Reunion
Guan Shanyue's smile gradually faltered, and her face became stiff and rigid. She gritted her teeth, stretched out her hand and shook hands lightly with Shao Zizhuo. When she raised her eyes again, she returned to her normal appearance.
She raised an official smile: "I've heard a lot about you, Mr. Shao." She raised her head unwillingly, with a businesslike look, just like she would to a client.
Shao Zizhuo's gaze fell down, and they looked at each other briefly. He quickly looked away and walked straight to the booth as if he had heard nothing.
Guan Shanyue stood there, something peeling off and collapsing layer by layer in his heart, becoming a ruin that could not be rebuilt.
A familiar voice echoed behind him, accompanied by the crisp sound of dice falling into the dice cup: "What are you playing?"
Chattering, a group of people started explaining to him from behind.
The air in the room became thinner and lighter, unable to be inhaled into the lungs. Guan Shanyue felt a rare sense of suffocation and pain, and she just wanted to escape from this place.
The voice behind me sounded again: "Miss Guan, would you like to play with me for a while?"
Guan Shanyue bit her lip until it bled, then turned around and said goodbye with a proud smile, "No, Mr. Shao, I'm going back first."
Shao Zizhuo's eyes were as intense as the night, with a faint smile on the corners of his mouth: "Miss Guan, are you anxious to go back to be with your boyfriend? Your boyfriend hasn't set up a curfew for Miss Guan, has he?"
Before Guan Shanyue could speak, the person next to her quickly interrupted, "Ms. Guan doesn't have a boyfriend, she only has a group of men who want to be her boyfriend."
Everyone's eyes involuntarily fell on the few people present. The crowd laughed ambiguously. Those who had feelings for Guan Shanyue also looked at her with smiles, as if they were competitive, always feeling that if they looked at her one more time, they would win her favor.
Shao Zizhuo's smile faded. "Miss Guan, you wouldn't even give me this courtesy, would you?" He paused for a moment, his fingertips running across the uneven surface of the dice. "Perhaps I should call you, Mr. Guan?"
Then why not stay? Guan Shanyue glanced at Shao Zizhuo from the corner of her eye. She compromised and took the bag off her shoulder and threw it aside: "Of course I'll accompany you."
Guan Shanyue walked over and the crowd made room for her, right next to Shao Zizhuo. Guan Shanyue waved her hand and sat down diagonally opposite Shao Zizhuo, a whole circle of people away.
Shao Zizhuo picked up the glass of wine and drank it all in one gulp: "Lin Fu, what do you usually do for fun?"
The man named Lin Fu was stunned for a moment, then glanced at Guan Shanyue at the end of the table: "I don't know."
Ouyang Wu cautiously suggested: "King's Game?"
Shao Zizhuo said, "Okay, how do we play?"
Lin Fu looked over in disbelief. Was Shao Zizhuo possessed by someone else? He had despised this game back then. What had he said back then? "Your brain is just made stupid by playing this kind of stupid game."
He met Miss Stand-in and nothing ever happened to him from the beginning to the end.
While Lin Fu was haphazardly guessing Shao Zizhuo's thoughts, Ouyang Wu began explaining the rules to him: "Whoever draws the big ghost becomes the king. They can designate any two people to do something." Ouyang Wu pointed at the people present, excluding the girls they brought with them, leaving only thirteen people. "Then choose any two cards from A to K. If anyone is unwilling to do this, they must drink three glasses of wine as a penalty."
Guan Shanyue pulled out the cards he needed, shuffled them, and pushed them in front of everyone: "Draw them."
She randomly drew a card, the Ace of Hearts, and held it in her palm, waiting to see what would happen.
The person who drew the Big Ghost shouted excitedly, throwing the cards onto the table. He walked around the table and said, "Let's start with something lighthearted. Let's drink to the three and nine."
Lin Fu reluctantly turned the cards over, and it was Zhang San. Ouyang Wu curled his lips and showed his cards to everyone, which happened to be nine.
Guan Shanyue smiled faintly as she watched the two men drink from their wedding cup. Her gaze strayed from the laughter and clamor of the crowd to rest quietly on Shao Zizhuo. He had lost a lot of weight, his jawline more pronounced, making him look more mature and wiser than before. The light reflected a faint smile on the corner of his lips, giving him a strange sense of vulnerability.
Guan Shanyue quickly looked away. He must have drunk too much today. Why did he feel that Shao Zizhuo was so fragile? She shook her head, threw away the strange thoughts in her mind, and concentrated on playing the game.
After a few rounds, the scene became lively, and the punishments proposed by the "King" became more and more extreme, which aroused the desire to win among a group of young masters on the scene. Guan Shanyue escaped danger and was not punished once.
She was just rejoicing when the person next to her asked her, "Boss Guan, take a quick look, is the number four in your hand?"
Guan Shanyue hurriedly lowered her head. Sure enough, she was holding Zhang Si. The entire audience erupted in excitement, with cries of joy and laughter threatening to overturn the roof. Her admirers sighed in regret but dared not show any reaction, only laughing along with the crowd.
Guan Shanyue was confused and her eyes fell on Shao Zizhuo again inadvertently, but this time her eyes met his. He raised his chin with a smile, and she followed his gaze and saw a six.
Someone cheered and reminded, with an eye for the show: "The king said, four and six kiss."
Guan Shanyue scanned the cards on the table and locked onto Lin Fu, who was trembling in the corner. He closed his eyes, as if ready to sacrifice himself, but then felt he couldn't. He quickly sat up and tried to stop everyone: "Change one, change one."
Someone considered the situation and wanted to follow Lin Fu's wishes and reduce Shao Zizhuo's punishment, hoping to do him a favor: "Alright, let's change him."
Some people didn't recognize Shao Zizhuo's face, and regardless of the people around them trying to stop them, they expressed their displeasure. This was a rare and good show, so there was no reason to change it: "How can this be allowed? How can we still have fun?"
It was noisy and chaotic, like a vegetable market.
Amidst the chaos, Guan Shanyue accurately heard the person's voice: "No need to change."
Was it because the target was her, or was it because Shao Zizhuo had changed during his disappearance? Guan Shanyue lowered her head, unwilling to think about it.
The crowd quieted down, their eyes focused on Shao Zizhuo: "What?"
Shao Zizhuo was at ease, leaning back in his chair with his arms folded: "No need to change."
The crowd was in an uproar again. Lin Fu was stuck in the middle and unable to react. He watched Guan Shanyue being surrounded by the crowd and sitting next to Shao Zizhuo.
There was limited space, and after Guan Shanyue sat down, she could clearly feel the warmth of the person next to her. She could also smell his scent in her nose, which seemed different from before, mixed with a faint fragrance, like the smell of a child, pure and clear.
Guan Shanyue swallowed subconsciously as everyone watched. She didn't understand her own heart. Why did she sit here so reluctantly? Did she really want to? Should their reunion really start with a kiss?
Her heart was floating in the boundless sea, with no one to rely on.
Shao Zizhuo turned to face her. Guan Shanyue saw the fuzz on his face, dyed a uniform hue by the light. He moved closer little by little. She could feel his breath, and his scent almost surrounded her.
He closed his eyes and leaned his head to the side.
Guan Shanyue was in a trance, her mind quickly flashing back to the chaotic night before and the events before that night. She had to admit that she was still brooding over it.
At the last moment, she took a step back, and the corner of her lips brushed against his cheek, leaving a moment of warmth.
Her breathing was unstable, just like she had been kissed by him before. Guan Shanyue fled from the circle of his scent, picked up the wine and drank it all in one gulp, then reached for the second glass.
Everyone was shocked by this sudden change. Ouyang Wu reacted and stopped her hand: "I'll help you drink a drink."
Her other admirer also quickly took the third cup.
Guan Shanyue wiped the remaining wine from the corner of his mouth and said softly, "I'm sorry."
The atmosphere froze. Shao Zizhuo stood up with a blank expression and said, "I'm leaving first."
Lin Fu's mind was in a mess. He regretted calling Shao Zizhuo over very much. He regretted even more that he had called too many random people today, causing Shao Zizhuo to suffer such an injustice. He calmly noted down the people on the field and followed Shao Zizhuo away.
The door was closed. Guan Shanyue chuckled softly, feeling overwhelmed. She had no intention of dealing with everyone: "I'm leaving now. You guys have fun."
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Someone threw a punch and started to make a scene: "Do you know who Shao Zizhuo is? If I don't know you, do you know who Guan Shanyue is? Why are you making such a fuss?"
Shao Zizhuo chased Lin Fu, who tried to apologize, away and got in his car. The underground garage was only lit by emergency lights, and he sat in the car, his head aching.
He was completely unprepared today and saw Guan Shanyue as soon as he pushed the door open.
Her long, straight black hair was permed into large curls, and she no longer wore her usual bare face. She resembled a stubborn wildflower by the roadside, a moss flower as small as a grain of rice, yet blooming like a peony. She now wore delicate makeup, as gorgeous as a peony, the most beautiful of all, her rich beauty intoxicating the spring breeze. She responded to the man's insignificant smile.
When he met Guan Shanyue's eyes, the light was dim and her expression was also obscure. He suppressed all his thoughts and said softly, "It's our first meeting. Please take care of me."
He wanted to say "long time no see", but he swallowed the words back.
She is becoming more and more dazzling now, just as he was sure that she would be.
Shao Zizhuo lowered his eyes and smiled self-deprecatingly. Four years had passed. She was no longer the young girl whose career was still in its development stage. Some people blocked the wine for her, and some people were attentive to her. Compared with those young and passionate men, he seemed to have no advantages except money.
As for that game, when he heard that she was the one to punish him, his heart skipped a beat and the blood in his body rushed to his head, but she ran away, preferring to drink rather than kiss him.
She hates drinking, hates the smell of alcohol, doesn't she? Just like her daughter.
Shao Zizhuo's expression turned cold. Did she already dislike him so much? And those men, they were too excited to help her block the wine.
An eyesore.
Shao Zizhuo clenched and unclenched his fists, and finally dropped them weakly.
Admit it, Shao Zizhuo, you're going crazy with jealousy.
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