Chapter 00111: Settled
# Settled
Chapter 111
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 111: Settled
Today, Xue Wenshu had arranged to go to the swimming center with his classmates.
He had even specially invited the girl from another class he had met a couple of days ago, hoping to create an opportunity for them to be alone.
Wang Peng was one of the classmates who had been invited.
The original intention was to have classmates come along to conceal Xue Wenshu's true purpose.
As it happened, Wang Peng heard that Gan Xiaoyan was also coming today, so he eagerly tagged along.
As for how everyone would play once they got inside the swimming center, that was not something Xue Wenshu needed to consider.
At first, upon hearing that someone was bullying his classmate, he was filled with righteous indignation.
But when he looked up and saw Li Chengxi, his mind went blank on the spot.
What was going on?
Then his gaze shifted, and he saw Gan Xiaoyan and Lei Lei.
Gan Xiaoyan was his classmate, but since she had only recently transferred over, Xue Wenshu had only exchanged a couple of sentences with her and wasn't familiar with her at all.
As for Lei Lei…
Although they weren't in the same class, they were together in the cram school, and not long ago, he had even had a bit of a crush on her.
Xue Wenshu hadn't invited Gan Xiaoyan or Lei Lei, and he certainly hadn't invited Li Chengxi.
How did these three end up together? And how were they bullying Wang Peng?
The amount of information in this scene was too much; it nearly fried Xue Wenshu's CPU.
He went into a state of crash on the spot.
Over on Li Chengxi's side, he was also taken aback when he saw Xue Wenshu walk over.
He thought to himself, you're doing pretty well for yourself, kid, getting called 'Brother Wen'.
He had heard Xue Wenshu mention plans to ask a new girl he'd met out to play, but he never expected him to invite people to the swimming center, much less that they would run into each other.
But Li Chengxi was the big brother, after all.
He reacted quickly, immediately winking and making faces at Xue Wenshu, signaling that he would tell him the details later.
The latter truly lived up to his reputation of being Li Chengxi's little brother for over a decade; even a real younger brother would be on this level.
He immediately understood Li Chengxi's meaning.
"Ah, you mean him. That's my Brother Li. He's not my real brother, but we're closer than real brothers. Anyway, you guys chat, I've got something to do over there."
After speaking, Xue Wenshu slipped away, leaving Wang Peng reeling in the water.
After all, Li Chengxi and Xue Wenshu were at most just stunned, whereas Wang Peng was panicking hard.
Seeing Xue Wenshu leave, Li Chengxi turned to the bewildered Wang Peng and said:
"It's true that you have to rely on friends when you're out and about, but what you just did was a bit out of line. You're lucky it was someone I know. You bunch of half-grown boys don't know your own strength. If you really caused trouble, it would be a huge problem."
It wasn't his imagination; Li Chengxi's words were indeed a humblebrag.
But perhaps karma strikes those who show off.
Just as Li Chengxi finished speaking, Lei Lei suddenly exclaimed:
"Brother Li, be careful!"
Turning his head, he saw a person falling towards him.
Because the person was so fat, it looked like a mountain of flesh was about to land on his face.
He had probably been walking by the side of the pool, but the ground was too slippery, and he accidentally fell, heading right for Li Chengxi.
With a whoosh, Li Chengxi stood up, one hand supporting the man's neck and the other his waist, trying to hold him up.
But the other man's weight was too great.
Li Chengxi's reaction was already very fast, but he still couldn't support him and was forcefully pushed backward, sliding.
Acting completely on instinct, he stomped his right foot hard.
The stomp caused ripples to spread across the water in the nearby pool, and he managed to hold his ground.
Lei Lei got excited at once.
That stomp was definitely not something a person with normal physical fitness could achieve; he must have used magic power.
But it all happened too fast just now, and Lei Lei didn't have time to investigate, feeling a pang of regret.
"I say, Big Brother, watch where you're going. The side of the pool is tiled, it's very slippery."
The fat big brother whom Li Chengxi had steadied apologized repeatedly:
"Sorry, sorry, are you okay? I was just walking a little fast, but when you're fat, you really can't keep your balance."
"I'm fine, just got a scare."
"Sigh, brother, a few years back I had an eight-pack just like you. Now I'm over three hundred pounds."
"Then Big Brother, how did you end up like this?"
"Isn't it because I got married? I married a wife who cooks delicious food for me every day, and in just a few years, I ended up like this. I went to the hospital for a check-up, and it was either high cholesterol or fatty liver, so I thought I'd get some exercise, but I almost got into an accident."
Your weight gain rate is way too fast…
"It's good that you're okay. Thanks a lot, brother."
"It's a small thing. Big Brother, be careful when you walk."
This fat big brother was quite interesting to talk to.
After a few more words and another apology, he left.
Only then did Li Chengxi remember that he hadn't come alone.
He turned back and said:
"Where was I just now... huh, where'd that kid go?"
Lei Lei said:
"Wang Peng? He left on his own while you were chatting with that fat big brother. He looked pretty crestfallen."
"He left just like that? I thought we'd chat for a few more bucks' worth."
Li Chengxi put his legs into the water:
"The young boys these days have no resilience at all. Is he giving up just like that?"
"Maybe he was scared off by your eight-pack abs."
As Lei Lei spoke, she couldn't help but steal a few more glances.
In fact, when Li Chengxi was changing earlier, he himself was very surprised.
Back in university, he had been very confident in his physique, being a long-time athlete.
After graduating from university, he spent his days sitting in his family's convenience store playing games.
While he hadn't grown a potbelly, his abs were certainly long gone.
He thought it might be related to that Ring of the Demon King called the Ring of Strength.
He remembered the item description said it could 'enhance physical fitness'.
But there was no need to tell Lei Lei about this.
"I did pretty well, right?"
"Extremely well. Remember to mention it to Xue Wenshu when you get back, don't let it slip from our side."
If it slipped, it wouldn't work anymore.
At least until Gan Xiaoyan started university, she could finally have some peace and quiet.
And speaking of Gan Xiaoyan, she bowed her head at this moment and said gratefully:
"Thank you, Brother Li. It's all thanks to your help."
Li Chengxi looked and was suddenly surprised:
"Eh? You... look a little familiar. Wait a minute, were you the one who came to my store to pick up a delivery before?"
"That was me. I'm currently an intern at Section Nine. We might have a chance to meet again in the future, Brother Li."
When she was speaking just now, Gan Xiaoyan had kept her head down.
She and Lei Lei were in the pool, while Li Chengxi was squatting by the edge, so he hadn't paid any attention to what Gan Xiaoyan looked like.
"So it turns out we all know each other."
That made Li Chengxi feel even more at ease.
He had felt a little guilty about bullying Wang Peng.
"I thought you'd show up with a belly full of flab. That might not have been enough to scare Wang Peng."
Li Chengxi struck a bodybuilding pose for Lei Lei:
"How's that for ya?"
"....."
"But you two also surprised me. I thought..."
"You didn't think we'd come to the pool in bikinis, did you?"
"No, a one-piece sports swimsuit is perfectly fine. I just thought you'd wear something with cartoon characters on it."
"That's what elementary schoolers wear!"
"Who says? This one of mine does. Look, Snoopy."
"....."
After getting used to the water temperature, Li Chengxi got into the pool.
He used to go swimming almost every day in high school.
His swimming skills were quite good, and he didn't need to use a swimming ring in the deep water area like Lei Lei and Gan Xiaoyan.
"Speaking of which, I'm a little curious. That kid just now, Wang Peng, seemed alright. You really didn't consider it?"
Gan Xiaoyan quickly shook her head, shaking it vigorously.
"If it were the old me, I might have been happy. Even if it was just to play around with him, I could have used him as a walking wallet."
"Uh..."
You used to be such a player?
"Then why aren't you like that anymore? Did something happen?"
"Something did happen. A few months ago, my boyfriend at the time..."
Speaking to this point, Gan Xiaoyan suddenly stopped.
"Due to Section Nine's regulations, I can't disclose the specifics to unrelated personnel. In short, I encountered some supernatural events."
She pointed to her own mouth and said:
"Because of that incident, three of the teeth in my mouth are implants. The incident was quite a big deal at the time. I only heard the full story after I woke up in the hospital."
As she said these words, fear still lingered in her eyes, as if it was truly something terrifying.
"Ever since then, I feel sick all over whenever I think about finding a boyfriend, so I just chose to transfer schools."
"Then why did you join Section Nine? Aren't they the ones who specifically handle this kind of thing?"
"Because I don't want others to go through what I did. I want to help more people."
Although she used to be a player, she seems like a good girl now...
Four chapters delivered this afternoon _(:зゝ∠)_