Chapter 36 Strategy: Day Thirty-Six "Di Bao'er."...

There were only two microphones in the private room. Xiang Di pretended not to know how to sing and stayed close to Liang Qianqian, clapping for the others.

Having the person she likes here is both a pleasure and a torment for her.

Enjoy the sight of Bai Jiangxin lounging on the sofa, drinking fruit wine, his long fingers slender, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly as he swallowed the liquid, exuding a cool yet sexy aura.

The torment lies in not daring to make any rash moves. There are many songs on the playlist that I want to request, but even if I do, I dare not sing them, for fear of accidentally singing off-key or cracking my voice and losing face in front of him.

As soon as Ye Minjia finished singing a song and stepped off the stage, she noticed two people standing on either side of her, like two Buddhas, with what seemed like a Milky Way separating them. It was as if they weren't there to sing, but rather to meditate.

Before, he would have simply assumed that the two people were not familiar with each other, but now, Ye Minjia just felt that the two people were simply too pretentious.

You're the kind of people who kiss each other passionately in private, aren't you? You're not familiar with each other in public, so you're going to kiss like crazy in private, huh? Let's see how long you can keep up the act.

Ye Minjia sat back down next to Bai Jiangxin, took the fruit wine bottle from his hand, and said to everyone, "Drinking on the go is no fun, let's play some games?"

Wang Sichen was the first to respond: "I agree!"

"What do you want to play?" Liang Qianqian asked.

After glancing at two people, Ye Minjia suggested, "How about a game of Truth or Dare?"

Xiang Di's body suddenly tensed up.

There were people she liked present, and she was both looking forward to playing this game and very afraid of playing it.

To everyone's surprise, Liang Qianqian gave her a look of disdain: "This game is so outdated, it's been played to death."

"..."

Ye Minjia rolled her eyes at Liang Qianqian.

What a terrible teammate; I can't carry them at all.

He suggested a few more games, but they were all ones everyone had played at previous gatherings, so they weren't anything new. Ye Minjia had no choice but to ask Zhou Linxiao, "Brother, do you know any fun drinking games from abroad? Can you recommend one?"

Zhou Linxiao also mentioned a few points, saying that although the languages ​​were different, the game content was actually quite similar. Foreigners seemed to have open minds, but when it came to cleverness, they didn't actually have as many ideas as the Chinese.

Zhou Linxiao shrugged and said, "Actually, many of the games we play abroad are ones that Chinese students bring from China. There's nothing new about them."

Ye Minjia had no choice but to search on her phone.

It's really difficult. We need to bring those two passive big shots together while also ensuring the game remains fun and preventing the four of them from becoming mere NPCs to support them.

"Did you find it yet?" Liang Qianqian complained. "Is it really that hard to find a game?"

"What a terrible teammate! Not only does she have to open her mouth and wait to be fed, but she also has so many opinions!" Ye Minjia was furious. He plopped down next to Liang Qianqian, grabbed her ear, and whispered a string of angry words through gritted teeth.

Liang Qianqian's eyes widened, and then, under Ye Minjia's disappointed glare, she revealed a look of sudden realization.

Liang Qianqian laughed embarrassedly: "Our class monitor really went to great lengths. I'm so sorry, I didn't get what you meant at all."

Ye Minjia gave a low snort: "You know that's good."

Xiang Di sat next to him, her almond-shaped eyes wide open, extremely curious about what the two of them were whispering to each other, sitting so close together.

Ye Minjia discovered this and immediately warned her, "Children are not allowed to eavesdrop on adults' conversations."

Xiang Di: "..."

Two minutes later, after careful consideration by Ye Minjia and Liang Qianqian, they decided to play the "name change" game.

The rules of the game are that players cannot call out their own names, but must instead use other people's names. Then, each person randomly calls out a number. If someone calls out a number at the same time, the player who is slower to call out the other person's name for that round loses. The game continues from 1 to 5. If 5 is called out, the person who hasn't called out a number yet loses.

This kind of game is more difficult to play among familiar people. Due to habitual thinking, when you see someone's face, that person's name will automatically pop into your mind. The game breaks this habitual thinking. It doesn't require any props and it's all about reaction speed.

The game had several boys eager to try it, but Xiang Di was a little worried that his reaction time was too slow and he would keep losing, which would be embarrassing.

But no one had any objections to the game, not even Bai Jiangxin, so she had no choice but to bite the bullet and go for it.

Ye Minjia was the first to say, "Then I'll call myself Bai Jiangxin."

Liang Qianqian raised her hand: "Then my name is Xiang Di."

Bai Jiangxin's name was taken, so Xiang Di said, "Then I'll be called Liang Qianqian?"

“Hey, no, it’s too easy with just the two of you girls.” Ye Minjia directly assigned them the tasks: “Bai Jiangxin is called Liang Qianqian, Liang Qianqian is called Wang Sichen, Wang Sichen is called Xiang Di, Xiang Di is called Zhou Linxiao, and Zhou Linxiao will just call me by my name. OK, let’s play a few rounds to get familiar with the game.”

Wang Sichen was completely confused, clutching her head and saying, "Wait, what was my name again? And who called my name again?"

Ye Minjia didn't bother to give him time to react and simply shouted "Start!"

Ye Minjia: "Start! 1!"

Liang Qianqian: "2!"

Zhou Linxiao: "3."

There were only 5 numbers in total, and if they didn't shout them out soon, they would run out of numbers to shout. Xiang Di decisively shouted "3", which resulted in him shouting "3" and clashing with Wang Sichen.

Fortunately, Wang Sichen called her by name this time, and she immediately pointed at Wang Sichen and shouted, "Xiang Di!"

Wang Sichen was stunned. Ye Minjia: "You lost, drink up."

Wang Sichen looked at Xiang Di with a defiant expression: "You have a pretty good memory."

"Thank you for your kind consideration."

Xiang Di chuckled, secretly relieved that he had escaped unscathed.

After several rounds, Wang Sichen reacted the slowest and drank the most, while Bai Jiangxin drank the least and only made one mistake.

No one was surprised, after all, the halo of being the top student in the grade was there. Bai Jiangxin was not the bookworm type of academic genius, but a gifted academic genius. He was naturally smart, so he wouldn't be bad at playing games either.

"I don't want to play with you bunch of geniuses who think so fast anymore," Wang Sichen said dejectedly. "It's just too much of a bullying."

Ye Minjia ignored him and then said, "We're going to make it harder this time. We won't call each other by full names, we'll call each other by nicknames."

Ye Minjia pointed directly at Xiang Di and said, "I'll choose Xiang Di. Xiang Di, what's your nickname at home? Didi, or Xiaodi?"

He nodded to Di'e, "Di Bao'er."

Hearing this affectionate nickname, you can tell she's a little girl who's been spoiled by her family since childhood. Ye Minjia nodded: "OK, then I'll be called Di Bao'er this round. Don't call her by the wrong name later, or you'll have to drink."

After saying that, he immediately gave Liang Qianqian a look that said, "Be smarter."

Liang Qianqian said, "Then I'll choose Bai Jiangxin."

When Bai Jiangxin was called out by someone he didn't expect, he looked up and Liang Qianqian looked at him with a smile: "Bai Jiangxin, do you have a nickname at home? If not, I can give you one right now."

Respecting the rules of the game, Bai Jiangxin truthfully replied, "Xin'er."

Ye Minjia was also learning Bai Jiangxin's nickname for the first time, and ruthlessly mocked, "Laughable, Xing'er? I'm Yue'er."

Bai Jiangxin glanced at Ye Minjia expressionlessly: "What's your nickname?"

Ye Minjia said proudly, "Little Hairy Egg, my grandpa named me that. What do you think? Isn't it cute and down-to-earth? Do you want to use my nickname?"

Bai Jiangxin curled her lips: "...No need."

He didn't want to be pointed at and called "Little Hairy Egg" later.

In the end, Bai Jiangxin chose Zhou Linxiao's nickname. Zhou Linxiao's Chinese name was adopted after he came to China, so he didn't have a Chinese nickname. His full Spanish name is quite long, and his family in China has always called him by his simplified name, Nico, which is both affectionate and easy to pronounce.

After everyone had chosen their names, they all changed their names. Bai Jiangxin called himself Nico, Xiang Di called himself Qianqian, Ye Minjia called himself Di Bao'er, Liang Qianqian called herself Xin'er, and Zhou Linxiao called himself Wang Sichen's nickname Chenchen. Wang Sichen picked up a little stray that no one wanted.

Before the game started, Wang Sichen raised her hand and said, "Can we not drink from bottles this round? I'm really going to throw up if I drink any more."

"Alright, alright, I'll let you off this time."

After just one round of drinking, half a dozen bottles of fruit wine were gone. The prices at the KTV were expensive, so it was a good way to save some alcohol. Ye Minjia picked up a glass that had been unused on the table: "Let's not drink from the bottle anymore, can we just pour it into a glass? Let's drink it one glass at a time."

Wang Sichen said emotionally, "Thank you, class monitor. I'll vote for you again next semester."

Liang Qianqian was both amused and exasperated: "Are you drunk? We don't have a next semester, big brother."

Wang Sichen was taken aback. "Oh, that seems so."

This group of people will graduate and go their separate ways in two months, so there's no such thing as a next semester.

Ye Minjia waved his hand: "Hey, hey, let's not talk about such sad things, let's keep playing."

The game began, and Wang Sichen shouted first: "1!"

Zhou Linxiao followed up: "2".

Xiang Di still loves the number 3 as always. When she said it at the same time as Ye Minjia, she reacted quickly and immediately pointed at him and shouted, "Di Bao'er!"

Ye Minjia lost, opened a new bottle of wine, poured himself a full glass, and drank it in one gulp.

As the next round began, Xiang Di gained confidence and shouted "1" first.

Liang Qianqian: "2!"

Bai Jiangxin: "3".

Ye Minjia: "3".

Bai Jiangxin quickly realized that he had bumped into Ye Minjia. He remembered that Ye Minjia was Xiang Di's nickname, but as soon as he said the word "Di", he somehow got stuck.

Ye Minjia has already called out Nico.

"You lost, drink up." Ye Minjia poured Bai Jiangxin a drink with a smile. "I think the name Di Bao'er is quite catchy, why did you stumble over it?"

Bai Jiangxin pursed his lips, said nothing, raised his glass, and downed a glass of wine.

The next round continued, and this time Xiang Di and Liang Qianqian collided.

Xiang Di was taken aback. She remembered that Liang Qianqian had called out Bai Jiangxin's nickname this time. Of all the nicknames, she remembered her own and Bai Jiangxin's the most clearly.

But.

In less than a second of hesitation, Liang Qianqian had already called out her nickname.

Having no other choice, Xiang Di had to admit defeat and downed a glass of wine.

I can only pray that I don't say the same number as Qianqian in the next round.

However, Murphy's Law may be late, but it arrives eventually: when you worry or fear that something will happen, it will definitely happen.

She and Qianqian seemed to have clicked.

Rather than feeling embarrassed about calling someone she liked by their nickname, she didn't want to lose the game.

"Xin'er!"

"Xin'er!"

"Xin'er!"

The girl's sweet, crisp voice rang out again and again. Xiang Di's competitive spirit in the game made her shout more and more naturally, and Liang Qianqian had no choice but to admit defeat.

After drinking another glass of wine, Liang Qianqian shrugged at Ye Minjia.

Ye Minjia suppressed a laugh and turned to look at Bai Jiangxin's reaction beside her.

The man remained calm, seemingly unaffected. He leaned closer and nudged his shoulder suggestively: "Xin'er?"

Bai Jiangxin raised an eyebrow at him: "What are you doing?"

Ye Minjia winked casually, "It's nothing, I just called you, Xin'er. Did I call you well?"

Bai Jiangxin ignored him.

"Does it sound good? Does it sound good?" Ye Minjia moved closer to him, relentlessly pressing him.

Bai Jiangxin said impatiently, "It's awful, shut up."

Ye Minjia: "Then who calls me that better?"

Bai Jiangxin fell silent again. Ye Minjia's arm was still pressed against him, and his teasing thoughts were also entering his mind.

[Tsk tsk, smug bro, don't think I can't tell, you're secretly thrilled, aren't you?]

Bai Jiangxin understood instantly.

That kid did it on purpose.

Bai Jiangxin's eyelids twitched uncontrollably, and she subtly moved to the side, away from this meddlesome person.

Both he and Xiang Di were reserved people. Although it was unclear how this kid discovered the secret between him and Xiang Di—whether Xiang Di accidentally gave it away, or he did—in any case…

Let's treat this kid to a meal another day.

...

The game has reached its final round, and Xiang Di's fighting spirit has been fully ignited: "1!"

Wang Sichen: "2!"

Liang Qianqian: "3!"

Zhou Linxiao: "4".

With only one number left, Ye Minjia and Bai Jiangxin had no choice but to shout "5" at the same time.

Ye Minjia: "Ni..."

As soon as the sound "ni" came out, Bai Jiangxin simply said, "Di Bao'er."

Xiang Di, who had been watching the commotion from the side, suddenly felt a pang in his heart.

Ye Minjia blinked, as if she hadn't heard clearly: "Huh?"

"Di Bao'er." Bai Jiangxin drew out the word, repeating it softly, "Di... Bao'er, did you hear me?"

His enunciation was steady and clear, each word deliberate and distinct, as if he were afraid that Ye Minjia might not have heard him clearly, or perhaps he was afraid that someone else might not have heard him clearly.

Ye Minjia seemed to have suddenly lost her memory: "Huh, whose nickname is that again?"

Wang Sichen mocked, "Are you drunk? It's Xiang Di's nickname."

Ye Minjia looked at Xiang Di: "Is that your nickname?"

Xiang Di nodded: "...Mm."

"Oh, I remember now." Ye Minjia suddenly realized and looked at Bai Jiangxin, "You pronounce Xiang Di's nickname quite smoothly."

Bai Jiangxin calmly replied, "It's just a nickname that's easy to pronounce."

Xiang Di pursed her lips and secretly clenched her skirt with her hands placed beside her thighs.

She had heard this nickname since she was a child and was very familiar with it. When she was little, her elders would hold her in their arms and affectionately call her Di Bao'er.

This nickname represented her family's affection for her. Xiang Di never expected that one day she would hear her own nickname from Bai Jiangxin's mouth.

Unrequited love is the constant tug-of-war between daydreaming and being awake, the endless imagining of the tone in your voice when you call my name.

Moreover, he had called her name more than once. Xiang Di knew that her thoughts were narcissistic, but she couldn't help but feel her heart racing. She couldn't help but keep recalling Bai Jiangxin's voice calling her "Di Bao'er" over and over again, as if she were being pampered by him.

She quietly raised her eyes.

That one glance was all it took; under the flickering ambient lights of the private room, she met Bai Jiangxin's quiet gaze.

Oh no! She quickly looked away and started talking to Liang Qianqian next to her.

Bai Jiangxin smiled nonchalantly, raised the glass in front of him, tilted his head back as if to take a sip, but ended up drinking nothing but air.

Only then did he look at the rim of the cup and realize that it was already empty; he hadn't noticed at all.

-

Ye Minjia was tired of the game of changing names and identities, and decided to try a new one. Before that, he went to take a leak.

"Liang Qianqian".

Liang Qianqian: "Huh?"

"You just drank so much fruit wine, don't you need to go to the toilet?"

Liang Qianqian realized what was happening and said, "Oh, go."

The two went out together and stood in the corridor of the private room. Ye Minjia looked at her approvingly: "Not bad, that was a very good teamwork. You're a promising young lady."

Liang Qianqian smiled modestly: "It's all thanks to your excellent teaching."

Ye Minjia: "Of course."

"But is this little trick of calling them by their nicknames even effective?" Liang Qianqian said. "I feel like the two of them don't seem to react at all."

"What do you know? Hearing a nickname from an elder is a completely different feeling than hearing it from a peer of the opposite sex, especially if it's someone you like."

"Really?" Liang Qianqian blinked. "When I heard Zhou Linxiao and Bai Jiangxin call her Qianqian, I didn't feel anything special."

Those two are both recognized as the most handsome guys in the whole school.

"No way," Ye Minjia frowned, "Don't you have any girlish feelings at all?"

Liang Qianqian shrugged: "Maybe I'm just too hard-hearted."

Ye Minjia suddenly realized, "I know, because your name is a reduplicated character, so when I call you Qianqian, you don't feel the same intimacy as when I call you by your nickname."

Liang Qianqian also thought it made sense: "Fine, people like me with reduplicated characters in their names don't deserve to have nicknames."

Liang Qianqian's parents had good intentions when they named their daughter. The name Qianqian is beautiful both when pronounced and written. They hoped that she would be like lush greenery, vibrant and full of life. However, in the eyes of many people who do not know the name, it means that her parents were lazy and careless in naming her.

At this moment, Ye Minjia suddenly tilted his head at her, curled his lips and said, "Qian Bao'er? Do you feel anything for this nickname?"

Liang Qianqian: "..."

Liang Qianqian rolled her eyes at him and turned to leave.

A cute girl like Xiang Di could be called Bao'er, but this woman, who is over 1.7 meters tall and has a mature and sophisticated appearance, goes out shopping without wearing a school uniform and is called "Auntie" by children. It's a wonder that Ye Minjia would call her that.

That's so cheesy. What an idiot class monitor.

-

After returning from the restroom, since Ye Minjia hadn't found any good games yet, the group played a few rounds of dice-rolling and point-calling games to pass the time.

Fueled by the game, the two dozen bottles of fruit wine were consumed quickly. Xiang Di lost this round, and Ye Minjia was about to pour her some more when she discovered that all the bottles on the table were empty.

Zhou Linxiao then ordered the waiter to bring over two dozen bottles of fruit wine, leaving Xiang Di to wait until later for this round.

While waiting for the wine, the group played a few more rounds of games. Xiang Di lost two more rounds, at which point the waiter finally brought in the fruit wine, laid all the fruit wine on the table, and Ye Minjia immediately took a bottle and handed it to Xiang Di.

"You've already owed several drinks, stop talking nonsense and just chug the bottle."

Having lost the bet, Xiang Di had no choice but to drink from the bottle.

She had a narrow throat and drank slowly. She had only drunk about half a bottle when her cell phone rang.

A mouthful of wine choked Xiang Di, who subconsciously spat out a small amount, put down the bottle, and glanced at the caller ID. It was Xiang Sheng calling.

They're definitely here to check up on her. Xiang Di was having a great time and didn't want to answer, but she was afraid that if she didn't, Xiang Sheng would come and pick her up, and then everyone would know that her brother was a borderline internet celebrity.

Xiang Di said, "I'm going out to answer a phone call."

Wang Sichen thought she was trying to run away: "Hey, you're just going to run away if you can't finish your drink?"

"I'm not running away, I'm just taking this call." Xiang Di put the bottle of wine on the table. "I'll leave this wine here and finish it when I get back."

She looked to Ye Minjia for help again: "Is this okay, class monitor?"

Ye Minjia was busy opening bottles of wine, mentally counting who owed her a drink. She waved her hand dismissively, "Just remember how many drinks you owe."

Xiang Di told her not to worry, that she wasn't the type to renege on her debts, and then went outside to answer the phone.

Ye Minjia was frantically opening the bottles when he looked up and saw that the others were all sitting there playing on their phones, not offering to help him at all.

True heartbreak always manifests in loud arguments. Ye Minjia spoke up: "Hey, ladies, do you think I'm the only one busy pouring drinks for you? I'm the class monitor, not your beast of burden."

Zhou Linxiao reacted the fastest, immediately standing up: "Sorry, sorry, I thought you liked opening bottles, let me help you."

"Is my bottle opener sentient? I love opening bottles." Ye Minjia rolled her eyes and picked up a bottle of fruit wine that had already been opened. "Who owed you a drink just now? Come on, tell me."

Xiang Di lost the most; the others were alright, owing only one or two cups.

After finishing one bottle of wine, Ye Minjia poured another. He raised his glass and said, "Cheers, everyone!"

Xiang Di finally managed to get rid of her brother's check-up call, and as soon as she entered the private room, she found everyone toasting.

Which part of the game is this?

She went over and asked, "Have you played the new game yet?"

"No, I'm just making up for the drinks I owed you," Ye Minjia said. "You left before you finished yours, and I still remember it. Hurry up and drink, don't try to renege on your debt."

Xiang Di nodded and lowered his head to pick up the wine.

Picking up the wine bottle she had just placed on the table, she paused, then asked, "Where did my wine go?"

Ye Minjia: "Huh?"

"I just drank directly from this bottle, and I even tore a small hole in it."

Xiang Di held up the wine bottle in her hand, showing Ye Minjia the mark she had made on the bottle before she left.

Ye Minjia: "..."

Wang Sichen realized what was happening: "Holy crap, class monitor, you poured Xiang Di's wine into our drinks?"

Ye Minjia said guiltily, "All the wine was on the table. I didn't notice just now, but it seems it really is, sorry..."

Ye Minjia had just finished pouring out two bottles of wine, so it was impossible to know exactly who drank Xiang Di's bottle.

Everyone could only assume that they had drunk the wrong bottle of wine from Xiang Di.

Worried that Xiang Di would be embarrassed, Liang Qianqian quickly said, "It's okay, it's just that you drank the wrong thing, it's not like you'll die."

Zhou Linxiao and Wang Sichen are fine; they just drank the wrong wine. They're clean-cut young women, and as long as Xiang Di doesn't mind, there shouldn't be any problem for them.

Ye Minjia's expression was complicated, not because he had drunk Xiang Di's wine, but because he was worried about Bai Jiangxin.

He was the one who initially reminded Bai Jiangxin not to drink from the wrong bottle, but he ended up getting him into trouble by making such a basic mistake.

But he and Xiang Di have kissed in private, so it should be fine, right?

Everyone knew that Bai Jiangxin was a germaphobe, and for a moment everyone stared at Bai Jiangxin.

Everyone was afraid he would turn on them and leave.

Noticing everyone was looking at him, Bai Jiangxin raised an eyebrow: "Why are you looking at me?"

Ye Minjia asked hesitantly, "Are you feeling alright?"

Bai Jiangxin's expression was unusually calm: "What could be wrong with me?"

The link was generated a week earlier than he expected, and Bai Jiangxin was quite certain that he had drunk Xiang Di's bottle of wine.

But Xiang Di's expression was clearly not good.

[Oh my god, I want an indirect kiss, an indirect kiss, you know what I mean? Not to have him drink my saliva! Why don't you just let me spit in his mouth? That would save you the middleman's profit. I'm speechless.]

The scene was too unpleasant, and Bai Jiangxin's expression also turned sour.

There are many ways to eliminate middlemen and their markups; couldn't she imagine other ways, for example?

Forget it, with her hamster-like cowardice, don't get your hopes up.