Chapter 29: Arrogant Big Star

Xu Qing had been waiting nervously nearby, watching the shifting expressions on Lin Wu’s face.

He could more or less guess who the sudden caller was.

Lin Wu had just worn that heartbreaking look like he was about to cry, yet the person on the other end had gotten angry instead.

The two of them had even started arguing.

Xu Qing frowned along with him. Finally, Lin Wu set the phone down.

“It’s Ji Xingci,” Lin Wu said, his face showing a hint of bewilderment.

“He told me to wait for him, then hung up.”

“Ah?” Xu Qing blurted out.

Lin Wu rephrased it for clarity. “He’s coming to find me.”

Xu Qing tensed up immediately. “You absolutely can’t go with him.”

“Otherwise, let’s head out right now and hide somewhere…”

Xu Qing grabbed his arm to pull him along, but Lin Wu’s footsteps faltered with hesitation.

“But… he’s coming to find me…”

“He’s already out on a date with someone else!”

Lin Wu bowed his head, still wavering.

“But… he’s coming to find me…”

Xu Qing’s eyes bulged wide. For the first time, Lin Wu’s lovesick obliviousness made his face flush red with frustration. He could only shake Lin Wu vigorously.

“05, snap out of it!”

…

This marked the second time Ji Xingci had climbed the stairs of the Old Residential Building. The first time, he had been filled with disdain; this time, anxiety burned in his chest like fire.

Halfway up, he suddenly halted and clutched his stomach. Why had it started hurting out of nowhere?

Had he taken the stairs too fast?

By now, Xu Qing had barely managed to drag the still-hesitant Lin Wu out the door. Neither of them expected to crash right into the oncoming Ji Xingci.

“Lin Wu.”

Ji Xingci gritted his teeth. He couldn’t stand seeing the two of them tugging at each other like that. “Get over here!”

Lin Wu simply stared at him without moving. Moments later, Ji Xingci charged forward and seized him by the collar.

Xu Qing startled.

“What the hell are you doing? 05 never said he wanted to go with you.”

“Ha!” Ji Xingci whipped around to face Lin Wu.

“You going with him, or with me?”

Lin Wu pressed his lips together, eyes fixed on Ji Xingci, not answering right away. That set Ji Xingci off instantly.

“You accuse me of being on a date, but here you are hanging out with Xu Qing—what the hell is that supposed to mean!”

“We’re roommates!”

Xu Qing had never spoken so loudly in his life. “You’ve ghosted him for days and now you’re off on blind dates. 05…

Of course he’d think about breaking up with you!”

The air fell silent for a beat.

Ji Xingci’s voice turned icy. “What are you trying to do?”

Even Lin Wu flinched at Ji Xingci’s darkened expression. Then Ji Xingci yanked his collar again, sending him stumbling forward a step.

“Have the balls to say that to my face again?”

“You bastard—I’ve given you everything…”

Ji Xingci clamped his lips shut, his ears turning red.

Damn it, he’d nearly yelled loud enough for the whole building to hear that he’d gotten fucked!

“You’ve got the nerve to bring up breaking up?”

Lin Wu’s eyes reddened as he said, all aggrieved, “I never wanted to break up.”

Xu Qing groaned in exasperation. “05!”

Ji Xingci snapped, “Shut your mouth! Stop trying to drive a wedge between us.”

Right then, Xu Qing grated on Ji Xingci’s nerves like nothing else. He itched to deck the guy.

Xu Qing had a slender build, though. Ji Xingci gave him a casual shove, and he staggered back.

The space was cramped. Fearing Xu Qing might tumble down the stairs, Lin Wu lunged to steady him.

Ji Xingci stood ignored off to the side, watching them. In a flash, he remembered that time the cabinet had toppled over—Lin Wu’s first instinct had been to shield Xu Qing.

Some inexplicable emotion surged up from his chest. “Don’t you dare protect him!”

He wrenched Lin Wu toward him. “You’re coming with me.”

“Uh, Ji Xingci… slow down a bit.”

Lin Wu got dragged down the stairs just like that, nearly tripping over his own feet. Then Ji Xingci flung him straight into the car.

Lin Wu’s head spun as he lifted it. He realized this was a car he’d never seen before.

The interior was decked out all cute and cozy. In the driver’s seat sat a young woman.

Miss Zhou’s eyes lit up. “Hi!”

Lin Wu blinked. “?”

Miss Zhou usually had to toe the family line, all prim and proper under her tutors’ watchful eyes. But today’s blind date had turned out thrilling as hell.

Ji Xingci’s ride had originally come courtesy of her father, so she’d done him a solid by driving him over herself.

And sure enough, here was that actor “Jiang Fan” in the flesh.

He looked even more handsome up close.

Once both men were inside, the car brimmed with that heart-pounding, gossip-fueled excitement that tugged the corners of her mouth upward.

After dropping them off beneath the apartment building, Ji Xingci—ever the stand-up guy—said he owed her one. Anything she needed, just holler.

Miss Zhou waved him off. “No biggie.”

Lin Wu trailed after in total confusion, only to get collared again by Ji Xingci as they boarded the apartment elevator.

“Ji Xingci! Slow down—you can let go of me now.”

The elevator doors slid open.

The butler stared in shock at the young master storming back inside with his quarry in tow. He clearly wanted to speak up but held back.

“Young Master.”

Ji Xingci barked, “All of you, clear out.”

“But…”

“Out!”

Lin Wu got hauled by Ji Xingci straight into the bedroom, where he was promptly pinned down on the bed.

Lin Wu’s eyes widened a fraction, his lips pressing into a thin line. If he’d been a puppy, his tail would have tucked right between his legs.

Ji Xingci straddled him, pinching his chin with one hand. His expression was terrifyingly fierce.

“I’ll ask you one more time: who do you want to break up with?”

Lin Wu shook his head. “I don’t. I don’t want to break up.”

“Hah! You sweet-talk me all pretty—who knows what poison you’ve been feeding Xu Qing.”

“No, it’s not like that. You blocked me. You ignored me for days…”

Lin Wu’s voice quivered with grievance. “And you went on blind dates.”

“He said I should break up, but I…”

Lin Wu froze midway, stunned.

“What are you doing?”

He flailed in a panic to guard his pants.

“Wah, all you ever think about is doing this to me.”

Lin Wu burst into even harder tears. “You just treat me like a damn dildo. You don’t like me at all!”

“Shut up!”

Ji Xingci’s face burned red. He wrenched downward with force. “What are you crying about? You took it like a champ.”

Lin Wu flushed scarlet too.

“That’s because you’re…”

It was all because Ji Xingci was too…

Inopportunely, Lin Wu’s mind flashed back to that scorching gush of fluid. That split-second hesitation left him yielding ground inch by inch.

“No, I don’t want to… Ji Xingci.”

Lin Wu’s face was soon beet red as he twisted away, clinging to his last defense. “You explain first!”

“Fuck—I already told you, the phone wasn’t with me!”

Ji Xingci was drenched in sweat now, his healthy wheat-toned skin overlaid with an even flush.

“The blind date? I was forced into it!”

Lin Wu’s eyes sparkled bright. He practically wagged his tail, gazing up at Ji Xingci with hope.

“Then… do you like me? Will you stay with me forever… mmph.”

The cost of letting his guard down was a fierce bite to his lips.

Ji Xingci had been holding back for days, and he finally got what he craved. It tasted even better than he remembered.

It was so good that his entire body shuddered. His eyes glazed over in an instant, and he murmured unconsciously.

“Uh… so, so good.”

Lin Wu couldn’t stand it. His eyelashes fluttered tightly, his face flushing even deeper until he could barely breathe. Then he opened his eyes in disbelief.

How had he gotten so wet?

“Lin Wu…” Ji Xingci’s eyes were red at the corners as he leaned back slightly, looking like he was on the verge of ecstasy. “Faster, faster.”

“You… you bastard.”

Lin Wu felt so wronged he wanted to cry, but in the end, he rolled over and worked diligently to please him.

Ji Xingci only barked verbal commands, rambling about his sensations as he exploited Lin Wu relentlessly—until he was fully satisfied.

Lin Wu collapsed on top of him, too exhausted to speak. Ji Xingci still hadn’t given him a proper answer or any promises.

But when Lin Wu tried to pull away, Ji Xingci clung to him. “Don’t go. Stay just like this.”

“Hm?”

Ji Xingci suddenly frowned fiercely.

Lin Wu looked up, concern etched on his face. “What’s wrong?”

“It hurts all of a sudden…”

“How could that be?” Lin Wu reached down to rub his belly, and Ji Xingci relaxed almost immediately.

Holding each other like this felt wonderful. Memories of all the discomfort he’d endured without Lin Wu over the past few days came flooding back.

Ji Xingci’s expression darkened as he hugged Lin Wu even tighter.

“I missed you so much. I never want to be apart from you again.”

Lin Wu pursed his lips. “Then be with me properly.”

Ji Xingci’s mouth opened, but he didn’t know what to say.

What did Lin Wu want? Exclusivity? His family’s approval? Going public?

He had only ever wanted Lin Wu, and his father’s behavior disgusted him.

But his family would never agree, and fighting them would be a hassle—especially when he had to ensure Lin Wu’s safety too.

As for going public, he didn’t want everyone knowing he was gay. Ji Xingci cared deeply about his image, and he especially didn’t want anyone finding out he was the one on the bottom…

But deep down, he knew he was even more terrified of losing Lin Wu.

Lin Wu pressing him about their relationship didn’t annoy him; it actually made him a little thrilled. Lin Wu loved him this much—it put his mind at ease.

He realized he liked Lin Wu.

His upbringing had rarely taught him what love felt like. Yet somehow, Ji Xingci was certain he’d never meet anyone who pleased him more. For the first time, he understood this intense, irrational possessiveness.

If Lin Wu ended up with someone else, he’d lose his mind.

No matter what, he had to keep Lin Wu by his side…

“Uh…”

Ji Xingci frowned again. Lin Wu could feel the spasm.

“Does it hurt again… hiss.”

It felt stuck. Lin Wu touched him carefully and sensed the change—it was scorching hot, and fluid was still surging.

Lin Wu froze, his expression stunned.

“Xingci.” His ears turned red. “You… you might be about to give birth.”

“?”

Ji Xingci’s eyes snapped open, and he bolted upright.

“What?!”

“It’s okay, don’t be scared. I’ll stay right here with you!”

“It’s just expelling the water.”

As he said it, Ji Xingci realized the truth. These waves of strange pain… it had to be labor!

“Uh.” Lin Wu suddenly tensed up, looking miserable. “Relax.”

He couldn’t relax!

Ji Xingci panicked despite himself.

“Don’t… don’t go!”

“I’m not going. I’m not.”

Ji Xingci clutched Lin Wu tightly, waiting for the contraction to pass. Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as he’d feared. The tightening in his belly just made Lin Wu’s presence feel even more intense.

For a fleeting moment, it seemed like Lin Wu had never been deeper—touching his very soul, hitting some awkward spot that felt all wrong.

It left him breathless. He could only hold Lin Wu tighter. Lin Wu mistook his gasps and squirms for pain. He was suffering too, feeling like he might snap.

Once the wave subsided, he looked down. At some point, Ji Xingci had climaxed, his face flushed so red he looked on the verge of passing out.

Lin Wu stared in a daze, his heart pounding wildly as he hurriedly pulled away.

“It’ll probably be a little longer… Uh, I’ll grab you some water.”

Ji Xingci covered his face, too mortified to respond.

But the moment Lin Wu left, unease crept in. Did this mean hours more like this?

Maybe he should take some painkillers.

Right—he also needed to make sure no one came up.

Feeling mostly normal now, Ji Xingci threw on a bathrobe and stepped out.

The vast hall was completely empty.

Yet there was the butler, waiting right by the elevator. Normally, the butler would never defy his orders so stubbornly unless it was something critically urgent.

The sky outside the windows had darkened, the light turning gloomy for some reason. It looked like rain tonight.

An ominous premonition stirred in Ji Xingci. He still trusted Lin Wu, so he eyed the butler with suspicion.

“Lin Wu said you chased him away.”

Ji Xingci crossed the hall, approaching step by step, his tone icy.

“I don’t recall giving that order.”

The butler seemed relieved at the questioning.

“Young Master, I have something important to report.”

He paused. “It’s about Mr. Lin.”

Ji Xingci raised an eyebrow. “Say it here.”

The butler sighed, as if anticipating the young master’s distrust, and pulled out his tablet.

“The team I hired has been investigating the surveillance footage from before…”

“These recordings are useless now. At the most critical timestamps, everything was wiped clean—impossible to recover. Even the magnetic tracks on the storage sectors were overwritten. Standard recovery tools can’t even prove data ever existed there.”

Ji Xingci didn’t follow. “So?”

“Young Master, that level of hacking isn’t something an ordinary person could pull off.

And curiously, our apartment’s elevator surveillance had two minutes of footage tampered with in a similarly sophisticated way.”

The air around them seemed to chill instantly, sending goosebumps prickling across Ji Xingci’s neck.

His vague premonition kept him rooted in place, silent, as the butler continued.

“Those two minutes? Right before your first attack at the hospital—the elevator footage from Mr. Lin’s top floor all the way down to the first. And then again, after the attack…”

The butler kept talking, but Ji Xingci couldn’t hear a word.

Meanwhile, Lin Wu had just returned to the bedroom with a few bottles of water and some chocolate bars when his footsteps halted abruptly.

Ding. A notification popped up.

【Mainline Task: Make the protagonist gong Ji Xingci experience the pain of love.】

【Completed.】

Lin Wu froze. A vague suspicion formed in his mind.

Oh no…

But another notification followed right away.

【The Main God has decided to intervene in this Small World. System 05, please find an opportunity to withdraw within 24 hours.】

Lin Wu was utterly shocked. His first thought was that he must have done something wrong.

How could that be? Aside from a few slip-ups at the very start of the mission, he hadn’t made a single mistake since.

Was it really that serious? Serious enough to require the Main God to step in personally and fix things?

This world counted as completed, with a high score to boot, and the timeline remained perfectly stable.

Even if he had been exposed, it shouldn’t have caused any major issues.

Lin Wu plunged into confusion. He had no idea why the Main God wanted to intervene or what he had done wrong this time.

Just then, he sensed someone staring at him.

He looked up. Ji Xingci stood in the doorway, his tall frame silhouetted against the light, his face shrouded in shadow.

“It’s you, isn’t it?”

Lin Wu swallowed nervously. “…”

Ji Xingci’s voice came out hoarse as he strode forward.

“You’re the one who attacked me. You’re the one who got me pregnant. You’re the one who fucking toyed with me like a dog!”

“Right?!”

He had suspected it from the very beginning.

Now that his trust had cracked even slightly, countless details came flooding back to him. His instincts had been spot-on all along—it was just his stupid brain that had failed him!

Ji Xingci swung a fist. The items in Lin Wu’s arms scattered across the floor.

“Why?!”

The butler even suspected Lin Wu might be some elite operative—someone dangerous—and hoped he would leave. But Ji Xingci didn’t give a damn.

“I’m fucking asking you why!”

Why had he attacked him? Why confess his love? And why sleep with him back then?

“You bastard! Answer me!”

Lin Wu found himself pinned to the ground. He could only grab at Ji Xingci’s fist.

He had prepared a contingency for exactly this scenario of discovery. Now, it was all he could do to say it.

“You got close to Xu Qing at first… just to play with him, right?”

Ji Xingci froze.

His face drained of color. His eyes turned red.

“For Xu Qing?”

“You fucked me… for Xu Qing?”

Lin Wu blinked in shock. “No, that’s not—!”

“I knew it. He’s the one you like.”

Ji Xingci’s eyes bulged, veins throbbing with fury. He was completely unhinged. He cocked his fist again.

“The one you tried to save back then… that was him too!!”