Playing a Game

The four of them cleared the dining table and sat down in a square.

Then things got awkward.

"Ahem. Well, let me say a few words," Shen Jin said, clearing his throat as he decided to introduce everyone.

"This handsome guy is Yang Ao, the little brother I just took in. Aside from having a wild imagination, he's pretty reliable. You should know Li Moxiao already."

Li Moxiao nodded. "Brother Yang Ao was really nice to me over there. We often ran into each other at night when we were sneaking food."

Yang Ao smiled awkwardly. "Thanks for looking after me. As long as I followed her, I could find food every time. I never came back empty-handed."

Well damn, she had that ability? Shen Jin wanted to call Director Hu Shou again and ask whether that counted as a superpower.

Yang Ao immediately reminisced, "It would've been even better if I hadn't gotten beaten up in the morning."

Li Moxiao nodded wildly.

"Ahem. This is Shang Qian, a former coworker from before the apocalypse. She has good character and principles."

She was seriously easy on the eyes!

Yang Ao shot to his feet.

So fast!

He held out both hands. "Please, I absolutely must be your friend!"

Shen Jin and Li Moxiao: "..."

Shang Qian covered her lips with a smile. Her gorgeous face was like a blooming rose, fragrant and lush, carrying the allure of a woman at her most mature.

Especially that subtle trembling—it practically stole one's soul away.

"After surviving such a catastrophe, please take care of me from now on. I have nothing impressive to offer except a few home-cooked dishes, so please don't mind them~"

Shang Qian had no intention of shaking his hand. Yang Ao gave an awkward laugh and sat back down.

"Ahem!"

Seeing both men's attention fixed on Shang Qian, Li Moxiao quickly coughed a few times, signaling that Shen Jin could introduce her now.

Shen Jin slapped his forehead. "Right, this is the divine beast I raised—Taotie. She's good at finding food and eating. Her appetite alone matches the three of ours, and she's currently in human form."

Li Moxiao felt her blood pressure rising.

"Shen Jin! That's too much! You listed their strengths, so why don't you talk about mine?"

Shen Jin pondered for a moment. "Sure. You've stumped me."

Seeing that things were taking a bad turn, Yang Ao hurriedly tried to smooth things over. "Mo Xiao has strengths too! Like, like... uh... she isn't a picky eater?"

Shen Jin froze. "That makes sense!"

The group laughed, using jokes to dilute the bleak atmosphere of the apocalypse.

They were all young, and before long, they had become close.

Shen Jin took out a box from his private storage room. Written on it were the words:

'Splendor'

"What's this?"

"A board game for four people."

Shen Jin rubbed the somewhat worn cover and sighed. "Ah, college days... what a wonderful time."

"Brother Jin, are you saying college life was good?"

Yang Ao and Shen Jin exchanged a look, then broke into wicked laughter.

Leaving Shang Qian and Li Moxiao completely baffled.

"College life is pretty good, isn't it? What's so funny?"

"Hehe~ I'm just a high school student, so I totally don't get their joke." Li Moxiao rolled her eyes.

Shen Jin poured all the cards and tokens from the box and began explaining the rules to the other three.

"In this game, each of us plays a gemstone merchant. We personally go to mining areas to select six kinds of gems, accumulate wealth and resources to purchase mines for a steady supply of gems, then use those gems to make jewelry for points. Once your mines reach a certain scale, nobles will admire you and come visit, giving you a huge number of points. The first player to reach fifteen points wins!"

Just hearing the rules made it sound interesting, and everyone was eager to begin.

Li Moxiao held the plastic gems and tried to secretly stash a few away, but Shen Jin caught her.

Yang Ao felt that with his powerful logical ability, he would soon crush the others.

Shang Qian's eyes gleamed. In a strategy game like this, who could play better than a manager like her?

Shen Jin took in everyone's reactions. "Hehe, proficiency is what matters most! Tonight, enjoy the terror of being dominated by me!"

The rules were simple, and the pieces were exquisite and easy to identify.

They quickly began their first round.

Sure enough, Shen Jin won steadily with his far greater gaming experience.

"Hehe, back then, I was the little prince of board games in my class!"

Shang Qian held her ten points and curled her lips upward. "Interesting."

Yang Ao looked at the huge offensive he had been building and let out a howl toward the sky.

"Damn it! I only needed one more round to pull off an earth-shattering comeback and reach sixteen points!"

Li Moxiao looked at her four points with a baffled expression. "Who won? Didn't the game just start?"

One board game, and the four of them battled until the heavens darkened and the earth grew old.

They each won and lost games. Even Li Moxiao, whose IQ seemed overdue on payment, managed to win one round.

Shen Jin narrowed his eyes and saw certain personality traits in everyone's style of play.

Yang Ao liked winning through unexpected moves. He never followed mainstream strategies and used plenty of gambles that made him hard to guard against. Yet when Shen Jin thought back on it, every gamble had brought enormous returns and followed a certain logic. Yang Ao either lost horribly or won beautifully.

Shang Qian excelled at considering every angle. Every time, she chose the most correct decision in the moment. She collected cards steadily and advanced step by step, always maintaining an above-average position in the match. When she won, it came naturally; when she lost, she was never more than one or two points behind.

As for Li Moxiao's style, it reminded Shen Jin of an old tale.

Legend had it that mahjong was first invented during the Qin Dynasty.

At the end of the Qin Dynasty, everyone knew that Yu Ji was amazing at mahjong. But few knew that she was skilled at playing mahjong against Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King, with her eyes closed. Later generations praised her unique style of play, calling it:

"Blind Ji Ba Playing."

Damn, she was just playing blindly and winning by dumb luck!

After a while, they grew tired too. They listened to the radio, but there was nothing new today.

It was nothing more than the usual advice to protect themselves and wait for government rescue.

Seeing that everyone was still in high spirits, Shang Qian suggested, "How about we play a word game?"

"Oh?"

Seeing that the other three were interested, Shang Qian secretly felt pleased. She had just come up with this game herself.

How could one quickly understand a person?

The American psychologist Arthur Aron had once given an answer to that question.

It was the famous Arthur Aron's Thirty-Six Questions!

The thirty-six questions he designed possessed powerful "magic"! They could make two complete strangers understand each other, deepen their affection, and even fall in love within a short time.

Shang Qian had often used these thirty-six questions to understand the employees under her.

Now, she intended to weave the thirty-six questions into a game and quickly learn about the three people before her.

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.

After the apocalypse, Shang Qian had remained chaste, and that had much to do with how well she understood everyone in the company.

She knew what people liked and what they feared.

Unfortunately, she had misjudged Lu Qiang. Lu Qiang had barely spoken to her, and she had no interest in learning the true nature of a security guard.

"The game goes like this: we take turns clockwise. Each person asks one question, and everyone else answers. The questions can't involve privacy or make anyone feel embarrassed, and anyone has the right not to answer."

"Truth or Dare?"

"Uh, you could say it's a milder version."

"I'm in."

"Then let's play?"

"Yay!"

They hit it off immediately. After playing board games for so long, their brains were a little tired, so chatting through a game was perfect.

Seeing that her scheme had worked, Shang Qian began asking questions. "Then I'll go first! What are you most grateful for in life?"

This was the ninth question in Arthur Aron's Thirty-Six Questions, and it was also Shang Qian's favorite.

She could obtain a lot of useful information from the other person's answer.

Shen Jin was seated to Shang Qian's right.

He pondered for a moment before saying, "I'm grateful for my hands. Before the apocalypse, they got me through long nights. After the apocalypse, they helped me carve a path through thorns."

Shang Qian: "Ahem. Next!"

Yang Ao said, "I'm endlessly grateful to my death-seeking self."

Shang Qian nodded, feeling that she had gained a deeper impression of this man.

"I'm grateful to Brother Shen Jin for taking me in," Li Moxiao said softly.

Shen Jin secretly felt gratified. Sure enough, he hadn't misjudged her.

"Even though he's a little stingy, not handsome, and a total hentai inside."

(╯‵□′)╯︵┴─┴

"That's enough, Li Moxiao! Are you sure you're thanking me???"

It was Shen Jin's turn to ask a question. He said in a gloomy tone:

"How do you see ghosts?"

Li Moxiao and Shang Qian were instantly startled. Could it be that the apocalypse had more than just Zombies???

"Gasp~ Scary!"

Seeing their reactions, Shen Jin smiled smugly. This was exactly what he wanted. Otherwise, why did men always like inviting girls to watch horror movies?

Then Yang Ao grew serious. "I've seen them. More than once, too!"

Shang Qian: o((⊙﹏⊙))o.

Li Moxiao: (つ﹏)

"Every time I rode the subway, someone would secretly tell me—"

"Tell you what?!"

"They'd point at an empty seat and say, 'Someone's sitting here!'"

The other three: (°ー°〃)

"Damn it!"

"Tch!"

"Never heard that one!"

Li Moxiao and Shang Qian had no interest in answering, so the question passed.

It was Li Moxiao's turn, and she was growing increasingly excited. She cleared her throat and spoke in a mature, commanding voice.

"What's the saddest line of poetry you've ever read?"

As a student, Li Moxiao naturally approached it from her field of expertise: reciting ancient poetry.

Shen Jin realized that Li Moxiao did have a strength. For example, she could switch her voice around.

She could seamlessly change between several voices. He loved it!

Yang Ao answered first. "Beans are boiled to burn the beanstalk; the beans within the pot weep. Born from the same roots, why torment each other so urgently?"

That poem represented how he felt after the apocalypse. Humanity was already struggling to survive, so why could they not stop fighting among themselves?

Why were there still oppression and coercion?

After thinking briefly, Shang Qian came up with one. "If only life were always as it was when first we met, why should the autumn wind bring sorrow to a painted fan?"

That line summed up the people and events she had experienced and missed over the years. Coming from a woman so full of charm, it carried an especially lingering flavor.

Shen Jin grew anxious. "Ahem. That poem is right on the tip of my tongue. Why can't I... why can't I say it?"

Everyone turned their eyes toward Shen Jin, and he hated that all his driving skills were useless here.

Seeing the culprit, Li Moxiao, looking so smug, Shen Jin suddenly thought of a fitting poem!

"I've got one! Listen to this: 'For twelve years they marched together; none knew Mulan was a maiden.'"

Li Moxiao shouted, "How is that a sad poem?! If you can't think of one, don't force it—"

(°ー°〃)

"Ahhhhhhh!"

"Shen Jin! I'm taking you down with me!!!"

Yang Ao hurriedly held her back. "No need, no need!"

It was Yang Ao's turn.

He asked about a topic he had always loved. "What amazing people or things have you encountered during your travels?"

On this topic alone, he could talk for three days and three nights.

Shang Qian looked nostalgic. "Last year, I took a self-driving trip along the Sichuan-Tibet Highway and met a girl traveling around Tibet without a single cent. I really admired her courage. Strong girls like that are truly rare. But after she came back from Tibet, I heard she got pregnant. Even now, she still hasn't found out who the child's father is."

"You really went there! No wonder it's called the artillery-fire-filled Sichuan-Tibet Highway~"

The three others broke into cold sweats.

"Ahem. Moving on!"

Shen Jin felt this question was targeting shut-ins and refused to answer.

Li Moxiao thought for a moment. "The most amazing person I met while traveling was my mom. She wouldn't let me go anywhere."

"Hahahaha~"

Shang Qian held her stomach and laughed for a long time before suddenly realizing something was wrong.

Wait! Wasn't I supposed to be learning about their inner thoughts?

Oh no! Those idiots threw me off track. I need to steer this back on course!

"Mm! My turn. Does loving someone really require physical contact?"

This was a small question that could test sincerity and views on love, while also revealing certain hidden preferences.

It seemed ordinary, but there was actually a hidden mystery within.

The corner of Shang Qian's mouth curled up. It felt like she had the rhythm under her control again.

Who knew Shen Jin would immediately say in a ghostly tone, "Of course. Otherwise, why do you think 'love' and 'fertilization' look so similar?"

"Huh?"

Shang Qian's smile gradually froze.

Li Moxiao covered her eyes. "Ah! You're so dirty!!"

Yang Ao slapped the table and burst into wild laughter. "That answer was incredible! It'll be hard to top!"

Shen Jin pressed his hands down in the air. "Basic stuff, basic stuff. Don't praise me too much."

Li Moxiao loosened up as well. Thinking of how she often went to anime conventions before the apocalypse, where there had been lots of fun guys and girls, she asked,

"Do you like cosplay?"

Yang Ao smiled coolly. "Childish! Compared to that ridiculous 2D stuff, I only like live-action versions!"

"Uh, isn't that something you kids play? I don't really know much about it. I've never been exposed to it." Shang Qian had only heard of it and didn't understand it.

Shen Jin gave an evil grin. "Oh? I rather like cosplayers."

Li Moxiao instantly felt she had found a kindred spirit. "Sure enough, the older girls were right. Anime conventions often attract fat shut-in nerds, all of them creepy perverts! You have to stay away from them!"

Shen Jin didn't care and chuckled. "But I'm different from you kids. You like cosplay, while I like playing cosplayers."

"."

"Y-You! You!! Hmph!" Li Moxiao felt she couldn't outtalk Shen Jin.

Yang Ao smiled and took the next question. "What brilliant deduction scenarios do you know?"

Yang Ao had directly brought out the field he was best at: logical reasoning.

Shang Qian hesitated for a moment, then smiled. "I really can't think of one right now. Shen Jin, you go first."

"On a train, the captain of the railway police found a female passenger making formula for a baby less than a month old in her arms, using cold water. The captain immediately launched an investigation and discovered that it really was a case of infant trafficking."

What Shen Jin described was a real news story. One unreasonable detail had been magnified infinitely, leading straight to the criminal fact!

The others nodded. It really was something else.

Li Moxiao took a deep breath. "Actually, my teacher was the greatest deduction master."

The others were intrigued again. "Oh? Tell us. Did your teacher study psychology?"

Li Moxiao shook her head and voiced a brilliant deduction that had haunted her youth:

"My teacher said, 'If you didn't bring it, then you didn't do it!'"

The four of them: (°ー°〃)

Then they all burst into laughter.

After Shang Qian finished laughing, she suddenly felt that something was off. What had she been trying to do again???

Thirty-six questions? Screw Arthur Aron!

Being happy was all that mattered!

In the end, they even started playing Catch the Ducks.

"Catch the ducks!"

""(￣ー￣)(￣ー￣)//""

"How many?"

""(￣ー￣)(￣ー￣)//""

"Ten thousand!"

""(￣ー￣)(￣ー￣)//""

"Caught them!"

(*)

"Quack!"

"Quack!"

"Quack!"

"Quack!"