When he got a good look at Lu Manman, his frown deepened.
“No kids invited today, right? Who’d you come with?”
Lu Manman said, “I came with my brother.”
The boy asked, “What’s your brother’s name?”
The boy stared at Lu Manman’s face, unable to recall ever seeing this little kid before.
Liang Zhixia said helplessly, “He says his brother is his bro—”
“My brother’s name is Lu Quan.”
Little Lu Manman pulled a lollipop from his pocket and offered it to the stunned Liang Zhixia. As he looked up, his baby fat jiggled on his cheeks. “Sister, can you open the lollipop for me?”
Liang Zhixia’s brain ground to a halt. Mechanically, he took the lollipop, tore open the wrapper, and handed it back to Lu Manman.
“Your bro… is really Lu Quan?”
Lu Manman popped the lollipop in his mouth and nodded.
Liang Zhixia stared at the hand holding Lu Manman’s, his head throbbing.
As they followed the boy back to the courtyard, the others seemed to have finished their dares and were chatting in little groups.
Liang Zhixia glanced up quickly but didn’t spot Lu Quan anywhere. He breathed a sigh of relief. Lu Quan definitely wouldn’t waste time on a silly game like this.
The boy who had found them wandered off to the side and soon vanished around a corner.
According to the rules, the first one found had to do a dare, so he should be in the clear.
Standing at the back of the crowd, he whispered to Lu Manman, “Didn’t you say your brother was just your brother?”
Lu Manman licked his lollipop, his big eyes blinking innocently. “Yeah, my brother is my brother. You didn’t ask his name, Sister.”
Liang Zhixia never imagined he’d one day be outsmarted in a game of words by a three- or four-year-old kid.
“Then go find Lu… your brother. I’m heading back to work.”
Lu Manman grabbed his hand, his little brows furrowing tightly. “No way! Stay with me, Sister!”
Liang Zhixia eyed the baby fat on Lu Manman’s face and felt a mischievous impulse. He reached out and pinched it. “Nope. Sister’s gotta go earn some money.”
Lu Manman pouted. “Does Sister have a Little Genius Phone Watch? Can we add each other as friends, Manman and you?”
Liang Zhixia said, “Sister doesn’t have one.”
The last thing he wanted was to add Lu Quan’s little brother as a friend. Lu Manman clearly couldn’t keep a secret from Lu Quan—if the kid blabbed, he was done for.
As they tugged back and forth, the courtyard suddenly fell quiet for a moment before buzzing back to life.
Liang Zhixia didn’t think much of it. He’d just reached an agreement with Lu Manman when a shadow fell over them.
Along with a very familiar voice.
“Lu Manman.”
A handsome young man stood before them. Liang Zhixia ducked his head even lower. He couldn’t look up—Lu Quan would recognize him for sure.
Lu Manman’s milky little voice trembled.
“Brother.”
Lu Quan said, “Who let you wander off alone?”
Lu Manman replied, “I told Mommy.”
Lu Quan’s voice grew even colder. “Go home. Now.”
Lu Manman didn’t want to go home yet. He still hadn’t added Pretty Sister as a friend.
He ducked behind Liang Zhixia, his chubby little hand clutching the skirt hem. He didn’t even show his face—just his milky voice floated out from behind.
“I don’t wanna go home now. Mommy said to go home with you.”
Lu Quan pinched the bridge of his nose, his gaze sweeping over the waitress who kept her head bowed.
Pink hair blocked his view. Lu Quan stood there, tall and lean, his brow heavy, an air of aloof detachment radiating from him.
“Lu Manman. Don’t make me say it twice.”
Liang Zhixia felt the little hand clutching his skirt slowly loosen under Lu Quan’s threat. The kid shuffled out reluctantly, trying to haggle with his brother.
“Brother, I already asked the butler uncle to come pick me up. Can I stay a little longer?” His tiny fingers still gripped a scrap of the skirt hem, leaving a faint milky scent on Liang Zhixia.
Lu Quan pulled out his phone, texted the butler, and got a confirmation. Without another word, he turned to leave.
Liang Zhixia kept his eyes glued to the shadows on the ground. Once that shadow started moving away, he let out a breath.
Stray strands of pink hair blocked his view. He reached back to brush them aside—only for the shadow to return.
He panicked, fumbling clumsily, and the hairpin snagged his hair.
Then Lu Quan’s voice sounded right by his ear.
“Is your hair caught? Let me help.”
The tone was completely different from how he’d spoken to Lu Manman.
Liang Zhixia wanted to step back, but Lu Manman was still behind him. He was trapped.
All he could do was pitch his voice high. “No need. Thank you.”
It was a perfectly standard feminine voice—not the half-hearted one he’d used with Lu Manman.
In the shadows, Lu Quan’s eyes seemed to flicker with a fleeting hint of amusement. His long, pale fingers brushed Liang Zhixia’s cool fingertip, and the man’s low voice rumbled, “Cold?”
He furrowed his brows in a pained mask. “Not cold.”
Only a few strands were caught in the hairpin, but to Liang Zhixia, it felt like an eternity. Lu Quan’s movements were slow, as if afraid of tugging too hard.
Even in the corner, Lu Quan was the kind of person born at the top of the pyramid. More and more eyes turned their way, pricking like needles on his back.
He pitched his voice again. “I can handle it myself.”
But Lu Quan stood firm, his voice lazy. “It’s fine. Consider it thanks for looking after Lu Manman.”
Little Lu Manman couldn’t parse such a long, complicated sentence.
He craned his neck to look up at Pretty Sister, then at his brother.
Ow, his neck hurt. Why was Sister so tall too?
He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out his Little Genius Phone Watch, holding it high overhead toward the two of them.
Lu Quan didn’t even glance at him, utterly focused on untangling the hair.
Except he would pick out one strand only to tuck two more back in.
It was like that lock of hair would never come free.
Until Xu Cheng’s voice carried over from nearby.
Liang Zhixia had never found Senior Xu Cheng’s voice so pleasing to the ear.
But the more he listened, the more something felt off.
“The last one found—the server—come here to do your dare.”
???
Hadn’t that boy said he was the first one found?
He blurted it out without thinking.
Lu Quan, midway through untangling his hair, arched a brow. “You’re the last one?”
Caught off guard, Liang Zhixia nodded.
Lu Quan swiftly freed the strands from the hairpin, a strange note of excitement in his tone.
“Then you’d better hurry over. The rule is, the last one found has to do the dare.”
Liang Zhixia realized he’d been tricked. He instinctively looked up, searching for the boy who’d fooled him.
Too many people, and the courtyard lights weren’t that bright. He couldn’t spot him.
Lu Quan watched his face impassively, his burning gaze tracing his eyes, his nose, his soft, fragrant lips one by one.
“Tricked, huh?”
Liang Zhixia nodded pitifully, instinctively turning to Lu Quan for help. “I don’t know the rules. Can we switch with someone? The second-to-last one…”
Lu Quan looked innocent. “I can’t break the game rules. But you could ask the second-to-last if they’d swap with you.”
Liang Zhixia had been the very last one found. He knew nothing.
“Who’s the second-to-last?”
Lu Quan pointed to a burly, massively muscled guy standing at the back.
Liang Zhixia eyed the man’s bulging arm muscles and instantly scrapped the idea.
He didn’t know the rules, and he knew even less about the dare.
“Is the dare task hard?”
He had never played Truth or Dare himself, only watched others do it. Those dares were always twisted and a total social anxiety nightmare—he really couldn’t handle that sort of thing.
Lu Quan noticed the hesitation in his eyes and said in a low voice, “It’s not hard. The dares are all simple. This is a birthday party—they won’t include anything impossible to complete.”
Liang Zhixia trusted Lu Quan’s words completely. He took a deep breath and strode forward with determination, circling behind the crowd to reach Xu Cheng’s side.
“It’s me,” he said quietly.
Xu Cheng hadn’t quite caught that at first, but the guy standing next to him recognized Liang Zhixia and said, “Xu-ge, it’s him—the last one.”
A flash of admiration crossed Xu Cheng’s eyes. He straightened up from his lazy slouch, trying to project a more dashing vibe.
“Let’s add each other on contacts,” he suggested.
Liang Zhixia blinked in confusion. “Is that the dare?”
Xu Cheng lowered his gaze. “If you agree to add me, then yeah—that’s your dare.”
Liang Zhixia’s eyes lit up. This dare was so simple! Lu Quan had been telling the truth!
He opened his mouth to agree just as Xu Cheng pulled out his phone.
Suddenly, an arm shot out from behind him, attached to an enviably handsome face that showed no expression at the moment—just cold indifference.
“The Task Box is right here.”
The plan interrupted, Xu Cheng tsked in annoyance. He took the box and shrugged at the stunned Liang Zhixia. “No choice. Just draw one.”
Not many people were actually paying attention, since the main character here was just a waiter.
If it had been someone they knew, they might have cheered him on. But with a stranger, they only stole furtive glances.
With no other option, Liang Zhixia reached out and plunged his arm into the Task Box.
He rummaged around, hoping to snag an easy one.
But the more he fumbled, the more puzzled he grew. There seemed to be only three slips of paper in there.
This didn’t feel like the Truth or Dare games he’d seen others play.
His instincts screamed that all three slips were dangerous. His fingers groped desperately for a fourth, but there wasn’t one.
The guy standing nearby was starting to look impatient. “Can you hurry it up?”
He immediately earned two death glares.
Xu Cheng’s voice turned icy. “If you’re gonna watch, watch. If not, shut your mouth. What’s with the rushing?”
The other glare came from Lu Quan.
The guy shrank back, trying to minimize his presence. He’d stuck his nose in where it didn’t belong.
Liang Zhixia figured it was best to get it over with quickly. He squeezed his eyes shut, gritted his teeth, and picked one at random from the three.
Under the lights, those seven words on the slip read: Dance with Lu Quan.
