Ma Jianyu's Secret

[Ma Jianyu invites to carry you after you tripped on some moss and stubbed your toe. Do you:

>Accept

>Decline]

They were trekking back to the front of Liangyue, where their ship is waiting. This is the last day of the summer trip, and everyone has earned their own personal happy memories enough to inspire them for the Summer Novel Writing Contest.

They had too much fun and dally too much, so now they're hurrying up or they'll be late. That's why Mo Jiagei tripped, but she only stubbed her toe, nothing serious.

Still, she's the weak, dainty MC after all. She's bound to complain about a stubbed toe.

Mo Aini saw this choice bar popped up, and had another idea. The choice bar is a physical thing that can be clicked after all. Why would he force to let Mo Jiagei to pick the Good Ending choices using a battle of wits and reverse-reverse-reverse psychology....

When he can pick the choice himself?

He picked a rock and aim it to test his theory.

It worked, striking the 'Accept' option.

[+5 Cupid Points!]

Mo Jiagei outside the game world was shocked.

She thought: "I hadn't pressed anything yet!?"

Mo Aini was starting to get prouder of his throwing skills. Who knew he is Olympics level when it comes to throwing!? He could really be an assassin if he wants to!

"Hop on, princess!" Ma Jianyu smiled delightfully as he bent his back and carried Mo Jiagei.

Even with carrying someone on his back, he rushed faster than the rest of them, long legs going tack-tack-tack! as he sprinted past dangerous boulders and slippery puddles.

(I thought the bio was exaggerating, but he really could defeat Usain Bolt if he wants to." Mo Aini scratched his head and tried to catch up with the others.

They were all running like marathoners since the ship will be there in 10 minutes.

"Huff.... Huff.... Are you still okay back there, A-Tian?" Mo Aini checked on the tiger on his back.

"I'm fine.... Da Ge, you're sweating....." Hu Chuntian wiped his brow for him.

But he's not really fine. With all this shaking and jolting from the running, his kidney couldn't stop it anymore, and after a minute.....

"Da Ge, I think I need to pee....."

"What??? Can't you keep it in until we reach the docks?"

"I'm already keeping it in since we left our last encampment area." Hu Chuntian whimpered pitifully. "I don't want to make a mess on Da Ge.... You're already working so hard carrying me...."

(You're not even worried about how embarrassing it is to pee in front of everyone, you're more worried about making a mess on me....) Mo Aini could only sigh. (Ah, what do I do with you?)

He yelled to the others. "Guys, wait for us a bit! Nature calls!"

The people grumbled, saying the time and that they are going to be late, but Mo Aini consoled them by saying they'll be quick. He rushed off to the trees to find a good spot for his A-Tian's 'nature call'.

He set him down gently. "Can you stand? Do you want me to support you?"

"Yeah...." Hu Chuntian said absentmindedly and open up his zipper. His poor little brother is red and threatening to burst.

Mo Aini cursed, looking away. "Fuck, did you get hard from holding your pee?"

"I can't help it, Da Ge.... My bladder is so full...." Hu Chuntian bit his lips enough to bleed. "It hurts so much, Da Ge..."

"Yeah, I know how difficult that was. I've been there." Mo Aini patted his back and whispered gently. "Just take deep breaths. Try to put pressure on your stomach a bit."

While these two were dealing with such matters, the other students are taking a break and catching their breaths.

"How long will it take them? It's just peeing!" A male student complained.

A particularly well-known pervert joked. "Maybe they're doing something else."

"I don't care what the hell they're doing, they better do it fast or the ship might leave us behind!"

She Haoran took a sip from his tumbler, and looked up. "I agree, we should go. The mountains aren't safe, there's bound to be landslides---"

Just as he said this, tremors really came and rocks threatened to fall from the mountainside!

Ma Jianyu who's carrying Mo Jiagei was by that side of danger, and so She Haoran who first noticed it didn't think twice and pushed them out of the way.

Everyone exclaimed. "President She!"

She Haoran's upper body was unscathed, but his left leg took quite a hit by a big boulder. If he didn't push the two lovebirds away, their heads would have been the ones bashed by that boulder.

"Sir!" Wang Jing used her own hands to push the heavy boulder away. "Sir, you are injured!"

The leg was black and bruised, the knee scraped and bleeding, and there's a chance that something was broken from the impact.

But She Haoran resisted the pain to keep everyone from worrying, and forced a smile. "This is nothing. I can still...."

He staggered to stand up, then fell back again.

Wang Jing caught him with much worry on her face. She Haoran was like a brother to him, and ever since she became the Vice President, she always felt like it was her duty to make sure no harm comes to him.

Li Youman also helped her carry him to a safer spot, and asked the others to "Get the medicine kit!"

The two girls put him down and someone brought the kit. As they tend to the leg.....

"Shit, the ship is coming! I saw it!"

"We can't let it wait for too long! I want to go home!"

Ma Jianyu frowned at the selfishness of the others. "That's the least of our worries. What we need is to quickly bring She Haoran to them so he would get help."

"But Mo Aini and Hu Chuntian still haven't returned...." Gou Manchu said.

Ma Jianyu also considered this. He also doesn't want them to get left behind.

Coming to a decision, he put Mo Jiagei down. "Princess, I would need you to endure your pain for a bit."

The MC: "?????"

"Everyone, listen closely!" He called them up. "All of you travel as fast as you can to the ship and tell the captain to wait for us a bit longer. I will wait for the two and we will make haste to get back with you."

Wang Jing creased her eyebrow. "But what about She Haoran? He can't possibly run in this state---"

"Leave him to me. I'll be the one carrying Sir Haoran."

The people were surprised by Ma Jianyu's sudden burst of leadership, since he had never exuded such a responsible aura before. Everyone just saw him as a kooky club president that is only good for announcements and long, dramatic speeches, not when it comes to serious matters.

But he has a point. He is the fastest of all of them. And not only that, but his determination would make anyone put their faith in him.

Even Wang Jing was convinced after a while. She gave a salute. "Understood. Please take care of the president well."

"I will." Ma Jianyu returned the salute, and everyone went on their way.

He went on his fellow president's side. "I owe you my life, Sir Haoran, Mr. President. My thanks would be insufficient to show my gratitude to you."

"Again, this is nothing." He gave a pained smile.

Ma Jianyu frowned. "As valiant as it is, don't force a smile, my friend. You're just making yourself more painful to look at."

She Haoran noticed his change in tone, and his smile faltered into a bit of a surprise. "Oh.... Alright."

Ma Jianyu looked at the leg and bowed his head. "I do not know what I would do with myself if you got a worse injury because of me. I..... I should have been more careful. I could have even endangered my princess...."

She Haoran patted his head. "It's not your fault. Accidents happen."

"Do not comfort me, good sir." Ma Jianyu bent down to examine the bandaged foot with a hurt expression. "I should be the one trying to ease your pain. Is there anything I could do?"

"Hah.... Maybe.... Maybe sing a song to pass the time." She Haoran jested.

But Ma Jianyu really took it as an order, and began to hum a tune.

Meanwhile, Mo Aini and Hu Chuntian had finished taking care of the very painful matter, and was hiking up to where they have last seen the other students. They were surprised to see only Ma Jianyu and She Haoran there.

"Where is everyone?" Mo Aini asked in confusion.

Hu Chuntian sensed something, and clasped his hand on his Da Ge's mouth. "Shh, Da Ge. Let's just listen to them for a bit."

" Mpfh!" Mo Aini pushed his hand away with a cough. "Okay! Okay! But don't just put your unwashed hands on my mouth again!"

"Oh, sorry." Hu Chuntian only realized. "But look!"

"Your voice is.... really remarkable." She Haoran commended. "What song was that?

"Thank you. I learned that song from....." Ma Jianyu suddenly froze cold when he said that, suddenly stuttering. "From.... My... The song, it's....."

She Haoran began to worry, waving a hand over his terror-struck face. "Ma Jianyu?"

Ma Jianyu suddenly turned his head towards a cliff, and stood up to run towards it. "Mom! Mom, don't jump! Don't leave me!"

Panicked, She Haoran quickly followed suit despite his bad leg, and ended up dropping to the ground. He still tried to stretch his arms to grasp on Ma Jianyu's ankle.

"Ma Jianyu! Ma Jianyu, stop!" He yelled, clasping the foot tightly. "There's nothing there!"

As he said this, Ma Jianyu seemed to have been broken from a trance, and he stopped when he almost reached the edge. Then, he knelt to the ground, clasping his head.

"No! No! It's not real! It's not real!" He gripped his hair, repeating again and again. "They're right, there's nothing there. It's alright, there's nothing..... Hic..... Sniff.... Mom....."

She Haoran watched in confusion as Ma Jianyu suddenly broke down crying. He hesitated for a bit, because he is not usually someone to do so, but eventually gave in.....

And placed his arms around Ma Jianyu, consoling him with a hug.

"I'm sorry...." Ma Jianyu buried his head on the crevice of his neck. "Why must I be like this in front of Sir Haoran..... This is totally unbecoming of a hero like me..... Sniff...."

"Ma Jianyu." She Haoran said, eyebrows creased. "What did you see?"

Instead of asking him to explain everything, instead of asking him to calm down, he asked something strange like this. Because there truly was nothing there, yet he believes Ma Jianyu must have seen something.

Ma Jianyu stopped sobbing and wiped his tears away. He tried to compose himself. "I saw.... I saw my mom..... No, I didn't see her. It's all in my mind. She's already dead."

She Haoran didn't say anything else, and patiently waited for him to open up on his own time.

"She..... She and I were hiking on a mountain, just like this. I was seven." His way of speaking has changed, no longer fantastical and more straightforward. "I turned around to catch a butterfly..... But then she fell."

"They all said it was an accident. But my dad..... He said it was because of me." Ma Jianyu chuckled a bit. "I believe him."

"I wasn't as talkative as I am now. When I was a child I barely spoke a word. I was never smiling. I was boring to be around with."

"My father also left me behind, went to have another family."

"I see." She Haoran gently tapped his shoulders. "Who took care of you?"

"My grandmother. But the doctor says she's too old, and had to be put up in a nursing home. People are fun there." Ma Jianyu sniffled. "They told me stories and taught me how to read books. There was a half-British man who introduced me to Shakespeare, and I fell in love with plays ever since."

"The doctors at the home said I have the same ailment as my grandmother. I have to take medicine or...." Ma Jianyu looked away. "Or I'll start to see things."

She Haoran understood, and didn't ask any further. He just kept on hugging Ma Jianyu until he was ready to get back on his feet again.

(Poor guy. So that's why he's like that.) Mo Aini sympathized in his head.

He whispered to Hu Chuntian. "I think that's enough eavesdropping. We better make ourselves known."

When She Haoran and Ma Jianyu saw them approaching, they immediately broke apart awkwardly.

Ma Jianyu coughed, worrying that his eyes were too red. "Ahem, you have returned, my friends! We've encountered a bit of an incident, and our president is now injured. The ship has arrived, and so I asked everyone to leave before us."

He stood up and offered his hand, expression soft. "Thank you again, Haoran. Let me return the favor."

She Haoran took his hand and went on his back with a brief nod. "Mn. Let's get out of this island quickly."

"Can this cowboy really carry the president all the way there with his stick arms?" Hu Chuntian suddenly teased. "Aren't you worried for your own safety, Mr. President? You two might choke on the dust from our feet!"

Mo Aini blinked. "Hey, what the hell are you saying? Ma Jianyu runs like a Grade A stallion, why are you challenging him—"

"I should say the same for you and your partner, villain." Ma Jianyu gave Hu Chuntian a disdainful look up and down. "He's been carrying your heavy buttocks since this morning, isn't he bound to collapse from exhaustion?"

"My Da Ge has the stamina of a beast, he can handle me even for 1000 days and 1000 nights!" Hu Chuntian bragged.

"Then let us determine who the best pair is with a race, then."

"Game on!"

Mo Aini was baffled, but he finally understood what he was doing. He's trying to lighten up Ma Jianyu's mood by challenging him to a piggyback race. He found himself touched by this.

(Even when he acts like he hates Ma Jianyu and calls him 'cowboy', my A-Tian is still a kind-hearted soul sensitive to others' feelings. It's just like back when I learned Shu Chuanli's secret, he still bought him some goods.) Mo Aini wanted to pat his tiger's head. (My A-Tian is a good boy after all.)

He didn't know that Hu Chuntian is just damn competitive and wants to prove that he and his Da Ge is the best CP, and back in Shu Chuanli's route, he just has so much money to spare and didn't think much about it. It's not about being good at all, it's about not caring for anything else other than Mo Aini.

She Haoran was also surprisingly fine with this challenge. "You should align yourselves with us. Then, both pairs will run at the count of three. One.... Two.... Three....!"

Four boys, two pairs in piggybacks, running on a beautiful island by the sea at sunset. Childish laughter being carried by the breeze to warm even the coldest hearts, it was an image of fitting of their novel contest's theme, a true Summer Escapade of the Youth.

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