The Taming of the Ruffian Hero

Like a boulder that sank into the water, the piece of explosive news gave rise to great waves.

The young elite that sent shockwaves through the business world had made a public announcement that he wasn’t straight. Furthermore, he had also resigned from his position as a chairman.

More astonishingly, the personnel of his company collectively came out of the closet at the same time he made the announcement.

Countless young men and unmarried women fell into depression after finding out that these eye-catching handsome men and dazzlingly beautiful women were homosexuals. Public discussion ignited like wildlife. In a flash, everyone expressed their differing opinions and caused a huge tidal wave.

When his photo was published online, he was immediately named the best-looking chairman of the year. What kind of appearance did he have?

His sharp eyebrows were like the rainbow and his pupils glittered like stars. The bridge of his nose was tall and straight. He had sharp facial features and a cold, grave face that lent him an imposing aura even when he was calm. He was truly a giant among men, someone with a great temperament in addition to good looks.

He was surnamed Zhao, with the single name of Yuan. Though young, he was already a top gun of the construction materials business of the current generation. Not only was he famous for the astronomical figures in his company’s annual financial report each year, but he was also known for pouring in nearly half of his personal fortune into building charitable schools and developing the LGBT community.

Once, a busybody investigated him and learned that he was married. The busybody subsequently committed suicide by jumping into a lake.

There were also those who found out that Zhao Yuan was intricately connected to a certain famous pianist, a certain beautiful but unfortunate diva whose star power had diminished, as well as a man whose face was splashed across newspapers for sending his own father to the guillotine. They were all graduates of Jifu University.

Thus, news of a certain chairman murdering his wife in order to love in the open appeared in newspapers. No matter how many times the police personally clarified matters, it was no match for the barbarous growth of public opinion. By the time everyone recovered their senses and looked for Zhao Yuan to clear the dense fog that shrouded the whole affair, he had secretly vanished and escaped far from trouble.

Everyone’s target turned to Jifu University.

The former site of the university was unfortunately turned into a business area lined with tall buildings a long time ago.

One detective-minded reporter happened to find an old photo printed in a small town newspaper.

The main building of Jifu University had abruptly collapsed into a pile of dust and ash, revealing the complete vista of the setting sun. The sunshine that was so bright that it could cause one to stifle was now sprinkled over a lone young man standing in the wind. He wore a fedora and his suit coat billowed in the wind. His lowered head concealing his appearance as he silently lit a cigarette. Behind him were bits of paper that filled the sky. Upon closer look, those were bits of a photo that was torn to shreds.

Tracing back the time, the one who stood atop the ruins three years ago was named Lin Wenxi. What he torn to shreds was all the photos left behind in Jifu University. His hands were trembling but in the end, one of the photos still remained.

That photo was the one that ended up getting published online and provoked tears in countless people. It was of a time when he was the most youthful.

The time in which the photo immortalized was his ardent youth. Like ink that was spilled on fine writing paper, it gradually spread out diluted and permeated subtly. Under the white halo, Lin Wenxi could be vaguely seen to be squinting as if he had shed the heavy burden that weighed on his body. His two hands hung beside him as he allowed Zhao Yuan to freely embrace him. Zhao Yuan wrapped his slender body around Lin Wenxi as they kissed, with blue veins protruding on one of his arms.

He was like a bud of a bamboo shoot that sprouted after the rain. He was like an expansive forest of bamboo trees, stretching his branches and leaves for him. When the first light of dawn rose in early summer, before the morning star Venus became visible, there was no one else there. Only the light breeze of May quietly immortalized everything into an unobliterable youth.

—Epigraph.

Eleven years ago.

The admission rules of Jifu University clearly lined out that students would be undergoing a three-month military training upon entering the university.

“So long?!” Lin Wenxi wore a slight frown.

“Since university students can be exempted from entering military service, Jifu University especially arranged this as a form of compensation. The goal is to develop a strict discipline, a firm studying manner, blah blah blah…” His father, Lin Ziwei, who was also the headmaster of the university, was rather solemnly reprimanding his son.

However, that was only effective against adults who were fully eighteen. Lin Wenxi himself was clearly a seventeen-year-old child.

“You won’t be enjoying any privilege!” Lin Ziwei was obviously dissatisfied with his son’s reaction.

“I… don’t want to live on campus,” Lin Wenxi said, stammering.

Lin Ziwei’s expression turned cold as he scowled. His wife, Huang Xiya, immediately terminated her desire to send her son to school. She watched as Lin Wenxi walked out on his own without any expression. On one hand, she pondered if everything was prepared—be it clothes or commonly-used medicine. On the other hand, she couldn’t help wanting to put his son back into her belly like when she was pregnant with him. Once she thought of her pregnancy back then, Huang Xiya looked pensively at Lin Wenxi’s disappearing figure. “There isn’t much resemblance between them. In the end, he’s still more similar to me.”

It was the third day since the freshmen first reported to the university. After arguing with Lin Ziwei over this matter, Lin Wenxi had no choice but to haul his two heavy suitcases and carry a burlap bag on his shoulders alone. Looking like a penniless person, he followed the map of the campus and slowly made his way to his own dormitory building. Though his sense of direction didn’t improve simply because he was now in university, he still successfully arrived at his dorm after several twists and turns. The only thing was that he was covered in mud after getting splashed by a luxury car. The provocation, as well as narrowed eyes of the girl inside the car, caused Lin Wenxi to subconsciously frown.

His dorm was completely deserted. He assumed that his dorm mates had gone foraging when noon arrived. There were four beds, with the bed near the washroom still empty. To a person who had never slept in a top bunk like Lin Wenxi, this was a challenge even greater than the three-month of military training. The two other beds were in somewhat of a mess; the one underneath his was the only neat and tidy one. The quilt was folded until it resembled a block of tofu. It seemed as if the owner had gone through militarized training beforehand.

Lin Wenxi attempted to carry the leather suitcase up the top bunk but upon weighing it, he realized that his meddlesome mom must have stuffed a few more clothing or a pile of books inside. He failed to carry the suitcase even after several tries. Instead, the suitcase fell on his face and brought him down with it. The leather suitcase fell on the lower bunk and instantly made a mess out of the neat and tidy bed, leaving behind a muddy imprint.

While Lin Wenxi’s head was still spinning, he heard a voice coming from the door. He turned his head and saw his three dorm mates entering. He was sweating profusely and his good-looking face was burning red.

Out of the three people, one exuded the air of a bandit. He had a full beard despite being only eighteen or nineteen. There was a vague look of resentment in his eyes. He looked like Lu Zhishen with an unshaved head (a monk character in the novel “Water Margin”). The other person looked fresh-faced and handsome. His every movement exuded gentleness and ease. He looked at Lin Wenxi with an amused expression. The last one wore a mocking smile. His brows were so sharp that they looked like they were engraved onto his face. His eyes were like stars and his nose was tall and straight. His robust chin was faintly dyed with an ink-like, greenish-black color. Though he dressed in incredibly ordinary clothing, he exuded a bold and spirited air.

It was only later that Lin Wenxi would learn that they were Zheng Kai and Wang Xiang, and that the last one was named Zhao Yuan.

“My God! How beautiful!” Wang Xiang said, giggling. He saw a child with silk-like strands of black hair, picturesque eyebrows, limpid pupils and thin lips. He looked so natural that it seemed as if spring flowers had mistaken the season and bloomed amongst the cold frost. One couldn’t help feeling an inexplicable sympathy for him.

Zheng Kai put on a stern expression and said nothing.

Zhao Yuan placed his hand on the chair with the other placed on his hips. While picking his teeth, he looked at Lin Wenxi as if nothing had happened. “Are you okay?” he asked. The moment he entered the door, he saw full and plump little buttocks swinging nonstop and then a boy falling down along with a suitcase. The boy looked so pathetic that despite being rather concerned, he felt more like laughing.

“He has become a bully in a second,” Lin Wenxi thought upon seeing this. He pondered over it a little longer and passed Wang Xiang a note.

Unexpectedly, Wang Xiang started reading the note out loud after receiving it. “Nice to meet you, friend. I’m new here, so please treat me kindly. I’ll suffer from insomnia if I sleep on the top bunk. Is it okay if we exchange beds?” Lin Wenxi had originally planned to leave the note after putting away his suitcase and go out for lunch. When he saw that Wang Xiang was the owner of the tidy bed, he directly handed him the slip of paper.

Once Wang Xiang finished reading the note, he and Zhao Yuan raised their heads and guffawed. Lin Wenxi cast Wang Xiang a furious look, his face turning even redder.

“Look, look. Everyone thinks this bed belongs to me. You might as well hand it to me.” Wang Xiang was grinning at Zheng Kai.

“You are judging someone by their appearance, youngster. This bed is mine!” The unruly Zheng Kai first lit up a cigarette before spitting out a mouthful of smoke above Lin Wenxi’s head.

Zhao Yuan glanced at Lin Wenxi with a small smile. “Zheng Kai, I’m also taking the lower bunk. I’ll trade with you.”

Zheng Kai scrunched his nose after hearing what he said. “Then you must help make my bed again. I want to see if your bed-making skills are up to my level.”

Lin Wenxi made a noise as quiet as a mosquito in answering him and slowly moved Zheng Kai’s “bed items” without saying a word. He unfolded the bed sheet, applied pressure on the corners of the bed, and removed creases on the sheet. He didn’t rest for a single moment during the whole process and in no time at all, an even neater bed sheet, the quilt folded to form neat edges, and a new appearance came into view. Zheng Kai couldn’t help praising him in his heart. Being a fresh graduate of a military school who underwent extremely strict military training, he had unexpectedly lost to a child who hadn’t even grown a mustache yet.

Meanwhile, in Wang Xiang’s eyes, Lin Wenxi’s actions earlier were more like an artistic performance. The use of the phrase “lightly pinching in the strings, slowly strumming and plucking them” was incredibly apt for him. Immediately, he felt a sense of familiarity with Lin Wenxi as if he was an intimate friend. He jumped around a little, sometimes calling their new dorm mate the reincarnation of Lin Daiyu (a female character in the novel “The Dream of Red Mansion”) and sometimes saying his skin was soft and smooth or his face was icily cold. Zheng Kai felt that his ears were unconsciously shivering and his hands were somewhat itchy.

Soon enough, Zheng Kai pressed Wang Xiang down on the bed and resolutely threw several punches at him through the quilt. “You’re so verbose even though you’re a man! Don’t you find that to be pedantic?!”

As Lin Wenxi was still not talking, Zhao Yuan patted his quilt with a smile. “We’re all brothers of the same dorm. If you want the lower bunk, I’ll take the top one.”

Wang Xiang suddenly escaped Zheng Kai’s clutches and laughed. “Zhao Yuan, if you sleep up there and twitch too loudly, you’ll make this young master below you cry. By the way, young master, we still don’t know your name. Why don’t you introduce yourself? You can also tell us your three measurements.”

Lin Wenxi didn’t speak even after a long time had passed. This bored Wang Xiang and he ran off to the dormitory next door to make some noise. Zheng Kai left for the court with a basketball in hand to look for his friends. Before leaving, he asked Zhao Yuan, “Zhao Yuan, you know how to play basketball, don’t you? Let’s have a one-on-one match.”

“Go ahead. I still have something to do,” Zhao Yuan replied, smiling. Zheng Yuan left on his own, a little miffed. When everything was finally peaceful, Lin Wenxi went to the washroom to change clothes.

“Yo? He isn’t even saying thanks?” Zhao Yuan smiled pensively. His sight fell on Lin Wenxi’s luggage.

Lin Wenxi entered the washroom quietly and walked out dressed in a pair of casual black shorts and a white, feather-like shirt with short sleeves. The shirt set off his pale and thin cheeks, making him look like an otherworldly figure free from the vulgarity of the mortal world. Zhao Yuan’s heart jumped in surprise and a smile soon appeared on his face. “Wenxi, have you eaten?”

Lin Wenxi nodded.

“That’s enough. How can a busy kid like you have time to eat?” Zhao Yuan pointed at the electronic keyboard, the variety of books, umbrella, and medicine that Lin Wenxi took out. For a moment, he wanted to laugh.

Lin Wenxi paused for a moment. How would he know the location of the dining hall or canteen when he was new to the university? For Zhao Yuan to speak this way, he was just trying to use language as well as possible actions to terminate this conversation as early as possible.

“Let’s go.” Zhao Yuan put his arm over Lin Wenxi’s shoulders, wanting to leave. Lin Wenxi followed along in a daze. It wasn’t until they were on their way that he recalled something and asked, “Didn’t you guys already eat?”

“I wasn’t full.” Zhao Yuan smiled as he touched his belly that was almost bursting from his hotpot lunch earlier. He fiercely suppressed the belch that would betray his willpower.

During their subsequent meal, Zhao Yuan stuffed himself so much that he nearly spewed blood. Even so, he was perfectly content because this kid gave him an inherently familiar feeling.