Chapter 9 A Bit Interesting

After all that had happened, Jiang Wanzhou spent four or five minutes tidying up his hair in the restroom before he leisurely returned.

As soon as he sat down, Shen Minglang said, "Little President Jiang, are you betting on the final? My cousin has already placed his bets with me."

As his real cousin, Jiang Wanzhou gave him an indifferent glance, then curiously asked, "Brother Zhu, what did you bet on?"

"I went for Germany vs. Argentina 0:0," Cheng Zhu frankly admitted and also explained what 0:0 meant.

He knew Jiang Wanzhou would immediately ask how much money he had placed on the bet, so he preempted by saying, "If you trust your Brother Zhu, just follow my lead and bet."

"I trust a fart from you, you don't know jack about football," Jiang Wanzhou said with annoyance.

Shen Minglang asked, "Little President Jiang, are you betting or not?"

"Sure, I'll bet on Germany vs. Argentina 0:0, put down two thousand," Jiang Wanzhou said.

He didn't understand any of it, odds and whatnot, he didn't know, nor did he care.

He was just following suit to add to the excitement.

"Hey, I thought you didn't trust me?" Cheng Zhu said with a laugh.

"I'm not trusting you, it's just that I have this hunch!" Jiang Wanzhou said, "Consider yourself lucky that I'm also betting. I'm giving you good luck, you can't lose."

Cheng Zhu just shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

He knew Jiang Wanzhou's character, knowing he would definitely bet on the same thing as himself.

The point was to be in it together at the end, to curse in unison if they lost, or to celebrate together if they won.

Cheng Zhu, of course, didn't point out that Jiang Wanzhou could actually afford to bet more.

"Small bets make for good fun, big ones hurt the body, gamblers die miserable deaths."

"It's fine to play around, but he shouldn't savor too much of victory, that would be a bad precedent," Cheng Zhu thought to himself.

He personally believed that gamblers don't end well.

"But this isn't gambling, not knowing whether to win or lose, that's gambling. This is pure hacking."

"Hacking is for the chosen ones, dumbasses shouldn't imitate."

After Shen Minglang placed Jiang Wanzhou's bet, he immediately turned to his sister with a smile, "Qingning, I'll bet a little for you too. If you win, it's yours; if you lose, it's on me."

"No need," Shen Qingning flatly refused.

"It's fine. Otherwise, it's boring for you here. I'm not going to bet much, just the same as Little President Jiang," Shen Minglang insisted on pampering his sister, adding to the excitement of a 0:0 bet.

As mentioned before, Shen Minglang was frank yet liked to show off. Having such a pretty sister with a good temperament made him proud in his circles, so he was quite fond of Shen Qingning and felt that nobody was worthy of being his brother-in-law.

As a man, he understood men all too well.

You chumps want to chase my sister? Dream on.

Seeing how adamant he was, Shen Qingning didn't say much more.

"Whatever. Just get me home before twelve. If you want to watch the game, you can come back by yourself," she told Shen Minglang.

The final would start at 3 a.m., and she couldn't stay up that late. It wasn't good for her skin.

"Alrighty, see? I haven't touched a drop of alcohol just for you," Shen Minglang replied with a grin.

The chatter among them caused Jiang Wanzhou to momentarily forget to ask Cheng Zhu how much money he had placed on the bet.

On the other hand, Li Xinyue and Chen Rongrong looked conflicted: "I kind of want to watch the final here, but it's not great to go home so late."

She didn't understand football at all, but after all, she had put down fifty bucks, and the bar atmosphere felt pretty good, making her want to ride the wave.

She had even posted about her bet on Weibo, specifically blocking all her family members. Quite a few guys had left comments underneath, and she liked the feeling of having something in common with them.

"Then later, make a call and say you're staying at my place tonight," Li Xinyue offered.

"Yeah, that's great!"

Of course, Li Xinyue would also lie to her parents later, claiming she was staying at Chen Rongrong's.

Li Rui, listening on the side, was thrilled by the implication that he was the first guy to stay out until dawn with Li Xinyue!

He even began to feel a bit sweet.

...

...

Around twelve, Shen Qingning got up, indicating to Shen Minglang to take her home first.

"Little President Jiang, Brother, I'll be back in a jiff!" Shen Minglang chuckled.

After Shen Qingning got up, she had a few words with Shen Minglang and then headed straight for the restroom.

Shen Minglang first went to the bar to check the evening's takings at Jiuyin.

From their side, Li Xinyue kept an eye on the scene while Chen Rongrong couldn't help saying, "Why did he go inside? He's still talking with a waitress."

"Could he be the owner here?" Chen Rongrong ventured.

After saying that, she couldn't help glancing at Li Rui.

After all, Li Rui had mentioned on the way that he was well-acquainted with the owner of Jiuyin.

Li Rui's face went pale, but he blurted out in a panic, "He might be one of the shareholders, but not the owner I know."

Chen Rongrong and Li Xinyue exchanged glances, then started whispering again, speculating why Cheng Zhu was sitting at the same table as a shareholder of Jiuyin.

But what Chen Rongrong was most curious about was the woman sitting opposite Cheng Zhu. Her looks and temperament were truly unmatched—she'd definitely be a goddess in school—and she seemed every inch the wealthy daughter.

But Chen Rongrong tactfully avoided discussing this with Li Xinyue.

"Wow, Brother Zhu is standing up now. Oh, he's going to the restroom," Chen Rongrong reported like a field journalist.

Li Xinyue suddenly stood up and said, "I'm going to talk to him!"

With a stern face, she briskly walked toward the restroom.

Li Rui watched the scene unfold, mouth agape, wanting to say something but unable to get the words out. His chest felt instantly blocked.

Outside the restroom, Cheng Zhu was stopped by Li Xinyue.

"Cheng Zhu! What are you doing at the bar!" Li Xinyue confrontationally stated from the get-go.

Cheng Zhu glanced at her and, ignoring her, continued walking toward the men's.

The restrooms were separated by a curtain from the outside, emboldening Li Xinyue's actions and words.

She directly grabbed Cheng Zhu's arm, a look of anger on her face demanding, "What's with that attitude!"

Cheng Zhu looked at her, speechless, thinking this little fairy had serious issues.

"In any case, people are different," he thought to himself.

In his past life, he had seen girls at a similar age who were "sensible" enough to cling to his neck, then whisper in his ear, "It's fine even if it's inside, I'll take care of it myself."

But others could be such drama queens, always feeling like they were never the problem.

This argument began because Li Xinyue found a "Boyfriend Quiz" on Weibo and demanded Cheng Zhu answer it, then she would grade him, threatening him with a "see what happens if you fail!"

Cheng Zhu glanced at the explosive questions and immediately lost any interest in answering.

These were the sorts of bizarre queries like, "If my mom and I fell into the water together, who would you save first?"

Cheng Zhu didn't want to take the quiz, and as they went back and forth, Li Xinyue flipped out.

Later, she started talking about breaking up again, but this time Cheng Zhu didn't pander to her.

Now, Cheng Zhu stood there staring at Li Xinyue until she let go of her grip on his clothes.

For some reason, under his gaze, Li Xinyue felt a bit flustered. She thought Cheng Zhu's eyes seemed a little different than before but couldn't pinpoint how.

"When in a relationship, being a bit whimsical is one thing, but now that we've broken up, let's part on good terms, okay?" he said lightly.

"Just because of that?" Li Xinyue's temper flared again, glaring.

Of course, it wasn't just because of that, but they hadn't even been through a long-distance relationship yet—future events were still unfolding.

Just then, Shen Qingning walked out of the ladies' and glanced casually at them without saying anything, going straight to the sink to wash her hands, ignoring both of them.

Li Xinyue suddenly felt uncomfortable again and stopped talking.

Shen Qingning's aura was undeniably intimidating, too aloof.

But Cheng Zhu didn't care at all; for him, it made no difference whether there were people around or not. He shrugged and smiled, "Yes, because of that. Didn't I tell you that before?"

"If you never remember after a few times, then let's forget it. It makes you unhappy and makes me look petty." After saying that, he walked into the men's without another glance at Li Xinyue.

After washing her hands, Shen Qingning pulled out a paper towel and, as if no one else was there, carefully dried the water off her delicate fingers.

...

(ps: Seeking monthly and recommendation tickets for my new book~)