Chapter 10 The Kitten Fishing She shouldn't be a fragile person...

The rules of the game are very simple, requiring no skill whatsoever; it's purely a matter of luck. Whoever runs out of cards first loses, and whoever has the most cards in their hand wins.

The five people discussed picking out two losers, otherwise it would be too cruel for one person to be bullied.

In the first round, Yu Xue was the first to run out of cards. She looked at Wen Feng's few remaining cards and chuckled, saying, "You're coming to keep me company now."

Wenxi said, "Okay, okay, I'll draw a symmetrical one for you two later."

As a result, Yu Xue and Wen Feng each received a half-circle of symmetrical hearts around their facial features.

Everything was normal and harmonious.

In the second round, Yu Xue was the first to run out of cards again, becoming a loser along with Liu Dong. The opportunity to draw was given to Wen Feng, who applied a dot to the center of Yu Xue's lips, like applying lip makeup.

In the third round, Yu Xue was depicted as an open-mouthed female ghost.

In the fourth round, Yu Xue got a clown nose.

In the fifth hand, Yu Xue joked that her luck was terrible and she ended up with another red eye bag.

The sixth one has an extra little cat whisker.

By the seventh round, Liu Dong had another chance to draw for Yu Xue, and she felt a little embarrassed, as if it were bullying her.

But Yu Xue remained smiling and didn't say anything.

Liu Dong's face only had a beard and two wild-man-like eyebrows. The other three people didn't have many designs on their faces either. Only Yu Xue's face was beyond repair.

"Draw a bow for my sister-in-law." She drew a small bow on her jawline. "How about we call it a day? I'm tired."

"Oh, I was having so much fun! How did we end up here!" Wenxi exclaimed carefree.

Liu Dong glared at her; she didn't understand.

Yu Xue said, "It's okay, let's keep playing. I'm having a lot of fun too."

Liu Dong shuffled the cards again and again, sorted them out, and let Yu Xue choose first.

Yu Xue looked at Wen Feng, who then chose the middle stack for her.

In the eighth round, Yu Xue was once again the first to run out of cards.

When Liu Dong heard her clear "I have nothing left," his heart skipped a beat.

She looked up and saw that her sister-in-law was still smiling, her face expressionless. She had the same expression when they were laughing and when they lost and were upset.

Liu Dong had done several business trips with his family and was good at reading people's expressions. His sister-in-law always had a smile on her face, and her expression didn't change at all. Even if she wasn't angry or sad, she wasn't particularly happy either. It was just a polite smile, meant to please and not spoil the mood.

Games are fun because of the wins and losses. If you keep losing, even without any penalty, you'll get frustrated, especially if you're forced to keep playing.

Liu Dong turned around and met Wen Feng's gaze. Wen Feng was also secretly looking at Yu Xue. He turned his face, and the two met eyes, their minds in sync.

Just as the two were about to suggest an excuse to stop playing, a voice suddenly called from outside the door: "Dinner's ready!"

"Oh dear, dinner's ready." Yu Xue was the first to stand up. "My legs are so tired from sitting. I can't let Mom see me like this. I'm going to Wen Feng's room to wash my face. Dinner's ready."

She found a blanket in the room and covered her head with it. "You guys should wash your faces and come down for dinner."

As soon as she pushed open the door, Wenxi suddenly said, "Oh dear, we have to see whose face is the most smudged."

Yu Xue walked away without looking back, as if she hadn't heard anything.

"Shh—" Liu Dong put her finger to her lips and whispered a hint as Yu Xue walked away, then got up to close the door.

"Damn, I was just about to call a stop." Another younger member breathed a sigh of relief. "Didn't you guys notice that your wife was losing the whole time?"

“I saw it,” Liu Dong said. “I just called a halt. If it weren’t for Wen Xi… well… you’re really something.”

"Huh?" Wenxi was full of questions. "Has my sister-in-law been losing all the time? I didn't notice, she hasn't won a single hand?"

"No," Liu Dong said. "Damn, you lost one game with her, she lost one game with you, I lost three games with her, and I lost two games with her. We didn't even finish the last game. How could she have won?"

"Huh?" Wenxi's eyes widened. "This card luck is terrible! Good heavens, I really didn't notice. If I had, I would have called a stop long ago."

Wen Xi looked at Wen Feng, "Did I anger my sister-in-law?"

"It's not that bad." Wen Feng stood up. "I'll go take a look."

After Wen Feng left, Wen Xi still looked flustered. "Should I go and apologize?"

"Why apologize? It'll only make things more awkward. Just keep pretending you don't know anything. It's just a game, who would have thought of that?" Liu Dong also stood up. "Hurry up and wash your face, your auntie will be here to nag you soon."

When Wen Feng returned to the room, Yu Xue was washing her face in the bathroom. The sound of running water filled the air. Wen Feng stood at the door for a while, then turned around and went to the bathroom in another room to wash his face. When he came back, Yu Xue had also washed her face and was drying it with a towel.

She smiled at him and asked, "Are you clean?"

Wen Feng nodded, took two steps forward, and asked, "Are you alright?"

Yu Xue didn't look at him, turned around to hang up the towel, "What's this about good or bad?"

Without a penalty mechanism, this kind of game isn't very fun. The fun lies in the back-and-forth retaliatory dynamic. If you keep losing, it feels like you're excluded, as if you have nothing to do with the game. No one will tease you or want to get revenge on you.

Wenxi didn't react at all. She almost completely forgot that this was a game for five people. Every time she said "I'll get my revenge on you," she was referring to the other three people.

She did nothing wrong; it's just a game.

But Yu Xue was sick, and Wen Feng was worried about her.

Wen Feng watched her go from being enthusiastic in the first two games, to being indifferent in the third game, and then to being a bit devastated and pretending to be okay after the game ended.

It's his problem; he should have opposed the game from the beginning.

Wen Feng took two more steps forward. "I'm a little unhappy."

"Hmm?" Yu Xue looked up at him in confusion.

Wen Feng: "I don't like putting makeup on my face, it's a bit embarrassing."

Yu Xue paused for a moment, her smile losing its naturalness, and said, "I'm alright, but I'm also a little sad."

"Hmm?" Wen Feng raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise.

Yu Xue scratched her cheek and said, "It's like... even the heavens hate me."

After saying that, he immediately added a few more words to show that he was fine: "Hey, maybe God just doesn't have time to pay attention to me. I'm so... nameless and unknown, who would notice me? It doesn't matter."

She unconsciously pinched her arm. "When I was little and people were whispering about me, my dad would often say, 'Nobody cares about you. Don't overthink it. Why are they always gossiping about you? People still have to study.'"

She gave an unnatural look, neither laughing nor crying, “…Sigh…It’s not my father, it’s another Yu Xue’s father. My father would never say such a thing. I just suddenly remembered it, and I feel a little…a little…a little sorry for this body.”

She turned her back, wiped away her tears, and said, "Let's go downstairs for dinner."

She walked forward, trying to walk around Wen Feng, but Wen Feng suddenly grabbed her hand.

“There are plenty of people in this world who care about you, otherwise you wouldn’t have been criticized for so many years.” Wen Feng rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb, looking at her lowered head. “Don’t even mention celebrities, even ordinary people are always being watched. Aren’t there many people who have become famous because of one or two videos? Don’t say it’s because of moral flaws, even hair color will attract the attention of thousands of people.”

"Yu Xue." Wen Feng held her tightly, not letting her break free. "So many people hate you, even without reason. But so many people love you too. Think more about us, think about the people who love you."

He pursed his lips, hesitated for a moment, and said, "My...my mother, and my father, they all treat you like their own daughter. I...I also...treat you as a close friend. I...I love you."

Yu Xue looked up at Wen Feng and met his eyes. The two gazed at each other for a long time.

When Yu Xue talks to people, she doesn't dare to look them in the eye. When she has to look at them, she focuses her gaze on their forehead or chin. She always looks guilty and timid, as if she's afraid of ghosts knocking on her door even though she hasn't done anything wrong.

People online often say that she acted petty and stingy when she went on stage to accept awards.

But Yu Xue didn't know how to change; no one had ever told her how to walk naturally with her chest out and head held high.

Wen Feng said, "What do you mean by being petty? There are 'small families' everywhere in this world, and 'big families' are few and far between in the whole world. There's nothing we can do about it." Yu Xue sometimes thought he was right, and sometimes she thought he was just making excuses. Isn't what people want to see on TV just that small group of people?

She thought to herself, "I'm not a model, do I have to be perfect just to sing?"

She then argued with herself, "If others can do it perfectly, why can't I?"

She wavered, her head drooping lower and lower, and no matter how much she argued with herself, she just couldn't figure out how to lift her head.

She had previously tried to comfort herself, saying, "What's wrong with looking down? Don't you have to watch where you're going when you're walking?"

But she soon fell into self-doubt again, wondering, "Why don't other people have to keep looking where they're going when they walk?"

But at this moment, she stared into Wen Feng's eyes without any subconscious dodge. His deep, dark eyes did not make her feel uneasy at all; on the contrary, they gave her a gentle feeling of being enveloped.

She remained silent for a while, then suddenly withdrew her hand and said with an awkward laugh, "You've been quite talkative today." After saying that, she fled to the door.

"Uh, well." She paused, turned back at the door, and said, "Thank you."

Before Wen Feng could respond, she had already walked away.

Yu Xue didn't go downstairs immediately. She ran into the aunt who came to call them for dinner, quickly wiped away her tears, and tried her best to suppress her sobs, saying, "Auntie, we'll go downstairs in a bit. Wen Feng has some work to take care of."

"Okay, sure." Seeing that she was in a bad mood, the aunt quickly turned around and left without asking any more questions.

Yu Xue took three steps at a time and crossed into the room opposite.

She couldn't hold back any longer; she felt a sharp pain in her chest, and tears welled up in her eyes, but she forced them back.

She didn't know what she was sad about. In her own world, she was so optimistic and rarely shed tears.

This body is too weak, too fragile, too sensitive; it will cry at the slightest provocation.

But she didn't want to cry. She didn't want others to think she was someone who couldn't take a joke. She was afraid of being laughed at.

A note from the author:

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