When Nora reached the garage, it just so happened that Joel was also going out.When the two
bumped into each other, Joel suddenly called out, "Ms.Smith"
Nora stopped and looked at him."Is something the matter, Mr.Smith?"
Both of them were a little taken aback by the conversation
Both of them clearly shared the same last name, yet why was there such a strong sense of
estrangement?
Joel suppressed his emotions first.He handed the bank card in his pocket to her and said, "Louis
appreciates your kindness, but you should take good care of a valuable card like this’’
Valuable?
Nora raised her eyebrows.To be honest, she didn't think it was that valuable.
But since Joel was giving it back to her, she reached out unceremoniously and took it from him.Then,
she casually asked, "Do you still have work this late?"
Joel:
Upon sensing his silence, Nora looked at him.
"What?"
Joel was speechless for a moment.
"I'm picking up the kids.’’
Nora didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt about forgetting to pick up her child from school even when she
heard Joel's reply.
On the contrary, she said, "Bring Cherry back with you too, thanks"
After saying that, she got into the jeep first and drove off.
Joel, who was still standing where he was and about to get into his car:"?"
Even the usually amiable man’s lip corners couldn't help but spasm.
Just how heartless was she?! He held his forehead and went to the kindergarten.
As soon as he arrived, he saw Tanya holding Pete and asking, "What's your mom up to lately? Tell her
to come over to my place and have some fun.I'm the only one at home and it's boring me to death"
"Oh, okay” replied Pete.
Tanya was about to say something when she spotted Joel in the distance.
She got up at once, turned, and left, not giving him a chance to say anything at all.
Joel: Nora followed the map that Quinn had sent and arrived at an office building.
When she saw the office workers all dressed presentably in suits and leather shoes going in and out,
Nora wondered if she had come to the wrong place.
She dialed Quinn's number and asked, "Old man, are you joking around with me?"
Quinn let out a ‘hmph' and replied, "What's so fun about joking around with you? As if I would do
that...Go into the building and head to the basement.You can go in after you let them know your name."
"...Oh” Nora said.
She was about to hang up when Quinn added, "By the way, remember to disguise yourself so that
others won't recognize you.Didn't you want to keep a low profile?"
Nora scoffed, "Since you know that I want to stay low-profile, why did you still ask me to come here?"
Quinn:
Nora hung up, rummaged about in the car, and took out a bag of cosmetics.
It wasn't very convenient for her to do a lot of things these days, so she had learned some makeup
skills.
The makeup artists in the States had extensive and profound skills, so putting on makeup was no
different from a disguise.
Nora put on a lot of makeup.
She used a blue eyeliner and drew wingtips at the ends of her docile-looking almond-shaped eyes.
A coquettish woman appeared in the mirror at once.
Then, she took out red lipstick and gave herself full red lips.
By the time she was done, even she was close to not being able to recognize herself anymore.
After that, she took out a dress from the backseat.
It was a black, tight-fitting dress.
After changing into the dress, Nora looked incredibly gorgeous, as well as extremely different from her
original self.
She was confident that no one would recognize her.
Only then did she walk into the building while chewing gum.
Sure enough, everyone around her looked over curiously.
However, perhaps because there were too many strange people going in and out of the building, they
didn't think much about it.
When Nora entered the office building and walked toward the basement, someone suddenly stopped
her.
Two big and muscular guards said, "Stop right there.Who are you?"
"Smithra" Nora blew a bubble.
The ends of her lazy-looking eyes lifted up, making her look coquettish and flirtatious.
One of the guards looked at her warily while the other keyed her name into the tablet in his hands.
A short while later, he handed her a wristband and a number plate and said, "Your contestant number
is 028.This is your mask.”
He handed Nora a mask.
Nora:".."
She stared at the mask blankly.
"What is this supposed to be?"
The guard replied solemnly, "Everyone who enters the basement has to hide their identity, so masks
are given to all participants.The criterion for determining victory in the tournament is taking off the
opponent's mask."
While going down the stairs, Nora called Quinn.
She asked , "Why do we have to wear a mask for the tournament? Isn't a rule like that really strange?"
"Ever since the country started to crack down on the underworld many years ago, they've become
stricter on martial arts practitioners.A lot of them don't want to be recognized, so they wear masks.It's
much more convenient than putting on makeup.Putting on a disguise wastes too much time!"
Nora felt a headache coming on.
She said, "Why didn't you make that clear from the start, old man?"
She had spent so much time doing her makeup in the car! Had she known, she would have just
entered with a face mask and sunglasses! She looked down at the mask in her hand.
It was a half-mask made of silver that covered only the upper half of the face.
The lower half of her face all the way to her lips was left exposed.
The mask clung to the skin, so it wouldn't fall off if one didn't pull hard at it.
Nora curled her lips disdainfully.
She hung up and tossed her phone into her pocket.
As she followed the staff member leading her downstairs, the staff member asked, "Which sect are you
from, young missy?"
"The Quinn School of Martial Arts." Nora answered casually.
"The Quinn School of Martial Arts?"
The staff member was a very enthusiastic forty-year-old man.He said, "They are really amazing! It's
been so many years, yet they are still staying so strong! You have a promising future there!"
Then, he started to enthusiastically explain the things happening around them to her.
He said, "The number of people participating in the martial arts tournament this year is less than half of
what it was before.Most of them have changed jobs to make more money after they got married.Martial
arts development is getting weaker and weaker these days.Sigh!"
Nora:
Although she didn’t speak, the man went on by himself.He asked, "By the way, do you know who the
champion was ten years ago?"
Without waiting for Nora's answer, he answered his own question, "The Big Brother of the Irvin School
of Martial Arts!"
"He was just a teenager at that time and was even a thin and slender boy.Even now, I still remember
how he looked when he stood on the platform, coldly overlooked the bottom, and asked if the rest
conceded defeat.That was a really exciting sight.Nora cast her eyes down and said frigidly, "That's
because the Big Sister of the Quinn School of Martial Arts hadn't participated in the tournament.’’
The man chuckled and said, "Yes, the Quinn School of Martial Arts’ Big Sister is the most mysterious
person ever.I've heard that even in the sect, there are very few disciples who have ever seen her.Have
you ever seen her before?"
"..No’' replied Nora.
Apart from looking at herself in the mirror, it was true that she couldn't ‘see’ herself after all.
The man shook his head and said, "How pitiful.I heard that all the Quinn School of Martial Arts disciples
see Big Sister as their idol."
He suddenly leaned toward Nora, lowered his voice, and said, "If you give me 1,500 dollars, I'll take
you to the Quinn School of Martial Arts' Big Sister.What say you?"
Nora:"?"
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