Chapter 34: Play

Su Li finished singing a song, and Chen Xue and the others felt as if they had been granted a reprieve.

Liu Jiajia hurriedly took the microphone; she wouldn't pass it on, never again.

Chen Xue handed over a drink: "Su Li, from now on, whoever asks you to sing, you must hold your ground and absolutely do not open your mouth."

Su Li: "..."

Su Li felt a bit depressed, and Zhao Jiu sat up straight, wanting her to sit down and rest for a while.

Su Li sat over, saw Gouzi, and began straightening the cards: "Zhao Jiu, Qian Lei, continue!"

Zhao Jiu had just put down his drink can and raised his eyes; had she not tortured him enough yet?

Qian Lei shook his head: "Not playing. It's no fun playing with you two."

Zhao Jiu took the cards and began to shuffle, looking at another boy in the class. Seeing this, the boy hurriedly crowded over: "I'll do it, I'll do it!"

The three of them continued to play cards.

Su Li played against Zhao Jiu with a vengeance.

To the side, Xiao Min held her phone, watching the three people playing cards in the corner. Su Li was playing the most seriously, spending the whole time either looking at her cards or thinking about how to play them. As for Zhao Jiu, whenever it wasn't his turn, he would look at the girl opposite him; his expression was clearly helpless, yet he still accompanied her in the game.

She messaged her friend: "Forget it, they have a girl they like."

"For someone with such a straightforward mind, it's not easy to like someone."

"Ah? You want to see their photo? Wait a second, I'll take one and show you."

Xiao Min picked up her phone and took a photo of Zhao Jiu and Su Li, then sent it out.

"If nothing else, this girl is also pretty," Xiao Min messaged. There was nothing to be done if he had a partner; she wouldn't insist on having Zhao Jiu anyway.

"I just heard Dai Yu say that her grades are very good, and she will definitely be able to return to the Key Class this time."

Her friend looked at the photo and was stunned for a moment: "Isn't this Su Li?"

Xiao Min: "You know her?"

Her friend: "I know her, we were in the same middle school, but I heard from classmates at No. 1 High School that a lot of things happened in her family, and they also said she chased after her sister's boyfriend..."

Her friend was relaying gossip from No. 1 High School. Xiao Min was shocked for a moment and looked over there; Su Li had just played a card.

Zhao Jiu and the boy from their class lost again. The boy conceded: "Su Li, are you some kind of memory genius? Like the kind who knows where the cards are while shuffling."

Su Li: "How is that possible."

Zhao Jiu shuffled the cards: "She just has good luck."

Su Li nodded. Her affinity with her parents was thin, so her luck in this regard was a bit stronger, which could be considered a form of compensation.

"Do you want to play Truth or Dare?" Xiao Min suddenly suggested.

Everyone looked at her in unison. Liu Jiajia hurriedly put down the microphone: "Play, play, play!"

"What about you guys?" Xiao Min looked at Su Li and the others, her gaze much colder.

Su Li put down her cards: "That's fine too."

Xiao Min walked over and pulled eight cards from the deck they were playing with: "Whoever draws the Big Joker loses, and they must choose either Truth or Dare."

Chen Xue turned on the original recording of the music, and the group sat in a circle, excitedly preparing to start playing.

Qian Lei: "I will play against you two here even if it kills me!"

Su Li and Zhao Jiu glanced at him again.

Qian Lei: "..."

Were these two looking down on him?

Xiao Min finished shuffling the cards and spread them out on the table: "One card each."

Su Li reached her hand out, and suddenly another hand reached over at the same time. She looked and saw it was a dog's paw.

She turned her head to look at Zhao Jiu. Zhao Jiu was also stunned, then his fingertips shrank back, and he hurriedly moved toward a card next to it, picked it up, and quickly looked at the card.

The others: "???"

How did these two seem to have suddenly regressed back to the ambiguous phase?

No, that was wrong; a one-sided ambiguous phase.

They stopped paying attention to those two; paying attention to them was just torturing themselves. One by one, they each drew their cards.

Chen Xue was quite unlucky; she was the first one. She chose Dare, went out to stand at the doorway, and had to shout "Welcome" three times to people passing by.

Su Li watched her fidgeting there, seemingly having spotted someone.

She leaned her body out a bit. Zhao Jiu's position had the best view of the doorway; he was sitting with his legs crossed, watching Chen Xue complete her task, when suddenly a head leaned over and stretched outward.

Zhao Jiu's hand resting on his leg subconsciously tightened again, his gaze falling on Su Li in front of him.

At the doorway, Chen Xue revealed an expression as if the sky were falling, and she turned back to ask: "Is it too late for me to choose Truth now?"

Everyone shook their heads. She was just about to say they were cruel, when she saw Zhao Jiu looking at Su Li.

Chen Xue: "..."

At least there was still one person not laughing at her, right?

Forget it. She closed her eyes, bowed, and said rapidly: "Welcome, welcome, welcome."

After she finished, the door "clacked" shut, and she looked at the group.

"Don't blame me for being ruthless later!"

The second round came to Zhao Jiu. Zhao Jiu put down his cards: "Truth."

Su Li reached for a bottle of drink and started to drink; making Gouzi say those things was impossible.

Chen Xue gritted her teeth and asked: "Zhao Jiu, you and..."

No, no, she couldn't drag Su Li into this too, even though she was very curious about the progress between the two of them.

The group tried hard to think of a question. Zhao Jiu looked too open and honest; he didn't seem to have any secrets at all.

Chen Xue: "When was the first time you cried since you had memories?"

Su Li immediately turned her head to look at him, and Gouzi's expression changed slightly.

Zhao Jiu took a deep breath: "When I was being chased by a dog."

Su Li: "!!!"

Just as Cheng Yu had said, little Zhao Jiu was teary-eyed.

The others looked at him in shock; he looked so miserable.

Zhao Jiu reminded: "Continue."

Xiao Min was shuffling the cards, round after round, and after two rounds, Su Li picked up a card and looked at it, stunned for a moment: "Me."

Chen Xue: "It's finally your turn, Su Li, choose which one."

Su Li: "Truth, I guess."

Those who chose Dare had already lost all their dignity; she chose her face.

The others were still thinking about what to ask when Xiao Min suddenly spoke: "How did you chase Jiang Xiangnan back then?"

The whole room of people immediately looked at her in unison; Zhao Jiu's face turned cold in an instant, his sharp eyes landing on Xiao Min.

Su Li raised her eyes; she had been watching their side the whole time, and she had thought she was looking at Zhao Jiu, but it turned out she was looking at her.

Chen Xue was just about to say to change the subject; that matter with Su Li hadn't happened long ago, and now that she had finally managed to move on, the scar shouldn't be reopened.

No one knew where Xiao Min had gotten the news from.

Su Li said calmly: "Handing over water, accompanying him to play basketball, helping him buy meals at the School Cafeteria, asking for leave and doing homework, helping the people around him, and following behind him whenever I had time."

Everyone was stunned, then gasped; hearing it from others was one thing, but hearing it from the person involved was another, and besides...

Zhao Jiu was still right here!

They hurriedly looked at Zhao Jiu, only to see Zhao Jiu with his legs crossed, leaning against the sofa, his eyes staring coldly at Xiao Min, as if thinking about how to deal with her.

They breathed a sigh of relief; as long as Zhao Jiu didn't mind that Su Li had once chased a boy like that, it was fine.

Su Li put the card back and then shuffled: "If you want to ask something, just ask directly, no need to play this; my luck is okay, it's not easy for me to draw the Big Joker."

Xiao Min also realized that it had taken two rounds for everyone to finally reach her.

She asked: "Do you really like Jiang Xiangnan, or were you purely trying to snatch someone from your sister?"

Su Li spread the cards out in a row on the table: "I really liked him at that time, and at first, I didn't know he was Su Cheng's person."

Chen Xue and Liu Jiajia looked at each other; had they really guessed right?

Xiao Min was also stunned, having never considered the possibility that Su Li was unaware.

Su Li looked up: "If I said I was set up by them together, would you believe me?"

Xiao Min was already starting to feel guilty: "Pr... proof?"

Su Li: "None."

"Then how can you prove..." she started to say.

Zhao Jiu looked at the calmly speaking Su Li, remembering when they first met, how she was cautious with everyone and faced them with a smile, and he squeezed his knuckles tightly.

"Are you done being curious?" Zhao Jiu's voice was a bit deep, his raised eyes cold and black.

Xiao Min was frightened and instinctively wanted to step back: "My friend told me, I just wanted to verify it."

She was afraid they were being deceived, which was why she played, but now that she thought about it, they were all in the same High School, so they surely knew more than she did.

She suddenly felt it was unnecessary.

Su Li took her card: "This matter can't be verified because there is no evidence; it's just each side's story."

Unless the people on Jiang Xiangnan's side admitted it themselves, but that was impossible; they hated her so much and wished she would stay like that for the rest of her life, so they wouldn't clarify it.

Chen Xue: "Forget it, let's stop playing and go home."

Chen Xue was a bit angry; Xiao Min was a bit tactless.

Zhao Jiu stood up and took Su Li's wrist with one hand: "Let's go."

He pulled Su Li out, and the others hurriedly grabbed their schoolbags to leave together, leaving Xiao Min standing awkwardly in the private room; she hurriedly chased after them.

"Hey, don't be angry, I'll ask my friend to check and see if anyone knows about the past between Su Cheng and Jiang Xiangnan." Behind them, Xiao Min called out, feeling aggrieved; she just wanted to know.

Zhao Jiu pulled Su Li out to the street, while Chen Xue was still inside paying the bill.

Su Li tugged at the seemingly angry Gouzi: "What are you angry about?"

She didn't even mind anymore, and besides, if the rotten flesh isn't cut out, it will hurt for a lifetime; this time it was just right to cut it open and face it directly, so she would dare to look back on her High School days with a clear conscience in the future.

Zhao Jiu looked down at Su Li; he seemed to see the sunshine and happiness of the little Su Li from the past.

After all, the Su Li who appeared by his side ten years ago looked weak, but she had never fallen.

So how cruel must they have been to destroy her like that?

"Boss?" Su Li met Zhao Jiu's eyes; he rarely looked at her so seriously.

Zhao Jiu came back to his senses, his mood heavy, and then he pressed a hand on her head and rubbed it: "It's nothing."

Su Li: "???"

Why was Gouzi suddenly so gentle?

The last time he was this gentle was when she was robbed abroad and lost her dinner money.

Chen Xue came out from inside with the others: "Sorry, I should have let her leave from the start."

Su Li smiled: "It's fine, I don't like Jiang Xiangnan anymore anyway."

Chen Xue nodded.

Zhao Jiu picked up his phone, wanting to call the driver, but Chen Xue's cousin had already returned from outside: "Good guys, why did you finish so fast? I just went to get the cake."

Chen Xue: "Let's eat it back at school."

And so, Chen Xue's cousin, not knowing what had happened, opened the car door and sent them back to school, while the rest went to their own homes.

The group squeezed back to school, and the cousin left after dropping them off.

Su Li returned to the Girls' Dormitory together with Chen Xue and the others.

After watching them go inside, Qian Lei and Zhao Jiu walked back to the boys' dormitory; just as they stepped onto the stairs at the dormitory entrance, Jiang Xiangnan walked out holding a basketball, his gaze sweeping over them indifferently.

Zhao Jiu stood at the glass door of the dormitory building, which reflected the youth's figure; that back was aloof, with all its thorns pointed outward.

Zhao Jiu: "One-on-one? The loser listens to the winner's orders."

He turned around, watching Jiang Xiangnan, who was walking away.

Qian Lei looked at him in confusion: "Huh?"

Hearing the voice from behind, Jiang Xiangnan looked at the basketball in his hand; he didn't know who had provoked that pampered young master behind him, but he recalled that Su Li's grades had slipped because of him, and now, because of this person, her grades had risen again, so he patted the basketball in his hand.

"Fine."

Qian Lei looked at the two of them as if stunned; a one-on-one for what?

What happened all of a sudden?

Zhao Jiu walked toward Jiang Xiangnan.

Qian Lei panicked for a moment, hurriedly took out his phone, flipped through it, and discovered he didn't have Su Li's phone number, so he hurriedly called Chen Xue instead.

"It's bad! Zhao Jiu and Jiang Xiangnan are fighting."

Chen Xue was startled, then hurriedly turned her head to say to Su Li: "Jiang Xiangnan and Zhao Jiu are fighting."

Su Li was stunned at first, then let out a sigh of relief and said: "Jiang Xiangnan might not necessarily be able to hurt Zhao Jiu."

Gouzi looks refined, but actually he has learned a bit, so he won't be beaten up by Jiang Xiangnan that easily.

Chen Xue asked in confusion: "Is that so?"