Chapter 519 - 353: I Can’t Sleep Either

Chapter 519: Chapter 353: I Can’t Sleep Either

"What?"

He hadn’t expected his actions to provoke such a strong reaction from Jin Meiyan. For a moment, his mind went blank, and he asked subconsciously.

Jin Meiyan gave him a deep look, her eyes filled with a mix of complex emotions and regret.

"Regardless of whether you two get together in two weeks, can you let me know?"

"Huh?" He scratched his head in confusion. "And then?"

"If you get together, I’ll wish you both well, and we can just be friends from now on. But if..."

She didn’t continue, feeling that saying something like that before a decision was made would only add to Lin Chen’s psychological burden.

’Erica trusts me enough to let Lin Chen and I be alone together in the wild. That’s a show of faith in both him and me. I can’t take advantage of that trust and do something immoral.’

’Although I’ve already done quite a bit...’

’But if...?’

Even someone as dense as Lin Chen could grasp the hidden meaning behind her words. That, combined with the look in her eyes, made his heart race.

’What have I ever done to deserve this?’ he wondered. ’To have two such outstanding women show interest in me, and after only knowing them for a few days.’

The strange situation also filled him with deep confusion.

’I was the same person before. My daily life didn’t seem any different. The only change was awakening the system after joining the show and gaining some basic knowledge and skills.’

’Those things didn’t fundamentally change who I am as a person; they just saved me a lot of study time.’

But it was precisely after this that his life had been turned upside down.

He had gone from a complete nobody to an influencer with over a hundred thousand fans, and now he had captured the interest of two beautiful women.

’No wonder the ancestors always said knowledge changes one’s destiny. It seems reading more really does have its benefits. The more you know, the more confident you become, and you naturally develop a certain aura you’re not even aware of.’

He didn’t want to think about overly practical matters, like Lady Marcia’s investment.

’Feelings should be pure. Practical things are something to consider after two people get together. Thinking about them too early will only tarnish the relationship.’

"Okay."

He didn’t hesitate and agreed immediately.

This was the sincere emotion of the girl before him. He couldn’t bring himself to needlessly hurt the heart of an innocent girl who was bravely pursuing love.

At the same time, his own feelings grew complicated.

’Can I really make a decision in two weeks?’

Having decided not to interfere with Lin Chen’s judgment, Jin Meiyan gave him one last deep look, then closed her eyes and stood still for a long moment before opening them again.

When she opened her eyes again, the emotions within them were completely restrained, and she looked just as she had when they first set out that morning.

"It’s getting late. Let’s warm up by the fire a little longer and then go to sleep. This heat is making me sleepier and sleepier, just like back in school. I feel like I could fall asleep at any moment."

"Huh? You Koreans get sleepy in class too? I thought that was a specialty of us Great Xia students."

"Isn’t that normal?! Who likes studying? Especially in boring subjects like math or history. The teacher would start talking, and five minutes later, half the class would be out."

"PFFT, HAHAHA! Us too! I was always pinching my thigh under the desk. Sometimes my leg would be all swollen, but I still couldn’t resist the teacher’s hypnotic powers."

The two of them tacitly avoided that topic and instead started chatting about the differences in life and school between countries like South Korea, the United States, Canada, and Great Xia.

It turned out that Lin Chen, who had studied in Great Xia and Canada, and Jin Meiyan, who had studied in the United States and South Korea, found common ground on many topics. Yet, there were also subtle differences, which was what intrigued them the most.

They had originally planned to chat for just ten minutes or so, but by the time they realized it, it was already two-thirty in the morning.

They had been talking for over an hour!

The fire had long since died out, leaving only dark red embers glowing and giving off heat.

A cold breeze swept by, and Jin Meiyan shivered involuntarily. She stood up and felt her clothes.

"Looks like my clothes are completely dry."

"Mine too," Lin Chen nodded. He didn’t even need to touch them to know the sticky, damp feeling was long gone.

"Well then... Good night, Oppa~"

Jin Meiyan put one hand behind her back and waved gently at him with the other. With a small smile, she ducked into the thatched shelter she had built.

"Good night."

Lin Chen lay down on the soft pine needles. It was pitch black, and from time to time, he could hear the rustling of leaves stirred by the night wind.

His eyelids were so heavy he could barely keep them open, yet his mind was unusually alert, with no desire to sleep at all.

The moment he tried to close his eyes, images of Jin Meiyan dancing sensually against him and standing on her toes to ask for a kiss would flash in his mind. A strange sense of regret welled up inside him—’I should have just kissed her then.’

’She’s a genuine Korean beauty and influencer who built her career from the ground up through her own abilities, a goddess countless Korean men dream of.’

’I could have had a taste of her lips and brought glory to the nation if I’d just been a little impulsive. How could I have been such a coward?’

But as soon as that thought appeared, a completely opposite one followed, constantly reassuring him that he’d done the right thing. ’You can’t just give in to your base instincts, or what’s the difference between you and an animal?’

The war in his mind raged on with no signs of stopping. Left with no choice, he tried to recall his past experiences with Erica, hoping to quell his inner turmoil.

’Otherwise, if I keep thinking about Jin Meiyan, my feelings for her might deepen without me even realizing it. It’s that so-called self-inflicted infatuation.’

’I went through this before when I was younger and had crushes on girls. Overthinking things just leads you astray.’

To his surprise, the method actually worked. His chaotic thoughts gradually settled, and his breathing evened out.

...

When a ray of light shone through a gap in the pine needles and onto his face, Lin Chen frowned and turned over instinctively.

He was about to drift back to sleep when a strong, pungent smell of urine suddenly hit his nose.

’Wait, the smell of pee??’

Realizing what it was, he snapped his eyes open. He saw that the little wolf cub, which had been curled up in his jacket next to his head, had woken up at some point and was now stumbling and crawling all over the place.

The pungent smell was coming from that direction.

’Dammit, I was nice enough to save you and even make you food, and you little bastard piss in my jacket?!’

If he didn’t wash the jacket before the urine dried, the smell would be permanently baked in, unless he soaked it in heavily scented laundry detergent for a day or two.

He grabbed the scruff of the little wolf cub’s neck and lifted it into the air. The little guy just looked at him with an innocent expression, opening its tiny mouth to let out a few soft yips.

Its snout, not even half a finger long, was toothless, and its dark little nose somehow gave off the illusion of being soft and pink.

Holding the wolf cub in one hand and his jacket in the other, he crawled out of the thatched shelter. The glaring sunlight hit his face, and he instinctively raised the jacket to shield his eyes from the bright light.

He walked a few dozen meters to the stream. Just as he squatted down, he suddenly heard the sound of splashing water.

He instinctively looked toward the sound and saw a flawless, smooth white back. Someone was sitting on a rock not far away, scooping up clear stream water to wash their body.

From his angle, he could vaguely make out a rounded curve on the side.

’?!’

His expression changed, and he quickly lowered his head, cursing inwardly. ’Shit.’

’Why is she up so early?’

The sun had just risen. It hadn’t been more than four hours since he went to sleep last night. Logically, she should be sound asleep. Why would she be by the stream washing up?

He swallowed, carefully and slowly stood up, and chanted in his mind.

’Easy, easy.’

’Don’t make a single sound!’

After what had happened last night, if they had another encounter this morning, the relationship between them would become really awkward!

His body tensed as he straightened up inch by inch. He even carefully planned his escape route, making sure he wouldn’t step on any dry twigs or leaves that could make a noise.

One step.

Two steps.

Just as he took his third step back, the dangling wolf cub suddenly started to struggle, letting out a series of yips.

The moment it cried out, Lin Chen’s heart sank, and his face changed dramatically.

’It’s over!’

And sure enough...

The white figure he had been watching from the corner of his eye instantly froze, whipping her arms back to cover her front with lightning speed.

"Is... is that you, Oppa?"

The girl’s voice was nervous and apprehensive. She trembled as she turned her head, but she seemed to let out a breath of relief when she saw the familiar figure.

She was about to ask why he was up so early when she heard the yipping sound again, and her gaze fell on the little wolf cub and the jacket dangling from his hand.

"It’s me."

Lin Chen also froze in place, keeping his head down and holding up the jacket to block his view in her direction.

"This little guy peed on my clothes. The smell was so strong I couldn’t sleep, so I came over to wash it. Why are you up so early?"

"I... I couldn’t sleep either," Jin Meiyan said, biting her lower lip shyly. She also hadn’t expected them to meet like this.

"After diving last night, I didn’t get to wash up. The fire was so hot I didn’t really feel it, but as I was sleeping, I started to feel all sticky and gross. I just couldn’t lie still anymore. Since it was already light out, I thought I’d come wash myself off before you woke up, Oppa."

The main problem was that the stream was too shallow—it barely covered her ankles, making it impossible to bathe properly. She didn’t dare climb up to the small pool on the mountain by herself, so she could only wash herself off with her hands.

The thought that Lin Chen might have seen her just now during his accidental intrusion made her face burn with an indescribable shyness.

"I... I’ll go wash farther away. I won’t bother you!"

Just as he was about to turn and move upstream, Jin Meiyan immediately called out to stop him.

"No, it’s fine! You can wash over there, Oppa. To be honest, I was really scared being here by myself. I kept worrying something would suddenly pop out of the forest. I feel much safer with you here."