Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 130: Experience

The warm water flowed from the shower head. Kuang Jinxin, who had been tense all night, finally relaxed at this moment. It was then that he remembered that he had forgotten to ask Chi Yingxue about his hand.

He had been so scared before that his mind was numb. Now that he had come to his senses, he felt somewhat guilty.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he opened the bathroom door after his shower, he saw Chi Yingxue waiting outside; his brows furrowed like little hills, and his eyes were full of impatience.

“Did you take a nap in there?” Grumbling, he grabbed Kuang Jinxin’s bathrobe and moved him aside before leisurely entering the bathroom.

“Isn’t there another bathroom inside?” The suite had two bathrooms, and Kuang Jinxin felt unjustly blamed.

“That bathtub isn’t as big as this one,” Chi Yingxue casually replied, starting to undress.

Kuang Jinxin, distracted, didn’t notice that Chi Yingxue was down to his undershirt in no time!

He was about to take a bath, likely to enjoy a soak in the tub, and he didn’t even care if the door was closed?!

The undressing didn’t embarrass Chi Yingxue, but Kuang Jinxin, watching from behind, felt extremely awkward. He hurriedly asked what he had been thinking about for a long time. “That hand of yours, is it okay?”

Chi Yingxue paused while taking off his undershirt, then finished removing it and casually tossed it aside.

“I almost forgot.” He turned around, reaching into his pants pocket. His bare upper body, broad shoulders, and narrow waist were now clearly visible. His skin was still pale, but now had a few more patches of red than when he was changing clothes at the bathing center in the level. The scattered red marks on his shoulders and abdomen were likely bumps from during the fight.

Kuang Jinxin knew those bruises would soon turn purple and take days to fade.

In a daze, something was pushed towards him by Chi Yingxue, pressing against his chest, stinging a bit.

Kuang Jinxin quickly took it.

It was a lighter.

Not the one confiscated in the level, but one from the hotel, with a logo on its body.

“You owe me one,” Chi Yingxue said.

Kuang Jinxin couldn’t help but laugh. “Even if you didn’t give me a souvenir, I couldn’t forget.”

Since the lighter from the game couldn’t be brought out, Chi Yingxue simply asked the hotel for one. No wonder he saw him whispering mysteriously at the front desk when they came back.

Chi Yingxue shrugged, posing as the life-saving hero.

As Kuang Jinxin looked on, he didn’t feel like letting Chi Yingxue have his way. “If that’s the case, including the time you pushed me on the Ferris wheel, we’re even now.”

Chi Yingxue paused as memories flooded back, a hint of regret unconsciously crossing his eyes. He almost forgot about that incident.

He lowered his eyes, seriously contemplating whether it was too late to push that incident to Yan Wang.

Taking the rare opportunity to talk about it, Kuang Jinxin, despite the inappropriate location, just went ahead and asked, “I always wondered, aren’t you afraid of pain? Why did you jump then?”

Chi Yingxue was silent for a moment, then looked up and smiled at Kuang Jinxin. “I’ve told you, I wanted you to see the cruelty of this world.”

“But you could’ve just pushed me. Why did you jump with me?” Kuang Jinxin seriously questioned, not easily fooled.

Chi Yingxue became troubled, the smile fading, and after a long gaze at Kuang Jinxin, he sighed. “Haven’t you ever had that kind of moment?”

Kuang Jinxin was puzzled. “What kind?”

Chi Yingxue leaned against the sink, not looking at Kuang Jinxin, but at a vague, unfocused point, his eyes slowly filling with longing. “Standing on a high place, looking down, and just wanting to leap…”

“Never.” Kuang Jinxin’s firm reply cut off Chi Yingxue’s “daydream”.

Chi Yingxue’s gaze refocused, falling on Kuang Jinxin’s unwavering face. After looking at the round little face for a while, he unhappily tugged at the corner of his mouth, reached out, and pinched it. “Boring.”

Kuang Jinxin winced in pain and was about to resist, but Chi Yingxue let go first.

The next second, he was pushed out, the bathroom door slamming shut in front of him.

Kuang Jinxin touched his nose, unclear whether the conversation had been clarified or not.

Inside, Chi Yingxue quickly stripped, humming an unknown English song, and started filling the bathtub.

Kuang Jinxin didn’t use the tub, staying under the shower the whole time, leaving the tub clean and dry. The spotlight made the tub glaringly white, but Chi Yingxue liked it.

Brightness and white were both things that relaxed him.

The tub was filled to eight-tenths.

Steam filled the bathroom.

Turning off the faucet, Chi Yingxue stepped into the tub, the heat spreading from his calves to his entire body and making him shiver unconsciously.

He lay down, slowly sliding until his whole body was submerged in the hot water, not stopping there.

The hot water covered his entire body, his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, eventually enveloping him like a blanket, warm and safe.

……

“It’s set for three in the afternoon.”

Just as Kuang Jinxin, with his wet hair, entered the living room, he saw the advisor shaking his phone at the captain, who was writing furiously at the desk.

Curiously, he asked, “Sheng Ge, what’s at three in the afternoon?”

“Yue Shuai is treating us,” Qian Ai replied. He was staring listlessly at the dark circles under his eyes as he slumped on the sofa, his face pale and voice weak.

Kuang Jinxin was startled. “Qian Ge, didn’t you go to sleep in the room?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Qian Ai said weakly, his voice full of sorrow. “Every time I close my eyes, it’s either knives falling from the sky or poison spikes growing from the ground…”

Kuang Jinxin’s dark memories, washed away by the hot shower, came flooding back at the mention, but seeing Qian Ai’s condition, he couldn’t blame him and could only comfort him. “We’ve already submitted our papers. Don’t think about that anymore. Think about something happy.”

Qian Ai raised his head pitifully. “Happy things? Do I have any in my life?”

“……” This question was too heart-wrenching, and Kuang Jinxin couldn’t answer immediately.

The doorbell rang.

All three in the room were startled. Qian Ai leaped up energetically, bursting with enthusiasm as he opened the door.

A hotel waiter pushed in a dining cart, smiling politely. “Room service.”

Xu Wang, Wu Sheng, and Kuang Jinxin looked bewildered, while Qian Ai eagerly claimed, “I ordered it. I ordered it.”

After sending the waiter away, Qian Ai practically skipped back to the cart, his face bereft of any clouds of melancholy, and even his fatigue was gone. His radiant appearance seemed ready for another five hundred years of battle.

“We have a meal appointment with Yue Shuai at three,” Wu Sheng kindly reminded.

“I know,” Qian Ai naturally responded. “That’s why I only ordered one set meal.”

Wu Sheng, Xu Wang, and Kuang Jinxin: “……”

They swore they saw regret in Qian Ai’s eyes.

The hotel set meal was a Western-style meal: appetizer, soup, main course, and dessert—nothing missing, with two dishes each for the main course and dessert. The presentation was beautiful, and the utensils were meticulously arranged, with knives and forks neatly lined up and the plates shining like new.

The only discordant note was a pair of intruding chopsticks, attempting to blend in next to the forks, seemingly trying to pass unnoticed.

“This level taught me a lesson: you never know when danger will come, so eat a meal whenever you can.”

As Qian Ai spoke, he took out the chopsticks, gripping them tightly, and then used his other hand to shove all the knives and forks to the edge of the cart until they were as far away as possible. Not satisfied, he then used an appetizer plate to press them down, finally breathing a sigh of relief. Only then, with a sense of security, did he begin to eat heartily with the chopsticks.

Salad, grilled steak, tiramisu—in front of the mighty Chinese chopsticks, all had to bow down.

The three teammates watching felt a pang in their hearts.

For a short time, not just Qian Ai, their entire team would probably say goodbye to knives and forks.

Turning away, Wu Sheng walked over to Xu Wang, who was fervently writing at the desk, curious to see what the captain had concluded after so long. But Xu Wang’s handwriting was too elegant, and after scrutinizing the densely packed notebook, Wu Sheng couldn’t understand a thing and had to ask, “Any insights?”

Xu Wang looked up and said in a solemn and emotional tone, “Knowledge determines fate.”

Wu Sheng chuckled. “So should we have everyone self-study for two hours a day from now on? There’s no limit to the subject.”

Xu Wang: “…Do you believe they would revolt?”

Wu Sheng laughed out loud.

Xu Wang put down his pen, asking, “How’s your foot?”

Wu Sheng shook his head. “It’s fine.”

Xu Wang said, “Let’s get a tetanus shot as soon as it’s light out.”

Wu Sheng said, “No need.”

Xu Wang looked at him without much enthusiasm. “It’s too late if something happens!”

Wu Sheng grabbed a chair and sat down next to him. “Are you worried about me?”

Xu Wang said, “Of course.”

Wu Sheng frowned, finding the response too straightforward, and felt like there was a trap ahead…

Xu Wang: “If you fall, who will lead the troops into battle?”

He knew it.

Wu Sheng sighed inwardly. He wasn’t one to say sweet nothings, and Xu Wang could say them but chose not to…

“Hey.” His captain suddenly leaned in.

The sudden closeness made Wu Sheng’s breath tighten. “Huh?”

Xu Wang looked at him with a smile. “I haven’t finished speaking yet. Don’t get distracted.”

Wu Sheng quickly nodded. “Oh, go on.”

Xu Wang blinked. “If you fall, who will pursue me?”

Wu Sheng was stunned.

Xu Wang tilted his head to look at him.

Suddenly, Wu Sheng said, “Could you help me wash something?”

Xu Wang was baffled by this unrelated question. “Wash what?”

Wu Sheng quickly pecked him on the lips. “You like you.”

Xu Wang: “……”

Did this person memorize all the cheesy lines from the tour leader’s guide to flirting?!

For the rest of the time, except for sleeping, Captain Xu was dedicated to correcting the skewed romantic tastes of his advisor, even when going to the hospital for a tetanus shot.

Wu Sheng’s foot injury wasn’t minor, but fortunately, it was just flesh and skin—no tendons or bones were damaged. After getting the shot, the doctor professionally bandaged the wound, and by the time everything was done, it was already afternoon.

The five friends took a taxi to the agreed-upon restaurant, only to find out it was a skewer shop. The storefront was quite luxurious; although it was a skewer shop, it was of a high scale.

At three in the afternoon, there were only a few customers in the shop. As soon as the five friends entered, they were warmly greeted by Yue Shuai, who was waiting at the door. “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time!”

Captain Yue enthusiastically led them to a private room.

Inside the private room sat four other members of the Yue Family Army: the handsome Su Mingzhan, Tao Anan, who always wore a fisherman’s hat and outdoor gear, Wei Tianhang, who usually had his hair trimmed short on the sides with a small braid in the middle, and the robust Ji Yiming.

As they arrived, the four stood up politely. Xu Wang hurriedly said, “Please sit. We’re all friends here. No need for formalities.”

Captain Yue immediately chimed in. “Exactly. Everyone here is like brothers. No need for pretense.” Then he shouted to the entrance, “Waiter, bring the dishes—”

Soon, dishes like stir-fried clams and grilled fish were served, followed by a variety of fragrant skewers: lamb, beef, raw and cooked tendons, palm treasures, rib skewers… The variety and quantity made it seem like Captain Yue had ordered everything on the menu.

“Let’s talk while we eat.” Seeing the table half full, Yue Shuai hurriedly invited them.

Eating skewers is a great way to chat, but after the incident in 8/23, there might be some changes in the way of eating.

The Yue Family Army waited for Xu Wang’s small team to start eating first, as they were the guests.

And indeed, Xu Wang’s team did start—each of the five, without exception, first picked up several skewers, removed the meat onto the plate with chopsticks, then laid the metal skewers flat on the table and placed them in a reasonable position before beginning to eat.

Yue Shuai watched them eat the meat from their plates with chopsticks, eating methodically and swallowing hard. “Is this… the sophisticated way to eat skewers now?”

Xu Wang put down his chopsticks and sighed, getting straight to the point. “I know you want to ask about the incident on 8/23. Don’t worry, I’ll tell you exactly how our team got through it from the beginning…”

Ten minutes later.

Captain Xu had only told half of the story.

But the members of the Yue Family Army had silently put down their metal skewers, sincerely adopting their “predecessor’s” way of eating.

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The author has something to say:

I solemnly declare that the content in the text does not represent my position. Skewers without metal skewers are soulless! (╰_╯)

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