GRMFBS CH282

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Because the energy bar had been cleared twice before, most of the easy-to-grind “Ability” info entries had already been completely cleaned out by Zhan Yan.

After grinding for a long time, he only managed to find a few scattered new ability info entries, and they were all white or green quality. The energy bar seemed to remain completely motionless.

He couldn’t rely on himself to slowly grind like this. What if his parents arrived before he could secure Gu Jiancheng’s secret identity?

Maybe he should ask others for help.

Zhan Yan opened the “Have You Eaten Gossip Today?” group chat, preparing to post a task seeking a list of niche ability information.

He hadn’t made an appearance in the group for a while. Opening it up, he found that the topic currently being heatedly discussed was actually related to him.

He scrolled back to the start of the topic.

*Melon Muncher:* “Huge gossip! Huge gossip! The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and the Wan Yao Alliance are about to clash!”

The fastest to show up this time was Secretary Ao.

*Secretary Ao:* “?”

He was part of the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau—how come he didn’t know about this?

*Waltz:* “Real or fake?!”

*Loves Pineapple Buns:* “You can’t go around making jokes like this!”

*Melon Muncher:* “Not joking.”

“My friend is a Qi-reader. He noticed two violent aura surges rising in the southeast, refusing to give an inch, forming a standoff. One look and you can tell they’re about to fight.”

“Guess who those two auras belong to?”

*Joyful Guessing Game:* “[Eating Gossip]”

“One from the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau, the other from the Wan Yao Alliance, right?”

“They fight all the time anyway; it’s no big deal.”

*Melon Muncher:* “The ones fighting this time are Tianshi and the Chongming Demon King.”

*Joyful Guessing Game:* “??!”

*Loves Pineapple Buns:* “??!”

*Waltz:* “??!”

If those two were fighting, that meant a real, cataclysmic clash was going to happen.

*Too Lazy to Pick a Handle:* “Don’t they have a pretty decent relationship? When Tianshi was clearing out Infinite fragments before, didn’t the Chongming Demon King even lend a hand?”

*Pure White Jigsaw:* “What conflict could those two possibly have?”

“@Secretary Ao, Ao-Ao, are you still there?”

“Hurry up and use your connections to ask what’s going on!”

Secretary Ao didn’t reply for a long time. By the time he reappeared, a huge flood of messages had already scrolled past.

*Secretary Ao:* “They won’t be fighting.”

*Melon Muncher:* “Ah… both auras have settled down.”

“That was fast. Just a moment ago it looked like a life-or-death battle was brewing; how did it suddenly get resolved?”

That was because Tianshi and the Chongming Demon King realized they were husband and wife, and that their near-clash earlier was over vying to save their youngest son.

Secretary Ao replied vaguely: “No idea.”

I know, but I can’t tell you guys! Keeping such a massive piece of gossip bottled up is going to kill me!

Unable to get any new news from him, the others continued their discussion. Tu Yue glanced at it twice and then stopped reading. Since he could watch the live situation directly, he wasn’t going to hang out with this group of guys who could only rely on guessing.

Half an hour later, Tu Yue clicked back into the chat group, bearing the massive piece of gossip that “the youngest son of Tianshi and the Chongming Demon King is Approaching Science.”

The group was currently @Approaching Science.

Impressive. After tagging him out, are they going to eat gossip straight from the source?

*Pure White Jigsaw:* “Ao-Ao’s connections aren’t cutting it. Friends, does anyone else have stronger connections?”

*Waltz:* “Let me see who hasn’t shown up yet… @Approaching Science”

*Loves Pineapple Buns:* “Doesn’t our group have a big boss who thrives in both factions? Requesting a gossip drop! @Approaching Science”

*Joyful Guessing Game:* “Why @Approaching Science? @Approaching Science is a fan of both Tianshi and the Chongming Demon King!”

*Melon Muncher:* “Sorry, even though this isn’t very nice, I’m also really curious about how @Approaching Science feels right now.”

*Too Lazy to Pick a Handle:* “Let me take a guess. Did @Approaching Science persuade the Chongming Demon King and Tianshi to stop fighting?”

*Secretary Ao:* “…”

The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and the Wan Yao Alliance maintained a very high level of secrecy regarding this matter. This group of information-type big shots had been guessing from last night until tonight, still discussing it right now.

Zhan Yan quietly made an appearance and quietly posted a task.

*Approaching Science:* “Urgently seeking various niche ability information lists. Price is open for negotiation.”

*Pure White Jigsaw:* “Hold on?!”

“What message just flashed past?”

“Everyone stop flooding the chat for a second.”

*Melon Muncher:* “Whoa!”

“@Approaching Science has appeared.”

*Waltz:* “Big boss, do you have insider news?”

“Begging for a gossip drop!”

*Too Lazy to Pick a Handle:* “Niche ability information list? I have one!”

“Price is negotiable, but big boss @Approaching Science, give us a piece of gossip first! The gossip drop can count toward the price.”

*Loves Pineapple Buns:* “I can compile one too.”

“@Approaching Science, begging for a gossip drop.”

Zhan Yan clicked his tongue in his heart, thinking this group really lived up to its name.

*Approaching Science:* “You guys overestimate me too much.”

*Pure White Jigsaw:* “Even if you can’t spill the whole thing, a small part is fine!”

*Approaching Science:* “Alright then, deal. I spill part of the gossip, and you give me the lists.”

*Pure White Jigsaw:* “Agreed.”

*Loves Pineapple Buns:* “+1”

*Waltz:* “+2”

…

*Secretary Ao:* “.”

Tu Yue, who was lurking, couldn’t help but make an appearance too. He was mostly curious about how Approaching Science was going to drop this piece of gossip.

*Approaching Science:* “Speaking of which, last night the moon was bright and stars were sparse, the wind rose and clouds moved, and under the shade of the willows, smoke curled up smoothly. The two big shots got increasingly heated over competing for a talent, accidentally preparing to go to war. Luckily, the talent appeared in time and successfully appeased both big shots, nipping a disaster in the bud before it could manifest.”

*Joyful Guessing Game:* “?”

“Making up stories doesn’t count.”

*Pure White Jigsaw:* “What was I even expecting?”

*Melon Muncher:* “@Approaching Science, big boss, you don’t mean to say that talent was you, do you?”

*Waltz:* “Just how godly would your ability to keep both sides balanced have to be?”

*Secretary Ao:* “.”

Everyone assumed Approaching Science was just making up a story as a joke, but they still gave him the lists anyway.

It wasn’t like this was precious information. Everyone exchanged intelligence in the group regularly; insisting on negotiating prices for something like this would be far too tedious.

After receiving the lists provided by his group members, Zhan Yan finally managed to grind out the third star in his ability column.

Ah, bliss!

The star in the ability column wasn’t the hardest to grind, but it was definitely the most ill-fated. Every time the energy bar had been cleared, it was right when it was almost fully charged.

This star was capable of granting information concealment for two people.

No wonder it had been harder to save up energy for than the previous star.

Zhan Yan delightfully added both his mom and Xiao Gu to the information concealment slot.

—

Waking up the next day, Zhan Yan started mulling over how to arrange the first meeting between Xiao Gu and his parents. Although there was temporarily no risk of Xiao Gu’s secret identity being exposed, making a good first impression as a normal boyfriend was still extremely important.

The first semester of fifth year was still slightly busy, involving their second major internship, writing graduation dissertations, and case reports.

Their homeroom teacher, who was rarely seen throughout the year, briefly explained the upcoming arrangements to everyone on the first day of the semester. Zhan Yan and Gu Jiancheng sat next to each other, their hands intertwined between the seats.

Zhan Yan’s mind was split in two. On one hand, he was listening to the upcoming schedule, and on the other, he was thinking about how to help Xiao Gu rehearse in advance. Lost in thought, he unconsciously began playing with Gu Jiancheng’s fingers.

Gu Jiancheng’s fingers were long, soft, and yielded completely to his tinkering without applying any force. Zhan Yan bent and squeezed them, feeling the bones beneath his skin and muscle joint by joint.

The bones were quite hard. When force was applied, they were like steel bars that couldn’t be broken free at all…

No, no, snap out of it. What he needed to do right now was figure out the arrangements for meeting his parents. His parents were coming over in a day or two…

Zhan Yan subconsciously opened his gossip feed, intending to check the situation on his parents’ end.

Whoa! Xiao Gu had successfully stalled his parents through his workaholic tendencies.

Zhan Yan’s eyes widened slightly. Xiao Gu’s workaholic style actually yielded unexpected dividends!

Gu Jiancheng’s fingers twitched twice in his palm.

“Yan Yan?” he asked softly.

Why did Yan Yan suddenly stop?

Zhan Yan snapped back to reality, letting go of Gu Jiancheng’s hand.

Just as Gu Jiancheng was feeling disappointed, he heard Zhan Yan whisper in his ear: “My parents might be coming over.”

Gu Jiancheng’s disappointment instantly vanished, his eyes shining brightly.

Finally getting to meet the parents?

Looking at his insanely enthusiastic gaze, Zhan Yan felt a brief moment of worry, but then thought that Xiao Gu’s current state might actually be perfect.

A proactive, sunshiny, enthusiastic, and cheerful Xiao Gu would definitely be well-liked.

—

Zhan Yan conducted an emergency rehearsal with Gu Jiancheng over several days.

Rehearsing was Gu Jiancheng’s shadow avatar. His main body had gone to discuss Monster Doctor and the mental-network concept with the three major organizations.

The progress of the meeting was somewhat slow. That was because Ning Xi, being a control freak, liked to consider every single possibility and then draft a plan for each one.

Deep Shadow: “…Planning out every single thing—isn’t your Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau’s maneuverability and flexibility way too poor?”

Gu Jiancheng was extremely dissatisfied with this.

Although he was the one who proactively brought up discussing this together, Yan Yan’s parents were coming very soon, and he wanted to focus whole-heartedly on preparing to meet the parents. Why did he have to endure this long, tedious meeting here?

And so, the meeting’s pace was aggressively driven up once again.

—

Having finished the meeting, Zhan Yunkai and Ji Yueming returned home together.

Zhan Yunkai was still stunned by the latter half of the meeting, which had progressed at a breakneck pace like a wild horse unbridled.

Although Ning Xi overthought things, her efficiency was by no means low, and the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau was especially famous for its execution capability. Yet even so, Deep Shadow managed to push them to move even faster.

He hadn’t had much contact with Deep Shadow, so he asked Ji Yueming, “Has Deep Shadow always been this style?”

Ji Yueming was also in shock. “Deep Shadow’s efficiency is indeed quite high, but he’s never been this… intense before.”

It was as if he had been provoked.

Zhan Yunkai speculated, “Is it because he loathes Monster Doctor too much?”

The most crucial intelligence regarding Monster Doctor had all been provided by Deep Shadow. The Retirees’ Alliance knew a lot about Monster Doctor’s other skills, but none of them knew he also possessed a “Psychic Scalpel” skill.

This skill could modify memories to a certain extent; anyone he had used this skill on forgot about the experience entirely.

Monster Doctor had once attempted to use this skill on Deep Shadow, so after escaping, Deep Shadow would naturally settle for nothing less than a fight to the death with him.

Ji Yueming nodded. “That’s probably the reason. Well, we have a few days off now; why don’t we go visit Yan Yan?”

Xingxing understood and hopped onto Ji Yueming’s leg.

Me too, me too! Don’t even think about leaving me at home by myself!

Zhan Yunkai patted the cat’s head. “Should we bring Xingxing along too?”

Ji Yueming said, “Sure. Shall we go the day after tomorrow? Yan Yan will be starting his internship again. Tomorrow let me prepare some stuff for us to bring to him.”

—

Back at the university, Zhan Yan stumbled upon the relevant gossip entry and couldn’t help taking a deep breath.

Meow it all, Xiao Gu, why do you have to be such a workaholic?! Something so important, and you managed to speed-run it in just three short days?!

Xiao Gu was still standing in front of him, looking at him with bright, expectant eyes. “Yan Yan, what do you think of me wearing this outfit?”

Zhan Yan stared at him with an inscrutable, heavy gaze.

Gu Jiancheng grew nervous under his stare. “Does it not look good?”

Zhan Yan said, “It looks good.”

Wear this exact outfit to meet my parents the day after tomorrow!