Chapter 342: In a Bad Mood

"I don’t think it’s that serious." Mo Wanrong rubbed her cold hands together and quickly boarded the modified military vehicle parked on the roadside.

Feng Jiamin jumped into the vehicle after her, took off her hat, and told the driver to turn on the heat.

"How is it not that serious? What do those dense men know? How could they understand someone’s ulterior motives? Chen is just too honest, which makes him easy to fool."

Mo Wanrong tightened her grip on her thin purse strap and tried to comfort her softly, "Jiamin, don’t you think you’re overthinking this?"

’Besides, the word ’honest’ doesn’t seem to fit Young Master Gu at all.’

"It’s not that I’m overthinking it. In this day and age, you know what girls are like, don’t you?"

Feng Jiamin pouted. "What if she’s only after Chen’s status and position, without a single shred of sincerity?"

Mo Wanrong sighed. "You have a point. In this harsh apocalyptic environment, it’s normal for some ordinary girls to want to find a strong backer."

"That Gu Chen has definitely been tricked," Feng Jiamin said, fuming.

"Anyway, I don’t care. This girlfriend of Chen’s has to be jointly evaluated and approved by our group of ’brothers’ before she can officially take the position."

"If she can’t pass my inspection, no one will dare acknowledge her as his girlfriend."

"Don’t be so extreme," Mo Wanrong urged gently. "You know Young Master Gu’s temper. The more you go against him, the worse it will be for you."

"Besides, if a man is excited about something and you suddenly go and pour cold water on it, you’re bound to trigger a rebellious reaction."

"That’s how it is most of the time. The more you talk about how bad she is, the more Young Master Gu might resent it."

Feng Jiamin couldn’t help but laugh angrily. "So what? Am I supposed to praise her along with that fool?"

Mo Wanrong smiled and hooked her arm through Feng Jiamin’s. "You and your explosive temper. We’ve known each other since we were kids, so we all know you’re just straightforward, but Young Master Gu’s girlfriend doesn’t know you. I’m afraid you’ll offend her."

Hearing this only worsened Feng Jiamin’s mood, and she let out a disdainful scoff.

...

"So cold." Even though she was wearing a special protective helmet, after walking outside for just ten minutes, a layer of white frost already covered the visor.

Xie Ning reached out and patted the frost off her helmet, then glanced at her younger brother and sister, whose legs were shaking nonstop beside her.

"What are you doing? Think shaking will make you warmer?"

"Sha-shaking feels a li-little better," Song Shijun’s voice came out, muffled by his mask.

"Watch your step," Xie Ning reminded him, looking up at both sides of the road.

Her uncle and a group of Superpower Users who had joined the snow-shoveling team were already hard at work, their hisses and pants audible from time to time.

"Let’s go. Ninety minutes of shoveling snow and breaking ice every day gets you two hundred Contribution Points. It’s a good deal."

"Sis, we have a lot of Contribution Points in our account, right?"

"Yeah, quite a bit." Xie Ning did a quick mental calculation. "For that last mission we did, recovering all those resources, the base gave us an extra one hundred thousand Contribution Points as a reward."

"That’s not even counting the other stuff. With all the miscellaneous points we’ve earned these past few days, I estimate we should have around one hundred fifty thousand Contribution Points in total, right?"

"Then... HISS." Song Kexin rubbed her hands. "Do we really need to come out here in this freezing wind... to work?"

"That’s not the point." Xie Ning turned her head and glared at the two of them through her visor. "We’re not here to earn Contribution Points."

"Ri-right," Song Shijun nodded his large head repeatedly, stuttering from the cold. "We’re here to tra-tra-train. And to, to contribute to the ordinary people of the base."

"You’re so old, yet you’re not even as mature as your little brother." Xie Ning rolled her eyes at Song Kexin. The more she looked at her, the more unreliable she seemed.

’Last time, Xiao Gu told me that someone like Song Kexin, a half-baked amateur who’s only been in one half-assed romance, doesn’t understand anything about relationships, so I shouldn’t listen to her nonsense.’

’Right. What was I thinking, asking Song Kexin for advice?’

’She’d even met Song Kexin’s previous boyfriend once. The three of them had a meal at a fried chicken place, and Song Kexin’s boyfriend paid.’

’He was a pretty honest-looking boy.’

’They supposedly met at a cram school. Their grades were about the same—both so-so. They always studied together after class, and the boy often walked Song Kexin home. One thing led to another, and they started dating.’

’Song Kexin’s dad was surprisingly relaxed about it. When a frantic Comrade Song You’ai came over to question him, Kexin’s dad just said naively, "It’s great! You can tell that boy comes from an intellectual family. He’s well-read, reasonable, and polite. I think it’s great. They study together and improve together. Don’t worry, Big Sis, our Xinxin comes home on time every day. She won’t do anything reckless."’

’Back then, her mom was so worried her hair was about to turn white.’

’Comrade Song You’ai even came up with a two-step plan. First, she had me infiltrate the "enemy’s" ranks to gather intelligence at a moment’s notice. Second, she sent people to investigate the boy’s family background, wishing she could dig up information on his last eighteen generations of ancestors.’

’I thought the boy was okay. He had the look of a simple, nerdy blockhead, and I wasn’t too fond of him at first.’

’But later, maybe because I got used to him calling me "Sis" all the time, I naturally came to accept the existence of this brother-in-law.’

’It was such a pity.’

BAM! Song Kexin brought her hammer down, smashing a small hole in the ice. She couldn’t help but raise her hands and rub them together. "Sis, how about I start a fire?"

"Go ahead, if you can control it perfectly. But don’t burn our own people."

"Don’t worry, Sis." Song Kexin rubbed her hands smugly. "How could I possibly burn anyone else?"

As she spoke, the girl pushed her hands forward. Two tufts of flame shot out from her palms, WHOOSH, and instantly lit up a patch of ice in front of her.

The Fire Element was fast at melting ice, but the energy of a Fire Ability User like Song Kexin wasn’t inexhaustible.

At the rate they were breaking the ice, their energy would be completely depleted in less than an hour.

However, this kind of draining exercise was very effective for increasing one’s superpower.

Song Kexin also took sips of Energy Water from time to time to replenish her energy, allowing her to last longer than the other Fire Ability Users.

Gradually, the gazes of some nearby Superpower Users fell upon them.

Zhou Tong jogged over with a few people, his face alight with excitement as he stared at Song Kexin’s group. "Sister Kexin, your Fire Ability is really strong! Could you come up to the thick ice ahead and help us throw a few Fireballs?"

Song Kexin took a sip of Energy Water and broke into a smile. "Let’s go, Brother Zhou. Where is it?"

"Just up ahead. That spot has formed an ice wall. We need to take care of it..."

Xie Ning and Song Shijun stayed behind to continue clearing the icy ground.

After one hammer strike, Xie Ning slowly squatted down. Using her thickly gloved hands, she gently brushed away the scattered ice shards on the ground.

Song Shijun, holding a sledgehammer as tall as a person, swung it down. The layer of ice shattered with a loud BAM!

"Wait a second." Xie Ning raised a hand to stop Song Shijun from smashing again.