Before Miao Meiyuan could speak, Yan Bianman beside her said with a half-smile, "Calling Meiyuan but not us? Are you not treating us as friends?"
Yu Xinyao looked at Alex with a subtle gaze. "You guy, have you taken a liking to Meiyuan?"
"You're overthinking it. I just happen to have something to discuss with her," Alex said without changing his expression.
Miao Meiyuan first glared at her two companions, then said to Alex with some surprise, "I asked you to skip class before and you ignored me. Why the change of heart today? Could it be..."
Suddenly, she thought of something, and her gaze toward Alex became somewhat strange. After a while, she cleared her throat and said solemnly in front of her two partners, "Ahem, since you're asking me so earnestly, I'll risk my life to accompany a gentleman this once. But you're buying lunch today."
Despite this, Yan Bianman and Yu Xinyao had grown up with her and naturally saw that something was off. The two exchanged a look; one felt an inexplicable worry, while the other developed a strong interest.
Yan Bianman's eyes darted around, and she smiled. "If there's something you need help with, maybe we can help too. Let's go together."
"No way," Miao Meiyuan immediately shook her head. "I mean, class is about to start. It would be best if you two didn't delay going back to class."
"The Meiyuan who encourages skipping class all day is actually worried about us being late? The sun must have risen in the west. Are you two going to find a place for a tryst and that's why you won't take us?"
Yan Bianman said teasingly.
"It's not like that!" Miao Meiyuan said loudly.
Alex thought to himself that her acting like this would only make them more suspicious. If he had known, he would have spoken to Miao Meiyuan privately.
Yu Xinyao's expression turned gloomy. "If not, why won't you let us come along?"
Miao Meiyuan stammered, unable to find the words.
Alex said, "Then come along. It's not a big deal anyway."
Yan Bianman and Yu Xinyao were very sharp; it would be impossible to leave them behind.
Miao Meiyuan looked at Alex with shock, as if looking at a pervert.
Alex's mouth twitched. "You seem to be thinking of something very bad?"
"Isn't it?" Miao Meiyuan asked in surprise.
Did this girl think he wanted to play a whip game with the three of them?
"It's not like that."
Alex shook his head. After thinking for a bit, he said, "How about this? We'll meet on the rooftop at noon. You'll find out then."
"The venue is the rooftop?" Miao Meiyuan wondered, though it was unclear what she was imagining.
Alex rolled his eyes, ignoring her.
At noon, Alex treated the three girls to lunch, spending one hundred yuan. After they were full, he brought them to the roof of the teaching building and locked the door leading to the rooftop once they were up there.
The three girls watched his actions. Miao Meiyuan grew a bit nervous, constantly winking at Alex to signal him not to casually expose that hobby of his.
Alex couldn't be bothered to explain to Miao Meiyuan, so he said to Yan Bianman and Yu Xinyao, "It's like this: I feel that since you are aiming to be delinquent girls, and I am too, we need to possess strong fighting abilities, otherwise we won't have any deterrent power. I recently learned a technique, but since I don't know how powerful it is, I wanted to find Meiyuan to test its effectiveness. You know that, apart from you few, no one else in school is willing to help me with this kind of thing."
Miao Meiyuan was stunned and asked, "Just like that?"
"Otherwise what?" Alex countered.
"I thought…"
Seeing her two best friends looking over, Miao Meiyuan quickly shut her mouth. Although she was carefree, she understood that the things between her and Alex were not meant to be seen by others, unless her two companions were also of the same ilk.
Yan Bianman nodded, "Alex makes sense. Among us, apart from Yu Xinyao who has learned wrestling, the rest of us have average fighting abilities. It really damages our status. These days, you can't get by without some deterrent power."
Hearing this, Alex couldn't help but cast his gaze toward the slim-bodied Yu Xinyao, somewhat skeptical that with her physique, she would learn wrestling only to have her bones rattled apart in an instant.
Noticing Alex's gaze, Yu Xinyao frowned in dissatisfaction and said indifferently, "The most important thing in fighting is technique. As long as the technique is superb, even if there is a gap in strength, it is not impossible to win."
"Alex, you want to test the power of the technique you just learned, right?"
Yan Bianman looked interested, looked at Alex and said, "Since that's the case, why don't you spar with Yu Xinyao? Don't look at Yu Xinyao as being thin and weak; she's actually quite powerful."
Alex's real goal was to grind experience for his Grappling Technique, so he agreed.
Once decided, Alex and Yu Xinyao stood facing each other, with Yan Bianman acting as the referee on the side, while Miao Meiyuan stood by as the sole spectator, watching the two of them with great interest.
Miao Meiyuan knew Yu Xinyao's strength. When they played around, she was defeated every time, and easily at that. So, despite Alex being a boy, in Miao Meiyuan's eyes, he might not necessarily be a match for Yu Xinyao.
With Yan Bianman's command to start, Yu Xinyao launched the first attack, rushing toward Alex, preparing to give him a shoulder throw. She wanted to let Alex, who looked down on her, see who the real weakling was.
Yu Xinyao's vision blurred, and her outstretched hand was grabbed, leaving her unable to move.
Yu Xinyao was stunned for a moment before realizing it was Alex who had grabbed her. Just as she was about to change moves, the hand holding her suddenly loosened, and she regained her freedom.
Before she could think about what Alex's goal was, Yu Xinyao attacked again, but very quickly, she found her right arm grabbed again. However, it was only held for a moment before being released immediately; the opponent seemed to be intentionally toying with her.
"Bastard, take this seriously!"
Yu Xinyao gritted her teeth in anger, but no matter how she attacked, her arm was quickly grabbed. The enemy was like a cat playing with a mouse, treating this bout as a game.
Yu Xinyao was angry and helpless, and felt a bit aggrieved in her heart. This strength of Alex's didn't look like a newly learned technique at all; it was probably something he'd been practicing since he was little. He was simply here to scam people on purpose!
On the side, Yan Bianman looked surprised, while Miao Meiyuan was dumbfounded. It was the first time she realized Alex was actually this powerful. Yu Xinyao, who they thought was very strong, couldn't even touch the corner of Alex's clothes.
As for Alex at this moment, he was in a very pleasant mood. Every one of Yu Xinyao's attacks was interrupted by his Grappling Technique. Every time he successfully grappled Yu Xinyao, he gained one point of experience. In this short while, his Grappling Technique had already leveled up to level 2.
Grappling Technique Level 2, Experience: 0/20.
Alex clearly felt that the level 2 Grappling Technique had become more handy, and its power was stronger.
At first, he was a bit strained dealing with Yu Xinyao, but now, no matter how fast Yu Xinyao moved, she would be instantly grappled by him. Yu Xinyao had no chance to get close.
Seeing her looking aggrieved and staring at him with angry eyes, Alex felt he was being a bit too much. It would be better not to offend Yu Xinyao too much; he could just find Miao Meiyuan in private later.
Suddenly, a line of prompts appeared.
[Accidental Fate Card triggered unexpectedly]
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