Novel Bin Chapter 21: Looking for Friends
Thank you uhimgood for the kofi
Song Xuanhe hadn’t gotten very far when he noticed that someone had already walked over to Xiao Yuanmu. He couldn’t help but pause before quickening his steps.
A sudden scream echoed through the air followed by a woman’s shriek, attracting everyone’s gaze. Mixed together with the fierce music, the scream sounded even more terrible.
Song Xuanhe’s eyes were on Xiao Yuanmu the whole time. He naturally had seen everything that had happened. The man who was now cradling his own hand must have said something terrible to Xiao Yuanmu just now. Seeing that Xiao Yuanmu wasn’t paying him any attention, he must have reached out. Xiao Yuanmu had probably foreseen that, dodged to the side, and then broke the other’s wrist. That’s likely how the scream had come about.
Seeing that person shaking while holding his own hand, Song Xuanhe once again updated his understanding of Xiao Yuanmu’s might. Thinking back to those sturdy, smooth muscles he had seen before, it was obvious that Xiao Yuanmu was trained. Song Xuanhe just hadn’t expected for the other to be so skilled.
Fortunately, the original host only wagged his tongue. He had never gotten into a physical fight with Xiao Yuanmu. Otherwise, he’d have ended up being strung up and beat up by Xiao Yuanmu.
Passing by the howling man, Song Xuanhe asked, “What’s with him?”
As Song Xuanhe’s eyes were always on Xiao Yuanmu as he came over, Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes were likewise on the other. He naturally knew that Song Xuanhe had seen everything that had happened. When he heard the other ask despite knowing the answer, he also replied indifferently, “Broke his wrist.”
When he heard this, Song Xuanhe looked at the man on the floor in sympathy. He said to Qian Qin, who had rushed over, “Birthday boy, your guest seems to have bad judgement.”
Qian Qin was enjoying his birthday. He was unhappy with being disturbed. However, Song Xuanhe’s status was not to be trifled with. Furthermore, very few people didn’t know of his relationship with Xiao Yuanmu. If you attempted to pick up Xiao Yuanmu when you saw him alone in the corner, then all one could say when you ended up beaten was: you deserved it.
Therefore, he was disinterested upon hearing about this. He said to the employee behind him, “Do you guys have a doctor here? Take him there. If not, just send him to the hospital.”
His words were cold. Despite being the host, he held no concern for the other.
The people on the scene immediately perceived Qian Qin’s stance on this matter. They could also understand. Song Xuanhe was right. Xiao Yuanmu was his; anyone could see that. However, this person had still come over and tried to seduce Xiao Yuanmu. He didn’t have bad judgement; he was just stupid.
Zhou Nan leisurely made his way over. He watched as that person was supported away. His gaze swept over Song Jiani and co.’s faces, passed over the cold Xiao Yuanmu, and finally landed on Song Xuanhe. He said with a smile, “Alright, the birthday boy’s game has been ruined. Let’s drop it now. Since Mr. Xiao is also here, how about we have a little fun together? It’s just right that there’s a few of us who have no intention of participating in the game. We were planning on finding a private room to just hang out.”
Xue Mian pursed his lips. When Qian Qin thought about Xue Mian, whose attention had been solely on Xiao Yuanmu this whole time, he nodded. He pushed for it, “There’s a room upstairs. It’s very clean. You guys can hang out up there. The facility also has tennis, a swimming pool—everything’s there. There’s even poker and dice games available.”
However, before Song Xuanhe could respond, they heard Xue Mian say, “Since it’s like this, let’s go with them. I haven’t played poker in a long time.”
Qian Qin’s expression changed. He gave a hesitant look at Xue Mian. When he saw that the other was determined, he could only say, “Then, I’ll go with you guys. I’m bored of the game anyway. We’ll leave the rest of them down here to play.”
Song Xuanhe didn’t care. Zhou Nan was the one who had proposed this, so he naturally wouldn’t say much. Therefore, the matter was settled like that. The party of seven or so people then went upstairs.
Xue Mian really did as he had said. He sat down and pulled out a poker set, making Qian Qin’s terrible expression improve. However, it lasted not even a second, because Xue Mian went to look for Xiao Yuanmu as soon as he picked up the cards.
Xiao Yuanmu was indifferent. His expression was cold. It was clear that he didn’t have much interest.
Meanwhile, Song Xuanhe laughed, flashing his teeth with eyes curved into a smile. “You’re basically gifting him money, ah. I’ll fund Xiao Yuanmu. Later on, including the starting amount, we’ll split the winnings fifty-fifty. How about it?”
The latter part was obviously directed at Xiao Yuanmu.
Xiao Yuanmu faced Song Xuanhe’s smile, and his gloomy mood improved quite a bit. He asked him, “How are you so sure that I’ll win?”
“Love is blind,” Song Xuanhe didn’t respond, so Zhou Nan replied for him, “He likes you, so of course he thinks you’ll win. Don’t worry. He’s loaded. He can afford you losing.”
Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes met with Song Xuanhe’s. His own pair were clear with the light rippling through them. It even looked like there was a glimmer of a smile within. “Is that so?”
“Yes, yes, yes.” At a time like this, what else could he do but agree? It’s not like he could say that he knew from reading the novel that Xiao Yuanmu’s IQ was so freakishly high that he could count cards?
Although Song Xuanhe’s answer was perfunctory, Xiao Yuanmu couldn’t help but purse his lips, suppressing a smile from blooming.
When Zhou Nan saw this, he clicked his tongue inwardly. He felt like he had eaten a mouthful of dog food. He was also extremely surprised by the two’s pure hearts.
The both of them were not sitting particularly close together, and there was basically no physical contact made. Song Er
, that fellow, he couldn’t actually be in a non-sexual romantic relationship right now, ba. Otherwise, there was no way two people who have slept together would be so proper and well-behaved. Their kisses were probably nothing more than putting their lips together.As his friend, he should naturally help him out a bit.
With this in mind, Zhou Nan’s lips curved into a smile. An evil glint flashed through his eyes.
Song Xuanhe was focused on Xiao Yuanmu’s game. He didn’t notice Zhou Nan’s expression. He only waited happily for Xiao Yuanmu to win him some money.
After seven games, although Xiao Yuanmu had played three more people, he had never lost once. In total, he had won three hundred and sixty thousand yuan.
“Alipay, WeChat, or cheque. It doesn’t matter.” Song Xuanhe waved the bank notes in his hands, the proud look in his eyes making the people who had lost money gnash their teeth in anger.
In the beginning, those people had thought that Xiao Yuanmu was just lucky. Later on, they felt cheated. In the end, Xiao Yuanmu revealed all the cards in his hands, not getting a single one wrong. They had no choice but to admit that Xiao Yuanmu was just way smarter than they were. They couldn’t complain about losing.
“Alright.” They had wholeheartedly embraced the fact that they had lost to Xiao Yuanmu. However, Song Er’s ugly behaviour of acting pleased over having reaped benefits for something he hadn’t done made them resentful. But even if they were angry, they could only fight back with their words. “If you have the ability, play yourself. How is it considered a reflection of your abilities if you have your boyfriend win for you?”
“What do you mean? He’s mine, so of course that reflects my own ability. If you have the ability, go find someone to win your money back.”
Song Xuanhe crossed an ankle over his opposite knee, his fingers languidly hanging off the back of the leather sofa. He held his head up with his other hand. His indolent smile was frivolous and confident. He absolutely looked and acted every part of a profligate scion of a rich family. He made the others so furious that they were just itching to roll up their sleeves and teach him a lesson.
“Be nice.” Zhou Nan kicked Song Xuanhe’s leg that was propped up on the knee back down. “Let’s play something else.”
Song Xuanhe didn’t care. He nodded, evidently in a good mood.
The reason he was in such a good mood wasn’t because of the money. It was because his luck had always been pretty good. However, it was just that his luck in gambling was the worst. Not only poker, but he would also always lose in Mahjong and betting. Since he was young, he’d been mocked for his terrible luck in gambling for more than twenty years. With this turn of fortune, how could he not be happy?
Qian Qin had also played but lost. He hadn’t gotten to steal the limelight for Xue Mian to see like he had planned. So, when he heard this suggestion, he became the most lively. “Here, here, here, didn’t you say to play something else? How about tennis? Let’s have a tournament, how about it?”
Zhou Nan rolled his eyes. “Who would play tennis at night? Are you not planning to sleep later? I remember seeing that you had Werewolf here. How about we play that? If you lose, you have to do a dare.”
Qian Qin’s brows furrowed, and then, his eyes gleamed, his knitted brows once again unfurrowing. He even gave Zhou Nan a look, expressing what he wanted to say without words.
Zhou Nan subdued the urge to roll his eyes. He looked away, making clear that he had understood.
After this secret partnership was established, Qian Qin became eager to play. Right away, he started the first game of Werewolf.
In the first game, the werewolf cards were drawn by Song Xuanhe and Xiao Yuanmu. Song Xuanhe was the best at pretending to be innocent. Meanwhile, Xiao Yuanmu was always expressionless, and no one could read him. Song Xuanhe was in charge of sowing dissension while Xiao Yuanmu misled them. The two of them worked in tacit agreement. In a short amount of time, all the civilians were killed, and they won.
Song Xuanhe glanced at Qian Qin, who was winking at him so much that it looked like he was about to pull something. He averted his gaze, not wanting to see that ugly sight, and said, “I remember that the most famous scene in the movie Film Emperor Xue won his award for was the ‘ten years goodbye kiss.’ How about two people from your team re-enact it?”
Qian Qin’s eyes brightened up. He immediately threw a grateful look at Song Xuanhe.
Xue Mian frowned, however. On their side, he only knew Qian Qin. However, he didn’t want anything to develop between them, so he didn’t want to give the other the chance. Therefore, he looked around and casually chose someone, who looked pleasing. He changed his aura, said his lines, and then pressed towards the other’s face.
At that moment, Qian Qin naturally knew that he and Xue Mian would not work out. He had on a dark expression, but he didn’t do anything. He only watched as Xue Mian and the other person pressed together.
But, Xue Mian didn’t actually kiss the other person. He had only brought his face close to theirs before turning his face away. He then said, “Scene’s over. We used angles to make it look like we were kissing.”
The person he had chosen sighed in relief. They felt like the atmosphere was really awkward, promptly sitting back down, and said, “Come on, let’s continue.”
The next game began. Once again, Xiao Yuanmu and Song Xuanhe somehow chose the werewolf cards again.
Song Xuanhe looked at Xiao Yuanmu and knew that this game wouldn’t be very fun. He couldn’t help but feel disinterested. He was careless when speaking. However, this behaviour of his actually made people unsure. For some time, no one voted to kill him.
However, the distracted Song Xuanhe did not realize that Zhou Nan, who had drawn a civilian card, had been hinting to Xiao Yuanmu with his eyes and making gestures. Xiao Yuanmu felt the vein in his forehead throb, and he averted his eyes coldly.
When Song Xuanhe thought that they were likely going to win again, Xiao Yuanmu was actually voted off. Song Xuanhe looked in Zhou Nan’s direction. How come the other hadn’t been this smart in the last game? Moreover, Xiao Yuanmu spoke rarely and was cautious. There had been no mistakes just now. How had he been caught by Zhou Nan?
Did Zhou Nan guess blindly? Was it that he would rather make a mistaken kill than let him off?
Before Song Xuanhe could figure it out, he was also voted off. The one who had nominated him had once again been Zhou Nan.
The narrator announced, “The game has ended. The civilians have won.”
Song Xuanhe appraised Zhou Nan. However, Zhou Nan was as steady as a mountain. He didn’t pay Song Xuanhe’s gaze any attention. Instead, he had his brows furrowed as if he had been in deep thought for a long time. Then, he suddenly laughed, an evil glint in his eyes. Song Xuanhe suddenly got a bad feeling.
“Since the two of you are together, there’s little options available. How about the two of you kiss? A long french kiss. At least three minutes. What do you think, fellas?”
The author has something to say:
Song Xuanhe: I’m smiling on the outside but yelling son of a b*tch on the inside.
Eve: Get ready for a hot kiss scene. *fans self*
Kara: *pushes Xuanhe and Mumu together* Now….KISS!!!