The Taming of the Ruffian Hero

When Wang Xiang took out the map and asked their host for directions, their host shook his head slowly and said, “You’ve taken a wrong turn. The river you saw yesterday is called the Yinshui River and your destination is on the other side of the Niutou Hill, which is located at the end of the main stream of the Yinshui River. You took a wrong turn yesterday and thus entered this village.”

It turned out that Wang Xiang had read the map wrong again and made the team waste several hours. Upon knowing that, Zheng Kai hit his fist on Wang Xiang’s head.

Zheng Kai did not flare up probably because he was somewhat influenced by the peaceful atmosphere in the village. The team quickly packed up and set off. They had to hurry up. Otherwise, the entire team would be eliminated from the competition.

They walked along the Wen Stream, the small tributary of the Yinshui River, to leave the village, and then they walked along the main stream of the Yinshui River to reach the Niutou Hill. Now they were faced with two choices. The first one was taking a mountain path in the east to climb up the hill, which would take them at least 10 hours. The second choice was climbing the cliff to reach the top of the hill, which was risky but would save them a lot of time. The second depot was right behind this group of hills.

The team members had quite enjoyed their journey since leaving the first depot. As such, they nearly forgot about the competition. When Wang Xiang said that the second depot was near, they all felt competitive again and chose to climb the cliff to reach the depot faster.

Zheng Kai felt upset and thought, “If we had not taken the wrong turn yesterday, we would’ve been able to camp on the top of the hill last night. If I had discovered that mistake earlier and walked during the night, I would’ve reached the second depot now. But now, as I have to travel with these girls, I can’t walk as fast as I want.”

When they were ready to climb the cliff, they spotted about 10 signs around the place, which read, “No Climbing.” They felt hesitant and wanted to take the mountain path in the east.

“No climbing, but what will happen if we climb it?” Zheng Kai asked.

“Probably nothing,” Wang Xiang replied.

“Yes, nothing will happen to us!” Shu Xiaoman added excitedly.

They turned to look at Zhao Yuan, and Zhao Yuan turned his face slightly to glance at Lin Wenxi. Upon seeing that he was ready and even somewhat excited, Zhao Yuan nodded to agree.

Zheng Kai and Zhao Yuan went to explore the way first. When Zhao Yuan rolled up his sleeves, Zheng Kai got topless and began to climb. Every now and then, he would grab some grass on the cliff for balance with one hand and struck a sickle into the rock nearby with the other hand to check whether that place could hold a piton securely. Once he found such a suitable spot, he would hammer a piton into it and then secure a rope on it by tying a firm knot.

The others on the team were astonished by Zheng Kai’s physical strength. Soon enough, he disappeared into the shrubs, and all they could hear was the clanging sounds made by his sickle. Zhao Yuan followed Zheng Kai and carefully checked all the pitons to make sure that everything was as secure as possible. When he was still climbing, Zheng Kai reached the top and prepared rock-climbing tools for everyone. At noon, Zheng Kai cast two ropes down and climbed down the cliff together with Zhao Yuan.

“Zhao Yuan is such a careful person. I saw him hammer quite a lot of pitons for you,” Chen Wanxin said smilingly to Zheng Kai.

“If it was not for Brother Kai today, all of you except me would have to take the tortuous mountain path in the east,” Zhao Yuan said solemnly.

Zheng Kai just remained silent, his face somber.

“For safety’s sake, we’ll take only two people to climb with us every time. Wenxi, you and I use a rope. Wanxin, you climb the cliff together with Brother Kai. The others just wait here for me and Zheng Kai to come down again,” said Zhao Yuan.

“What? Why not take the ladies up first?” Wang Xiang said worriedly and then bashfully looked at Zhang An’an.

“Well, many students have gotten lost or dropped out by now. They’ve been taken away by the military instructors. Considering the complex landforms, we really should thank you for taking us here, Wang Xiang. You’re... really good.” Zhang An’an comforted Wang Xiang. Zhao Yuan also touched Wang Xiang’s head and praised him. Wang Xiang’s face changed and then he felt confident again.

“By the way, I think it’s time for us to say goodbye to you guys. We’ve caused so much trouble for you. We don’t want to delay you guys any longer,” Zhang An’an added. Shu Xiaoman and Chen Wanxin simultaneously nodded in agreement.

“No, we have to travel together.” Zheng Kai rejected their request and said, “I promise to send all of you up to the top of the hill!”

After several rounds of discussion, all the boys from Dorm No. 216 and all the girls from Dorm No. 419 decided to continue traveling together.

When Chen Wanxin walked to him, Zhao Yuan felt somewhat awkward and looked at Zheng Kai. Upon seeing that, Zheng Kai just silently picked up Zhang An’an. Soon enough, these two teams began to climb the cliff together, and the boys dragged and helped the girls all along the way. Suddenly, Zheng Kai seemed to lose his patience. He thought that Zhang An’an was too slow, so he strapped her to his back and continued to climb while carrying her. Upon seeing that, Zhao Yuan had no choice but to carry Chen Wanxin on his back too. No matter how hard he tried, he could not catch up with Zheng Kai. Zheng Kai climbed very fast but very unsteadily. Once he missed his footing, the consequences would be disastrous.

“Don’t rush, Zheng Kai!” Zhao Yuan could not help but shout at Zheng Kai.

“When it comes to physical strength, you have to admit that I’m better than you!” Zheng Kai talked back coldly and looked down at Chen Wanxin. Upon seeing her, he felt annoyed and climbed even faster. Zhang An’an was so frightened that she just tightly held Zheng Kai’s shoulders with her eyes closed.

Zhao Yuan could not help but sigh and continued to climb up together with Chen Wanxin step by step.

He took good care of her and helped her all along the way, but he never got too close to her. When Chen Wanxin was too tired to climb, he would stop and wait for her. He would push her up when there was a need, but he never held her tightly without asking. He acted very politely and even somewhat detachedly. Chen Wanxin, who was quite an audacious girl, remained silent and avoided looking at Zhao Yuan all along the way. She looked around and spotted two lovely butterflies and a small lizard on the cliff. She also saw some beautiful purple flowers on the cliff. In the meantime, she felt disappointed and thought, “Just now, Zhao Yuan clearly wanted to climb the cliff together with Lin Wenxi instead of me. Well, it might be because of the bet, but it’s just a bet. Zhang An’an, Shu Xiaoman and I just wanted to play a prank on that Lin Wenxi as he embarrassed me in front of everyone. Did Zhao Yuan take it seriously? Does he really plan to turn Lin Wenxi into a gay before chasing after me? Why does he take this task so seriously? And he doesn’t seem to like me very much. Is it because his roommate Zheng Kai likes me? Is it because he just doesn’t want to compete with his friend for me? Is it because he... really likes Lin Wenxi? Did he really mean it when he asked me to become his girlfriend?”

With this in mind, Chen Wanxin was confused.

When Zhao Yuan and Chen Wanxin were about to reach the top of the hill. Zheng Kai was rushing down the cliff. He looked extremely fast and nimble, which deeply impressed Chen Wanxin. She had expected to meet all kinds of talented people in Jifu University but had never expected to meet someone like Zheng Kai. She had never seen anyone even the bodyguards of her family show such an astonishing physical strength.

“Zhao Yuan, you have to admit today that I’m better than you!” Zheng Kai smiled and continued rushing down.

“Brother Kai, don’t rush! This isn’t laughing matter!” Zhao Yuan said somewhat anxiously.

Zheng Kai ignored him.

When he reached the top of the hill, Zhao Yuan was soaked with sweat and had to take some rest. Zhang An’an was lying on the ground beside him, looking frightened, as she had not yet recovered from the shock. “That monster just drank some water before going down again!” mumbled Zhang An’an.

“Wanxin, if you don’t like brother Kai, please don’t tease him now and then. You should know how much he cares about you,” Zhao Yuan said to Chen Wanxin.

“When did I tease him?” Chen Wanxin grumbled. 𝗳𝘳𝒆𝘦𝑤𝐞𝚋𝗻𝚘𝘷𝘦𝙡.𝑐𝐨𝘮

“Just now, when you said, ‘Zhao Yuan is such a careful person’. But everyone saw clearly that Zheng Kai was the one who contributed the most. If Wang Xiang said this, no one would get upset, because we know that he’s always a brainless guy. However, you’re a smart girl. You should’ve never said anything like that,” said Zhao Yuan.

“Alright, I see. But to be frank, I don’t like guys who’re not smart enough. Zheng Kai is as stubborn as a mule. He’s not clever,” said Chen Wanxin.

“Then you should respect him as a schoolmate. You can’t be so mean to him simply because he said that he likes you. Even if you were a princess before, you have to understand how to treat other people properly now,” Zhao Yuan raised his voice. Chen Wanxin was a little upset, but she had to admit that he had a point. As such, she just remained silent.

“Sigh, Zhao Yuan, be a man. Don’t scold a girl in your class like that. She’s not a child. You could’ve said this to her in a more acceptable way,” Zhang An’an said and handed some water to Chen Wanxin.

Chen Wanxin thanked Zhang An’an smilingly and then fell silent again. Her parents adored her very much, and she was always bossy to others. She had never expected Zhao Yuan to scold her like that. She thought that she should get mad and even hysterical at this moment, but she just felt disappointed and sad now.

Zhao Yuan tried to call Zheng Kai, but his cellphone could not get any signal here. As such, he said to the girls, “Excuse me, I have to go now. I’m a little worried about Zheng Kai.” With these words, he jumped down while grabbing the rope. He tried his best to slide down as fast as possible.

When he was two thirds of the way down the cliff, he was astonished by what he saw. He was frightened, irritated and worried. He shouted sharply, “Zheng Kai, you’re such a dumb*ss!”