My Superpower Is Kind of Cute

Chapter 26: Coffee and a Beating

I was getting a little frantic. “Stop bullshitting me. I’m in no mood to joke around with you right now.” Qi Yun yawned and replied lazily, “You can’t even control your spiritual energy right now—how am I supposed to help you? By the time you learn to control it, the swelling in this arm might have gone down by then.” “Then why don’t you teach me how to control my spiritual energy, for crying out loud.” “Why do you always have so many demands? Just a couple of days ago you asked me to teach you a set of boxing moves, and now you’re here trying to steal my techniques again.” I felt like I was about to lose it. “Who asked you to teach me that? I already know it, okay?” Qi Yun glanced at me and said, “I really can’t teach you how to control spiritual energy right now.” I asked in surprise, “Why?” Qi Yun chuckled softly. “Because you’re a fool.” Seeing that I was about to lash out, he quickly explained, “Your spiritual energy has only just been awakened; it’s still very unstable and hard to control. You’ll have to wait at least until the adjustment period is over… Plus, your situation is a bit peculiar. You’re of noble Qilin lineage, yet I can hardly sense that aura within you. You’ll have to give me some time to figure out the right approach.” After hearing Qi Yun’s words, I instinctively touched my arm—I didn’t feel anything unusual. I’d been hanging around at home these past couple of days without any noticeable changes. Possessing spiritual energy seemed to be just that—a far cry from the Super Saiyan-style transformation I’d imagined. “You guys sure have a pretty laid-back attitude toward spiritual energy. Wait—what am I supposed to do now? If my company doesn’t reopen soon, I’m going to starve to death.” Qi Yun looked at me with disdain. “It’s just a lottery shop. Stop going on and on about ‘the company’ all the time—aren’t you afraid people will laugh at you?” I retorted defiantly, “I can do whatever I want, can’t I? Everything we do is for the people—why get so hung up on it?” “If all else fails, just stay home. Haven’t you been living quite comfortably these past few days?” Qi Yun started giving me lousy advice. “Give it a rest, will you? Sure, I’m having a blast—but my wallet isn’t. If my old man finds out about this, I’m going to get my ass kicked again.” “Well, I don’t know about that. I don’t really get you Earthlings. So you’ve got a ‘qilin arm’—what’s there to be afraid of? You don’t have a girlfriend anyway, so this actually fits your current ‘national conditions’ pretty well.” I naturally ignored Qi Yun’s nonsense. After thinking it over for a while, I took a roll of gauze from the cabinet and wrapped it around my arm. I hadn’t even gotten halfway through before I ran out. There was no way I could go out now, and I felt too embarrassed to ask Zhao Leichuan to bring some—I definitely didn’t want him to find out about this. Instinctively, I pulled out my phone and called the food delivery guy. He came by my place every day to drop off meals, so we were already on a first-name basis. I asked him to pick up two or three rolls of gauze and an arm sling on his way out. My plan was simple: pretend to be a patient with a broken arm, which would perfectly hide my “Qilin Arm.” The delivery guy was very efficient. About ten minutes later, he showed up at my door carrying a big bag of stuff. He didn’t even ask what I needed it for; he just took the money and hurried off to his next stop. His attitude was impeccable—after all, I was the one holding his five-star rating in my hands. I fiddled with these items while eating. After wrapping my entire arm in gauze and securing it with the sling, I took a look in the mirror. I really did look like a disabled person with an extra-large cast on my arm—the kind that would make even elderly ladies on the bus stand up to offer their seat. “What do you think? Does it look professional?” I stood in front of Qi Yun, chest puffed out, and asked. Qi Yun said with a sigh, “What’s there to be proud of?” I thought about it and agreed. Glancing at the clock, I saw it was already afternoon, so I decided to change clothes and head out to check on my lottery shop—I hadn’t been there in several days, and I didn’t want anyone to steal from it again. No sooner had I turned off the TV than my phone rang. I reached out with my left hand to answer it—it was that little brat Zhao Leichuan calling. I cleared my throat and said teasingly, “Got something to tell Daddy?” “Mengmeng, come over right away.” From the sound of Zhao Leichuan’s voice, it seemed like this was a pretty serious matter—usually, by now, we’d already be trading insults. Frowning, I asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong with you?” Zhao Leichuan’s reply was brief this time: “Someone’s picking a fight.” “Who?” My heart sank instantly, and I silently prayed it wasn’t those men in black causing trouble again. Zhao Leichuan was clearly indignant. “No idea. Probably one of Xia Chun’s admirers. The guy looks like a toad, and he still thinks he can hit on her? Pfft.” “Before you talk about others, why don’t you take a moment to reflect on yourself? Are you really calling me over for something this trivial?” I let out a sigh of relief, yawned, and it took me over ten seconds to even remember who Xia Chun was. You can’t really blame me—I’ve been through so much crap these past few days that my brain just can’t keep up. Zhao Leichuan swore to me, “Don’t worry, Mengmeng, it won’t come to blows. Just come over to save face. That bunch of brats clearly don’t understand the value of life yet. I’ll treat you to coffee afterward, okay?” “No way. I wouldn’t drink it even if it had cat poop in it. I mean, you’re not a kid anymore—stop acting like a gangster all the time.” “Cut the crap. I’ve already sent you the location—hurry over.” Zhao Leichuan wasn’t in the mood for my nonsense. Without waiting for my reply, he hung up the phone. I sighed and put my phone down. “What’s up?” Qi Yun grinned mischievously. “You’re looking really off. Did you get bit by a turtle or something?” “I got bitten by a turtle.” I got up to change clothes, only to realize my right hand was wrapped up so tightly I couldn’t even move it. With no other choice, I slowly unwrapped it, changed my clothes, and then re-wrapped it—the whole process took me over half an hour. Using the location share Zhao Leichuan had sent me, I hailed a taxi and headed toward Xingfu Street. Looking at the map on my phone, I saw there was a coffee shop right where he was—it was probably where Xia Chun worked. “Hey, buddy, what happened to your hand?” The veteran driver kept glancing in the rearview mirror, clearly curious about my right arm wrapped in gauze. “With an injury that bad, you’re still in the mood to go for a drive?” “I had no choice,” I said with a serious expression. “I took a knife for my friend a couple of days ago.” Although what I said wasn’t quite the whole truth, it was close enough—after all, I really was taking the fall for Qi Yun. “I never would’ve guessed you were such a street-smart guy.” I nodded repeatedly. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ll give you another ride sometime.” I’m not sure if it was because of my battered appearance or what I’d just said, but once we arrived at our destination, he insisted on giving me a 20% discount. I was more than happy to accept it. After paying, I walked over to the café next door. It was afternoon—the perfect time for afternoon tea. hordes of bourgeois types—I don’t know where they found all this free time—were gathered in small groups, sipping instant coffee that costs just a few yuan at the supermarket but runs tens of yuan a cup here, all the while raving about how much better it tasted than the stuff from the store… I stood there watching for a while but couldn’t spot Xia Chun or Zhao Leichuan anywhere. I pulled out my phone to check the map and realized he was actually in the alley next to the café. I walked down the alley and saw two young men in their early twenties standing at a fork in the road not far ahead. One had a cigarette hanging from his mouth, and they were chatting in a cocky, streetwise manner. I could faintly hear soft moans—they were coming from the other alley behind them. “Your friend seems to be over there,” Qi Yun said, hanging around beside me with a look of pure curiosity. I rolled my eyes and shook my head in exasperation. This wasn’t Zhao Leichuan inviting me for coffee at all—he’d clearly just wanted me to come along and watch him get beaten up.