They say time moves slowly when you are bored such is the case for Wen Qinxi as winter passed by restraining his movements. Winter was actually more eventful than he was willing to admit. He took advantage of Qie Ranzhe's king-sized comfortable bed numerous times claiming payment for tutoring all the boys especially Qie Ranzhe. He didn't want him mocked in the future when he entered the palace and thus taught him various things since that was his skill.
Other than the tutoring, Qie Ranzhe trained every day at the Lin Mansion alongside Lin Mingxu though they seemed to clash heads all the time. Lin Mingxu trained so hard just to win at least once against Qie Ranzhe but it was all pointless. Qie Ranzhe was like an undefeated powerful hybrid constantly winning against him and it only got worse as the training progressed. Even Master Lin struggled to beat Qie Ranzhe narrowly claiming victory each time but that wasn't the most frustrating part. Master Lin noticed a pattern that was only after it happened the fourth.
The first time it occurred was when Lin Mingxu's instructor who had been training him since he was five years old abruptly quit out of blue. This happened three more times until Master Lin decided to investigate. It turns out whenever Lin Jingxie was around which rarely happened, Qie Ranzhe would ruthlessly subdue the trainer as though flaunting his skills like a teenager showing off in front of his crush. Of course, Master Lin didn't know that's what Qie Ranzhe was doing but all he knew is that it had something to do with Lin Jingxie so he banned his son from showing his face during practice.
Since Qie Ranzhe couldn't show off anymore, he resorted to a classic sympathy tactic which was very childish if you ask me. He would run over to Lin Jingxie after training with the silliest of wounds just so that he could be close to him which Lin Mingxu retaliated by showing off even more terrible wounds left by Qie Ranzhe while training. Such was Wen Qinxi's life, tending to two big babies.
He was so fed up constantly annoying Jolie asking the same question over and over again. Wen Qinxi wanted to know when Qie Ranzhe can finally meet up with the goddess Zhuo Huangzhi so he can relieve himself of babysitting the clingy CEO. The day he had been looking forward too finally arrived with a conventional 'save the damsel in distress' stunt and all he had to do was lead Qie Ranzhe in the right direction.
Wen Qinxi swaggered out of the mansion that day with a spring in his step while grinning from ear to ear. But he hadn't gone far when he heard Lin Mingxu calling after him requesting they should go together. Wen Qinxi didn't even mind bringing him along as he was too happy to care. They headed into the forest because that's were Jolie had said Qie Ranzhe would be. When they got there, Qie Ranzhe was in the middle of giving some tips to Machu and the rest of the boys in hand to hand combat.
Machu was in the middle with Qie Ranzhe while the rest of them circled around forming a ring. Wen Qinxi watched Qie Ranzhe from afar unwilling to disturb their training. These boys needed this training which would be useful in the future when their older brother would be officially recognised as a prince. He noticed that Qie Ranzhe had somehow grown taller as he had to look down on Machu while speaking to him. It was incredible how a balanced diet had activated a growth spurt in Qie Ranzhe making Wen Qinxi almost one head shorter than him.
'Even in fucking game you still shine,' sneered Wen Qinxi patiently waiting for him to finish. Qie Ranzhe was so immersed in his tutorial that he only noticed Lin Jingxie when Machu pointed at him. He glanced over at Lin Jingxie watching that handsome figure dazzling under the sunlight. Qie Ranzhe grinned as Lin Jingxie waved at him while the boys silently whispered to each other. Only Lin Mingxu noticed the atmosphere wasn't right. He had wanted to tell Lin Jingxie but Qie Ranzhe threatened to make his life difficult during training and so he gave up on the idea as he was fully aware of what Qie Ranzhe was capable of.
Qie Ranzhe finished explaining and had Manchu come at him one more time but that didn't end well for him as Qie Ranzhe's showing off spirit suddenly made its comeback. He basically became a bit more aggressive than usual taking him down in one go with Machu painfully tumbling to the ground. As his body slammed to the ground with a loud thud, the boys cringed backwards lighting a candle for their second in command hoping Qie Ranzhe would spare him. In a split second, Qie Ranzhe had Machu in a sharpshooter twisting his leg with minimum force but his opponent was in excruciating pain with the veins on his flushed face bulging out. "Ran-ge I yield, fuck!" said Machu with an ugly expression before Qie Ranzhe released him.
Qie Ranzhe helped him up while checking if he was okay but Machu stopped him. "Aiyo...you almost broke my leg," he said while rubbing his sore muscles, "Though I wouldn't mind losing it if it gets you saozi." The last part was said in a whisper as a smirk appeared on Qie Ran's face.
He patted Machu's back twice while saying, "You are a good man Machu. Today you get fifty per cent of my dinner," before strutting towards Lin Jingxie gently biting his lower lip. The way he was behaving would have you think he was having a cherry blossom moment like in the movies. Qie Ranzhe stopped right in front of Lin Jingxie as he leaned down whispering, "Was I cool just now?"
'Fuck! his so full of himself,' thought Wen Qinxi leaning backwards to create some distance between them. He suddenly felt a lingering tingling sensation were Qie Ranzhe's warm breathe had grazed his skin. 'Jolie, let's get this protagonist his leading lady before I kill him with my bare hands,' he instructed the system.
'Sureeeee, let's do that,' replied Jolie fighting off the urge to laugh at him.