Chapter Fifteen: What Are We Betting On?

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“Uh, I…”

Su Mian glanced hesitantly at Huo Beihan before finally steeling herself and voicing her thoughts.

When she finished, Lin Mu nudged the dark-faced Huo Beihan with his elbow.

“Beihan, what do you think? Should we invest?”

There was something odd about Lin Mu’s tone.

Su Mian was puzzled. Wasn’t this Lin Mu’s company? Why was he asking Huo Beihan for his opinion?

After hearing Su Mian’s explanation, Huo Beihan, however, assumed that she had come all this way to plead for Qin Yunzheng.

When he remained silent, Lin Mu did not press him.

That only deepened the confusion in Su Mian’s heart.

As the atmosphere gradually grew awkward, Su Mian asked cautiously, “Is something wrong, Big Brother?”

“Nothing. Do you know how to play dice?”

What did playing dice have to do with investment?

Though puzzled, Su Mian still nodded.

“Then how about this? If you win, we’ll invest in the Qin family.”

Su Mian looked at Lin Mu in surprise. Could business decisions really be made so casually?

“He’s right.” Lin Mu shrugged, endorsing the arrangement.

Although she had no idea why Huo Beihan had suggested this, Su Mian was delighted. She was rather skilled at dice.

The proposal could not have suited her better.

“Then let’s play a round.”

Lin Mu began the game, and Su Mian’s first opponent was Wen Jinbo.

Each player had five dice. They shook them together and opened their cups at the same time. Any die showing one was removed, while any die showing six was given to the opponent. The first person to clear all their dice won.

For those who did not understand the finer points of the game, victory depended entirely on luck.

But this group had long since mastered the technique. They could not claim to control every result perfectly, but they were virtually guaranteed to win within three rolls.

Even so, Wen Jinbo lost the first round.

He had never been particularly good at the game. His single one and four threes were defeated by Su Mian’s three sixes and two ones.

Everyone assumed it was simply a beginner’s stroke of luck, so they brought Shen Tingzhou into the game.

Compared with Huo Beihan’s icy presence, Shen Tingzhou seemed much gentler, both in temperament and in tone.

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“It’s all right if you lose. We play all the time, so it’s perfectly normal that you’re not good at it.” Aside from Huo Beihan, Shen Tingzhou was the most skilled among them. He had never lost a game.

Su Mian smiled. Moved by his kindness, she decided to go easy on him later.

The two shook their cups at the same time, stopped at the same time, and opened them together.

Everyone crowded around. When they saw that Shen Tingzhou had rolled four sixes and one four, they secretly laughed, thinking he had deliberately held back.

But when their eyes shifted to Su Mian’s dice cup, they were stunned. She had rolled two ones and three sixes. Unless her opponent could roll a six, she would win the round outright.

Unfortunately, her opponent was Shen Tingzhou.

The two became locked in a stalemate, each continuing with four dice.

A hint of admiration and surprise appeared in Shen Tingzhou’s eyes as he looked at Su Mian. He praised her without reservation. “It seems Miss Su is quite a formidable opponent.”

Su Mian naturally knew that Shen Tingzhou had deliberately rolled a four to give her an advantage, and she responded with a gracious smile.

Huo Beihan’s gaze had never left Su Mian. Seeing her smile so warmly at someone else, he felt a surge of jealousy, and his expression darkened.

The second round began. Neither side held back anymore. Just as Shen Tingzhou was about to open his cup, Huo Beihan swept out with one leg, causing the dice to shift. Four of them landed on one.

Su Mian, by contrast, had rolled four sixes.

Huo Beihan’s brief apology elicited an exasperated smile from Shen Tingzhou.

He conceded graciously. “Miss Su wins.”

Though her victory had come unexpectedly, she had won all the same.

Wen Jinbo and Lin Mu were both filled with admiration and gave her a thumbs-up.

“Su Mian, you’re incredible. How could I not have known you had a trick like that? Teach me!”

Seeing Su Mian steal the spotlight, and even watching her own brother begin favoring an outsider, Wen Jinyu grew displeased.

“Anyone could tell that Tingzhou deliberately let her win in the first round. Then he did that in the second round too. What’s there to brag about when the victory was won unfairly?”

Lin Mu glanced at Huo Beihan, recalling how he had deliberately swept his leg moments earlier. A thought began to take shape.

“If none of you are convinced, then let Beihan compete against Su Mian. Best of three.”

Huo Beihan was the most skilled of them all. One could say that he could roll whatever number he wanted.

Shen Tingzhou tried to speak up for Su Mian. “Let’s forget it. It’s embarrassing enough that so many of us are ganging up on one person. We should simply honor the wager as agreed.”

Lin Mu and Huo Beihan said nothing, seemingly determined to compete against Su Mian. After Shen Tingzhou spoke on her behalf, Huo Beihan’s expression grew even darker.

They had known one another for many years. How could they fail to understand each other’s intentions?

Of everyone present, Su Mian found Shen Tingzhou the most agreeable. It would hardly be worthwhile to cause discord between him and his brothers merely to defend her, so she smiled and said, “Mr. Shen, don’t worry. I think I’ll win.”

Her confidence even prompted Huo Beihan to join in. With a soft scoff, he asked, “And what if you lose?”

“Then we simply won’t discuss the partnership.”

Their voices carried an unusual lightness and cheer.

“And if I win, you won’t be allowed to go back on your word!”

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Lin Mu hurriedly nodded.

“Go back on our word? That doesn’t exist among us, all right?”

Su Mian looked solemnly at Huo Beihan.

Huo Beihan leaned slightly forward, already prepared. “Let’s begin.”

Seeing that Huo Beihan’s eyes were fixed entirely on Su Mian, Wen Jinyu was so furious her teeth ached.

Before Su Mian had arrived, Wen Jinyu had worked hard to engage Huo Beihan in conversation, even bringing up numerous topics she knew interested him. Yet Huo Beihan had remained cold and unresponsive.

With Su Mian, however, he seemed like a living, breathing man. Even his gaze was noticeably gentler.

“I think it’s a little dull to play this way. How about we wager something else in addition to the partnership?” Lin Mu looked at the others with a perfectly serious expression, though he was clearly plotting something mischievous.

Wen Jinbo began egging them on as well.

“Sure, let’s do it. I trust that Huo Beihan won’t lose.”

“Then aren’t you underestimating Su Mian? I think she’s very good too.”

The group chattered over one another, and the atmosphere became more harmonious than ever. Su Mian’s gaze drifted unconsciously toward Huo Beihan. Though he spoke the least, he did not seem out of place amid the clamor.

She had once thought that someone as aloof as him must hate noisy places most of all.

It seemed that people were all the same in the end. No one could truly bear the loneliness of being alone.

“What shall we wager?”

He meant: apart from the earlier bet with Su Mian, what else did they have in mind?

“Then let’s wager a wish.” A sly glint hid in Lin Mu’s eyes as he gave Huo Beihan several meaningful looks, as though saying that he had just done him another great favor.

In the past, Huo Beihan would never have agreed to such childish behavior.

But today, he actually nodded.

“Then let’s begin.”

Once the terms were settled, Su Mian sat beside Huo Beihan, while Lin Mu voluntarily moved a short distance away.

“Beihan, don’t hold back. We brothers have been beaten so thoroughly that you’re our only hope of saving face!” Lin Mu shouted from the side.

“Pathetic.” Huo Beihan uttered the two words淡ly, his expression serious.

Wen Jinyu did not know how to play dice, but she wanted to fit in with the group. While no one was paying attention, she slipped around to Huo Beihan’s other side and sat down.

Just as she was about to wrap her arms around Huo Beihan’s, he quietly shifted away.