Sensing Wu Xie's breathing growing somewhat uneven and knowing he was about to wake up, Zhang Qiling sat quietly nearby, holding a water flask filled with water.
"Mph, Xiaoge?"
Wu Xie wearily opened his eyes. The first things he saw were Xiaoge blocking him and the water held in his arms.
Zhang Qiling blinked and handed over the water in his hand.
"Drink."
"Oh, right, thanks, Xiaoge."
Having been unconscious for so long—though Xiaoge had fed him a little water during that time—he was still parched. Without standing on ceremony, he took the water and began to drink.
"Where is Xiaohua? How come I don't see him?" Wu Xie asked with some concern, looking around after quenching his thirst.
"Hei Xiazi," Zhang Qiling said leisurely as he ate his fried rice.
Hearing that name and glancing at the shredded pork and green pepper fried rice Xiaoge was eating, Wu Xie asked, "You mean Hei Xiazi took Xiaohua away?"
"Mn." Xiaoge raised his head, thought about Hei Xiazi's actions, which certainly counted as taking someone away, and nodded with absolute certainty.
Realizing his childhood friend was fine, Wu Xie relaxed and immediately felt a wave of hunger hit his stomach.
"Xiaoge, is this fried rice from Hei Xiazi? How much was it?" Seeing how much Xiaoge was enjoying it, Wu Xie felt even hungrier.
"Free," Zhang Qiling said flatly.
"Free? No way. Someone as money-obsessed as Hei Xiazi actually didn't charge you?"
Wu Xie's voice rose in shock. It truly caught him off guard; after all this time, he had a fair grasp of Hei Xiazi's character. Seeing Xiaoge get free shredded pork and green pepper fried rice out of that miser felt like the sun rising in the west.
"Eat."
Knowing Wu Xie was hungry, Xiaoge looked at the fried rice in his hand, which was nearly finished, and felt it wouldn't do to give someone else his leftovers. But knowing Hei Xiazi still had more in his bag, he took out another box and handed it to Wu Xie.
"This doesn't seem right, Xiaoge."
Though he spoke with polite hesitation, his hands had already taken the container of fried rice.
Seeing Wu Xie eating, Xiaoge said nothing more.
"I say, Master Hua, time to wake up."
Hei Xiazi looked down at Xie Yuchen, who still had his eyes closed, and said with a helpless sigh.
Their spot wasn't far from Wu Xie's, just a bit inconspicuous, so they had naturally heard every word of the conversation between Wu Xie and Zhang Qiling.
He also knew that the moment Wu Xie woke up, Xie Yuchen's breathing had changed. He was clearly awake now; as for why he refused to open his eyes, Hei Xiazi had no idea.
All he knew was that if Master Hua didn't wake up soon, his legs were going to go numb.
"Master Hua, do you know how bodies are buried in the desert? The most popular way is sand burial. You just bury someone like that—convenient and easy. Should I learn from them and bury you here?"
Hei Xiazi scooped up a handful of sand and tossed it onto Xie Yuchen. Seeing him still playing dead, he washed his hands with some water and flicked the droplets onto Xie Yuchen's face.
Finally, Xie Yuchen couldn't help snapping, "Get your filthy hands away."
"Master Hua, the filthy hands can move, but I must trouble you to move your precious body and free up my poor legs," Hei Xiazi said helplessly.
Hearing this, Xie Yuchen sprang instantly to his feet, moving so fast that not even an afterimage remained.
"H-How did I end up lying on your legs?"
Having never had such close physical contact with anyone, Xie Yuchen was uncharacteristically flustered.
"Well, you had a fever and were completely out cold. I couldn't just leave you lying in the desert sand, so good old Master Hei lent you his legs."
"Then... thank you."
Realizing that Hei Xiazi had saved him, Xie Yuchen dropped his stern expression and offered a very sincere expression of gratitude.
Looking into those starry eyes, Hei Xiazi felt an uncontrollable urge to reach out and stroke them, but the hand he had just raised was interrupted by Wu Xie's voice.
"Xiaohua, are you alright? Come over and rest for a bit," Wu Xie's voice drifted over from a distance.
That snapped Hei Xiazi, bewitched by beauty, back to reality. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to throttle that bastard Wu Xie. Stealing his shredded pork and green pepper fried rice was one thing, but now he was interrupting his flirting.
Glowering with frustration at Master Hua, Hei Xiazi picked up the leather jacket that had fallen to the ground when Master Hua jumped up, and said nonchalantly,
"Let's go get something to eat."
Only 003, existing purely within Hei Xiazi's mind, knew the depth of his heartache—he had been *this* close!
It was only after Hei Xiazi walked away that Xie Yuchen snapped back to himself. He knew a thing or two about Hei Xiazi's earlier behavior, but he had no idea how to react, so when Wu Xie interrupted them, he felt a wave of relief mixed with a tiny pinch of disappointment.
Yet this was no time for such matters; he still had much to do. The affairs of the Xie Family were far from over, Xie Lianhuan had yet to be found, and the shadowy figures lurking behind the Nine Gates remained unseen.
At that thought, the ripples in Xie Yuchen's heart instantly settled back into stillness, entirely unknown to the distant Hei Xiazi.
"Alright, Wu Xie, from way over there I saw you sneaking my shredded pork and green pepper fried rice! Pay up, five hundred."
Annoyed, Hei Xiazi held nothing back. He felt he was being quite merciful—after all, Wu Xie was only losing some cash, whereas Master Hei had missed out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"Five hundred?"
Wu Xie's face fell as he stared at the five-hundred-yuan box of fried rice in his hands, suddenly finding it unappealing.
"Five hundred is already me giving face to Mute Zhang. Being able to eat such delicious shredded pork and green pepper fried rice out here in the desert is a steal."
"Put... put it on my Third Uncle's tab."
Penniless, Wu Xie had no choice but to charge it to his Third Uncle. Besides, the whole reason he came here in the first place was to find his Third Uncle, and with that thought, Wu Xie instantly grew bold and righteous.
"Fine."
Hei Xiazi knew a thing or two about Wu Xie's financial situation. With someone poorer than himself, trying to collect money was a lost cause; he'd have better luck tracking down Third Master for payment.
"Get me a portion too," said Xie Yuchen after the two finished bickering.
"Coming right up! Master Hua has given Master Hei so much business, this one's on the house." Hei Xiazi opened his backpack and pulled out a specially prepared portion of shredded pork and green pepper fried rice.
Undeniably, such exclusive favoritism worked wonders on Xie Yuchen; the fleeting smile at the corner of his mouth made that quite clear.
Opening the lunch box brought an even greater surprise: this was a box of shredded pork and green pepper fried rice *without any green peppers*.
Recalling how he had previously mentioned disliking green peppers, he never expected Hei Xiazi to actually take it to heart. It left Xie Yuchen feeling pleasantly flattered.
"Hey, how come Xiaohua's portion doesn't have any green peppers? Did you cut corners, Xiazi?"
Dense-headed Wu Xie failed to spot any weirdness between Xiaohua and Hei Xiazi, and asked with utter bewilderment.
As for Zhang Qiling, who had caught a glimpse of what was going on, he stubbornly remained a mute.
"Did someone write a law saying shredded pork and green pepper fried rice *must* contain green peppers?" Seeing Xie Yuchen eat, Hei Xiazi's mood improved slightly. He tossed over a bottle of water while teasing Wu Xie.
And Xie Yuchen, so tenderly cared for, might not have been eating exotic delicacies, but he had something far more delicious than any feast.