Jia - "..."
Thankfully, the crowd had left and only the trio was left or else Mingshen’s claims would have caused a pandemonium.
"...How can you say it was rigged?"
"He wasn’t so subtle in his proximity with the croupier. Who are you fooling anyway?"
With that question, Jia felt stupid. She lacked tears to shed.
So it wasn’t my luck, after all?
Mingshen smiled. "I had so inside news about how certain gambling bets are played here."
She looked at him suspiciously. "Hang on. Even though Fei Nanyou might have had his setting with the dealer, why did he make win all the rounds?"
"Who said only he was manipulating the result?"
Mingshen gave an expressionless side glance towards Zhuo Syaoran, who smiled back at him with poise.
"Why would I manipulate the ga?"
"I never said that you were a straightforward man."
"I am a wheelchair bound person, Dr. Yang. What trickery do you expect from ?"
"How about having the croupier as a double agent? Fei Nanyou thinks that he is under his thumb but there is sobody else’s thumb too along which he dances to the tune."
Jia’s eyes slightly widened. "So you were controlling the results?"
She stared at the roulette wheel, wondering what chanism was built in to work in Zhuo Syaoran’s favor.
He smiled. "Your first four bets were too low risk. It didn’t really matter that you won. That’s pocket change for Dr. Yang."
"..."
That’s not for ...
"When I learned that it was your birthday, how could I not make you win the last round? I believe Dr. Yang knew who was really controlling the ga, so he very confidently placed the bet."
Mingshen’s gaze went abruptly cold. "I would have placed the bet nevertheless. You think a single bet could bring to the streets?"
Why is he getting offended? Jia was dumbfounded.
"Absolutely not."
Zhuo Syaoran looked back at Jia. "That was what I thought at first. But I didn’t manipulate the last result and I neither let Fei Nanyou play his trick."
She blinked twice. "Huh? You an...t-the ball really landed on 27 by chance?"
"Luck, Miss. Song. Not chance. Your birthday was indeed lucky for you," his eyes expressed a beautiful smile.
Se-seriously? She won a 35:1 probability?
Jia stared at Zhuo Syaoran with a new light. She knew she could be biased but sohow, seeing him in a wheelchair had made an impression of him form for her that was very different from what she was seeing now.
Zhuo Syaoran was playing Roulette and placing the bets with such grace and elegance that it would make even a woman bow before him. Even with Fei Nanyou’s taunts and disdain, he wasn’t letting a single needless expression appear on his face.
Jia couldn’t help but ask, "Why did you lose all the rounds on purpose?"
It was an obvious thought now that she knew that he was sohow manipulating the results. If he was in control, then he could have let himself win at least so rounds.
"But I didn’t lose."
She blinked at him.
His lips ever so slightly curved in an enigmatic smile.
"The real stakes were never on the table in the first place."
Suddenly Zhuo Syaoran’s bodyguard, Cui Shin, appeared out of nowhere. She looked at Jia and Mingshen for a mont but didn’t react much. She then held his wheelchair handles and curtly said without much expression. "It’s ti."
He smiled at Jia. "It was nice playing with you, Miss. Song."
"...I think I contributed."
"Your luck did in the last round. That was amusing. If we happen to et again later, would you like to tell you a story?" He asked with a serene smile.
"Story?"
"Yes. I have written a few children’s story books. I will be happy if you are interested in them."
She bead. "Oh that’s wonderful! I would love to. I tell my nephew and niece lots of stories. Oh, she’s the sa niece you t at the amusent park."
"...You two t at the amusent park?" Mingshen’s voice turned a notch darker.
"Just a coincidence," Zhuo Syaoran calmly answered, staring at Mingshen.
"That’s great, Miss. Song. Hope to see you soon."
"Sa here."
As Cui Shin wheeled him away, Mingshen narrowed his eyes. "So you t him at the amusent park and then at the charity event too?"
"You arrived a few seconds later or you would have t him too at the park. Why? Is there sothing wrong?"
"No."
She frowned. "I had this feeling at the hotel too. Do you two know each other from before? Don’t lie because I definitely know you do. Mr. Zhuo was also behaving a little familiarly with you though...it was a little subtle."
Jia didn’t know if it was her imagination, but she noticed the contours of his expression ever so slightly hardening. But it disappeared just as fast as it ca.
He chirped with a bright grinning face. "I don’t know about his subtleness but our kisses were far from subtle, right~?"
"..."
"So let’s continue that passionate trajectory at a place where nobody would disturb us!"
—
That place turned out to be the rooftop of The Zenith Lounge where a helicopter was waiting for them. The sun was close to setting and the blades of the helicopter whirred and rattled loudly, causing massive gusts of winds blast across Jia’s face.
"What is a helicopter doing here!?" She asked, speechless.
"What?" Mingshen leaned his ear forward.
Her voice was drowned by the loud motor and engine noises that were itching to take the flight.
She pointed at the helicopter with a dumbfounded expression as if this was what she was talking about.
He blinked and replied loudly. "It’s a helicopter! Don’t you know that?"
"..."
"Oh my, did you only see a helicopter in the movies that you don’t recognize the real deal?" He gasped in shock and pity.
"..."
I will kill him.
The helicopter pilot approached them and said, "It’s ready, Dr. Yang. You and Miss. Song can board now!"
"Why are we boarding the helicopter!?" She still couldn’t fathom.
His eyes twinkled. "Where else is an amazing place to celebrate your birthday other than the endless sky above us?"
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