Chapter 152: The Encounter

"Chen Hao!" The first to run up to Chen Hao was Gu Mengyan. Although she did not fully understand the situation, Dong Xin had already given the two girls a brief explanation and brought them to this heavily guarded temporary safe house. The surrounding area was fully protected by armed soldiers.

Of course, Gu Mengyan and Fan Yirou would not have simply followed Dong Xin here based on a few words from someone they had just met today. The reason they heeded Dong Xin's arrangements was that while Dong Xin was explaining the situation to them, Chen Hao's father, Chen Ding'an, personally called Gu Mengyan and instructed them to follow Dong Xin's directions and go into hiding temporarily.

Gu Mengyan held unconditional respect for Chen Ding'an and honored his arrangements without question. She believed there must be a very good reason for his actions.

Knowing they had been brought to such a strictly secured location, the two girls realized something extraordinary must have happened, and they could not help but worry about Chen Hao's safety.

Now, seeing Chen Hao return safely, they naturally felt much more at ease. After reaching Chen Hao's side, Gu Mengyan noticed two other people accompanying him and Dong Xin.

Gu Mengyan's first reaction upon seeing Guo Yunhai was: *Holy crap! What a massive grizzly bear... cough, cough! I mean, what a huge guy! He must be close to two meters tall, right? Who is he?*

*And—oh my lord! Who is that girl behind them? Does she have to be so bewitching? So gorgeous? Dressed in such an unconventional style? Who on earth is she, and what is her relationship with Chen Hao?*

It wasn't just Gu Mengyan who felt a surge of tension the moment she laid eyes on Zhuge Taxue; Fan Yirou felt the same way. Both girls, who had previously been quite confident in their own appearances, instantly lost their self-assurance.

This only made them more curious about Zhuge Taxue's identity. Just who was she? Gu Mengyan had already been annoyed that Fan Yirou had beaten her to the punch and established a relationship with Chen Hao. Now, with Zhuge Taxue suddenly popping out of nowhere, her anxiety heightened even further.

In truth, Gu Mengyan's worries were completely unnecessary. Chen Hao was not the type of person to lose his head every time he saw a pretty girl. If that were the case, given how many beautiful women he had encountered in his life, would he be flirting with all of them?

Gu Mengyan was so anxious mainly because Fan Yirou had taken the initiative to confess her feelings to Chen Hao today, triggering an unprecedented sense of crisis within her, as if every woman in the world were eyeing Chen Hao.

Fan Yirou, on the other hand, was not as high-strung or agitated as Gu Mengyan. In fact, both girls knew Chen Hao's character very well; he was definitely not a playboy. Leaving aside a peerless beauty like Zhuge Taxue, even if three more beauties of the same caliber were to appear, Chen Hao would not be moved in the slightest.

Therefore, upon seeing Zhuge Taxue, Fan Yirou only showed surprise without any excessive tension. After Gu Mengyan rushed over to Chen Hao, Fan Yirou followed unhurriedly behind her, looked at Chen Hao, and simply said, "You're here!"

Chen Hao nodded and was just about to introduce Guo Yunhai and Zhuge Taxue to them when Zhuge Taxue spoke up first.

"Chen Hao! Who are these two? Are they the ex-girlfriends you told me about?"

*What the hell?!* Chen Hao instantly felt a head full of black lines. What kind of nonsense was this?

Zhuge Taxue said this entirely on a whim. Originally, she had simply been curious about what the "little sister" and "girlfriend" Chen Hao mentioned actually looked like. Now that she saw them both, she couldn't tell which one was the sister and which was the girlfriend.

Regardless of who was who, both girls were quite attractive. Although there was a slight gap compared to herself, they were definitely one-in-a-million types.

It really was a cheap bargain for this guy Chen Hao to have such a pretty girlfriend and a childhood sweetheart for a sister. Furthermore, seeing Gu Mengyan standing next to Chen Hao with a wary expression directed at her, Zhuge Taxue naturally assumed she was Chen Hao's girlfriend.

An idea suddenly popped into Zhuge Taxue's mind, inspiring a prank to tease Chen Hao and Gu Mengyan. She decided to pose as Chen Hao's newly acquainted girlfriend to mess with Gu Mengyan a little.

Never did she expect that a single sentence would cause Gu Mengyan to fly into a frenzy: "What ex-girlfriend?! I'm his sister! The one behind me is the ex-girlfriend! No, wait, pui pui pui! The one behind me isn't an ex-girlfriend either; she's his current girlfriend, whose relationship was just made official today! And who on earth are you?"

"Me?" Zhuge Taxue flashed a soul-capturing smile. In that instant, the surrounding environment seemed to completely lose its color, leaving only Zhuge Taxue's breathtaking smile in the entire world.

Everyone—including Chen Hao, Gu Mengyan, Fan Yirou, and the surrounding guards—could not help but swallow hard.

Seeing their expressions as if everything was going according to plan, Zhuge Taxue said, "I'm also Chen Hao's current girlfriend, whose relationship was just made official today! I wonder which of us is the fresher current girlfriend and which one is the older model?"

"You, you, you!!!" Gu Mengyan was anxious and furious. "What kind of nonsense are you spouting? How could you possibly be Chen Hao's girlfriend? I'm warning you, if you keep talking nonsense, you'll regret it!"

Zhuge Taxue took a step forward, reached out a finger to hook Gu Mengyan's chin, and gently lifted it upward. "You're spot on! I already regret being Chen Hao's girlfriend. I never expected Chen Hao's sister to be so cute, so I'm planning to be your girlfriend instead. Would you be willing?"

Having said that, Zhuge Taxue performed an action that dropped everyone's jaws. While Gu Mengyan was still dazed, she leaned straight in and planted a fierce kiss right on Gu Mengyan's lips.

The kiss didn't last very long—whether she was afraid of angering Chen Hao or worried about frightening Gu Mengyan, Zhuge Taxue only tasted briefly before pulling away. Afterward, she even stuck out her tip of the tongue to lick Gu Mengyan's lips.

And Gu Mengyan? She was left so stunned by Zhuge Taxue's stunt that she sat flat on the ground with a thud. "You, you, you... are you a man or a woman?!"

Zhuge Taxue laughed heartily, laughing just like a young boy. However, she puffed out her proud chest. "Do you think I'm a man or a woman?"

Chen Hao truly couldn't watch any longer. While two great beauties embracing and kissing each other was quite pleasing to the eye, that assumed neither woman had any relation to him.

Now, one of them was his own sister, and Zhuge Taxue—a friend he had just met today—was clearly teasing her. He could no longer remain indifferent.

Helplessly, Chen Hao stepped forward and patted Zhuge Taxue on the shoulder. "Alright, Taxue, stop teasing her. I only have one sister, so please don't corrupt her. My mom and dad are counting on her to marry a good man! If my sister ends up marrying a girl in the end, I'm afraid my parents' hearts won't be able to take such a huge shock."

"Huh?" Gu Mengyan was stunned, seeming to catch the implication. She hurriedly stood up from the ground and dusted the dirt off her clothes. "Chen Hao, are you saying she..."

Chen Hao shrugged. "Let me make some introductions. Yunhai, Taxue, this is Gu Mengyan—my stepsister from another mother. Standing on the other side is my girlfriend, Fan Yirou, who is also my sister's best friend. Mengyan, Yirou, the peerless beauty standing before you is a friend I just met today, Zhuge Taxue. But you can also call her Wang Gangdan or Zhao Tiezhu."

Zhuge Taxue rolled her eyes and fiercely waved her fist at Chen Hao. She knew this was Chen Hao's payback for bullying his sister.

"And that mountain of a guy is Guo Yunhai, also a friend I just made, though our initial meeting wasn't all that pleasant."

Guo Yunhai nodded politely. "Hello! Nice to meet you."

Zhuge Taxue maintained her big-sister persona. "Don't listen to Chen Hao's nonsense about Zhao Tiezhu and Wang Gangdan; you can't just go labeling people like that. I'm Zhuge Taxue, the proprietress of a small teahouse. I was just playing a small joke with you earlier. Chen Hao and I are just ordinary friends; there's no way we'd ever become romantically involved. Though, I really would like to get to know the two beauties a bit better..."

Guo Yunhai grabbed her by the arm and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, this girl is a lesbian. Please ignore her harassment."

"Holy crap! For real?!" Gu Mengyan obtained the confirmation of her guess from Guo Yunhai's mouth and remained quite shocked. After the shock subsided, rather than feeling indignant about being taken advantage of, she wore a look of utter pity. "Tsk tsk tsk tsk~~ Such a precious resource is actually a lesbian. What a waste..."

"Pfft—" Zhuge Taxue spewed a mouthful of old blood into the sky. "You two really are brother and sister raised under the same roof. Your words are identical to Chen Hao's..."

After the playful antics, they were formally introduced, and Chen Hao briefly explained how he had come to know Guo Yunhai and the others. Among everyone present, Fan Yirou was the only one unaware of his entry into the gaming world, so Chen Hao simply didn't hide it and gave a concise explanation.

Even the calm and composed Fan Yirou sat in a daze for a long time after hearing Chen Hao's explanation.

"Alright! The situation has been briefly explained, and Dad must have called you as well. Dong Xin and I have things to handle shortly, and Yunhai and Taxue will stay here to accompany you. Remember to follow Yunhai's instructions in everything and don't run around blindly. Once Dong Xin and I finish our work, we'll come back and reunite with you!" Chen Hao told Gu Mengyan and the others.

Just as Gu Mengyan and Fan Yirou opened their mouths to urge Chen Hao to be careful, a massive explosion suddenly rang out from outside the house.

"Boom—"

"What the hell! What's going on?"