Chapter 97: Pinch her waist Chapter 97: Pinch her waist Meng Fan’s expression twitched, as he kept winking at Wen Zhi and made a tilting head gesture.

Realizing something, Wen Zhi slowly turned her head and saw the person sitting down beside her wasn’t Liang Yin, but—

“Mr. Shang?”

The cards in Wen Zhi’s hands fell back down, clinking crisply as they collided.

Shang Hexing had drunk a bit of alcohol tonight; there was a faint smell of liquor about him, but his face looked quite normal. The only exception was his deep pupils, black and shining, inexplicably bewitching.

“Do you mind?” he asked softly.

Perhaps because of the alcohol, his voice sounded even more magnetic than usual.

Wen Zhi thought to herself, since he had already sat down, even if she did mind, could she possibly ask him to leave right there and then?

Of course not.

Wen Zhi shook her head, but didn’t give him a welcoming look: “I don’t mind. You’re welcome to sit.”

Shang Hexing quietly watched her, her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowing, her gaze averting, not looking like she didn’t mind at all. It was only because of the occasion that she didn’t say anything.

“Uncle, would you like to play a round?” Meng Fan got up considerately to give Shang Hexing room.

In reality, she knew he certainly wouldn’t join the game, but as the younger generation, she still had to make the gesture.

Not only did Meng Fan stand up, the gentleman opposite also symbolically rose to offer his seat: “Mr. Shang, please take my seat.”

As expected, Shang Hexing politely declined: “I’ve been drinking, so I’ll just watch from the side.”

The gentleman opposite sat back down.

Meng Fan also immediately sat back, grinning with a mouthful of white teeth, waving her hand to urge: “Draw the cards, draw the cards, Zhizhi, it’s your turn to draw.”

Wen Zhi, feeling like a thorn was in her back, drew her cards unnaturally. Fortunately, Shang Hexing remained silent from beginning to end, merely watching quietly.

A few hands passed and Meng Fan made several kongs, her luck phenomenal. Wen Zhi, in a hazy state, discarded a tile that Meng Fan used to declare “Hu!” Meng Fan exclaimed triumphantly.

Wen Zhi was stunned for a moment, then silently pushed her chips forward.

Meng Fan gathered the chips, not forgetting to comfort Wen Zhi: “Zhizhi, it’s always like this in the first round. Maybe you’ll win the next one.”

Luck in cards is unpredictable, and Wen Zhi’s luck was always not that good.

Unsurprisingly, she lost the second hand as well, again setting up the gentleman opposite for a win. He couldn’t close his mouth for his wide smile: “Hu, hu, hu!”

However, his joy lasted barely three seconds before he noticed the facial expression of the person behind Wen Zhi. His broad smile immediately retracted into a discreet one: “Thank you for your kindness, heh heh.”

Wen Zhi returned a smile and continued to arrange her tiles.

At this time, Wen Zhi sensed Shang Hexing moving closer, and her spine suddenly stiffened.

Just as she was about to turn around, a voice, rich with magnetism, fell by her ear: “Don’t look at me, look at your cards.”

Wen Zhi didn’t turn around again, but her body remained very rigid, and her complexion quite unnatural.

Meng Fan, on the side, muttered a tsk under her breath and cleared her throat before asking: “Uncle, are you offering some guidance to Zhizhi?”

Shang Hexing remarked casually: “Look at the cards.”

Wen Zhi’s breathing lightened a bit, without a word.

Meng Fan let out a sound: “Woah!”

Rong Huaishen lifted his eyes to glance at her, while Meng Fan also looked at Rong Huaishen. As their eyes met, Meng Fan spoke first: “What are you looking at me for? You think I can count on you?”

Rong Huaishen averted his gaze: “It’s better to count on oneself than on anyone else.”

“But our Zhizhi has Uncle to back her up here,” Meng Fan hinted wildly at Rong Huaishen.

But Rong Huaishen didn’t take the bait: “It’s all about personal skill; I can’t back you up.”

The gentleman opposite, hearing this, burst out laughing and joined in: “Couples should rely on their own abilities when they’re outside. President Rong, I admire you for that.”

Speaking of which, that man gave Rong Huaishen a thumbs-up.

Rong Huaishen didn’t even spare him a glance.

Meng Fan huffed a sound, saying it was agreed to play the loving couple outside, and now Rong Huaishen was actually undermining her. Meng Fan noted this silently in her heart, swearing that next time on his turf, she would definitely not give him any face.

After holding a grudge, she felt much better, and Meng Fan nonchalantly curled her lips: “As if I cared, just draw the cards.”

Wen Zhi drew a tile, and as she was about to see it clearly, Shang Hexing’s calm voice came from beside her ear: “Play it.”

Wen Zhi suddenly had a rebellious thought; she didn’t really want to listen to him and was ready to play a different tile.

Shang Hexing sensed her intention and naturally let his hand fall, pinching her waist.

The pressure wasn’t strong, Wen Zhi didn’t feel pain, but ticklish instead. She shrank back, and the tile in her hand almost dropped.

“…”

The other three people at the card table looked at her. Wen Zhi’s cheeks flushed, she forced a smile, and obediently played the tile she just drew.

No matter which tile was played, aside from miraculous luck, another key was memorizing the tiles.

If the tiles weren’t memorized, the game would be a mess, and part of the reason Wen Zhi had bad luck was because she didn’t remember the tiles well.

Now, with Shang Hexing by her side, she had to concentrate and memorize the tiles, and when she was diligent, she knew which tile to play and which pair to form even without Shang Hexing’s reminders.

This round, everyone played seriously, and at the end, when the tiles were almost gone, no one had yet won.

Meng Fan was on edge as she drew the last tile: “I just can’t believe it!”

Everyone waited to see the last tile in Meng Fan’s hand, whether it would be a self-drawn win, a win by discard, or the rare stalemate.

A stalemate means that no one wins throughout the entire game.

Wen Zhi watched Meng Fan’s hand, while Shang Hexing’s voice reminded her at her ear: “Get ready to win.”

Wen Zhi looked at him in surprise.

A faint smile crept at the corners of Shang Hexing’s eyes: “Do you trust me?”

As Wen Zhi was hesitating, Meng Fan played the tile she drew. Shang Hexing suddenly leaned forward before Wen Zhi could even react; he pushed aside the tiles in front of her: “Win.”

Meng Fan’s face cracked: “…”

The gentleman opposite drew a breath in surprise: “Winning on the last tile, that’s so suspenseful.”

Only Rong Huaishen looked very nonchalant.

Meng Fan leaned in for a closer look at the tiles laid before Wen Zhi: “Daring to exchange and call for the last few tiles, so stable and thrilling!”

Shang Hexing responded for Wen Zhi: “But we won, didn’t we?”

Meng Fan appraised him anew: “Uncle, I didn’t expect you to be such an expert.”

Shang Hexing glanced at Wen Zhi: “It’s her skill, not mine. I was just looking at the tiles behind her.”

Meng Fan let out a meaningful “Oh.”

Wen Zhi stared at the tiles in front of her, lost in thought. She recalled the heart-stopping moment when Shang Hexing made her forcefully change her tile. The tile she was going to win with was at another player’s hand, and she had no chance to win. A stalemate was the most likely outcome for everyone, but Shang Hexing had her switch tactics, and miraculously, they won with the very last tile.

She turned her head to look at Shang Hexing, who was leaning back with an ease that brought a comforting sense of relaxation.

It inexplicably made her feel very at ease.

“Mr. Shang, are you sober now?” she stared at him, asking the question as if possessed by a ghost.

Shang Hexing lifted his eyelids to look at her: “Do I seem drunk to you?”

Wen Zhi said: “No.”

Shang Hexing: “Then I’m not drunk.”

The alcohol scent on him was very faint; he hadn’t been drunk in the first place, let alone with that little amount of alcohol at the dinner table.