CH 8

In a blink of an eye, it was Qiao Yuan’s birthday.

Tang Zhou dressed casually and came to the appointed private room of the club. As soon as he was about to push the door in, he saw that the private room door was opened from the inside. Lu Ye pulled Qiao Yuan’s arm out. His handsome face was full of displeasure.

Qiao Yuan, whose arm was held by him, had short chestnut hair, softly resting on his forehead and sideburns, making his face paler and fairer, and his apricot eyes drooped innocently, obviously at a loss for Lu Ye’s sudden irritability.

Seeing Tang Zhou, Qiao Yuan was pleasantly surprised. “Zhou ge! Take care of Ye ge. He somehow got angry.”

Being looked at by these clear cat pupils, no one can harden their hearts.

Tang Zhou: “What’s going on?”

Lu Ye closed the door of the private room, took the two of them a little further, frowned and said, “Why did you invite the surname Fu? Do you know him well?!”

Tang Zhou was aware of it.

Qiao Yuan obviously didn’t understand Lu Ye’s worry. He said aggrieved, “I do know him quite well in a club. Moreover, he is also the representative of our freshmen. He is very outstanding.”

Qiao Yuan and Fu Shen are both freshman students, and they met in a travel club.

Fu Shen is an earnest person and has helped Qiao Yuan several times. Qiao Yuan has a very good impression of him. It didn’t take long for them to become friends with whom they can communicate. It was normal to invite him for his birthday.

He didn’t understand why Lu Ye always had so many prejudices against Fu Shen.

What else did Lu Ye want to say? Tang Zhou interrupted him, “Today is Xiao Yuan’s birthday. His happiness is the most important.”

Lu Ye knew Fu Shen’s identity, and there was nothing wrong with worrying that Qiao Yuan would be harmed. However, Tang Zhou, who foresaw the future, knew very well that Fu Shen had never regarded Qiao Yuan as an enemy, and what he wanted to do had always been aimed at only one person.

As for whether Qiao Yuan was implicated, this was not within the scope of Fu Shen’s consideration.

In the business world, the winner takes all, and it’s not clear who was right or who was wrong. Fu Shen is the winner, he has an absolute influence on the outcome.

Tang Zhou had no right to interfere in other people’s affairs, but he didn’t want to see Lu Ye and Qiao Yuan suffer once more, so he would mention something to Lu Ye in the previous phone call.

Now, it doesn’t seem to have any effect.

Lu Ye took Qiao Yuan very seriously, so when he heard this, he had to put aside his prejudice, rub Qiao Yuan’s soft hair, and said awkwardly, “Okay, I won’t talk about it.”

“Uh-huh,” Qiao Yuan smiled, like a simple and harmless little white rabbit, “Fu Shen is very nice, you’ll understand once you get acquainted with him.”

Lu Ye thought: With this temperament, one day he’ll be sold and helped count the money1, alas. 

When he returned to the private room, there were many people inside, and Tang Zhou saw Fu Shen in the corner at a glance.

The young man was wearing a simple black coat and slightly loose jeans. His legs were long and straight. He was sitting on a high stool. He seemed to feel Tang Zhou’s gaze. He raised his head and looked over. His amber eyes were deep and there was a smile.

Tang Zhou was actually a little surprised. Fu Shen in his dream did not attend Qiao Yuan’s birthday party.

Qiao Yuan invited most of his classmates, who were at the same level as him, only Tang Zhou and Lu Ye were seniors.

Everyone else looked excited when they saw Tang Zhou appear. This is the famous golden achiever Tang Shen. They usually can’t even meet him. Aren’t they glad to be able to get up close in contact?

In front of outsiders, Tang Zhou was basically unsmiling. But today is Qiao Yuan’s birthday, and the ambiance is very important. He looks quite gentle and looks approachable.

A xuedi boldly greeted him: “Hello, Tang Shen.”

Tang Zhou smiled lightly, “Call me Tang Zhou and Senior is alright. I dare not accept the honor to be called Tang Shen.”

He speaks in a different tone from ordinary people. He is slow and reasonable, with a sense of solemnity, but he speaks softly, not abrupt at all, and people are very comfortable to listen to.

Generally speaking, he is very educated, but not lofty at all.

The younger brothers and sisters couldn’t help but smile, and they were all quite relaxed.

Today Qiao Yuan is the protagonist, Tang Zhou didn’t say much, so he found a place to sit down at will.

When everyone arrived, Lu Ye put out a huge cake. The cake is carefully made, the high-quality cream looks very tempting, inlaid with chocolate and cherries, and it smells sweet.

With candles inserted, everyone gathered around the cake and sang a birthday song in unison.

Qiao Yuan had a happy smile on his face, with the sweetness coming from a honeypot.

Lu Ye looked at him with a smile, his eyes full of love.

Tang Zhou turned to Fu Shen, who was hiding outside the candlelight. It happened that Fu Shen also looked over. The two looked at each other for a second and then looked away.

When Qiao Yuan finished his wish and blew out the candle, Lu Ye volunteered to help him cut the cake.

It doesn’t matter if they eat or not, just find a sense of ceremony. As for smearing cakes on each other, no one present had the courage to do so.

Lu Ye was upset to see Fu Shen and didn’t give him a slice. Qiao Yuan was having fun with the others and didn’t notice it.

Tang Zhou didn’t like the sweet and greasy cake, so he handed the one in his hand to Fu Shen.

“Why?”

Tang Zhou looked askance, “I don’t like to eat.”

Fu Shen said calmly, “You can skip it.”

“It’s shameful to waste.” Tang Zhou raised his eyebrows, “You are my assistant, so you have to share my worries.”

Fu Shen: “…”

The sweetness of the cream is mixed with a light fruity flavor, which keeps lingering on the tip of his nose. As a person with a sweet tooth, Fu Shen pretended to be aggrieved and reluctantly accepted it.

Seeing him pretending, Tang Zhou said secretly: Fortunately, he worked as an assistant in his dream and knew that he liked sweets, otherwise he would be deceived by his expression.

The cake is sweet but not greasy, soft and creamy in the mouth. It should have been customized in a well-known cake shop in Jiangcheng. Fu Shen ate it slowly, turning a blind eye to Lu Ye’s unhappy glances from time to time.

He was looking at Tang Zhou.

Tang Zhou was holding a glass of juice with distinct phalanges, slender fingers as white as cream. The bluish green color of the juice in the transparent glass rippled. The crimson lips bit the straw, and his side face fell into the shadow, beautiful and mysterious.

As if a bystander, out of place with the laughter and fun around him, there was a bit of silence.

Perceiving that someone was looking at him, Tang Zhou tilted his head and met Fu Shen’s gaze, he was stunned for a second, then suddenly smiled.

He seldom smiles, and a smile that blooms completely like this is even rarer. This smile made his whole person brighten up. The end of his eyes rose slightly. The plump at the bottom of his eyes pooled. His lips were red and his teeth were white, looking incredible.

Fu Shen held the small bowl and looked at him half confused and half bewildered.

Tang Zhou smiled enough, bent his eyes and nodded at the corners of his mouth, motioning that Fu Shen had cream on his lips.

The latter was aware of it, seemingly calmly wiping it off with paper, but the slightly reddened ears showed the fluctuations of his heart.

After enjoying someone’s embarrassment, Tang Zhou was satisfied and took a sip of the sweet and sour juice.

Qiao Yuan himself has a playful temperament, and he was already high. Seeing Tang Zhou pouring himself a drink, he pulled him along and said excitedly, “Zhou ge, let’s play darts!”

With that being said, he also ran over to pull Fu Shen over, and Lu Ye frowned upon seeing this.

Everyone agreed, “Okay, okay, how to play?”

“You can get any person to PK2, and whoever loses will drink.”

“Drink well! If you lose, drink hahahaha.”

Everyone was gearing up and came to the target. Designated one person directly if they have a strong desire to perform and the two began the competition.

After a few rounds, all of them drank a lot of alcohol.

Lu Ye won a few games and suddenly provocatively looked at Fu Shen. “Fu xuedi, let’s have a competition.”

Everyone with a discerning eye can see that this is the rhythm of making trouble.

Fu Shen didn’t refuse, and said calmly, “Senior first.”

Lu Ye threw one, hit the bull’s eye, exited the field, and motioned to Fu Shen with his gaze.

The game does not follow the formal rules of darts, but rather is a simple and intuitive game that is decided by the number of rings.

Fu Shen twirled one, and threw it without much force. The dart was also nailed to the bull’s eye, but it was slightly off than Lu Ye’s.

Judging from the results, Fu Shen was indeed slightly inferior, but Tang Zhou clearly saw that he was not serious, or that he didn’t want to lose Lu Ye’s face on this occasion.

Fu Shen didn’t say a word of nonsense, and directly poured a glass of wine.

Lu Ye was not stupid, and he obviously saw that he didn’t try his best. Feeling offended, he frowned and said in displeasure, “Do it again.”

“Okay,” Fu Shen twirled one up again, “I’ll go first this time.”

With an easy throw, he hit the bull’s eye directly. His neat skill caused everyone to applaud and admire him.

Qiao Yuan’s eyes shone brightly, “Fu Shen, you are amazing!”

Lu Ye seemed to have drunk a bottle of old vinegar, probably because his heart was not calm. He did not perform well this time and the dart didn’t fall in the bull’s eye.

It’s fair for one person to lose once.

After drinking angrily, Lu Ye was about to fight Fu Shen again, but saw him looking at Tang Zhou, “Senior Tang, would you like to play too?”

Lu Ye: “…”

Tang Zhou is a game killer. He can’t play at all!

He wanted to help Tang Zhou block it, but the younger brothers and sisters cheered loudly, all wanting to see Tang Shen’s might and aggression.

Tang Zhou had no choice but to stand in front of the line and said deadpan, “I really don’t know how to play.”

A dart was handed to him. Fu Shen leaned close to his ear. His voice was low and inaudible: “It’s just a game, it doesn’t matter whether you win or lose.”

Tang Zhou glanced at him: You just want to see me make a fool of myself!

The corners of Fu Shen’s lips raised slightly, “Senior, please first.”

Tang Zhou isn’t a man who flinches, even if he loses, he will lose justly.

He stared intently, and studied the posture of the starting hand ten times, which was quite bluffing. Others held their breath in expectation.

Everyone thought that he was just being humble just now, how could Tang Shen not know darts?

The dart body whizzed past his eyes, “snapped”, and hit the wall with a dull thud.

Everyone: “…”

Lu Ye had some regrets. He shouldn’t have provoked Fu Shen. Now Fu Shen’s provocation against Tang Zhou must be revenge.

Tang Zhou didn’t care about this little failure, and said calmly, “I lost.”

As he said, he held up the wine glass, but was held back by Fu Shen.

“I haven’t thrown yet.”

Tang Zhou said, “I’ll drink mine, you throw yours.”

The young man’s eyes were calm and there was no embarrassment. Fu Shen silently released his hand.

He didn’t know that Tang Zhou could not play.

Tang Zhou frowned and drank a glass. He was almost choked by the smell of wine.

He really doesn’t like drinking, which is one of the reasons why he doesn’t like to attend those drinking parties.

Lu Ye came up at the right time, “Tang Zhou, you go to the sofa to rest for a while, and when the game is finished, I will ask someone to take you back.”

He knew Tang Zhou’s drinking capacity was bad and was afraid that he would faint if he drank too much.

Tang Zhou sat down on the sofa obediently, his head dizzy.

The game will not end because of his withdrawal alone. The noise penetrated into his mind like a magic sound. He frowned uncomfortably and squinted his eyes, staring at the strange world.

When everyone was high enough, Lu Ye had drunk a lot. He couldn’t take care of Tang Zhou at all, not to mention Qiao Yuan.

Fu Shen stared at Tang Zhou’s rosy cheeks, bent over and whispered to him, “Tang Zhou, get back.”

Tang Zhou was not drunk thoroughly. When he heard someone calling him, he opened his eyes in a daze, saw Fu Shen, and smiled, “Ah, Assistant Fu.”

“…”

He was quite obedient, staggering to his feet, and after taking a few steps, he rushed forward.

Fu Shen quickly supported him, and Tang Zhou collapsed on him motionless, his eyes half open and half closed.

The flying haze stained at the end of the eyes, watery and moist, like a clear mist, the tone of his voice was also incredibly soft.

“Don’t want to go, want to hug.”

Fu Shen’s pupils shook.

Fortunately, everyone in the private room was drunk, otherwise if such a Tang Shen was seen, Tang Shen’s divinity would definitely shatter.

He couldn’t reason with a drunk man, so he turned around helplessly, bent his knees and stooped, “Back.”

Tang Zhou blinked, as if it was okay.

So he slammed on his back, pressing Fu Shen almost to the ground.

After Tang Zhou put his arms around his neck, Fu Shen held him in both hands and walked out of the club slowly.

being taken advantage of thoroughly without even knowing it.

PK normally means player killer in online gaming forums and on tv shows in Chinese, and often refers to a round, or game, where contestants are playing off against each other.