Angry Chicken

Following this little – and weirdly shocking – encounter, there was nothing more they could do, not with the rule that forbade them from leaving the room. Nian went to lock the bridal shoes in the drawer again just in case. Each occupied with their own thoughts, the two of them returned to the bed to catch up on some sleep.

Of course, Jin Jiuchi raised his protest because how was he supposed to sleep knowing that Miss Zhao had returned and would even drop by without a warning?! But then, Nian forcefully pushed him down to the bed and all words ended up stuck on Jin Jiuchi's throat.

The jade doll pinned him down, his purple eyes burning in embers. "Sleep!"

Previously, it always irked him when someone ordered him around but much to his own surprise, it was not annoying when the one who did it was Nian. Why, he wondered? Was it because Nian'er's beauty was unparalleled? Jin Jiuchi's eyes worked even better in the dark, thus he could clearly trace each strand of gleaming silver hair that fell over Nian's shoulders. It looked even more dazzling when lights out, it was as if his entire body was shrouded in a faint halo.

Alas, not annoying did not mean that Jin Jiuchi would obey it.

"Oh?" He let out a mirthful chuckle. "Or else?"

"Or else…" Nian narrowed his eyes and with a flick of his hand, two silver needles appeared between his fingers.

Jin Jiuchi's eyes rounded in surprise. "So I really didn't see wrongly last time! What is this, Nian'er? You're carrying needles around with you? Is it a hobby?" He clicked his tongue, a roguish smile playing on the corner of his lips. "Tsk, such a dangerous hobby. Are you going to stab me with it?"

Nian threateningly brought the needles closer to his neck. "Do you want to try?"

Jin Jiuchi's scalp turned numb once he sensed the tip of the needles grazing softly against his skin. His hair stood up on its end and his instinct was screaming at him to avoid it. But like the rebellious spirit he was, Jin Jiuchi ignored it and licked his lips, provoking. "Does Nian'er want to let me try?"

For a while, both of them stared at each other, none was willing to back down.

Just as Jin Jiuchi thought that the jade doll was going to murder him after everything they had gone through together, he rolled off Jin Jiuchi's body with a harrumph and lay properly on the bed, the needles once again disappearing into God-knows-where. "Why the hell am I talking to a crazy pervert like you…" he murmured under his breath.

"Crazy—" Jin Jiuchi sputtered out a disbelieving laugh, amused yet affronted at the same time. "How am I a crazy pervert?!"

Nian turned his head away and resolutely refused to acknowledge him. As such, he ended up baring his little fair neck for Jin Jiuchi to see.

Jin Jiuchi ran his tongue along the sharp tip of his canines, itching to let Nian know how much crazier he could get up to. But when he recalled the silver needles hidden somewhere on Nian's body, he forced himself to curb the impulse. Okay, he would let Nian off the hook for now! Later, if… if he continued to call Jin Jiuchi a crazy pervert, then Jin Jiuchi would not hesitate to sink his teeth into Nian's little fragile neck to teach him an unforgettable lesson!

(Playfully, of course. He liked Nian so much, how could he bear to hurt him?)

Huffing, Jin Jiuchi closed his eyes and tried to ignore the fact that he was laying on Miss Zhao's marital bed.

He fell asleep to the sound of Nian's smooth and deep breathing.

***

The next day, they came down to the first floor at seven on the dot and went to the dining hall to find only Tang Ye and Xinxin chatting quietly inside. Well, it was more like Tang Ye who was chatting whereas Xinxin was listening with a nervous smile, while sneaking glances at the door once in a while.

As soon as she caught sight of Jin Jiuchi and Nian, her expression morphed into one of relief. "Thank God, you guys are okay!"

Tang Ye waved at them brightly, "Good morning, Brother Yang and err…" he had no idea how to address Nian so in the end, he could only settle with, "...you too, little brother."

"Hmm?" Jin Jiuchi raised a brow, confused. Wasn't she the one who yelped in fear when their eyes met and slammed the door on his face? What brought forth the change?

Presumably guessing the line of Jin Jiuchi's thought, Xinxin flushed bright red and stuttered nervously. "No, I mean… last night, I saw the paper dolls stopping in front of your door. I was scared that something would happen to you, so…"

Nian made a noise of understanding. "Was it you last night?"

Xinxin ducked her head and nodded bashfully with a tiny smile on her lips. She seemed more comfortable with a child like Nian than the adult Tang Ye.

"What?" Jin Jiuchi demanded in confusion as he looked at them back and forth. "What was it about last night? What are you two talking about? Nian'er, you can't just speak vaguely like that and leave me in the dark! We have been through thick and thin together and—oh!" He suddenly recalled something and turned to Xinxin in shock. He repeated Nian's question, only with twice the amount of shock. "Was it you last night? That loud screech?!"

Xinxin shrunk back nervously under his stare. She brought out something from her pocket and placed it on the table.

Jin Jiuchi stared at it, wide-eyed and unblinking.

It was the figurine of a small white chicken with a puffed out chest and fierce eyebrows, its beak opened wide. It oddly looked like it was posed for screaming…

"You mean to say…" Jin Jiuchi swallowed and pointed at the tiny chicken, still could not believe what he was seeing. "Last night, the one that made such a huge ruckus is… this?" The thought that the screech resembled a flock of chickens indeed crossed his mind last night, but he only meant it figuratively – not literally!

"How…?" He asked Xinxin, breathless in awe.

"I–It's a common prop 'Angry Chicken'," Xinxin explained awkwardly under Jin Jiuchi's sparkling eyes. "It has no other use aside from making some noise to lure or distract someone. But I reckon that it may be quite useful in desperate times and it seems like I am right. Oh, it's also very cheap! You can get it with 50 points in the App."

There were a lot of things to unpack in that short explanation. For starters, what was a prop? What was the 'App' and 'point' she was talking about? But the most important of them all was—

Jin Jiuchi picked up the chicken with two fingers and brought it in front of his eyes, his silver eyes shining as if there was a sea of glittering stars within. "Let's make it scream again! Can we? One more time! Just one more time, please? I really, really want to see it!" he proposed excitedly.

Xinxin and Tang Ye became dazed. "...Huh?"

Nian palmed his forehead in exasperation. Somehow, he had expected that this would be the first thing Jin Jiuchi would say…

Alas, before Jin Jiuchi could get another demonstration, two more people stepped into the dining hall, drawing everyone's attention. It was Sister Hong and the man surnamed Zhi.

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A/N: *cough* I know that unlimited flow novels tend to be fast-paced and each instance will have less than 50 chapters (and some even less than 20!), but I'm not really good at such a rapid pace otherwise I'm going to feel as if I'm missing a lot of the character's thoughts and little interactions >< so please bear with my snail pace unlimited flow. This cycle is going to take around 50 ch