Shine on Me

After staying a night at my uncle's place, I returned to A University because my thesis was almost overdue.

The title of my graduation thesis was "Analysis of Oligopoly in the Network Economy." To be honest, I still had no clue what the topic was about. I had spent March fooling around at the internship firm without writing a single word of the thesis. Only now did I start panicking. After a stern warning from my advisor over the phone, I became even more frantic and spent several days holed up in the library.

I was searching for materials in the library when Xiaofeng texted me. But upon seeing the message—"Ximo Pavilion, three players short"—I hurriedly borrowed a few reference books and rushed over enthusiastically to save the day.

Among soon-to-graduate seniors, playing "Shengji" (a popular Chinese card game) was definitely one of the most popular pastimes. Out of the six people in our dorm, Rong Rong didn’t know how to play, Xiaofeng and I had just learned, while the other three were hardcore card enthusiasts.

When I excitedly arrived at Ximo Pavilion, the first thing I saw was Zhuang Xu’s back. Rong Rong was sitting beside him, watching the game. Hearing my footsteps, she turned around.

"Xiguang, you’re here."

"Yeah," I nodded, slowing my pace.

If they had already started playing, why call me over?

Xiaofeng looked up and shouted, "Watermelon, Watermelon, come quick and help me figure out how to play this hand!"

I walked behind her and glanced at her cards. A terrible hand—utterly hopeless. "Just play whatever," I said.

There was no saving it anyway.

Sure enough, Xiaofeng and Siliang suffered a crushing defeat that round. Zhuang Xu remained indifferent, but his partner—our dorm leader—was overjoyed. Grinning while shuffling, she asked me, "Why’d you come?"

I was annoyed. "You guys called me here, remember?"

Xiaofeng sheepishly admitted, "Sorry, Watermelon. Right after I texted you, Rong Rong and Zhuang Xu showed up, so we started without you."

"It’s fine. Just treat me to spicy hotpot tonight. I’ll go back to the dorm to drop off these books first."

As Xiaofeng protested loudly, I turned to leave. But then the dorm leader answered a phone call and exclaimed, "That old geezer! Calling me to his office now, of all times! I was on a winning streak!"

"Who was it?" Siliang asked.

"The Mediterranean." That was our affectionate nickname for the balding department head.

The dorm leader tossed her cards aside, glanced at me, then at Rong Rong, hesitating before saying, "Rong Rong, take over for me."

Rong Rong shook her head, smiling. "You know I don’t know how."

The dorm leader chuckled, then immediately switched to a stern, commanding tone when she turned to me. "Watermelon, take over. Win, no losses allowed!"

...Partnering with Zhuang Xu?

I froze. Before I could respond, Siliang scoffed, "Yeah right, with her card skills?"

I had only learned to play "Eighty Points" after moving back into the dorm in the first semester of senior year. My skills were on par with Xiaofeng’s—both of us were hopeless. Anyone partnered with me would suffer, especially hot-tempered types like the dorm leader, who would nag endlessly whenever I misplayed.

Was Zhuang Xu’s temper that bad?

Dragged into the seat by the dorm leader, I shuffled and drew my cards.

The first hand I took over was mine to bury the kitty.I was most afraid of burying points—not burying them meant risking getting caught, but burying them risked someone flipping the bottom. Luckily, my hand was really good—tons of jokers, strong side cards, and even consecutive pairs. Heh, I gleefully buried my cards, hiding all the points underneath.

My hand was just too good, and Zhuang Xu played along perfectly. Xiaofeng and Siliang barely stood a chance. Xiaofeng was howling in defeat, while Siliang grumbled under her breath.

The rounds went by quickly. I only had three cards left—basically a clean sweep. I sighed in relief. At least I wouldn’t embarrass myself in front of Zhuang Xu again. Heaven was on my side.

Then Siliang suddenly shouted, “Wait, how many cards do you have left?”

“Three.”

“Why do we all still have four?”

…

Zhuang Xu reached out and counted the buried cards in the center of the table before looking up. “You buried nine cards.”

Xiaofeng and Siliang burst into laughter, throwing their cards down. “Automatic demotion! Automatic demotion!”

Even Zhuang Xu gave a faint smile, deftly shuffling the cards. “Be more careful next time.”

I thought I’d at least get a cold glare, if not a scolding. But he seemed to be in a good mood. Did my mistake really have such comedic value?

The next round, everyone’s hands were mediocre. I paid close attention to Zhuang Xu’s moves and barely managed to stay in the game.

From then on, I played cautiously, watching Xiaofeng and Siliang’s moves, analyzing Zhuang Xu’s playstyle… It was the first time playing cards felt so exhausting. Before, I’d always blamed bad hands for my losses, rarely bothering to calculate carefully.

Just as we were about to clear the Ace round, Xiaofeng gave up with a huff. “Hey! You two are way too in sync.”

It was such an innocuous remark, yet my heart skipped a beat. Instinctively, I glanced at Zhuang Xu. He was focused on organizing his cards, a faint smile flickering at the corner of his lips before vanishing.

We smoothly swept the Ace round. Siliang tossed her cards aside. “No more. You’re treating us to dinner!”

“Huh? Why us?” Shouldn’t the losers be the ones paying? That’d make more sense.

“We agreed before the game—the winners treat everyone to rice bowls,” Siliang snickered. “Ask the boss if you don’t believe me. Zhuang Xu knows too.”

I groaned, turning to Zhuang Xu. “Then why did you play so seriously? You could’ve told me. I can’t guarantee a win, but losing is definitely within my grasp.”

Zhuang Xu smiled slightly. “Cheating isn’t good.”

…Was he joking? I shot Rong Rong a doubtful look. She was smiling too—seemed both of them were in high spirits today. They must’ve had fun yesterday.

Actually, this was fine. Like this, just joking around and playing cards as ordinary friends… it wasn’t bad at all.

Even if we couldn’t be more than friends… it was fine.

“Hey, no need to look so down. What’s with that face?” Xiaofeng scoffed. “Rich girl, don’t be so stingy. Besides, you won the game—spiritual satisfaction calls for material sacrifice to balance it out.”

But I was spiritually crushed, and now my wallet was getting robbed too?

Grumbling all the way, we headed to Lao Lin’s Rice Bowls. I ordered spicy stir-fried pork with dried tofu. Xiaofeng teased, “Xiguang, you always go for meat. Too much carnality, huh.”

Carnality…

Pfft!

I was drinking water and nearly choked, coughing uncontrollably. Seriously, there are guys here!

Xiaofeng looked utterly innocent. Siliang smacked her and asked, “Xiguang, have you settled on a job yet?”"Yeah," I nodded. "It's the accounting firm where I did my internship."

"Arranged by your family?"

"Yep."

"In Wuxi?" Surprisingly, it was Zhuang Xu who asked this.

I nodded again.

"Lucky you," Xiaofeng sighed dramatically.

"You're the lucky one, barely scraping into East China University of Political Science and Law," I glared at her. "Besides, accounting firms are exhausting. I heard during busy seasons you have to work until 3 a.m., and the starting salary is really low."

The restaurant was filled with the aroma of food, making my mouth water. I turned to check if my twice-cooked pork was ready, but just as I did, I heard Zhuang Xu's cold voice.

"If you're not satisfied, go find your own job. What's the point of being picky about work that's handed to you?"