Zhou Yang's retreating figure soon disappeared from the three men's sight.
Gao Yuan was utterly baffled. "What does he mean by that?"
After being humiliated, instead of trading insults or turning around and leaving, he had taken the empty plate with a stony face and said he would wash it for Chi Li...
Was that normal?
"Who knows?" Chi Li wasn't particularly interested in digging into what was going on in the guy's head, so he made something up. "Maybe he just really likes washing dishes."
"That's actually possible." Gao Yuan nodded solemnly. "When they eat together, washing the dishes used to always be Wei Xuan's job, but after he came, it became his. He must really like it, right?"
[I'd sooner believe I'm Qin Shi Huang than believe he likes washing dishes.]
[Is Zhou Yang a masochist?]
[Either that or he gets off on being abused.]
[You guys are reading way too much into it. He probably fell out with Chi Li before and wants to make peace now.]
[What do you mean? He wants to get his hands on my wife too?]
[The Impotence ship: no breaking them up or reversing the roles!]
[...]
After dinner, Chi Li accepted Gao Yuan's invitation and went to the game room with him.
Shen Xunye followed them too.
He didn't play, though, and simply sat beside them to keep them company.
After playing multiplayer games for a while, Gao Yuan grew sleepy.
He had held a solo "meeting" until midnight yesterday, then spent the day writing songs in a burst of inspiration, barely resting at all.
Now that he was full and relaxed, drowsiness set in.
"I need to go back to my room and rest." Gao Yuan let out a long yawn and handed the controller to Shen Xunye. "Shen, why don't you play with Chi Li a little longer?"
Chi Li let his character fall on the screen and asked, a little puzzled, "Won't your fans complain if you go to bed this early?"
"It's fine to turn in early once in a while. The fans will understand." Gao Yuan rose from the couch and stretched at length, then warned him, "But you rookies can't do this."
"Okay, go get some sleep." Chi Li acknowledged the advice.
Shen Xunye pressed a few buttons on the controller without looking up. "Bye."
Gao Yuan didn't mind Shen Xunye's coldness. He waved a couple of times and left the game room.
"Do you know how to play?" Chi Li tilted his head toward him.
Shen Xunye shook his head. "Not really."
"Forget it, then." Chi Li tossed his controller aside. "Can't be bothered to teach you."
Shen Xunye sounded pitiful. "...You don't want me?"
"It's not that." Chi Li stood up. "I just think... there might be something more interesting happening outside."
At this hour, the others should be starting to make their moves.
Shen Xunye had no choice but to indulge his desire to watch the drama.
So he tossed his controller aside too. "Let's go, then. We'll take a stroll outside."
They switched off the console, left the game room, and headed out along the corridor.
They soon encountered the first person-Jiang Lele, who was walking toward them.
He looked... as if he had come specifically for them.
"Chi Li." Sure enough, Jiang Lele stopped a few steps away from them. "Xie Weishui asked me to see if you wanted to play mahjong."
Chi Li raised his brows slightly. "Don't you have enough people?"
Not only did they have enough, they even had one extra.
"He said..." Jiang Lele glanced at Shen Xunye, then quickly looked away. "You protected the friendship between the three of them, so he wants to get to know you better too."
"Sure." Chi Li readily agreed.
He couldn't have asked for more than a front-row seat to the drama.
"But..." He sounded a little concerned. "Can we play mahjong on stream?"
"Yes." Jiang Lele turned around and began leading the way. "As long as we don't bet money, it's fine."
Chi Li asked, "So we're playing for nothing?"
"Probably not. As for the specifics... the four of you will have to discuss that."
"Hmm... okay."
Chi Li gave no particular reaction.
It looked like the stakes of this mahjong game would be tonight's main event.
He really had no idea what Xie Weishui was planning.
Soon, Jiang Lele led the two of them to the mahjong room.
Three people were already seated at the mahjong table in the middle.
"Chi Li." Xie Weishui greeted him with a smile. "You're here? Come sit down."
Chi Li returned the smile and took the empty seat at the mahjong table.
Xie Weishui sat opposite him, with Zhou Yang on his left and Fang Jin on his right.
"It's thanks to you." Xie Weishui kept smiling. "These two can finally get along peacefully now."
"No need to thank me. I'm accumulating merit for myself." Chi Li wore a faint, ambiguous smile.
"Do you know how to play mahjong?" Xie Weishui reached out and started the automatic mahjong table. "We're just playing casually. Mostly, we'll chat and get to know each other."
Chi Li said, "A little. If it's just for fun and there's no money involved, there's not much pressure."
"Good." Xie Weishui's smile blossomed. "But even though we aren't playing for money, there will still be little penalties for losing."
Chi Li feigned surprise. "What kind of penalties?"
"The winner decides," Xie Weishui explained. "They can stick strips of paper on the loser's face, make them say embarrassing lines, or have them answer a 'truth' question... as long as the request isn't too much trouble, anything goes."
"Really?" Chi Li narrowed his eyes slightly. "So we can make the loser take off his clothes too?"
[You know exactly what we want to see. [thumbs up]]
[Why isn't Shen Xunye joining this game aaaaaah? I want to see him strip.]
[Isn't this the sort of little game guys and girls play when they're flirting? [nosebleed]]
[I think I saw a rumor somewhere saying Xie Weishui is really good at mahjong... I keep feeling he's up to no good.]
[With the cameras watching, what could he possibly do?]
"In theory, yes," Xie Weishui said.
Zhou Yang sat toward the right and teased, "Chi Li, is this all you think about all day?"
Then why had he acted all prudish and blocked me when I sent him pictures of my abs and dick before?
At the end of the day, he's still thirsty, isn't he?
"If that's allowed, I have no more questions." Chi Li pushed the row of tiles in front of him forward at an angle. "Let's start."
Having received no response, Zhou Yang instinctively wanted to pull a sour face, but held himself back.
As the four drew their tiles, Jiang Lele cautiously approached Shen Xunye. "Just watching them is pretty boring. Shall we go do something somewhere else?"
Shen Xunye replied distractedly, "Do what?"
"The pool room is right next door," Jiang Lele suggested enthusiastically. "If you know how to play, great. If not, I'll teach you."
Shen Xunye looked uninterested, but asked, "Then shall we follow their example and add some stakes?"
Jiang Lele couldn't have asked for more. "Sure."
Two men alone in a room, plus some flirty penalties-surely that would give the viewers something to ship? Nothing to lose here.
"Let's go, then." Shen Xunye turned and left first.
A smile curved Jiang Lele's lips, and he quickly jogged after him. "Okay, but you can't ask for anything too outrageous."