The Taming of the Ruffian Hero

Chen Wanxin talked and laughed all along the way and told Lin Wenxi something about her family.

According to her, her father was a low-ranked official, and her family ran a small business. Throughout the conversation, she never told him what kind of official he father was or what kind of business her family ran. Obviously, she did not plan to let him know. He did not ask her for more details, as he only cared about the things that were important to him.

Lin Wenxi and Chen Yuxin helped each other all along the way. After a morning’s trek, Chen Wanxin expressed her concern about Lin Wenxi’s health, and then they found a place to sit down and have a rest. Chen Wanxin asked Lin Wenxi to keep an eye on her backpack and shyly said that she had to leave for a moment.

Lin Wenxi looked at her inquiringly. She had a blush on her cheek and said, “I have to use the toilet.”

“I see,” Lin Wenxi responded and turned around. It was time for him to take medicine now. He felt much better after working up a sweat today, but to his surprise, he somehow felt chilled to the bone at this place that Chen Wanxin chose. It was very windy and cold here.

After staying at the place for a while, Lin Wenxi could not help but sneeze. Chen Wanxin still did not come back.

He opened his backpack and took out a wool sweater, which Shu Xiaoman had wedged into his backpack back in the depot. According to her, she had managed to get this sweater from a boy student by making eyes at him.

Lin Wenxi put it on, but the next moment he felt somewhat hot and took it off. After taking it off, he felt chilled by the wind again. He was dejected and wanted to leave this place as soon as possible. However, he could not leave now as he had promised to take care of Chen Wanxin’s backpack. He was always faithful to his promise.

Lin Wenxin could not help but wondered, “Does anything happens to her?”

Zhang Dong stood behind some trees at a distance, staring coldly at the back of Chen Wanxin. Occasionally, he would shift his gaze to Lin Wenxi, who was still waiting for the girl.

The place where Lin Wenxi stayed now was located in a valley between two mountains, which ran in a north-south direction and was well ventilated. As it was late autumn now, winds often originated in the north and blowed toward the south. Once there was a wind, this place would become extremely windy and cold. Experienced travelers would never choose such a place to take a rest.

Zhang Dong discovered that since leaving Lin Wenxi, Chen Wanxin had been playing with her cellphone while leaning against a tree. Sometimes, he could see her stick her head out to look at Lin Wenxi, who was shivering with cold.

Zhang Dong smiled and wondered, “What’s she up to? Is she just crotchety? What an unruly girl!” The next moment, when he noticed the coldness and slyness on her face, he frowned and walked to Lin Wenxi.

He put one hand into his pants pocket, grabbed his belt with the other hand and placed a foot on a stone while questioning Lin Wenxi with a grim face. “You’d better hurry up. What’re you doing here?”

Lin Wenxi, who felt grateful for Zhang Dong’s help all along the way, nodded smilingly to him and then could not help but cough. He glanced around, looking for Chen Wanxin.

He sighed slightly and sat down while replying, “I’m waiting for her.”

Upon hearing that, Zhang Dong slightly clenched his fists.

“As your military instructor for the third-round competition, I’m obliged to urge you to advance at full speed!” Zhang Dong looked grim and gave Lin Wenxi a long, hard stare.

“Let’s wait a little longer,” Lin Wenxi remained seated and said with a shiver because of the cold.

The military instructor looked into Lin Wenxi’s eyes and thought, “He’s still stubborn and simple like before, but why does he look somewhat restless and uneasy now? He probably has a hard time growing up during these years.” Zhang Dong sat behind Lin Wenxi, lost in thought. As he used his body to block the wind for Lin Wenxi, Lin Wenxi suddenly felt warm.

“Thank you,” Lin Wenxi whispered.

Zhang Dong sat quietly and thought, “Don’t say that. I’m willing to die ten thousand deaths to make it up to you.” He stared at Chen Wanxin who was still behind the trees. After a while, Chen Wanxin walked out a little bit hastily and smilingly spoke to Lin Wenxi, “I’m sorry. I lost my bread (pad). I could only use some leaves.”

Lin Wenxi was confused and wondered, “What bread? Isn’t her bread in her backpack?” Despite that, he did not ask anything. He gave Chen Wanxin’s backpack to her, and then they started to eat lunch together. Chen Wanxin took out some light green sauce and smeared it over Lin Wenxi’s biscuits. Lin Wenxi ate them and found the sauce very tasty. He couldn’t help but smile and asked, “What’s this?”

Chen Wanxin was a little surprised. Zhang Dong coughed meaningfully.

“This is salad dressing. Haven’t you eaten any salad before?” Chen Wanxin said smilingly. She picked Lin Wenxi’s hands up and looked at them. He had long and slender fingers, and his nails were well manicured. She wondered, “He doesn’t look like a hardworking country boy, but how come he has never eaten any salad? Is it because his family sticks to asian cuisine or because they’re too poor to afford even some salad dressing?”

Lin Wenxi shook his head without saying a word. After that, he grabbed Chen Wanxin’s hands and said solemnly, “We have to set off now.”

They waved to Zhang Dong and then quickly set off. Zhang Dong followed them closely and looked around. He was surprised that he could not see Luo Yang, Chen Wanxin’s military instructor. He thought, “Where is Luo Yang? Why does he feel so assured to let his student to travel alone? But he really doesn’t have to worry much about this Chen Wanxin.”

At night, Lin Wenxi and Chen Wanxin spotted two weird things on the ground. Upon seeing them, Chen Wanxin got scared, her face pale. Lin Wenxi, however, could not help but snicker. They were two paper plates, each of them with a bleeding eye drawn on it.

Days ago, Zhao Yuan had put them into the two holes in his tent to scare Zhang An’an and Shu Xiaoman. When the two girls sneaked to his tent in the quiet night and turned their flashlight on, they were frightened to death and shrilled. As Zhao Yuan had stuffed his ears and Lin Wenxi’s ears with cotton balls beforehand, they did not get tortured very much by the noise.

Upon seeing this pair of bleeding eyes again, Lin Wenxi felt somewhat apologetic toward the two girls and thought, “Since that time, they’ve never dared to approach our tent again. When Zhao Yuan asked me to draw a pair of eyes on these paper plates, I somehow felt prankish and drew these bleeding eyes to scare them. Zhang An’an and Shu Xiaoman just like to gossip. They’re in fact quite nice and kind girls, and it’s really happier to travel with them being around.”

The next moment, he noticed that this pair of paper eyes are neatly placed together and their inner corners pointed toward the same direction. He thought, “These paper eyes were not inadvertently dropped by Zhao Yuan. He must’ve placed them here for a reason.”

Lin Wenxi went to the place the eyes pointed at and then found a pile of several stones. Beside the stones, he found two fried fish and a bottle of green sauce under several big leaves. He opened the lid of the bottle to smell the thick liquid. It smelt somewhat bitter and somewhat fragrant. He thought that this green sauce was probably some kind of herbal medicine.

Lin Wenxi felt sad upon thinking that he still had to take some bitter medicine, but then he felt pleased upon thinking of Zhao Yuan. He drank the green sauce up and smiled. He thought, “It tastes somewhat spicy and sweet. But why didn’t he leave me a note to tell me how to take this medicine?”

He picked up the two fried fish and went toward his tent. When he was about to enter his tent, he stopped for a while and then asked Chen Wanxin to come out. He gave her a fried fish.

“They are left here by Zhao Yuan,” Lin Wenxi said smilingly and then returned to his tent.

The fried fish was cold now, but it still tasted good. Chen Wanxin was happy to have some fish and thought cheerfully, “Zhao Yuan never forgets to take care of me and Lin Wenxi even when he’s busy traveling. Wait, it was Lin Wenxi who found the fish. Why not me?” Chen Wanxin felt dejected.