Chapter 8

Chapter 8

A crowd of curious guests had gathered around the card table. During the dealing, everyone remained silent, watching to see if Fourth Master Jiang could win another round.

Nan Shuyi spotted Jiang Yicen at the card table at a glance. In front of him lay several stacks of chips, double what the others had.

His wrist rested lightly on the table, his demeanor calm and composed. To Nan Shuyi, he looked more like a well-behaved student attentively listening to a teacher’s lecture, showing none of the tension, exaggerated expressions, or shifty eyes typical of a gambler.

“Damn, busted again.”

Another player was eliminated this round. The dealer collected their cards as they lost all their chips.

Though the stakes weren’t that high, it was a matter of face. The first one out glanced at Jiang Yicen and tried to save face: “Beginner’s luck, I guess. My cards just weren’t with me today.”

Jiang Yicen had never heard that phrase before and found it amusing, so he gave a faint smile.

Now only three players remained with chips: Jiang Yicen, Cao Ken, and a bespectacled third player.

Cao Ken: “Beginner’s luck indeed, let’s continue.”

Jiang Yicen had stirred up Cao Ken’s competitive spirit. An old hand like him couldn’t lose to a newbie. He could lose to anyone, but not to Jiang Yicen—that little bastard.

In the eyes of Jiang Yiting’s friends, they largely believed that Jiang Gongming divorced Jiang Yiting’s mother because of his affair with He Nuanqing. Jiang Yiting had never bothered to explain, so everyone looked down on Jiang Yicen.

Jiang Yicen calmly pushed half the chips on the table forward as a bet: “I’ll match.”

The others, for face, also matched.

Originally, they had just been playing around, teasing Jiang Yiting’s half-brother, but now everyone was playing seriously—no one wanted to lose to Jiang Yicen.

The dealer continued dealing.

Jiang Yicen received his cards but didn’t look at them, leaving them face-down on the table.

Cao Ken lifted a corner of his card, and from his expression, he was clearly satisfied.

He tauntingly asked Jiang Yicen: “Want to continue?”

Jiang Yicen gave a slight smile: “Sure, let’s continue.”

Cao Ken couldn’t stand his calm demeanor. He felt Jiang Yicen was even more pretentious than his older brother Jiang Yiting. Annoyed, he eyed the large stacks of chips in front of Jiang Yicen.

A scheme came to mind: if Jiang Yicen lost this round, all his chips would be Cao Ken’s. His own hand this round had a high chance of winning, and Jiang Yicen still hadn’t looked at his cards—probably too scared. Cao Ken planned to embarrass him in front of everyone. The more he shows off, the harder he’ll fall, and that was exactly what Cao Ken wanted.

“Little bro, how about we make it interesting?”

Jiang Yicen had known from the start that Cao Ken meant trouble. Jiang Yiting truly treated “Jiang Yicen” coldly, using his friends to “teach him a lesson” without getting his own hands dirty.

Jiang Yicen wasn’t scared and retorted: “Oh? How so?”

Old Master Chen was a stickler for the rules, so the chip stakes on the table were limited. Cao Ken couldn’t make Jiang Yicen lose everything, but he could use another method.

He glanced at the liquor on the shelf: “See that Moutai over there? If your total isn’t bigger than mine, the loser drinks half a bottle. How about it?”

Jiang Yicen had never seen Moutai before and knew neither its value nor its proof, but he understood Cao Ken meant no good. Still, he wasn’t afraid.

He replied, as if he had no temper: “Sure, with so many witnesses here, no backing out.”

Jiang Yicen looked up and scanned the crowd, catching sight of the most familiar handsome face he’d seen in this world. It was a bit surprising, but not entirely—Old Master Chen had a wide network, so it made sense the Nan family had sent someone.

He gave a small smile in Nan Shuyi’s direction.

Cao Ken, playing the big brother, was confident he’d win: “Of course not. I was just afraid you’d chicken out.”

Jiang Yicen: “Nothing I wouldn’t dare.”

He pushed all his chips into the pot. Chips were bought with real money, after all, so he didn’t want to waste them.

Cao Ken assumed his calm was just an act and pushed in all his chips too. But he noticed Jiang Yicen still hadn’t looked at the newly dealt cards.

He asked: “Not gonna look at your cards?”

Jiang Yicen: “Nope. Let’s see if luck is on my side. Deal the cards.”

The dealer began dealing.

Standing by the table, Nan Shuyi’s frown had deepened since he arrived. He knew Cao Ken—a man with a shady reputation, a friend of Jiang Yiting, and clearly hostile toward Jiang Yicen.

Zhou Yi whispered: “Did your fiancé offend Cao Ken? What if he really loses? He won’t actually have to drink that bottle of Moutai, will he? Cao Ken’s really petty.”

Nan Shuyi: “Shush.”

He certainly didn’t want to see Jiang Yicen lose to Cao Ken, but Jiang Yicen hadn’t even revealed his cards. Did he not realize Cao Ken was setting him up? He might be thinking that guy’s a friend.

And he even smiled at him—now of all times.

The decisive moment arrived.

Cao Ken revealed his hand. Confident, he asked Jiang Yicen: “What do you say? Give up?”

The onlooking guests began to comment.

“Whoa! 18 points! Awesome!”

“Fourth Master Jiang is going to lose. Too bad.”

“If Fourth Master Jiang loses, he’ll have to drink half a bottle of liquor.”

“Old Master Chen’s Moutai isn’t cheap. No loss, no loss.”

Zhou Yi couldn’t stand it anymore and said loud enough for everyone to hear: “What’s the rush? He hasn’t shown his cards yet.”

He turned and found that Nan Shuyi had somehow moved to stand behind Jiang Yicen, clearly there to have his back.

Bro, you’ve got issues.

Jiang Yicen remained extremely calm. Just before revealing his cards, he caught a faint, cool scent—the same scent he had noticed on Nan Shuyi’s jacket. He knew Nan Shuyi was standing behind him.

He moved his fingers slightly and flipped over the face-down cards on the table. A confident, faint smile appeared on his fair, bookish face.

“Sorry, just a little bigger. 19 points.”

The smug grin on Cao Ken’s face froze. He counted the cards three times.

Cao Ken jumped up in disbelief: “How is that possible!”

Zhou Yi: “Cao Ken, you lost. Don’t forget about the Moutai. We’re all witnesses here.”

Cao Ken, so sure he’d win: “...”

Jiang Yicen reminded him of the bet he had placed: "Half a bottle."

Cao Ken: "..." He tried to weasel out of it, but when he saw Nan Shuyi standing behind Jiang Yicen, he stopped short. The other man was staring at him like a guard dog, and he had almost forgotten about the engagement between the Jiang and Nan families.

Damn it, this time he had shot himself in the foot.

Nan Shuyi didn't say much, just asked Jiang Yicen: "Want to keep playing? The banquet's about to start."

Jiang Yicen said: "I'm out."

Zhou Yi was stunned by Nan Shuyi's remark. Since when did Young Master Nan care about when someone else's banquet started? What the hell was he doing!

Jiang Yicen got up to leave the table, but Nan Shuyi stood still behind him: "Not taking the chips?"

Jiang Yicen gave a faint smile: "Of course I will."

In the old days, when his second brother played cards with others, he never had to exchange them himself—someone would always send the money over. He'd forgotten things were different here.

It was just a casual game, but he had won everyone's chips, which amounted to a decent chunk of pocket money.

The young dealer smiled and told him they could transfer the money directly: "Just give me your QR code for payment."

Jiang Yicen had no idea what a QR code was. Afraid of showing he didn't know, he said to Nan Shuyi: "Could you give him your QR code?"

Nan Shuyi didn't quite understand what he meant, but instinctively pulled out his phone and showed the QR code.

Ten thousand yuan came through on WeChat. Not a huge amount, but Nan Shuyi's heart did a little flutter: "It's mine now."

Jiang Yicen was really generous: "Sure, this is the first money I ever earned."

Nan Shuyi's lips curled visibly.

Zhou Yi watched in disbelief: This Jiang Yicen sure knew how to hook someone. It's like starting a new job and buying your partner a gift with your first paycheck.

The kicker was that Nan Shuyi bought it—he actually bought it!

The banquet was scheduled for seven in the evening. Nan Shuyi led Jiang Yicen downstairs, while Cao Ken slunk away, hoping Jiang Yicen would forget about what happened.

But even if Jiang Yicen could let it go, Nan Shuyi couldn't. He shot Zhou Yi a subtle look.

Cao Ken wasn't getting out of that bottle of liquor.

Every guest had an assigned seat. The Jiang family's table was not far from the main table, separated by two tables. Nan Shuyi was seated even closer, right next to the main table. The Chen family had actually wanted to put him at the main table, but he declined, saying he was a junior.

Jiang Yicen and Nan Shuyi were at adjacent tables. Nan Shuyi was seated directly behind Jiang Yicen, so all he had to do was turn around to see him. Surrounded by strangers, he felt incredibly reassured.

The banquet was a lively social event. Many guests came over to toast Jiang Gongming, and Jiang Yiting helped fend off some of them. Jiang Yicen had to drink several glasses of baijiu himself, but his performance at the card table earlier had earned him a bit of a name.

Halfway through the banquet, one table of young people got really rowdy.

Jiang Yicen noticed that Nan Shuyi had appeared at the most boisterous table. He was holding a bottle of baijiu, not pushing anyone to drink, but whenever Cao Ken's glass was empty, he would refill it. Not long after the banquet started, Cao Ken got drunk, made a total fool of himself, and was soon carried out by his friends.

Jiang Yicen knew Nan Shuyi was helping him out, and he couldn't waste Nan Shuyi's kindness. Besides, Jiang Yiting couldn't have been unaware of Cao Ken's character—he'd deliberately made an excuse to leave, letting Jiang Yicen face Cao Ken alone.

He probably did this just to show his dislike for "Jiang Yicen," his half-brother.

Jiang Yicen deliberately told Jiang Yiting: "Brother, your friend got drunk."

Jiang Yiting: "..."

Cao Ken getting drunk and making a scene at the Chen family's banquet would become gossip fodder.

For now, though, as the banquet entered its later stage and socializing died down, those who needed to leave had left, and those the Chen family wanted to approach had had their private talks. Jiang Gongming went to drink tea with Old Master Chen.

He Nuanqing sat with some wealthy ladies, gossiping. Jiang Yiting went to talk to his friends over Cao Ken getting drunk.

That left Jiang Yicen sitting alone at his seat, enjoying the traditional opera performance on stage.

"You understand opera?"

Nan Shuyi sat beside Jiang Yicen for a couple of minutes and found him intently listening to the opera, tapping out the rhythm on his thigh. This wasn't how you'd expect a returnee from abroad to act, nor the Jiang Yicen that Zhou Yi had described. Even Zhou Yi, the gossip king, had been behind the times on this one.

He placed a cup of hot tea beside Jiang Yicen.

Jiang Yicen turned around, picked up the tea, and took a small sip: "Not bad. Chinese traditional culture has a lot of charm."

Nan Shuyi smelled of alcohol, but so did the surroundings, and since he had also been drinking, it wasn't unpleasant.

Nan Shuyi said: "When people get older, they automatically unlock this skill."

Jiang Yicen couldn't hide his surprised expression. Given his own birth year, wouldn't that make him old too?

Jiang Yicen gazed quietly at Nan Shuyi, a smile fading from his face: "I'm pretty young."

He had been only twenty-two when he died, the same age as "Jiang Yicen." He wasn't old—it was just a difference in time periods.

Nan Shuyi thought Jiang Yicen was upset because being told he liked opera meant he had an old person's mindset.

Nan Shuyi, assuming he didn't understand, added: "I wasn't talking about you. Maybe since you lived abroad and don't follow domestic internet trends, it's not surprising you don't know this meme."

Jiang Yicen was baffled. What was a "meme" now?

Still, he was curious about this modern man: "What kind of music do you usually listen to?"

Maybe he could use Nan Shuyi as a template to learn how to be a modern person.

He did enjoy listening to opera, and also pop music, but the pop music he used to listen to had become oldies by now.

Nan Shuyi thought for a moment—nobody had ever asked him that question before: "I listen to rock, rap, and pop songs."

Jiang Yicen pressed on: "And what do you do for fun in your spare time?"

Nan Shuyi wondered whether Jiang Yicen already knew or not—after all, a quick online search would reveal his usual pastimes. Maybe Jiang Yicen wanted to hear it from him directly, or perhaps he had no idea that Nan Shuyi was quite famous online.

But he decided to keep him guessing: "You'll find out later."

Jiang Yicen looked a bit disappointed: "Alright."

Nan Shuyi, seeing his somewhat pitiful expression, softened: "I usually just hang out with friends, have a few drinks, drive around, sometimes go horseback riding at the stables. In winter I ski, in summer I surf. I can rock climb and scuba dive."

Jiang Yicen: "You're amazing."

Nan Shuyi: "What about you?"

Jiang Yicen replied in kind: "You'll find out later."

Nan Shuyi chuckled: "Fine, so that's how it is. A boomerang."

Jiang Yicen said: "Actually, I can…" He paused, about to continue, when someone intruded into their line of sight.

Jiang Gongming came over with He Nuanqing and Jiang Yiting. He was very pleased with Nan Shuyi and chatted with him about business, but Nan Shuyi had no interest in discussing that with him.

Nan Shuyi: "Uncle, just talk to my dad about it. I'm not really up to speed on the business yet."

Jiang Gongming: "Haha, no problem. I heard your father gave you two companies to play around with?"

Nan Shuyi: "That's right, just to play with for a few days. Uncle, why don't you give Yicen a couple of companies to play around with too?"

That stumped Jiang Gongming, and he gave an awkward smile: "He's got no head for business. I'll see."

Nan Shuyi really leaned into his playboy act: "Since he has no business talent, just give him some company shares then. After all, I'm a big spender and burn through cash fast."

Jiang Gongming didn't want to keep talking with him and brushed it off: "Well, it's getting late. We'll head home now. You should go home early too."

Nan Shuyi called after him, emphasizing: "Uncle, remember to give Yicen a few companies to make money and support me!"

Jiang Gongming beat a hasty retreat.

Jiang Yicen lagged a few steps behind them and cheerfully said goodbye to Nan Shuyi: "I'll go back now. See you on Saturday."

Nan Shuyi felt a faint anticipation, a smile spreading across his face: "See you on Saturday."

Saturday was the day of their wedding.