Extraordinary Realm from Persuasion System

What should I do? What should I do?

Zhang Beixing was already here!

But I've already made Lin Siqi cry. If Zhang Beixing finds out about this... Given Zhang Beixing's temper and how he treats me, he'll definitely tear me to shreds! No, no! I have to think of a way to handle this. At the very least, I must keep Zhang Beixing in the dark; I can't let him know the truth about what happened here!

To save her own skin, Chen Rourou's brain instantly overclocked, whirring into overdrive as she racked her thoughts.

Just as she was at a loss, with Zhang Beixing about to arrive, Chen Rourou suddenly froze. Through the corner of her eye, she spotted Sophia Zhou standing on the distant track, curiously looking over.

I've got it!

Chen Rourou clapped her hands, grabbed Lin Siqi's hand without a word, and dragged her towards Sophia Zhou.

"Let's go, Sister Qi, I'll take you over for a chat."

After reaching Sophia Zhou, without caring what Sophia thought, Chen Rourou repeated her trick, pulling the two girls into a nearby corner and starting to whisper.

Seeing this, Zhang Beixing, who wasn't far away and had already raised his hand to greet Lin Siqi and Chen Rourou, paused, taken aback. He was somewhat puzzled by the situation.

But based on his understanding of Chen Rourou, that rebellious girl, Zhang Beixing instinctively frowned. Something fishy is going on, he thought, and made his way over.

During the time it took him to approach, Chen Rourou, speaking faster than she ever had in her life, explained everything that had happened in the woods the previous day, leaving out no detail.

Hearing this, Lin Siqi was stunned. Is Chen Rourou just trying to comfort me? she wondered, not quite believing it.

She took a deep breath, held back her tears, then turned to look at the baffled Sophia Zhou. Her voice was somewhat choked as she asked, "Sophia, last night, did you really have... physical contact with Zhang Beixing?"

"Physical contact? Last night?" Sophia Zhou echoed, then continued, "Well... yes. But that's because I was drowning, and Beixing had to give me CPR. If he hadn't, I probably wouldn't be standing here chatting with you. What's wrong?" She asked this in confusion, still feeling a bit embarrassed about the previous night's events.

Lin Siqi was taken aback.

When Chen Rourou said it, I could have dismissed it as her trying to comfort me, Lin Siqi thought. But now Sophia Zhou, the person involved, has confirmed it. It seems this is most likely true. Could I really have misunderstood?

Lin Siqi sniffled. Although I'm still a bit jealous about Sophia Zhou and Zhang Beixing kissing, I feel much better than before, she thought.

So she wiped the corners of her eyes and said, "No... nothing. I was just curious, that's all."

"Oh..." Sophia Zhou replied, somewhat dazed. After thinking for a moment and scratching her head, the rather naive athlete asked, "By the way, Siqi, why did you ask that? And how did you know what happened yesterday?"

Hearing her question, Chen Rourou panicked internally. This is bad! I'm about to be exposed! she thought. She quickly clamped her hand over Lin Siqi's mouth just as Lin Siqi was about to speak, preventing her from talking. Then, looking at Sophia Zhou, Chen Rourou said,

"It's nothing! Sister Qi and I were just chatting and happened to touch on the topic. Don't worry about it!"

"Oh? What topic was that? Mind sharing it with me?"

Just as Chen Rourou finished speaking, Zhang Beixing's voice came from behind her.

At this sound, Chen Rourou, who had just started to relax, instantly tensed up again.

In that instant, she felt as if a bright red 'DANGER' sign was hovering above her head.

Chen Rourou stiffly turned her head. Zhang Beixing stood behind her, smiling. He flexed his fingers, and his knuckles went CRACK, CRACK.

"Um, Uncle Zhang, this isn't what you think! Listen to my devious excuses— I mean, listen to my explanation!"

「Later」

Ultimately, thanks to Chen Rourou's silver-tongued defense, Zhang Beixing refrained from taking action.

Instead, he turned to Lin Siqi and Sophia Zhou, his eyes questioning whether things were as Chen Rourou had described.

Sophia Zhou was completely clueless about the situation, so naturally, she couldn't answer Zhang Beixing.

As for Lin Siqi, although she now knew the truth, her mood was still affected by the incident.

She took a wet wipe from her pocket, dabbed at her stinging eyes, then glared irritably at Zhang Beixing before walking away without looking back.

Seeing Lin Siqi react this way left Zhang Beixing feeling both perplexed and unfairly blamed.

Then, without hesitation, he vented the frustration he'd felt from Lin Siqi's reaction on Chen Rourou.

He grabbed Chen Rourou by the back of her collar. Her long, straight legs kicked at the ground, but to no avail.

He yanked back Chen Rourou, who had been trying to sneak away.

Then, staring at her, a 'nuclear' yet friendly smile spread across his face. "Rourou, my dear," he said, "Uncle Zhang just remembered, some of your movements in the Northern Sect Eight Pieces of Brocade weren't quite standard. Come on, stand properly. Let Uncle Zhang correct you!"

"No, please don't, Uncle Zhang! I think my form is good enough as it is. There's no need to trouble you to correct me!"

"That won't do, Rourou. As martial artists, striving for excellence is a basic principle. Otherwise, how can we improve? How can we become stronger? Enough nonsense. I'll count to three. If you're not in the proper Horse Stance Qi Circulation Technique, the eighth form of the Northern Sect Eight Pieces of Brocade, by then, I won't teach you anymore. Three!"