Chapter 46: The Setup

Lu Shi let out a dry laugh, lacking confidence.

He could say whatever he wanted, but actually doing it was another matter.

His bathrobe sleeves were rolled up, revealing a long forearm with smooth muscle lines and faint blue veins.

Lu Shi stood frozen, his hand stiff on the door handle.

Shen Zheming was definitely getting back at him for knocking him out of the game with attack cards earlier.

Lu Shi glanced at that arm, swallowed, and softened his voice. “Brother Shen, that was the dare card talking.”

Lu Shi wasn’t dressed as “lightly” as Shen Zheming, but his back was already starting to sweat.

“Is that so.” Shen Zheming said flatly. “I don’t remember.”

‘What?’

‘?????’

This happened tonight, less than three hours ago, and you say you don’t remember?

Lu Shi was now certain Shen Zheming was doing it on purpose.

He forced himself to ignore the heat spreading from his neck to his ears, grabbed Shen Zheming’s arm, and turned around.

“Brother Shen, stop joking. Let’s sleep. If we keep dragging this out, we won’t be able to get up tomorrow.”

“I’m not joking. You threw that dare card on the table, I didn’t see it clearly.”

Lu Shi gritted his teeth. “Well, now you know.”

Shen Zheming raised an eyebrow. “Was the ‘brother’ address also on the dare card?”

Back then, with so many people around, saying it in a teasing tone didn’t feel wrong. But now, being confronted by the person himself, Lu Shi realized too late how intimate that address was.

It sounded like something lovers would say.

Embarrassment and shame rose up. Lu Shi felt the room was too hot, so hot that his pheromones threatened to leak out to cool him down.

He held Shen Zheming’s wrist, but a strange feeling crept into his heart, as if he were the one being held.

“It was on the card, but if Brother Shen wants to hear it in the future, you can pay for it.”

Lu Shi forced a light smile, thinking he was being funny.

But Shen Zheming didn’t immediately respond, as if he was actually considering it.

‘Damn…’

It seemed he had dug a hole for himself. With Shen Zheming’s quiet and sly personality, he might actually transfer money on a whim someday.

Making a snap decision, Lu Shi reached for the door handle and, taking advantage of Shen Zheming not pressing against the door, quickly opened it without giving him a chance to reply.

Click.

The door closed automatically, leaving a gust of wind.

Shen Zheming picked up the scarf Lu Shi had deliberately left behind, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

The itinerary for Yu Xi’s birthday party was arranged for three days, including skiing, ice skating, sledding, and other activities.

Lu Shi spent the whole time on guard, afraid Shen Zheming would suddenly bring up that first night. He racked his brain for excuses. Fortunately, Shen Zheming seemed not to take it to heart and interacted with him as before.

One day, at an amusement park in the capital.

The carousel rose and fell to cheerful music, with the scent of candy and chocolate floating in the air.

Several Capital University students had come to the amusement park together. They had just gotten off the roller coaster and were still dazed.

“Hey, isn’t that Chen Youxuan? Is he dating someone? Who’s that guy next to him? He looks familiar.”

One of them pointed at two figures standing by an ice cream cart.

“Damn, Sun Sirui? What are they doing out alone? Doesn’t Youxuan know Sun Sirui likes him?”

“But didn’t Youxuan used to hate Sun Sirui asking him out alone? He even called Sun Sirui his simp. What’s going on?”

Chen Youxuan had his hands in his pockets, looking bored and uninterested.

Sun Sirui was carrying his bag and asked eagerly, “Do you want ice cream? I’ll buy you some.”

Chen Youxuan: “Whatever.”

Sun Sirui: “What flavor do you like?”

Chen Youxuan clenched his fingers in his pocket, trying to appear sincere. “Anything is fine, as long as you buy it.”

Hearing this, Sun Sirui was overjoyed and wanted to buy every flavor for him.

Watching Sun Sirui rush off to pay, Chen Youxuan sneered inwardly.

Last time at home, Chen Youxuan had discovered that Sun Sirui was willing to stand up for him. As long as he gave a little smile, Sun Sirui would do things for him willingly.

He couldn’t personally get involved again like when he exposed Lu Shi’s real level. That had almost dragged him in. So he needed a convenient tool.

Sun Sirui had delivered himself right to his door.

Just as he was thinking, a few friends they knew came over to say hello.

Chen Youxuan’s expression froze, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

He didn’t want others to know he had gone out alone with Sun Sirui. It felt degrading.

“Congratulations, Ah Sun. All your effort finally got noticed by our Youxuan. Progress!”

“Keep it up. If you two get together, don’t forget to treat us to a meal and give us candy!”

Sun Sirui, ice cream in hand, pretended to be angry. “Get lost, get lost.”

But his face was red with happiness.

Chen Youxuan rolled his eyes when no one was looking, his expression sour.

He was only condescending to go out with Sun Sirui as a friend. Sun Sirui could never be worthy of him.

After chasing away the troublemakers, Sun Sirui turned back to see Chen Youxuan looking at him with his chin slightly raised.

Sun Sirui eagerly handed over the ice cream. “What’s wrong?”

Chen Youxuan didn’t take it immediately. Instead, he asked arrogantly, “Did you get an invitation to the Star Sequence Jewelry anniversary celebration?”

Star Sequence was a high-end jewelry brand backed by Ju Shang Agency. It was the leading luxury jewelry brand. This year marked its 60th anniversary, and a celebration would be held at its exclusive riverside venue.

Sun Sirui looked embarrassed. “Youxuan, how could I be qualified to go to a place like that?”

He thought Chen Youxuan would look down on him, but Chen Youxuan’s next words surprised him.

“You can come with me. My mom is a black card member. I can bring you to the celebration.”

“R… really?”

Sun Sirui was flattered. Seeing Chen Youxuan about to leave, he hurriedly followed, carefully holding the ice cream.

Chen Youxuan glanced at him from the corner of his eye, disdainful.

That’s how uncultured people are. He just had to lift a finger and give a little sunshine, and they’d be all bright. He didn’t even need to give any other benefits. It was laughable.

The anniversary happened to coincide with the day the Aobridge Cup scores and rankings were made public online. Zhu Wanqing had told many people about his participation, so many would pay attention to his results.

With many wealthy and powerful people gathered, Chen Youxuan didn’t need to be in the top five. As long as he made the top ten, everyone would notice him.

Lu Shi had taken a few million from home, but what could he do? Money would eventually run out. He could only show off for a short time.

“Sun Sirui, I need your help on the anniversary day.”

“Sure, tell me.”

Chen Youxuan had heard that Lu Shi scored very low on the Min Xing quizzes, even single digits in high school subjects. He had already obtained Lu Shi’s quiz results from the institution teacher under the guise of being his brother.

He wanted Sun Sirui to be his megaphone, telling everyone about Lu Shi’s Min Xing scores.

Thinking about how many people would compare him favorably to Lu Shi when the scores came out on the anniversary night, Chen Youxuan couldn’t help but smirk.

Lu Shi had already lost this round. He could only wait to become Chen Youxuan’s foil.

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