Tang Yang arrived at Yixiu Media’s building and parked her car, only to realize her phone was nearly out of battery. She managed to make a call to Jiang Shiyan with the remaining power. Jiang Shiyan came down quickly, scanned his palm print to let her in, and said as they walked, “Last time you asked me to come down and get you, I told you I was on the top floor. How come… you didn’t remember?”
“That was two years ago, and why do all CEOs like to stay on the top floor?” Tang Yang asked curiously. “Don’t you think that reposting my Weibo might have been because the rain leaked into your brain from the top floor?”
“Do you know how much traffic Hui Shang gained by being associated with you those few days? Do you know how much that traffic is worth?” Jiang Shiyan held the elevator door open for Tang Yang.
Tang Yang responded with an “Oh” and said, “Then next time, just convert it to cash and deposit it into my account.”
Jiang Shiyan replied, “How vulgar.”
Tang Yang hummed and handed him the dessert box as she entered the elevator.
The express design made Tang Yang marvel at the convenience of capitalism.
Upon reaching the top floor, she had just taken a few steps towards the office following the directional signs when Jiang Shiyan asked, “Didn’t you minor in Financial Stochastic Processes during your graduate studies? I remember your signature was a Markov chain for a while.”
Jiang Shiyan spoke seriously about serious matters, and Tang Yang replied equally seriously, “Yes, I was obsessively modeling during that time, wanting to input data into programs whenever I saw it.”
“This way,” Jiang Shiyan pulled her slightly. “Then you should be able to help me with this. I didn’t pay much attention to the Stochastic Foundations class in my junior year, and now I’m being tortured to the point where my mindset is about to collapse.”
“Don’t scare me,” Tang Yang looked back at him. “My level isn’t professional. I saw on the Weibo announcement that you’re developing an APP. If you’re doing product evaluation, I still suggest finding professional talent—”
Jiang Shiyan coughed lightly, “Playing Staring Contest for 50 cents a game, I lost nearly 200 yuan in an hour.”
One second, two seconds, three seconds.
Tang Yang turned to leave.
Jiang Shiyan quickly blocked the doorway with his body spread out, “Brother Yang.”
Tang Yang reasoned, “I just came to bring you some mille-feuille.”
Jiang Shiyan blinked twice, speaking from the bottom of his heart, “Shen Chuan has a great overall view when playing games, Cheng Siran studied mathematics, and Feng Weiran specializes in big data, I was almost pinned to the ground by the three of them…”
Seeing Tang Yang’s suppressed laughter, Jiang Shiyan stood up straight and pushed her, “In the lounge, hurry up and go.”
Earlier when Jiang Shiyan went downstairs, Feng Weiran had exaggerated about Tang Yang to the others. Now, Jiang Shiyan brought her to the lounge and introduced her.
Tang Yang naturally sat down in the empty seat next to Jiang Shiyan, while Cheng Siran led the others in coughing and choking.
Tang Yang smiled and explained, “I haven’t played in a long time, I can’t be considered a savior. Please go easy on me, everyone.”
Cheng Siran and the others all played along, “We’ll go easy, we’ll go easy.”
“Why don’t you all fasten your underwear first,” Jiang Shiyan shot a contemptuous smile at the opposite side, then turned to Tang Yang with a somewhat pleading look, “If we win, it counts as Dr. Tang’s victory; if we lose, it counts as mine.”
Such a serious lineup.
“Do you want me to set up an altar and perform a blood oath with you?” Tang Yang held up a banknote and clicked her tongue, “Just 50 cents?”
Everyone laughed and winked at each other. Tang Yang’s eyes also curved into crescents. Jiang Shiyan glared at Cheng Siran and moved a bit closer to Tang Yang without care.
The card game began.
The rules of the Staring Contest are: Each player starts with five cards, and the winner of the last round draws six cards and plays first. Players can play singles, pairs, planes, or straights, but can only play in ascending order. For example, after a 3 is played, only a 4 can be played, after a 4 only a 5, and so on. Jokers and 2s can beat any card. The last person to play in each round draws a card, and the game continues until someone wins or runs out of cards.
In the first round, Tang Yang started with a pair of jokers. When Cheng Siran played the first card, she immediately beat it, drew a card to complete a straight, and won the opening round.
Jiang Shiyan, like a bus ticket seller holding a handful of small change, went around asking in a ticket seller’s tone, “Want to call me daddy?”
In the second round, everyone was down to their last card. Cheng Siran played a 3, and Tang Yang followed with a 4.
Jiang Shiyan went around again with a grin, “Want to call me grandpa?”
In the third round, Shen Chuan was the first to get down to one card. Tang Yang had the most cards left initially, but after taking a pair from Cheng Siran, Feng Weiran played a bomb, and Cheng Siran topped it. The atmosphere was tense. As Cheng Siran held his breath, about to draw a card, Tang Yang softly said, “Wait.”
Then she casually played a counter-bomb, drew a card to make a pair, and instantly finished her hand.
“Damn!” Feng Weiran folded his cards and let out a long sigh.
Cheng Siran knelt towards Tang Yang in a bowing gesture. Jiang Shiyan laughed delightedly, “Oh my, please get up quickly.”
Tang Yang pursed her lips in a smile, telling him to restrain himself. Shen Chuan kicked him on behalf of Cheng Siran.
After winning back Jiang Shiyan’s initial stake through constant doubling, Tang Yang moved the cards slightly towards him and asked, “Which one should we play this time?”
The big boss Jiang Shiyan, who had only been responsible for cheering, thought for a moment and said, “The smallest?”
Tang Yang patiently guided him, “Cheng Siran has a 4 and a 6 in his hand. If you play one, he’ll get rid of his cards—”
Cheng Siran leaned back holding his cards, “Sister Yang!”
“Yes!” Tang Yang responded with a laugh and played the highest card, an Ace, which no one could beat.
Then.
Tang Yang asked, “Should we play a straight or a single?”
Jiang Shiyan replied, “Definitely a straight, we can’t let others follow.”
Tang Yang played a single, successfully passing the turn.
And then.
Tang Yang asked patiently, “What should we play this time?”
Jiang Shiyan glanced at Tang Yang and carefully reached for a card. Tang Yang slapped the back of his hand.
Jiang Shiyan exaggeratedly cried out in pain.
Tang Yang scolded him in frustration, “The captain just played this card last round. Do you never keep track of cards or use your brain when playing?”
Cheng Siran tried to mediate, “He’s quite capable, he uses his mouth.”
Jiang Shiyan ignored Cheng Siran and shook his head pitifully at Tang Yang.
It was only then that Tang Yang noticed their distance seemed to have… shortened.
She was less than half a foot away from him, close enough to count his eyelashes. One, two, three… Then, looking slightly down, she saw herself reflected in his pupils.
She was too beautiful. Tang Yang’s throat felt slightly dry. She retorted with a “Silly look” and raised her hand to push Jiang Shiyan’s head to the side.
Tang Yang thought she was expressing disgust, but in the eyes of others, it looked like coquetry.
Jiang Shiyan was slow to react and didn’t realize it.
He only felt that Tang Yang’s hand was small, soft, and slightly cool.
Her palm was delicate to the touch. Although she had pushed his forehead, the tingling sensation slowly spread from the soles of Jiang Shiyan’s feet upwards, finally reaching the top of his head, buzzing and numb.
While shuffling the cards, Tang Yang’s ears grew slightly warm, and Jiang Shiyan, who had been chattering throughout, fell silent.
The other three looked at each other, eyebrows and eyes dancing.
Jiang Shiyan cleared his throat, “You guys have some nerve, cheating in a 50-cent game.”
The cheating Delay Dog dares to speak up?
Sorry, they could only become more brazen.
After a couple more rounds, Shen Chuan had to go to the airport, and Feng Weiran went to see him off. Cheng Siran, afraid that the two who had lost a total of ten yuan would cry from sadness, grabbed a pack of Want Want milk candies from Jiang Shiyan and followed them out.
The room that had been noisy just moments ago suddenly had only two people left.
The clock ticked “tick-tock,” the air conditioner hummed, and even the sound of each other’s breathing in the slightly warm room seemed deafeningly loud.
After several seconds.
“Um… that,” Tang Yang suppressed her pounding heart and tilted her head as if looking for something, “Did you eat the durian mille-feuille I brought you earlier?” (To continue reading, please download the app to read the latest chapters.)
As rational as Tang Yang was, she had completely forgotten that Jiang Shiyan had been by her side the whole time. How could she not know whether he had eaten or not?
Even stranger was that Jiang Shiyan also felt there was nothing wrong with her question.