Chapter 138: Tit for Tat

"Where do you want to go, Sister Xu?"

Zhang Mingyang blinked at Xu Yuqing as the two of them stepped out of the residential complex.

"Oh!"

Xu Yuqing caught on immediately. "Let's go visit Pearl Spring in the east of the city! I haven't been there in ages."

"Alright, let's get going then."

A short while after they left, Xu Zihan and Bai Muqing finally snapped back to their senses.

Bai Muqing called out, "Mingyang, wait for me!"

Xu Zihan shouted, "Zhang Mingyang, you stay right where you are!"

...

Zhang Mingyang hailed a taxi and quickly climbed into the front passenger seat, while Bai Muqing and the other two sat in the back. Xu Yuqing deliberately placed herself between the two younger women to act as a buffer.

Inside the car, the three women each looked in a different direction, completely ignoring one another. The atmosphere inside the vehicle dropped to absolute freezing point.

Sitting in the front passenger seat, Zhang Mingyang glanced at the three of them through the rearview mirror. "It's only been half an hour since we came out, and it's already like this. How am I supposed to survive the rest of the day?"

Xu Yuqing glanced at her younger sister and then at Bai Muqing. She hadn't expected Zhang Mingyang to bring another woman along today. She wondered if Zhang Mingyang had figured out that she was only asking him out for her sister's sake, and had deliberately brought another female companion as a deterrent.

On the left, looking out at the heavy traffic, Xu Zihan was pondering the exact same thing. The moment she laid eyes on Bai Muqing, she realized this woman was even more attractive than she was. She wondered if Zhang Mingyang had brought her along to deliberately provoke her and force her to give up sooner.

On the right, Bai Muqing was wrestling with the same thoughts. She certainly hadn't anticipated two other women showing up today. However, based on her deductions, Xu Yuqing was noticeably older than Zhang Mingyang, so the two of them were definitely not romantically involved. As for that younger sister, Xu Zihan, the way she had looked at Zhang Mingyang upon first sight felt all wrong to her—there was a strong possibility something was going on between those two.

All four people in the car harbored their own hidden agendas, yet none of them dared to break the silence.

In the end, Xu Yuqing couldn't hold back any longer. Since she had promised to help her sister, she naturally needed to gather some intelligence on this Bai Muqing.

She looked at Bai Muqing beside her and asked, "Miss Bai, how did you and Zhang Mingyang meet?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Muqing turned her head, smiled, and replied, "Zhang Mingyang and I met at my workplace. When he first arrived there, I was the one who showed him around and helped him get familiar with the facility."

"Oh!"

Listening to Bai Muqing's words, Zhang Mingyang muttered to himself, *When on earth did you ever show me around the base? The very first time we met, you gave me a kick.*

Xu Yuqing continued, "Miss Bai, judging by your accent, you're not from the north, are you? What made you think of coming to Jiyang for a trip?"

Bai Muqing replied, "That's right, I'm from the south. I came this time at Mingyang's invitation. Because he took care of me—no, wait, because he was injured and I took care of him, he invited me to visit his hometown."

Seated nearby, Xu Zihan listened to Bai Muqing's words and thought to herself that the two of them must have spent plenty of time together while Zhang Mingyang was recovering. And now she was already calling him "Mingyang"—it seemed the relationship between these two was truly extraordinary!

After Xu Yuqing finished her questioning, Bai Muqing thought it was her turn to counterattack. She asked, "Miss Xu, how did you and Mingyang meet?"

Xu Yuqing glanced sideways at Zhang Mingyang in the front and replied, "We met on the moon. I'm a biological researcher at the Lunar Palace Base. Zhang Mingyang visited the moon a while ago, and we met at the base. At first, I didn't know him either, but later on, through various circumstances, I found out he was from my hometown and also a classmate of my younger sister. Since I happened to be on rotational leave this time, I asked him out to hang out."

"Oh..."

Hearing this, Bai Muqing felt a secret wave of relief. Working on the moon meant she certainly wouldn't have had the time to meet him casually. This thoroughly convinced her that Xu Yuqing had no romantic ties to Zhang Mingyang; it seemed the real rival was indeed that Xu Zihan over there.

Afterwards, the two women chatted a bit more about work-related matters, consistently avoiding any mention of Xu Zihan sitting right beside them.

"Miss Bai, do you have a boyfriend?"

Xu Zihan's sudden question caught both Zhang Mingyang and Xu Yuqing off guard. Zhang Mingyang hadn't expected this question to drop so soon.

Upon hearing the question, Bai Muqing's mind raced. She immediately tapped the back of Zhang Mingyang's seat and asked him, "Mingyang, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Huh?"

Zhang Mingyang never imagined the question would be deflected right onto him.

Bai Muqing's strategy was to use this opportunity to find out whether Xu Zihan was Zhang Mingyang's girlfriend. If she was, it would explain why Zhang Mingyang had turned her down; if she wasn't, it meant she still stood a chance.

Zhang Mingyang looked at both Xu Zihan and Bai Muqing. Both of them were staring at him with wide eyes, awaiting his answer. Yet he had no idea how to reply. If he said yes, it would implicate one of the two; if he said no, he could forget about having an enjoyable Sunday.

"I..."

"Passengers, attention please! We have arrived at Pearl Spring!"

Just then, the taxi pulled up to Pearl Spring, effectively saving Zhang Mingyang's life.

He hastily pushed open the door and stepped out. "We've reached Pearl Spring, let's hurry! Since it's Sunday, there are bound to be huge crowds. If we go in late, we'll be stuck in a massive line."

With that, he made a beeline for the electronic ticketing booths.

"Hey! Don't just run off! You haven't answered the question yet!"

Watching Zhang Mingyang scurry away, the two women glared at each other. Seeing this, Xu Yuqing hurriedly chimed in, "Shall we get out of the car first?"

"Hmph!"

Both women let out cold huffs, got out of the car, and hurried after Zhang Mingyang. Shaking her head, Xu Yuqing muttered, "If I'd known she was coming, I wouldn't have dragged him out. Great, now look at this mess! Zhang Mingyang, I'm staying neutral today—let's see how you get yourself out of this."

With that, she too stepped out of the vehicle and followed them.

In front of the ticket counter, Zhang Mingyang checked the time—it was almost nine o'clock, and the number of tourists was staggering! Looking at the winding dragon of a queue ahead, he estimated there were easily several hundred people waiting. If only he had booked tickets in advance.

"Mingyang, how's it going? Did you get the tickets?" Bai Muqing jogged over and asked.

Zhang Mingyang pointed at the front of the queue and shook his head. "I forgot to book them in advance!"

"No need to buy any, I already booked them yesterday," Xu Zihan walked over and said, "Zhang Mingyang, we can just head straight to the security checkpoint."

Hearing that Xu Zihan had already purchased the tickets, Zhang Mingyang realized this had indeed been meticulously planned all along.

"Alright, let's go then."

"Wait...!" Xu Zihan looked at Bai Muqing. "I didn't buy a ticket for this young lady. I had no idea you were bringing someone else along today, so I only bought three tickets."

"Huh?"

Zhang Mingyang looked at Bai Muqing. Here was another dilemma. If he left Bai Muqing behind and entered with the others, she would have to queue by herself, and there was no telling how long that would take. Besides, as a young woman in an unfamiliar place, she might easily end up lost or heading to the wrong entrance.

After a moment of thought, Zhang Mingyang replied, "You guys wait a second, I'll buy another ticket online."

"They've been sold out online for ages," Xu Zihan explained. "Being Sunday, the promotional tickets online are already limited and sold out long ago."

"Sold out?"

Zhang Mingyang hurriedly pulled out his phone to check, and sure enough, it indicated that promotional tickets were no longer available.