Novel Bin Chapter 83 - Adding Dishes
Chapter 83 - Adding Dishes
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
Wu Jin felt that he’d already taken off and was flying!
Behind him were several opponents who had been blocked by the vines, and there were hundreds of gazes looking up at him––like a basketball court on campus that was surrounded by a tightly packed crowd.
The ‘principal’ program director smiled broadly, and the ‘director of education’ Blood Pigeon shook his head as he sighed emotionally. The ‘cultural department instructor’ Ying Xiangxiang’s eyes were bright, and the students were noisy––
Wu Jin still found Wei Shi, who was standing in the crowd, at a glance.
He felt like he was treading on thin air and riding the wind, light and floating.
Four meters from the ground.
Wu Jin suddenly let go.
The process was finalized in his mind. He should fall steadily, landing on one knee in front of big brother, rolling down at the optimal speed to reduce the impact by 65%, standing up without any embarrassment to walk towards big brother as though it was all a breeze––
Outside the venue, the crowd of trainees suddenly opened their eyes wide to stare.
Blood Pigeon shook his head continuously, “This, Little Witch...”
Wu Jin’s eyes were sharp, and his momentum surged forth, full of bravery.
Ying Xiangxiang suddenly covered her eyes.
Wu Jin was unaffected, and felt as though he held a winning lottery ticket in hand––until his ankles and wrists felt cool.
Wu Jin suddenly turned his head back, and his pupils suddenly contracted!
The overgrown vines came in from all directions, trapping the youth tightly from ankle to neck. Wu Jin’s original falling posture was lifted and pushed upwards. The deep green vines didn’t cut into the youth’s skin, but they created red marks against the pale porcelain surface.
Wu Jin reacted and immediately struggled violently, but the vines were as fierce as pythons. The youth who was entangled by the vines was suddenly short of breath, his jacket pushed to the side, and the black cotton lining torn in half, shadowing his waist and abs. His sleeves, which had originally been rolled up because he wanted to appear ‘mature’ were messed up by the tossing and turning. The small curls flopped down, and the little round face suddenly appeared pitiful.
There was a sudden silence outside.
One second, two seconds.
Wei Shi abruptly strode forward.
There was a sudden explosion of noise.
“Contestant Wu is really good looking...” Some trainees were in a trance.
“Have I been at the base for too long? I’m starting to feel that... I really like Little Witch...”
“Does this plant have awareness? Wow, amazing––”
Then came Caesar’s holler, “What are you guys looking at! This is our Little Witch, if you like him, then raise one up yourself! In our White Moonlight, stealing Little Witch away is an offense!”
On the podium, Ying Xiangxiang’s cheeks were red, and she seemed a little regretful as she murmured strangely, “Suddenly going from an adult sized Little Witch to a chibi-sized small Little Witch... Aaaaahhhh!”
Blood Pigeon took over the microphone and commented seriously, “Contestant Wu has made great progress, but his moves were too fancy. How great would it be to jump down properly, but he had to play with his clothing and attempt tricks! There aren’t any female fans visiting the base for this episode, so doing such things are useless! Alright, next group––”
Due to the delay from the vines, the first group of nine contestants slowly bypassed Wu Jin to reach the finish line.
The second group of contestants rushed over, sending sympathetic gazes to Wu Jin who was still suspended in the air, and hurriedly set out at the urging of the instructors.
On the other side, the stage managers moved a ladder over from the side and were about to go in to release him from the vines when they suddenly rubbed their eyes, “Hey, mister contestant, did you go the wrong way? The course is over there... wait a minute, where’s your breathing equipment?!”
Wei Shi turned a deaf ear to it.
He was expressionless as he went over to where Wu Jin was caught in the vines, his knuckles scraping across the roots.
The vines suddenly shifted, and Wu Jin rolled down, coming to a stop half a meter from the ground.
Their gazes met.
Wei Shi was like a demolitions expert as he unraveled the vines around Wu Jin. The pads of his rough fingertips seemed to rub accidentally against the youth’s reddened skin, his straight back blocking all the gazes behind him.
Wu Jin felt like he was in a state of extreme despair. He hadn’t made the three pointer,and had even ended up hooking himself to the basketball hoop, unable to get himself out!
And it was all in front of the big boss!
There seemed to be a flame burning in the man’s pupils as his gaze slid along Wu Jin’s exposed skin inch by inch, moving upwards until they locked onto Wu Jin’s face.
Wu Jin was so depressed that he wanted to drill into the ground and hide. Wei Shi shrugged off his jacket and handed it over.
Wu Jin: “Big, big brother...”
Wei Shi ordered, “Wear it.”
Wu Jin quivered and hurriedly put on his big brother’s jacket. His mind was completely blank––shouldn’t people send over water after playing basketball? The weather wasn’t very cold out... why was big brother giving him a jacket?
Very soon after, however, the familiar scent made his brain tremble and freeze, and the arm that had been slightly abraded by the vines tightened around the training uniform.
In the audience stands, the trainees had also been shocked silly, and many of them were discussing it one after another.
“Contestant Wei is so righteous. He went in to save his fellow brother before doing the race! Fairness! Justice!”
“Wait, he doesn’t seem to be wearing any breathing equipment? How long has he been inside?! It’s already been six minutes––didn’t it say 30 seconds on the handout? Or is he holding his breath?”
Ying Xiangxiang looked over and seemed to have thought of something that caused her to reveal a slightly puzzled expression.
The vast majority of the people present were straight men and completely oblivious.
Blood Pigeon picked up the microphone, “The change in blood pressure is related to physical fitness. 30 seconds is the upper limit for the average trainee’s endurance. Contestant Wei can last for longer than most of you.” He glanced at the physical examination report, “The oxygen inhibition reaction will begin at 6 minutes, and a breathing device must be worn within 9 minutes...”
The field staff in charge of distributing the equipment waved at Wei Shi, “Over here, over here!”
At 7 minutes, Wu Jin finally walked out of the vine area with a jacket on.
At 8 minutes, the two of them approached the edge of the field. There was a set of equipment available there, but they all watched as Wei Shi went in the opposite direction to send Wu Jin out of the glass enclosure.
Wu Jin’s training jacket was zipped up most of the way, revealing only a small section of his collarbones.
Wei Shi suddenly zipped it up further and hooked his finger.
Wu Jin didn’t know what was going on and subconsciously tilted his head closer to the man.
Wei Shi lifted an arm, and his warm, dry hand removed Wu Jin’s breathing equipment in a few quick moves. He put it on himself.
The originally clean glass cover now had a layer of white fog due to Wu Jin’s previous strenuous exercise, and it carried the soft and sweet smell of the youth. Wei Shi’s eyes were calm as he adjusted the device, and then he finally looked over at the little rabbit spirit.
The skin that still carried red marks was wrapped up tight, and the residual warmth from his breath that was left in the device temporarily pacified his inner violent restlessness.
Thanks to these all-around cameras that left nothing uncovered, the rabbit spirit really didn’t seem worried that he would do him on the spot.
Wei Shi took one last look at the zipper and gave him a warning glance before heading to the track without looking back.
Outside the glass enclosure, Wu Jin’s mind was still operating at a slowed pace.
The big boss had taken away his breathing equipment.
If he rounded it up a little––it was equal to an indirect kiss...
His heartbeat suddenly quickened, and a chaotic, disorderly emotion burst out. First came a tendril of happiness, then shame, frustration, tension, and regret over his failure.
Wu Jin walked numbly back to the waiting area, where a group of trainees all came whizzing by to gather around him.
“Little Witch, that was amazing!”
“You were just a little short!”
“Contestant Wu is really going for it... it’s all because of the canteen! Instructor Blood Pigeon said that the fastest person can order food for the canteen tomorrow––how could Little Witch’s last segment be an attempt to show off? It was clearly because he wanted to eat delicious food––it was due to hunger! It’s understandable!”
Wu Jin barely managed to force out a smile, “I...”
Caesar charged out of the crowd and placed an arm around Wu Jin, giving him a thumbs up, “A glorious defeat! Just wait, your big brother will do the run and get you your handheld wrap!”
Zoe sighed emotionally from outside the crowd, “Contestant Wei is really good to our Little Witch. He was also the one who reduced the anaesthetic gas for Little Witch last time, and he’s the one getting him out this time. Contestant Wei must have been a nurse before, right?”
Inside the training ground. After Wu Jin’s demonstration, the second batch of trainees used ‘the rules of the game in that there were ‘no rules’ to the max. There were those who ambushed others around the vines, and those who jumped up and down like monkeys.
Wu Jin’s eyes tracked Wei Shi closely. The big boss’s speed wasn’t slow, but he’d wasted too much time. Adding on the fact that he was still hiding his strength, he finally came in sixth out of the group of ten.
On the stage, the third group entered at Blood Pigeon’s urging.
Caesar stomped over and even compared his muscles with the others beneath the stage. The other students all laughed and made a lot of noise.
“Handheld wraps!” Caesar charged at the vines with this strange cry, while Ming Yao nearby shouted, “Buddha jumping over the wall!”, causing the crowd to instantly start cheering for Ming Yao.
Zuo Botang smiled broadly with his arms crossed over his chest. There were loud cries from behind him, “Spicy stir-fry!”, “Braised pork trotters!”, “To hell with protein powder, laozi wants to eat abalone and braised pufferfish!”
Without waiting for Blood Pigeon’s urging, over 200 trainees rushed towards the training grounds. Some of them even tried to play a second time during the confusion.
Blood Pigeon grew dizzy from keeping track of everyone and was just about to turn back to ask Ying Xiangxiang for help when he suddenly discovered that Instructor Ying was looking in a certain direction with her cheek propped up against her hand. The words ‘how interesting, how interesting’ seemed to be written all over her face.
Blood Pigeon: “... Instructor Ying, we’re filming?”
Ying Xiangxiang came back to her senses and instantly began to help keep track of people, “Straight men nowadays. Not only do they have low EQ, they can’t even keep track of people!”
The back hill of the Crosson Show was busy until the sun set, and everyone suddenly realized––
Everyone’s scores were varied for the obstacle course, but there was nobody who could beat the human-shaped weapon Wei Yan when it came to speed.
The trainees of R-Code Entertainment were all precision instruments. Their nutrition was usually supplemented by drugs, and not even mentioning sashimi and abalone, it was likely they probably hadn’t even tried duck blood and vermicelli soup before...
When Blood Pigeon announced the results, the field fell into a strange silence.
Wei Yan stood there alone on the hillside, and there was nobody near him.
He compressed his lips, his face expressionless as he nodded slightly to Instructor Blood Pigeon, but there wasn’t a single trainee who went up to try and talk to him.
Ying Xiangxiang sighed slightly and was about to open her mouth when she suddenly caught a glimpse of something from behind the woods. Thin Fire closed his live broadcast and pushed through the crowd, causing her eyes to brighten a little, but Wu Jin was actually even faster than Thin Fire!
Wu Jin bounced and ran up to Wei Yan.
Wei Yan looked at him.
Wu Jin raised his hand, “I, I want handheld wraps!”
Wei Yan froze, then nodded slowly.
Then came Thin Fire, “Hey, God Wei, add some abalone sauce goose feet!”
Wei Yan marked it down.
Red yelled from within the crowd, “Go for it! F*ck, this opportunity comes once every ten thousand years! This damned canteen, us brothers have to eat it into poverty!”
There was once again a lot of noise on the hillside. The trainees kept it up, following suit and calling out “Brother Wei”, “Great One Wei”, and so on. Wei Yan was stuck in the crowd and seemed to be expressionlessly remembering the dishes, but his gaze could almost be interpreted as nervous.
Emotions were unnoticeable in genetically modified bodies. Other than those of the same kind, very few people would be able to tell.
Wei Shi retracted his gaze and looked across the crowd towards Wu Jin.
Wu Jin currently had his head stretched out as he looked into the crowd. He didn’t notice Wei Shi’s gaze at first, but his hands were still clutching delightedly at the jacket.
He suddenly went still.
His back immediately turned straight. His bangs had been pushed back at some point, and the small round face beneath it pretended to be calm.
He turned his head, appearing to have inadvertently noticed the big boss, and walked slowly towards him in the glow of sunset.
The red tips of his ears were blocked by his messy hair, and he looked thoroughly serious.
Evening.
Red went to the front desk to sign for a package and prepare some cat food, expressing to the door guard that he could pour some of the food inside if he received a package that would meow and call out.
On the way back, Red ran through the Crosson base with earphones in. He was listening to a late-night emotional consultation column from a Floating City radio station––
“The Floating City Press’s <Falling In Love With A Popular Idol> part two hardcover has launched! Part one sold two thousand copies! We provide comprehensive after-sales service, one-on-one class advisors to solve your problems, and 24/7 phone service with no busy lines! We have a strong consulting team for all your emotional needs! For details, please contact 069-419-...”
Red thought about it for a long time, then instantly clicked his tongue when he heard the price.
To hell with that hot sales of two thousand copies. The price of this book was enough to buy a second tier planet!
Selling books and providing consulting... well, that was reasonable. After the business tax was changed to value-added tax, it was much higher than royalties. Red casually reported the radio station’s bundle sale as tax evasion and continued to listen with half an ear.
“20% off the credit price if you order now, and 30% off for deep space credits! Yes, you didn’t hear wrong, it’s 30% off!”
“As long as you buy the book, we can solve any of your problems! Real case #1: A reader asked us, he and his lover have clearly already taken off each other’s masks and confirmed their relationship. Why did his lover turn shy and run off as soon as they kissed? The senior consultant replied, is your lover introverted? Don’t worry, take it step by step. Use your strength as a boyfriend to make your lover open up, and then you can kiss them as you like! Proper care will make your lover more dependent on you. For example, a goodnight text before bed, or reminding them to tuck themselves in well...”
Red couldn’t bear it anymore and changed the channel, “They managed to sell 2000 copies of this crap?!”
Crosson South Tower.
Wu Jin came out of the training room just in time to make the curfew.
As soon as the bedroom door closed, Wu Jin immediately bounced back up again, full of energy.
A few hours ago, he and the big boss had briefly discussed the training program and unilaterally ‘pretended to forget’ the failure in the earlier competition and the kiss during the endorsement acting.
Everything was going well!
After quickly finishing up his training plan, Wu Jin happily rolled himself up in his quilt and let Brother Rabbit step all over him.
His terminal suddenly lit up.
Wei Shi: Did you apply medicine to your hand injury?
Wu Jin quickly nodded and replied. He even added six exclamation marks, but he quickly deleted four of them.
He attached a photo, where his left index finger had been bandaged into a fat bread roll.
Wei Shi: Mm.
Wei Shi: Tuck yourself in.
Wu Jin stared at the bread roll on his finger for a long time, then finally stuck his injured left hand beneath the quilt.
He’d tucked himself in, and there was an extra layer of rabbit on top.
Wu Jin was satisfied and fell asleep.
After the obstacle course evaluation, time passed quickly in the Crosson base––this was all based on the premise that the big boss no longer skipped class.
From the next day after the evaluation, the canteen became crowded as the program producer actually fulfilled his promise. He accepted the list of 248 dishes that Wei Yan submitted, and the dishes were delivered in batches of 20 every day.
On the sixth day, Wu Jin was very satisfied as he ate his handheld wrap, picking up another order as he bounced outside, then came back happily a long time later.
Zoe smiled, “Which little friend did Little Witch go play with?”
The White Moonlight captain habitually opened up his terminal and browsed through the Crosson forums as he ate breakfast, “Why is there so much traffic today? ––Oh, right!”
“Little Witch, your advertisement is about to broadcast!”
Juurensha: Aahahaha, of course WS bought that book. And wanted to keep Little Witch’s indecent vine bodice ripper look to himself.
xiin: he’s the one with the questions, too... heeheee i love that he’s clueless but trying <3
also, let’s discuss: is Zoe straight? bi? gay?