Rebirth of a Mercenary: The Ace Mercenary Forced to Be the Beloved of the Group

When Bai Ye opened his eyes, he saw the familiar bed board above his own bed—Xuan Xiao's bed board.

Morning light streamed through the gaps in the curtains, drawing pale golden lines on the floor. The radiator made a soft clicking sound, and the aroma of tea Xie Huai'an had just brewed wafted through the air.

Bai Ye stared at the upper bunk, her mind blank.

His last memory was of the training field—sprinting through the snow, doing push-ups, pull-ups, his vision blurring until it went black. Then there was the bed he had just seen when he opened his eyes.

The break in the middle looks like a piece of film has been cut off with scissors, and it can't be pieced back together no matter what you do.

When did he return to the dormitory? How did he get back?

Bai Ye sat up in bed, the movement aggravating the muscles she had overused the night before, causing a soreness in her shoulder blades.

"Hey, Little Cabbage's awake?" Lu Xiao peeked down from the upper bunk opposite him, his chin resting on the edge of the bed. His hair was a mess, but his smile was still bright. "You slept really soundly today. You're usually the first one up. Xie Huai'an has already brewed the tea, and you still haven't stirred. Did you have some kind of dream last night?"

Bai Ye glanced at him but did not answer.

Xie Huai'an stood up from the long table, holding a cup of hot tea, walked to Bai Ye's bedside, and handed him a steaming towel.

Bai Ye took the towel, glanced at it, and then looked up at Xie Huai'an. Xie Huai'an didn't ask anything, but simply said in his usual calm tone, "Wipe your face."

Bai Ye applied a hot towel to his face, and the steam made his pores open up.

Just then, Xuan Xiao leaned down from the upper bunk, his hair sticking up even more messily than usual. His eyes weren't fully open yet, but his gaze had already precisely locked onto Bai Ye on the lower bunk.

Without saying a word, he tumbled down from the top bunk, barefoot on the ground, bent over, braced himself on the edge of Bai Ye's bed with one hand, and reached directly towards Bai Ye's forehead with the other.

He placed the back of his hand on Bai Ye's forehead, his brows furrowed slightly, and felt it for a few seconds. Then he turned his hand over and touched it with his palm, then turned it back and touched it a third time with the back of his hand, as if he were calibrating some kind of imprecise measuring instrument.

Bai Ye was startled by his sudden movement and leaned back, almost hitting his head on the wall. He frowned, raised his hand, and slapped Xuan Xiao's hand away, knocking away the hand that was repeatedly checking his temperature.

"what."

"I care about you, and you actually hit me." His voice trembled deliberately. "I touched your forehead first thing this morning before I was even fully awake, worried that you might catch a cold, that you might have a fever, that you might faint again like last time and no one would know—and you, you just slapped me. Do you know how hurtful that slap was? My heart shattered with a snap."

Bai Ye looked at him and remained silent for a moment.

"You can choose not to care."

"No way!" Xuan Xiao's answer was decisive and swift, showing that he hadn't even thought about it. "I'm going to care. You can hit me, I'll care; you can kick me, I'll care; you can hit me with a book, I'll care. You can't kill me, so I'll keep caring. If you sneak out again—well, you'll definitely run away again—then I'll at least make sure you don't freeze when you come back."

Bai Ye looked at him, and the corners of her mouth curved up very slightly.

Lu Xiao peeked out from the opposite bed and interjected in a leisurely tone, as if he had been watching a show for a while: "Xiao Zai, what do you call this? This is called being a jerk."

"That's called camaraderie," Xuanxiao corrected him sternly.

"Comradeship doesn't include touching someone's forehead every morning." Shen Zhuo finally crawled out from under the covers, his red hair sticking up like it had been plowed by artillery fire. He yawned with his eyes half-closed. "It also doesn't include staying up all night on the top bunk to listen to someone tossing and turning."

"I was just—I was concerned about my teammate's health! Dr. Wen said Bai Ye is still growing, he can't get cold, he can't go hungry, and he can't overtrain—I was just following the doctor's orders! What do you know! As for listening to him turning over—he was turning over so loudly! The bed was shaking!"

Xuan Xiao immediately turned his attention to Bai Ye. He took a bottle of blueberry yogurt out of his pocket, held it up in front of Bai Ye, and waved it. Water droplets from the refrigerator still clung to the bottle, glistening in the morning light.

"Looks like someone doesn't care about my stuff after all," Xuanxiao said, taking back the yogurt and pretending to stuff it into his pocket, his tone carrying an unmistakable air of regret. "Sigh, I specifically asked Lao Zhou to order this, blueberry flavor. Only six bottles arrived at our base, and I snatched two. I was thinking of giving you one and drinking the other myself—but since you don't care, I'll just drink them both. Anyway, my throat's thirsty, one bottle isn't enough, I'll drink two—"

Bai Ye blinked. He turned to look out the window, avoiding Xuan Xiao's gaze.

Xuan Xiao leaned closer, his chin almost resting on Bai Ye's shoulder, and waved the yogurt in front of him again: "Really don't want it?"

Bai Ye was still looking out the window. The sunlight reflected off the snow, creating a blinding white light. He squinted, then said in a very soft voice, "You'll give it to me just because I said I want it?"

A string in Xuanxiao's mind snapped.

He looked down at Bai Ye—Bai Ye was still looking out the window with his face turned to the side, the morning light shining on his profile and clearly outlining the curve of his jawline. His expression was indifferent, as if keeping people at a distance, but his words were like a kitten that had stretched out its paw but was too shy to ask for anything directly.

Cold-faced cuteness.

He felt he really couldn't control himself this time.

"Here you go," he shoved the yogurt directly into Bai Ye's arms, his movements as swift as throwing a grenade with its pin pulled. "I'll give you whatever you want. Blueberry yogurt, strawberry yogurt, plain yogurt too. If you finish the yogurt, I'll find you something else—juice, milk, pudding, canned fruit—just ask and I'll get it for you. Even if you don't ask, I'll still get it for you."

Bai Ye looked down at the bottle of blueberry yogurt in her arms, still chilled from the refrigerator, and then looked up at Xuan Xiao's face, which showed a mixture of excitement, satisfaction, and a struggle to control himself.

He was silent for a moment, then disassembled the straw, inserted it into the bottle opening, lowered his head, and began to drink in small sips. His cheeks puffed out slightly, like a small animal quietly eating after being fed.

Xuanxiao stood by the bed, watching Bai Ye quietly drink her yogurt, and silently put his hands into his pockets. There was another bottle of blueberry yogurt in his pocket—he had originally wanted to give her both, but now he thought it would be more worthwhile to give them to her tomorrow. That way, he could see this scene again tomorrow.