Chapter 116: A Self-invited Guest

It was almost winter time when everything went on the right track for Lu Lin.

As Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin were having an intimate conversation in their room, there came hurried footsteps and loud knocks on the door.

Lu Lin frowned and said, "How strange. Who could it be a such late hour?"

Chen Xiao Cai's anxious voice came through, "Big Brother, Brother Lin, I believe we have a burglar!"

Chen Xiao Mi opened the door and comforted Chen Xiao Cai, "Cai, take a deep breath, what's going on?"

Chen Xiao Cai said excitedly, "A burglar intruded into Mai's room, but Mai has brought him under control."

Lu Lin was shocked and exclaimed, "A burglar? Are you sure? Maybe it's just a petty thief who knows Mai has that room to himself and underestimates Mai as a pushover."

However, Lu Lin was still shocked when he heard Mai had checked the 'uninvited guest'. Young as Mai was, he was no pushover. Probably he could take a tiger like his big brother Chen Xiao Mi.

Chen Xiao Cai frowned and said, "Brother Lin, we can't let this guy go!"

Lu Lin frowned and thought to himself, 'It's time to recruit a few Yamen runners. No one is hurt this time, what if it's really a bandit or a burglar! I dread to think the outcome!'

"I'll go take a look," Lu Lin said sullenly.

Lu Lin rushed to Mai's room only to see Mai sitting on a young boy who was supposed to be the burglar, and the 'burglar' grimaced in pain.

"Don't grit your teeth," Mai tied the burglar's hands together and pinched his right ear as a warning.

The burglar lying on the ground looked so downhearted, probably everything was too embarrassing for him.

Lu Lin's mouth twitched when he saw Mai sitting on the burglar's back. 'Oh, man, I would feel embarrassed as well if I were the burglar.'

"Why don't you pull him away? I'm sure Mai has no idea what he is doing." Lu Lin looked at Qin Yi and whispered.

Qin Yi said awkwardly, "I tried, multiple times! But Young Master Mai refused to stand up because he was worried the burglar would sneak away."

The burglar blushed crimson on hearing what Qin Yi said.

Lu Lin shook his head with a wry smile. He had no idea how to broach the subject to Mai that he shouldn't have physical contact to people other than his family members.

"Brother Lin, look, I tackled this burglar all by myself, neat and quick," Chen Xiao Mai looked like a cat who had just eaten a canary.

Lu Lin stroked Chen Xiao Mai's head and forced a smile, "Oh, really, Mai, good job. Maybe next time you can scream when someone comes to your room uninvited, all right? Your Brother Qin Ming and Qin Lang are both great at martial arts."

"You burglar. What are you doing in my baby brother's room? I'm sure you are up to no good! Don't you think you can bully him because he is a Bio!" Chen Xiao Mi stepped forward and confronted the burglar!

The young man blushed and said, "Is he a Bio? He is the opposite of Bio, all right? Can you please have a look at us? Who is being bullied now?"

Chen Xiao Mai stood up, puffed up his cheeks and kicked the young man. "What is that supposed to mean?"

The young man blushed and said, "I just didn't expect you to be a Bio, Bios are usually a little bit on the gentle and delicate side."

"Humph, I say you don't look like a real man, real men are usually a little bit on the gallant side," Chen Xiao Mai kicked the boy again.

The young man turned red with anger, but he didn't talk back or made a move for fear of Mai's kicking.

When the young man groped his way to this house, he thought it was a boy who lived in this room, to his surprise, it was a Bio, a Bio who was the opposite of gentle and delicate.

He would not have been caught so easily, but he accidentally found there was a small birthmark shaped as a flower on Mai's forehead under the dim candlelight. He got sidetracked by that and he was tackled by Mai the next second.

Lu Lin looked at the young man and said, "Who are you? Why are you here in the middle of the night?"

The young man said apologetically, "I'm nobody, I heard the new County Magistrate was here. I just came here out of curiosity."

"In the middle of the night?" Lu Lin asked.

The young man blushed and suddenly said, "I'm not here to steal things."

Lu Lin looked at the young man skeptically, "Really? You say you are not here to steal things, then just be honest with us, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

The young man lowered his head and didn't speak.

Lu Lin looked at the clothes on the young man and said, "You don't look like a child from a poor family. How come you do things so recklessly? Where are your parents? Do they know you are here?"

The young man gritted his teeth and looked away.

Lu Lin glanced at the young man and said, "So your parents don't know you are here, and now you are ashamed of yourself?"

Chen Xiao Cai looked at Lu Lin and said angrily, "Lin Ge, this guy is of unknown origin. He's not a good guy. Should we lock him up?"

"I'm not a bad person." The young man defended himself.

Chen Xiao Cai sneered and said, "You came to our house uninvited in the middle of the night, and you proclaim yourself innocent. Failure to steal things successfully from us doesn't make you innocent."

The young man lay on the ground, wanting to explain something, but he muted himself after some hesitation.

Lu Lin shook his head and said, "No need to lock him up, he is just a few years older than Mai. Let's put him in custody and ask around in the county first thing tomorrow morning."

Chen Xiao Cai nodded and said, "Alright."

......

Lu Lin just saw that young man as a rebellious teenager, he didn't have the heart to lock him up. Lu Lin asked Qin Yi to guard him in the side hall.

Qin Yi looked at the young man and let out a sigh, "Young Master, you don't look like you need to make a living on stealing, but you do look suspicious."

The young man just lowered his head in silence, he looked too downhearted to argue with Qin Yi.

Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi went back to their bedroom after Qin Yi took away the young man.

Chen Xiao Mi said sullenly, "I have no idea what that little punk was doing in our house, I'm just glad Mai is fine."

Lu Lin touched his chin and said, "This punk doesn't look like he is here to steal things thought."

Chen Xiao Mi snorted, "That's the tricky part! We have no idea what he was doing here and who sent him here, maybe there are adults who told him to sound us out."

Lu Lin frowned and said, "You have a point, we can never be too careful. We have to pay attention to safety issue!"

It was said that the previous county magistrate was abducted in the middle of the night! Lu Lin now suddenly had a panic fear, he didn't feel safe at his own house anymore.

Chen Xiao Mi said indignantly, "What do you think we should deal with this punk?"

Lu Lin thought for a moment and said, "Let's talk about it tomorrow. We don't know whether there's someone behind the wheel. Let's find that out first."

......

Before Lu Lin could figure out how to deal with this punk, Chen Xiao Mai had already carried out his plan.

As soon as Lu Lin woke up, he heard the noise in the yard and he raised an eyebrow at the sight of the punk grinding the mill.

"Qin Yi, what happened?" Lu Lin asked Qin Yi.

"Young Master Mai came to the side hall and ordered this young man to work early in the morning" Qin Yi said with a smile.

Chen Xiao Mai sat cross-legged on a chair, supervising the young man.

Lu Lin rubbed his nose. 'Oh my God, Mai, aren't you a genius? This punishment is just so creative.'

Lu Lin didn't have the energy to have a good look at the young man last night, and now he found this young man had fine, delicate features. He had a hard time picturing this young man as someone who would violate the law and commit crimes.

Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiao Mai, "Mai, did you force him to grind the mill?"

Chen Xiao Mai nodded and said, "Kind of. Everyone is not interested in grinding now. But I really like the tofu dishes you and Yun Niang have been making. So I asked him to do this, I wouldn't say I forced him, the thing is he didn't raise any objection."

Lu Lin nodded and thought to himself, 'We don't know who this boy is, but it's wrong to intrude someone's house, he needs some punishment. What Mai did was pure genius.'

"In that case, he is all yours before we find his family," Lu Lin said.

Chen Xiao Mai clapped his hands, "That's great!"

The young man looked at Chen Xiao Mai with a depressed expression.

Chen Xiao Mai put his hands on his waist and glared at the young man, "What are you looking at? Hurry up and grind the beans."

The young man looked at Chen Xiao Mai and muttered, "Are you sure you really a Bio? I've never seen a fierce Bio like you."

The young man thought to himself, 'I heard that the county magistrate is henpecked, hmm, now I totally believe that, look at his brother-in-law, so fierce! It must run in the family!

Chen Xiao Mai gritted his teeth and said, " I won't give you any food if you slack off."

'Somebody please help me! Hmm, and I don't think this Bio is marriable, he's gonna scare everyone away!'

......

"Your Lordship, the person you're looking for is here," Qin Lang said to Lu Lin.

Lu Lin nodded and said, "Please invite him in."

The young man who heard the conversation raised his head and stole a glance at Lu Lin. But he immediately buried his head as his eyes met Lu Lin's.

"Your Lordship," Luo Wen came in with a few adults following him.

Luo Wen had been looking for work in the village. Qin Yi hired him as an exclusive guide.

Lu Lin pointed at the young man and asked, "Wen, do you know him?"

When the young man heard Lu Lin's words, his heart skipped a beat, he was so worried that someone might recognize him.

Luo Wen looked at the young man and asked, "I don't know him. Who is he?"

Lu Lin shook his head, "I don't know either! He intruded in our house last night, and I want to talk to his parents, please keep an eye for me."

Luo Wen carefully looked at the young man and searched his memory but to no avail. However, he did find this young man rather imposing. There was no patch on the young man's clothes.

'He must come from a rich family,' thought Luo Wen.

Luo Wen nodded and said, "Don't worry, Your Lordship. I will pay attention to it."

Luo Wen then took a step back and introduced Lu Lin, "These are the best carpenters and blacksmiths in our county."

Lu Lin nodded and said, "Okay, thank you, Wen."

Lu Lin put aside the young man's matter and took out a few sketches to show the carpenters and blacksmiths.

Luo Wen looked at the young man who was at the mercy of Chen Xiao Mai and thought to himself, 'I pity this young man, but he did it to himself, intruding into someone's property is wrong!'

Tian Zheng, one of the carpenters, saw the young man and let out a sigh secretively.

He was stupefied when he heard what the young man had done last night.