Qie Ranzhe smiled without saying anything as he massaged his stiff muscles before getting dressed. Wen Qinxi felt so humiliated covering his entire head and back with the quilt leaving only the eyes peeking out while whispering complaints, "Ah so fuckin embarrassing." In actuality, he was hiding his blushing face which he didn't want Qie Ranzhe to see especially after going on about Qie Ranzhe being an octopus only to turn into an octopus himself. The guy didn't seem fazed as he finished getting dressed. He strutted over to Lin Jingxie with a sly grin saying, "I need to pay you back," and opened up a part of the quilt covering Lin Jingxie's face.
A startled Wen Qinxi clasped the quilt even tighter asking, "What are you doing?" but didn't get a response as Qie Ranzhe successfully peeled the quilt exposing part of Wen Qinxi's cheek. In a flash, he hurriedly leaned down and kissed the corner of Lin Jingxie's lip before saying,
"You kissed me so it's only fair that l kiss you back," before making his vanishing like a skilled magician. Wen Qinxi's face turned pale before the colour in his face swiftly flooded his cheeks yelling after him, "What kind of fucked up logic is that!" but of course, he was only left talking to air as Qie Ranzhe had already disappeared from the scene of the crime.
***
Being kissed by Qie Ranzhe, Wen Qinxi had felt his face exponentially heat up finding the experience somewhat pleasurable. Because of that single thought, Wen Qinxi was driven into throwing a fit but eventually calmed down when he recalled the words he himself said to Qie Ranzhe the previous night. 'The more he thought of it the more it turned into a much bigger deal than it actually was' were more or less the exact contents of his speech yesterday. Face slapped by his own philosophy, he stopped freaking out and passed his time babysitting Lin Mingxu.
Master Lin had forbidden Lin Mingxu from going to the guild trial which the boy insisted on joining. As to the reason why he wanted to join, it was to supervise Qie Ranzhe's interaction with Lin Jingxie when his older brother finally goes to the capital for his imperial exam. Of course, he didn't voice this to Master Lin as his true reason for joining the guild.
Wen Qinxi could understand why Master Lin wouldn't let Lin Mingxu join the guild as countless young men died during missions all for monetary and prestigious benefits. Knowing his son's skill he felt the brat would drag down Qie Ranzhe who would be obligated to keep him alive. As for Qie Ranzhe joining the guild, he wasn't worried, that kid had already beaten him twice. The boy was an unparalleled talent with a ruthless side to him which meant he was not only going to survive but take over that guild with ease.
Wen Qinxi was so bored watching this unruly child all day. It was not only boring but tiresome as Lin Mingxu tried to trick him twice. In the end, he had to tie him down into the chair just to prevent him from slipping away. They soon exhausted all their options with nothing left to entertain themselves with. "Hum, soooo boring!" said Wen Qinxi leaning his head back till he was looking up to the ceiling.
"Jin-ge just let me go. I will only want to watch the trial not participate," he said moving closer in his chair while making an annoying scraping sound against the floor.
Wen Qinxi didn't raise his head while replying, "You think l am stupid enough to let you go?"
Lin Mingxu paused for a moment as though thinking of another plan. After a couple of minutes he finally said, "Jin-ge, I need to go to the bathroom. Can you untie me so l can go," with a twinkle in his eye thinking this plan was way better than the last one. His brother wouldn't want him to pee in his pants, right?
Wen Qinxi finally moved his head scanning around the room as though looking for something. After a while, he placed an empty bottle on the table saying, "There is your bathroom," before leaning back against his chair again.
A stunned Lin Mingxu gawked at him in astonishment but didn't have a chance to retort when the door was pushed opened with force. They were faced by a panting Machu with sweat dripping down his forehead. He was leaning down with his hand placed on his abdomen while struggling to catch his breath. Two servants were trying to pull him out of the room while voicing their sincere apologies but Machu remained unmoved like a stubborn boulder. He had obviously run all the way here and fought off two servants just to get to Lin Jingxie. Wen Qinxi stood up to help him sit down but Machu shook his refusing before grasping Lin Jingxie's arm leading him out of the mansion while explaining himself.
A curious Lin Mingxu yelled after Lin Jingxie to release him but his brother was already gone. The boy gazed at the two stupefied servants who were wondering what kind of game the two brothers had been playing. He was about to ask them to release him but they immediately scurried out of the room with their heads bowed as though saying 'we didn't see anything' quietly closing the double door behind them.
Lin Mingxu, "..."
The unfortunate part was that he now actually felt like peeing. "Shit!" he cursed stuck in a stalemate with that empty bottle that seemed to be mocking him.