Chapter 383: Chapter 318: Revealed: Xu Zilan’s Secret (2)
It was a very ordinary residential complex.
Not new, but not old either.
It couldn’t be called high-end, but it was certainly a far cry from the slums where they had lived in the Forgotten Land. The surrounding amenities were quite complete; a single glance revealed all sorts of shops and restaurants.
Of course, none of them were particularly upscale establishments.
When Hua Quanquan saw the surrounding residences, she was a little surprised. However, she quickly composed herself and added a thought internally: ’Mr. Gao is from the Forgotten Land, so it’s only natural that his mother lives a frugal life.’
Yes...
That must be it!
In truth, compared to Hua Quanquan’s surprise, Gao Neng was mostly just relieved.
He had been most afraid that Xu Zilan would be living in a place similar to the slums again. But from the looks of it, her environment was actually quite decent.
At the very least, it was a little better than he had expected.
"Building Five, Unit Three, twelfth floor." Gao Neng had already memorized the address Xu Zilan gave him and led Hua Quanquan straight toward a building in the complex with the number "five" written on it.
The building even had an elevator.
The environment was even better than that of the high-end complexes in the Forgotten Land.
Soon, the two arrived at the door of Xu Zilan’s apartment. The journey had been remarkably calm, with no incidents whatsoever.
As they were going upstairs, Gao Neng had actually used his Spiritual Power to "look" at their surroundings.
There was no surveillance.
Nor were there any reporters hiding in corners.
From this, it seemed Xu Zilan’s life in the City of Hope was relatively peaceful. She hadn’t been disturbed because of him.
KNOCK KNOCK! He knocked on the door.
The apartment door opened.
It was Xu Zilan who opened it.
She was wearing a cotton jacket that wasn’t too thick, grayish-white in color. The wrinkles at the corners of her eyes were fainter than before, and her skin looked fairer than it had in the Forgotten Land.
Her hair was tied back.
Gao Neng looked at Xu Zilan.
And Xu Zilan was looking at Gao Neng as well.
Their eyes met for a second.
"Mom," Gao Neng said.
"Yes, Little Neng is back. I’ll go downstairs and buy some groceries." Xu Zilan nodded, her eyes growing slightly moist, but she hid it well.
"Ma’am, let me go with you! I can help carry the groceries!" Hua Quanquan immediately volunteered, darting out from behind Gao Neng.
"Hehe, so you brought a friend back with you." Xu Zilan looked at Hua Quanquan for two seconds before a warm smile appeared on her lips.
"Hello, Ma’am. I’m Mr. Gao’s assistant. My name is Hua Quanquan. However, I’m not Mr. Gao’s girlfriend. Mr. Gao’s girlfriend is Shen Ning’Er, a Colonel in the Alliance Military Department. She’s much prettier than I am!" Hua Quanquan introduced herself at once. As a beautiful woman in the professional world, she knew exactly how to position herself.
"Oh, I see. Hua Quanquan... a very nice name." Xu Zilan nodded, then glanced at Gao Neng. "Well then, Quanquan and I will go get the groceries."
"I’ll go too."
"No need. It’s just grocery shopping; Quanquan and I are more than enough. Given your current level of exposure in the Alliance... it wouldn’t be appropriate for you to show your face at the market." Xu Zilan waved her hand dismissively.
"Uh..." Gao Neng was at a loss for words.
"Alright, go watch some TV. I see news reports about you on TV every day. By the way, you didn’t bring Xiaomeng back with you?" Xu Zilan smiled again.
"Xiaomeng went with Fang Tangtang to... the Underground City." After a moment’s thought and a glance at Hua Quanquan, Gao Neng still answered.
"Mm, I see." Xu Zilan nodded and then left with Hua Quanquan.
Hua Quanquan, for her part, took the opportunity to place the gifts and other things inside the apartment, winked at Gao Neng, and then followed after Xu Zilan.
Gao Neng entered the apartment.
He looked around. It was a very ordinarily furnished room.
A one-bedroom, one-living room apartment with a separate bathroom and kitchen, and a small balcony. Everything was tidy and clean, and it was fully furnished with all the necessary items.
He turned on the television.
But Gao Neng wasn’t watching it.
Because he had a small question in his mind about what Xu Zilan had just said.
Xu Zilan had said she saw him on the news, which was understandable. But why did she have absolutely no reaction when he mentioned Gao Xiaomeng had gone to the Underground City?
’Are there news reports about the Underground City on TV?’
Gao Neng hadn’t watched television recently, so he wasn’t actually sure if the Alliance’s news programs would mention the matter of the three hundred geniuses from the Dragon List entering the Underground City.
Besides that, there was another problem...
Xu Zilan had arrived in the City of Hope with him.
At that time, Gao Xiaomeng was still in the Forgotten Land. In other words, under normal circumstances, Xu Zilan shouldn’t have known that Gao Xiaomeng had come to the City of Hope, let alone that she was by his side.
’Am I overthinking this? Mom didn’t hide the fact that she knew about my affairs, so maybe she really did see the news about the Underground City? Or maybe she just didn’t ask more questions because she was heading out to buy groceries? As for Gao Xiaomeng being in the City of Hope, maybe Xiaomeng came to visit Mom before?’ Gao Neng vaguely remembered Gao Xiaomeng mentioning something like ’what Mom said’.
With that thought, he shook his head, casting the ideas from his mind.
But he didn’t just wait in the apartment for Xu Zilan and Hua Quanquan to return. Instead, he grabbed the keys Xu Zilan had left by the door and went out again.
Because Xu Zilan’s words had reminded him.
His current level of exposure in the Alliance and among the foreign races was a bit too high.
Before, no one had disturbed Xu Zilan’s life.
But now he was back.
Was Xu Zilan still as safe as she used to be?
Gao Neng couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy.
Although only Hua Quanquan had accompanied him on this trip, who knew if there were spies from the foreign races or other factions who had infiltrated the Alliance watching them along the way?
Safe before he returned.
Didn’t mean safe after he returned.
This wasn’t paranoia.
Rather, Gao Neng was absolutely unwilling to let any harm come to Xu Zilan.
He quickly left the apartment, once again extending his Spiritual Power. After spotting Xu Zilan and Hua Quanquan walking out of the complex entrance, he immediately followed them.
...
「Half an hour later.」
Gao Neng returned to the apartment.
Shortly after, Xu Zilan and Hua Quanquan came in as well.
The entire time, Xu Zilan and Hua Quanquan had been chatting and laughing while they shopped for groceries. Nothing unexpected had happened.
Gao Neng felt that maybe he really had been overthinking things.
It was true that the foreign races had spies in the City of Hope, but whether those spies could actually track his movements was still an open question.
"I bought your favorite dishes, and I’ll make you some braised pork belly too," Xu Zilan announced as she and Hua Quanquan entered the apartment.
"Great! I love Mom’s braised pork belly the most." Gao Neng nodded, pretending to have just stood up from his chair.
"Let me help you, Ma’am." Hua Quanquan immediately took the groceries from Xu Zilan’s hands, ran into the kitchen, and started washing vegetables and dishes.
"Is Xiaomeng doing okay?" As Xu Zilan passed by Gao Neng, she tilted her head up slightly to look at him, her voice not very loud.
"She’s fine... huh?" Gao Neng didn’t quite understand what Xu Zilan meant. This was already the second time she had brought up Gao Xiaomeng today. After thinking for a moment, he couldn’t help but ask, "Mom, how did you know Gao Xiaomeng is in the City of Hope now?"
"Because I know she isn’t an ordinary cat." Xu Zilan paused for a moment.
"..." Gao Neng was speechless.
"What Tier are you?" Xu Zilan asked again.
"Tier Six Early Stage. I just broke through half a month ago. But I should be breaking through again soon and will reach Tier Six Mid Stage." Gao Neng looked at Xu Zilan. For some reason, he saw a light in her eyes that he had never seen before.
More importantly, he still hadn’t recovered from what Xu Zilan had just said.
Xu Zilan said...
’She knows Gao Xiaomeng isn’t an ordinary cat?!’
’What does that mean?!’
(The next Chapter is a bit difficult to write and will take some time. I won’t be able to finish it before midnight. This Chapter is 4,000 characters, so please read this first. I’ll still try my best to release two Chapters today, but the second one will be after midnight! Of course, I can’t guarantee I’ll be satisfied with the second Chapter, so I might push it to daytime tomorrow. After all, the content of the next Chapter needs careful consideration! If it’s not written well, it will have a major impact on the story later on. I hope you all can understand!)
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