Regarding the matter of awakening lightning abilities after transformation

Although it was called a meal, the only one actually responsible for eating was Gu Cheng, who hadn't eaten all day, while Song Shiyan and Zhou Li talked about business the whole time.

"Chengzi's here?" The event was almost over when Qin Kexin arrived. She had soft, chestnut-brown hair, a beige short-sleeved shirt paired with a sky-blue plaid skirt, blue canvas shoes, and white lace-trimmed socks that barely covered her ankles; she radiated youthful energy.

"Hello." Gu Cheng put down her napkin and greeted him with a smile.

"Class is over?" Zhou Li held Qin Kexin's hand, his tone gentle. "Yes, I came over as soon as get out of class ended." Qin Kexin squinted her eyes and gave Zhou Li a cute smile.

"Is Orange here for dinner? Have you tried any of the dishes that Ali cooked?" She turned to look at Gu Cheng.

"No." Zhou Li hadn't left the private room, so it couldn't have been him who made it. "Would you like to order some more dishes? His cooking is delicious..." Qin Kexin asked Gu Cheng with some regret.

"No need, I've already eaten a lot." She really couldn't eat any more.

It was getting late, and Gu Cheng still needed to go to the supermarket to buy clothes. She told Song Shiyan not to bother dropping her off and that she would go shopping at the mall next door.

"Are you going to buy clothes?" Qin Kexin had noticed Gu Cheng's awkward attire early on. At first, she thought it was some unique style, but now it seemed that wasn't.

"Yes." I definitely need to change these clothes. Not only are they uncomfortable to wear, but they also cause chest tightness after a while.

"Can I come with you? I haven't gone shopping in ages." Qin Kexin leaned close to Gu Cheng, looking at her pitifully.

"..." Gu Cheng glanced at Zhou Li, who nodded at her.

"Of course." Who would refuse a cute girl's request? Besides, Gu Cheng doesn't know anything, so having another person to advise her isn't a bad thing.

"Great!" Qin Kexin's eyes curved into crescent shapes as she received permission.

After saying goodbye to Zhou Li, the two went to the nearest department store together. Gu Cheng's primary criterion for clothes was price, followed by quality and appearance, so her old clothes were mostly cheap items that she had worn for a long time.

Qin Kexin was different; she could barely move when she saw pretty clothes. "Chengzi, Chengzi, what do you think of this dress?"

"This scarf is also nice, and it's on sale during the off-season."

"And this..." Qin Kexin hadn't been shopping long before she was carrying several bags, and that was only after she had been somewhat restrained. Seeing how much she had bought, Gu Cheng helped her carry some.

"Chengzi doesn't like wearing skirts?" Qin Kexin noticed that Gu Cheng's clothes were too conservative, and she didn't quite understand why she had to wear such conservative summer clothes.

"A skirt?" Gu Cheng hadn't considered that kind of thing. Although she admired the way girls looked in skirts, it always felt strange on her.

"I'm not used to it." At least not for now.

"Okay..." Qin Kexin looked even more disappointed than if she herself couldn't wear it.

Having bought most of her clothes, Gu Cheng continued walking further in. If the previous area was relatively safe, the area ahead was fraught with danger – the deep water.

Section 8, Chapter 8: Size and Encrypted Communication

"Welcome." The saleswoman bowed politely. "What size would you like to choose?"

Size... inch? This question directly hit Gu Cheng's blind spot.

"Hmm... about this size?" she said, pointing to a piece of clothing that was roughly the same size.

Hearing this answer, the saleswoman was not surprised at all, and directly led Gu Cheng into the fitting room to measure her on the spot with a tape measure.

"34B, close to a C cup, the size is just right, and the shape of the breasts is also very beautiful."

"Then we'll go with this size." As she left the fitting room, Gu Cheng tried to keep her tone natural, but the blush creeping up her face and the way she fidgeted with the hem of her clothes inadvertently betrayed her.

The saleswoman is only responsible for selling things, so naturally she doesn't have the time to pay attention to these things.

"What's wrong?" Qin Kexin noticed and leaned close to Gu Cheng's ear to ask softly, her warm breath making the blush on her face even more obvious.

"It's nothing." He rubbed his temples, trying to clear his mind of distracting thoughts.

Qin Kexin was skeptical, but her attention was soon drawn to something else.

"Orange, does this suit me?" She took a white bra from the shelf; it was made of pure cotton and had cute lace trim.

To make it clearer for Gu Cheng, she even placed her bra against her chest.

"May I?"

"It's...it's pretty good." No, her cheeks felt even hotter. Gu Cheng forced herself to turn her head away, pretending she was still picking out clothes.

"Then I'll choose this one." Qin Kexin also thought it was good and asked the salesperson to pack it up.

After randomly picking two items, Gu Cheng went into the fitting room alone. She carefully studied the structure of the clothes and tried them on in front of the mirror, roughly understanding how they worked.

“Yes, that’s how it should be worn.” She clumsily tried it on. She put her arms through the shoulder straps, adjusted them to a comfortable position, and then fastened the buttons.

Wait, why are these buttons so hard to fasten? I've tried for ages, and I haven't been able to fasten a single one.

"Is it ready yet, Orange?" Qin Kexin asked with some concern after seeing that she had been inside for a while.

"Almost done." As he spoke, a button that had been painstakingly fastened came undone again.

Who invented this? Putting the buttons at the back is an absolutely inhuman design.

Taking a deep breath, Gu Cheng continued her struggle with the backboard.

Buttoning a button behind your back is a real skill; by the time she finally succeeded, her arm was practically broken from all the effort.

But the effect seemed pretty good; the stinging sensation from the friction disappeared, and her chest didn't feel as tight as before. The person in the mirror showed off her fair shoulders, and the alluring cleavage beneath her slender collarbones was faintly visible. The slight exercise had brought out a light sweat, and her flushed face added a touch of charm.

Gu Cheng had no mood to appreciate it; she just wanted to leave this horrible place as soon as possible.

"That'll do then." Their already meager savings were further reduced, and the exquisitely packaged box felt slightly warm in their hands.

"I'm so tired, I want to eat something."

"What to eat?"

"Barbecue." Qin Kexin was a little hungry after leaving the lingerie store. Gu Cheng originally wanted to go straight home, but considering it was so late, she was a little worried about leaving Qin Kexin alone outside with a bunch of things.

"Let's go then. Just so you know, I'm really full."

"I know~"

Qin Kexin chose an open-air food stall. The environment was simple, with an oily iron table and a few plastic stools serving as a table.

Gu Cheng sat down and ordered a can of Coke, while Qin Kexin started marking up the menu.

There was a faint smoky smell in the air, far from being pungent.

Looking at the drink in her hand, Gu Cheng thought of Qin Jin. They also liked to have barbecue skewers, a few cans of cola and a few bottles of beer on summer evenings, and sit together with friends to chat and enjoy the evening breeze.

Thinking about it carefully, it's been almost half a year.

"Your skewers." The steaming hot skewers were served, and Qin Kexin took a sip of her drink and started eating.

"Ali is usually so fussy, and barbecue is bad for his health, so he won't let me have any," Qin Kexin complained as she ate, her words somewhat unclear.

“That’s true, but it’s okay to eat a little less occasionally.” Gu Cheng herself likes to eat, but she can control herself.

"That's right, that's right." Qin Kexin nodded her head like a chicken pecking at rice.

Ah Li... Gu Cheng was actually very curious about the relationship between Zhou Li and Qin Kexin. Zhou Li doted on Qin Kexin, and he kept putting food on her plate during dinner yesterday. Siblings? There was almost a twenty-year age gap between them. Father and daughter? One had the surname Zhou, and the other Qin. Qin Kexin relied on Zhou Li a lot, but that reliance didn't seem like that of an elder; it was more like that of... a lover.

Thinking of this, Gu Cheng had an idea: a little girl and an older man?

She was too embarrassed to ask directly. Qin Kexin was very outgoing, but Gu Cheng wasn't. They had only known each other for two days at most, so it wasn't appropriate to ask such a private question.

"It's so late, should we tell Zhou Li?" She didn't want Zhou Li to misunderstand her as a child trafficker.

"I already told him." As soon as Qin Kexin finished speaking, Gu Cheng felt as if something had entered her head.

It was a gray fog, invisible and intangible yet tangible.

"Relax, and then accept it." Qin Kexin tried to make her tone more serious, but the chili oil on her red lips was still too distracting.

Gu Cheng did as instructed, and vaguely felt herself connecting with that cloud of gray mist.

"Hello, Orange." The voice didn't come from the other side, but from my mind.

"what is this?"

"My ability~"

Qin Kexin tilted her head and revealed a cute smile.

"This is a kind of encrypted communication channel. You can transmit what you want to say to me through your thoughts."

Does that include my thoughts?

"No, because you are also an Awakened One, and my abilities are unlikely to take effect unless you voluntarily accept them."

"Even if it weren't true, I wouldn't peek!" Qin Kexin bit her lip, her watery eyes filled with sincerity.

The two were talking across the distance, but to outsiders it looked like they were exchanging glances.

After a while, Qin Kexin proactively disconnected and began to carefully prepare the skewers on her plate.

Such a convenient ability; compared to that, Gu Cheng felt that her own ability was like something that was commonplace.

Previously, I only thought that Qin Kexin was a girl, but I forgot that she was also a senior member of the Hermit Bureau. It's really not certain who is protecting whom.

After finishing the last item, it was almost 10:30 PM, and if they didn't go back soon, they would miss the last subway. The two walked to the nearest subway station.

"Bye-bye, Orange~" Qin Kexin waved goodbye to Gu Cheng reluctantly, the bags she was holding swaying and almost falling out.

"Goodbye."

Watching Qin Kexin walk away, Gu Cheng turned and entered the subway station. She was lucky; she caught the train just in time. Compared to the daytime crowds, the last train had significantly fewer passengers, and the carriage was so empty it felt somewhat desolate.

"Buzz~" After putting down my things, my phone, which had been silent all day, vibrated. The screen lit up; someone was calling.

The caller was Qin Jin.

Gu Cheng didn't answer the call; she just held the phone in her hand. She had looked at her medical report: female, everything was normal.

She didn't know how to face the person she had lived with for nearly ten years. To tell him the truth, the Hermit's Bureau had its rules, and besides, she couldn't even get past her own conscience right now.

"What would you do if you were in my position?" Gu Cheng muttered to herself, holding her forehead as the screen went dark.

The train moved forward, and the wind blowing through the carriages ruffled her long hair.

Section 9, Chapter Nine: Formal Training

In the center of Lanjiang City, in an ordinary office building, Zhou Li looked at the girl in front of him with a hint of approval.