Chapter 15 Xue Wan

"Son, have you eaten yet?"

The tender voice of his mother, Nan Jiayu, came through the phone speaker.

Xue Jing smiled, switched the phone to speaker mode, and placed it in the basket next to the stove. While busy cooking, he replied, "Not yet, what's up? Why are you calling all of a sudden?"

Although his parents were often away on business trips in this life, their love for the two children at home was no less than any other parents', and they spent all the money they earned on their children.

"I can call even if there's nothing up, can't I? Can't I even listen to my own son's voice?"

Xue's mother, Nan Jiayu, feigned anger.

"You're right, my fault," Xue Jing immediately conceded.

Nan Jiayu then inquired kindly about Xue Jing's recent situation, and the two of them chatted about home matters for quite a while.

"Your dad and I will probably come back around New Year's Day, and we'll bring you some gifts."

"Also, be more careful on your way to and from school lately, don't just wander about. It's best to stay home. I just saw in the news that there might be a gang of smugglers from the Intersecting Boundaries operating in Qingcheng. Those people are desperate criminals. If you notice anything suspicious outside, you must not go near."

Nan Jiayu instructed seriously.

Xue Jing immediately realized that this was the real reason she had called.

He reassured her, "Don't worry, Mom, I know what I'm doing. If anything happens, I can run faster than a dog."

"That's good to hear."

Nan Jiayu sounded very pleased and then suddenly seemed to remember something. She asked, "By the way, have you talked to your sister lately?"

Xue Jing: "It's been about half a month since I last called her. We did chat on WeChat a few days ago, why?"

Nan Jiayu was silent for a moment before saying, "Yesterday afternoon, Wanwan suddenly called and said she missed your dad and me."

"Isn't that normal?" Xue Jing asked, puzzled.

"It is normal, but I just feel something isn't quite right. That child is just like your father, seems lively on the surface but likes to keep things to herself and not let others know when there's something wrong."

"It may be a mother's instinct, but I feel a bit uneasy. Son, when you have time, ask her about it. Wanwan and you have always been close since you were kids and you're of the same generation. If there's something wrong, she might just tell you."

After thinking it over, Xue Jing promised, "Alright, don't worry, Mom, I'll ask her."

…

After finishing the call with Nan Jiayu, Xue Jing appeared thoughtful.

His sister, Xue Wan, was a very cheerful and beautiful person, always someone people noticed in school. She regularly topped the lists for school beauty, and her grades were always excellent. Although she didn't get into an Inner Ring university, she got into a top Outer Ring university, ranked even higher than Qingcheng University, and she had always been someone people could count on.

But growing up with her, Xue Jing knew she wasn't as perfect as she appeared. She wouldn't get up unless forced, liked to cheat during games, had a terrible temper when losing bets, and never admitted defeat. Even claiming liars are like dogs, she could easily bark "Woof, woof, woof" without any pressure. She would also trick her female classmates into treating her by introducing them to her 'handsome brother' under his name...

But the biggest flaw was just as their mother had said: she liked to keep things to herself.

Xue Jing felt a bit worried. After thinking for a while, he picked up his phone, dialed a number, but his finger lingered on the call button and didn't press it. Instead, he exited the dialing screen and put away his phone.

"Better call her at night."

He decided to call his sister Xue Wan late at night, when people are more inclined to confide.

After putting away his phone, he continued to work in the kitchen, cooked a pot of rice, and made three dishes, his cooking skills improving by more than 50 points.

After having lunch with Miao Miao, Xue Jing picked up the cat, who had sprawled out on the floor from being too full, and walked into his room to sit down in the computer chair, pressing the power button.

With one hand on the belly of the reluctant Miao Miao and the other on the mouse, Xue Jing planned to look up information about "Power."

He opened the browser and entered a commonly used search engine website. Just as he was about to type, his gaze shifted.

Xue Jing's computer keyboard was black, which hid dirt well. Usually, dust and stains were hard to see.

However, with his Aiming skills activated, his vision was exceptionally sharp, so he could see things that most people couldn't.

He distinctly saw black and white hairs stuck in the crevices of the keyboard.

"Is this... cat hair?"

Xue Jing unnoticeably shifted his gaze toward the Miao Miao in his arms.

This little thing, did it touch my computer?

After a moment of thought, Xue Jing made no fuss about it and pretended he hadn't noticed, beginning to search for information on Power.

Skipping many useless ads and incorrect information, it took him about fifteen minutes before he finally found some useful content on a question-and-answer platform that was somewhat professional, similar to Zhihu.

He was engrossed in reading, and the Miao Miao in his arms also sat up on his lap, looking at the webpage.

'Hmm? Looking for martial arts information? Is he planning to practice martial arts?' Miao Miao thought while watching.

'These half-baked articles, all pretense without understanding, can only fool laymen. "Reaching high levels can develop supernatural abilities" — can that really be trained? Without consuming banned drugs or implanting alien implants, even a "Limit Breaker" who has crossed the Dragon Gate is just a mortal of flesh and blood. There are no human miracles in this world, only ruthless determination and technology...'

Miao Miao lifted its head and looked at Xue Jing's gently curved chin.

'If he's really interested in martial arts... once I leave, perhaps I could introduce him to that person, as payment for the rent I owe for staying here...'

Thinking, Miao Miao yawned.

After eating, drowsiness followed persistently.

It curled up on Xue Jing's thigh, the comforting scent of the young man lingering no its nose, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

"..."

Noticing that Miao Miao's breathing was calm and prolonged, signifying that it was completely asleep, Xue Jing quietly exited the website.

He opened the search engine and typed in "screen recording software that can be hidden," selected one after a moment, and successfully downloaded a screen recording application that met the requirements.

He set it to "enable autostart" and "automatic recording," then restarted the computer. After checking the results and finding no issues, he then shut down the computer.

Having completed these tasks, Xue Jing gently picked up Miao Miao, placed it on his bed, and then tiptoed out of the room.

...

In the 'gym,' Xue Jing looked at the barbell on the bench press rack in front of him.

It was a standard barbell weighing twenty kilograms, with two twenty-kilogram plates hanging on each side, adding up to exactly one hundred kilograms.

This was his regular weight for bench press workouts, though he could actually add about twenty more kilograms if he pushed his limits.

Xue Jing thought for a moment, picked up two fifteen-kilogram plates from the yoga mat covered with barbell plates on the floor, attached them to the rod, then picked up two five-kilogram plates and put them on as well.

In this way, the weight of the barbell reached one hundred forty kilograms.

Xue Jing lay down on the bench press rack, grabbed the barbell with both hands, took a deep breath, lifted the barbell from the hooks down to his chest, and then exerted force. His muscles instantly tensed up as he lifted the barbell!

The one hundred forty kilograms barbell was slowly raised with scarcely a tremble in the process, very stable, evidently leaving some strength to spare.

After successfully lifting it, Xue Jing did not stop but repeatedly performed bench presses until he completed a set of nine, then placed the barbell back on the hooks.

He breathed slightly heavily, feeling refreshed.

"After activating 'fighting,' my physical fitness has improved considerably, and with the additional 100 plus Fitness Experience Points gained from fighting, my limit on the bench press increased by about twenty to thirty kilograms."

Though this increase might not seem like much, it must be noted that there is a diminishing marginal effect in physical training.

The closer one gets to the human limit, the harder it is to increase strength.

With dedicated training, a person could move from bench pressing sixty kilograms to one hundred twenty kilograms in just two or three years, but to reach one hundred forty kilograms is no longer a matter of effort; even ten or eight years or even a lifetime might not suffice.

Therefore, the twenty to thirty kilograms increase that Xue Jing achieved in his bench press weight is highly significant.

Having tested the bench press, Xue Jing walked to the standing punching bag in the middle of the room, took a deep breath, focused his gaze, and threw a punch!

"Bang!"

A loud explosion sounded as Xue Jing's fist heavily imprinted on the punching bag, creating ripples on its leather surface, and it almost seemed as if the force of the punch was spreading outward, the heavyweight iron base filled with sand, weighing over 150 kilograms, suddenly tilted dramatically to the side.

Xue Jing stretched out a hand to steady the punching bag, nodded, and muttered to himself, "Not bad."

...