Chapter 357: Liu Manman: False Advertising

Xia Yu’s attitude towards others as mere tools left Ning Qiueru very disheartened. However, Xia Yu’s behavior at this moment restored her confidence.

She shyly picked up a nearby book and pretended to look at it.

After a while, she saw Xia Yu pulling Liu Manman aside and whispering a few words to her.

Then, Liu Manman walked toward Ning Qiueru.

Ning Qiueru felt that Xia Yu probably wanted to invite her to have lunch together and had sent Liu Manman over to sound her out.

Sure enough, when Liu Manman arrived beside her, she immediately asked what she wanted to eat at noon, an obvious invitation to dine together.

“Whatever,” Ning Qiueru replied.

“Eh? Aren’t you cooking?” Liu Manman asked in surprise.

Ning Qiueru helplessly glanced at her friend, feeling that Liu Manman hadn’t grasped the meaning behind Xia Yu’s words. If she cooked, how could they go out together?

“Just cook in the evening; going out for lunch is fine.” At the same time, to prevent surprises, Ning Qiueru added, “After eating, let’s go shopping at the mall.”

Ning Qiueru wanted to bring Liu Manman along, fearing that if it were only her and Xia Yu, Xia Yu might lose control and do something inappropriate.

She had her own intentions, but she didn’t want their relationship to develop beyond friendship.

“Then I’ll go ask Xia Yu,” Liu Manman stood up.

Approaching Xia Yu, Liu Manman told him, “Qiueru said she wants to eat out at noon.”

Hearing that the lunch he had been lured over for was no longer happening, Xia Yu immediately lost interest and felt somewhat displeased with Liu Manman for misleading him.

He told Liu Manman, “Then maybe we can eat together another time. I was planning to go to the club.”

Familiar with Xia Yu’s habits, Liu Manman didn’t try to stop him.

Thus, in Ning Qiueru’s astonished gaze, Xia Yu stood up, said goodbye to her, and walked out of the villa with his hands in his pockets.

The sound of the door closing snapped her out of her daze.

“Why did he leave?” Ning Qiueru couldn’t understand Xia Yu’s thoughts. He had been secretly glancing at her and preparing to invite her, so why had he suddenly left?

“He went archerying,” Liu Manman replied. She actually knew that Xia Yu had been tricked into coming by her mention of Ning Qiueru’s homemade dishes. Now that the dishes were off the table, naturally he left. However, she felt it wasn’t good to let Ning Qiueru know this, so she didn’t explain.

She continued, “No worries, we can invite him over tonight.”

Ning Qiueru looked at Liu Manman in disbelief. She began to suspect that Liu Manman wanted to sell her out to Xia Yu. Didn’t having dinner together at home imply a romantic relationship?

Thinking about Liu Manman’s character, Ning Qiueru dismissed her suspicions, believing that the naive Liu Manman had probably been deceived by Xia Yu.

Besides, there was no need to worry too much at Liu Manman’s house, as the housemaid there was a retired boxer, providing solid security.

Men always tried to take advantage of her in various ways—it was truly annoying.

Sighing, Ning Qiueru was troubled by her own charm.

Meanwhile, Xia Yu, on his way to the club, received a message from Liu Manman. Upon learning that Ning Qiueru would cook dinner that evening, Xia Yu put aside his slight displeasure and agreed to go over later.

He then asked if he could also get two spots for An Siyao and You Xue.

Assuming that adding two more people was just a matter of adding two more pairs of chopsticks, Liu Manman readily agreed.

After informing An Siyao and You Xue of the plan, Xia Yu arrived at the club.

He didn’t start practicing immediately. Xia Yu found his coach and went with her to a bow shop.

The bow shop was located not far from the club. It had an antique style, with densely hung bows on the walls.

The shop owner walked in from the back door, “What kind of bow are you looking for?”

“This gentleman needs a bow,” the coach pointed at Xia Yu.

The shop owner then examined Xia Yu, who also studied the shop owner in return. The shop owner was a middle-aged man with a thick beard, tall and strong.

After scanning Xia Yu twice, the shop owner smiled, “Beginner, right? What type of bow are you looking for?”

Xia Yu looked at his coach.

The shop owner took the initiative to explain, “She mainly teaches traditional bows here—Qing bows, Japanese yumi, and English longbows. They also teach recurve and compound bows. You can choose whatever you like.”

“This one is a compound bow,” the coach pointed out.

Looking in the direction she indicated, Xia Yu saw a bow equipped with wheels, a sight scope, and other full accessories—it looked highly advanced in technology.

“The feature of this bow is that it’s easy to use. With the help of various equipment, it’s the least difficult, though it also lacks much of the fun,” the shop owner interjected.

“This is a recurve bow. The one you use at the club is also a recurve, but that one is closer to a barebow, meaning it doesn’t have any auxiliary equipment on the bow,” the coach pointed to another bow.

Looking at that bow, Xia Yu noticed its strong modern style, with a long auxiliary rod in front of the bow, whose purpose he couldn’t figure out, but it looked impractical at first glance.

“This is an English longbow, this is a Qing bow, this is a Ming bow, this is an American hunter bow, and this is a competition barebow,” the coach pointed out one by one.

These bows had no auxiliary devices, only the bare bow body.

Xia Yu was mentally filtering through the options.

“Hey, didn’t you come here with a specific bow in mind?” the shop owner said. “If you want to look cool or shoot well quickly, the compound bow is the best. If you want to pursue the feel and experience, the barebow is the best, meaning the traditional bow.”

“Choose carefully. Your current choice basically represents the path you’ll follow in the future. Mainly, a bow isn’t cheap either. Once you get into it, good bows start at ten thousand.”

Xia Yu pointed at the compound bow.

“Going for a compound bow?” Disappointment appeared in the shop owner’s eyes. As a traditional archery enthusiast, he had absolutely no fondness for this kind of bow, which he considered a cheating tool. Such bows were only suitable for show and were practically the weakest in combat.

Xia Yu shook his head and said, “I don’t want this one. Just give me one of each of the others.”

“One of each?” The shop owner was astonished. “This is a boutique store. Even entry-level bows here are five hundred each.”

“You also have entry-level ones?” Xia Yu frowned. “I don’t know much about this. Just give me one of each from entry-level to… well, the highest level.”

“Are you sure?” Not only the shop owner but also the coach were stunned. “These bows not only have different names but also different feels. No one can master them all.”

“I don’t know which suits me either, so I’ll just buy them all and try them out,” Xia Yu actually wanted to use each type, but he knew the shop owner and coach wouldn’t believe him.

“There’s no need to buy the advanced ones either…”

“It’s okay. It’s not expensive anyway,” Xia Yu smiled.

The two were left speechless.

The shop owner silently fetched the bows for Xia Yu while the coach quietly took out her phone and asked a colleague to come help carry the bows.

After renting a lounge room at the club, Xia Yu placed all the bows inside. Then he randomly picked a commonly used competition barebow, went to the twenty-meter range, and started practicing.

At four in the afternoon, he left the club, picked up You Xue, and together with An Siyao driving, they headed to Liu Manman’s house.