Chapter 014: Refusal

Along the way, Lin Tianchi kept introducing Chen Xiao to things related to the world of superpowers, giving him a general understanding of those with special abilities.

Soon, the Lamborghini, now almost unrecognizable, stopped in front of Renhe Xing Restaurant. Lin Tianchi had already called ahead, and his subordinates had left early.

“Alright, you go back first. I’ll contact you if there’s anything.” After exchanging phone numbers, Lin Tianchi left.

Chen Xiao looked at Renhe Xing Restaurant ahead and felt a surge of excitement. He had decided to use this evening to confess his feelings to Qin Mengyao.

Even if Lin Tianchi said Qin Mengyao came from a powerful background, so what? Chen Xiao now possessed the divine essence of the Supreme God, becoming the heir to a generation of gods.

It was 7:32 p.m. Chen Xiao tried to calm himself down before entering the restaurant. Although he had eaten here before, his mood was completely different now.

After hesitating for a while, Chen Xiao stepped inside.

The celebration party for the business administration major was held in a side hall on the second floor of Renhe Xing. When Chen Xiao arrived, he found that almost all the students from the three classes in his major had already shown up.

Qin Mengyao, being wealthy, had even booked the entire side hall.

“Hey, boss, you’re finally here. That kid Lin Tianchi didn’t do anything to you, did he?” Jiang Xianxiang, with sharp eyes, noticed Chen Xiao entering right away.

Everyone stood up at that moment.

“Chen Xiao, are you okay?” A few people stepped forward, asking worriedly.

Chen Xiao was stunned. He immediately realized that someone must have seen him taken away by Lin Tianchi’s men.

“I’m fine. It’s just that Lin Tianchi wanted to pull me into their college basketball team,” Chen Xiao said with a smile. He glanced secretly at Qin Mengyao, who was wearing the same faint smile as Shui Miao as she looked at him.

Chen Xiao’s heart sank instantly.

“Did you agree?” Jiang Xianxiang seemed nervous. After this incident, Chen Xiao had undoubtedly become a key player on the college basketball team. If he were coerced into joining their side, it would be a huge loss.

“Xiangzi, do you really think I’m that kind of person?” Chen Xiao smiled.

“You didn’t agree? Then will Lin Tianchi just give up?” Liu Xu stepped forward, worried.

“Hehe, you guys really underestimate people.” Chen Xiao rolled his eyes. In fact, Lin Tianchi was even more petty than they imagined.

“It’s good that nothing happened. It’s good that nothing happened,” Qiu Cheng said. Hearing that nothing serious had occurred, the other students relaxed.

“Boss, it’s up to you now,” Jiang Xianxiang signaled Chen Xiao with a glance, then glanced at Qin Mengyao on the other side.

After hesitating for a while, Chen Xiao finally mustered up the courage and walked toward Qin Mengyao under the gaze of his classmates.

“Chen Xiao, you’re here. Hehe, I’m glad you’re fine. Let’s start eating then.”

Qin Mengyao didn’t even give Chen Xiao a chance to speak. She went outside and called out, signaling the waiters to serve the food.

“Uh…”

Chen Xiao was completely stunned. Now anyone could see what he was about to do. By acting this way, Qin Mengyao was undoubtedly telling Chen Xiao, “Don’t waste your effort; it’s impossible between us.”
Chen Xiao sighed softly in his heart. He had already prepared himself for rejection, but he hadn’t expected that she wouldn’t even give him a chance to speak.
“Great! We won so easily this afternoon—no one leaves until they’re drunk!” Chen Xiao tried to suppress the pain in his chest and shouted loudly.
“Yeah, no one leaves until they’re drunk!”
The members of the basketball team were also extremely excited and shouted in unison.
“Boss…” Jiang Xianxiang didn’t know what to say and just patted his shoulder.
“Hehe, it’s fine. I already predicted this outcome,” Chen Xiao said with an indifferent smile.
Soon, the food and drinks were served. The five members of the Business Administration basketball team, along with two more from Chen Xiao’s dormitory and a few girls, sat at one table. The nearly hundred other students from the same major sat together at other tables.
There was nothing they could do. For some reason, among the over fifty boys in their major, very few could play basketball, so the basketball team didn’t even have substitutes. Otherwise, when Li Weijie got injured, it wouldn’t be Chen Xiao’s turn to step in and shine.
Fortunately, Renhe Xing Restaurant was big enough—this side hall could easily accommodate a hundred people.
But Qin Mengyao seemed to do it on purpose—she didn’t sit at the same table as Chen Xiao, and they were even quite far apart. This made Chen Xiao feel even worse.
“Come on, drink! Let’s celebrate our team’s big victory over the e-commerce team!” Chen Xiao stood up, holding a bottle of beer, and shouted.
“Great!”
“Drink!”
The team members also stood up, each holding a whole bottle, and shouted loudly.
Gulp, gulp…
Chen Xiao tilted his head back and started drinking. In no time, he finished the entire bottle.
“Come on, drink!”
As if to vent his emotions, Chen Xiao drank five whole bottles in front of everyone.
“Amazing!”
Then, Chen Xiao took a long breath.
“What strong drinking capacity!” The other team members imitated Chen Xiao and started drinking heavily. But how could they compare to Chen Xiao, who now possessed the divine essence of the Supreme God?
“Boss, are you okay?” The three people in his dormitory, who understood his mood, were worried.
“I’m fine. I’m not an ordinary person,” Chen Xiao said, his gaze a bit blurred. His usual drinking tolerance wasn’t high, and although he now had the Heart of Water, he still couldn’t handle alcohol well, his mind growing fuzzy.
Suddenly, a cool stream of water emanated from the Supreme God’s essence in his chest, flowing throughout his body, instantly clearing his mind.
Once sober, Chen Xiao felt a sense of disappointment.
“Hehe, it’s so hard to numb oneself with alcohol.” He glanced at Qin Mengyao, who was chatting and laughing with other students over there, completely ignoring him. An inexplicable pain surged in his chest.
“It seems I really am a toad trying to eat swan meat,” Chen Xiao shook his head. “No matter that I possess the divine essence of the Supreme God, I’m still just a toad—completely unworthy of her.”

Chen Xiao kept reminding himself that Qin Mengyao came from a powerful background—even Lin Tianchi’s family, which controlled an entire domain in the world of superpowers, was willing to provoke her. As for himself, he was just an unknown nobody. This thought somewhat comforted Chen Xiao.

“Ah, I’m a bit drunk. I’ll head back first,” Chen Xiao suddenly said to his roommate beside him.

“Boss, let me go with you,” Jiang Xianxiang said worriedly.

“No need. Your boss wants some time alone to calm down. What’s the point of following?” Before Jiang Xianxiang could respond, Chen Xiao added, “You’re the only key player on the basketball team now. Won’t you need to keep things under control at this celebration?”

With that, Chen Xiao left the party. The others at the table opened their mouths but ultimately said nothing.

Finally, Qin Mengyao raised her head and watched Chen Xiao’s retreating figure, her expression complex—though Chen Xiao didn’t see it.

……

“Ugh, it’s so noisy.”

It was around eight o’clock in the evening. As the weather grew hotter, night markets started to thrive, and the streets were crowded with people.

Chen Xiao walked down the street in a somber mood, blending into the vast darkness.

“Chen Xiao, can we talk?” Suddenly, a gentle voice reached his ears.

Chen Xiao looked up and saw a man in black clothes, about 1.8 meters tall, with a handsome appearance and black-rimmed glasses. He appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties.

“A superhuman?” Chen Xiao asked instinctively.

The man was slightly surprised before smiling and saying, “Yes. Let me introduce myself. My name is Mo Changli, president of the North China branch of the Huaxia Superhuman Association.”

“Hello,” Chen Xiao replied with a smile as well. He had already heard of Mo Changli from Lin Tianchi. He wasn’t surprised at all that Mo Changli knew his name—probably he had noticed him since Chen Xiao first gained his superpowers.