Chapter 38

Yun Duo did not know what was going on, but Lin Zi was very moody today and his temper was short. Cheng Mei was wearing a pretty dress and when she had asked him if she looked good in it, he had instantly snapped 'no', greatly offending Cheng Mei, who had then stormed off with a red face.

Yun Duo secretly checked the state of the stock market. It was doing okay, no signs of collapse. Then what in the world made him so unhappy?

Lin Zi coincidentally saw her checking the market, and he said with a sneer, "Thinking to invest in the stock market just after earning some extra money? A hundred thousand yuan won't even make a ripple in the stock market!"

His tone was really unpleasant, and Yun Duo herself started to feel a little irritated. "Hey, I just wanted to know why you're so angry!"

Lin Zi paused, and then swiftly turned his face aside and said quietly, "Well, isn't it because of you?" His words were still just as aggravating, but the fire behind them was considerably lessened.

Yun Duo was surprised. "How did I make you mad? You might as well tell it to me straight. Beating around the bush and acting weird ... it's not like I can understand you that way! Are you a girl? Needing others to guess what you're thinking?"

He suddenly supported himself against the surface of her desk with one hand, placing his other hand on the back of her chair, and then he leaned down to look at her. The two of them were now very close. Yun Duo was encircled in a very narrow space. As his lanky figure pressed closer, she found herself feeling a little uneasy. His complexion was as pale as ever, and his eyes were narrowed, his gaze cold. She saw her own reflection in his eyes; the expression on her face was rather stunned.

Yun Duo averted her gaze to avoid making eye contact.

He finally spoke, saying, "So you're that great, eh? Daring to fight with a murderer?"

"It wasn't me," she explained, "It was someone else who fought. I only ambushed him once, dealing one hit."

He pinned her with his gaze. "That rumoured boyfriend of yours?"

"Uh, that's just a misunderstanding. He's not my boyfriend."

His rigid arms relaxed slightly, and the corners of his brows smoothened out imperceptibly. He huffed lightly, "Whether he is or he isn't, putting you in such danger, he's a retard overall."

Yun Duo did not like hearing him call Tang Yi-Bai a retard. She explained, "At that time, we did not have a choice. That murderer was crazy, he would have killed anyone who saw him. Tang Yi-Bai actually asked me to leave first."

Tang. Yi. Bai?"

She saw his brow furrow and his gaze became tinted with displeasure. Yun Duo felt that his feelings was probably something similar to the melancholy of 'my good friend has a secret but did not share it with me'. She quickly tried to make up for it by explaining, "We ... just happened to be on the same road."

Lin Zi tsk-ed disdainfully. "Who cares if you two were coincidentally together?" After saying that, he stood up straight and turned about to go back to his own desk.

Yun Duo said from behind him with a smile, "Lin-Lin, are you worrying about me?"

He replied without even turning his head to look at her, "You think too much of yourself."

She was in a really good mood. "You're clearly worrying about me."

"You're being narcissistic."

Yun Duo looked at his thin silhouette and smiled with her hands cupped about her face. "This sister has received a fortune. How about I treat you to a meal?"

"A hundred thousand is a fortune? So your conceptualisation of making a fortune is so low."

Being looked down on once again, Yun Duo fumed, "Has anyone ever told you that they really feel like punching you as soon as you open your mouth?"

"No, everyone who knows me likes me very much."

"..." Hehehe, she had never seen such a thick-faced shameless person.

Yun Duo did not begrudge Lin Zi for his shamelessness — in the afternoon, she was still going to treat him to a meal. Aside from Lin Zi, she had also invited Cheng Mei. Unexpectedly, however, Cheng Mei refused.

In the past, they had often eaten together with Cheng Mei when they were at the office. Their trio was a sturdy iron triangle. Yun Duo complained to Lin Zi. "See, it's all because of you. Cheng Mei is angry now."

Lin Zi was exceptionally confident. "I said before that everyone who knows me loves me. She won't really be angry with me."

"Hehe, then why don't you go and try to invite her to join us for a meal?"

Just then, Cheng Mei passed by the doorway and glanced into the hall. Lin Zi quickly waved at her. "Pretty lady, are you really not going to eat with us? Come on, Yun Duo's buying. Let's clean her out."

Cheng Mei ducked her head but her lips curved up into a smile. "Alright."

Yun Duo's jaw nearly dropped to the ground. She looked at Cheng Mei and commented with a smile, "I finally know your fatal weakness. Will you go with anyone who calls you a pretty lady?"

Cheng Mei's face flushed red, and, like an embarrassed little maiden, she whined, "You meanie!"

********

The next day, Yun Duo received a call from Tang Yi-Bai, reminding her not to forget about their dinner and also ... to tell her that she did not have to dress up too prettily.

Yun Duo was stupefied. So Tang Yi-Bai really preferred the plain and simple style of peasant folk?

On the phone, his speech came in starts and stops, like he had something really hard to say. Yun Duo asked, "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Tang Yi-Bai sighed heavily. "You'll find out when you come."

When she arrived at the pre-agreed restaurant, she finally understood Tang Yi-Bai's meaning. Qi Rui-Feng ... was here again ...

"You two are really good bros," she could not help but sigh, "Sticking close together like you're each other's shadow."

Tang Yi-Bai's expression darkened and he solemnly clarified, "We're not bros."

Qi Rui-Feng was very happy. "Yun Duo, long time no see." Due to the height difference between them, regardless of which angle he used to look at her, it always felt as if he was looking down from high above — it was very stressful.

Yun Duo scratched her head and thought, 'Well, it hasn't been that long. We just saw each other last month.'

As Qi Rui-Feng was just too well-known, they still needed to book a private room even if was just the three of them. After Yun Duo sat down, Tang Yi-Bai and Qi Rui-Feng settled down beside her, one on each side, like two hulking guards. In comparison, her figure was rather tiny — it felt like she would be squished between them at any moment. The waitress asked for Qi Rui-Feng's and Tang Yi-Bai's autographs, and then looked at the three of them and said, "It's like a pair of parents bringing their child out to eat."

Yun Duo sweatdropped. Needless to say, shippers existed everywhere.

Qi Rui-Feng was greatly amused. He flipped a menu open and showed it to Yun Duo. "Good baby, I'll order you an ice-cream."

Yun Duo turned her head away and pretended not to know him.

Qi Rui-Feng then turned to ask Tang Yi-Bai. "Say, between the two of us, who do you think is the father and who is the mother?"

Tang Yi-Bai also turned his head away and pretended not to know Qi Rui-Feng — who wants to be parents with you?!

The three of them placed their orders in this light-hearted atmosphere, and then Qi Rui-Feng took out his phone to recommend the game he had been playing recently to Yun Duo. Yun Duo glanced at it. Huh, Anipop消消乐: A match-3 game developed by Happy Elements. Think something along the lines of Candy Crush? This game was everywhere right now. It almost seemed like the entire nation was playing it? She was extremely surprised to see his current level. "You've already played up to this level? Even higher than me!" Somehow, it feels like his IQ should not be high enough for him to get this far ...

Qi Rui-Feng's smile was smug and arrogant. "But of course! I'm the best among my friends."

"Very cool, very cool," praised Yun Duo, "How did you do it?"

"My skills are outstanding, just like in my 1500 metre freestyle, so ..." Here, he stopped to think for a moment, and then his eyes lit up as he found the word he was looking for. "So eeeeasy." His tone as he finished his sentence was unnatural, rising and lilting, like he was singing.

"Oh, so you can even show off in English now." Yun Duo poked fun at him.

"Of course, overseas' interviews are usually in conducted in English. What's there to be surprised about?"

She sensed something off about what he said. "But I've never seen you give an interview in English before. That's strange."

Tang Yi-Bai suddenly interjected, "That's because his English sucks. It's at the level of image-destroying bad, which is why the local TV stations generally do not broadcast them."

Yun Duo was speechless. "That dramatic? How bad can it be?"

"The Chinese can't understand it, and the foreigners also can't really understand it. Who knows if Er-Bai may be able to understand it?" said Tang Yi-Bai. Seeing Qi Rui-Feng's dark expression, Tang Yi-Bai somehow felt a sense of satisfaction from taking revenge well up inside. He had no qualms whatsoever in exposing the flaws of his bro. That fellow should not have come here anyway, so there's no need to give him any face. Hmph, hmph. What's more, it's not like he was telling all this to a random stranger — he was just sharing with Yun Duo. Yun Duo wasn't an outsider. Huh ...?

Tang Yi-Bai was abruptly pulled out of his constantly shifting musings by Qi Rui-Feng. "Shut your mouth!"

"Okay, okay, can I borrow your game to play?" Yun Duo was afraid he would explode — well, it was mainly that she could not bear to make fun of the sad fact that an Olympics champion had such terrible English — so she changed the topic.

Qi Rui-Feng magnanimously handed his phone to her. And then he leaned on one arm against the back of her chair, pressing close to watch her play.

As befitting a level close to the end, the difficulty level was insane. Yun Duo was in fits as she lamented over how insanely difficult the level was. She played very, very cautiously while Qi Rui-Feng made comments and gave advice beside her. Watching how slow Yun Duo's reflexes were, he was disdainful. "You're so stupid."

"I'm just being careful. Besides, your method is wrong." Yun Duo was rather speechless. The 'outstanding skills' he had boasted earlier was truly incomprehensible.

Tang Yi-Bai was seated to one side. As he watched the other two huddled close together playing the game, he suddenly felt like he was being left out. He looked at Qi Rui-Feng's arm over the back of her chair. Qi Rui-Feng's head was bowed low, his face very close to hers ... the scene was irritating.

"Stop playing," said Tang Yi-Bai.

But the other two were too engrossed in the game and ignored him.

When there was only one move left, there were still 7 ice blocks left on the screen to be eliminated. Yun Duo shook her head. "It's impossible now."

Qi Rui-Feng reminded her, "So stupid. Use a hammer."

"There are no hammers!"

"Buy some."

"... Huh?" Yun Duo thought she had misheard and she looked at him doubtfully.

Qi Rui-Feng merely reached out, and without even taking the phone from her, he reached over her hand to tap and press on the screen. Yun Duo quickly looked down at the phone, only to hear Qi Rui-Feng grumble, "How rude. Don't peek when I key in my password."

"Oh." Yun Duo quickly closed her eyes.

Qi Rui-Feng saw how flustered she was when she closed her eyes and could not help but laugh. "Silly."

Only when Qi Rui-Feng said 'Done' did she dare to open her eyes again, and then she saw that there were now 10 hammers in the power-up inventory.

Yun Duo: "..."

Qi Rui-Feng nudged her arm gently when he saw her doing nothing. "What're you staring at. Use them quickly."

Yun Duo felt as if she were in a dream. She asked, "So you've always been using this method to pass levels? By buying power-ups?"

Each hammer is a few dollars, but could only be used once. It was really not worth the money. Yun Duo had never bought power-ups before, because the cost-benefit ratio was just too low. And yet this fellow before her eyes had purchased 10 hammers just like that, without even blinking an eye. Moreover, this was just for this current level. He had passed through so many other levels before this, how had he passed through them all ...

So this was the truth behind his 'outstanding skills'? Purchasing hammers?

Qi Rui-Feng gave Yun Duo a baffled look. "Is there anything wrong with that?"

"No," Yun Duo shook her head, "It's just the thought of spending so much money. So painful."

Qi Rui-Feng was amused. "If money can buy happiness, why shouldn't I spend it? I have the money anyway."

She actually found that he made a lot of sense. Still, that final statement was truly aggravating!

In a fit of rage, Yun Duo tapped on the hammers and destroyed all the ice blocks. She had to admit that it felt really, really good to do so!

After she had completed the level, she sat up straight with a satisfied expression. Then, from the corner of her eyes, she inadvertently saw Tang Yi-Bai looking at them with a shadowed expression.

His complexion was dull and his eyes were narrowed as he stared at them. His eyes blazed — it was like a small universe was about to break free, like he was about to transform at any moment.

When he saw Yun Duo looking over at him, he said through clenched teeth, "Put down the phone."

Yun Duo gently put the phone down.

He grabbed hold of her chair and tugged it forcefully in his direction. There was great friction between the legs of the chair and the floorboards. At that instant, Yun Duo felt as if she was seated on a bumpy tractor, and her little heart skipped a beat.

When the tractor stopped, Yun Duo was much closer to Tang Yi-Bai. He placed a pair of chopsticks before her plate and said to her with a soft smile, "Eat."

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Previous: Chapter 37
Next: Chapter 39

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