, beckoned to Xiao Bai, and he obediently followed.
Beside the dormitory building was a small garden with dense vegetation, seldom visited—an excellent spot for a private conversation.
Ning Zheng hesitated for a moment. Although Chu Chenli didn’t object or warn him not to follow, he still didn’t dare to casually tail them and just stood there waiting.
After a while, as Xiao Bai’s discussion hadn’t ended yet, Ning Zheng’s cousin Zhou Yufeng came down from upstairs.
Seeing Ning Zheng standing dumbly at the dormitory entrance, Zhou Yufeng asked curiously, “What are you spacing out for?”
Ning Zheng replied, “Waiting for someone.”
Zhou Yufeng asked, “For who?”
Ning Zheng turned to look at the small garden.
Xiao Bai had just come out with a grim face, and Chu Chenli, following behind him, was smiling cheerfully. He patted Xiao Bai on the shoulder and said, “I’ll come find you again tomorrow morning.”
As soon as the words fell, Xiao Bai’s face dropped even further.
Chu Chenli turned to see Ning Zheng and Zhou Yufeng. He seemed to recognize them, gave a slight nod, said “Hard work,” then waved at Xiao Bai and turned to leave.
After his figure disappeared at the end of the road, Ning Zheng and Zhou Yufeng shifted their attention back to Xiao Bai.
“What happened?” Ning Zheng asked.
“Brother Li heard about what happened to me yesterday.” Xiao Bai scratched his cheek with his fingertip and couldn’t help sighing.
Actually, he wanted to cover his face even more.
On the way back yesterday, the newly awakened ability user had tried to escape—unsuccessfully, of course. But when Xiao Bai tried to help his colleague, not only did he fail to assist, he was also slapped hard—by the struggling ability user, naturally.
Xiao Bai was stunned by the slap and, in a moment of carelessness, was pushed into a wall, leaving a few scrapes on his arm.
It was a minor injury, fully recovered after a night’s sleep, but remembering it only brought shame.
Xiao Bai had no doubt that this incident had been passed around as a joke among his colleagues.
Chu Chenli’s special visit to “check on him” was confirmation of that.
But perhaps out of consideration that Xiao Bai had been personally recruited by high-level leadership and was still a relative, no one openly mocked him. Quite a few people offered comfort instead. Chu Chenli told him not to take it to heart—everyone goes through the rookie stage.
“So he just came to comfort you?” Ning Zheng noticed his troubled expression.
“…And for special training.” Xiao Bai said gloomily.
The senior who had brought him in had mentioned special training before—three morning sessions a week plus specialized training for awakened abilities. This was supposed to be arranged by Shen Xuanyi, who had brought him in, but it hadn’t started yet, probably to let him adapt first.
After all, just the basic morning exercises were already killing him.
But Chu Chenli, perhaps inspired by yesterday’s incident, had proactively applied to Shen Xuanyi to take on this task.
“A one-on-one training session for you alone?” Zhou Yufeng couldn’t help interjecting.
“It seems there’s another person he’s bringing along, but Brother Li said we probably won’t run into each other.” Xiao Bai answered absently.
“Aren’t you happy?” Ning Zheng asked him.
“It’s not that.” Xiao Bai forced a smile. “I’m just a little scared…”
“Scared of what? He seems to have a pretty good temper.” At least he was quite gentle with Xiao Bai.
Ning Zheng only muttered the second half to himself.
The two had clearly known each other for a long time. Although Ning Zheng was a bit envious that Xiao Bai could so easily latch onto such a strong ally, he knew it wasn’t his place to comment.
Zhou Yufeng was more straightforward—he was even a little jealous: “Such a good opportunity falls into your lap, and you’re being picky? I’d be grateful if it were me.”
As he spoke, he couldn’t help reaching out and patting Xiao Bai a few times.
Xiao Bai stumbled twice before steadying himself. By now, he was somewhat used to Zhou Yufeng’s blunt personality, so he just chuckled dryly: “I’m just afraid of disappointing him…”
Also afraid that Ah Li might not know his own strength and accidentally send him to the afterlife.
Of course, that was just his overactive imagination, a self-inflicted scare. Rationally, it was merely an excessive reverence for overwhelming power.
Zhou Yufeng muttered a few more words and then dropped it.
His emotions were bluntly expressed but faded quickly; after complaining a bit, he put it aside. So even though Xiao Bai felt a bit overwhelmed, he couldn’t bring himself to dislike him.
Zhou Yufeng had come down after showering, ready to go eat. When he saw his cousin and Xiao Bai, he casually asked if they wanted to join him at the cafeteria.
Xiao Bai shook his head. Thinking about the bleak days ahead, he already felt a weight in his stomach.
“I’m going back to rest first. I have duty in the afternoon, and training starts tomorrow morning…”
Xiao Bai couldn’t help covering his stomach with his hand, then dragged his heavy steps slowly toward his room.
His back looked so tragic that even Ning Zheng felt a pang of sympathy for him.
It should be fine… right?
…
Whether Xiao Bai would be fine remained to be seen.
On the other side, the other teammates had just learned that Chu Chenli had taken over Xiao Bai’s training, and they were all quite surprised.
He Ziyue, who had almost buried her head in her food tray, immediately snapped awake at the news.
“Didn’t the boss say we don’t need to worry about training?” He Ziyue waved her hand vaguely over the tray. Hua Jin, sitting next to her, couldn’t take it anymore and pressed her hand firmly onto the tray.
He Ziyue finally located the bun, picked it up, and stuffed it into her mouth, mumbling, “Or is it because you’ve been disappointing the boss too much lately that he’s finally made up his mind to train a new partner for Ah Li?”
Sitting across from them, Mu Yanshen’s brow twitched. He briefly recounted the joke Xiao Bai had made yesterday.
He Ziyue knew Xiao Bai wasn’t strong in combat—otherwise, he wouldn’t have needed to seek Ah Li’s protection. Her words were just her usual way of needling Mu Yanshen, but after hearing the joke, she fell silent for a moment as well.
“That weak?” It was the most euphemistic term she could come up with. “Isn’t that about the same as an ordinary person in the city? Did Ah Li suddenly get blessed by some holy light or something?”
Mu Yanshen: “Exactly because he’s like an ordinary person.”
He Ziyue: “What do you mean?”
Hua Jin, who had been listening, caught on first: “It’s for that little apprentice he just took on.”
“Apprentice?” He Ziyue thought hard for a long moment, finally latching onto a keyword from a conversation the night before. “I thought he was just humoring the kid.”
Chu Chenli had told Shen Xuanyi about the illegal trade of awakening stones in the district right after he got back.
They had all been present at the time, focused on the stone.
Shen Xuanyi said he would find someone to investigate, and everyone else returned to their routine work. Only Chu Chenli, bright and early this morning, had eagerly gone to find Xiao Bai.
Hua Jin said, “Ah Li has always kept his word.”
He Ziyue thought it over, stuffed the last bite of bun into her mouth, and nodded repeatedly. “True. It’s not like Little Mu—”
Mu Yanshen grabbed the last steamed bun from his tray and shoved it into her mouth. “Focus on eating.”
He Ziyue stared at him with the whites of her eyes. After he stood up, she quickly swallowed the bun, patting her chest while pretending to be relaxed: “We don’t really care anyway. I actually quite like that kid. But I wonder if someone’s going to get jealous.”
Mu Yanshen raised an eyebrow. “Do I look like such a petty person?”
He Ziyue: “Aren’t you?”
Mu Yanshen: “…”
He decided not to argue with someone who clearly thrived on chaos, picked up his tray, and turned to leave—though his steps were noticeably faster.
He Ziyue shook her head and sighed. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. The ugly jealousy of men.”
Hua Jin sighed helplessly. “Do you really have to provoke him like that?”
He Ziyue retorted, “Don’t you think he’s cuter like this than his old mysterious self?”
Hua Jin couldn’t argue.
“Having a weakness makes him seem more human,” He Ziyue continued. “Besides, I’m just giving him a friendly reminder.”
“A reminder of what?”
“Don’t wait until the person you like is taken away to regret it.” He Ziyue paused, stroking her chin thoughtfully. “Though I am kind of curious what he’d look like crying…”