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nI was almost certain Ai Mi called popping bubble wrap as clap clap clap simply for her own amusement.

nI shouldn’t have fallen for it. I could tell because I saw her familiar smirk as she was pranking me.

nIt was the same smirk I had when I pranked the class leader (like how I tricked the class leader to bark like a dog).

nMy dad, Ye YuanFeng, isn’t a boring person, but he doesn’t have a habit of pranking others. It’s because he used to be a teacher and he had to pat attention to his actions.

nEven if I didn’t like it, I could guess the smirk for Ai Mi and me was inherited from our mother, Ai ShuQiao.

nBut it’s just Ai ShuQiao likes to commit crimes rather than play pranks. How we both have the same smirk as that monster isn’t something to be thankful for.

nPeng TouSi came to pick up Ai Mi after we walked the dog a bit. He said the director needed to discuss some last minute changes to the script.

nAi Mi returned unwillingly with Peng TouSi. I couldn’t attend even if I went with her, since it was an internal meeting. I decided to stay outside of film city for the time being and told her I would visit her later.

nI could have also followed them back and spent my time in the RV while sampling the French chef’s desserts, but I felt I’ve been lazing around too much lately and that’s why I caught a cold. I shouldn’t always think about enjoying myself, but instead, I should challenge myself and put my body through trials to become a true fearless man.

nI began to walk briskly along the road outside film city to train my leg muscles.

nI walked a kilometer like a racewalker (TN: Just found out it’s a sport lol). The scenery around me gradually began to turn into vegetation and I would often see underbrushes half the height of a person on both sides of the road. There were even horse drawn carriages that passed by and the smell of horse feces was spread around in the dry and hot air.

nSince film city was constructed on the outskirts of Dong Shan city, the further I walked the more desolate it became.

nI didn’t want to end up in place where I couldn’t even buy water when I was thirsty, so I turned around and decided to head back.

nThat’s when I saw a person squatting in the brushes.

nI thought it was Xiao Qin’s cousin, Ren Peng, aka the Prince of the Brushes. The one who’s addicted to LOL and would always squat in a brush to think about his life.

nThen after taking a closer look, I realized it was a boy who was 8 or 9 years old. He had a bald cut with a large vest and he looked identical to Ren Peng when he was squatting inside the brush.

nI felt like it was a serious problem if the future of our country was already addicted to web games.

nThey all say there’s a lot of grade school students who play LOL. The number one LOL player in our city is even called ‘Red Scarf Hero’. But it was the first time I saw a grade school student who was so addicted he was squatting inside a brush like Ren Peng and preparing to jump out and passersby.

nLuckily, I was the first one who passed him. He might have thought my face too scary, so he didn’t jump out, but I couldn’t say the same if it was someone else who passed by instead of me.

nI was just feeling ashamed because I carried criminal blood inside me, so I felt a sudden sense of responsibility when I realized I could prevent an accident from occurring and leading the future of our country onto the right path. I walked near the boy and said to him:

n“Little boy, do you know hiding in brushes doesn’t actually make you invisible in real life?”

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nThe little boy looked up at me. Surprisingly, even though he was scared of me, he didn’t immediately jump away.

nEven though he didn’t move away, he quickly lowered his head as if to deny my existence.

nDamn, is this a sign that he was way too addicted to games? I once pulled an all-nigher playing Dota with Xiao Ding and the next morning, when I left the net cafe, I thought everyone had HP bars over their heads.

nDoes he think I would ignore him if he doesn’t respond? I have to wake him up and prevent him from becoming even more addicted!

nI cleared my throat and continued to lecture him like an elder:

n“Little boy, you shouldn’t only play video games, you should play outside more. Of course, it’s completely unnecessary for you to play these cosplay games outside. Is that a wooden stick you’re holding in your hand? You will be arrested by the police if you hurt someone.”

nThe little boy still didn’t say anything, but he appeared to be in distress.

nI realized the item he was clenching in his right hand was a roll of newspaper and not a stick. I guess it was fine it was newspaper since he couldn’t hurt anyone if he hit people with it, but it might be bad if he gave seniors heart attacks.

n“Ahem, when I was your age, I would play outside every day. I would play hide and seek, go on the slide, or play with mud. I still cherish those memories right now.”

nI actually don’t cherish those memories at all. When I played hide and seek, I would get a beating if the Little Tyrant caught me. When I was playing on the slide, I would get a beating if the Little Tyrant saw me. When I was playing with mud, I would get a beating if I made something better than the Little Tyrant.

nWhat’s wrong with my childhood, why can’t I remember anything fun? It’s like a compilation of me getting a beating and it’s not worth cherishing at all. If computer games were as developed as it was now, then I definitely would have stayed at home gaming every day.

nMy words of advice really moving and the little boy finally raised his head in embarrassment, he said:

n“Big brother, I’m not addicted to games, I… I’m taking a poop.”

nNo wonder it stinks! I even thought it was horse feces earlier, but it was actually child feces! So that means you’re holding newspaper to wipe your ass? Use toilet paper! There’s lead in newspaper print, so it’s definitely not healthy for a child’s butt.

nI felt really awkward and I gave the little boy the tissues I had on me for him to wipe his butt, then I turned and left.

nOn my way back to film city, I met three men dressed in striped suits.

nThe left one was really skinny, he had a devious expression and his hair drooped down in front of his eyes like snakes. The right one was really fat, he wore shades and kind of looked like Sammo Hung.

nThe man in the middle was tall and sturdy. He was austere man wearing an eye patch and only revealed one of his eyes.

nNo, it’s a temporary eye patch like the one the class leader wore, but a real black eye patch like the one Sagat from Street Fighter wears.

nI immediately made a connection between him and the one-eyed uncle Xiao Qin mentioned. I heard he was the one in charge of the triad members sent by Xiao Qin’s father to protect her.

nDidn’t you guys kidnap Fu ShiJian a few days ago? If I didn’t tell you guys to let him go, were you really going to bury him alive? What a bunch of ruthless and cold-blooded triad members.

nWhy are you guys blocking my way? I mean I just gave a little boy a pack of tissues to let him wipe his ass, but it seems like doing good things doesn’t really make good thing happen to you.

n“You’re Ye Lin, right?” Uncle Long (one-eyed uncle) pointed to a black sedan parked by the street, “Get on, we have something to tell you.”

nI looked inside the black sedan and there didn’t seem to be anyone inside, but I don’t think it’s smart getting onto a car with triads.

nI wanted to run, but that’s not manly and it’s not guaranteed I would be able to get away since they have a car.

nI stuck my hands in my pockets: “Why would I get on just because you told me to?”

nThe skinny man on the left aimed at me with something in his pocket and threatened:

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n“Shut up, I know it’s you, get on the car.”

nThe fat man also made the same actions as the skinny one.

nI might be a Spartan, but I’m not Superman, I don’t have the confidence to go against two handguns.

nEven if they didn’t have a gun, I can’t really go against three triad members.

nA wise man knows better than to fight when the odds are against him. I pretended I was unperturbed as I followed them on the car.

nI knew they wouldn’t do anything since they listened to Xiao Qin.

nThe fat man was responsible for driving. Uncle Long was smoking silently, but the skinny man was quite talkative.

nHe sat next to me in the backseats and he looked at me with picky eyes as he mocked me.

n“Hmph, your appearance doesn’t look any different than triad members.”

n“Why did the boss’ precious daughter take a fancy to you? It seems like you don’t even know you have it blessed. We know about the things you did to our boss’ second miss (TN: using second miss for second daughter).”

n“When the second miss just transferred, you bullied her a lot and we couldn’t take it anymore. If she didn’t stop us, we would have already turned you into a cripple.”

n“If you dare…”

nI didn’t say anything back, but I thought about his words.

n“Second miss referred to Xiao Qin, but why was it second and not first? Dores Xiao Qin have an older brother or sister? I remember Auntie Ren only had one daughter, Xiao Qin!”

nAs the car got on the highway, I questioned where they were taking me. But not only did they not answer my questions, they even confiscated my cellphone and blindfolded me with a black cloth.

nI didn’t make any sudden actions when faced against the barrel of a gun. I thought even if Xiao Qin instructed her men to kidnap me, it would at most be a prank. It’s not like they would bury me alive, right?

nAfter about an hour, they removed my blindfolds and took me out of the car. I was surprised to find we were at the foot of a deserted mountain.

nApparently someone was waiting for me in the pavilion at the top of the mountain.

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