The Problem With PDA

Han Youhong knew it. It was obvious, but now he had confirmation, Lin Songmei and Yan Mingqing were dating!

The story all started a few minutes back, while he and Wang Taigang were walking along one of the sky-bridges to get to a weight store. At this point, Youhong and Taigang had already gone and signed up for the mission, due to start the day after tomorrow.

Taigang, being the workout maniac that he was, needed more protein powder and also a new set of weights, his current ones being too light for him now.

Youhong, with zero interest in working out beyond the hours of cultivation practice he already did, decided to still tag along since... why not? There was nothing else he could do anyway—he could just use this as a chance to refill on some lychee jelly too.

Well, the two of them had been walking, just minding their own business until they overheard "Mingqing" and "Songmei" come up in a conversation from a group of disciples gossiping as they walked a couple of steps up ahead.

Raising his eyebrows towards Taigang and motioning with his eyes, Youhong quickened his footsteps to try and overhear the conversation

"Didn't you see the post in the group chat?"

"No? What post? Did one of the sect leaders tell us something important?"

"Whaaaat? Hell naw, it was a rumor! Live right now!"

"Yeah, check it! Check it!"

With one of the girls in the group up ahead urging one of the boys, the boy took out his terminal, fumbling around with it to try and check as fast as he could.

"Holy heavens..."

"I know, right?!"

"Mingqing and Songmei were spotted in this shopping area? Dressed formally too?! Who found this out? And... what are they up to?"

"One of the girls in the group chat was shopping for some jewelry when they saw Mingqing walk in with Songmei! A few minutes later, both of them were gone! The information is confirmed too because she heard the store clerks talking about how that was the actual Mingqing! Apparently Mingqing has a huge discount there because her family helped out the founder of the store chain!"

"That's crazy... She's so rich..."

"Imagine dating her... you'd be set! The perfect golden thigh to latch onto..."

"Don't even say it... it's every man and woman's dream, but Mingqing's so cold, you'd die before you even got within fifty steps of her... You'd have better chances with her brother, and he already has a girlfriend!"

"What about Songmei then? She might not be rich now, but it's guaranteed she's going to be rich! She's a starlight lake disciple! She's the disciple of the 'Ravager' Liu Xueli!"

"That one might be possible..."

"They're both so pretty and so fast with their cultivation though... I'd be content with either of them."

"Yeah, haven't you heard? Everyone in their party is already a four-meridian cultivator! They haven't even been cultivating for half a year! I only opened my third at the six month mark, they'll probably be at five or six!"

Looking over at Taigang, Youhong shook his head as he saw Taigang had the same thoughts running through his own mind. They both knew, trying to latch onto either Songmei or Mingqing's thighs was a lost cause. Eventually they'd realize their feelings for each other, but it was already clear they only had eyes for each other.

For Youhong, it was clear after about thirty seconds into their first meeting. After everyone had done introductions, they had fallen into their own world, Songmei had even draped herself over Mingqing's shoulders.

Surprised that not a single one of the disciples had noticed him or Taigang, Youhong motioned for Taigang to fall back so that they could have a "strategy meeting."

"So they're around, that's all we learned? Well and that they're both wearing very formal clothes for some reason." Youhong confirmed, walking over and leaning against the railing. "Do you know the store they're talking about? I've heard the story, it was quite famous, but I never got to know which jewelry store it was exactly."

"Yeah..." Taigang nodded, drumming his fingers against the railing, "I'm pretty sure that the store they're talking about is Qingqing's Jewelry Market but I could be wrong. Knowing where they were doesn't help us at all though. Do we even want to run into them?"

"I mean, not really, to be perfectly honest." Youhong confessed, craning his head back. "It's not like I'm against hanging out with them. But if they're wearing formal clothes, I don't want to seem like a bum by wearing a tank top and sweatpants."

"Very true," Taigang laughed, looking down to check his own outfit. Youhong was already the laziest dresser in the group, he didn't need it to be exacerbated for everyone else to see.

With their conversation coming to a stall, Taigang motioned, "C'mon, let's keep moving, we can just keep our eyes peeled as we walk."

Thinking that was a pretty good plan, Youhong nodded as he pushed himself off the railing. "Alright, workout shop time, how do we get there? I think we pass over the terraces, yeah?"

------

Making their way through the web of sky-pathways, Youhong and Taigang found out... they really didn't have much to talk about. A lot of their conversation was just about cultivating, or about Songmei and Mingqing, or about other people in their sect, or about the bricklaying video game.

It was while they passed over the terrace area though, did both of them freeze up.

"Isn't... isn't that them?" Taigang murmured, clamping Youhong's shoulder and pulling him back. "That's them! That's them! Pull out your binoculars!"

"I'm already on it. Don't yell at me," Youhong retorted, pulling out two pairs of binoculars, one for himself and one for Taigang.

Peering down like a pair of creeps, Youhong and Taigang made idle conversations about birdwatching as a cover while watching Mingqing and Songmei.

"You see that blue bird down there? Woah... I've never seen it with that 'dress' before," Taigang murmured, trying his best to keep it vague enough.

"Yeah... I'm surprised it's so close to the other bird, the one with the 'white chest'" Youhong tagged along, using Mingqing and Songmei's clothes to identify them. "They both also really have a lot of rare markings on their faces. I've never seen those birds with those markings."

"I agree..." Taigang replied, falling into silence as there wasn't much else that he could add.

Though silence fell between them, both Taigang and Youhong didn't notice as their eyebrows furrowed. They watched the necklace get gifted, then, after a whole back and forth that seemed a little too intimate for them to see, a kiss.

Putting down their binoculars and deciding they had seen enough as Mingqing and Songmei kissed, Taigang and Youhong turned towards each other.

""Finally, took them long enough.""

Anyhow, seeing Songmei and Mingqing kiss wasn't exactly on Youhong's list of things to see for the day but... he was glad to have confirmation.

As distraught as other members of any normal party might be, both Youhong and Taigang didn't care. Youhong had about as much romantic love for other people as he might have for a tree in the forest. Taigang, on the other hand, was such a pure Yang cultivator that he didn't even look at girls, they were the ones with Yin energy, he was only after more Yang, and that meant guys.

Tranquil at heart, the two of them decided to just get back to what they were doing—shopping.

"Want to go to the arcade after this?"

"Sure. Why not? I don't have anything to do anyway."

Walking into their first stop, the fitness store, Youhong and Taigang's tranquility was shattered once more.

Liu Xueli was there... shopping for workout clothes...