Chapter 21#
The Self-Deceiving Liar#
Looking at Lin Xiaodong’s close-at-hand smile, Gu Xi’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly.
It seemed that every time such a situation arose, Lin Xiaodong was the first to compromise.
He was also used to it—from the initial unease to becoming accustomed—the youth seemed as if he would never be angry.
No matter how excessive the things Gu Xi did, Lin Xiaodong would only show him a helpless, tolerant smile.
The one who is favored is always fearless. Gu Xi felt that he was currently in such a state.
The initial trace of guilt was suppressed in his heart. The man took the opportunity to stretch out his large hand, pressing on the back of Lin Xiaodong’s head, and unhesitatingly deepened the kiss in front of everyone.
Amidst the murmurs of lips and teeth, Lin Xiaodong’s breathing gradually became rapid. He said unclearly: “Enough… stop it, there are so many people watching, don’t push your luck…”
Gu Xi looked down and said: “You spoiled me.”
“Take care of yourself,” after a long time, he reluctantly let go of the person in his arms who was gasping for breath, and instructed worriedly, “I’ll come find you tomorrow morning.”
After saying that, Gu Xi also lowered his head and bit hard on the side of Lin Xiaodong’s neck, then straightened up as if nothing had happened, indifferently looking at the youth standing beside Lin Xiaodong.
In the distance, Lin Xiamian, who was chatting with employees to gather information, looked back with a smile.
He caught sight of the image of the two snuggling together, and his smile instantly froze on his face.
A person beside him sighed: “I told you so. Manager Lin is such a good-tempered person; even if he has a conflict with President Gu, they’ll surely make up quickly. Don’t you think?”
Lin Xiamian curled his lips and said with lowered eyes: “Yeah.”
But his eyes were icy, without a hint of a smile.
As a large shipping company with its headquarters by the sea, the first choice for organizing employee travel was, of course, inland areas.
“I heard the local landscape is exceptionally beautiful,” after setting out, a busload of people began to discuss enthusiastically. “There are forests, streams, and lakes everywhere, the air is superb, and there’s a winding mountain road built on cliffs!”
One person said proudly: “For this outing, I specifically bought a camera online, cost several thousand.”
“Then remember to take more photos of the handsome men and beautiful women of our company,” the person sitting next to him teased. “Especially Manager Lin and his brother; it’s a pity not to take more photos of brothers with such high looks.”
“Definitely.”
Lin Xiamian was dressed in casual attire, with a canvas bag on his shoulder, appearing at first glance to be a clean and sunny boy.
Hearing the colleagues’ conversation, he tilted his head and smiled at everyone but did not participate in the discussion.
He and Lin Xiaodong sat in the back row of the bus. As soon as they got on, Lin Xiaodong put on an eye mask, leaned against the window, and fell soundly asleep.
Lin Xiamian, who had originally intended to chat with him, could only regretfully give up.
Because they were sitting in the last row, he didn’t have too many concerns. Lin Xiamian’s greedy gaze followed the sleeping youth’s nose all the way down, staying on those two soft lips for a long time. Just as he reluctantly wanted to withdraw his gaze, he suddenly found a dark red mark on the side of Lin Xiaodong’s neck, which instantly stung his eyes.
This mark was very new. The shallow tooth marks seemed to be blatantly declaring sovereignty to him; or like a giant dragon warning a stranger with ill intentions not to touch his precious treasure casually, or else they would surely pay a painful price.
Lin Xiamian clenched his fists, wishing he could swallow Gu Xi alive.
Clearly he was here first, why…
The youth was in a turmoil of thoughts, his expression flickering, and he didn’t even notice the employees sitting in front were all peeking back at them.
Everyone who originally had a good impression of Lin Xiamian, after seeing this scene, expressed:
President Gu has a unique eye; Manager Lin is still superior.
Throughout the day, Lin Xiaodong perfectly followed the “sleep on the bus, pee off the bus” Chinese tourism method. By evening, he stepped off the bus in high spirits, only to find that everyone else was either pale or listless, forming a sharp contrast with his rosy face.
“What happened to you all?” He was even surprised, looking around to find that he was actually the most out of place.
And beside him, Lin Xiamian, who had been overthinking all day, was physically and mentally exhausted, without even the strength to speak.
“Brother, I’ll wait for you at the hotel; this is the room card,” he said with a hoarse voice. “I’ll go sleep for a bit first.”
Company regulations state two people to a room. Originally, Lin Xiaodong should have been with Gu Xi, but since he hasn’t come yet, it could only be like this.
Left with no choice, Lin Xiaodong had to shoulder the heavy responsibility of going out to find food.
Fortunately, not far from the hotel was a night market. The youth wandered through the bluestone alleys of the ancient city. From a distance, he could see the brightly lit snack stalls on both sides of the street. Tourism here was developed—not just snacks, but also various shops selling small commodities. Along with the aroma of barbecue, the sounds of hawking, rattle drums, and the bells from the distant mountains blended into one. The entire street was filled with a warm atmosphere of human life.
“System,” he asked while strolling, “did you say before that not every world is as peaceful as this one?”
System: “Yes. Why?”
“Nothing,” Lin Xiaodong said. “Just asking.”
He walked quietly in the crowd and suddenly saw a stall selling candied haws not far ahead, so he sauntered over.
“Haven’t had this in a long time. Grandpa, how much for a skewer?”
The simple-looking old man tremblingly stretched out three fingers.
“Only three yuan? So cheap?” Lin Xiaodong was very surprised. “Then I’ll buy—”
“Thirty.”
Lin Xiaodong: Simple my foot!
“No,” he couldn’t take it anymore, pointing at the skewer of candied haws and questioning loudly, “This thing can cost thirty? Even for a scenic area, this is too much! Twenty-five, if you won’t sell, I’m leaving.”
The old man said eagerly: “Deal.”
Lin Xiaodong: “…………”
What a loss!
“Haha.”
The system laughed at him with a mechanical voice that showed no ripples.
Lin Xiaodong stared at the skewer of candied haws with gritted teeth, wanting to eat it but also feeling cheated and not wanting to pay the money. While he was struggling, a hand suddenly reached out from behind: “Twenty-five, I’ll take one.”
Hearing the familiar voice, Lin Xiaodong whipped his head around: “Why are you here already!?”
Gu Xi took the candied haws and gave a downcast smile: “Business is finished.”
Lin Xiaodong noticed a hint of fatigue between his brows and thought give it a rest, your desire for control is just too strong, you want to follow me wherever I go.
But he didn’t point it out. He just wanted to say give me the candied haws and go rest for a bit, but then he saw Gu Xi calmly open his mouth and bite off a hawthorn in front of him.
Gulp
The youth involuntarily swallowed.
Lin Xiaodong walked beside Gu Xi, staring at him eagerly, somewhat like looking at plums to quench thirst. But the man acted as if he didn’t see him. After finishing one himself, he naturally bit off two more, even observing the shops on both sides of the street with interest—looking at the sky, looking at the ground, just not looking at Lin Xiaodong beside him.
At this, he finally couldn’t help but protest: “Hey, at least leave some for me, will you?”
“Hmm?” Gu Xi came back to his senses and gave a low laugh. “You want some? No way, I bought this for twenty-five.”
Lin Xiaodong: “…Stingy-pants.”
The youth rolled his eyes, bought a child’s rattle drum nearby and banged it hard, using it to express his disdain toward a certain “bad taste” president. But he didn’t notice they had walked to a deserted place. In a moment of distraction, he was picked up by the man and hoisted onto his shoulder.
“Ahhh help I’m afraid of heights—”
“Shh,” Gu Xi said, “look down.”
Lin Xiaodong’s scream stopped abruptly.
Sitting on Gu Xi’s shoulder, he stared blankly at the thousand-year-old ancient city in the valley below.
Specks of light were scattered on the cliffs, forming a continuous warm orange-red glow under the dim sky. The light and shadow reflected in the water rippled gently with the waves, like countless stars forming a river of stars, winding down from deep in the mountains and flowing into the distance.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Gu Xi said in an assertive tone.
Lin Xiaodong nodded involuntarily, then reacted: “Wait a minute, you’ve been here?”
“I came here once many years ago,” Gu Xi admitted. “I’ve always wanted to bring you to see it.”
“No wonder. I heard them say the location for this trip was decided by a high-level executive. I didn’t expect it to be you,” Lin Xiaodong said with smiling eyes, taking the opportunity to retaliate by messing up the man’s neatly groomed hair into a bird’s nest. “Not bad, not bad. Praise for you!”
“Just verbal praise isn’t enough.”
“Then,” Lin Xiaodong thought for a moment, jumped down from him, cupped Gu Xi’s face, and gave a loud smack of a kiss, which stunned the man. “Is this okay?”
After a long while, Gu Xi finally reacted.
“…Just kissing the face doesn’t count.”
“Even this doesn’t count?” Lin Xiaodong pushed his cheek with his tongue, narrowed his eyes, and stared at Gu Xi for a few seconds. “Mr. Gu, you’re a bit greedy.”
The atmosphere gradually heated up. Just as this dry-wood-and-fierce-fire was about to ignite, a short scream suddenly came from behind them:
“Ah, my balloon!”
The two who were almost glued together separated instantly.
Gu Xi cleared his throat. Although no abnormality could be seen from Lin Xiaodong’s face, his earlobes hidden in the darkness were so red they were about to bleed. He rubbed his nose a bit awkwardly, thinking fortunately it’s dark now and can’t be seen, otherwise what a bad influence it would be for a child to see.
“What’s wrong, little brother?”
After calming down a bit, he walked to the boy’s side and leaned down to ask.
“My balloon…” the boy pointed to a cartoon balloon caught on a treetop, his face full of sorrow.
Lin Xiaodong frowned slightly: “Balloon aside, where are your parents?”
The boy looked back and was dumbfounded. His mouth puckered, and he started wailing loudly on the spot.
A vein popped on Lin Xiaodong’s forehead.
Some people might not know yet.
But in his life, he hated children’s crying and fussing the most!
Since Gu Xi was still beside him, he comforted him a few times, but to no avail. The youth endured with a smile for three seconds, then grabbed the boy’s chin, lifted his head, forced him to meet his gaze, and threatened in a low voice: “Kid, shut up.”
With just one expression, his villainous image was fully revealed.
The boy hiccuped in fright, and his crying stopped immediately.
System: “…………”
It hesitated for a moment and finally decided to pretend it didn’t see anything.
“Very good,” Lin Xiaodong released him contentedly and stuffed the rattle drum into his hand. “This is for you; it’s more fun than a balloon. Now come with us to find the on-duty police here. The police will help find your parents.”
“…Th-thank you, big brother.”
By the time the boy was reunited with his parents, it was already an hour later. Lin Xiaodong let out a long sigh and said to Gu Xi: “I’m really not good with kids; it’s too much trouble.”
“But I think you did quite well,” Gu Xi said.
Lin Xiaodong looked at him, then glanced at the boy in the distance who was pulling his parents away, wishing he could get as far away from them as possible, thinking is there something wrong with your eyes? This is called ‘quite well’?
The man added: “That kid listened to you very much and stopped crying immediately.”
That’s because I intimidated him, Lin Xiaodong thought expressionlessly.
“I’m really curious about what kind of image I have in Gu Xi’s heart,” he said to the system. “I always feel like his perception of me has a deviation, and it’s not the kind I want him to have. It shouldn’t be my imagination, right?”
System: “Agreed.”
After a pause, the system added: “Oh, I forgot to remind you just now. Congratulations, you have collected all five Good Person Cards. You can apply for task settlement and leave this world.”
Lin Xiaodong was stunned for a moment.
Gu Xi beside him turned his head: “What’s wrong?”
“…Nothing,” Lin Xiaodong slowly composed his expression and flashed a normal smile at him. “I’m hungry, let’s go eat barbecue!”
After saying that, he couldn’t wait to run toward the barbecue stall ahead.
Gu Xi didn’t run, but just slowly followed behind him.
As the sky darkened completely and the lights of the night market lit up one after another, the man wandered on the bluestone road bustling with people. He suddenly remembered Xin Qiji’s poem: “Searching for him a thousand times in the crowd; suddenly looking back, that person is there where the lights are dim.”
…No, looking at the current situation, it should be: “Suddenly looking back, that person is there at the barbecue stall.”
“What are you dawdling for?” the youth in the distance stood on tiptoe, waving a handful of steaming skewers at him. “Come quickly, I can’t eat all this by myself!”
Gu Xi pulled his thoughts back and laughed: “Coming.”
He quickened his pace, striding forward.
“Task completed. Preliminary rating: B+. Reward points: 1000. Please report in time.”
“Host 68711 applying to leave this world. Attempting to connect to headquarters…”
“Connection failed. Reconnecting…”
“Connection failed. Reconnecting…”
“Connection failed. Activating system forced departure program.”
“Countdown starting, host please be prepared.”