Chapter 63: Such a big deal?

“Sorry, looks like I’m the King again!”

Song Qiuyu smiled confidently, flipping her playing card for everyone to see.

The card showed a wildly grinning joker.

Her words left everyone stunned. Two consecutive Kings? Was that even possible?

“So, for this round, the player with Clubs and the player with Spades will interlock their fingers!”

Song Qiuyu looked on with anticipation.

“Uh… Who’s Clubs and who’s Spades?”

Xie Zhuran turned his Diamond card face up and glanced at the other three, feeling a little awkward.

This little game Song Qiuyu mentioned—unless it was Song Qiuyu and Sang Tian playing, any other combination would just be painfully embarrassing!

But since Song Qiuyu was the King, there was no way she’d participate.

Fortunately.

The answer turned out to be Lao Jiang and Lao Lin.

And not Sang Tian with any of the guys.

A friend’s girlfriend is off-limits, after all.

So, only Lao Jiang and Lao Lin had to interlock their fingers until the end of the next round…

But this couldn’t go on!

Pure probability was making things too difficult.

It was too much mental damage for them.

He really didn’t want to end up like Jiang Xiao or Song Qiuyu, forced to do all sorts of “gaygay” things.

Meeting the pleading eyes from Jiang Xiao and Lin An, Xie Zhuran’s gaze turned firm as he looked at his two comrades, silently conveying his meaning.

“Just hang in there, leave the rest to me.”

Jiang Xiao and Lin An exchanged a glance, unable to keep a straight face.

They each stretched out a hand and clasped them together.

No one said a word.

The room fell silent, with only the thunder outside shaking the night sky.

Seeing them interlock their fingers, Song Qiuyu nearly lost her composure too.

Seriously, how did Jiang Xiao get picked, but it ended up with Lin An?

It was like in a card-drawing game—pulling the character’s exclusive weapon, but missing the character from the pool. What a letdown!

Especially since the command was to interlock fingers, such an ambiguous instruction. Thankfully, it was just interlocking fingers. Thankfully, it was only for one round.

Still, this couldn’t go on.

She needed to find a chance to tamper with another card.

If they left it up to luck, Jiang Xiao and Sang Tian might not get paired up all night.

Even if they did, it might not be for anything intimate.

As for why she didn’t just mark every card—well, the risk of getting caught was too high.

“Alright, put your cards down and turn around, get ready for round five.”

Song Qiuyu placed the King Card face-down on the table.

She collected everyone’s cards, and once they’d all turned around, she placed all the playing cards face-down on the table.

Three consecutive Kings would be too suspicious, so this round had to go to someone else.

Yet, with the King out of her hands, Song Qiuyu suddenly felt the helplessness of the End Emperor.

She could only let fate decide.

After all, the feeling of being pinned down by Jiang Xiao earlier was just too strange…

She was already starting to regret playing King’s Game…

It was way too random.

Thinking about it, Script Murder was better.

At least with a single bit of cheating, she could tie Sang Tian and Jiang Xiao together for the whole game.

Bodhisattva, please, don’t let her and Jiang Xiao both get picked again!!

Hmm…

Or anyone else, really—just please, don’t let it be her!

“Xie Zhuran, you shuffle the cards this time.”

“Huh? Sure!”

Xie Zhuran turned around.

Seeing that Song Qiuyu had turned her back too, just like the others, he let a sly smile slip.

He’d been thinking about how to cheat without getting caught, but hadn’t expected such a perfect chance to come so soon.

So, while shuffling, Xie Zhuran secretly peeked at the cards.

First was Hearts, second… the King!

This game relied on everyone’s honesty, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

With such a golden opportunity, if he missed it, who knew when Song Qiuyu’s blockhead self would finally end up with Sang Tian?

How could a girl be expected to wait forever for you to wake up?

So, for Song Qiuyu’s happiness, he had no choice but to cheat!

He quickly checked the other three cards too, taking full control of what would happen next!

“Xie Zhuran, are you done yet?” Song Qiuyu called out.

Xie Zhuran’s hand trembled in surprise, and he quickly stopped peeking. “All done, let’s draw!”

Everyone turned back around.

With a swift motion, Xie Zhuran was first to grab a card, glancing down with a guilty look.

The King.

No one suspected a thing.

Next, Sang Tian drew a Club, sighed, and glanced at the two still interlocking fingers, feeling a twinge of regret.

If only it were Song Classmate and Jiang Xiao interlocking fingers, it would be perfect.

Song Qiuyu casually picked up a card, saw it was Hearts, and, pretending not to know, looked at the others. “So, who’s the King this round?”

“I am!”

Xie Zhuran held the King Card between his index and middle finger, smiling.

At this, Jiang Xiao’s lips curled up, and Lin An couldn’t help but smile as well.

As expected of you, Ha Ji Xie!

He really came through.

Go for it!

“Everyone, how about we raise the stakes? Let’s have a big bet! The two who get picked will pretend to be a newlywed couple, then go to the next room and borrow a Couple Umbrella. How about it?”

“?”

Whoa… That’s bold!

Song Qiuyu froze, feeling a bit nervous.

But with risk comes opportunity.

All that needed to happen was for Xie Zhuran to pick Sang Tian and Jiang Xiao.

Come on, Ha Ji Xie!

If you pull this off, I’ll buy you milk tea for fifteen yuan a cup!

Er, never mind, make that four-yuan Mixue lemonade…

Song Qiuyu smiled, gave Xie Zhuran a “do your best at drawing lots” look, and spoke up, “I’m in.”

Lin An naturally agreed.

Jiang Xiao didn’t quite get the point of borrowing a Couple Umbrella, but seeing Xie Zhuran’s determined eyes, he agreed as well.

With everyone on board, Sang Tian hesitated a bit, but nodded in agreement.

Xie Zhuran smiled.

He’d seen Song Qiuyu pick Hearts, and had also peeked at Lin An’s card—Clubs.

That meant the chance of pairing Sang Tian and Song Qiuyu to go borrow the umbrella was fifty-fifty.

With such good odds, he dared to suggest this crazy idea.

“Since everyone’s agreed, Diamonds and Hearts, step forward!”

“?”

Song Qiuyu froze, her smile instantly stiffening.

After a long silence, she raised her hand, utterly defeated. “I’m Hearts.”

Lao Xie!

She wished she could go back a minute and slap her own mouth shut.

“Oh? And Diamonds is…”

Everything was going according to plan. As expected of Lao Xie, Lin An couldn’t stop grinning.

He and Xie Zhuran both looked at Sang Tian, only to see her card was Clubs.

“Huh?”

Both of them were stunned.

Just then, the player with Diamonds quietly raised a hand.

Xie Zhuran and Lin An looked over in shock, their eyes widening.

What the heck, it’s Lao Jiang and Song Qiuyu again!!

How did they miss with even a fifty-fifty shot?!

Suddenly, there was a laugh.

It was Sang Tian. What she wanted most was for the pair to be Song Classmate and Jiang Xiao, and now it really was.

The others didn’t know what she was thinking, but they hurriedly glanced at Jiang Xiao, whose expression had darkened.

Newlywed couple…

And they had to borrow a Couple Umbrella…

This was a mess.

“Ahem…”

Xie Zhuran coughed hard, not daring to meet his teammates’ eyes.

Lin An, seeing Xie Zhuran turn away, glanced at Jiang Xiao. Feeling Jiang Xiao’s gaze, he figured Jiang Xiao really wanted to burst out with some Chinglish.

look in my eyes!

Silence fell over the group.

In the midst of this, Song Qiuyu, now over her speechless state, felt her cheeks burning up.

She couldn’t look Jiang Xiao in the eye…

Pretending to be newlyweds and borrowing a Couple Umbrella from next door…

“Well, since you drew the lot, off you go, Jiang Xiao and Song Classmate.”

Sang Tian grinned.

Urged on by Sang Tian, Song Qiuyu and Jiang Xiao set off, resigned.

Song Qiuyu walked at the front, stopping at the door of the next room.

Jiang Xiao followed behind her.

At their own door, three heads peeked out, one above the other: Lin An, Xie Zhuran, and Sang Tian.

They watched the two anxiously.

Since their own room was full, there was no worry about the next room being empty.

After Song Qiuyu knocked, about half a minute passed.

With a creak, the door opened.