Chapter Ninety: A Special Presence

After White Xu finished speaking, the air fell into an unprecedented silence. It was almost awkward; though no one said so aloud, the look on every face made their disdain plain enough, as if the game were some relic from a bygone century.

Seeing the other five remain unmoved, the smile on White Xu’s face stiffened as well. His mouth twitched slightly, and then he asked timidly, “So nobody wants to play?”

Yin Lize reached out at once and set the deck aside. “With weather this nice, why waste time on this kind of thing when we could be eating something good?”

With that, he unzipped his backpack, then lightly lifted it by the two lower corners and tipped it over. All the snacks inside spilled across the tablecloth.

“Whatever food you’ve got, bring it out. Let’s all eat together.”

Seeing the mountain of snacks on the cloth, everyone paused in unison. Yin Lize’s bag was like some miraculous bottomless satchel; it held everything from candy to a supermarket-packed roast duck, and all that was missing was a durian. What he had brought alone was probably enough to feed everyone there.

“Are you really not going to play?” After a brief silence, White Xu’s voice rose again, still tentative.

Persistent as ever, he was impossible to refuse. In the end, Yin Lize had no choice but to pick up the deck again and place it on the tablecloth. “We’ll play after we finish eating, all right?”

At that, White Xu’s mouth immediately spread into a grin. “Yes, boss.”

The meal lasted a long while. At last, they could eat no more.

Finally reaching the part White Xu had been looking forward to most, he quickly pushed all the snacks on the tablecloth to one side, then pulled a pen from his bag. “Whoever the tip points to takes the challenge.”

Truthfully, no one had much interest, but seeing how excited White Xu was, they went along with him. At any rate, it would pass some time, so they agreed.

Just as Gu Chen was taking the cards out of the box, Yin Lize immediately stopped him. “How can we play this without beer? Wait here, I’ll go buy some.”

White Xu lit up at once. He jumped up from the tablecloth. “Wait for me, I’m coming too.”

When the two of them returned, they were carrying a whole armload of beer. Each held one side, and the sight was so startling that the remaining four could only stare. They had known Yin Lize and White Xu had gone to buy beer, but they had never imagined they would buy so much, as if it were practically free.

“Why so much?” Gu Nianxi said, looking at the case of beer in their hands. Her smile was awkward. With this much beer, so brazenly carried in, weren’t they afraid of getting caught by a teacher?

“This is to make sure nobody chickens out and refuses the challenge on the cards,” White Xu said with a grin. Together with Yin Lize, he tossed the whole case onto the ground. “If you refuse truth or dare, you drink a can. How about it?”

When no one answered, White Xu went on cheerfully, “Then it’s settled.”

The next second, White Xu and Yin Lize sat down on the tablecloth. Just as White Xu’s hand touched the pen, Wen Yichen interrupted him. “Wait, we’re just starting like this?”

White Xu blinked for a couple of seconds at the question. “What else?”

“Don’t we play some game first? Lose first, then face the punishment?”

“For example?”

White Xu’s timid question stumped Wen Yichen. Before he could answer, the pen had already begun to spin. A moment later, its tip came to rest in front of Wen Yichen.

The suddenness of it left Wen Yichen dazed, while White Xu alone, as if injected with a burst of energy, reached for the cards and drew one at random. “Dare: kiss the first opposite-sex person on your left, any part you want.”

The first opposite-sex person on Wen Yichen’s left.

Wen Yichen slowly turned his head to the left.

It was Jiang Muwen.

At once, a suspicious flush crept over both their ears.

With Wen Yichen’s taciturn nature, and with so many people watching, there was no way he could bring himself to do it. Besides, if his relationship with Jiang Muwen were still what it had once been, merely that of ordinary friends, he would have refused without hesitation. But now, an impossible flicker of expectation had unexpectedly taken root in his heart.

“Maybe change it?” Jiang Muwen finally said, unable to hold back any longer. In such a public setting, she was feeling rather shy as well.

Seeing that neither of them was comfortable, White Xu readily agreed. “Fine, then Brother Chen, confess to the first opposite-sex person on your left for three minutes.”

Wen Yichen: “”

Jiang Muwen: “”

With that, the tips of their ears turned redder still.

The air gradually sank into silence. Everyone waited for Wen Yichen’s confession, though they all knew in their hearts that with his personality, he would probably not squeeze out even half a word after ages of effort.

Yet contrary to everyone’s expectations, Wen Yichen cleared his throat. “Jiang Muwen.”

Just those three simple words made everyone present pause. Was this taciturn man really about to confess?

After calling Jiang Muwen’s name, Wen Yichen and the others all fell quiet on their own. They listened as he spoke from where he stood. “I’ve known you for more than ten years. At first, I only thought of you as a neighbor, as a friend, as a little sister. But slowly, I realized that maybe it wasn’t like that at all. To me, you are a special existence. I—”

When he reached the crucial point, Wen Yichen suddenly stopped, as though a fishbone had lodged in his throat and blocked the words he wanted to say.

Everyone was waiting in anticipation, Jiang Muwen included. As long as he could take that first step, she could run toward him without hesitation.

“I’d rather drink the beer.” The earlier words had come out, yet when it came to a simple “I like you,” Wen Yichen found he could not say it no matter what.

“Hah.” White Xu let out a scoff, then pulled out a can of beer and tossed it into Wen Yichen’s hands. “Useless.”

Wen Yichen’s expression remained calm, though inside he had already lost all composure. This feeling was something, from childhood to now, he seemed to be experiencing for the very first time.

Just as Wen Yichen was about to open the can, Jiang Muwen took the beer from his hand. “He can’t handle alcohol very well. I’ll drink it for him.”

After saying that, Jiang Muwen couldn’t help but glance up at Wen Yichen. “Don’t overthink it. It’s only because last time, when you got drunk, carrying you home was too tiring.”