When Lin Xichi played that card, Xu Fang’s expression froze for a few seconds. He took his hands off his head and looked at her with a puzzled expression. After a brief moment, he picked up the cards again, his long eyelashes drooping, and casually played a card.
The guy sitting next to him hesitated a bit and reluctantly played a King, saying, “Why did you play a Three after a Bomb? Xu Fang, do you think she has another Bomb left with four cards in her hand?”
Xu Fang rubbed his face and confirmed, “There are no Bombs left outside.”
Just at that moment, Ye Shaowen, who had been helping Wen Jingjing clean up the table, returned with a cheerful whistle. He stood behind Lin Xichi, asking, “Did you win? Eh, why are you still playing? Did you start a new round?”
“Not yet,” Lin Xichi placed her cards on the table, stood up feeling a bit guilty, and mumbled, “You go ahead and play, I’m not very good at this game.”
“Sure,” Ye Shaowen laughed heartily, sat back in his seat, and casually said, “Thanks for your help—,” his voice trailed off, and when he saw the cards on the table, his tone suddenly rose, “What the heck, why am I missing a card?”
Suddenly, Ye Shaowen seemed to realize something. His head turned backward bit by bit as he stared at Lin Xichi, his expression incredulous. “What did you play?”
Before Lin Xichi could reply, the guy from the Oceanography department kindly answered for her, “She played a Bomb and then a Three. I played a King after that, and then you came back.”
Lin Xichi licked her lips, fearing that Ye Shaowen would explode on the spot. Without waiting for him to say anything else, she immediately repeated the same excuse as if she were completely clueless, “I really, really don’t know how to play.”
Hearing this, Xu Fang looked at her with a furrowed brow, a hint of confusion in his eyes. He leaned back in his chair, absently fiddling with the edge of his cards, his lips slightly pursed, lost in thought.
Ye Shaowen couldn’t swallow this explanation and was about to stand up to give her a piece of his mind. However, before he could do so, Xu Fang suddenly extended his leg, hooked the back of Ye Shaowen’s chair, and gave it a little push, causing the chair’s legs to move on the floor with a faint “squeak.”
The sudden movement shifted Ye Shaowen’s attention, and he turned to look at the initiator. “What’s gotten into you?”
Xu Fang leaned back in his chair again, casually tugging at the corner of his mouth and gesturing toward the cards.
“Play your cards.”
“…”
Lin Xichi returned to her seat, glanced at her phone, and saw that it was almost 10 o’clock. The people who had gone to the restroom had also returned by now, but they hadn’t started a new round yet, probably waiting for her.
She hadn’t been sitting for long when a guy stood up and started distributing identity cards to the players.
A few guys who had been playing pool not far away put down their cues and looked at their phones. After a while, they turned their heads and shouted, “Xu Fang!”
Lin Xichi and a few guys instinctively looked in their direction.
The guy who was dealing the cards stopped what he was doing and glanced at Xu Fang. Four or five guys gathered together, gathered their belongings, and seemed to be leaving.
“They’re probably leaving. They have to report for attendance at 10:30,” the guy dealing the cards said. “The military students at our school are checked very strictly.”
Soon, several guys walked toward them, greeted them, and left through the nearby door.
Although Lin Xichi didn’t know them, she still politely waved her hand and made a “goodbye” gesture.
Xu Fang, who was still standing nearby, noticed her gestures and suddenly felt a surge of anger. He couldn’t stand it anymore. His steps came to a halt, and with a calm expression, he lifted his chin in her direction.
Lin Xichi instantly understood his meaning, and a smile crept onto her lips. She discreetly controlled her emotions, slowly picked up her phone and tissues from the table, and placed her cards on the table.
One of the guys noticed her movements and asked, “Ah, Lin Xichi, are you not playing anymore?”
Lin Xichi nodded, “I’m not playing anymore. I’m going back to the dorm.”
At this moment, Xu Fang was still standing there, motionless. His tall, sturdy figure and handsome appearance made him stand out, like a wall that attracted everyone’s attention.
Others noticed the interaction between Xu Fang and Lin Xichi and guessed that their relationship was unusual. They didn’t say anything more.
When Lin Xichi walked behind him, Xu Fang glanced at her, and his expression instantly changed from cloudy to clear. He raised his foot to leave.
The geographical location of this billiards club is quite remote, and the building is rather old. The corridor is narrow, only allowing one person to pass through, and there are no windows in the stairwell, making the air feel stuffy. The overhead light is also broken, so the two of them can only rely on the faint light seeping through from the billiards club to continue down.
Lin Xichi turned on the flashlight on her phone, fearing that Xu Fang might not see the way clearly. She squeezed her way next to him to illuminate the path in front of him, softly murmuring, “Be careful, don’t trip.”
Xu Fang followed behind her, observing her movements. All the frustration from earlier in the evening seemed to have dissipated. He slightly lifted his chin and the corners of his lips curved up.
The corridor was quiet and dim, with only the sound of their footsteps and breathing audible. Xu Fang stared at her head, noticing that her hair reached just past her shoulders. Her hair was naturally fine, soft, and fluffy, making her appear petite. He suddenly had the urge to ruffle her hair, and he didn’t restrain himself, reaching out to tousle her hair.
Lin Xichi’s steps didn’t pause, and she didn’t swat his hand away. Annoyed, she asked, “What are you doing?”
He didn’t change his expression and stopped the action, instead pushing her head to the side. “Your head is blocking my light.”
“Oh,” Lin Xichi responded without suspicion, raising her hand higher unconsciously. “Can you see now?”
“I still can’t see,” Xu Fang replied.
Lin Xichi raised her hand even higher. “How about now?”
Xu Fang said, “Still can’t see.”
Lin Xiche thought to herself that this was truly a blind alley. She compromised by raising the phone’s flashlight to the top of her head, angling it forward diagonally, and slightly moving her arm backward, illuminating the entire narrow staircase. She said, “Can you see like this?”
“I can see now,” he interrupted her.
Her words were cut off by him, and at the same time, there was a gentle breath that touched the back of her hand, slightly tickling, but it didn’t feel very real, and she didn’t know if it was just her imagination.
In the next moment, there was a warm and soft touch on the back of her hand, much more distinct than the previous one.
Lin Xiche suddenly withdrew her hand, her heart pounding. Before she could ask, Xu Fang impatiently said, “You raised it too high, you bumped into me.”
“Ah…” Lin Xiche was dazed, her voice meek and soft, “Oh.”
They happened to reach the ground floor, and Lin Xiche turned off the flashlight. Her heart was pounding as if it would burst, and she tentatively touched the spot on the back of her hand. In her mind, there was only one thought at that moment—where did he bump into her?
His face? It didn’t seem like it; Xu Fang’s face was firm and not soft.
His eyes? They didn’t match either.
His nose? That didn’t fit either.
Then it could only be—
Lin Xiche dared not think any further, covering her face with one hand, trying to cool down her face’s temperature.
Xu Fang followed behind her, using the back of his hand to touch his lips, his lips curved up slightly, and soon he put his hand down.
Thinking that Xu Fang had to check in at 10:30 and still needed to shower and do other things, Lin Xiche quickened her pace instinctively.
But her faster pace wasn’t much different from Xu Fang’s normal pace. Xu Fang leisurely followed behind her. After walking for a while, he remembered what had happened just now and casually asked, “You don’t know how to play Landlord?”
“…”
She could have used this to deceive Ye Shaowen, but it was of no use with Xu Fang. After all, she had won a large sum of money from him through this game before. Lin Xiche couldn’t deceive him, so she simply told the truth, “I wanted to help you win.”
Hearing this, Xu Fang, who had never received such treatment from Lin Xiche before, raised his eyebrows and chuckled lightly, but he had a completely disbelieving expression, “Oh, do you have a grudge against that Ye Shaowen?”
“…” Did he really not believe me?
Lin Xiche looked at him with a melancholic expression but didn’t explain further.
Their dormitory building wasn’t far away. When they were almost downstairs, Lin Xiche didn’t want to waste any more of his time, so she said goodbye to him and quickly skipped back to her dormitory.
Xu Fang stood still for a moment.
He suddenly remembered the scene this afternoon, with Lin Xiche and Ye Shaowen standing side by side, looking like they were talking and laughing. Moreover, they were both wearing the student union uniforms, making them look like they were wearing couple outfits.
This scene was really annoying.
And Lin Xiche even said that Ye Shaowen asked her to teach him how to pursue a girl.
Wasn’t this a hint?
It was such a low-level and unoriginal move.
But when Ye Shaowen later accused Lin Xiche in despair and threw out the remaining four cards—
Xu Fang touched his lips with a lowered gaze and smiled slightly.
At least she had a conscience.
Lin Xiche returned to her dormitory, took out her planner, and quickly recorded everything that had happened between her and Xu Fang today. The words she wrote were smooth and cheerful.
The pen paused at a certain point.
Thinking back to the warm yet unclear sensation in the corridor, Lin Xiche hesitated for a moment.
After a long while, she still wrote a sentence in her notebook—
When we were going downstairs, Xu Fang secretly kissed my hand.
It definitely, absolutely, and without a doubt was not my imagination.
Lin Xiche closed her notebook.
She thought that if she wanted to secretly win over someone she had a crush on, she must have blind self-confidence, and she must believe that the other person would definitely fall for her.
That was the motivation to continue her secret crush and pursuit.
It really wasn’t that she had no shame.
Really, it wasn’t.
This was her motivation.
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