Chapter 2

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Li Yuhuan’s lips curled up into a polite smile. She left the room with Lei Hanping as Li Qiao watched them with envy and great reluctance. Just as they walked out of the door, Lei Hanping took the initiative to say, “Miss Li, you don’t have to accompany me. I can look around by myself.”

Li Yuhuan raised her eyebrows. Because of his cold attitude, she wasn’t expecting this man to be so understanding. Her smile became a little more genuine, “It’s okay. Even if I don’t accompany you, my father will force me to go with another guest, which will be more of a hassle,” She said, waving off his thoughtful offer.

Her response reminded Lei Hanping of something Li Chen had previously told him. Li Chen had mentioned that recently many wealthy second-generation heirs had visited their house to make marriage proposals, claiming that they had come for Li Yuhuan… Even during the birthday banquet, Lei Hanping had noticed that many young and talented men had tried to approach the young woman, but she had rejected them all.

The two of them walked to the backyard in silence. Lei Hanping took out a cigarette box and lighter from his coat pocket. Before lighting it up, he asked, gentlemanly, “Can I?”

Li Yuhuan waved her hand, “Whatever, I’m not that delicate,”

Lei Hanping chuckled, his thin lips curving up into a small smile. His cold and serious expression suddenly became warm, making him look even more handsome. Li Yuhuan clicked her tongue silently, ‘This man… Is really a sight for sore eyes,’

“I don’t think I’m as boring as you think,” Lei Hanping exhaled a mouthful of smoke and looked at her through the smoke, “Would you like to learn more?”

…

That night, Lei Hanping stayed over at the Li household. Li Chen suggested that they should play Fight The Landlord1, and since they didn’t have enough players, they asked Li Yuhuan, who didn’t know how to play, to join them. A distant relative and another acquaintance decided to join, and Li Qiao was there as well. The five of them played together. Li Qiao sat right next to Lei Hanping, and since Li Yuhuan didn’t like Li Qiao’s haughty personality, she sat as far away from them as possible.

This led Li Guowei and Liu Xi to believe that Li Yuhuan was avoiding Lei Hanping when they saw the scene.

They had intended to pair Li Yuhuan and Lei Hanping together, but when they saw them, Liu Xi could only sigh, “Yuhuan doesn’t seem to like Hanping. Let’s not force those two to be together. Yuhuan is a stubborn person. If her temper gets worse, it will be problematic if she decided to take off and doesn’t come back,”

Li Guowei nodded in agreement. Although he was eager to get Li Yuhuan married, he didn’t want her to settle down with someone she didn’t like.

After a while, the elders moved to the tea room to talk while the young folks continued to play cards in the chess room. Li Yuhuan had suffered five straight losses due to her lack of card playing experience. Li Chen had been laughing at her and calling her a pig mate1, which only added fuel to her growing frustrations. She pursed her lips and stared at the cards in her hand. Li Yuhuan vowed to win a few rounds to make her brother eat his own words!

Lei Hanping had moved from his previous spot to sit on the sofa. He had a couple of his shirt buttons open, and his sleeves rolled up to his forearms. His slender fingers were holding a cigarette as he leaned lazily onto the cushions. He looked completely different from the serious expression he wore throughout the day, more relaxed. Throughout the entire game, his eyes would unintentionally drift to Li Yuhuan from time to time.

It wasn’t easy for Li Yuhuan to figure out the game’s rules, and therefore she couldn’t stop herself from losing again. Her relative, Li, raised two sixes, and Li Yuhuan was ready to play her two aces when suddenly a broad palm with a faint cigarette scent pressed down against her hand, “Use this.”

Lei Hanping was sitting behind Li Yuhuan on the sofa. He held her hand and pulled out two cards from her side.

“Thank you, Fourth Brother,” Li Yuhuan uncomfortably pulled her hand away from him, though she could still feel the warmth of his palm on the back of her hand.

“Damn it!” Li Chen exclaimed in surprise, “I forgot that Fourth Brother was the gambling god in the army. Hurry up and teach this stupid girl how to play! At this rate, she will lose all her dowry money if she keeps on losing!”

Li Yuhuan plucked a grape and stuffed it into Li Chen’s mouth, “Shut up you!”

Lei Hanping sat down behind Li Yuhuan on the floor. His face was leaning over her shoulder as he pointed at the cards in her hands. When he said “Continue,” only then did Li Yuhuan snap out of her daze.

Just as she was about to throw one of the smallest cards from her hand, Lei Hanping stopped her. She watched as he put the small cards together and threw them out in pairs. As soon as he threw them out, her opponents were stunned. Then, he threw out another pair… Li Chen and the others hadn’t even played a single card, and before anybody realized it, Li Yuhuan had won!

“Damn, Fourth Brother is so clever! Sister, you should learn from him!” Li Chen said as Li Yuhuan shuffled the cards.

With Lei Hanping’s help, Li Yuhuan had not only won back the money she had lost, but she also won quite a lot more after that. She took the money and thanked Lei Hanping, “Thank you, Fourth Brother. I’ll treat you to a meal sometime,” She said casually, not expecting Lei Hanping to take her word seriously.

…

The following day, when she was about to leave for the blind date her father had arranged, Lei Hanping came out of the guest room and stopped her, “Didn’t you say you’re treating me to a meal today?”