Chapter 178: Qinghai Lake, The Hotel Swimming Pool is Truly Round

Half an hour later, the car pulled into a parking space at the Qinghai Sports Center.

After getting out, Cheng Yao glanced around.

There weren't many people nearby, making it look rather desolate, but since the competition was still two evenings away, that was only to be expected.

Though he had come for the tournament, truth be told, he also just wanted to have some fun.

The wager mentioned earlier was, of course, a joke. No matter how impulsive Cheng Yao might be, there was no way he would pull out five million to gamble recklessly. If he were ever to gamble, it would be in Macau, not here.

Chen Xingyan and the others were naturally just messing around; nobody took it seriously.

The group swarmed in and headed straight for the registration desk.

It wasn't just professional fighters participating here; association fighters were also taking part. Chen Ruirong, for instance, did not belong to the professional ranks.

Neither did Cheng Yao, so he simply filled in a certain martial arts association when registering.

Non-professional participants were mostly just joining in for the excitement, though there were also local fighters stationed locally who would inevitably show up to compete.

There were twenty-two foreign contestants, but the domestic competitors were more than double that number.

"Are you folks from Jinling?"

"Yes," Chen Ruirong nodded. Being a massive guy standing at the front gave him an imposing presence.

"Please go easy on us."

"Likewise, likewise."

After exchanging pleasantries, Cheng Yao asked out of curiosity, "Aside from this WCK event, are there other professional competitions domestically?"

"Of course. There are championships like the UFP, just to name a few—countless ones, really. Russians and Japanese are the most enthusiastic about organizing tournaments, and the major professional promotions also host plenty of smaller tier events under their banners."

The sports center staff warmly received them and briefed them on the local conditions in Qinghai.

"The temperature difference between day and night here is quite significant, so you all need to mind the cold. It's best to carry a thick coat or two when going out. With two days left until the tournament, have you decided on your accommodations?"

The staff member gave instructions while introducing the area, making everyone feel quite welcome.

The sports center did provide places to stay, but such basic facilities were hardly luxurious. Naturally, coming out on a trip meant they would be staying at star-rated hotels.

In fact, once people grew accustomed to five-star hotels, they would inevitably find faults with any other lodging—a common flaw everyone shared, no matter how messy their own homes might be.

Leaving the sports center, Lin Sujiao said, "This is a plateau region, so the ultraviolet rays are extremely strong, especially near the desert where it's very dry. Let's go buy some sunscreen and lip balm first; I brought my own hydrating mist. Xingyan, do you want to try on a few dresses?"

"I'm fine."

Chen Xingyan was wearing denim shorts and a white shirt, giving off a refreshing vibe. Sporting sunglasses, she looked effortlessly cool, and her hairstyle remained the same as usual—like a tomboy, yet remarkably attractive.

Lin Sujiao's gaze drifted toward Cheng Yao. "Cheng Yao, your skin is so fair and tender. You must use skincare products usually, right?"

"Me?"

Cheng Yao thought to himself, *My skin is like this because of cheat items; you wouldn't be able to replicate this.*

"I was born with it. It's always been this fair."

Qin Haoran chimed in with a sour tone, "As pale as a boiled chicken. Paleness isn't healthy; a bronze tan looks much more comfortable."

"Are you jealous?" Cheng Yao teased.

He had noticed that Qin Haoran had been targeting him the entire way here. Could it be because of Chen Xingyan?

Cheng Yao knew Qin Haoran had designs on Chen Xingyan, but a scumbag's intentions could be safely ignored, and this didn't really count as stealing someone's thunder.

Besides, Chen Xingyan was exceptionally smart.

A girl from a family background like hers would practically never look for a man like Qin Haoran. Come to think of it, there was no way Chen Xingyan would ever fancy someone as physically frail as him.

Therefore, no matter how close Cheng Yao got to Chen Xingyan, he felt no sense of guilt whatsoever.

"Who's jealous of you?"

Lin Sujiao kept pressing the issue, leaving Cheng Yao with no idea how to explain himself. He genuinely knew nothing about cosmetics.

As for Lu Mengyao and the others, they had only recently entered his circle, and their methods were far less refined.

There were plenty of scenic photography spots in Qinghai, such as the rapeseed fields of Qinghai Lake, Chaka Salt Lake, Menyuan...

***

The first stop was Kumbum Monastery.

This was the activity center of Tibetan Buddhism in China's northwest region.

The entire monastery was built against the mountain. Standing from a high vantage point genuinely gave one a sense of rolling peaks, winding paths, intricate layering, and magnificent grandeur.

Stepping into the monastery, ancient trees towered into the sky and stupas stood in forests, creating an extraordinarily majestic landscape.

Visiting a monastery usually meant nothing more than burning incense and paying respects to the Buddha. Cheng Yao and the others dropped some money into the merit box and left after taking a brief stroll.

Walking around the temple grounds felt a bit dull. Shen Yeye held his girlfriend's hand and asked, "Are there any lively bars around here? Let's go party at a bar tonight—drinks are on me! Cheng Yao, you should come along and have some fun."

"Bars? Going to a bar on a trip is so boring."

Before Cheng Yao could reply, Lin Sujiao shot the idea down, then suggested, "Let's go to Qinghai Lake instead. We can rent cars for a road trip; renting two cars will be more than enough."

Chen Ruirong nodded and said, "Then let's go relax by Qinghai Lake. I'm getting too old for bars."

"Sounds good."

Cheng Yao remained silent; he was equally opposed to going to a bar because the environment was simply too noisy.

If he had a choice, he would much rather stay somewhere quiet.

Checking the time, Cheng Yao said, "It takes three hours for the round trip. Let's head back by seven, hit the city for some late-night snacks at the famous night market, and then head to the hotel. How does that sound?"

To be honest, traveling with Qin Haoran and his crew felt restrictive. When he traveled with Lu Mengyao, their itinerary was entirely spontaneous—go wherever they felt like. With a large group, however, one had to constantly consider other people's feelings.

He thoroughly disliked that kind of dynamic.

Because of this, Cheng Yao felt this might well be the last time he ever went on a trip with these rich kids.

"Agreed, let's rent cars. In a place like this, a convertible is much more comfortable."

"Cruising in style is great, but aren't you afraid of getting sunburned?"

Eventually, they found a car rental agency in the city and rented a convertible Porsche Panamera, while the others rented a Maserati. None of them were foolish enough to rent pure sports cars.

Renting a sports car in a place like this was utterly pointless. Sports cars were meant for picking up girls, and since they drove them all the time back home, they didn't want to suffer through driving them on a leisure trip.

After driving sports cars so often, they genuinely found them tiring, making ordinary cars far more preferable.

Full of energy, Cheng Yao chose to drive, with Chen Xingyan and the others in the back, heading straight for Qinghai Lake, which was 120 kilometers away.

Qinghai Lake—known in Tibetan as "Tso Ngonpo."

Tsangyang Gyatso once wrote: *"If I could go into retreat within a single teardrop, I would harbor no doubts this very moment. Could it be that the worldly-unworldly monk truly went into retreat by the shores of Qinghai Lake?"*

Admission was one hundred per person. Upon arriving at Qinghai Lake, clusters of people were taking photographs, and some couples were even shooting wedding portraits.

Cheng Yao felt as though he had arrived at the edge of the ocean. The blue skies here felt vastly wider than those over other bodies of water; under the clear, boundless sky, not a single wispy white cloud could be seen.

The water and the sky blended into one uniform shade of blue, merging seamlessly at the horizon.

"Cheng Yao, Cheng Yao! Help me take some pictures, hurry up! I'll treat you to dinner tonight."

Cheng Yao sighed inwardly. Although she wasn't his girlfriend, she was still a friend, so he trotted over to snap a few shots for her.

With his photography skills, Lin Sujiao was exceptionally pleased with the results.

Cheng Yao looked at Chen Xingyan and said, "Come on, let's take a few of you. Your vibe will definitely look great in photos, mostly because you're good-looking."

Nearby, Chen Ruirong glanced at him with a complex expression, words hanging on the tip of his tongue.

If he hadn't known he couldn't beat him, he would have made sure Cheng Yao learned the hard way in the fighting ring.

Chen Xingyan tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and found a spot to sit down.

Squatting down, Cheng Yao began taking pictures of her with utmost care and focus.

In the distance, Qin Haoran and the others watched the scene unfold with flat expressions, muttering mockingly, "What's so great about a lake? Driving over a hundred kilometers just to stare at it for a few minutes—there's no thrill to it. Totally mediocre."

"It's just because we've never been here before. Once you've seen it, the novelty wears off."

"Let's play cards."

Zhou Qing pulled out a deck of poker cards. The group grabbed a mat, formed a circle in a shaded spot, and started playing right away.

After shooting a few sets of photos, Cheng Yao asked, "How are these?"

"Not bad."

Chen Xingyan smiled reservedly. She hadn't expected Cheng Yao to be such a skilled photographer; the guy seemed to have picked up an eclectic array of talents.

He could sing, play the guitar, dance...

Even his combat skills had reached such an impressive level. Chen Xingyan had never met a true genius before, but after meeting Cheng Yao, she felt that if geniuses existed, they must be just like him.

The gap between ordinary people and a genius was glaringly obvious. Take her, for instance—her martial arts skills, which she had taken immense pride in practicing since childhood, only lasted about a month against Cheng Yao.

In just one month, he had caught up to her.

Fortunately, she wasn't obsessed with competing or entering tournaments, otherwise, she would have been utterly crushed.

Seeing that Zhou Qing and the others had made a carpet of the earth and started playing cards, Chen Xingyan teased, "Stop torturing them, let's head back. Xiao Qiao, are you done admiring yourself in the mirror?"

"Coming."

*Xiao Qiao?*

Cheng Yao glanced at her. Was that a childhood nickname?

He had a nickname too; Lu Mengyao and Lin柯彤 usually called him "bastard" when fooling around.

Having made the trip to Qinghai Lake, there were no regrets. The scenery was genuinely worth the journey, though much of it depended on personal preference; they only ended up staying for forty minutes anyway.

By the time they returned to the city, dusk was already falling.

Cheng Yao drove fairly quickly. After returning to the sports center to grab their luggage, they headed straight for the Wanda Vista Hotel.

Once their rooms at the five-star hotel were sorted out, Cheng Yao looked at Chen Xingyan and the others. "Anyone up for a swim in the pool?"

"Aren't you smooth!" Lin Sujiao looked at Cheng Yao, asking with a beaming smile.

Cheng Yao kept a straight face. "I just learned how to swim recently. If you guys aren't going, I'm heading down."

"We're going. Meet in the lobby in a bit—we still need to get spa treatments. We haven't rested at all since getting off the plane, I'm exhausted."

"Alright then."

Returning to his room to drop off his luggage, Cheng Yao genuinely went for a swim, not to ogle women's bodies; he could look at Chen Xingyan's figure every day, and besides looking, he could touch.

Moments later, Cheng Yao had changed into his swim trunks and arrived at the pool.

There weren't many people, but there were a few.

With his physique and looks, Cheng Yao was the focal point of the crowd no matter where he stood.

He had barely swum a few laps when some pretty women approached him to strike up a conversation.

"Handsome, are you here by yourself?"

"What's up?"

"Um, could you teach us how to swim? No matter how we try, we just can't get the hang of it."

*Those swimsuits are blindingly white... wait, I mean, the pool is really nice.*

Cheng Yao didn't deliberately stare, though his peripheral vision inevitably caught glimpses of them. Just then, he spotted Lin Sujiao and Chen Xingyan walking over, prompting him to politely decline the lovely women's enthusiastic invitation.

"Sorry, my friends are here."

"No worries, no worries."

The two women glanced at Chen Xingyan and the others, then quietly paddled away.

Chen Xingyan cast a glance his way. "You sure are popular."

"I'm used to it."

"Ha, conceited."

Lin Sujiao splashed water the moment she got into the pool. Her figure was undeniable—full and bouncy.