Selina Wu spoke casually.
Evan Lin glanced at her, and Selina's gaze flickered slightly, a hint of evasiveness.
This time in Beijing, first running into Gloria Rong, then Leon Lu—both knew Evan had a good relationship with Allen Ju, but neither ever said they’d take Evan to meet Allen.
The reason behind it was pretty simple.
Allen Ju’s identity was special—very high. Evan’s status seemed pretty ordinary, even if his strength was obvious to them.
They only knew Evan was strong enough to beat Shawn Shen and Shane Shen from the Young Tigers list, so Leon didn’t suggest offering an olive branch or introducing him to Nightstar. Aside from Leon’s gratitude for Evan helping out at Oceanport Island, a big part of it was actually because of Allen Ju.
If they brought Evan to see Allen out of the blue, they worried he might cause Allen trouble. But they didn’t stop Evan from seeking Allen himself—maybe partly to see if Evan was ‘sensible’ enough to approach Allen on his own.
But Evan, from start to finish, never cared much about Allen’s identity, let alone wanting to use it for anything.
Honestly, Gloria and Leon were just overthinking it.
Seeing Evan look over, Selina didn’t bother explaining much. She just smiled: “Gloria already told me a bit about you. But recently Allen really was busy, so she didn’t take you to see him. Can’t blame her for that.”
“Also, Allen really doesn’t like being disturbed by just anyone, but you’re an exception. At least, no one else has ever been mentioned by Allen so many times.”
Selina stopped there, not saying much else. Whether Evan went or not was up to him. Besides, she didn’t think Evan was the type to scheme for benefits from Allen anyway.
This time, she’d simply come to invite Evan to hang out. Back in Whitewood County, the three of them had a pretty good time together.
Especially on the basketball court—Evan made all three of them lose, and it was still unforgettable.
“Now?”
Evan thought for a moment, then didn’t refuse.
He was staying in Beijing mainly to wait for the Rowe clan and Shang family’s next move. Aside from that, there wasn’t much else to do.
Over the past few days, Lily Zhong had called Evan several times. Angel Epoch’s business in Oceanport and Harborview was booming, with both locations growing fast. Right now, Angel Epoch’s momentum was unstoppable.
Evan didn’t dig too deep into those details. Lily just reported, he listened. Later, Warren Wu sent word: Miracle Hand Pavilion now had over eleven hundred Nourishing Spirit Pills in stock.
He was still asking if Evan wanted to have the Nourishing Spirit Pills delivered by someone.
Ever since Evan reforged the fire array, Miracle Hand Pavilion’s alchemists had been getting stronger and stronger. The progress seemed slow to Evan, but to anyone else, it was practically a daily leap forward.
With someone as unfathomable as Evan around—and after he’d shown off his pill refining skills several times in front of the Pavilion’s people—it had fired up all the alchemists’ hearts.
So now, everyone was working like crazy. It wouldn’t be long before more and more could refine Nourishing Spirit Pills, and then spiritual qi for cultivation would just keep pouring in.
“Tonight.”
Selina nodded. “Tonight, someone important to Allen is coming back.”
Allen will be back too, so it’s a good chance to meet. As for Warren Wu, he’s probably on his way to Beijing right now.
Once Evan agreed, Selina confirmed the time and place, then left with her DSLR, saying she’d wander nearby and come pick him up later.
Evan took Jill Jing for another stroll nearby. Jill was in a bad mood because of Selina’s appearance, pouting the whole time. But when Evan bought her an oversized bottle of cola and handed it to her, she instantly grinned, her eyes crinkling as she chugged it, totally forgetting her earlier, vague little sense of grievance.
Around 4:30 p.m., Evan had Gavin Duan escort Jill back home.
Evan headed back to the hotel first, planning to shower and change.
Autumn Zheng, who’d been looking after Robert Liu and Professor Gordon Gu, waited in the lobby, looking like she wanted to say something.
But even after Autumn followed Evan up to his room, the words she wanted to say ended up swallowed, dissolving into a sigh.
Around five o’clock.
Selina, wearing a baseball cap and having wandered around for a while, showed up at the hotel entrance.
“Right nearby?”
Evan came out, and the two headed to the side of the street. Seeing Selina wasn’t planning to call a taxi, he glanced around curiously and asked.
Evan wasn’t worried about getting tired from a long walk, but Selina, after all, was just a girl—too long a walk wouldn’t be easy for her.
Luckily, after just a few steps, Selina found what she wanted.
Two shared bicycles.
“Let’s ride these.”
She smiled, tapped the bike seat, and sized Evan up: “You know how to ride, right?”
“Yeah.”
Evan nodded, quickly unlocked the bike and hopped on.
They rode through the streets of Beijing, stopping at red lights. Luckily, the whole route was pretty smooth.
Selina handed Evan a Bluetooth earbud, keeping one for herself. The song playing was 'Heart of a Dreamer,' its rousing beat fitting the mood.
They rode side by side.
Selina rode steadily, not in any rush—she hummed and sang along, totally relaxed.
Evan wasn’t in a hurry either. Honestly, it had been over three hundred years since he’d last ridden a bike, so this felt kind of fresh.
On a downhill stretch, they didn’t need to pedal—the bikes just coasted all the way down.
The wind blew in their faces. From the corner of his eye, Evan saw Selina narrow her clear eyes, looking totally absorbed.
Maybe she was enjoying the ride—or maybe just the time spent with Evan.
“Here’s a secret: Warren Wu looks big and strong, but his balance is terrible—he still can’t ride a bike.”
“Allen Ju’s really smart—he can ride, but he’s got a bit of a speed phobia. He never dares ride a motorcycle. Once, he forced himself to try, crashed into a wall, brought the whole thing down, and scared himself silly.”
Selina told the story lightly, with a smile and a hint of wistfulness.
After about forty minutes of riding, Selina led Evan through a turn, into a small lane, then along a bumpy road. Finally, she braced a foot on the ground and stopped the bike steadily.
“We’re here.”