Chapter 16#
Chapter 16#
Zhao Xing felt a faint itch on his cheek, and for some reason his body was heating up.
He even neurotically felt that Luo Mingshan’s long hair seemed to have slipped into his collar, messing with his thoughts.
Anyway, he became thoroughly uncomfortable all over.
Just then, a groan suddenly sounded from behind.
Zhao Xing paused mid-step and turned around, only to see Zhou Ming groggily opening his eyes.
Zhao Xing was a bit surprised. “You woke up that fast?”
The knockout drug’s effect should have lasted about an hour; only a dozen or so minutes had passed.
But on second thought, these items were over a decade old—they’d probably expired long ago.
Zhou Ming looked around, dazed. “How did I end up here? Why does my calf hurt so much? How did my hand get scraped? Why are you dragging me? What is this blanket? What just happened? Did I pass out? Why? Bro Zhao, why am I being dragged on the ground after passing out, while someone else is wide awake and being carried on your back?”
Dead silence.
Then Luo Mingshan slowly slid down from Zhao Xing’s back. “Bro Zhao, I feel like I’ve recovered too.”
He turned his head to glance at Zhou Ming, his eyes icy, utterly devoid of warmth.
Zhou Ming: “…”
Zhou Ming snapped fully awake.
He covered his mouth, wishing he could strangle the version of himself from a second ago.
Ahhhhhhh!
Why did he have to wake up? Why did he have to speak? Why was he so stupid?!
Couldn’t he have just stayed quiet as a knocked-out, ground-dragged dead dog?
Why wake up and spout nonsense, interrupting the sweet lovey-dovey couple?!
And one of them was so…
The image of Luo Mingshan kicking Su Dong’an to death and then smoothing down his own hem flashed through Zhou Ming’s mind. He shuddered, every hair standing on end, feeling his body grow cold inch by inch.
He hurriedly lowered his head, not daring to look at Luo Mingshan’s face.
Zhao Xing untied the rope around his waist, did a couple of stretches, and felt completely light.
The strange, unnatural emotions that had inexplicably welled up earlier vanished without a trace.
“Oh yeah, Bro Zhao, what about that tied-up kid?! Is he…” Zhou Ming suddenly remembered the important matter, asking frantically, his face turning pale.
“Don’t worry, it’s fine.” Zhao Xing first calmed him down, then gave him a rough rundown of the whole incident. “Go check if the kid’s home by now.”
Zhou Ming let out a long sigh of relief.
So that’s how it was.
So they had originally planned to kidnap the “big sister-in-law.”
So they hadn’t actually succeeded in the kidnapping but thought they had.
So the “big sister-in-law” didn’t even know she’d been “kidnapped.”
Recalling Zhao Xing’s words—“Luo Mingshan smashed the door and walked out on his own”—Zhou Ming couldn’t help but think of Luo Mingshan’s expression when he smoothed down his clothes after killing Su Dong’an.
Zhou Ming shuddered all over and hastily said, “I’ll go check if that kid’s in the dorm right now!”
With that, he scurried off.
Only Zhao Xing and Luo Mingshan remained.
The two of them walked side by side toward the dorm.
Zhao Xing scratched his head, suddenly feeling a bit awkward.
There were things he wanted to say too, like—
“What exactly were you laughing about back there?” “Why were you rubbing against me?” “You called me the wrong name again.”
But in the end, he didn’t say any of it. He just coughed a couple of times and looked up at the sky. “…The nightlight is really bright today!”
Luo Mingshan: “Yeah.”
…………
Silence.
.
To be honest, Luo Mingshan didn’t feel any awkwardness at all. Only two phrases lingered in his mind.
“Rubbing cheeks with Brother Xing feels so good. I want to do it again.”
And—
“Another day I want to kill Zhou Ming.”
.
Zhou Ming ran fast. Zhao Xing and Luo Mingshan had only just returned to the dorm when he burst through the door, panting.
“That kid’s really fine. He’s in his dorm playing with toys right now.”
Zhao Xing nodded. “Good.”
“But,” Zhou Ming hesitated, “it wasn’t because he was being playful that he came back late. There was something else.”
Zhao Xing’s expression turned serious. “What is it?”
Zhou Ming: “There’s a guy in Building 7 who got involved with someone from the women’s block. They’re in the honeymoon phase, writing letters every day. But his reform score wasn’t high enough, so he found that delivery kid, threatened him into delivering letters for free—that’s why the kid came back late.”
Zhao Xing frowned tightly.
Honestly, ever since he thought the kid had been kidnapped because of him, he regretted getting involved in this whole thing.
Because he’d made many enemies, and anyone too close to him was always unsafe—let alone a bunch of helpless children.
But what Zhou Ming just told him made it clear: even if he backed out now and gave up on earning reform points, those kids couldn’t just walk away as easily.
Zhao Xing furrowed his brow, tapped his knuckles on the desk a couple of times, and then slowly proposed an idea. “What if we lower the price?”
Zhou Ming: “Lower the price?”
Zhao Xing: “Lower it to 0.2, split it evenly between you and the kid. Once the price drops, no one will risk getting their reform score docked by AI to threaten a kid. Then cancel all matchmaking and meet-new-people events. Shrink the circle.”
Zhou Ming: “But Bro Zhao, what about your reform score? It’s not even two months yet.”
Zhao Xing: “I can’t just let the kids get into trouble.”
Zhou Ming was suddenly moved. He took a deep breath, slapped the table, and declared heroically, “If we’re lowering it, let’s drop it all the way to 0.1. I won’t take a cut either. Give it all to the kids so they can buy candy!”
Zhao Xing patted his shoulder and gave him an appreciative look. “Not bad.”
Zhou Ming: “Hehe! I follow Bro Zhao, so I gotta have Bro Zhao’s spirit!”
Zhao Xing: “Also, who’s the bastard who made our kid deliver letters for free today?”
“Song Yao from Building 7, Room 1304, Bro Zhao. You going to teach him a lesson right now?”
Zhao Xing wanted to go deal with that bastard right then and there.
But…
But his e-card showed a reform score balance of zero.
Zhao Xing coughed, looked at the figure who had just pushed open the door, and said, “Let Luo Mingshan practice on this small fry tomorrow. It’ll be a good test of how his martial arts are coming along. Sound good?”
Luo Mingshan: “Sure, Bro Zhao.”
The moment Zhou Ming heard Luo Mingshan’s voice, his whole demeanor tightened in visible nervousness.
But Zhao Xing didn’t notice his tension. Mostly because—
“Luo Mingshan, why is your hair so wet?”
“It’s too late; the drying room is closed.” Luo Mingshan said as he dried his hair with a towel.
But he moved very slowly, and his hair was soaking wet. Soon, the collar of his white pajamas was stained, and his exposed collarbones were glistening with water.
Zhao Xing’s voice suddenly turned a bit hoarse. “Luoluo, come here. I’ll dry it for you.”
Luo Mingshan paused, then obediently walked over, handing the towel to Zhao Xing with both hands, a faint curve on his lips.
He had just showered, his eyelashes still beaded with water droplets, cheeks flushed pink, and lips particularly red. His wet hair made him look like a lotus fresh out of water. That smile alone was enough to mess with anyone’s heart.
“Clatter!” Zhang Yue, who had been watching from the side for who knows how long, even dropped his cup. Flustered, he picked it up and turned around, but only exposed his blazing red ears.
Zhao Xing ground his teeth, then abruptly threw the towel over Luo Mingshan’s head, completely covering his face.
Unable to see, Luo Mingshan didn’t dare move or take off the towel. He just called out timidly, “Bro Zhao.”
Zhao Xing found this look utterly amusing, and immediately gave an unreasonable order out of mischief. “Stand like that, don’t move. Punish yourself by standing here for twenty minutes. Wait for me to finish my shower and dry your hair.”
Even though the punishment came out of nowhere, Luo Mingshan obediently agreed. “Got it, Bro Zhao.”
Zhao Xing patted his head with satisfaction. “Good boy.”
With that, he picked up his pajamas and went into the bathroom.
That was definitely the fastest shower Zhao Xing had ever taken—done in under ten minutes.
Zhao Xing whistled, casually wiping his wet hair with a towel. His lips curled up, his expression bright and triumphant. Hand on the door handle, he looked like he was about to unwrap his gift.
But the moment he cracked open the bathroom door, the smile froze on his face.
He saw Luo Mingshan still standing obediently in place, his head still covered by the towel, back turned to him.
But behind him stood Zhang Yue.
Zhang Yue picked up a strand of his damp hair, lowered his head, and gently sniffed it.
His gaze was almost infatuated.
“Bro Zhao, is that you? You finished showering that fast?” Luo Mingshan asked, still clueless.
Zhang Yue’s hand trembled. For a moment he wanted to flee, but somehow he stood frozen.
He walked around to face Luo Mingshan, somewhat dazed, reaching out to lift the towel covering his head.
“Fuck!”
Zhao Xing kicked the door open, strode over to Zhang Yue in two steps, and knocked him flat with a single kick.
The commotion was so loud it woke up the Lü father and son, who had just fallen asleep on the upper bunk, and Zhou Ming, who had been squatting in the hallway for some reason.
Luo Mingshan turned his head in a panic, moving to remove the towel.
“Don’t move!” Zhao Xing barked.
Luo Mingshan instantly froze in place.
Zhao Xing strode over, yanked the towel off Luo Mingshan’s head, and said coldly, “Enough!”
He had been imagining this scene while showering—how could he let someone else get to it first?!
Just then, Zhao Xing’s e-card spoke up.
“Zhao Xing, 10 points deducted. Balance: -10 reform points. Report to Repentance Room 1002 at the interrogation center within 30 minutes.”
Zhao Xing was stunned.
He had been arrogantly beating up Cao Cong in the classroom without issue.
He had faced off against eight of Su Ge’s lackeys in the cafeteria without issue.
Over the past month, he had done countless evil deeds, committed every crime, and practiced martial arts on real people without issue.
He had gotten tangled up in a kidnapping fiasco, handled ten people including Su Dong’an, and even accidentally triggered the restraint device—still no issue.
But now, just because he kicked a roommate, he was done for.
The whole room went silent for two seconds.
Zhou Ming frantically pulled out his e-card to transfer 10 points to Zhao Xing, but the transaction wouldn’t go through no matter what.
“It’s useless.” Lü Zhiqiang climbed down from his bed with a grim expression. “Once the balance goes negative, the e-card can’t trade reform points. It only goes back to normal after electroshock treatment in the repentance room.”
Zhou Ming’s face crumpled. “Bro Zhao! You messed up! You knew your card had zero balance, didn’t you?!”
Zhao Xing threw the towel to the ground in fury, his tone even more explosive than Zhou Ming’s.
“Fuck, I was about to see green crawling all over my forehead. Who the hell remembered the damn reform points?!”