Here, after a day of being ravaged, no, trained by Zhou Haimei, Xu An said goodbye to the other party and, after arranging their training time for the next day, dragged her exhausted body home.
As soon as she got off the elevator, she saw the eldest daughter of the Chu family, who lived opposite them, arguing fiercely with her husband again.
She intended to pretend nothing was happening and return to her own home, but a small black box was flung out of their hands during their argument.
It landed squarely in front of Xu An.
Facing the gazes of both husband and wife, Xu An appeared speechless.
"......"
She felt that she and this Miss Chu were destined to clash.
"Why is it you again?" Chu Lingyao's anger had not yet subsided, and her tone towards Xu An was far from friendly.
"It's fine, I also find meeting you unlucky. You don't need to apologize to me."
"......You......."
Chu Lingyao was rendered speechless by Xu An's words. Her chest heaved with indignation, her eyes widened, and she pointed her finger in Xu An's direction, unable to say anything for a long time.
Xu An was utterly exhausted from a day of training with Zhou Haimei. She had no mood to argue with Chu Lingyao at the moment. Seeing that her husband was standing frozen, she bent down, picked up the black box on the ground, and prepared to walk towards the couple to return it.
However, just as Xu An reached out to return the box, Chu Lingyao's hand, which was about to take it, was intercepted by a pair of slender and powerful hands.
"I told you, I will not give this to you," the man's voice rang out between the three of them.
Xu An's outstretched hand hung awkwardly in mid-air. She didn't know why she was here. She should be at home, comfortably lying on her bed, not watching a couple argue.
She was too lazy to watch these two continue their dispute.
"I don't care what you two are doing. I'll leave this thing on the ground for you to resolve yourselves. I'm going home."
With that, Xu An completely ignored Chu Lingyao's calls, placed the black box on the ground, and then pushed open the door and entered her own home.
As soon as she entered, Goudan pounced on her. She perfunctorily petted Goudan's head and then threw herself onto the sofa.
......
Meanwhile, Chu Yu, inside the room, moved away from the door, a mocking smile on his lips.
"Things seem to be getting more and more interesting."
As the sun set, Xu Yan returned to find Xu An sleeping soundly on the sofa.
She smiled helplessly, took a blanket from the bedroom, and covered Xu An with it before going to prepare dinner.
When Xu An woke up from her daze, she found her arms aching as if she had been severely beaten. She could barely lift them.
She regretted it now. With Zhou Haimei, why did she even need a coach?
Zhou Haimei was the most devilish coach.
Her brain hadn't fully woken up yet when she smelled a fragrance wafting from the kitchen.
"Mom, you're back."
"Yes, as soon as I got back, I saw you sleeping soundly, so I didn't wake you. How was your training today?"
Xu An rubbed her aching legs and replied, "It was okay, just a bit tiring."
Xu Yan knew her daughter's usual training volume. Hearing her daughter describe the training as tiring meant the training volume was indeed very high.
"Isn't today the first day? Why are you so tired?"
At this moment, Xu Yan also noticed that Xu An kept rubbing her arms and thighs. She put down the spatula in her hand and walked over to Xu An. It was then that she discovered that Xu An had several bruises on her body that were starting to turn purple.
"Ah, what happened?"
Xu An pulled down her sleeves and said indifferently, "I met an older sister who is very skilled. We exchanged a few moves. It's fine; she knew how to hold back."
"She knew how to hold back and still beat you up like this." Xu Yan looked displeased and went to find the prepared medicated oil.
While vigorously rubbing the medicinal wine on Xu An's injured areas, she asked, "An older sister? A girl? Is she really that skilled?"
"Hiss~"
Xu Yan's rubbing was too strong, causing Xu An to gasp. She protested softly, "Mom, be gentler."
"You need to rub hard to break up the blood clots. Just bear with it."
Xu An had no choice but to continue enduring.
"She's not only skilled, but she's also beautiful."
It was the first time Xu Yan had heard her daughter praise someone's beauty, and she immediately became interested. "Oh, how beautiful? More beautiful than your mom?"
"Mom, don't joke around."
"Alright, I won't tease you anymore. Although it's the apocalypse now, Mom still hopes you can make good friends. From what you're saying, you have a very high opinion of this sister."
"She... helped me a lot, and I don't know why. She said she has no ulterior motives towards me."
Others might not know, but Xu Yan understood her daughter.
Having struggled alone in the apocalypse for ten years and now getting a second chance, she would naturally overthink things.
Just as the medicated oil was finished, Xu Yan tightened the cap of the bottle. "Perhaps she's approaching you simply because she wants to be friends?"
"I don't need friends. Having you and Goudan is enough," Xu An retorted stubbornly.
Xu Yan didn't press the issue. Some things needed to be understood by Xu An herself.
"Then let's get up and eat. The employer sent me a fish today, and I've made soup for you."
Xu An looked at her mother, busy in the kitchen, and had a moment of daze.
She subconsciously asked, "Mom, are you happy with your work?"
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"Do you feel too tired from going out to work every day?"
"No," Xu Yan replied to Xu An while putting tender tofu into the pot.
"I know you have things you need to do, so I need to find something to do for myself too. I can't just stay at home all day. Now that things have stabilized, life still needs to go on. Although I don't have a company anymore, I'm very happy to have a job."
"Oh, right, I've also made many friends recently. Would you like to join us for dinner next time?"
Xu An nodded and said, "Okay."
She had heard a little about the friends Xu Yan had made and had been thinking of seeing them herself.
Seeing that the smile on Xu Yan's face wasn't forced, Xu An finally felt at ease.
She was busy with her training and couldn't really worry about her mother. Now that she saw Xu Yan having her own life, she could also feel a little more at peace.
The clear fish soup bubbled and simmered. The white, tender tofu boiled in the pot, and the aroma wafted from the kitchen throughout the entire house. Xu An washed her hands and eagerly went to the kitchen.
"It smells so good."
"Quick, go get the rice. We can eat now."
"Okay!"
Goudan excitedly wagged its tail around the mother and daughter.
"After you finish eating, take Goudan for a walk. Goudan hasn't been out in a long time."
"Sure, it's also a good time for me to go for my night run."
......