In the first round, Qin Hai drew the Joker, and the King was Tian Gai.
Tian Gai glanced at the pile of books and said, “The sixth book from the top, page 156, start from the fifth line.”
Qin Hai pulled out the book. Zhao Zhao looked at the title and burst out laughing: “The Rich Patron is So Big, what a content-rich title.”
Qin Hai remained composed, flipping to page 165, scanning it up and down before clearing his throat, “Alright, let’s begin.”
“…dream, Li Shuang blushed deeply. He couldn’t help but glance at the person next to him, seeing that he was still asleep, his right hand couldn’t help but… His hand moved lightly, imagining the strength and speed of the person beside him… Okay, done!”
Qin Hai looked up to find everyone except Shiye staring in stunned silence.
“What? Too intense, can’t handle it?”
Zhao Zhao was speechless. Though starting off with such an explicit segment was indeed intense, what was even more shocking was how Qin Hai read it out loud with a completely deadpan and emotionless tone.
The three exchanged a knowing glance: no matter how intense, it killed the mood!
The second round started quickly. Sleepy Fox unfortunately drew the short straw. Zhao Zhao, as the King, handed a book to Fox and said, “Here you go, page 78, first line. With this page number, the two protagonists might not have even met yet. I’m being nice, right?”
Sleepy Fox was overwhelmed with gratitude. But when he opened the book and saw the content, his face turned red. He couldn’t help but look up at everyone, hesitating for a long time before stuttering through the reading: “…his gaze turned to the doorway… He saw a man in a long black robe, with slender fingers tightly gripping a staff. Tesis met his ink-black eyes…”
Sleepy Fox couldn’t continue, his face so red it looked like it might bleed. He quickly closed the book and chugged a beer.
Zhao Zhao & Tian Gai & Qin Hai: “…”
Tian Gai took the book, “No way, are you reacting this strongly? Is this book that exaggerated?”
He flipped to page 78, scanning it three times to confirm it was just the first meeting between the two protagonists, with no suggestive descriptions.
Sleepy Fox felt a bit embarrassed, “Occupational hazard, after reading the first few lines, I couldn’t help but imagine what would happen next. The more I thought about it, the more embarrassed I got…”
Zhao Zhao was speechless: “…judging by your reaction, you’ve probably played out this scene in your head many times.”
As he finished speaking, Zhao Zhao heard a light chuckle. He looked across at Shiye, raising his eyebrows. Shiye’s expression was calm, but Zhao Zhao wondered what exactly he found so funny.
Tsk, so annoying.
With that thought, Zhao Zhao resolved: you’d better not end up in my hands tonight.
With that in mind, Zhao Zhao became more energized and invested in the game. Finally, in the eighth round, Zhao Zhao drew the King, and Shiye drew the Joker.
The moment Shiye revealed his card, Zhao Zhao was overjoyed. Of course, he kept a calm demeanor: “It’s you, Master Twelve.” Shiye’s fans all called him Master Twelve, and Zhao Zhao was teasing him.
Shiye was taken aback but then smiled slightly: “Yes, it’s me, little prince.”
Shiye’s voice was a bit low, like the male idols girls always fawned over online; the hotel lighting was dim, casting a quiet filter over everything. With these two elements combined, Zhao Zhao found this annoying person surprisingly attractive when he smiled.
But thinking about how he could embarrass Shiye soon, Zhao Zhao got excited again: “Master Twelve is a great author, I need to pick a book carefully for you… this one!”
The title was interesting, called “A Dream in a Pillow,” a bit poetic, making one think of a beautiful dream. And the author — Yang Liuqing!
The pen name of Yunfei, the number one author in the romance channel, used specifically for writing explicit content. She used to be criticized for her poor bedroom scenes, so she started a separate account to practice writing those scenes. After getting good at it, she expanded to various genres. This author believed in combining spirit and flesh, with her stories under Yang Liuqing being a 50/50 split between plot and bedroom scenes, in all kinds of styles: beautiful, hot, hardcore… something for everyone. This pen name was exposed in a big reveal on the Yue Si forum, making it big news that even male authors had heard of.
Sleepy Fox was stunned: “Is there really a book by Yunfei’s pseudonym? This book can’t be published, can it?”
Tian Gai was also surprised: “I heard they brought their self-published works for autograph exchanges at this gathering…”
Looks like this isn’t a beautiful dream but a spring dream.
“Page 229, third line.” Zhao Zhao said.
Shiye was about to reach out, but Zhao Zhao held the book down: “Master Twelve, how about we make this more interesting?”
Shiye looked at Zhao Zhao, seeing the sly glint in his eye, like a cat that caught the canary. He licked his lips and said, “How so?”
“Just reading is boring, how about… reading and acting it out at the same time.”
To ensure Shiye took the bait, Zhao Zhao added, “If you can do it, I’ll cover the remaining beer; if you can’t, the beer’s on you.”
Everyone in the room understood that Zhao Zhao wanted to embarrass Shiye, and they were all ready for a show.
Zhao Zhao’s eyes were bright with excitement, while Shiye leisurely took the book from his hand, agreeing lightly: “Alright.”
He flipped to page 229, scanned it briefly, then looked up at Zhao Zhao. Then he walked to the door, tossed the book aside, and started: “He had already fallen asleep.”
Zhao Zhao was stunned, realizing this was the line from the book.
“He He let out a light breath, walked forward, and saw the person on the sofa sleeping soundly.” Shiye walked slowly from the door to Zhao Zhao, looking at him intently.
Zhao Zhao felt inexplicably nervous, swallowing and holding his breath, staring straight at Shiye. Even though they weren’t professional actors, Shiye’s natural performance made Zhao Zhao involuntarily immersed in the scene.
Shiye raised his left hand, curling his index finger as if to reach out, but then hesitated and put it down: “He He suddenly felt timid. He reached out, wanting to touch the person in front of him.”
Zhao Zhao, sitting on the sofa, looked up at him, his hand trembling slightly with Shiye’s actions.
“He He suddenly remembered the first time they met, when Yi Ming looked at him, with eyes as dark as stars, filled with curiosity and surprise. He thought, there is a world in this person’s eyes. At that time, he was too young to understand what such thoughts meant. If it were now, and he met Yi Ming again, he would definitely say—”
The room fell silent.
Qin Hai, Tian Gai, and Sleepy Fox seemed to be drawn into the story by Shiye, no one spoke; Zhao Zhao, forced to act alongside Shiye, also lost his playful attitude.
Shiye slowly bent down to Zhao Zhao’s level, seeing his reflection in his eyes.
Too close. Zhao Zhao thought, too close.
So close he could clearly see how Shiye’s lips slowly formed a gentle smile, like a movie in slow motion, every frame etched into his heart.
Zhao Zhao clenched his hand tightly, his heart inexplicably pounding.
“—I want to lock you in my eyes.”
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