Chapter Twenty-Nine
Game 1: Standard Seer/Witch/Hunter/White
Judge: Zhou Chen (cold-faced timer, using a cell phone stopwatch as a police badge) Configuration: 4 wolves, 4 gods, 4 civilians Highlights: Lu Yi successfully tricked people into giving him medicine by stabbing himself on the first night, but was blindly poisoned by Xu Li (the witch) on the police - the reason being "his lips tremble when he smiles at people".
The entire audience was shocked.
Tan Yuze (Guardian) guarded empty-handed for two rounds, and guarded Xu Li in the third round. As a result, the wolf team killed the hunter Bai Chuan, and the hunter took down the last wolf Zhu Yu with one shot.
During the debriefing, Zhu Yu wailed, "Can you two, a couple, stop dating while you're working together?!"
Round Two: Cupid Mashup
Judge: Leng Yuxuan (with background music, "Canon" on repeat) Configuration: 3 wolves, 1 white wolf king, 1 seer, 1 witch, 1 hunter, 1 guard, 1 idiot, 1 Cupid, 2 villagers. Cupid draws lots - Tan Yuqi & Xu Li ("plastic best friends").
On their first night together, Tan Yuqi immediately understood the rules: "If we're going to commit suicide for love, we have to take someone down with us."
result:
On the second night, Cupid and his lover were taken away by the White Wolf King. Yan Xin activated her suicide pact skill and also took the true prophet Bai Chuan with her.
When Xu Li (the Hunter) was voted out, he flipped over a card and took away the last werewolf, ending the game.
During the post-match analysis, Tan Yuqi complained, "My brother (Tan Yuze) stared at Xu Li the whole time, his eyes were even more wolfish than a wolf's."
Round 3: Seven Deadly Sins - Wine Kill Version
Judge: Xu Sheng (joined temporarily, brought a computer to provide real-time live comments)
rule:
1. Each player draws a "Sin" card at the start of the game (Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, Pride), which corresponds to a skill.
2. Before each round of speaking, you must drink 1/3 of a cocktail (Zhou Chen's cocktail: whiskey + Yakult + popping candy).
3. When activating the skill, you can choose to "self-destruct" or "identify" someone else. The loser will receive an additional half cup.
Highlight: Tan Yuze drew a "card" with the skill "Can designate one person for a private chat for 30 seconds." He chose Xu Li. The private chat message was displayed on the projection screen (Xu Shenggan's): "I've been guarding you for three rounds, how late can I keep guarding you tonight?"
A row of "yue" comments floated across the screen. Xu Li drew "Greed," with the skill "peek at any two identities." She looked at Tan Yuze's guard and Lu Yi's wolf at the same time. During the day, she said, "I suspect Tan Yuze is a wolf because when he lies, his left middle finger rubs against the seam of his pants."
Lu Yi immediately broke down: "Can you two stop using a microscope to talk about your relationship!"
The werewolf faction ultimately won, but their victory condition was to "get everyone drunk."
Xu Li was the only one sober in the room, but she was also the one who had drunk the most. Tan Yuze was looking at her while lying on the table, his eyes shining like fireworks outside the terrace.
Before moving on to the karaoke bar, a little incident occurred when everyone was sorting through the werewolf cards and discovered that one "Idiot" card was missing—it was later found in the fireplace, its edges charred black.
Tan Yuqi: "Who did it?"
Leng Yuxuan raised her hand: "Me? The idiot card is too much like me. Destroy the evidence."
Xu Li misfastened the zipper of Tan Yuze's jacket, and Tan Yuze bent down to let her fasten it again, like putting a collar on a large dog.
Lu Yi took three photos with his phone: "I've got the wallpaper."
In private room 506, Tan Yuze had secretly installed a hidden feature in the song selection system: selecting "Love-ing" would automatically switch to "Today You're Going to Marry Me".
When Xu Li drank her seventh glass of "Tonight I'm Not Going Home," Tan Yuze replaced her glass with milk, which Zhu Yu noticed: "Double standard dog!"
When the bottle was spinning during the Truth or Dare game, and the bottle was pointed at Tan Yuze, Xu Li chose "Dare" for him: "Kiss anyone present."
Tan Yuze kissed the back of his hand and said, "She's drunk; we can't take advantage of her."
Comments: ? ? ?
Ten minutes later, on the terrace, Tan Yuze returned Xu Li's words verbatim: "Now, I'm drunk."
Lu Yi: A pro player of Werewolf, he secretly loves Yan Xin in real life, and writes a will every time he kills himself.
Zhu Yu: A black hole in the game. If he draws the werewolf card, he will always claim to be the seer, because "the sooner he dies, the sooner he can be reborn."
Bai Chuan: He has the true qualities of a prophet, but every time he is the first to be killed, his last words are always "Let me tell you a fortune."
Yan Xin: She appears aloof, but actually remembers everyone's little gestures and expressions. Her phone's memo app has a note: "Zhou Chen winks = guilty conscience."
Tan Yuqi: I'm a brother-obsessed person, but I ship couples faster than my brother can find a girlfriend. I've already edited a 1080P "Yu Li" mashup video.
Zhou Chen: The bartender, secretly in love with Leng Yuxuan, tries to replace "Popping Candy" with "Heart Candy," but fails.
Leng Yuxuan: BGM supplier, a black hole for karaoke song switching, capable of turning "Qinghai-Tibet Plateau" into "Tante".
Xu Sheng: Temporary judge; he developed the computer-generated comment system; his ID is "Li Mei's Brother 007".
The neon lights in the KTV were still spinning, turning the entire corridor into a wet, colorful ribbon. Xu Sheng leaned against the fire door, an unlit cigarette between his fingers—he had quit smoking a long time ago, but he just habitually wanted to hold something.
A half-sentence off-key lyric peeked through the crack in the door, followed by laughter that burst forth amidst the beer foam. He glanced at his watch: 2:27. His sister had been inside for fresh air for fifteen minutes.
Then he saw that scene. Tan Yuze's hand was behind Xu Li's waist, like protecting a lamp that was about to be blown out by the wind; Xu Li looked up, her eyelashes casting a small, trembling shadow under the streetlight.
The moment their lips touched, Xu Sheng heard a snapping sound from his knuckles—his cigarette had broken. In the distance, Lu Yi and Bai Chuan hid behind a billboard, watching like they were watching a midnight movie.
Further away, Tan Yuqi leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, her face showing a helpless "I knew it" expression. Xu Sheng didn't go over. He simply stuffed the broken cigarette into his pocket, turned around, and went back to the private room, singing the chorus of "Friends" an octave higher than the original key.
Tan Yuze escorted Xu Li home.
In the back seat of the taxi, Xu Li leaned against the window and suddenly asked, "If Cupid were to connect us tonight, would you commit suicide for love?"
Tan Yuze took her hand and put it in his pocket: "No."
"Because I will save you first, and then kiss you again." Outside the car, the snow fell silently.
Inside the car, the driver quietly tuned the radio to Canon.
The next day at noon, the living room, still hungover, looked like a cake trampled by an elephant. Xu Li sat cross-legged in the corner of the sofa, her hair sticking up in a mess, holding a glass of honey water, her fingernails still bearing traces of glitter from the previous night.
Xu Sheng walked over with a cup of hot milk, the bottom of the cup making a crisp sound as it tapped on the glass coffee table.
"Want to chat?" he asked. Xu Li nodded, her eyes fixed on the swirling eddy around the rim of the glass.
Xu Sheng: "When you were little, you said that you wanted to marry someone who could fix plumbing, remember your period, and apologize first when you argued."
Xu Li: "Tan Yuze can't fix water pipes, but he will sew a hot water bottle into a plush dinosaur when I have menstrual cramps."
Xu Sheng: "...That sounds like a pervert."
Xu Li: "Brother, why don't you try sewing one? The stitches are so ugly even a dinosaur would cry."
Xu Sheng: "One last question. Are you sure it's not the alcohol making you drunk?" Xu Li finished her honey water, leaving three undissolved rock sugar pieces at the bottom of the cup.
"Brother, I was indeed drunk last night. But it was my body that was drunk, not my heart."
Xu Sheng got up and went to the kitchen to fry eggs. As the oil sizzled and popped, he suddenly realized he had forgotten to ask a question—"What if he makes you cry later?" But he didn't ask again.
Xu Li was humming a song as she folded Tan Yuze's coat, which had been left on the sofa. There was a faint lipstick mark around the collar, like a postmark blurred by rainwater.
Xu Sheng scooped the fried egg onto a plate, thinking: Oh well, that kid's scar on the back of his head hasn't faded yet. If he dares to make Xu Li cry, he'll personally peel off that scar and sew on an even uglier dinosaur hot water bottle.
Xu Sheng sent a WeChat message to Tan Yuze.
[Xu Sheng]: My sister said you can sew dinosaur hot water bottles. Is that true?
[Tan Yuze]: [Image] (A crooked-mouthed green dinosaur with a square-shaped bulge in its belly)
[Xu Sheng]: ...It's so ugly! Next time I'll sew a whale; she prefers the ocean.
[Tan Yuze]: Received. Brother.
[Xu Sheng]: Who is your brother?
[Tan Yuze]: [Retracted a message]
[Xu Sheng]: I took a screenshot. For evidence.
[Tan Yuze]: ...Brother, please have some tea. Biluochun, pre-Qingming.
Xu Sheng put down his phone and stuffed the last bite of his fried egg into his mouth. The yolk was half-cooked, like a sun that never bleeds.
At 10 a.m., Tan Yuze stuffed two small Hualixuan paper bags into the inner pocket of his down jacket, with half of a ribbon sticking out of the bag opening—as if deliberately leaving an exit for his heartbeat.
Xu Li was waiting for him at the mall entrance, her nose slightly red from the cold, holding a cup of oden with two takoyaki skewers on a bamboo stick.
Tan Yuze handed over the paper bag in his left hand, saying, "New Year's restock, may you have good luck."
Xu Li glanced at the price tag; the number 6900 was half-covered by the ribbon. "The price is alright; it doesn't exceed my warning line of 'one bracelet = a whole year's milk tea budget'."
Tan Yuze asked, "Then what is my warning line?" Xu Li said...
"Two bracelets = not seeing you for a month, you've exceeded the limit, Tan Yuze."
"So I bought two at once, and gave you an advance payment for next month's expenses." The paper bag was opened, and two colorful four-leaf clovers swayed in the cold air—one on Xu Li's wrist, and the other was directly pinned to Tan Yuze's wrist bone.
The gold pieces touched lightly, making a "tap" sound, like snowflakes falling on iron railings. The entire row of claw machines on the third floor of the mall was bathed in warm light, and in the reflection of the glass, you could see the down jackets with a ring of fluff on their hoods.
Xu Li poured the exchanged game tokens into her small basket with a clatter, like dumping a basket of shattered suns. Tan Yuze said, "Fill a whole cart full, come to my house tonight to make dumplings, you can choose the filling."
Xu Li said, "What if we don't catch enough?" Tan Yuze replied, "Then let's go to your house. I'll bring my own flour."
Results: 1st coin – Failure, claws loose as if half-asleep. 5th coin – Caught a blue-and-white whale, Xu Li held it up as a shield to cover her face. 20th coin – Caught a short-legged corgi, Tan Yuze stuffed it into Xu Li's hoodie, the dog's head drooping near her ear.
Coin #38 – They caught a polar bear wearing a scarf. Tan Yuze took the scarf off and wrapped it around the gold chains on their wrists, tying a knot that couldn't be tied.
The last carload included a whale, a corgi, a polar bear, a carrot rabbit, a cream penguin, a star unicorn, and a frog with a ridiculous expression. Xu Li laughed and said, "The frog looks like your face when you haven't woken up in the morning."
Tan Yuze said, "Then put it on top and let it drive for us."
The trunk was overflowing with claw machine loot, and a frog was strapped to the driver's headrest with a seatbelt.
Tan Yuze started the car, the dashboard lights up, and the gold chain slid down his sleeve, revealing a glint of light. Xu Li said, "The bracelet is quite pretty, but don't buy two at once in the future." Tan Yuze replied, "Okay, I'll buy one next time, and get a pair of rings to match."
“…Then I’ll have to recalculate the warning line.” Outside the car window, the snow was tinged with rose color by the setting sun.
Inside the carriage, the frog nodded as the train swayed, as if it were saying "I do" for them in advance.
The car slid out of the parking lot, and the snow on the horizon looked like a jar of strawberry syrup had been spilled.
Xu Li turned the air conditioning on the passenger side to its highest setting, letting the warm air make the gold chain sway on her wrist. "The ring... you'll have to design it yourself."
She extended her index finger and drew a minimalist four-leaf clover outline on the fogged car window.
"I want this kind, no rhinestones, no engravings, just a very thin thread, like the one we tied to the polar bear scarf today." Tan Yuze nodded. "And it should have a hidden snap on the back."
He steered the wheel with one hand, then reached out with his right hand and lightly touched her pendant with his fingertips. “From now on, when we argue, just open the clasp and put a ‘forgiveness coupon’ inside. I’ll surrender as soon as I see it.”
Xu Li said, "Wouldn't I be at a huge loss? What if you provoked me first?" Tan Yuze replied, "Then I'll give you two cards, one for you and one for me. Whoever apologizes first wins."
Winter days are short and it gets dark early. When they got home, they asked, "Is anyone still at your house?"
“I picked up my grandma yesterday, and she came in without a problem.”
Tan Yuze wasn't close to anyone at home except his grandmother. Because his grandmother was good to him, he said, "Grandma, I'll buy you a big house to live in later." His grandmother would always smile and say, "Then I'll wait until little Tan buys a big house and invites Grandma to live there."
But today, Tan Yuze has realized this wish. Without relying on his parents, he bought a villa here entirely through his own efforts and school scholarships.
Tan Yuze's grandmother prepared the dumpling filling in advance: chives, pork, and shrimp, with some of her secret stash of chopped dried scallops.
The kitchen window was fogged up, and a row of round dough balls lined the cutting board, like little snowmen on guard duty. Grandma saw the "cartload of zoo-like things" that Xu Li brought in and her eyes curved into crescents with laughter.
"Oh, Xiao Li, come quick! Grandma saved the sweetest piece of dough for you. Roll out the wrappers and fill them yourself in a bit. Make four-leaf clover dumplings, so that you may have many children and much happiness next year!"
Xu Li's ears turned red, while Tan Yuze chuckled beside her. His grandmother tapped the back of his hand with her chopsticks and said, "What are you laughing at? You wrap some too! Wrap an even number, so good things come in pairs."
Tan Yuze was in charge of rolling out the dough, and Xu Li was in charge of pleating it. A whale, a corgi, and a polar bear sat in a row on the kitchen counter watching, while the frog was tucked into Grandma's apron pocket, with only its two eyes sticking out.
Xu Li whispered, "Did your grandma misunderstand?" Tan Yuze replied, "Misunderstand what?" Xu Li said, "Many children bring many blessings..." Tan Yuze slammed the rolling pin on the cutting board, and flour flakes fell onto the gold chains on their wrists.
"Then let it be a misunderstanding. It's bound to be a misunderstanding sooner or later." After finishing the dumplings, Grandma went to bed early.
Fireworks are banned in the city, but the glass curtain walls of distant high-rise buildings refract the streetlights into golden waterfalls.
A thin layer of snow had accumulated on the terrace. The two men wrapped their polar bear scarves around their wrists again and sat on the wooden crates by the railing.
A frog was hung on a clothesline; when the wind blew, its belly swelled up like a hot air balloon. (Tan Yuze)
"I've finished drawing the pattern for the bracelet's snap clasp and sent it to your email." Xu Li opened her phone.
A CAD sketch: There is a very thin gap between the four leaves, like a smile line.
The back is engraved with two minimalist letters: L&Z, and in the middle is a tiny “∞” that can only be seen with a magnifying glass.
Xu Li asked in confusion, "Infinity symbol? The romance of mathematicians?" Tan Yuze looked up at her and said, "It's not infinite, it's 'infinitesimal'."
He reached out and cupped her face, which was red from the wind, saying, "So small that no arguments or misunderstandings can squeeze in; so small that it can only hold you."
Xu Lishu: "What if there is a third infinitesimal in the future?" Tan Yuze: "Then draw another chain, tie the three together, and turn them into a Möbius strip, which will never have a reverse side."
The frogs swayed in the wind, as if tapping out the rhythm of their shadows. The gold chain clung to his skin, its temperature gradually rising, like melting snow flowing through his veins to his heart. Xu Li rested her forehead on his shoulder and whispered, "Tan Yuze, happy fourth day of the Lunar New Year."
“A four-leaf clover has four leaves, and we have many, many more fourth days of the lunar calendar.” Tan Yuze lowered his head and kissed the top of her head. Snowflakes fell on their intertwined fingers and instantly melted into two tiny water droplets.
In the distance, the New Year's bells rang for the twelfth time.
The snowflakes on the frog's belly silently transformed into an unspoken sentence.
"Me too."
The lingering sound of the bells was swallowed by the wind, and the light bulbs on the terrace swayed in circles of orange light.
Two water droplets on the frog's belly slid down the seam and landed on the wooden box with a "plop," as if someone had let slip the secret. Xu Li suddenly withdrew her hand, her fingertip drawing a small square in the air.
"Xu Li, close your eyes."
"what?"
"I'll show you a physical version of 'infinitesimals'." She obediently closed her eyes.
I heard the metal gently clattering, heard his breath drawing near, heard a faint "click"—like a snowflake melting from body heat. When I opened my eyes again, I saw a very thin black titanium ring on my left wrist, the inner circle also engraved with "∞", only the letters were reversed: Z&L.
The surface of the ring was deliberately aged, like a road that had accompanied them for a very long time.
Tan Yuze said, "I stole the blueprints half a month ago, had Leng Yuxuan 3D print them, and then had a metalworker coat them with a layer of matte titanium. I've already put on the reverse side of the Möbius strip."
She wiggled her right ring finger—the same ring, only thinner. Tan Yuze's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice low and hoarse:
"Tan Yuze, you've acted first and informed us later."
"So, do you want to play it?" Xu Li asked him in return.
"Play."
He knelt on one knee in the thin snow, and the snow immediately seeped out dark watermarks.
There were no flowers, no sea of lights, only a swaying frog and the silent snow covering the entire city.
"I originally wanted to wait for spring, for the cherry blossoms, for a grander occasion..."
But then he discovered that infinitesimals don't need a specific occasion; they only need 0.30, minus three degrees Celsius, and you to be right in front of me. He pulled out the ring box he had prepared beforehand from his pocket—the same brand as the bracelet he had bought before, except that the inside of the lid had a handwritten inscription:
"May all your good fortune from now on be measured in four-leaf clovers." The third ring lay in the box.
Wider than theirs, with a mirror-polished surface, but engraved with a smaller line of words on the inner ring: "If you argue, the one who apologizes first wins in life." — Tan Yuze
“This is the ‘third infinitesimal,’ and also the seam of the Möbius strip.” “To wear it or not?”
Xu Li's eyes reddened as she answered, "Wear it." Snow fell silently onto the ring, and he pushed it onto her middle finger. The size was perfect, as if it were tailor-made for her.
The frog was finally picked and placed in the palms of the two men.
Tan Yuze pinched the frog's belly, and it let out a hoarse "croak." Xu Li laughed so hard she bent over: "It said—'I do.'" Tan Yuze: "Then it has to sign."
He took out a marker and wrote on the frog's belly: [Wedding Frog: 00:30-01:00, Terrace, Snow as ink.]
Grandma left the light on in the living room, and two bowls of sweet fermented rice soup with glutinous rice balls were placed on the coffee table. The steam from the soup frosted the windowpanes. A coin was buried at the bottom of each bowl; whoever found it would be "in charge of the household in the New Year." Xu Li bit into the coin with the first spoonful.
On the second spoonful, Tan Yuze also bit into a coin. Grandma peeked out from under the door, her face crinkling with laughter: "Oh dear, two heads of the household, then let them both be heads!"
Grandma insisted that Xu Li "not come back too late," so the guest room became their temporary bridal chamber. Three bracelets were placed side-by-side on the bedside table—
A four-leaf clover, a four-leaf clover, a makeshift "ring chain" made from the thread taken from a polar bear scarf.
Xu Li said, "Tan Yuze, it seems we've completely messed up the process." "First, we wear rings, then meet the parents, and then we eat the coin together." Tan Yuze replied, "The process is like a Möbius strip; there's no beginning or end."
He reached out and dimmed the bedside lamp to its lowest setting, leaving only a halo of light like a streetlamp on a snowy night. "Xu Li, Happy New Year, Happy Wedding." Xu Li asked, puzzled, "Wedding?"
Tan Yuze propped his head up with his hand and said, "The marriage witness has signed, Grandma has stamped it, and the coin has acknowledged it."
He paused, his voice so low it was almost a whisper: "The rest, you can do it whenever you want, okay?" Xu Li touched his nose with hers: "Okay, we'll do it in the spring, have our honeymoon in the summer, and have the baby in the fall..."
"Give birth to what?" "Give birth to a little kid who can sew dinosaur hot water bottles." The whole city finally fell silent.
On the wooden box on the terrace, the writing in the marker pen was lightly covered by a layer of fresh snow, like a blanket covering a secret.
The infinity symbol on the frog's belly had frozen into frost flowers, shimmering faintly under the streetlights. In the distance, a cleaning truck slowly drove by, its brush leaving two parallel water trails on the ground.
But they will eventually converge at some point—like an infinitesimal, so small that it can only hold each other, yet so large that it can hold the rest of one's life.
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