Chapter 23: What If I

Ling Wu was feeling a bit bored with the game; he planned to drink that cup of oolong peach ice tea and then find an excuse to slip away.

In the fourth round of Truth or Dare, he held a King of Clubs, while the Little Joker was in Shen Zhaojue's hand; he pointed at a card: "Ace of Hearts."

"Luckily, it's not me."

"Not me either."

"Who has the Ace of Hearts this round?"

Bai Yinan raised his hand weakly: "It's me."

Shen Zhaojue: "Truth or Dare?"

Bai Yinan rolled his eyes: "Dare, I'm a bit tired of Truth every time."

Hearing him choose Dare, Shen Zhaojue curled his lips into a smile, his gaze fixed on Bai Yinan and Ling Wu, sticky like a venomous snake hiding in the shadows, his tongue tip pressing against the side of his cheek: "Alright then, why don't you give Ling Wu a French kiss for 30 seconds, how about that?"

Yu Shixue and the others sitting in the center had different expressions; some just raised their eyebrows slightly, intending to watch the show without intervening.

The people in the private room started to jeer again:

"Whoa!"

"Kiss, kiss!"

"Ling Wu is so good-looking, Bai Yinan is quite lucky too."

"If you ask me, Shen Zhaojue really knows how to play."

"......."

Ling Wu frowned: "I didn't say I agreed."

He disliked people making decisions for him without permission, so his attitude was firm; his voice was already cold and clear, and when he lowered his tone, it sounded like he was keeping everyone at a distance.

Seeing his reluctance, Bai Yinan hesitated in his eyes, while Shen Zhaojue leaned toward him, affectionately draping an arm over his shoulder, whispering with a perverse sense of humor: "You like Ling Wu, right?"

"This is a reward from me to you; you might not get this chance again in the future, what are you hesitating for?"

Originally, Bai Yinan was still wavering, not wanting to force anyone, but looking at Ling Wu's beautiful face, he instantly agreed with Shen Zhaojue's words.

Shen Zhaojue held the card between his fingertips and then said slowly: "Ling Wu, don't blame me for not warning you; refusing to participate in the game means a self-imposed penalty of three cups of wine. Can you drink them?"

There was undisguised mockery in his eyes.

Jin Shaoyu took the cigarette from his lips, his gaze sweeping over Ling Wu opposite him through the thin smoke; the curve of his lips was mocking and cynical, his eyes contemptuous with a hint of coldness as if watching a play.

No one is willing to help you this time.

What can you do?

The colorful lights shrouded the enclosed private room like a fog; Ling Wu's cold and clean temperament emanated from his very bones, and every inch of his exposed skin glowed with an ambiguous, alluring luster.

Everyone's gaze fell on him in unison, a predicament quite like a lost little lamb encountering a big bad wolf.

It was as if he was the one being ungrateful if he refused.

Shen Zhaojue knew he liked Jing Du and was still brooding over what happened last time, so he was deliberately trying to humiliate him in front of so many people.

Ling Wu did not compromise, his attitude toward him not exactly friendly: "I can't drink the wine, and I can't play the game."

"Find someone else."

This was clearly not a tone for negotiation.

"Heh."

Jing Du laughed; he really hadn't expected that beneath Ling Wu's gentle and fragile appearance, he actually hid such pride and thorns.

Anyone who tries to pick a rose with their hands will be cut by the thorns.

"Knock knock!"

The door opened, and a waiter carrying a tray walked in; he had a slim waist and long legs, his steps a bit hurried, and he lowered his head to place the cup of oolong peach ice tea on the table, the glass making a crisp sound as it collided with the marble tabletop.

Some spilled halfway, and as luck would have it, it wet Jing Du's shoes.

Jing Du's movement of holding his cigarette paused, his tone very cold: "Are you in a rush to go get reincarnated?"

The waiter kept his head down, revealing only a beautiful stretch of his neck: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Ling Wu saw the bullet comments starting to scroll by again:

【Ahhh... finally waited for this plot point!】

【Next is Jing Du looking for trouble, then baby Ming Tan absolutely refusing to bow to capitalism, arguing based on reason, and finally, relying on his stubborn and clear-headed image, standing out from a crowd of white lotuses, successfully making the F4 take an interest in him】

【Ming Tan's waist is so thin, his legs are so long, *hiss hiss*】

【It really is an old-fashioned dog-blood Mary Sue novel; there's no one like this, with the law that if you carry water you must spill it, and it just has to spill on the protagonist. The table is so wide, yet he just had to pick one he couldn't afford to offend to spill it on】

【If this water had spilled on a supporting male character, it wouldn't be such a big deal; anyway, he's just a Cannon Fodder】

【If they annoyed the F4, they'd get a red card, right? Too scary】

Protagonist shou?

Ming Tan.

Why is he here too?

Ling Wu only learned from the bullet comments that Qi Yu and Ming Tan met in the Slums; when they were young, Ming Tan had saved Qi Yu's life, and they were very good playmates.

After starting middle school, the two went their separate ways until they reunited at Sike Academy in college; the two started contacting each other again and would take advantage of their break times to work part-time, holding several jobs, and Qi Yu and Ming Tan were waiters at WiltedMirage, where the pay was very high.

Intuition told Ling Wu that anything involving the word "protagonist" was never a good thing.

He put his phone away to avoid further injury and was just about to slip away during the chaos when he was grabbed by the wrist by a cold hand and pulled back hard.

Ling Wu fell back into the sofa, meeting Yu Shixue's eyes, having the illusion of being seen through; the other party held his shoulder with one hand: "Running off to where?"

"Sit still."

Ling Wu understood; this meant they intended to make things difficult for him after they were done with Ming Tan.

Perhaps afraid he would run away, Yu Shixue sat deliberately close to him, their thighs almost touching, and he could feel the heat from the other person through the thin fabric.

Ling Wu didn't notice these minor details, because... the harassment of the protagonist shou had begun.

Jing Du: "If apologies were useful, what would we need the police for?"

Ming Tan clearly had not yet realized the severity of the problem: "I will wipe it clean for you."

"Wipe?"

A chorus of mocking laughter erupted all around.

"Little waiter, do you not know that some leather cannot be touched by water?"

"Where did this mongrel come from?"

"Why does WiltedMirage even hire people like this as waiters? It really ruins my mood just looking at them."

"Even if you sold yourself, you couldn't afford to pay for it. Do you know how much it costs?"

The private room Yin Huaiyu booked was on the ninth floor; originally, WiltedMirage had specially trained waiters responsible for this floor, but today they were short-handed, and several people had asked for leave.

The manager thought it was just a simple matter of delivering drinks, and seeing that Ming Tan was good-looking, had them fill in.

Jing Du used the tip of his shoe to lift his chin, brooking no argument: "Lick it clean."

Blatant humiliation.

But for someone like Jing Du, born at the very top of the pyramid and accustomed to enjoying sunlight and applause, he naturally assumed that ordinary people were born to be servile to him.

He did not think there was anything wrong with this.

Just like at this moment, he could trample someone else's dignity under his feet without any psychological burden.

Wei Ranxu saw his face clearly and found it even more interesting: "Yo, it's our new Special Student who transferred into Class A."

"No wonder there's such a stench of poverty on them."