After the whole debacle with Qie Ranzhe, the Lin boys had to jump over the fence at the back of mansion otherwise if Master Lin were to find out that they had been in a fight, there would a second round of beatings in one day.
Since Lin Mingxu was taller than Lin Jingxie, he had to boost his older brother over the fence but because he underestimated his own strength, Wen Qinxi was hauled over the fence landing face first onto the ground.
"Dage!" loudly whispered a panicked Lin Mingxu jumping over the fence with ease only to find half of Lin Jingxie's face smeared in mud. "Jin-ge, l am so sorry," he said trying to brush off the mud on his face.
Wen Qinxi spit out some dirt that went in his mouth as he swore out loud, "Fuckkkkk!" which he soon regretted as it attracted Madam Lin's attention. Lin Mingxu pulled Lin Jingxie into the bushes to hide from their mother who came out yelling looking for the culprit.
"Who dares to use such vulgar language in my house?" she yelled holding a white slipper Lin Mingxu was all to familiar with. The boys patiently crouched down crossing their fingers that she would leave soon.
Wen Qinxi couldn't believe what a crappy day he had just had. All he could do was chant 'one billion yuan, one billion yuan' under his breathe otherwise he would have thrown in the towel and smashed his head on the wall to get out of the game.
The frustrated Madam Lin finally left giving the boys a chance to escape. They would have to make up an excuse for not coming to dinner tonight otherwise Master Lin would most definitely punish them when he saw those bruises from the fight. Not only that but Wen Qinxi had a food run waiting for him tomorrow and had to feed eight plus boys.
"Fuck!" he swore while lowering himself into a hot bath, his whole body hurt as though he had been hit by a steam train. 'Qie Ranzhe better be fucking worth it,' he thought as the heat soothed his aching muscles.
A concerned Lin Mingxu, who was currently washing the bloody evidence off their clothes, came in asking if he was okay.
"Jin-ge he hurt you, we need to teach him a lesson. You don't have to do what he says either," said Lin Mingxu sitting next to the bath with a wan appearance. It hurt watching his brother take hits for him and someone had to pay for this. If not Qie Ranzhe then someone as equally important.
Knowing fairly well what Lin Mingxu was thinking, Wen Qinxi decided to nip this in the bud otherwise he would never succeed and get the annoying CEO out of this place. "Mingxu do you trust my judgment?"
Of course, Lin Mingxu trusted him completely even when he made the worst decisions that ultimately implicated the both of them. Lin Mingxu blindly followed his brother no matter what he did. The teenager nod his head to Wen Qinxi's satisfaction.
"Then from this day forth don't ever mess with Qie Ranzhe or his boys ever again. If they start something with you, just come tell me about it but don't lay a hand on them. Did l make myself clear?" he asked in an authoritative tone expressing that there was absolutely no room for negotiation.
Though unhappy about Lin Jingxie's decision, he decided to accept it with a weary heart. As long as Qie Ranzhe doesn't cross the line again, he was willing to listen to his brother.
Early nightfall Wen Qinxi decided to go to bed using his near death experience as an excuse and that he needed Lin Mingxu to watch over him. Thus the two brother escaped Master Lin's interrogation.
Finally alone, it was about time for Wen Qinxi to have a little chat with the system and so he called for it. "Jolie would you like to come out now so we can have a little chat?" said Wen Qinxi in the most gentle tone as possible hoping this would motivate it to do better but the trashy system had an out of service tag flying in his face.
'You trashy system, l am going to have you demoted to a vacuum bot system!' he screamed in his head before he fell asleep frustrated.
The next day Wen Qinxi had Lin Mingxu distract Madam Lin by insisting they go out shopping while locking himself in the kitchen making fried rice for eight boys. He wasn't the greatest chef out there but he knew the most basic recipes enough for him to survive as a bachelor and his cooking didn't taste bad at all
He felt horrible for stealing Madam Lin's ingredients but he didn't have a choice till he could come up with a good excuse. The cook who had been kicked out was curious to know what the young master was doing but didn't have the nerve to ask.
Wen Qinxi packed everything up and snuck out of the mansion without anyone noticing. 'I fuckin feel like a criminal right now,' he thought as he struggled to jump over the fence.
***
Deep in the forest, Qie Ranzhe was practicing his skills with a wooden sword he had carved with his own hand. The teenager was hacking at a defenseless tree wondering if he had made the right decision letting Lin Jingxie live.
When he left to go find him yesterday, he was resolute in his decision which was to make sure Lin Jingxie wouldn't live to see another day. But yesterday as soon as he laid eyes on him, Qie Ranzhe couldn't do it as though choking under pressure.
For his past crimes, Lin Jingxie deserved to die but when Qie Ranzhe gazed into those upturned bloodshot eyes, it weakened his defenses. He and Lin Jingxie had been in each other's faces a couple of times before but he never felt this odd sense of familiarity before.
Frustrated, he kept on slashing at the tree in a sporadic immature way that would frighten any passer by. He didn't even care if Lin Jingxie owned up to his word, he just didn't want to see him again.
"Ran-ge! Ran-ge!," called out Manchu running towards him. "Lin Jingxie just arrived and he brought food!"
Though barely visible on his countenance, Qie Ranzhe was stunned speechless in disbelief. "He actually showed up?" asked Qie Ranzhe putting away his wooden sword his eyebrow laced together.
"Yep and everyone is waiting for your go ahead," said Machu as he led the way.
***
Wen Qinxi who had for the first time arrived at the so-called camp site was stunned speechless by the makeshift tents these boys were living in. He couldn't fathom how anyone could withstand the cold with a structure that could fall on you while you were sleeping. Though it was just a game, the experience was definitely real.
The boys gazed at him with scornful
eyes but none of them gave him trouble keeping their distance. It was only when Qie Ranzhe arrived that they seemed to relax as though their savior had finally arrived to slash down the horrible monster.
Qie Ranzhe didn't even acknowledge him with Machu asking him to start serving food. Wen Qinxi fake smiled at Qie Ranzhe thinking, 'How fucked up is this an expert programmer reduced to a lunch lady. Only Qie Ranzhe would fuckin do that.'
That fake smile didn't go unnoticed, Qie Ranzhe found it rather amusing and wanted to laugh but held back wearing a deadpan expression. Wen Qinxi served the fried rice on some wooden plates he had also snatched from the mansion.
He dished out food but no one told him to hand the plates over and so he left them there. However, there was one person he wanted to personally deliver a plate to hoping he would accidentally smash the plate in his face. Wen Qinxi walked over to Qie Ranzhe who was sitting on a boulder watching his every move.
With his plan in motion looking ever so innocent Wen Qinxi tossed the plate at Qie Ranzhe but instead of landing on his face, the guy actually caught the bowl without spilling a single grain. "Fuck! Were you a cat in your previous life? You reflex is abnormal!" yelled a flabbergasted Wen Qinxi not even realizing he had said it out loud.
Everyone was just looking at him as though he had something on his face. Wen Qinxi sat on the rock across Qie Ranzhe scolding the on lookers, "What the fuck you all looking at!" before turning Qie Ranzhe while pointing at the bowl of food, "eat...come on hurry up l don't have all day," but a stubborn Qie Ranzhe didn't budge.
He looked at the bowl then back at him two times in silence. "Oh fuck me, you actually think l poisoned it? Such a wuss," said Wen Qinxi taking the bowl away before stuffing his face like a squirrel making sure to eat more of the chicken too. He went as far as making taunting noises while at it, "Mmm so delicious. The chicken is so fuckin delicious mmm."
Seeing him behave so childish, Qie Ranzhe could no longer deny it, something was different about Lin Jingxie but wasn't sure if it was a good thing or bad thing. Qie Ranzhe gave the boys a go ahead and so like a pack of hungry wolves they dived in paying no mind to their eating habits.
Wen Qinxi gave him back the bowl with half of the portion gone and didn't even feel bad about it. With a fresh pair of chopsticks, Qie Ranzhe was about to eat when he suddenly paused to ask a question that had been nipping at him for a while. "Did you bang your head on rock when you fell off the waterfall because you are behaving so strange? Have you actually gone mad?"
"Wow, so me being nice is equated to being crazy. You know what fuck you Qie Ranzhe. Keep those utensils for next time, l am not carrying utensils here ever again," he said picking up his things, "Fucking ungrateful brat," he mumbled walking away.
He left behind a group of perplexed boys who couldn't believe their eyes. One the food was actually not poisoned, two Lin Jingxie served them and three he swore at Qie Ranzhe with no consequences. Hell must have definitely frozen over for something this ridiculous to happen.