Chapter 9: Let’s Play a Game
Luo Jiayan’s 22nd birthday party was held at a club. The first floor was a café, the second floor a bar, and the private rooms on the third floor required a hundred-thousand-yuan membership, which wasn’t cost-effective for occasional visits.
This birthday party was held at a booth in the bar on the second floor.
Xi Leng didn’t refuse the invitation and went to the party as he did in his past life. The difference was that the birthday gift was changed to another oil painting, one of the few bright and sunny pieces among his works, a reproduction of Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers.”
In his past life, the wealthy second-generation who smashed his painting injured his right hand, causing him to lose the ability to paint for long periods. This wouldn’t happen again.
Luo Jiayan stood up to greet him, smiling as he took the gift, eagerly opening it on the spot. The joy on his face remained, but he let out a puzzled: “Eh?”
“I thought you would paint a portrait for me.” Luo Jiayan couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed, but he maintained a smile, his clear, almond-shaped eyes fixed on Xi Leng. “Thank you, Ah Zhao, I’m very happy you could come, and I also like your gift very much.”
Xi Leng’s reaction was almost non-existent, but Luo Jiayan didn’t mind at all, more delighted than receiving any expensive gift. Seeing this, the people at the booth couldn’t help but feel indignant for Luo Jiayan, their gazes fixed on the newcomer with displeasure.
Luo Jiayan always saw Xi Leng alone, and he wanted to bring him into his circle of friends, to have fun together. His intentions were simple.
He hadn’t been able to see these underlying currents before, but things were different now.
These past few days, he had been thinking about why Xi Leng’s attitude towards him had reverted to the indifferent state from when they first met. He didn’t know what he had done wrong, and finally, he thought of these friends.
The incident where Han You called Xi Leng a simp had been bothering him. Now that Xi Leng was here, he hurriedly signaled to the group at the booth, telling them to behave, especially Han You, the leader.
Han You had always indulged him and readily agreed to apologize to Xi Leng personally.
But now, Han You had a darkened expression, completely ignoring the newly arrived guest, seemingly forgetting his promise.
There was a girl present, with carefully styled wavy hair parted to the side, her makeup exquisite and beautiful, a new face who had never appeared at Luo Jiayan’s gatherings before.
It was also her first time seeing Xi Leng, her eyes filled with astonishment: “Wow, you’re Jiayan’s childhood friend, Xi Leng?”
Luo Jiayan’s mood instantly improved, introducing him enthusiastically: “Yes, this is Xi Leng, we’ve known each other for over ten years, but I usually call him Ah Zhao.”
“…Why Ah Zhao? Heehee, that’s our secret, I won’t tell you.”
Luo Jiayan’s attitude towards Xi Leng was clearly different. After Xi Leng arrived, his eyes seemed to brighten. Xi Leng’s appearance and temperament were extraordinary, no wonder Han You and the others felt such strong hostility towards him.
The girl had a straightforward personality. In the tense atmosphere of the booth, she said jokingly: “I’m just curious, don’t tell me you all think he’s gay? Just because he’s handsome and dresses well? Honestly, you guys always complain about girls being fake friends, but I think you ‘bros’ have even more going on in your minds.”
The expressions of the several boys present immediately soured. Luo Jiayan was also taken aback.
They called Xi Leng Luo Jiayan’s simp, naturally assuming that Xi Leng liked men. But if Xi Leng was straight, then all the gossip was just baseless rumors.
This was a good thing, yet Luo Jiayan pursed his lips and looked at the silent young man beside him. Seeing that he didn’t refute it, a strange tightness formed in his chest.
“What’s wrong with being straight?” Han You scoffed, laughing disdainfully. “It just shows how charming our Jiayan is, his number one simp is actually straight! Hahaha—”
Luo Jiayan’s expression changed drastically. He stood up abruptly and shouted: “Han You!”
It was the first time he had lost his temper so publicly.
Han You couldn’t help but lick his suddenly dry lips.
Xi Leng, the person involved, remained calm, only his eyebrows furrowing slightly. Han You’s voice and tone seemed to overlap with the “number one simp” from that phone call three years later.
In his past life, Luo Jiayan’s 22nd birthday party hadn’t been so tense. Everyone maintained a superficial harmony for the birthday boy’s sake, until Han You, drunk, smashed the painting Xi Leng gave him. Xi Leng, trying to save his artwork, was cut by the glass, and lied that he was fine, leaving alone…
“I’m the number one simp.”
At this moment, Xi Leng looked at the person opposite him, his expression still calm and unruffled under everyone’s surprised gazes. He suddenly smiled.
“Then what number are you?”
Han You was dumbfounded, his mouth agape, unable to utter a word.
Finally reacting, he was about to jump up: “You…!”
Xi Leng stretched out his long legs, looking down at him casually.
“Let’s play a game.”
A game?
Heh.
Han You suddenly relaxed, thinking, he wouldn’t be afraid of this solitary, friendless guy in a drinking game, would he? He smiled as well: “Sure, what are we playing?”
“Drinking.” Xi Leng hooked his finger at the corner of the table, his pale hand moving away to reveal a deck of cards. “And cards.”
Drinks, cards, and dice were essential items for drinking games.
Xi Leng made use of the available materials, all of which were to Han You’s liking. A bar was practically Han You’s home turf. His confidence soared even higher, and he said arrogantly: “No problem, you set the rules, I’ll play along.”
“Very simple, the loser drinks, until one of us is down. Or if you really can’t drink anymore, you can admit defeat.”
The slow and clear voice echoed above the booth, a wisp of it drifting out, stopping the hurried steps of two men.
“Eh? Is that…?”
The thin gold chain swayed back and forth in the air with its owner’s curiosity, turning halfway before finally finding its target, the tall man sitting among the crowd, his playful, curly wolf-cut hairstyle and cold face, remarkably conspicuous even in a crowd.
Qiao Yusen muttered to himself: “Isn’t that the little assistant coach?”
Just as he was about to turn his head and call out to Min Zhi, he saw that Min Zhi was already beside him, his gaze fixed on the same direction: “…Xi Leng?”
One coincidence after another, as if written by fate.
However, if Xi Leng had noticed the two observers, he would probably just sigh at the destined mutual attraction between the protagonist gong and shou, like two magnetic poles.
He lowered his head slightly, while Han You opposite him, full of confidence, crossed his arms: “Isn’t this just a drinking contest? Heh, let’s do it.”
“A deck of cards has 56 cards, only black and red, right?” Xi Leng explained clearly and logically. “The rules are simple, we each choose a sequence of three card colors, like black-black-black, red-red-black, red-black-red, anything works.”
“Draw a card and reveal it, draw another card and reveal it, place them on the table in order. As soon as one of our chosen sequences appears, the other person drinks and discards all the revealed cards. Then continue drawing and placing…”
After speaking, he raised his head and said two words indifferently, also seemingly provocative: “Got it?”
Han You laughed speechlessly, while Xi Leng remained calm as usual, making his choice first: “I choose red-black-black.”
Han You didn’t take him seriously at all: “Black is my lucky color, I’ll go with black-black-black.”
“You-ge!” Someone sensed something was wrong and hurriedly reminded him, “The probability of three consecutive cards of the same color is very small, choose a different one!”
Xi Leng wasn’t interested in taking advantage of this, so he agreed: “For fairness’ sake, you should also choose two colors. Two blacks and one red, or black-black-red, how about it?”
“Whatever.”
Han You was unconcerned. He wasn’t afraid of a drinking contest or luck. The more rules Xi Leng set, the more he emphasized fairness, the uglier it would be when he lost.
“Let’s begin then.”
Xi Leng shuffled the cards, slowly drawing, revealing, and placing them.
The onlookers weren’t idle either, filling both of their glasses, holding the bottle ready to refill.
Luo Jiayan was extremely nervous, muttering under his breath: “Ah Zhao is red-black-black, red-black-black…”
Unfortunately, four black cards appeared in a row, followed by a red card, making black-black-red.
Han You chuckled, Xi Leng silently gathered the five cards and discarded them, drinking his glass of alcohol in one gulp.
20ml shot glasses, one after another of liquor, added up to a considerable amount.
Luo Jiayan quietly asked for a glass of ice, wanting to add it to Xi Leng’s glass to dilute the alcohol, but a slender hand suddenly appeared, silently and forcefully covering the glass.
Luo Jiayan, dejected, held the small glass of ice in his arms, looking pitifully crestfallen.
Xi Leng didn’t look at him at all, naturally showing no reaction.
The cards were shuffled three times. In the three rounds, the scores between Han You and Xi Leng were 1:6, 4:3, and 3:6 respectively.
Xi Leng won more rounds. The loser drank, Han You drank a total of 15 shots, and Xi Leng also drank 8.
After calculating the results of the three rounds, Han You realized that Xi Leng’s win rate was actually twice his? But this was clearly a game of luck, which meant his luck was yet to come.
After more than ten shots, Han You’s face and neck were flushed. To prevent Xi Leng from cheating, he snatched the job of shuffling and revealing the cards, playing two more rounds.
The results of the two rounds were 4:4 and 1:7.
Han You lost 11 rounds, Xi Leng lost 5.
Han You tried to make a comeback but instead earned himself the punishment of 11 more shots. He was dumbfounded, while Xi Leng opposite him, unhurriedly, savored his 5 small glasses of liquor.
Xi Leng had once again doubled his win rate.
Han You’s expression changed drastically, slurring: “…How is this possible?”
He hadn’t been drinking during the previous rounds, so the accumulated penalties were almost half a liter. His friends simply handed him the bottle, some jokingly enjoying the spectacle: “Come on, You-ge, bottoms up! A bet’s a bet.”
Xi Leng finished his last shot swiftly, not bothering to wait for him to dawdle, getting up and leaving.
“Ah Zhao!”
Luo Jiayan immediately chased after him.
Han You, sitting at the booth, holding the bottle, not knowing whether to drink or not, his face darkening even further.
“What was that about?”
Qiao Yusen, completely engrossed in the spectacle, only spoke in disbelief after the dust settled.
Boom!
A sudden clap of thunder exploded outside the window, startling Qiao Yusen, his gold-rimmed glasses slipping down his nose. He saw that Min Zhi beside him remained unfazed, his brows slightly furrowed, lost in thought.
“That wasn’t a game of luck.”
After a while, Min Zhi spoke.
The summer storm came suddenly. The sound of rain pattered outside. Qiao Yusen glanced at the meandering water droplets on the glass window, reflecting the colorful neon lights. He curled his lips with interest, asking: “Then how, tell me.”
“First, provocation, making that idiot think it was a drinking contest, then covering it with a guise of luck, that idiot completely believed it, his psychology completely seen through by Xi Leng.” Min Zhi paused. “Then, Xi Leng brought out this unfair probability game—”
Min Zhi deliberately emphasized “probability.”
“You should know how casinos operate, right? Players think they’re competing on luck, but the house always has a slightly higher probability of winning. Over time, this accumulates into a huge sum. So, don’t gamble on luck, be the one who sets the rules.”
“Hey, hey, don’t stray from the topic, let’s talk about the cards—”
Min Zhi returned to the main point: “Individual black or red cards are definitely fair, a 50/50 chance. But these sequences are clearly unfair. Black-black-red and red-black-black, just a difference in order, but the probabilities are twice as different. Simply put, if the first card is black, both have a chance to win, because it could be black-red-black-black, Xi Leng wins; or it could be black-black-red, the idiot wins. But if the first card is red, two consecutive black cards must appear for the idiot to have a chance to win, but as soon as the red-black-black sequence appears, Xi Leng has already won.”
“That idiot lost without understanding why, and the worst is yet to come.”
“If you go back and make a chart, you’ll find that Xi Leng’s probability of winning is over 70%.”
Qiao Yusen was dumbfounded.
“An archery coach who can play mind games and probability games? This kid must have some side hustle.”
Min Zhi thought of the impactful paintings in Xi Leng’s apartment, but he wasn’t interested in telling Qiao Yusen, only humming in agreement.
“Ha…” Qiao Yusen shook his head, chuckling helplessly. “It’s a good thing I’m not interested in variety shows. Oh right, when you film ‘Unlimited Escape Room,’ remember to take care of your little fan.”
The words “little fan” immediately made Min Zhi think of Xi Leng, but judging by Qiao Yusen’s words, that didn’t seem to be what he meant.
So Min Zhi asked: “Who?”
“Little Jiayan, Luo Jiayan.”
That name again. Min Zhi frowned, then asked: “By the way, why did you ask me to come here today?”
“Just hanging out.” Qiao Yusen acted casually. “And also, to give Little Jiayan a birthday present—hey, don’t look at me like that, I wouldn’t dare arrange a fan meeting without your consent! I’m still afraid you’ll bully him. Here’s the gift I prepared for him.”
Qiao Yusen shook the small box in his hand, but it didn’t improve Min Zhi’s expression.
As the two were preparing to return to their private room on the third floor, they happened to run into two familiar figures at the corner on the second floor: Xi Leng, and another familiar-looking boy.
“Little Jiayan?”
Qiao Yusen’s address connected all the fragmented memories in Min Zhi’s mind.
The resume Zhu Minglang showed him when looking for a suitable fan for the variety show, the person he saw following behind Xi Leng at the archery range, the person who kept staring at Xi Leng at the booth earlier.
This was Luo Jiayan. This was Min Zhi’s first reaction.
His second reaction was, what was his relationship with Xi Leng?
In a flash, Qiao Yusen had already approached them, enthusiastically calling out “Little Jiayan.”
Min Zhi didn’t want to show his face in front of the fan whose background he didn’t know, clicking his tongue in annoyance, turning around reluctantly.
