Chapter 73: Temptation

The phrase “eat something good” from A Yi’s mouth definitely carried other implications. A faint sense of unease rose in Lin Jianxi’s heart.

The cafeteria plunged into an eerie silence.

Several prison guards rushed forward, slapped handcuffs on the man, and dragged him away. A Yi pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, then abruptly bowed his head and burst into laughter.

That face of pure innocence, paired with this bizarre laugh—it was a jarring mismatch however you sliced it.

~~~

Lin Jianxi still couldn’t hold it back. He threw up in the cafeteria bathroom.

A Yi didn’t seem to mind the grimy surroundings at all. He stood nearby, munching on a banana with evident enjoyment.

Lin Jianxi rinsed his mouth at the sink. When he looked up, he caught sight of the bruise on A Yi’s face from a fist. Before he could say anything, A Yi spoke. “Don’t you think it’s fun to stir up trouble in this world?”

A Yi gazed into the mirror, lightly touching the injury on his face and hissing softly in pain.

“Otherwise, this hellhole would be so damn boring.”

Lin Jianxi turned off the faucet.

A Yi asked, “Done washing up?”

Lin Jianxi replied, “Yeah.”

“Then let’s go.”

A Yi led him out of the bathroom. On the way, he casually tossed the half-eaten banana peel onto a man’s face. The guy flinched but couldn’t dodge it, letting out a startled “Ow!”

A Yi laughed again.

The man peeled the banana skin off his face and awkwardly muttered several “thanks” through a forced grin.

Along the way, Lin Jianxi overheard plenty of whispers.

They all cut off abruptly as he passed by.

“Is that the Chief Judge’s Wife?”

“How come he’s so tight with A Yi?”

“Look at his ankle… that black thing.”

“…A Yi Family’s Shackles?”

“Does that mean A Yi’s got the Chief Judge under his thumb now?”

“To get in here, he’s either a forbidden concubine or some vicious criminal.”

“…You know, now that you mention it, I can’t tell. He’s got the looks for a forbidden concubine, sure, but… that air of calm composure no matter what. Doesn’t seem like your average guy.”

A Yi whistled and murmured in his ear, “You’ve really made a name for yourself, sis-in-law.”

Lin Jianxi: “…”

Ever since the “sis-in-law” nickname had cropped up, A Yi had started throwing around random ones like “bro,” “little auntie,” “little aunt,” “little uncle,” “uncle”—leaving Lin Jianxi unsure who he was even addressing half the time.

Whatever. Ignoring him once just meant he’d call out twice.

But things kept escalating into absurdity.

A Yi seemed to treat him like the prison’s sole source of entertainment, popping up out of nowhere to “harass” him for no reason.

For instance, while Lin Jianxi was drifting off to sleep on his bunk, A Yi would suddenly appear beside him with nonsense like, “Why do bananas grow on trees so high up that only monkeys can reach them? Isn’t that species discrimination?” or “Would poking a hole in your ear with a needle cause an infection? Could I just pour some rubbing alcohol on it?” or “I wanna dye my hair—green sound good?”

Lin Jianxi finally reached his limit. Eyes still closed, he grabbed the nearest object and chucked it at A Yi.

A Yi fell silent.

For someone so relentlessly chatty to go quiet like that felt like the calm before the storm.

Lin Jianxi knew he couldn’t afford to provoke him right now, so he slowly cracked his eyes open—

Only to find A Yi holding his shirt, inspecting it. “You wear a medium, huh? Guess that one I gave you before was too big.”

“…”

Lin Jianxi felt utterly exasperated.

Staring at that innocent face of A Yi’s, he couldn’t help thinking the guy was still just a kid. His initial wariness and fear had gradually shifted to helpless resignation.

Lin Jianxi got up from the bed, fetched some ointment from the cabinet, and handed it over.

A Yi eyed the tube. “What’s this?”

Lin Jianxi said, “For your face. It’s swollen.”

“Nah, no need.” A Yi checked the time. “C’mon, it’s evening. Time to take you for that good stuff.”

“Can you tell me what this ‘good stuff’ of yours actually is?” Lin Jianxi set the ointment on the bedside table. “I’ve got a lot of restrictions on what I can eat right now.”

“Plenty of options,” A Yi said with a grin. “Bound to be something you like.”

~~~

Lin Jianxi’s mind raced with a thousand suspicions.

Like, was “good” code for bullying someone? Or forcing him to eat something no normal person could stomach? Or showing off A Yi’s terrifying influence in the prison?

As they passed through a pitch-black corridor, they went by two guards pinning down a barely breathing prisoner.

The man’s eyes were shot through with red veins. He stared fixedly at A Yi as they passed, glancing at Lin Jianxi too—like a jungle beast, gasping raggedly with blood staining his teeth.

A Yi ignored him completely.

Instead, he leaned close and said, “Pretty quick work, huh.”

“…What?”

A Yi’s tone was casual. “That guy’s one of mine. Looks like they roughed him up good.”

“…”

A Yi’s nonchalance made Lin Jianxi furrow his brow slightly.

He knew how the story ended. Without his interference, A Yi would succeed for sure—and this calm demeanor only confirmed that A Yi wasn’t fumbling in the dark.

No, he was the one pulling all the strings.

Lin Jianxi pondered this thoughtfully.

They traversed the dark corridor to its deepest end. A Yi pulled out a key and unlocked the door—

But what lay inside wasn’t any of the scenes Lin Jianxi had imagined.

It was a kitchen.

“My old man loved messing around with this stuff back in the day,” A Yi said as he approached the stove. “I picked up a few tricks too. What do you want? Ingredients here are fresh—someone swaps ’em out daily.”

“…Not sure. No appetite.”

“Oh.” A Yi asked, “You cook?”

“Nope.”

“Tch, such a delicate flower. Can’t do anything.” A Yi opened the fridge. “Guess I’ll whip up whatever.”

“A Yi.”

A Yi’s hand paused.

It was the first time Lin Jianxi had called him by name. He sighed softly. “You saw what happened today, right? Me kicking over that soup bucket.”

“Uh-huh,” A Yi replied. “So this is me paying you back.”

He chopped tomatoes on the cutting board, slicing them into tiny pieces. Red juice spread across the surface.

In the quiet air, the steady “thunk-thunk” of knife on board echoed, each stroke pushing the atmosphere toward something unsettling.

A Yi plated the tomatoes and handed Lin Jianxi a toothpick to spear them with.

Lin Jianxi stared at the plate of red for a moment, then pinched a piece between his fingers and popped it into his mouth.

Too small.

He could only taste a faint hint of flavor.

The sweet-and-sour juice hadn’t even spread through his mouth when a rough hemp rope suddenly looped around his neck like a twisted serpent, tightening and loosening in teasing alternation.

Lin Jianxi’s expression remained unchanged.

He picked up another piece of tomato, curled his tongue around it, and slipped it into his mouth.

At the same moment, the rope snaked around his arm as well, binding him securely to the chair.

“I was originally planning to repay you,” A Yi’s voice rose from behind him, “but as you saw, he moves fast. I can’t just lie there and let him have his way, can I, sister-in-law?”

“…”

A Yi circled around to the front of the bar counter, toying with the fruit knife slick with red juice between his fingers.

“Afraid of pain?”

His gaze flicked to Lin Jianxi’s hand. “You’ve got burn scars there, and your body’s far from pristine. You must not be afraid of pain—but people always feel something. How many cuts do you think it’ll take before you cry?”

With that, he picked up his phone. “If you don’t want to suffer, squeeze out a few tears right now. We’ll snap the photo, and your task for today is done.”

“You want to send it to him, right?” Lin Jianxi said evenly.

“Right,” A Yi grinned. “Though… I could always keep it for my own enjoyment.”

“A Yi.” Lin Jianxi met his eyes, his own gaze perfectly clear. “No matter how quick his moves, they’re all within your expectations. You didn’t bring me to this place today to ‘repay’ me at all. It was just for this photo. Am I right?”

“Oh?” A Yi’s voice lifted at the end, laced with amusement—and a touch of excitement. “Do go on.”

It was nearing midnight, and weariness showed on Lin Jianxi’s face. “You didn’t toss me into this prison by chance. It was all part of the plan.”

He spoke slowly. “First, you used extreme measures to fill me with fear and terror, forcing me to hole up in the bathroom for a week and shatter every last mental defense. Then, right when my mind was on the verge of breaking, you stepped in with relatively humane treatment, coaxing me into willingly donning these shackles.”

Lin Jianxi lifted his foot. The black metal gleamed coldly under the light.

“This thing serves three purposes: to restrain me, to flaunt your absolute authority to every inmate—even the Chief Judge’s Wife bends to your will, so what in this prison is beyond you?—and to enrage Cheng Yedu.”

Lin Jianxi eyed A Yi’s faintly gleaming gaze. “You provoked him into purging your faction at any cost. On the surface, you look like the one on the back foot, but in truth, you’re the puppet master holding all the strings. Every move we’ve made has followed your script.”

The kitchen faucet dripped steadily, punctuating the silence.

Drip.

Drip.

“So,” A Yi cut in over the sound, his tone rich with curiosity, “you’ve seen through me? What’s my next play, then?”

“I don’t know what you’ll do next. I only know we can’t win.” Lin Jianxi’s voice was listless. “So I’ve given up.”

All strength seemed to drain from him, leaving scarcely a spark of vitality. He had no will to fight or even to live on. His eyelids drooped, and his long, thick lashes quivered faintly with each languid blink.

“A Yi, I beg you—from now on, do whatever you like to me. But please, let me bring this child into the world safely?”

Safeguarding the child was Lin Jianxi’s sole remaining wish.

It wasn’t merely the System’s demand. After cycling through so many small worlds—loved by countless people—he remained profoundly alone.

He hadn’t truly loved any of them. He’d only shouldered the burden of duty.

A child was different. It would be his own flesh and blood. He could pour out his love without restraint, and it would return the same, bound by blood in a way no other bond could match.

This was the first warmth he’d felt since the Second World.

It had come at great cost.

And it was an extravagant rarity.

Even confident that the future A Yi would heed him, Lin Jianxi couldn’t stop himself from pleading over and over: “Never harm my child.”

He wanted that 99.9% certainty to edge ever closer to absolute.

Only then could he find peace.

As the words “I beg you” left his lips, Lin Jianxi raised his eyes to A Yi.

In that instant, every trace of his usual cool detachment vanished from his gaze, baring the raw vulnerability beneath.

It was as if…

Without this child, he had no reason left to go on.

In the fragile hush teetering on the brink of shattering, A Yi extended a hand. His fingertip hovered near—but never quite touching—Lin Jianxi’s cheek, perilously close to his lashes. Then it drifted downward, tracing the air from lashes to chin, sensing his warmth, his breath…

“Heh…” A faint breath escaped A Yi’s throat.

“Lin Jianxi,” A Yi murmured, “you know exactly how pitiful you look.”

Lin Jianxi watched him steadily, his eyes unblinking for so long they grew dry and faintly reddened.

Those eyes pleaded, yet without a hint of groveling. They burned with utter calm, as if silently declaring: “I know you’ll do as I say in the end. I’m merely informing you—waiting for you to take the bait and play by my rules from here on out.”

A strange, twisted satisfaction flickered in A Yi’s eyes.

He was like a collector at last claiming the treasure he’d hunted for so long. Prison life was dull, as A Yi himself had said—and Lin Jianxi was the most captivating plaything he’d encountered yet.

A Yi’s suspended finger finally descended, brushing away tears that weren’t there from the corner of his eye.

Lin Jianxi tilted his head ever so slightly to evade it, but the motion was so minimal that A Yi’s pad grazed his temple instead, lingering on even more skin.

A Yi laughed again.

“Very well.”

His voice came out lower, rougher than usual—no longer playful.

In the silent, windowless kitchen, bound to the chair with blood-red tomatoes arrayed before him, the scene took on an unearthly eeriness.

“I promise you.” A Yi’s words rang more like a binding pact than a mere vow, each syllable deliberate and drawn out.

“Your child will be born safe and sound.” He echoed Lin Jianxi’s plea, then—with the fruit knife—severed the hemp rope in one clean stroke.

Freed from the ropes’ constraints, Lin Jianxi was so exhausted that he needed every last bit of his strength just to stay barely seated in the chair.

“But remember what you said: ‘From now on, you can do whatever you want.'” A Yi tossed the fruit knife aside and repeated, “I can do whatever I want to you.”