Chapter 34

Lin Yu: There's a little get-together tomorrow night. Want to come?

Jiang Zao immediately caught on: Is it a celebration party?

Lin Yu: ...Probably?

Jiang Zao laughed: I'm in. Where?

Lin Yu: Nine Harmony Residence.

Jiang Zao: Wow, Chen Lüli's villa again. Nice, nice. All right!

Jiang Zao: I was just getting ready to go back to Li City anyway. With my parents, it's easy to see each other but hard to live together. These past few days, relatives and neighbors have all been asking about my marriage. My parents got anxious from all the questions and have already started scouting out blind dates for me. I'm grabbing my bucket and running for it.

Lin Yu chuckled: Then hurry back.

Jiang Zao: All right, see you tomorrow night.

Lin Yu switched back to the chat with the black profile picture. Her eyes softened as she typed: Congrats!

Chen Lüli: On what?

Lin Yu: The trending searches, the game, Star Rise.

Chen Lüli's brows rose slightly: You only just noticed?

Lin Yu: (#^.^#)

Seeing her send so many little emoticons tonight, Chen Lüli's lips curved slightly. He thought she was cute.

The next day

After a quiet day, friends and family came calling again. Some were Lin Zhenghe's classmates and childhood friends. The afternoon guests were distant relatives-about as distant as relatives could get. The reason they kept in touch was that Lin Zhenghe had paid for their children's schooling, and after the children graduated, he had found them jobs as well.

Now the family of four had a place to settle down in Li City. They visited the Lin family every year, and every word they spoke was one of gratitude.

Lin Yu was quite fond of the family.

They all had good personalities. The sister and brother who had received help were neither servile nor arrogant, and it was clear at a glance that they were independent.

That evening, Zhong Lixin asked them to stay for dinner. After eating, Lin Yu told her parents she was going out. Lin Zhenghe glanced at her, and Zhong Lixin said with a smile, "Go on."

"Stay safe," Lin Zhenghe said.

Lin Yu smiled at her father and nodded. She took her coat off the rack and put it on. Tonight, she wore a batwing-sleeved sweater with a fitted long skirt, both in shades of beige, giving her a gentle, ladylike air. The coat she had taken down was light brown, setting off skin whiter than snow. The visiting family's eyes were involuntarily drawn to her.

The older sister in particular envied Lin Yu's family circumstances and her bearing.

Lin Yu took her keys, told her family she was leaving, and headed out. She drove her white sedan to Nine Harmony Residence. The road there really was winding, halfway up the mountain, but the surroundings were lovely, and the landscaping was especially well done. She drove into the courtyard. A row of cars was already parked outside, with no spaces left.

Only two spaces remained inside the courtyard. Lin Yu spotted Jiang Zao's and Jiang Yan'an's cars. She shut her car door, climbed the steps, and went inside, where she immediately saw Ming Yu tap Jiang Yan'an with a hat.

Jiang Zao held a tray piled with food. Eating as she spoke, she said, "Hit him, hit him! That's what he gets for not telling you."

Jiang Yingshan was laughing over there.

Jiang Zao looked up and saw Lin Yu. With a whoop, she cried, "Yuyu! You're here!"

The other three turned to look at once. Lin Yu met their eyes and smiled. "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year, my Yuyu." Jiang Yan'an's eyes lit up, and he started to rise. Just then, someone else came up the steps, and Chen Lüli's languid voice sounded behind her. "Why are you standing here? Aren't you going in?"

Hearing his voice, Lin Yu turned to look.

He raised a brow at her, carrying a case of red wine in one hand. His suit jacket hung open over a black shirt, and he brought in the chill from outside. Lin Yu met his gaze, and her heart skipped a beat.

Chapter 34

"Hmm?"

he asked.

Lin Yu immediately came to her senses. "Looks like I'm the last one here."

"You are!"

they all said in unison.

Jiang Zao's laughter rang out among their voices. "You live so close, yet you're the last one here. Aren't you embarrassed?"

Lin Yu's face flushed at once. She turned and ran over to pinch Jiang Zao, who laughed and reached back to ruffle Lin Yu's hair. Chen Lüli's eyes narrowed slightly as he set the wine beside the coffee table.

Jiang Yan'an hurried to his feet and bent down to open the case.

With no one left to tease, Ming Yu sat properly and twirled the hat in her hand.

Resting a hand on the back of the sofa, Jiang Yingshan said, "We don't get together often. What should we play?"

Jiang Yan'an set the wine on the coffee table. "What should we play? Your company's game, Extreme Survival, of course."

Jiang Yingshan clicked his tongue. "As if you could log in right now."

Chen Lüli walked over to the kitchen island and gave the auntie beside it a few instructions about what food to prepare. Lin Yu and Jiang Zao hadn't seen each other for a while, so they held hands and chatted. As Chen Lüli spoke to the auntie, his eyes swept over them. Lin Yu was covering her mouth as she laughed, her eyes curved into crescents, looking rather like the emoticons she sent.

"Come on, let's find somewhere to sit." Jiang Zao pulled Lin Yu around to the sofa, where they happened to run into Ming Yu. Lin Yu met Ming Yu's eyes for a second and said, "Ming Yu."

Ming Yu smiled faintly. "Yuyu, you're late."

Lin Yu smiled. She had understood what the two of them had said last night, but Ming Yu didn't know that she had liked Chen Lüli for many years.

"Latecomers have to be punished later." Jiang Zao pulled Lin Yu down onto the long sofa. Ming Yu sat on another sofa across from it, and Jiang Yan'an took the wine and sat down beside Jiang Zao, right between her and Ming Yu. He had wanted to sit beside Lin Yu, but after trading a few barbs with Jiang Zao, he simply sat down there.

Chen Lüli's voice came from the island. After finishing his conversation with the auntie, he picked up a set of wineglasses and headed into the living room. His living room was enormous, with three spacious sofas, the longest of which could seat six. There were still plenty of empty seats, but he carried the glasses over and sat down beside Lin Yu.

The sofa dipped beside her.

Lin Yu's lashes fluttered, and she paused.

She and Jiang Zao were looking at the photos on her phone, all taken by her mother.

When he sat down, the others looked over, Ming Yu in particular.

She lightly patted her skirt.

Jiang Yan'an uncorked the wine and handed it to Chen Lüli. "Brother Jiang says you can't log in to Extreme Survival right now? Then we can't play it tonight. Won't that be boring?"

Chen Lüli took the bottle and leisurely poured wine into a glass. His tone was mild. "Aren't you the one with the most ideas? Why don't you arrange something? If not, we can play mahjong."

Jiang Yan'an protested, "Mahjong again? Besides, we don't have the right number of people. What about the two left over?"

Jiang Yingshan smiled. "The two left over can stand by and wave flags and cheer, or be spies."

Jiang Zao laughed and raised her hand. "I'll be a spy."

Lin Yu followed Jiang Zao's lead and raised her hand too. "I can be one too."

Chen Lüli glanced sideways at Lin Yu.

Lin Yu blinked.

Seeing her like that, Chen Lüli said, "Let's play Coward. It's been a while."

"What's Coward?" Jiang Yingshan asked. He had spent his early years abroad and only returned this year. He knew plenty of games and all kinds of card games, but this was his first time hearing of Coward.

Jiang Yan'an picked up the cards on the table. "It's simple. Everyone gets one playing card and can only look at their own. Once everyone's seen their card, we pour the wine. Anyone worried they have the lowest card can call stop and drink whatever's in their glass. If nobody calls stop, we keep pouring until the glasses are full. Then we turn over the cards, and whoever has the lowest drinks the whole glass."

"That works. It really lives up to the name Coward. We'll see who's the biggest coward-it's a battle of nerves." Jiang Yingshan clapped.

Lin Yu blinked.

For some reason, she wanted to kick Chen Lüli.

Back at university, their two dorm rooms had played it together, and she had won the title of biggest coward that night. Beside her, Jiang Zao clicked her tongue twice. Someone's heart was elsewhere, not in the wine.

Jiang Yan'an began dealing the cards.

Ming Yu had never played the game either. Like Jiang Yingshan, this was her first time hearing of it. But seeing Chen Lüli suggest it, and seeing that he had done so after looking at Lin Yu, she knew there was some history behind it.

She smiled and asked Jiang Yan'an as he dealt, "You've played before?"

Jiang Yan'an said, "Back at university, I think. Students from a few dorm rooms played together."

Ming Yu gave an "Oh" and nodded.

Jiang Yan'an dealt from right to left.

Lin Yu soon received her card. Just as she picked it up, Jiang Zao shot backward, putting distance between them and leaving Lin Yu no chance to sneak a peek. Jiang Zao snickered, held down her card, and took a furtive look. Lin Yu held down her own card too.

Before she could turn it over, Chen Lüli picked up the wine bottle, took her glass, and poured into it.

It was an ordinary gesture, but Lin Yu's heart pounded all the same. She glanced at the others. They had all looked at their cards and were slowly pouring their own wine, each seemingly confident of victory.

Jiang Yingshan in particular was playing for the first time, yet he wasn't afraid in the least.

They're not afraid, so neither am I, Lin Yu thought, turning over her card.

A two.

She said, "..."

It was all right. There was still an ace. Everyone at the table remained impassive as the real battle of nerves began. Lin Yu watched her glass fill past the halfway point.

She swallowed.

Chen Lüli held the bottle and poured at an unhurried pace, the lines on the back of his hand clearly defined. In a languid tone, he asked, "No one's calling stop?"

Jiang Yan'an laughed. "You're kidding. Someone's bound to have a lower card than mine."

Jiang Zao glanced at her card. "Pour. I'm not scared."

Chen Lüli raised a brow slightly.

Once everyone's glass was full, he set down the bottle, picked up his card, and turned it faceup on the table. A ten.

Jiang Zao took one look. "Hey, no wonder you weren't afraid with a card like that."

She scooted forward.

She put down the card in her hand.

A six.

She pointed at it. "I believe mine won't be the lowest."

Ming Yu reached forward with a slender hand and set down her card.

A five.

Right next to Jiang Zao's.

Jiang Yan'an smiled. "Then it's my turn."

A three.

Jiang Zao clicked her tongue. "Then yours is the lowest."

Jiang Yan'an said, "Impossible. Absolutely impossible."

After watching them play their cards, Jiang Yingshan breathed a sigh of relief and put down the one in his hand.