Chapter 8: The Cannon Fodder in a Dogblood Novel (8)
Shen Tangqing followed Zhou Shuli toward the elevator. The sensor lights in the garage lit up with their footsteps.
The warm light reflected on Zhou Shuli’s crisp suit, yet it couldn’t disperse the coldness about him that kept people a thousand miles away.
He walked very steadily, the distance of every step almost identical. Even the arc of his gloved hands hanging by his sides maintained a regular curve, like a programmed elite template.
The elevator doors opened. Zhou Shuli turned sideways to let him enter first. When his fingertips pressed the floor button, the glove brushed against the metal button, making a slight click.
Although Shen Tangqing was very curious why those hands were wearing gloves in this weather, he restrained himself from speculating. After all, prying into other people’s privacy was too presumptuous.
Ding—The elevator reached the first floor.
As soon as the doors opened, the noise inside, wrapped in the faint scent of red wine, surged out.
Zhou Geng’s voice was mixed within it.
Seeing Shen Tangqing arrive, he started shouting from far away.
“Tang Tang! You’re finally here!”
Shen Tangqing had only taken a few steps out of the elevator when Zhou Geng smiled and pounced over, hooking his arm around his shoulder.
Zhou Geng smelled faintly of red wine, completely different from the cold aura on Zhou Shuli.
“Sorry, Tang Tang. I was so entangled by them I couldn’t get away to pick you up. Don’t be mad at me. By the way, didn’t you like that new game console from CFN? I’ll buy it and send it to you tomorrow.”
“No need. How could I be mad at you? Besides, didn’t you ask Brother Zhou to pick me up?”
Shen Tangqing curved his eyes at Zhou Geng, rejecting the offer without a second thought.
“Good that you’re not mad. I was really helpless against their pestering,” Zhou Geng said with a tone of complaint and helplessness.
After a few seconds, he turned to look at Zhou Shuli, his tone instantly becoming more restrained. “Brother, thanks.”
Zhou Shuli only gave a faint “Mn.”
His gaze swept indiscernibly over Shen Tangqing’s shoulder, which was hooked by Zhou Geng. He didn’t say much, just dropping a sentence:
“I have things to do, going upstairs first. Don’t call me for dinner, I’m not hungry.” After saying that, he turned and walked toward the stairs, even his back exuding detachment.
Shen Tangqing glanced at Zhou Shuli before being pulled toward the living room by Zhou Geng.
“Don’t mind my brother. He’s just like that, born without expressions,” Zhou Geng whispered in his ear. “By the way, you came all the way here with him, didn’t feel oppressed, did you?”
“It was okay.” Shen Tangqing shook his head.
“Lin Mu and the others are playing board games. Want to join?” Zhou Geng asked him.
Lin Mu was Zhou Geng’s childhood friend. Shen Tangqing had met him once, but he felt Lin Mu didn’t like him very much. He spoke sarcastically, and the look in his eyes wasn’t exactly friendly.
“No thanks, I don’t really know how to play.”
“I’ll teach you, it’s very simple.”
“Don’t want to play. I’ll just watch you play.”
Seeing that Shen Tangqing really wasn’t interested, Zhou Geng didn’t persuade him further. “Then after we finish eating later, let’s go sing?” The Zhou family had a private cinema and a specialized place for karaoke.
“Sure!” Although Shen Tangqing didn’t sing well, he quite loved singing.
On the sofa over there, Lin Mu had a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Leaning lazily against the sofa, he glanced at Shen Tangqing without the slightest intention of greeting him. He looked down on Shen Tangqing.
Zhou Geng was a fool, but he wasn’t.
Before even meeting Shen Tangqing, he had investigated Shen Tangqing’s background thoroughly: an illegitimate child with an unknown father, bullies the weak, vain.
He hadn’t known Zhou Geng for long, yet he had already coaxed Zhou Geng into spending nearly a million on him. Although the money wasn’t much, it made Lin Mu feel that Shen Tangqing was just after Zhou Geng’s money.
Although he was indeed beautiful, he was too shallow and unpresentable.
He advised Zhou Geng not to get too deep with Shen Tangqing, but Zhou Geng wouldn’t listen and even threw a tantrum at him.
Lin Mu saw things clearly.
If Shen Tangqing was just after money, he couldn’t be bothered to care. After all, that silly roe deer Zhou Geng didn’t lack money.
But if Shen Tangqing dared to have other ideas, don’t blame him for being impolite.
Zhou Geng introduced Shen Tangqing to several other friends. After a round of greetings, Zhou Geng pulled Shen Tangqing to sit beside him while he continued playing cards with those friends.
Lin Mu held the cigarette between his fingers. He didn’t smoke, just letting that point of scarlet flicker in the warm yellow light.
He looked up and swept his eyes over Shen Tangqing. His gaze landed on the shirt the other was wearing—it looked refreshing but was obviously not haute couture.
His brow raised imperceptibly, and a very light scoff spilled from his throat, fast enough to seem like an illusion.
Someone next to him leaned over to talk, voice playful.
“Brother Mu, not gonna say hi to the new friend Zhou Geng brought?”
Lin Mu didn’t move. His fingertips twirled the cigarette leisurely, ash falling softly into the crystal ashtray. His movements were lazy but exuded a careless nobility.
“No need,” he said flatly. The tail of his tone carried a trace of imperceptible coldness, but he didn’t say anything nasty after all—
He ultimately had to give Zhou Geng some face.
With that, he lifted his hand and brought the cigarette to his lips. With a click of the lighter, a pale blue flame leaped up, reflecting the carelessness at the corner of his eye even more clearly.
Taking a drag, he slowly exhaled a smoke ring before turning his head to look at the card table. Pinching the Ace of Spades, he tapped the tabletop casually.
“Your turn. Playing or not? Dilly-dallying like that broken horse you keep at the club.”
Zhou Geng was explaining the rules of the board game to Shen Tangqing. Hearing Lin Mu’s shout, he came back to his senses.
He clicked his tongue: “Don’t bring that up. Didn’t you choose that horse for me to raise? Terrible taste.”
After speaking, he raised an eyebrow at Lin Mu. “Loser brushes the horse for a week, same old rules?”
“Bet accepted, loss accepted.” Lin Mu hooked his lips, finally showing a semblance of a smile. His gaze swept over Shen Tangqing beside Zhou Geng. The next second, he threw the cards in his hand onto the table. “Straight flush. You lose.”
“Holy sh*t, is your luck that top-tier?”
People around laughed and jeered, but Lin Mu didn’t look overly proud. He just lifted his hand and extinguished the cigarette in the ashtray, his movements sharp and revealing a familiar young master air.
“My luck has always been better than yours.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed Shen Tangqing taking small sips from a water glass, unable to let loose. His heart felt even more disdainful—
Nothing but a beautiful face. Can’t even drink water openly. Truly unpresentable.
Suddenly, slight footsteps came from the staircase.
Shen Tangqing looked up and saw Zhou Shuli walking down holding a water glass.
Different from his previous suit, he had changed into light gray loungewear. He looked less sharp and a bit more gentle.
The black gloves on his hands had been removed, revealing a pair of hands with distinct joints. Perhaps due to rarely seeing sunlight, his skin tone was somewhat pale.
His slender fingers gripped the glass wall. It was pleasing to look at, like a hand model’s.
Probably sensing Shen Tangqing’s gaze, Zhou Shuli’s footsteps paused. He glanced at him without speaking, calmly withdrew his gaze, and turned into the kitchen.
Two or three minutes later, he came out with the glass.
This time, he didn’t look in Shen Tangqing’s direction. He went straight upstairs, leaving only a cold and distant back.
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