“One 3.”
“One 10.”
“Beat that — a single ace!”
Of the five of them, neither Chen Qingqing nor Shen Xinyi knew how to play cards — not even something as basic as Fight the Landlord — so the two of them ended up sitting off to the side just watching.
This round, Zhang Ruowei was the landlord, and her hand was stacked — only two singles left and a pair of jokers to back her up — so she wrapped it up fast.
She threw down her last card, practically vibrating with excitement. “I won! I won!”
She immediately started tearing tissue paper into thin strips, declaring loudly that Xu Ye and Jiang Yu owed her a forfeit — a bet’s a bet — and Xu Ye leaned right in and let her stick the strips on his face without complaint.
Once she’d plastered Xu Ye and Jiang Yu, Zhang Ruowei noticed Chen Qingqing and Shen Xinyi just sitting there blankly watching and said, “You two can’t just spectate the whole time. You’re getting in on this too.”
“I want to,” Shen Xinyi said, “but we don’t even know how to play.”
“Then bet on someone. Whoever you pick, you’re on their team — if they lose, you get a sticky-note forfeit too.”
Shen Xinyi made her choice instantly. “I’ll go with you.”
She figured if Zhang Ruowei was already running this hot on her first hand, her luck for the night had to be solid.
“Qingqing, what about you?”
Chen Qingqing was about to answer—
—when Xu Ye peeled the strip off his own forehead and stuck it straight onto hers. “She’s obviously on my team. Why even ask?”
“Fair enough. Get her stuck on too, then.”
The three of them picked up their cards for the next round. Since teams were already set, Shen Xinyi — who’d been sitting next to Chen Qingqing — got up and moved over beside Zhang Ruowei, leaving Chen Qingqing right where she was, next to Xu Ye.
It was while watching him play that she noticed, for the first time, just how nice his hands actually were — clearly defined knuckles, long fingers, like a piece of jade carved with real care.
“Bomb! Bet you can’t beat that, ha — a single 6, I win!”
The second the hand ended, Xu Ye turned to her immediately. “So? Pretty impressive, right?”
It was only then Chen Qingqing realized she’d spent the entire round staring at his hands. She blurted out a quick “Impressive,” then ducked her head and took a flustered sip of her brown sugar ginger tea.
“Sticky notes, sticky notes, everyone gets one.”
The three of them started another round, and over the next half hour or so, Chen Qingqing started to actually get the hang of the rules — but by then, all five faces were thoroughly plastered in tissue strips.
Just before nine, Xu Ye’s phone went off. He checked it and found a message from Qin Zhiwei.
Qin Zhiwei: “Holy shit, Xu Ye! You actually called it!”
Qin Zhiwei: “This Zhang Bin guy really does have a mistress on the side. They even went shopping together this afternoon.”
Qin Zhiwei: [Photo x5, sneakily taken]
Xu Ye: “Nice work.”
Qin Zhiwei: “I got soaked head to toe tailing him today. I’m freezing my ass off right now, feel like I’m about to come down with something.”
Xu Ye: “Take a hot shower, get to bed early.”
Qin Zhiwei: “I’ll come find you at your school tomorrow?”
Xu Ye: “I haven’t even gone back to school yet.”
Qin Zhiwei: “What are you up to right now anyway?”
Xu Ye: “Fight the Landlord.”
Qin Zhiwei: “Fight the Landlord?”
Xu Ye set his phone down and turned to the others. “Come on, let’s get a photo of this for posterity.”
Looking around at each other’s faces, all thoroughly covered in tissue strips, the group happily agreed it was worth capturing.
Xu Ye pulled Chen Qingqing into the middle, with Zhang Ruowei, Jiang Yu, and Shen Xinyi all crowding in around them, each striking a pose for the camera.
Chen Qingqing hadn’t really wanted to be in the photo at first, but with all three roommates so eagerly on board — and figuring no one could really make out her face under all the tissue strips anyway — she went along with it, half-reluctantly. Xu Ye, predictably, couldn’t help himself, slinging an arm over her shoulder for the shot — though at least he had the decency not to push his luck further, pulling his hand back the moment the photo was taken.
“Let me see, let me see.”
“Ha, this one’s hilarious.”
“Xu Ye, send it to the group chat.”
“On it.”
He posted the photo to the group, and everyone immediately zoomed in to look it over. Xu Ye, on a whim, also forwarded it to Qin Zhiwei.
Xu Ye: [Photo]
Qin Zhiwei: “Wait, you’re playing cards with FOUR girls in a hotel room?”
Xu Ye: “Yep.”
Qin Zhiwei: “When are you introducing me to them?”
Qin Zhiwei: “I like all four of them, no preference.”
Xu Ye: “We’ll see.”
Qin Zhiwei: “Bro!”
Qin Zhiwei: “Dad?”
Qin Zhiwei: “Daddy!”
…
“It’s getting late, we should head back to the dorm.”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Zhang Ruowei, Jiang Yu, and Shen Xinyi grabbed their bags and started putting their shoes on at the door, ready to leave — and noticed Chen Qingqing doing the same.
Zhang Ruowei asked, deliberately, “Qingqing, what are you doing?”
Chen Qingqing blinked. “We’re heading back to the dorm, right?”
“You’re coming too?”
“I… yeah, of course.”
Zhang Ruowei grinned. “Wouldn’t that mean leaving Xu Ye here all alone tonight?”
Xu Ye waved a hand, putting on his best wounded expression. “It’s fine, I’m used to it by now. You ladies come back and play again tomorrow.”
Chen Qingqing’s face went red again, but she had no idea how to argue her way out of it, so she just crouched down and pretended to be very busy tying her shoelaces.
While crouched down there, though, she noticed Xu Ye’s shoes were still soaked through from the rain. She slid her own foot over and lined it up next to his shoe, just to compare the size, then quickly stood back up and left with the others.
Xu Ye had been about to walk them out, but the second Chen Qingqing saw him moving to follow, she shut the hotel room door right in his face.
…
He spent the night at the hotel.
Saturday morning, the moment he woke up, Xu Ye texted Chen Qingqing: “You up?”
She didn’t reply for a long time.
Xu Ye figured she was getting him back for sleeping in the day before, so — taking a page out of her own playbook — he started firing off message after message:
Xu Ye: “Why aren’t you answering me?”
Xu Ye: “It’s almost nine, I’m so bored by myself.”
Xu Ye: “Come on, answer me.”
Xu Ye: “I miss you.”
Xu Ye: “Qingqing~”
She’d seen every single one of those messages. She just wasn’t responding on purpose, because she was actually busy at the moment.
But once his texts started getting noticeably more direct, she finally replied: “I’m busy. Hush.”
Xu Ye: “Okay.”
Chen Qingqing made her way to the second floor of a shopping mall, glanced around outside for a moment, then walked straight into the Nike store.
A sales associate hurried over, all smiles. “Hi there! Looking for shoes today?”
Chen Qingqing nodded.
“Take a look and see what catches your eye!”
She stepped up to the display, scanned it briefly, then pointed at a pair of all-white Air Force 1s. “I’ll take these.”
“The Air Force 1’s super popular with college girls right now — we might not have your size in stock, though. What do you wear, a 36, 37, or 38?”
Chen Qingqing crouched down, holding her thumb and index finger apart in front of her own shoe to estimate a length, and said, “I want one this big.”
(End of Chapter 106)