Author: 长洱 / Chang’er
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 307
Su Fengzi was an expert at provoking others.
The next moment, Wang Chao grabbed the table leg, his head against the corner of the glass table, looking as if he would bash his head in if he wasn’t allowed to switch teammates.
Lin Chen, not wanting to keep the delivery guy waiting, reluctantly said, “Fine, let’s switch. Wang Chao and I will be a team.”
Although they had to switch teammates at the last moment, they didn’t need to start the game over since Su Fengzi himself had dealt the 7 bottom cards for this round.
Lin Chen led Wang Chao downstairs.
Before leaving, Su Fengzi gave him a meaningful look.
The budget hotel had only one elevator, and 9 o’clock was the peak time for room bookings, so the elevator had to stop at every floor, and it moved slowly.
Wang Chao followed Lin Chen into the elevator, first taking a young couple to the 17th floor, then descending in the empty elevator.
His A’Chen Gege looked calm and upright, holding the cards with one hand and the other in his pocket.
The sound of the lifting motor and cables filled the space, and the metal elevator door reflected the blurry pattern on the back of the playing cards.
Wang Chao swallowed, his mind wandering.
If they exchanged cards, would they be able to guess the general suit in the Demon King’s hand, and discuss the best strategy?
However!
Wang Chao looked at Lin Chen’s serious face.
How could such an upright gentleman like his A’Chen Gege agree to such a petty trick like the Demon King?
Thinking this, Comrade Xiao Wang decided to keep quiet.
“Wang Chao…”
Lin Chen began.
“Huh?”
His A’Chen Gege eyes were full of helplessness.
Lin Chen: “You really don’t know how to be considerate of adults.”
Wang Chao was even more confused.
“I… was wrong!” He admitted quickly, though utterly bewildered.
Lin Chen continued, “Look, I specifically brought the cards down, and you did too…”
Wang Chao clenched his playing cards. “Yeah, to prevent the Demon King from peeking at our cards!”
The elevator door swung open, interrupting Lin Chen’s words.
A delivery guy in blue was waiting at the front desk, holding a bag from a well-known ice cream brand.
Wang Chao was deeply touched. “A’Chen Gege, can we finish eating before going back up?”
Lin Chen’s face showed satisfaction, so Wang Chao took the ice cream bag, sat on the windowsill, and placed the cards beside him.
Lin Chen sat next to him and put his cards down too.
The two decks of cards were very close, and Wang Chao snuck a glance; he could easily see his A’Chen Gege’s cards if he reached out.
Ah, the world is full of temptations!
Wang Chao could hardly control his desire to peek at the cards and turned his back, holding the ice cream box, too nervous to open it.
Lin Chen noticed all of Wang Chao’s small movements.
He didn’t react immediately because he was also quite shocked. His actions were so obvious, and yet Wang Chao resisted the temptation and turned away?
Comrade Xiao Wang was so upright, and Lin Chen’s own thoughts seemed so petty that he was too embarrassed to speak.
An awkward silence lasted for the time it took to eat a bowl of ice cream downstairs.
Upstairs in the family room, things were very simple.
Under the dim chandelier.
First, Xing Conglian looked up.
Then, Su Fengzi looked up.
Next, their eyes met.
Finally, they simultaneously reached out and exchanged the cards in their hands.
When Lin Chen and Wang Chao returned upstairs, everything around the card table seemed normal.
Xing Conglian snuffed out his cigarette, obviously bored, looking at the ice cream that was still on Wang Chao’s face. He said impatiently, “Did you have to sneakily eat it downstairs? What, afraid your boss is going to steal it?”
Wang Chao waved his hand and returned to his seat. “Who knows, Boss? In my eyes, that’s just the kind of person you are!”
Xing Conglian took advantage of the situation and smacked Wang Chao in the head, which was followed by Wang Chao’s howling.
Under the lamp, Su Fengzi propped up his chin with one hand, watching the antics and smiling but not speaking.
Lin Chen stood up, looking down at Xing Conglian and Su Fengzi, feeling that everything about them was forced, and the air was filled with a strange aura.
He must have been showing it quite obviously.
Su Fengzi picked up his cards and glanced at him and Wang Chao. “Even if you were memorizing cards downstairs, you didn’t have to take so long. What happened to your high IQ?”
Wang Chao’s face turned bright red. “Who was memorizing cards? Would I be as shameless as you?”
Lin Chen’s gaze shifted to Xing Conglian. Surely, he wouldn’t conspire with Su Fengzi, right?
Xing Conglian raised both hands and shouted, “Husband, you have to believe in my integrity!”
Lin Chen was speechless and sat down beside Xing Conglian.
If one could say that the previous round of cards was simply played casually, with everyone watching Su Fengzi tease Wang Chao as they played, then this round had begun with everyone mysteriously becoming serious, each harboring their own ulterior motives.
Lin Chen observed Xing Conglian and Su Fengzi’s expressions while playing his cards.
Su Fengzi flipped his cards randomly, and it was impossible to discern his emotions from his face when he drew one to play.
Xing Conglian didn’t smoke, and he held up his cards to play seriously. However, he found them too high, covering most of his face.
As for Wang Chao…
Wang Chao was calculating his cards so fast that he didn’t need any reaction time. Through their pre-arranged signals, the teenager continuously informed him of the possible remaining cards in Xing Conglian and Su Fengzi’s hands.
“Five of clubs.” In the third to last round, Xing Conglian again led with the trump card.
Lin Chen looked at Wang Chao.
If Su Fengzi and Xing Conglian scored 80 points, Lin Chen and Wang Chao would lose no matter what.
At this moment, more than halfway through the game, Su Fengzi and Xing Conglian had already scored 65 points, putting them at a great disadvantage.
The worst part was that Su Fengzi and Xing Conglian knew what their last six cards were, but they did not know theirs.
Now he had two choices: play the big king, to beat the five of clubs, or play a small card, to keep the big king for the last two rounds. He could also force out Su Fengzi’s main card, the king of clubs, but if that card was hidden in the seven bottom cards, then the big king would be tricked out, and they would lose the entire game.
Lin Chen’s fingers gently stroked the edges of the cards without looking at Su Fengzi, who was the last to play, but instead watching Xing Conglian.
“Baby, don’t hold the cards so high; I’m not so good at reading micro-expressions. Don’t worry about me seeing through your hand,” he said to Xing Conglian.
Xing Conglian shivered but did not let his guard down, swiftly putting down his cards and covering his face with his hands.
Lin Chen chuckled.
His finger slid over the card, and he played a useless card.
Su Fengzi sighed deeply; his face was filled with the sorrow of wasted efforts. “It’s just a game of cards, Shidi. You’re too cautious.”
As he spoke, he played the king of clubs, easily stabbing them.
By now, Xing Conglian and Su Fengzi had scored 75 points, and the chances of victory were diminishing.
Wang Chao’s face turned red with anxiety, and he groaned in pain, casting Lin Chen a “Why did you play that way?” look.
Lin Chen shrugged, apologetic.
“Shidi, do we need to play this card?”
At this point, Su Fengzi smiled meaningfully, flipping over his own cards to reveal the big and small kings.
As a small king had already been played, there was no doubt that Su Fengzi’s cards were the biggest.
A complete sweep!
Wang Chao’s eyes widened.
“Damn! So shameless!” Wang Chao yelled. “You hid such big cards till the end!”
As he spoke, he threw out his cards, a pair of tens.
At that moment, Su Fengzi’s face changed slightly.
But Xing Conglian didn’t realize what had happened, flipping over his card and throwing it out, his face filled with triumph.
“Shidi,” Su Fengzi began, his gaze following.
Of course, this couldn’t stop Lin Chen from turning over his card.
Under the lamp, on the transparent square table.
All eyes were focused on those two cards.
They were two bright red big kings, with the joker’s bright red smiling face particularly noticeable.
Now the situation was strange; there could only be two big kings in two decks, but at this moment, there were undoubtedly three cards lying on the table.
Time seemed to slow.
Wang Chao slammed the table, stood on his chair, and pointed at Su Fengzi, yelling, “You’re cheating! Scum!”
Su Fengzi remained calm, arms crossed, leaning back in his chair.
His eyes were cold and deep as he stared at Wang Chao.
Su Fengzi: “You’re so good at counting cards; you should have known that I probably had both the big and small kings in my hand. Why were you so shocked just now?”
Wang Chao recoiled but was not to be outdone. “I was shocked at your shamelessness; you still dare to be so fierce even though you cheated!”
“Is it not by pretending to be shocked that you clear yourselves of the suspicion of buying two decks and secretly switching the cards?”
“Are we you? It’s just a game of cards, and how do you know about buying two decks?”
Su Fengzi smiled. “That’s strange indeed…”
Lin Chen had been quietly watching, while Xing Conglian had been staring at him.
Xing Conglian: “What does Consultant Lin say?”
“Very strange.”
Xing Conglian stifled a laugh. “What’s strange?”
“Now there are only two possibilities.”
“Hmm?”
“First, you cheated. Second, we cheated.”
“Oh?”
“It seems that our going downstairs to pick up a parcel and buying a new deck is more likely, but of course, it’s not impossible that Fengzi secretly brought a new deck.”
“So?”
“So, since it’s a matter of ‘he said, she said’, this round can only be counted as your loss.”
Wang Chao nodded.
“Why?” Xing Conglian was taken aback.
“Normally,” Lin Chen said matter-of-factly, “since everyone has revealed their cards, it’s clear who’s the biggest.”
If it were Wang Chao, he would certainly jump up and retort, “Clearly, this round should be invalidated.” But the benefit of having Wang Chao as a teammate was that he was sure to keep his mouth shut now.
Su Fengzi: “Shidi is waiting for me here. Why is your competitive spirit so strong?”
Lin Chen: “Shixiong has taught me well.”
“I didn’t teach you to cheat, did I?”
“First of all, I didn’t. Secondly, there was a time when the four of us were playing cards with the teacher in the laboratory. How do you explain the 10 various point cards, big and small kings, that were found on you?”
“That was to make you understand that there’s no kinship at the poker table.” Su Fengzi sighed. “I never thought Shidi would become so shameless. You’ve grown up.”
Lin Chen still confronted Su Fengzi, neither giving an inch, and the situation was at a stalemate.
“I have an idea.” Xing Conglian raised his hand. “We can check fingerprints on the three big kings. The one without everyone’s fingerprints must be the cheated card.”
“That’s fine. In that case, why not check all the cards on the table?” Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian.
“That’s too much trouble.” Su Fengzi spoke up. “Don’t add to the police’s workload. Just check these three.” Su Fengzi pointed to the cards in front of Lin Chen.
Just then, there was a loud bang in the room.
Wang Chao knocked over the chair, glaring at Su Fengzi, grabbed his collar, and yelled, “You are shameless, utterly shameless! I’m ashamed to be associated with you!”
Xing Conglian quickly rushed to pull them apart.
Lin Chen looked at Wang Chao’s performance, astonished. This couldn’t be explained as mere exaggeration.
“What’s wrong with you?” Xing Conglian suddenly asked.
Lin Chen frowned, quickly walked over to Wang Chao, and touched his forehead.
Wang Chao began to laugh, then kicked his legs, cursing Su Fengzi.
Lin Chen suddenly remembered the way the teenager acted when he was drunk and thought this scene seemed familiar.
“I ordered a matcha strawberry double scoop, not rum flavor.” He sniffed near Wang Chao’s mouth, smelling only a faint sweet ice cream scent, making it hard to determine if Wang Chao had accidentally eaten rum-flavored ice cream.
Lin Chen began to call the delivery company, asking what they had sent.
Xing Conglian dragged Wang Chao into the side room.
The company said they would have to investigate, and Lin Chen and Xing Conglian stood by Wang Chao’s bed, watching the teenager wriggle like a caterpillar.
“You didn’t watch him eat?” Xing Conglian asked.
Lin Chen replied, “Of course not. I went to buy a new deck of cards at the time.”
Xing Conglian turned slowly, staring at him in disbelief.
Wang Chao began to act seriously drunk.
Lin Chen never thought his perfect plan to counter Su Fengzi’s cheating would be punctured by a misdelivered box of ice cream.
Su Fengzi looked annoyed. He had finally been able to catch someone to play cards, and now they were one player short. Moreover, the child had a fever, so the guests could hardly have the nerve to stay.
Su Fengzi flipped through his phone contacts, planning to find someone else to play cards with.
As he was leaving, Lin Chen escorted him to the door, with Wang Chao singing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” out of tune in the room.
“It seems a bit late, Shixiong. Would you like to stay?” Lin Chen asked politely.
Wang Chao yelled from the room, “Playing cards is fun! So much fun!”
Su Fengzi’s face was full of disdain. “Why would I stay? To play a CP for you to develop?”
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