Page 22

Qin Heng had finished setting up everything needed to open the table. Carrying the supplies, he was about to lead them to the pool table when he saw Chi Ning's wet hands. He jerked his chin toward the counter. "Tissues are two yuan a pack. Brother Xu put them behind the counter. Get some yourself. I'll go open the table."

Zhang Qiuwen's feelings were complicated. He felt like he might have been overthinking things.

Brother Qin had such high emotional intelligence and was so proactive. If he really liked someone, he would definitely pursue them himself. How could he make that person pay for tissues to dry their hands?

Tissues weren't expensive, either.

But... maybe... Brother Qin hadn't realized it yet?

After drying his hands, Chi Ning tossed the dirty wad of tissue into the trash can. Another group of customers entered the billiards hall.

He turned to glance at Qin Heng, who was still helping customers arrange the balls, and Zhang Qiuwen, who was completely out of it. Kindly, he reminded them, "Wait here for a moment. The boss isn't here, so I'll help call a staff member for you."

The man at the front wore loose casual clothes, his hair slicked back with wax, and all his accessories were the latest trends.

His gaze paused on Chi Ning. Raising a hand to stroke his chin, he asked, "What about you? Aren't you responsible for receiving customers? Do you take jobs as a sparring partner?"

Zhang Qiuwen, who had been watching Chi Ning the whole time, immediately snapped back to his senses and stepped forward. "He's a customer. I'll open a table for you."

The man took one look at Zhang Qiuwen's tough-guy face and immediately shifted his gaze away, fixing it on Chi Ning to feast his eyes.

Chi Ning smiled at the man.

The man immediately looked away, his face turning red.

Zhang Qiuwen: ...

Brother Qin had better stay oblivious.

Otherwise, there was no telling whether he'd end up wearing a black or green hat.

Chi Ning's smile was way too sweet. Way too lovable.

After opening the table, Qin Heng walked over to the blushing customer and gave him a glance. "Want a sparring partner?"

The man had been completely dazzled by Chi Ning's smile. "I do..."

Qin Heng said, "Ten yuan an hour. Both of us are available. Do you want one or two?"

The man: ...

I fucking don't want a tough guy as a sparring partner!

He gave Chi Ning one last reluctant look. "No need. We have enough people. Just open the table."

Qin Heng was a little regretful.

What a pity. If they had hired a sparring partner, he could have beaten the guy into a psychological shadow fair and square.

Chi Ning paid no attention to their verbal jabs. He was worrying over the final black ball on the table.

The black ball was in a bad position. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't find a way to sink it in one shot.

Standing for too long was a little tiring. Holding his cue, Chi Ning curled up on the sofa in the rest area, staring at the table while his brain ran calculations at full speed.

Ten minutes later, he stood up, found an angle, and drove the cue forcefully into the white ball.

After the white ball struck the black ball, the black ball shot straight into the cushioned edge, then rebounded toward the other side. At this rate, even after bouncing off three rails, it might not go into a pocket.

The people playing with the man immediately began snickering.

One of them, a student-looking boy, snorted. "I thought he was supposed to be amazing."

As he spoke, he secretly glanced at the man who had blushed while staring at Chi Ning earlier.

When he saw that the man was still distracted, he pressed his lips together in annoyance.

He chalked the tip of his cue, then walked up to Chi Ning. "That ball definitely won't go in."

Chi Ning said, "Not necessarily."

"How is it not? With that kind of force, after the ball hits three rails, its momentum will disappear and it'll stop moving."

They spoke quickly.

The moment the boy finished speaking, the black ball stopped.

The boy proudly raised his chin. "See? I was right, wasn't I? You just don't know how to play. You sat over there watching for so long, but you still—"

His voice abruptly cut off.

The black ball had stopped, but the white ball was still moving. Since the two balls had been traveling at slightly different speeds, the white ball actually struck the black ball again after it had stopped.

The ball went in.

Chi Ning smiled at the boy. "See? I said not necessarily. Nobody said the cue ball couldn't hit the object ball twice."

He had just bent down to take the ball out and set it up again when Qin Heng came over and did it for him.

Chi Ning softly thanked him.

Gu Zhu's heart skipped a beat. He immediately turned to look at his senior, and when he noticed the way the other man was looking at Chi Ning, his heart went cold.

He had pursued his senior for more than seven years. His senior liked boys with youthful looks, so he dressed that way. His senior liked billiards, so he worked hard to improve his skills.

The more Gu Zhu thought about it, the more wronged he felt. His eyes reddened. "I'm Gu Zhu. I want to compete with you!"

"No." Chi Ning was afraid of making him cry.

Gu Zhu stomped his foot and blurted out, "You were definitely relying on luck just now. Otherwise, why don't you dare compete?"

"Gu Zhu, stop making trouble." The man who had been watching them all along spoke coldly.

Gu Zhu's eyes widened in anger.

Holding back tears, he sniffed, put down his cue, turned, and ran out of the billiards hall.

Chi Ning: ...

He still cried.

Such a childish temper.

He played another round by himself. Seeing that Gu Zhu still hadn't returned, he went to the entrance to take a look.

Gu Zhu was crouching pitifully on the steps beside the billiards hall. The sun outside was scorching, and sweat had soaked through his back, making his thin imitation-style uniform cling to him.

The heels of the boy's shoes bore a master craftsman's label, apparently in Latin. He also wore an expensive watch on his wrist. He was clearly either wealthy or powerful, utterly out of place among that group.

Chi Ning searched his memories for the surname Gu, but nothing particularly notable came to mind.

Forget it. The little love-struck fool looked rather pitiful. Even though he had been so angry earlier, he hadn't thrown his cue around. His upbringing seemed pretty good.

Chi Ning bought a bottle of the cheapest iced water, carried it over, and crouched beside Gu Zhu. "Go back inside. It's too hot here. If you keep squatting here, you'll get heatstroke."

He stuffed the water into Gu Zhu's hands.

Gu Zhu didn't want it, but the water was so cool that once he held it, he didn't want to let go. He looked up at Chi Ning's face. He was his senior's type, and better-looking than Gu Zhu himself.

Gu Zhu hugged the bottle and gulped down the water. After drinking, he let out a satisfied sigh. "I would never drink water this cheap. Who knows if it's even clean?"

Chi Ning: ...

You drank nearly half the bottle in one go. That counts as not drinking it?

He didn't seem very smart.

He held out his hand to Gu Zhu.

Looking at those slender, pale fingers and rounded nails, Gu Zhu secretly wiped his sweaty palm on his pants before placing it in Chi Ning's hand.

After doing so, he glanced at Chi Ning and whispered, "I was rude earlier. Sorry. But I won't give my senior to you!"

Chi Ning laughed. He felt that saying he liked someone else would save a lot of trouble, so he lied, "What senior? I already have someone I like."

Gu Zhu was so embarrassed his toes nearly curled through the floor.

Chi Ning led him back into the billiards hall.

Before they could enter, they heard someone inside say, "Why isn't Gu Zhu back yet? Bro, should you go talk to him?"

Both of them paused.

Someone said, "No need. It's so hot outside, he probably went to hide in some drink shop. He'll come back on his own in a while. Isn't that how it usually goes? He's just being dramatic. Don't worry, there's no shortage of people to pay."

Hearing the familiar voice, Gu Zhu's face turned pale. He tightly squeezed Chi Ning's hand, then hurriedly let go. "I-I'm not going in."

So his senior never liked him at all. He only brought Gu Zhu along because Gu Zhu could pay for things.

Chi Ning had lived two lives. Even at his lowest point, there had always been people who spoiled him. He had never been taken for a sucker.

Gu Zhu's emotional intelligence wasn't high, and he didn't seem especially smart, either.

Chi Ning felt sorry for him.

He changed from holding Gu Zhu's hand to gripping it properly. "Hello, I'm Chi Ning."

Gu Zhu jumped in surprise, instinctively shaking Chi Ning's hand.

Chi... a member of the Chi family?

Chi Ning analyzed the pros and cons for him. "If you leave now, will the people inside make trouble for you?"

Gu Zhu shuddered.

He and his senior attended the same university. If he ran off today, there really might be rumors at school that would harm him.

Chi Ning understood. "Go in, sit off to the side, and don't play. When it's time to settle the bill, say you didn't play and won't pay."

He smiled. "The billiards hall has surveillance cameras. If they try to deny it or say bad things about you afterward, come get the footage."

Gu Zhu's eyes lit up. "I can use the surveillance footage to slap them in the face!"

Just thinking about all the money he had spent on his senior made him feel disgusted.

That man neither accepted nor rejected him. He just wanted to keep Gu Zhu hanging as an ATM!

What beloved person? What a disgusting man!

Lost in thought, Gu Zhu didn't let go of Chi Ning's hand even after entering the billiards hall.

Zhang Qiuwen's vision went dark.

What had he said?

If Brother Qin really liked Chi Ning, he might end up with a fluorescent grassland on his head.

Who the fuck could resist a calm academic genius who usually showed no expression smiling at them?

Who wouldn't want that special treatment to belong to them alone?

Fortunately, Zhang Qiuwen was straight as an arrow.

Qin Heng stared at Chi Ning and Gu Zhu's joined hands.

A sentence abruptly surfaced in his mind:

I looked away for ten minutes, and he attracted another one. His heart is so soft. What if he gets tricked?

-

When Xu Jiahao returned after discussing a partnership, he saw Qin Heng collecting payment with a fierce expression.

Qin Heng said, "Sir, you used the table for 6.5 hours, totaling 130 yuan. Alcohol and drinks came to 79 yuan. Seven pairs of billiards gloves at 20 yuan each come to 140 yuan. The total is 349 yuan. Who's paying?"

The man at the front looked toward Gu Zhu, who was hiding in the rest area.

Gu Zhu turned his head aside and, following Chi Ning's instructions, rattled off, "I didn't eat anything, didn't hit a single ball, and none of those gloves were mine. Even the water I drank was bought for me by Second Young Master Chi. The cameras caught everything, so don't treat me like a sucker."

The man's face tightened. He walked over to Gu Zhu, lowered his head, and said, "Gu Zhu, be sensible."

Gu Zhu panicked inside. He turned to look at Chi Ning, and when he met those gentle, smiling eyes, courage immediately welled up in him.

"What does your dignity have to do with me? You knew I liked you, yet you strung me along for so long. Why should I care about saving your face?"