Chapter 9: The Cannon Fodder in a Dogblood Novel (9)
About half an hour later.
A servant walked lightly into the living room and said respectfully to Zhou Geng, “Young Master, dinner is ready.”
The group then stopped their hands and flocked toward the dining room.
A huge crystal chandelier hung above the dining table head. Fragmented light cut diagonally across the dark marble tabletop that could seat thirty people.
Luxurious, yet slightly cold.
Shen Tangqing hadn’t seen many of the dishes on the table, but the presentation looked very good.
Shen Tangqing couldn’t help but sigh in his heart; he was living the good life inside the book!
Zhou Geng led him to sit on one side of the dining table.
Before he could eat a few bites, he saw Lin Mu, who was originally sitting diagonally opposite him, walking over with a wine glass.
He sat in the empty seat next to Shen Tangqing, twirling the goblet with his fingertips. The red wine inside swayed with fine ripples.
“Student Shen, first time dining at the Zhou house, gotta drink some wine to liven things up, right?” Lin Mu’s tone sounded polite as he grabbed the red wine from the side and started pouring into an empty glass.
The red wine slid down the glass wall, quickly filling more than half the glass. “Haven’t had a drink together yet. I toast you with this glass.”
Before Shen Tangqing could speak, Lin Mu added with a smile, “Mr. Shen wouldn’t happen to not know how to drink, right? Or do you feel my toast isn’t worthy of your eyes?”
These words carried a hint of exclusion. Several friends around also started jeering along.
Zhou Geng didn’t hear anything wrong and grinned happily. “Tang Tang, if you don’t want to drink, don’t drink. There’s juice on the side.”
Lin Mu: Speechless…
Shen Tangqing wasn’t unable to drink, but his tolerance was average.
Since Lin Mu had put it that way, Shen Tangqing naturally wouldn’t refuse the glass. Moreover, given Lin Mu’s status, Shen Tangqing couldn’t refuse either.
He picked up the wine and gave Lin Mu a polite yet distant smile. “Student Lin is too polite. I should be the one toasting you with this glass.”
Clinking glasses gently with Lin Mu.
He downed the wine in his glass in one go.
“Refreshing.” Lin Mu looked at Shen Tangqing with a faint smile. Only after Shen Tangqing placed the wine glass on the table did he slowly withdraw his gaze and down the wine in his hand as well.
Apart from this small interlude, Shen Tangqing was quite satisfied with the meal.
After all, the food was really cooked to his taste.
After eating.
Zhou Geng took them to the home version “KTV” on the third floor to sing.
It was no less luxurious than a private room in a high-end club, and the sound system quality was top-tier.
Three ring-shaped crystal lights hung from the ceiling. Warm light spilled through the cut facets, creating halos of fragmented light on the dark leather sofa and walnut coffee table.
The song selection station was an embedded touch screen. Beside it stood a row of custom speakers, black bodies with silver interfaces, looking very professional.
…
As soon as Zhou Geng entered the room, he had the servants bring up several bottles of whiskey and an ice bucket. They were preparing to play dice.
“Tang Tang, what song do you want to sing? I’ll select it for you.” Zhou Geng asked Shen Tangqing while walking toward the song selection station.
After Shen Tangqing casually named two songs he liked, Zhou Geng quickly selected them for him. “You sing. If you don’t want to sing anymore, come play dice with us.”
“Sure.” Shen Tangqing knew how to play dice.
“Brother Geng, you’re biased. Why don’t you select songs for me?” A guy with dyed yellow hair teased Zhou Geng.
Shen Tangqing only remembered his surname was Huang, and that was only because he had a head of small yellow hair. He didn’t remember what his name was.
Zhou Geng rolled his eyes at him.
“I’ll select whatever you want to sing.”
“Affection that comes too late is cheaper than grass, I’m not singing anymore. I want to play dice. Gonna drink you under the table today.”
Zhou Geng scoffed. “You’re not worthy.”
After speaking, he greeted Shen Tangqing and walked over to sit on the sofa on their side. “Come on, let’s do this. Old rules, whoever loses drinks.”
“Bring it on, who’s afraid of who.”
“Today we absolutely have to make Brother Geng leave lying down.”
“Kid, is your mouth the hardest part of your entire body?”
While Zhou Geng and the others played dice, Shen Tangqing’s song also started.
Lin Mu leaned against the sofa and glanced at him lazily. From his angle, he only saw Shen Tangqing’s beautiful profile, glowing with a soft luster under the lights.
He withdrew his gaze after just one look.
The next second,
He looked sharply at Shen Tangqing as if he had seen a ghost.
Zhou Geng and the others also looked at Shen Tangqing in unison.
The originally noisy private room instantly became “silent.” Except for Shen Tangqing who was singing, everyone else stopped talking coincidentally.
Shen Tangqing’s speaking voice was very pleasant usually. logically speaking, his singing shouldn’t be too bad. Even if he wasn’t a karaoke king, it shouldn’t be too ugly to listen to.
But how did he manage to precisely go off-key on every single note?
Two words to describe it: Sounds bad.
Three words to describe it: Sounds so bad.
Listening to it made them put on masks of agony.
Especially Lin Mu, who was already sitting on the sofa doubting life.
His mind was full of: Who am I? Where am I? Why am I sitting here suffering this torture?
If I have committed a crime, please let the law punish me, not let Shen Tangqing torture me with his singing!
But Shen Tangqing didn’t notice he was singing terribly at all. He sang alone, devoted and self-absorbed.
When the song ended,
The people in the room let out a long sigh of relief.
But the next second, the melody of the second song rang out—
Little Yellow Hair winked at Zhou Geng.
Lin Mu also looked at Zhou Geng with a cold face, the meaning couldn’t be more obvious.
Zhou Geng: “…”
He stood up, a deliberate smile appearing on his face.
“Tang Tang, stop singing for now. Come play a few rounds of dice together. It’s fun with more people.”
“Ah, right, more people is fun,” the slightly chubby guy sitting next to Little Yellow Hair echoed.
Everyone else also agreed to let Shen Tangqing play dice and stop poisoning their ears.
Shen Tangqing originally wanted to sing a few more songs, but unable to withstand their enthusiasm, he put down the microphone and walked over. He sat next to Zhou Geng; on the other side was Lin Mu.
He smiled and asked Zhou Geng, “How was my singing?”
Zhou Geng: “…”
“Sang very well.”
Zhou Geng praised against his conscience, then silently added in his heart: [Don’t sing next time].
Lin Mu beside them couldn’t hold back a scoff.
Shen Tangqing turned his head to look at him, his expression somewhat innocent. “What are you laughing at?”
Lin Mu’s gaze crashed unprepared into Shen Tangqing’s eyes. He was stunned for a moment.
After reacting, he frowned in annoyance.
He wanted to tell Shen Tangqing that he really sang terribly, but the words reached his lips and were swallowed back in the end. He looked away uncomfortably. “Nothing. Remembered my cat gave birth, a bit happy.”
Shen Tangqing: “…”
Zhou Geng smoothed things over from the side. “Forget the cat. Come come come, play dice.”
Shen Tangqing felt he was very unlucky, and also felt Lin Mu was targeting him.
Every round, Lin Mu challenged him.
Seven people. He called five fours and Lin Mu challenged him. Isn’t that idiocy? The key is, a group of people couldn’t produce five fours?
Really quite speechless.
He didn’t know exactly how many cups he had drunk, anyway, it was quite a lot.
The alcohol hit fast. Shen Tangqing’s eyes gradually became hazy, his cheeks flushed red like ripe cherries, and even his ear tips were pink.
He had been sitting fairly upright originally. Now his shoulders slumped slightly. His fingertips pinched the dice box, his knuckles glowing pale pink.
When he occasionally looked up, the redness at the tails of his eyes spread out like it was dipped in rouge. Even his gaze was soft and sticky.
Lin Mu was just preparing to challenge him when he looked up and crashed into such a gaze.
The other party had obviously drunk too much.
There was a confused mist in his eyes. His lips were moist from the wine. When pursed lightly, they unexpectedly exuded an indescribable allure.
Lin Mu’s movements paused.
He felt he might have drunk too much too, otherwise why did his heart seem to skip a beat looking at Shen Tangqing?
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