After fierce competition, only a few remained, less than 30 people, and Xiang Wan was among them. Only now did Xiang Wan realize how difficult competitive sports were: not only was the format brutal and the time extremely tight, but the mental and physical exertion was also immense. Often, as soon as one round ended, with less than ten minutes of rest, the next round would begin. If she hadn't consistently trained every day, she probably wouldn't have lasted until the end.
She successfully qualified for the league and received a bonus, enough for her family to travel to the capital for a few days.
For the remaining contestants, the organizers held a special celebration, offering words of encouragement. She was even toasted remotely by someone supposedly an important figure in the company. Xiang Wan raised her glass in acknowledgment, downed her drink in one gulp, and then bid farewell to the organizers before returning to her hotel.
After a night's rest, Xiang Wan took her parents to visit a museum. In this largest museum in the country, Xiang Wan saw an important figure from the game company again. She didn't intend to greet him, but the man had already seen her and was walking towards her. Xiang Wan had no choice but to bite the bullet and exchange pleasantries with him.
"Mr. Qiu, what a coincidence?"
The other person nodded slightly, smiled at Xiang Wan, and introduced, "This museum has a long history and profound cultural heritage, and is well worth a visit. No wonder..."
"No wonder what?"
"There shouldn't be a celebration; it would be more meaningful to give out museum tickets."
"You're joking."
"These two must be your uncle and aunt, right?"
"Hello, hello, this is Xiang Wan. Thank you so much for taking care of us."
Xiang's mother kept winking at Xiang Wan, pulling her arm and pushing Xiang's father behind her. She then struck up a conversation with the man in front of her, acting as if they were old friends. Xiang Wan was speechless. They had only met once; when did she need his care? Besides, she hadn't said anything about their relationship, had she?
"Uncle, Aunt, hello, my name is Qiu Rui. I'm colleagues with Xiang Wan, and we get along very well. I'll probably need her help a lot in the future, so would you mind if I accompanied you on your tour?"
“No problem, no problem,” Xiang’s mother pinched Xiang Wan, stopping her from saying anything. “Mr. Qiu is clearly a cultured man. He must know a lot about the collection. Could you tell us about it?”
Qiu Rui nodded politely and began to introduce the product as they walked.
Xiang Wan was incredibly embarrassed. Her mother seemed to be treating the man like a potential son-in-law, while her father didn't object. She was the only one following behind, her face burning. Seeing her parents chatting so happily with the man, she didn't want to interrupt, so she tried to minimize her presence. But her mother kept bringing her up in every other sentence—how much did she disapprove of her? Did she think any man would become her son-in-law?
When they got to noon, Qiu Rui offered to treat Xiang Wan's family to lunch again. This time, Xiang Wan refused no matter what, pulling her mother aside to stop her from speaking and politely declining the offer.
Qiu Rui smiled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, and said to his mother, "Wan'er, you're so inconsiderate. Mr. Qiu has been showing us around all morning; it's our turn to treat you. This child, staying at home all the time, is going to make her stupid!"
Xiang Wan was speechless. How could anyone insult their daughter like that?
"Haha, Auntie is so funny. I know a nice restaurant nearby, less than a five-minute walk away, and the prices are reasonable. Why don't we go there?"
"good!"
Xiang's mother readily agreed, so Xiang Wan had no choice but to go along.
The food at the restaurant was good, but a restaurant near a museum, especially in the capital, couldn't be cheap. Xiang Wan checked her bank cards; one of them still had some money. She decided to pay the bill as soon as she finished eating.
"Mr. Qiu, I wonder if you are married?"
"Auntie, you're too kind. Just call me Qiu Rui, or Xiao Qiu."
Xiang's mother was more than happy to hear Qiu Rui say that. During their casual conversation, she became more and more satisfied with Qiu Rui. In just a few words, she had revealed all of her family's secrets. Now that she was asking about Qiu Rui, Xiang Wan was so embarrassed that she wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
"Mom, that's their privacy!" Xiang Wan secretly tugged at her mother's sleeve and whispered a reminder.
To everyone's surprise, Qiu Rui didn't mind at all, and instead began to introduce his family situation.
“I’m not much older than your Xiangwan, and I’m not in a hurry to get married since I don’t have a suitable partner.”
Xiang's mother's eyes lit up upon hearing this, but before she could ask an even more embarrassing question, Xiang Wan interrupted their conversation.
"Um, Mr. Qiu, I have a question I'd like to ask you. Could you come out for a moment?"
Qiu Rui nodded knowingly, apologized to Xiang's parents, and followed Xiang Wan out of the private room to the stairwell.
"Mr. Qiu, I apologize to you on behalf of my parents."
"What are you apologizing for?"
"After all, this is only the second time we've met, so some of the questions my mom asked might not be appropriate."
"Hmm?" Qiu Rui frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "Auntie is very hospitable, I understand!"
"But you can't ask those kinds of questions, it'll make it seem like a blind date..."
"You mind?"
Xiang Wan was completely bewildered, not knowing what the other person meant by those words.
"If you don't mind, how about we become friends?"
Qiu Rui asked politely, but Xiang Wan didn't know what to say.
"I……"
"Uncle and Aunt, this is your first time here, and it seems it's your first time too. I'll be your friend and show you around. I promise you'll have a great time. Do you agree?"
Qiu Rui stared intently at Xiang Wan, his earnestness and sincerity completely absorbed by her, while Xiang Wan dutifully raised her guard.
"In total, we've met twice. At the celebration and today. I don't consider myself particularly good-looking or talented, and I have absolutely no connection with you. Why are you targeting me and trying to please my parents?"
Qiu Rui raised an eyebrow, looked Xiang Wan up and down, nodded, and agreed, "I agree, you are indeed not outstanding."
Xiang Wan was speechless. This was such an insult. She was about to retort when she was so shocked by what the other person said next that her jaw almost dropped.
"But paying back debts is a matter of course!"
Is this guy crazy? When did she owe him money? Could it be that her parents secretly borrowed money from him? After thinking about it carefully, she felt it was impossible. She believed that her parents were not that kind of people, and they had only met recently.
As Xiang Wan was pondering this, she heard Qiu Rui continue, "Time is money! Think about how much you owe me, and how you plan to pay it back?"
Whew! That scared her to death; she thought she really owed him money.
"Thank you for spending the morning with my parents. How do you plan to repay me?"
Qiu Rui's lips curled up as he leaned down and whispered in Xiang Wan's ear, "I'm so bored all by myself. From now until you go back, spend every day with me sightseeing, and consider it paying off a debt."
Xiang Wan frowned. How could this person be so shameless? He had taken up her whole morning, but he wanted her family to spend several days to repay him. Was he even being reasonable?
"Otherwise, I'll tell your aunt that you seduced me and then abandoned me!"
Xiang Wan was practically grinding her teeth to powder; she truly regretted not turning away the moment she first saw him. Looking at Qiu Rui's confident and smug expression, Xiang Wan was furious. Didn't he say he'd keep her company? Fine, let's see what tricks he has up his sleeve!
"good!"
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