Bai Lian had barely taken a few steps before cold sweat broke out over his face. His lips tightened, his brows furrowing slightly, his stubborn expression full of restraint as he endured the pain.
Jiang Xun followed close behind him. One glance told him that the little misery magnet had injured his left leg. He couldn't put weight on it and limped as he walked.
Seeing him covered in injuries, Jiang Xun couldn't help feeling a little sorry for him.
"Can you manage? If you can't, let me carry you home. Don't be embarrassed."
Bai Lian glanced at the meddlesome stranger, meeting a pair of bright, round eyes whose outer corners drooped slightly, lending them a youthful innocence.
He looked away without stopping. Every step sent an agonizing pain through his left foot.
Even after a long while, the man was still sticking to him like glue. Bai Lian frowned impatiently and forced out a flat reply in a low voice. "No need."
His voice was slightly hoarse, yet still clear, somewhere between a boy's and a man's.
At least he'd finally spoken. Jiang Xun didn't push him. "All right."
The words had barely left his mouth when Bai Lian stumbled and fell to the ground with a thud, a muffled groan of suppressed pain escaping his throat.
Jiang Xun's eyelids twitched, and he hurried to help him up.
"Honestly, kid. I offered to carry you, but you wouldn't listen and just had to push yourself."
With Jiang Xun's help, Bai Lian got to his feet. Cold sweat covered his body as he leaned his weight against the wall beside him and gave the man another look.
They were clearly about the same age, and this man even looked younger than him, yet he spoke as though he were his elder.
He was short and skinny, with an injury on his head, too.
"Can you manage?"
Jiang Xun heard the doubt and disdain packed into those few words.
His mouth twitched. So he was looking down on him for being short? What was wrong with being 174 centimeters tall?
Still, he had to tilt his head up slightly to meet Bai Lian's eyes.
Fine. He looked at least 185 centimeters tall. Though lean, he was definitely the six-pack type. He certainly wouldn't be light.
Refusing to concede, Jiang Xun crouched down and slapped his own back. "Cut the crap. Get on."
Bai Lian said nothing more. He pressed his dry lips together, then brushed the dust off his clothes, though they were still dirty.
The young man frowned slightly before bending over and settling onto Jiang Xun's slender back, which looked as though it might snap under the slightest pressure.
Jiang Xun gritted his teeth and used every ounce of strength to stand up with the tall young man on his back, then walked forward as though nothing were wrong.
"Where do you live?"
Bai Lian lay on his back, his lean body slightly rigid. An inexplicable rasp crept into his voice. "Turn left, then right."
After barely two hundred meters, Jiang Xun was drenched in sweat. His legs wobbled, and the veins stood out on his neck.
A man could never admit he couldn't manage.
"We're here."
As though he'd been granted a pardon, Jiang Xun immediately set Bai Lian down. He wiped away his sweat and caught his breath while looking at the building ahead.
The neighborhood was packed with buildings so close together that neighbors could shake hands across the gaps. Less than a meter separated each one, leaving no room for sunlight. The sight was terribly oppressive.
The building before him had six floors. Who knew how old it was? The paint on its walls had yellowed and peeled.
All kinds of small advertisements and rental notices were plastered over the walls.
Jiang Xun had never encountered a place like this in either of his lives.
Bai Lian looked at his clothes. He couldn't identify the brands, but they clearly weren't cheap.
A sheltered young master who knew nothing of real life.
He looked away expressionlessly, then turned and limped into the stairwell.
"Hey," Jiang Xun called, hurrying after him.
The stairs were narrow and dimly lit. There was no elevator.
"What floor do you live on?"
Bai Lian braced himself against the wall and struggled up the stairs. His handsome, sharply defined profile radiated a coldness that kept others at a distance. "You can leave."
Of course Jiang Xun couldn't leave before getting him home.
He insisted on draping the young man's arm over his shoulders and supporting him up the stairs, one step at a time.
Step by step, they climbed all the way to the sixth and highest floor, stopping in front of a green iron door.
Jiang Xun leaned against the wall, panting. "You live way too high up. Climbing all these stairs every day must be exhausting."
Holding a key in his scraped and bruised hand, Bai Lian lowered his head to unlock the door. "It's cheap."
The top floor was the hottest in summer, and climbing up and down was tiring, so the rent was cheap.
Jiang Xun knew Bai Lian's circumstances. His parents' business had failed when he was young. Later, they had both died in an accident, leaving him saddled with enormous debts.
He was now eighteen and a first-year university student. On top of attending classes, he had to work several jobs every day to earn money to repay the debts.
If he couldn't pay, what had happened earlier would be his fate: the debt collectors would use him as a human punching bag.
The door opened, revealing the entire room at a glance.
It was a tiny single room containing a bed and a shabby table and chair. There were few household necessities, but books and exam papers were piled everywhere.
Ignoring the man standing in the doorway, Bai Lian pulled out the room's only chair and sat down. He silently took out a first-aid kit and began treating his injuries with practiced movements.
Now that he'd gotten him home, the mission was complete.
Yet Jiang Xun didn't leave. He folded his arms and leaned against the doorframe, watching for a while.
Oh, whatever. Might as well see this through.
I can't stand watching this. All that's missing is a tragic song about a poor little orphan.
Jiang Xun sighed inwardly, then stepped forward and took the cotton swab from Bai Lian's hand. He cleaned and disinfected the scrapes on his face first, then moved on to his hands and arms.
Bai Lian didn't resist. He was quite cooperative, in fact.
He remained silent, his unfocused gaze resting on empty space before quietly shifting toward the man before him.
His clothes were clearly expensive, yet his fingertips were noticeably callused. His wheat-colored skin was also a little rough, and there was a scar above his left eye. He didn't seem like a young master who had been pampered all his life.
He was good-looking, though.
Who was he, really? Why was he approaching me?
Bai Lian pressed his lips together. Suddenly, a clear voice with a hint of command sounded beside him. "Take off your left shoe."
When he didn't respond, Jiang Xun sat on the edge of the bed opposite him and gave an ambiguous little laugh. "What, do you need me to help you?"
Bai Lian bent over and silently removed his left shoe.
One look made Jiang Xun wince and frown. This kid really could endure pain. He hadn't even furrowed his brows.
His left ankle was badly swollen and covered in purple bruises.
If it had been Jiang Xun, he wouldn't have been able to take even a single step.
"Do you have any Yunnan Baiyao spray?"
Bai Lian lowered his eyes slightly, his thumb unconsciously pressing against his index finger's knuckle. He stiffly forced out, "No."
"Wait here. I'm going out."
Jiang Xun went to a nearby pharmacy and bought a pile of medicine, along with ice packs.
After running up and down the stairs, he finally returned, panting and carrying a large bag of medicine.
He spent quite a while applying ice packs and spraying medicine on Bai Lian's ankle.
"All right. Use these medicines according to the instructions. It'll take at least ten days or a couple of weeks to heal. Don't walk on that foot in the meantime, little brother, or you'll wreck it."
"I'm off."
Jiang Xun waved casually, then turned to leave.
Bai Lian's dry, peeling lips moved. "Wait."
Jiang Xun looked back at him, his eyes asking, Anything else?
Sitting in the chair, Bai Lian tilted his head up slightly to gaze at the man opposite him. The emotions in his dark eyes were unreadable. After a long silence, he asked, "Why did you help me?"
Jiang Xun said, "I'm a dog catching mice-meddling in things that aren't my business."
Ugh. Why did I just insult myself?
Bai Lian was silent for a moment. "What's your name?"
"Doesn't matter." Jiang Xun tossed out those words lightly, turned, and waved again. This time, he really left.
They wouldn't see each other again anyway. He was only meddling this once.
Bai Lian stared at the closed iron door, remaining in the same position for a long time.
Who knew how much time passed before he stiffly looked away and picked up the bag of medicine on his desk?
It contained all kinds of medicine, mostly for external injuries.
At the very bottom was a small red bag, bundled around something.
Bai Lian opened the crumpled bag to find a stack of red banknotes. At a glance, there appeared to be thirty thousand yuan.
A flicker of astonishment crossed his still, calm eyes. He stood up, limped to the door, and opened it to look outside.
The dim stairwell was empty. The man was long gone.
Bai Lian silently looked at the money in his hands, ripples stirring in his heart.
Thirty thousand yuan was enough to cover this month's debt payment.
[Ding-random drop of 1,000 points deposited into the host's account. Current point balance: 1,802.]
Jiang Xun had just reached the stairwell entrance when he heard the system notification.
He had prevented the protagonist bottom from meeting the Third Male Lead this time. It seemed he'd made progress on the main mission.
About an hour had passed, by his reckoning. Jiang Xun's lips curved slightly. [Six, does that mean I've completed this random mission, too?]
Heh. Another thousand points for completing the mission.
Six-Six-Six replied, [Unfortunately, host, you have failed this random mission.]
The smile froze on Jiang Xun's face, and he stopped in his tracks.
Hadn't he rescued Bai Lian from those tattooed men within the time limit and taken him home? How could he have failed?
Six-Six-Six said, [Host, Fu Yanli was the one who rescued Bai Lian from the debt collectors, not you.]
Jiang Xun replied, [...]
Fuck.
Jiang Xun's face immediately fell. So Fu Yanli's help had actually backfired on him?
He couldn't blame the man, though. It was all this damned system's fault.
According to the mission rules, failure came with a punishment. This time, it seemed to be a random punishment.
Random... how random? It wouldn't be another twisted punishment like the Lightning Five-Whip Combo, would it?
Jiang Xun shuddered, a chill settling over his heart.
As he was thinking this, something resembling a lucky prize wheel suddenly appeared in the empty air before him. However, the wheel had only separate segments, with no text on them.
Six-Six-Six said, [Host, spin the wheel. Once it stops, the pointer will randomly select one of the punishments.]
You really know how to make a game of it, huh? Jiang Xun inwardly rolled his eyes.
Then he took several deep breaths and reached out with a trembling hand to spin the wheel.
The wheel in midair spun rapidly, then gradually slowed until it came to a complete stop.
Holding his breath, Jiang Xun stared fixedly at the segment beneath the pointer. A line of text slowly appeared on it.
-Call the fourth contact on your WeChat list and ask...
After reading the rest, Jiang Xun's mouth gave a violent twitch.
Is there something seriously wrong with you systems? Huh?!
The fourth contact on my WeChat list. The fourth...
Jiang Xun opened WeChat. When he saw who the fourth contact was, his eyes rolled back, and he nearly passed out.