Amazing How News Travels So Fast...

Liu Xueli despised, hated even, the bureaucrats she had to work with. Every day, it was just meeting after meeting! Couldn't they leave their office chairs to actually get some work done?

Even worse, they were people she had to actually collaborate with! Problems that had to be solved with words—in Xueli's opinion—were magnitudes worse than problems that had to be solved with an ax kick.

She didn't even have time to go see her precious two disciples!

The one time she was free from her meetings, her two disciples had deflected her inquiries, replying with a vague "Oh we have... plans already... sorry."

So, now, Xueli was just clothes shopping. Her body hadn't changed in what felt like forever—cultivation did that to people. Maybe the heavens knew, but Xueli didn't. However, that meant that her wardrobe was already decked out.

Xueli had every type of dress, skirt, pants, shirt, blouse, pair of shoes that she could ever want. Just to entertain herself then, she had decided to go to a workout store. If she didn't need to buy clothes, she could just take a look, and workout clothes were her favorite type to just browse.

The workout industry had been one that Xueli watched fuse together from the cultivator and non-cultivator sides. She'd been there when both sides had no idea the other existed, and now she was still here—sadly—when both sides were so interwoven one couldn't tell where one stopped and the other began.

Because of their collaborations though, to Xueli, workout gear was now some of the most interesting to browse. Here, she could always see the latest fusions and innovations that both sides had managed to create together.

Absorbed in flipping through some racks of clothes, Xueli almost missed Han Youhong and Wang Taigang entering the store.

Had they not flinched so hard that their souls almost left their body, Xueli would've missed them.

Putting aside the lightweight, breathable weight jacket equipped with electric and Qi muscle stimulators, Xueli waved the two over with a benign smile. "I won't hurt you two, who do you think I am? Who are your masters, haven't they trained you to come greet your seniors?"

"Y... You know both of our masters though," Youhong refuted with a confused expression, "Apparently very well too. Anyway... we didn't come to greet you because..."

"We didn't come to greet you because you're so young you barely even count as a senior!" Taigang pitched in with a nod, eliciting an "mhm" and discreet fist bump from Youhong.

Putting a hand to her chest as a warm feeling swelled up inside of her, Xueli grinned with a nod, "I forgive you! More than that, you two have earned yourself a positive place in my heart!"

Xueli was amazed! These youngsters had such good manners! Her own two disciples, though treating her with respect at first, now just called her old at every turn! They ragged on her like a tag team duo! Lin Songmei with the gentle tap followed by Yan Mingqing with the remorseless gash!

Youhong and Taigang, on the other hand, looked at each other in bewilderment—their random fib had worked?! With a grin appearing on both their faces, they gave each other another fist bump before fixing their postures as Xueli tapped her chin.

Afraid of being grilled about their party dynamics, both Taigang and Youhong's minds pumped like engines, trying to account for every question Xueli might ask.

"So... any ideas on what Songmei and Mingqing are up to right now?" Xueli inquired with a hesitant tone.

With their minds both not grinding to a halt, but instead getting into a car accident, Youhong and Taigang both froze for a second. Youhong, who's brain managed to do a 540 quadruple backflip recovery, motioned out the door. "Let's... talk somewhere else, yeah. It's a little complicated."

------

A few minutes later, Xueli, Youhong, and Taigang were all sitting in a cafe, in a corner far from the other patrons.

"So what's the situation?" Xueli asked, sipping a coffee as Youhong and Taigang fidgeted with what to say.

Without a shadow of a doubt, judging from Xueli's question, she didn't know Songmei and Mingqing were dating. Hell, Youhong and Taigang didn't know they were dating until ten minutes prior, and that was by sheer coincidence.

So... should they be the one to spill the beans?

Youhong and Taigang didn't want to be the ones to share the news, but judging from the cold glint hidden behind Xueli's kind smile, a lie like "oh they're on a mission without us" was going to... not end well for them.

Judging from how Songmei and Mingqing canceled any other plans they had during this time too, it was safe to say if Youhong and Taigang were going to lie, it had better be one that was good enough to warrant a whole afternoon of plan cancellations...

"Just tell the truth," Taigang whispered to Youhong, nudging him under the table. "We can just explain the whole situation."

"...Alright, soo..." Youhong began, unsure on how to really phrase it, "We're like ninety-nine percent sure that Songmei and Mingqing are on a date right now."

"Oh, that's it?" Xueli grumbled, to the relief of Taigang and Youhong. "Took them long enough."

Sipping coffee, Xueli motioned for the two to continue, "How did you two find out? I assume they didn't tell you, considering they haven't told me yet."

"Yeah, they didn't us either," Taigang shook his head, "they were really earlier saying that they had some plans in the afternoon and weren't going to be available, but they didn't give us any details."

"They did that to me too!" Xueli nodded, wiping a fake tear, "Didn't want to meet with their dearest master!"

Snorting as Xueli broke out laughing, Youhong continued, "Taigang and I then just decided to go sign up for a mission to start soon. However, coming back to go shopping for some stuff, we walked over the terrace area, and just looking down we saw them... uh... intimately standing in each other's arms."

"Then, Mingqing gave Songmei a necklace," Taigang sighed as Xueli began to knead her eyebrows, murmuring, "I can feel where this is going..."

Sipping her coffee, Xueli followed up her murmuring by asking, "Did you then see them kiss?"

"Yup," Youhong affirmed, shrugging, "that's how we came to the conclusion..."

"Well, it's good that you two saw and not some other random disciples, or, even worse, some gossip column writers." Xueli mused, downing the rest of her coffee, "I deal with enough rumors surrounding them two, I don't need them kissing out in public now..."

Pushing herself out of her seat, Xueli shook her head with a chuckle, "I should've expected the two of them to get up to this type of stuff, I'll give them a warning, don't worry about it."

Getting two nods from Youhong and Taigang, Xueli reassured the two, "You two are fine. Come see me if you ever have any cultivation troubles, I can probably give you two some pointers to hint at the right direction."

"Ahh, that reminds me," Youhong added as Xueli was about to leave, "Songmei opened her fifth meridian a couple of days ago, and Mingqing is probably close too, judging from how in sync their cultivation is."

Putting some money under the cup Xueli lurched for a second. "Of course... Of course, those two really are crazy. Keep any of the leftover money and use it for whatever, I don't care, it's a gift."

With her last statement, Xueli nodded and disappeared without a sound, leaving behind a small pile of snow where she last stood.