In the middle of the night, Wen Niao hugged his plush bear and knocked softly on Luo Jin’s bedroom door.
“Brother Jin, I cannot fall asleep. May I sleep with you tonight? The villa feels so empty, and I am a bit scared being all by myself.”
Wen Niao spoke in a soft, gentle voice, his sleepy, hazy eyes gazing pleadingly at Luo Jin.
Inwardly, however, he was thinking: Ha! What is there for me to be afraid of? Stupid system, you refused to show up no matter how I tried to trick or cajole you before. But today of all days, right when I was sleeping soundly in a wonderful dream, you rudely dragged me straight out of bed. My lower back almost snapped in half!
To successfully complete the temporary emergency mission issued by the system, Wen Niao had no choice but to put on a pitiful act and knock on Luo Jin’s door.
Faced with such an expression from Luo Jin, Luo Jin found himself utterly unable to refuse, so he agreed.
Wen Niao happily trotted into the soft blankets. With that energetic movement, his slippers went flying off his feet and drifted away into freedom.
Luo Jin picked up the slippers tossed away by Wen Niao and placed them neatly aside. Then, he lay down on the other side of the bed, and both of them drifted off to sleep with entirely different thoughts running through their minds.
In the dead of night, the sound of a car engine echoed near the entrance of the villa.
Luo Jin turned over slightly. A chilly draft of air slipped into the blankets, making him shiver and instinctively search for a source of warmth nearby.
Through his groping, he happened to find a small human furnace.
He inched closer and closer toward the furnace until he wrapped his arms tightly around Wen Niao’s waist, burying his head against his chest before finally settling down in peace.
The two of them slept soundly, embracing one another tightly through the rest of the night.
Well, that would be true if one ignored the loud, roaring snores of the Husky right beside the bed.
When Wen Niao woke up the next morning, he felt as though someone had spent the entire night staging a thunderstorm right beside his ear. Lightning flashed and thunder rolled inside his head, leaving his brain buzzing continuously.
Wen Niao got up and tried to skillfully pry Luo Jin’s arms off his waist.
He failed to remove them at first, and in the end, he had to pry them apart with brute force.
Seriously, what on earth was this little wolf pup fed growing up?
He even ground his teeth and bit people in his sleep. How terrifying!
Nothing like this had happened during their previous sleep sessions!
Oh my god, he actually eats people!
Wen Niao stood up, rubbing the faint teeth mark on his skin, hoping it would fade away as quickly as possible.
When Luo Jin woke up, the spot beside him was already empty, and the blankets were neatly folded.
An unexpected guest arrived at the Wen household today: Xi Muyuan, a sophisticated and restrained man wearing gold-rimmed glasses. He possessed a tall, slender figure and naturally projected an overwhelming sense of pressure.
Word had it that this private tutor had been personally invited by Wen Jingyu himself, and he currently served as a professor at Jinning University.
To ensure that Xi Muyuan dedicated himself completely to tutoring Wen Niao and Luo Jin, Wen Jingyu specially appointed Li Yunqian as his exclusive study attendant, responsible for serving tea, pouring water, and tending to his daily needs.
Li Yunqian rejected the arrangement repeatedly using every excuse imaginable, only to have his objections blocked right back by Wen Jingyu playing the friendship card.
“Yunqian, you have stayed by my side for so many years and have always been my right-hand man. I trust your competence, and I know you will not let me down, right?”
Looking at his boss’s expression, Li Yunqian wept tears of frustration in his heart while launching into a furious mental rant: As expected of the boss, pure unadulterated capitalist evil! How am I supposed to find the heart to refuse this?!
In the end, Li Yunqian gritted his teeth and agreed.
Li Yunqian thought: What should I do when I am forced to become the personal chauffeur of my own ex-boyfriend?
Wen Niao thought: The enemy is too strong, retreat!
Upon realizing that his precious vacation had officially come to an end, Wen Niao channeled all his grief and anger into an appetite, venting his frustration entirely through delicious food.
To comfort his fragile, wounded little heart, Wen Niao instructed the kitchen to prepare his absolute favorite steamed Wuchang fish.
However, the servant regretfully informed him that the kitchen had not prepared any fresh fish today, because the new servant was not yet familiar with Wen Niao’s unyielding addiction to fish.
With no other choice, the matter had to be dropped.
His brain raced at high speed, searching for alternative ways to get his hands on some fish. As he pondered, his gaze drifted toward the ornamental fish tank stationed in the living room.
Tsk tsk tsk! As expected, where there is a will, there is a way!
The culinary quality of ornamental fish might not be very high, but hey, hehehe…
Wen Niao, the little demon king, was officially back in action.
Still half-asleep and yawning, Luo Jin walked downstairs just in time to see Wen Niao darting past him in a sudden blur of motion.
Yes, exactly. He darted right past!
The fringe over Luo Jin’s eyes was blown aside by the slipstream left in Wen Niao’s wake.
Luo Jin thought: Some dark-blur-looking thing just sprinted past my eyes. What on earth was that?!
Wen Niao shouted back: Hey, I came by, and hey, I am leaving again!
After staring at the retreating back for a long moment, Luo Jin finally recognized that the zooming blur was none other than Wen Niao.
Without a word, he picked up his pace and followed after him.
Only, Wen Niao ran truly fast. Luo Jin felt that his own frail little body could hardly handle this kind of torture.
After a light jog all the way, Luo Jin finally caught up to Wen Niao. At that moment, Wen Niao had already rolled up his trouser legs and was preparing to wade straight into the water to catch fish.
After steadying his breathing, Luo Jin walked closer to Wen Niao.
“Wen Niao, what are you doing?”
Startled by the sudden voice, Wen Niao jumped slightly.
Goodness gracious, that scared me to death! I thought Dad had come back! If Dad finds out I am trying to catch his prized ornamental Wuchang fish to eat, my backside is going to be beaten into full bloom!
Catching fish had to be done in secret.
“Brother Jin, I am planning to catch some fish to eat!”
“Are you planning to just catch them directly like this?”
“Huh? Isn’t that how you catch fish?” Wen Niao looked at Luo Jin with a blank expression.
Inwardly, he was screaming with bitter agony: Why on earth did I choose to maintain the character setting of such a pampered, helpless young master who has never lifted a finger?!
System: There is nothing we can do, host darling! The character setting is currently fixed like this. Stay tuned for more exciting developments!
“You cannot catch fish like that. Step out of the water, let me handle it!”
Looking at this spoiled young master, Luo Jin felt a mixture of helplessness and deep fondness.
Although such an idea was foolish, whenever it came to Wen Niao, everything inexplicably made sense.
After asking the servants for a fishing rod, Luo Jin followed the instruction manual, baited the hook, found a suitable spot to sit down, and patiently waited for a fish to bite.
Back when Luo Jin was at the orphanage, whenever he wanted to eat fish, he would wade into the water and spear them directly with sharpened wooden sticks. However, doing that in the Wen family’s indoor modern fishpond was obviously inappropriate.
During the long wait, Wen Niao began to grow drowsy, his head nodding up and down like a pecking chick.
“A fish is biting!” Luo Jin called out in pleasant surprise.
Wen Niao snapped wide awake instantly. Hearing that a fish was on the line, he stared eagerly and unblinkingly at the fishing rod.
Reeling the rod back in, Luo Jin tossed the thrashing fish into a bucket and continued patiently waiting for the next catch.
After more than an hour of waiting, they finally reeled in four fish, returning in triumphant success.
Handing the fish over to the kitchen, Wen Niao stretched out on the living room sofa to await the arrival of the delicious feast.
Feeling thoroughly idle, Wen Niao turned on the television and put on an entertaining animated series: Boonie Bears.
Luo Jin sat down on the other end of the sofa.
Although the cartoon felt a bit childish to Wen Niao, whose soul was already that of an adult, watching it again brought back a flood of warm childhood memories.
Even though we are no longer the little children sitting in front of the television set, whenever we catch sight of the things we once loved dearly in our youth, we still pause for them.
Entertainment made the waiting time fly by without feeling agonizing. Just as Wen Niao was engrossed in the show, a servant came over to announce that dinner was ready.
Wen Niao tossed the remote control aside and sat obediently at the dining table, waiting eagerly.