Chapter 9: The Classification of Superpowers

"Shen Xin, who is that woman?" Yu Yanan asked warily.

Shen Xin immediately sensed the hostility in Yu Yanan's eyes and hurried to explain, "That's my boss, Sister Dan. Whatever you do, don't say anything inappropriate later. We're just here to eat, that's all!"

At that moment, Chen Jiawang came over with a beaming smile and said, "Ah, Brother Shen, you're something else! Look at how pretty your girlfriend is—almost as lovely as Sister Dan."

"Wang, if you can't speak properly, just keep quiet!"

Shen Xin pulled Yu Yanan to sit down, put disposable gloves on her hands, and then devoted himself to eating crayfish.

By the end of the meal, there was none of the verbal sparring Shen Xin had feared. Instead, Yu Yanan found herself lost amid Chen Jiawang's repeated use of "sister-in-law" and, after a bottle of beer, was even trying to swear an oath of eternal friendship with him.

Sister Dan watched the two making a scene and quietly asked Shen Xin, "Is this the little beauty you've taken a fancy to?"

Shen Xin, not to be outdone in pride, replied casually, "Actually, she’s the one who fancies me. She wouldn’t leave me alone. I had no choice, so I keep her as a backup."

Sister Dan suddenly straightened, glaring, "I didn't expect you to be such a scoundrel."

Shen Xin found himself unable to defend himself.

The meal lasted until midnight. Chen Jiawang escorted Sister Dan home, all the while giving Shen Xin looks, hinting at him to seize the opportunity.

Shen Xin looked at Yu Yanan, slumped over the table and dead drunk, and felt his head ache.

He asked Yu Yanan several times if he could take her to her best friend's place, but she only mumbled incoherently, unable to give him a clear answer.

With no other option, Shen Xin called a car and took Yu Yanan back to his own rented apartment.

After settling her onto the bed, he laid a bamboo mat on the floor for himself and slept fully clothed.

At dawn, as the first sliver of sunlight peeked through, Shen Xin cracked open his eyes only to see Yu Yanan lying beside him.

"Shen Xin, you're worse than a beast."

"What... what did I do to deserve that?"

Tears welled in Yu Yanan’s eyes as she demanded, "Am I so repulsive? Are you really unable to stomach me?"

"Well, you reeked of alcohol last night. I really couldn't."

"Hmph, you're ruthless!"

They bickered for a few moments, then fell into silence.

Yu Yanan sat dazedly on the bamboo mat, mumbling, "Anyway, my reputation is gone. You have to take responsibility."

"You're really something. It's not ancient times anymore. Plenty of people have lived together before marriage and still find someone to marry them, don't they?"

Shen Xin rolled out of bed and went to wash his face and brush his teeth.

"How is that the same? They're not me. I'm pure as snow. If you don't take responsibility, I'll bash my head right here."

Shen Xin watched her impassively as he brushed his teeth.

Yu Yanan gnawed her lip several times, but in the end didn't do anything drastic.

They had a simple breakfast of plain rice porridge. Just as they were wondering what to do next, a notification arrived on their phones: the school would be closed for the Dragon Boat Festival.

Shen Xin couldn't help but complain—they’d just had three days off, and now another four.

He checked his bank balance. Nearly six hundred thousand. Two bounty missions had earned him five hundred thousand, seventy thousand came from Sister Dan as food allowance, and the rest was what he’d saved from delivering takeout.

He was in high spirits and decided to go home for a visit.

With all the uproar at Niucheng University, his parents had naturally heard the news and were worried on the phone. So he felt it was necessary to go home and check in.

After all, the county was close to Niucheng; even living out in the countryside, it was only a little over a hundred li—a couple of hours by bus.

"Yu Yanan, I'm planning to head home. You should go back too."

"Of course. The ugly daughter-in-law always has to meet her in-laws, and I’m not ugly."

Yu Yanan's big eyes sparkled with anticipation.

"I meant we each go to our own homes, not together!"

"Hmph, you'll beg me to come back soon enough."

"We'll go back to the county together. I can't leave you here alone. I'll ask for leave at the office first, then we'll go this afternoon."

Shen Xin went alone to the compound, only to find Chen Jiawang training by himself.

Curious, he asked, "Where are Sister Dan and Uncle Mo?"

Chen Jiawang, punching the sandbag, replied, "They went home for the Dragon Boat Festival."

"Oh, I'm here to ask for leave too. How many days off?"

"Five."

"That long? Wang, why didn't you go home?"

"Me?"

Chen Jiawang punched the sandbag so hard it split, then took off his gloves and said lightly, "I don't have a home."

"What? Wang, are you an orphan?"

"Heh, not quite. Believe it or not, I used to be a rich kid. My parents were in real estate. But a few years ago, when the market crashed, they got deep in debt and, using a business trip as an excuse, left the country and never came back."

Shen Xin stared at Chen Jiawang, shocked and at a loss for words.

Chen Jiawang just smiled, unbothered. "It's fine. Now I make a few million a year—more than most people."

Not knowing what to say, Shen Xin changed the subject. "Where's Sister Dan from? Her accent isn't local."

"Heh, Sister Dan's background is impressive. She comes from the Holy City."

Shen Xin tried to recall, "Holy City? Never heard of it."

Chen Jiawang grinned, "There's a lot you don't know. The Holy City is filled with high-level superhumans. Old Mo and I aren't qualified to go. According to Sister Dan, for someone with my kind of power ability to even enter the Holy City, I'd have to be able to lift at least ten thousand jin."

"Ten thousand jin? Good heavens, that's not even human!"

A small car only weighs five or six thousand jin—lifting two at once seemed impossible.

Shen Xin thought, if someone like that entered a weightlifting competition, they'd win gold medals until their hands were sore.

Seeing Shen Xin's astonished look, Chen Jiawang grew even more smug. "Ten thousand jin is just the minimum requirement to get in."

He took out two beers, flicked the caps off with his thumb, handed one to Shen Xin, and continued, "So, for now, we're just ants."

Shen Xin accepted the beer and asked, "Wang, do you know what Sister Dan's superpower is?"

"Probably purification, but I'm not really sure. She never reveals her hand."

Shen Xin hadn't met many superhumans. He believed he'd awakened a spatial ability, Chen Jiawang had a power-type ability, Old Mo was a martial arts type, and Sister Dan was likely a purification type. But he figured there must be many more varieties, so he asked, "Wang, just how many types of superpowers are there?"

Chen Jiawang took a sip of beer and thought for a long while before answering, "That's hard to summarize. I've met over a hundred superhumans, and their abilities are all over the place. But Sister Dan once mentioned that the main types are: Destruction, Life."

He elaborated, "Destruction is self-explanatory—it's all about power, like my strength-based ability. Life is more nuanced, with subcategories like Healing, Self-Regeneration, Longevity, Rebirth, and so on."

He paused, waiting for Shen Xin to digest this, then went on, "There's also Space-Time, which your ability belongs to. Then there's the Mental category, which has even more subdivisions. And finally, those that don't fit are all lumped into the Mysterious category."

Shen Xin reflected and summarized, "So, in the end, superpowers break down into five major categories: Destruction, Life, Space-Time, Mental, and Mysterious."

"Right. Those are the broad categories, but there are innumerable subtypes within them."