You're wrong. I need wealth more than luck

An instant before shaking out his lot, Huo Yuchen cast a discreet glance at the short stick in a certain someone's hand.

Beneath his long, thick lashes, a faint, unreadable glimmer flashed through his eyes.

He looked away in a blink and began shaking the lot container.

"Mr. Huo, could you let me go first?"

Just as he was about to start, Li Weizhou suddenly stepped forward with a presumptuous request.

Huo Yuchen lazily lifted his eyelids to look at him. "No."

The refusal was utterly blunt. He couldn't even be bothered to ask why.

Li Weizhou choked up.

Then he explained, "Mr. Huo, don't misunderstand. I don't care what I draw. I'm just worried you might be more likely to draw the short stick if you go first."

That sounded very strange.

Not only did it sound like a guilty protest that gave him away, but it also conveyed disdain for the person who had already drawn a short stick, while failing to offer a reasonable explanation for his presumptuous behavior.

Xu Su asked outright, "What bullshit are you spouting now?"

Perhaps realizing that his earlier words had been inappropriate, Li Weizhou hurried to explain:

"Xu Su, don't overthink it. I wasn't talking about you. I just heard from a friend in business that people in business circles tend to be superstitious about..."

"Who knew that with science so advanced these days, you'd still be such a believer in superstition, Mr. Li?"

Huo Yuchen interrupted him, a cold smile tugging at his lips.

"Then before coming on this show, did you have your fortune told? Did you predict yesterday's calamity?"

His tone was full of mockery.

[Well said!]

[After seeing Xu Su put Huo Yuchen in his place so often, I thought Huo Yuchen wasn't good with words. Now I realize he just can't win against Xu Su.]

[Heh, he knows his career's almost over, so he's immediately sucking up to someone powerful like Huo Yuchen. Disgusting.]

[Just blacklist these two already, fuck.]

Li Weizhou was deeply embarrassed.

He hadn't intended to suck up to Huo Yuchen. He merely wanted to draw first so he could try to get paired with Xu Su.

But with cameras all around, he couldn't make it too obvious, so he had come up with an excuse that sounded like he was flattering Huo Yuchen.

He hadn't expected Huo Yuchen to be so direct. Not only was he unimpressed, but he hadn't spared Li Weizhou's dignity at all.

For a moment, Li Weizhou stood trapped there as though roasting over a fire, with no idea how to respond.

Seeing this, Xu Su kindly spoke up to help him out. "He probably did, but he might not have been willing to accept it. He wanted to see whether he could defy fate and change his destiny, so he came determined to outplay heaven."

Li Weizhou: "..."

He'd thought it was help, but it turned out to be another stab.

By then, Huo Yuchen had already shaken out his lot.

Perhaps it really was fate: he had drawn precisely the shortest bamboo stick.

"Oh~"

Seeing it, Xu Su raised his brows and praised him. "Not bad, kid. Lucky you, getting paired with me."

Except he was praising himself.

Huo Yuchen met his gaze. "Why don't you say you're the lucky one?"

Though he argued back, his expression didn't darken. He even looked a little pleased.

Xu Su lifted a hand to fiddle with his bangs. "What's there to argue about? If I say you're lucky, you're lucky."

Huo Yuchen's lips curved slightly as he returned the lot container to Director Yu. "Don't you think you need luck more than I do?"

Xu Su wagged his index finger from side to side. "You're wrong. I need wealth more than luck."

With that, he leaned his head closer to Huo Yuchen, his eyes shimmering and his smile brilliant.

"So would you share a little of your wealth with me? Seeing as I let you have the luck."

Huo Yuchen: "..."

[...He's so busy calculating his gains, the abacus beads have flown all the way to Guangdong.]

[They've reached Hubei too.]

[And Sichuan.]

[They've landed in my toilet too.]

Watching the two joke together so familiarly, Li Weizhou felt a jumble of emotions.

Once upon a time, no matter the occasion or who was around, Xu Su's eyes had only ever been on him.

But now, everything had changed...

Knowing that staying there would only add to his embarrassment, Li Weizhou returned to the others without another word.

Beside him, Zhuang Luo took it all in, his fingers involuntarily curling into tight fists.

The others soon finished drawing lots.

The final results were:

Xu Su and Huo Yuchen were a team;

Lu Jing and Zhuang Luo were a team;

Shen Chuanzhu and Li Weizhou were a team.

Once they had assembled in their teams, Director Yu announced the watermelon-eating rules:

"One watermelon per team. The first team to finish wins!"

The staff immediately brought out three tables, each holding a large platter of sliced watermelon.

Seeing the portions, Lu Jing couldn't help grimacing. "It's early in the morning, and we haven't even had breakfast, but you're making us eat this? Aren't you afraid we'll all get diarrhea?"

Director Yu pulled a medicine kit from behind his back. "Don't worry! We've got the medicine ready!"

Everyone: "..."

[You could say he's heartless, but he prepared a medicine kit. But you could say he has a conscience, except he prepared an entire seedless watermelon.]

[Place your bets! I'm betting Xu Su and Huo Yuchen come last this round. If I lose, I'm skipping work.]

[Girl above, just say you don't want to go to work.]

[It's over. That bitch Zhuang Luo is definitely going to drag Lu Jing down.]

Seeing Huo Yuchen staring silently at the watermelon with what looked like worry between his brows, Xu Su promptly slapped him on the back and offered some considerate reassurance. "Don't worry. With me here, we're guaranteed to win!"

"..."

Huo Yuchen turned to him. "That confident?"

Xu Su said, "Of course!"

Huo Yuchen asked, "What if we lose? What then?"

Xu Su smiled faintly. "Give me a grand funeral!"

Huo Yuchen: "..."

He shouldn't have asked.

"Tweet, tweet-"

The whistle blew, and the contest began.

Everyone quickly picked up watermelon and started wolfing it down.

But the only person who truly qualified as wolfing it down was Xu Su-

When the camera cut to him, viewers saw him demolishing a platter of watermelon that far exceeded his stomach's capacity, at a lightning-fast three seconds per slice and with the sweeping force of a gale.

[Genuine question: is Xu Su brushing his teeth with watermelon?]

[My first reaction was holy shit! My second was badass!! My third was holy shit, that's badass!!!]

[I can feel his burning desire to win through the screen.]

[The juice dripping down is practically forming an artificial lake. [laughing and crying]]

[You little brat, how many more surprises are you hiding from your emperor?]

For a moment, not only the viewers and staff, but even the other contestants were drawn in by the frenzied spectacle.

Their eyes fixed unblinkingly on Xu Su with a mixture of shock, admiration, and bewilderment, as though they were looking at some rare species from prehistoric times.

Except for Huo Yuchen.

Across the entire set, he alone looked utterly composed and unruffled. Not only did he find nothing novel about it, but there was even a hint of fond indulgence in his eyes as he watched Xu Su...

Three minutes later, Xu Su successfully cleared the platter of watermelon and took first place in the watermelon-eating contest.

"Well?"

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he bragged to Huo Yuchen, "I wasn't bluffing when I said I'd guarantee a win, was I?"

Huo Yuchen looked at him and pulled a tissue from the table.

He stepped closer, lowered his eyes, and raised his hand. As he gently wiped Xu Su's mouth, his gentle voice sounded. "Who taught you to eat watermelon like that?"

Xu Su froze briefly.

What was this move?

The viewers froze too.

[??? What is this supposed to mean???]

[I thought he was going to hand Xu Su a tissue, but he actually wiped his mouth for him???]

[So am I wrong to ship them?]

[I'm tired of saying "he's innocent" on Huo Yuchen's behalf. Forget it. I'm not saying it anymore. If you can't beat them, join them.]