MSCRB Chapter 3

[Master, don’t be angry. He’s still young and doesn’t understand your good intentions. Let’s not stoop to his level.]

004 sensed its master’s bad mood and quickly tried to comfort him.

Tears with warmth dripped onto Lin Shi’s palm, scalding him so much he pulled his hand back, releasing his grip on Qin Xing, and conveniently pulled the pitiful little one up from the ground.

He felt an inexplicable sense of guilt for bullying a child. What was that about?

“Stand here and don’t move. Think carefully about what you did wrong today!”

Lin Shi pretended to glare fiercely at Qin Xing, then sat back in his chair and started eating the dumplings.

There were many dumplings in a big bowl, and he couldn’t finish them at all. As for the taste, it was really quite ordinary. Actually, this family did hire a nanny. But Song Xiulan, to show off her virtuousness, insisted on cooking every meal herself, also using it as an opportunity to please the original body, hoping to win him over.

Speaking of Song Xiulan’s flattery, one had to mention the original body’s father, Shen Xudong. After the original body’s mother passed away from illness, for the sake of his son, he hadn’t remarried until now. Even though Song Xiulan lived here, she still had no official status. Unless the original body approved, she and Shen Xudong were only living together. To be able to marry Shen Xudong, Song Xiulan doted on the original body to no end, which also made the original body bully Qin Xing without restraint. Lin Shi ate most of the dumplings in the bowl before Qin Xing’s voice came from behind him.

“Big brother, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have eaten the dumplings Mom made for you.”

As he said this, Qin Xing’s small hands nervously tugged at the hem of his clothes, head down, forcing back tears, voice trembling. In his heart, he didn’t think he was wrong at all, but he had to grit his teeth and apologize. Lin Shi put down the bowl and chopsticks, turned and stood up, looking at Qin Xing:

“Not that. Lift your head and think again.”

Qin Xing obediently raised his head, at a loss under Lin Shi’s gaze. Other than eating the dumplings, he hadn’t done anything – he had obediently accepted their punishment. Thinking of punishment, he suddenly remembered the scene of him kneeling and the other suddenly getting angry. He pressed his lips together and said uncertainly:

“I shouldn’t have listened to Mom and knelt here.”

“Heh, then where should you kneel?”

Sensing the coldness in Lin Shi’s voice, Qin Xing’s voice trembled as he quickly tried to make amends:

“I shouldn’t listen to Mom.”

“Then who should you listen to from now on?”

Not too stupid after all. With a glance of his peach-blossom eyes, Lin Shi pretended to be indifferent as he pressed further.

“Lis—listen to big brother, listen to big brother in everything!”

Qin Xing stammered out his pledge of loyalty. Pale little face, reddened eye rims, crystalline tears hanging from long lashes; his pitiful appearance made Lin Shi’s heart feel like something had struck it hard. Such an obedient person… how could anyone bear to bully him?

Thinking of his current identity, Lin Shi wished he could slap himself. Clearly heartbreaking, yet he could only stare at Qin Xing with heavy eyes.

“Remember what you said. If you don’t listen to me in the future, believe it or not, I’ll break your legs and make you kneel for the rest of your life.”

“I’ll be obedient, I’ll listen to you, don’t break my legs.”

Qin Xing nodded with a sob. Based on how the other usually treated him, he believed the other would do what he said– the other really would break his legs. And his mother wouldn’t stop it at all. For a moment, fear and despair filled Qin Xing’s entire body, making him tremble uncontrollably. What was originally just a threat– he hadn’t intended to actually scare the child sick. Seeing the other like this, Lin Shi ultimately couldn’t bear it and waved Qin Xing over.

Without breaking character, he didn’t mind giving the other a little comfort.

“Come here.”

Not daring to resist at all, thinking of the promise he had just made, Qin Xing endured his inner fear and walked toward Lin Shi. Flatteringly, he hugged Lin Shi’s leg, looked up, and tremblingly called out:

“Big brother.”

Lin Shi had originally only wanted to comfortingly pat the other’s head, but hadn’t expected the other to boldly try to please him. He really wasn’t stupid. Moved by the thought, Lin Shi said nothing, bent down, and directly scooped the person up. Feeling the tremble of the body in his arms for that instant, Lin Shi soothingly patted Qin Xing’s back.

“Good, don’t be afraid. As long as you obediently listen to me, I won’t bully you; I’ll even treat you very well. I promise you.”

The weight in his hands was so light it made Lin Shi’s brows knit together. He cursed Song Xiulan in his heart. This was blatant abuse. A seven-year-old child, apart from having a little flesh on his face, was so thin he was nothing but skin and bones. Qin Xing hadn’t expected Lin Shi to say such things in his ear and give him a promise. Staying in the other’s embrace, the unfamiliar warmth made Qin Xing slightly dazed. Thinking of what happened that morning, Qin Xing widened his eyes, unable to believe Lin Shi’s words.

Mustering his courage, he tentatively asked in a muffled voice: “Big brother, what do you want me to do?”

“Nothing for now. When I think of something for you to do, I’ll tell you.”

Thinking of this, Lin Shi felt quite pleased with himself. Maintaining the no-OOC condition while making the little villain listen to him, combining kindness and severity. He really was smart.

[Master is awesome! This also lowers the difficulty of the world task. Master’s move of starting from childhood is truly brilliant…]

To make Lin Shi happy, 004’s flattery flowed freely without regard for points. But at this happy moment, the master-system pair forgot there was a word called ‘rebellion,’ and another saying: ‘plans can never keep up with changes.’ Lin Shi was immersed in how to teach the little villain in the future to become a sunny, cheerful good young man, fundamentally eliminating the little villain’s thoughts of breaking the law, so much so that he didn’t let go of the little villain in his arms for a long time.

Listening to the low, soft laughter by his ear, Qin Xing somewhat timidly wrapped his arms around the other’s neck, carefully lying on Lin Shi’s shoulder. The other’s embrace was unexpectedly somewhat warm– something he had never felt before. Sniffling, along with the hug, a faint mint scent drilled into his nasal cavity, instantly sobering Qin Xing. How could he easily forget the other’s previous abuse?

But this warm embrace made him feel a trace of greed! If the other could keep his word and not bully him anymore, then he thought he would also keep his promise and always listen to big brother. He wanted to trust the other one more time; the last time…

Because of the promise he had made, Qin Xing obediently stayed in Lin Shi’s room for the rest of the day. Both lunch and dinner were brought into the room by Lin Shi for him to eat; his mother didn’t know at all. Although what he ate was what Lin Shi had left over, Qin Xing was very satisfied. This was already very good, much better than what he usually ate. Holding the bowl, Qin Xing ate the last mouthful of rice in small bites, then put the bowl back on the desk, burped, and looked at Lin Shi eagerly. This appearance was so cute that Lin Shi couldn’t resist reaching out to rub Qin Xing’s head.

“Go get your clothes and come to my room. Bath and sleep.”

Hearing this, Qin Xing’s obsidian-like eyes flashed with a glimmer of light. He really liked staying in this clean room. But the next moment, his face fell again.

“Mom will be unhappy if she finds out.”

“She went out to play. She won’t be back tonight.”

During dinner, when he passed by the kitchen, he heard the woman tell the nanny that she wouldn’t be back tonight and for the nanny to take good care of him. His dad was on a business trip in Country C, so in this house, apart from the two of them, there was only a live-in nanny. While Qin Xing was hesitating, Lin Shi directly put on a fierce expression to scare him.

“Remember to listen to me– you forgot again!”

“I– I’ll go.”

Qin Xing’s little face paled. He habitually twisted the hem of his clothes. Hurriedly standing up, his short legs quickly ran outside. Watching the disappearing figure, Lin Shi sighed with emotion to 004.

“I feel like I’m a pervert, bullying such a small child.”

[Master, you’re doing this for his own good. Living in the attic for a long time would definitely make him sick.]

Taking advantage of no one being around, 004 materialized from Lin Shi’s consciousness, lying on Lin Shi’s shoulder like a ghost, licking its paw. After showering, Lin Shi looked at himself in the bathroom mirror, his body still damp. A slightly childish face, completely different from his own looks. If there was any similarity, it was only these eyes. The same peach-blossom eyes as his—when smiling, they seemed to hold water, crystal clear, radiant, and mesmerizing. Regarding appearances, Lin Shi didn’t think this body would grow to look like his even in another ten years. So another problem arose.

“Xiao Si, I remember that for small world tasks, to help task-takers better adapt to their roles, when entering a world, the task-taker’s body data is recorded and replaced.”

[Yes, Master. Did you discover something?]

004, with its cute cat face lying on Lin Shi’s shoulder, looked at the mirror with the same innocent expression as Lin Shi. Only Lin Shi’s figure was reflected in the mirror.

“I suspect I not only entered early, but the identity is also wrong. This Shen Chi is not the supporting male lead in the plot.”

Not only is he not the supporting male lead, he’s very likely cannon fodder. Based on what happened today, combined with the original body’s memories and past experience, he could roughly deduce the plot. This Shen Chi was at most a cannon fodder character. After all, someone who could abuse a young villain couldn’t possibly survive to the end of the story. Most importantly, Lin Shi didn’t think he looked like this when he was young. Now he was using Shen Chi’s appearance to do tasks, while the real Shen Chi was still sleeping in the system space.

[Master, I’ll send an email to the main system immediately to report the situation.]

004’s fur stood on end. If the entry time was wrong, they could still wait, but if the role was also wrong, that was a bit abnormal. After all, it hadn’t heard any other system say that a host’s role had become mixed up after entering a world. The little cat on his shoulder instantly turned to nothingness, going to contact the main system.

Lin Shi heard the noise outside the bathroom, pressed down his doubts, and casually took a dry towel out of the bathroom. At a glance, he saw Qin Xing standing in the room wearing a little bear pajama set, holding a pillow, his whole face buried in it.

Obedient to a fault!

Lin Shi sat down along the edge of the bed, back against the headboard, and waved at Qin Xing:

“Come here quickly, dry my hair for me.”

Having the other dry his hair in exchange for letting him sleep in the bed—no problem!

Lin Shi was happy to find small things to deliberately ‘boss around’ Qin Xing. A smile spread in his eyes, peach-blossom eyes slightly upturned, shimmering under the warm bedside lamp, making one want to come closer. Qin Xing held the pillow and came to Lin Shi, head down without a sound. He placed the pillow beside the bed, then climbed onto the bed, picked up the dry towel, covered Lin Shi’s head, and prepared to dry Lin Shi’s hair.

Watching the silent Qin Xing, a strange feeling flashed through Lin Shi’s heart, but it was pressed down when Qin Xing gently lifted his hair. Thinking of what he had just seen—the other’s hair was still dripping wet. Clearly, afraid of making him angry by keeping him waiting, the other had rushed over without even drying his hair. What if he caught a cold?

Thinking this, Lin Shi reached back and pulled Qin Xing into his arms:

“Do you even know how to dry hair? You’re hurting me. Learn from me.”

Deliberately pretending to be fierce, he snatched the towel from the other’s hand. But when the soft black hair slid through his fingertips, the force in his hands betrayed Lin Shi’s true feelings. With interest shining in his eyes, Lin Shi’s attention was all focused on Qin Xing’s thick, slightly curly black hair, ignoring Qin Xing’s different attitude from during the day. No trembling body under his touch, no flattering calls of “big brother.”

Author’s Note:

——Just kidding around——

Little villain: Big brother, what do you want me to do?

Grown-up villain: Big brother, I want to do you!

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