Sure enough, their journey to the second depot was much more difficult than getting to the first depot. With the girls stopping by every now and then to poke at the flora, their journey was greatly delayed. Zhao Yuan appeared a little anxious. He handed his knapsack to w.a.n.g Xiang and ran ahead of everyone else.
He was unable to get through to Lin Wenxi on the phone. Several days ago, Zhang Dong had reminded them that the signal was very unstable on the mountain and requested the students to work in teams. Zhao Yuan was currently regretting not making Lin Wenxi stay earlier. The only thing was no one could guess what Lin Wenxi was thinking, with his temper and tendency to speak in half sentences!
Zhao Yuan ran back to the spot where he separated with Lin Wenxi earlier and then traced him via two different directions for a good ten minutes. When he saw no sign of Lin Wenxi, he couldn"t help feeling somewhat anxious. He cleared his throat and yelled all over the place. This kid couldn"t have gone on his own despite knowing well that the team couldn"t be separated, could he? Lin Wenxi didn"t seem like the type of character that w.a.n.g Xiang was, who would conceal himself and start playing a game of hide and seek.
"Stop yelling and come down!" Zhao Yuan immediately searched for Zhang Dong when he heard the latter"s voice. He found Zhang Dong half kneeling inside a sunken pit that spanned five meters on both sides, trying his best to pinch Lin Wenxi"s philtrum. Lin Wenxi lay there with a red and swollen face, and his eyes tightly shut.
"We need to do CPR! Hurry up and come down!" Zhang Dong shouted. When Zhao Yuan climbed three meters down into the pit, he let go his grip and allowed himself to directly plunge downward. He landed in a half-squat. Zhang Dong gave him quick praise before immediately ordering Zhao Yuan to conduct CPR. "Pinch his nose and blow into his mouth. Release his nose when his chest is moving up and down again."
"It"s been so long! Why aren"t you performing CPR on him yourself?!" Zhao Yuan was very resentful. Lin Wenxi had evidently fallen into the pit after losing his footing. He had fallen so hard that he stopped breathing. This was such a life-and-death critical moment. Moreover, Zhang Dong wasn"t a shy person. He shouldn"t hesitate at this time.
"I just found him! Stop the nonsense and start immediately!" Zhang Dong chided him sternly.
Zhao Yuan took in a deep breath and brought his mouth downward without hesitation. He followed Zhang Dong"s instructions to the tee. Sure enough, Lin Wenxi"s complexion gradually eased after several attempts. Zhao Yuan finally felt a sense of relief. He inhaled deeply and was about to repeat the resuscitation when he suddenly saw Lin Wenxi opening his eyes. Just as he was about to cry in excitement, he heard a crisp ringing sound and felt a stinging pain on his face. Lin Wenxi lay on the ground with his eyes wide open and his feet raised. He was so angry that he was finally breathing again but soon fell unconscious because of his anger.
"You do it! I don"t want to do it anymore!" Zhao Yuan had been the boss of his cla.s.smates ever since he was young with connections to both the light and dark side. Moreover, his father had greatly favored him since he was a child and he had no memories of ever taking a slap from anyone. Though he was so ardently rescuing someone, so much so that he himself was gasping, he was unexpectedly suffered Lin Wenxi"s thoughtless revenge.
Zhang Dong resolutely shook his head. "No, I"m not worthy! I"m not worthy!"
"Hurry up! It"s magnanimous if you perform CPR alone but you"ll be sullying him if you make a series of people perform CPR!" Zhang Dong said impatiently, with anger evident on his expression. He pointed at Lin Wenxi. "Will you, Zhao Yuan, really let him die?"
Zhao Yuan advanced toward Lin Wenxi with a large stride. Each time he breathed into Lin Wenxi"s mouth, he would check if the latter was showing signs of waking up lest he suffered an ambush again. Moments later, Lin Wenxi exhaled a long breath. Zhao Yuan heaved a sigh of relief. From the look of things, Lin Wenxi had basically been disqualified.
To his surprise, Zhang Dong broke off into a run and made a leap. Drawing support from the rattan and rocks that lined the steep sides of the pit, he smoothly climbed up and took off in large strides.
"Instructor! How should I explain this?!" Zhao Yuan yelled in panic.
"Yell louder if you don"t want him to continue in this contest." That was all Zhang Dong said. Shortly after, he said to the pager pinned to the end of his shoulder, "Everything is fine in Section C. I"m going to continue patrolling; my coordinates are..."
Zhao Yuan felt as if he had just woke up from a dream. Lin Wenxi was obviously forced to seek help from Zhang Dong... Zhang Dong"s favoritism couldn"t be any more obvious.
Lin Wenxi looked at Zhao Yuan with a pair of clouded eyes. He seemed a little clear-headed now. He had gone off on his own earlier and walked for a long time before finding himself back at his original location. This repeated, costing him a great amount of time. He thickened his face and followed after another team for some time, but when the members noticed them, he couldn"t bring himself to be so shameless and took an alternate route. He followed the uncommon marks on the map but unexpectedly found himself stepping on air and falling unconscious.
Fortunately, the pit wasn"t too deep. Moreover, there was also shrubbery and soft mud underneath, resulting in him only losing his breathing when he fainted. When he woke up for the first time, he felt an icy-cold sensation on his lips. Someone was placing his mouth on his, kissing him. In a moment of panic, he used what little strength he had left to slap the person. The second he woke up, regardless of how muddle-headed he was, he also knew that the person that he attacked earlier was the one who rescued him. He just didn"t expect it to be Zhao Yuan.
Zhao Yuan stared coolly at Lin Wenxi and rubbed his still stinging face with his finger from time to time. He fished out a cigarette and started smoking it with an unhappy expression.
Lin Wenxi rested for a short while. Then, he turned to look at Zhao Yuan with his typically tranquil expression.
Zhao Yuan cast him an aloof glance. Seeing as there was no guilt on Lin Wenxi"s face, he couldn"t help reevaluating just how shameless Lin Wenxi was.
After some time, Lin Wenxi finally said, "Remember to extinguish your cigarette b.u.t.t or we"ll get our marks deducted."
Zhao Yuan had been waiting for Lin Wenxi to let down his ego and apologize. He had secretly prepared a magnanimous and righteous speech but also wanted to Lin Wenxi suffer a little. For example, he could get Lin Wenxi to do his laundry, help him ma.s.sage his shoulders, and the like. He never expected those words out of Lin Wenxi. He resolutely stamped on the cigarette b.u.t.t to extinguish it and said maliciously, "Shouldn"t you be kneeling down and apologizing? Or better yet, kill yourself to express your shame!"
"Then why did you save me?" Lin Wenxi said unhurriedly.
Zhao Yuan exploded in anger. "Then shouldn"t you be apologizing at least?!" He had already given up his initial idea and was now settling for second best.
"When it comes to a great favor like life-saving grace, I can only repay it with similarly great favor and not words," Lin Wenxi said.
"I don"t need your thanks but since you"ve slapped me, you ought to apologize!" Zhao Yuan said fiercely, thinking that he would at least give Lin Wenxi a little fright.
"Since you don"t want my thanks, then let"s have a fair debate. You kissed me and I slapped you. Isn"t that debt settled?" Lin Wenxi said, sounding rather confused.
"You!" Zhao Yuan was so upset that he felt the need to express his displeasure, but for a moment, he was left speechless.
"Lin Wenxi, I owe you from our previous lives!" Zhao Yuan couldn"t help stamping his feet.
"I feel the same," Lin Wenxi said with a faint smile.
"Compared to how chatty you are today, you"re so much cuter when you close your mouth and don"t speak."
"I"ve never been cute and neither do I want to be cute. Then I better speak more in the future."
"Shut up!"
"What a sunny and cloudless day; the flowers blossom everywhere..." Lin Wenxi began to open his mouth and sing.
Zhao Yuan: "..."
Zhao Yuan held his head in distress. "Lin Wenxi, you... should return to normal. If the others know this is your character, they"ll be scared to death..."
"Beg me then."
"I"m begging you!"
"Kneel down and beg me then."
"Don"t push it!"
"Hit me then."
"Don"t you force my hand!"
"Come. Here"s my face. Hit me then!" Lin Wenxi brought his face close to Zhao Yuan.
In a fit of anger, Zhao Yuan pressed his lips on Lin Wenxi"s face. "You didn"t forbid the use of any tool, did you? I"ll hit you with my mouth. Do you want to give it another go?"
Lin Wenxi stood still as he blushed furiously. He pointed at Zhao Yuan. "You... You hooligan!"
"I"m happy about it. Do you want to give it another go?" Zhao Yuan was incredibly smug.
"I"m not going to argue with you. How do we climb up from this place?" Lin Wenxi pointed at the five-meter-deep pit with a nearly seventy-degree inclination. He couldn"t think of a solution at the moment.
"I won"t have any problem climbing up. Why don"t you beg me?" Zhao Yuan said.
Lin Wenxi pursed his lips and sat down, motionless.
"Hurry up, won"t you?" Zhao Yuan leaned forward toward Lin Wenxi.
Lin Wenxi gave it a good thought before climbing down while bickering continuously with Zhao Yuan. Earlier, he had been somewhat frenetic as well. A mischievous idea had come to him, prompting him to speak at length. He firmly believed that silence was golden. His father had sternly requested him to be taciturn when, as a child, he was on the cusp of dying. He never would have said those words in the past. He saw that Zhao Yuan had no plans of letting things go and also understood that he had no way of climbing such a steep incline. He pressed his temples. His body suddenly fell backward and fell on the ground.
Zhao Yuan immediately rushed over to him.