Chapter 70

Thanks to the scandal involving Song Seung-heon and others for dodging military service, Zhang Chengyuan's popularity unexpectedly rose significantly in October, leading to more job offers. However, compared to his peak period, there was still a slight gap, so he could still spare some time to meet up with friends.

One day, Zhang Chengyuan received a greeting call from Moon Geun-young. Such calls were common; the two usually exchanged one or two calls every three to five days, mostly to catch up on each other's recent activities and maintain their relationship, without much important business to discuss. However, this time was slightly different. Zhang Chengyuan sensed from Moon Geun-young's voice that she seemed very tired and exhausted, so he urgently asked for the reason. After several inquiries, he learned that Moon Geun-young was practicing Latin dance intensively to perform a movie role. The practice was so strenuous that she felt mentally fragile, and since she hadn't chatted with Zhang Chengyuan for several days, she wanted to relieve her mental fatigue by talking to him.

In August, Moon Geun-young had just taken on a movie called "Pure Dancer." In this film, as the lead actress, Moon Geun-young needed to display proficient Latin dance skills in many scenes. However, she was a novice with almost no dance foundation, and her body's flexibility was on par with an average person. Therefore, it was extremely difficult for her to become a Latin dance expert in a short time.

To master Latin dance, she started practicing for almost five hours every day from early September, and even ten hours on weekends, which was very exhausting. Especially the flexibility training, which needed to be accelerated, caused her immense pain. Despite this, she did not complain to anyone but endured it. If Zhang Chengyuan hadn't noticed her discomfort, she would have continued to hide it from him because she didn't want to worry those who cared about her.

However, even if she didn't say anything, the publicity team for "Pure Dancer" would eventually use her dance training as a selling point to attract public attention and promote the movie. When that happened, Zhang Chengyuan and others would naturally find out.

Understanding Moon Geun-young's difficulties, Zhang Chengyuan began to think of solutions.

Due to his long-term experience in giving qi massages to his four sisters and the Jeong sisters, he had rich clinical experience in relieving fatigue and reducing pain, even surpassing professional massage therapists. If he could regularly give Moon Geun-young massages, she wouldn't have to worry about it. However, given the principle of propriety between men and women, Moon Geun-young was already a grown-up young lady. Giving her body massages occasionally was fine, but doing so for several months would seem too intimate, and he didn't have that much time to travel to Gwangju. Therefore, this solution was not feasible.

Then, he thought of another method. In the body-strengthening techniques he learned in his previous life, there was a method to quickly restore physical condition and improve overall physical fitness. Perhaps Moon Geun-young could practice this. However, mastering this technique would take more than one or two months, and during the practice, she would need to ensure adequate nutrition and not practice other physical exercises simultaneously. While professional dancers' flexibility training might seem simple to Zhang Chengyuan, it was still a form of physical training. Therefore, if Moon Geun-young were to practice his body-strengthening technique, she would have to pause her flexibility training for several months. But wouldn't this be putting the cart before the horse? She had very little time to practice Latin dance, and the movie would start shooting in early next year or even by the end of this year.

Therefore, Zhang Chengyuan's second idea seemed infeasible. However, if he were willing to sacrifice his own cultivation and regress one level, he could forcibly enable Moon Geun-young to quickly master this qi circulation technique to relieve fatigue and reduce pain. The question was whether Zhang Chengyuan was willing to make such a sacrifice for Moon Geun-young.

After weighing the options, Zhang Chengyuan felt that a sister with such excellent character and a sweet, lovely appearance was worth the sacrifice. Besides, due to the scarcity of earth qi, his cultivation had not progressed for two or three years, and he might only reach the peak of "refining essence into qi" in this life. So, what did it matter to regress a bit? After all, he would naturally recover to his current level in a year or two.

Having made up his mind, Zhang Chengyuan told Moon Geun-young that he would meet her the next afternoon and asked her to wait at home. Moon Geun-young was a bit puzzled because Zhang Chengyuan usually met her at cafes or restaurants in Seoul and had never visited her home. Why would he suddenly want to visit her home now? Wasn't he afraid that her parents would ask too many questions and treat him like a suspect?

Around 9:00 AM the next day, Zhang Chengyuan took a day off from Park Byung-yeol and drove to Gwangju. Four hours later, he arrived smoothly. He first booked a suite in a secluded and quiet hotel, rested for about two hours, and then went to Moon Geun-young's house.

To welcome Zhang Chengyuan, Moon Geun-young had taken a half-day off and stayed at home waiting for him. However, while waiting, she still practiced dance basics diligently. When she heard the doorbell, she came out, drenched in sweat.

It was already the afternoon, and Moon Geun-young's parents were at work. Only Moon Geun-young and her grandmother were at home. Zhang Chengyuan deliberately chose this time to avoid her parents, who might be overly protective and suspicious. Her grandmother, who often accompanied Moon Geun-young, was quite familiar with Zhang Chengyuan and had a good impression of him, even considering him a potential future son-in-law. Therefore, if he wanted to take Moon Geun-young out, her grandmother would likely not stop him and might even encourage it.

Inside the house, Zhang Chengyuan performed a very polite and thorough greeting to Moon Geun-young's grandmother, making her very happy. He then chatted with her politely and warmly for about half an hour before gently suggesting that he wanted Moon Geun-young to show him around Gwangju and take her out for dinner.

Perhaps the elderly lady was charmed by his sincere attitude, or perhaps she was happy to see Zhang Chengyuan and Moon Geun-young become closer and have a better future. Therefore, Zhang Chengyuan easily obtained her permission and took Moon Geun-young out after she changed clothes. Of course, Moon Geun-young was also very happy to be with Zhang Chengyuan.

Leaving the house, Zhang Chengyuan drove Moon Geun-young straight to the hotel. Moon Geun-young asked curiously, "Brother Chengyuan, didn't you just tell my grandmother that you wanted me to take you to the Gwangju National Museum to see Chinese Song Dynasty ceramics? Why aren't we going there? Where are we going now?"

Zhang Chengyuan replied, "If I hadn't said that, your grandmother wouldn't have let me take you out. Well, we can go to the museum later. Let's take care of the important matters first."

Moon Geun-young "hmm"ed and did not protest, trusting Zhang Chengyuan to handle the rest of the day.

The two chatted happily about everyday matters and soon left the city, arriving at the hotel Zhang Chengyuan had booked earlier. Since Moon Geun-young was a well-known celebrity in Gwangju, Zhang Chengyuan helped her put on a large-brimmed hat before getting out of the car, which covered most of her small face.

Entering the hotel suite carefully, Moon Geun-young took off her hat and panted, "That was really close. I almost got recognized by an uncle I know. Luckily, I dodged in time." Her panting was not due to physical fatigue but nervousness.

Zhang Chengyuan laughed, "I don't think he recognized you at all. You were just being paranoid. Oh! You're afraid the media will misreport that I took you to a hotel room, right?"

Moon Geun-young threw the hat at Zhang Chengyuan and pouted, "It's all because you brought me to the hotel for no reason. I was almost scared to death!"

Zhang Chengyuan suddenly became serious, "Thank you for trusting me. I admit I didn't handle this well today. But I had no choice. If I did this at your house, your family might misunderstand even more and might even kill me."

"What is it? I asked you several times in the car, but you didn't tell me. Do you really have ulterior motives, Brother Chengyuan?" Moon Geun-young joked.

Zhang Chengyuan lightly tapped her forehead and scolded, "What are you talking about? With your innocent look, how could I have any evil thoughts? Besides, I already have a girlfriend."

"Girlfriend? Who is it? Tell me, I want to know." Moon Geun-young currently only saw Zhang Chengyuan as a brother and didn't have any other strange thoughts when she heard he had a girlfriend; she was just curious.

"It's Li... Oh, forget it. I'll tell you when there's a chance. Let's take care of the important matters first." In his heart, Li Xiaoli, Seo Yoo-ri, and the other four were his destined lifelong partners. There were too many women, and it was hard to introduce them, as mentioning one would seem unfair to the others.

Next, without letting Moon Geun-young ask further, he gently tapped her a few times, immobilizing her, carried her to the bed, removed her outer clothes, and placed her in a cross-legged sitting position. Then he sat behind her and injected qi into her...