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Chapter 69: “I’m fine, I’m catching stars.”
After being forcibly expelled from the broadcast room, Shen Ti was bored and wandered around the lobby with Nan Shan. They discovered a champagne tower in the restaurant on the second floor and carefully took a cup to drink.
Nan Shan attempted to intervene, “Mr. Shen…”
“Mm, this is really good,” Shen Ti pulled Nan Shan over, encouraging him, “Want some? You don’t have to abstain from alcohol, right?”
“Oh, I don’t have to…”
“Well, that’s great. Come on.”
So Nan Shan and Shen Ti happily stood shoulder to shoulder by the champagne tower, drinking together; their movements were surprisingly synchronized, like two large dogs frolicking without their owners.
Champagne didn’t intoxicate them, and after a few cups, they didn’t feel much. Nan Shan put down his glass and turned his head, “Mr. Shen, should we go find Mr. An and the others?”
“Yes.” Shen Ti also put down his glass, ready to go. After a few steps, he turned to Nan Shan and said, “Don’t call me Mr. Shen anymore; it feels weird. Just call me Shen Ti.”
Nan Shan rolled up his sleeves and nodded, “Okay.”
After Shen Ti finished speaking, he remembered something, “But about…”
Nan Shan raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.
“An Wujiu, just call him Mr. An,” Shen Ti casually suggested as he tucked his hands into his pockets. “He doesn’t mind.”
Every time the name “Wujiu” was mentioned, Shen Ti couldn’t help but feel a bit uncomfortable. It seemed more natural for Nan Shan to call him Mr. An.
And surely An Wujiu would feel more comfortable that way too.
The two of them left the restaurant and headed toward the third floor. They had also come out of a room on the third floor before, thinking that An Wujiu and the others should be there. Along the way, they encountered many service and guard personnel standing by the doors, who were all NPCs in the game.
“Oh, right.” Nan Shan asked Shen Ti, “What about… how does Wu You like others to address him?”
Shen Ti’s mind clicked, and he chuckled.
“You’ve asked the right person,” he said earnestly. “Don’t be fooled by that kid always wearing a poker face. He actually loves it when people call him Xiao You; even the AI in his spacecraft calls him Xiao You. Or you can call him You You. You You sound cute and special, right?”
As he spoke, Shen Ti stared at Nan Shan until he was sure he had successfully tricked him.
“You You…” Nan Shan didn’t feel entirely comfortable, but he agreed with Shen Ti’s description of “cute” and “special.”
As they approached the stairs, Shen Ti suddenly paused, as if he had heard something. Nan Shan glanced at him, thinking that if Shen Ti had ears like a cat or a dog that stood up, they would probably be twitching incessantly at this moment.
“What’s wrong?”
“Shh.”
Nan Shan watched as Shen Ti gestured to him, then lunged forward and tackled someone who had just turned the corner.
He really looked like an animal, nothing like a human.
Although Nan Shan didn’t get a clear look at the person’s face, he could only assume it was An Wujiu.
Shen Ti’s arm was wrapped around An Wujiu’s waist, providing support, while his other hand was behind his head. Nan Shan found it strange how Shen Ti managed to execute such a perfect posture in an instant after lunging forward.
As An Wujiu was knocked down by the impact, he felt his metallic bones vibrating throughout his body.
Perhaps in sync with the impact, his breath seemed to pause momentarily when he realized it was Shen Ti.
Shen Ti pressed down on him without any reservation, his hot face buried in An Wujiu’s neck as he nuzzled against it, causing An Wujiu to feel a jolt of electricity running through his body, making him slightly flustered. He didn’t know why he was feeling flustered; he had never been flustered, even in life-or-death situations.
“Are you okay?” An Wujiu didn’t push Shen Ti away but instead moved his arms around to his back. Only after the others who had been in the room with them had left did he raise his hand to lightly pat Shen Ti’s back.
“I’m fine; I’m catching stars, my star…” Shen Ti’s head remained buried in An Wujiu’s shoulder, a faint scent of alcohol mixing with his own scent surrounding An Wujiu. “Tired, want to sleep…”
Nan Shan glanced at Wu You, then at the others, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
“Sorry, I couldn’t stop him,” he said to Wu You.
Wu You didn’t know why Nan Shan was apologizing to him, but he wasn’t surprised at all, not even slightly perturbed. “It’s okay; no one can stop him.”
Though only sixteen, Wu You felt as if he had already endured a lifetime’s worth of heartache.
“Let’s help him up first.” Wu You gave Nan Shan a nod, and together they exerted effort to pull Shen Ti up, finally freeing An Wujiu.
As he stood up, about to straighten his wrinkled clothes, Shen Ti leaned into him again, boneless, nearly toppling onto An Wujiu.
“Can’t stand…”
An Wujiu instinctively felt that Shen Ti wasn’t drunk; after all, he was the type of person who could easily survive a whole night in an underground club without a hitch. So An Wujiu reached out his arm to support Shen Ti, casting a glance at Nan Shan.
Nan Shan, who had been fine moments ago, retreated behind Wu You with guilty eyes, clasping his hands together.
Indeed, he had been deceived.
An Wujiu originally intended to expose Shen Ti, but suddenly a mischievous thought popped into his head.
Why not fight fire with fire?
Shen Ti leaned against An Wujiu, feeling immensely pleased when An Wujiu embraced him.
“Are you so drunk?”
An Wujiu’s hand reached out before Shen Ti could react, the cool touch brushing against Shen Ti’s cheek.
Looking into his eyes, Shen Ti was completely stunned.
“You’re burning up. Drinking this much, aren’t you afraid of something happening?” An Wujiu cradled Shen Ti’s face in his hands, standing on a slightly higher step, meeting his gaze directly.
His tone was noticeably teasing, with slightly drawn-out tones and a smile at the corner of his lips, giving the impression of being effortlessly charming.
Even Wu You frowned beside them, thinking, how did he change so quickly?
The transitions were too frequent.
Unexpectedly, the feigned drunkenness of Shen Ti suddenly ceased as he reached out, grasping An Wujiu’s hands on his face with seriousness as if arresting him, “An Wujiu, you are pretending to be in another state? Impressive.”
An Wujiu wasn’t sure at which point he had slipped up, but he had indeed been exposed.
Without resistance, he dropped the levity from his face, reverting to his previous demeanor with his large and clear eyes wide open. “You were the one who deceived me first.”
“I just…” Shen Ti couldn’t finish his sentence. It wasn’t that he couldn’t figure out what to say, but the word that hovered in his mind was difficult to articulate.
He just wanted to be coquettish with An Wujiu.
Nan Shan finally breathed a sigh of relief on the side. “Finally found out, huh?”
Wu You glanced at him and said, “Aren’t you a Taoist priest? Can Taoist priests help deceive people?”
Nan Shan chuckled, “Taoist priests can do quite a lot of things.”
An Wujiu belatedly realized that their posture was quite odd, so he quickly withdrew his hand.
However, the next moment, his retreating hand was caught by Shen Ti. “I thought you weren’t capable of deceiving people.”
With his hand tightly gripped, An Wujiu felt somewhat uncomfortable but couldn’t quite explain why.
“Wujiu-ge just cheated against a jerk and won against him.” Wu You was quite pleased, even more so than if he had won against someone else.
“Cheated?” This time, both Shen Ti and Nan Shan spoke in unison.
“How is that possible?” Shen Ti continued to hold onto An Wujiu as they walked down. “He cheated?”
“Yeah, but it was that red-haired jerk who cheated first. If Wujiu-ge hadn’t cheated, he would have lost.”
Nan Shan pointed out a fact, “You You, your hair is red too.”
“I dyed it!” Wu You instinctively retorted, then suddenly realized something was wrong.
Very wrong.
“Who gave you the right to call me that?! Who is You You?!!”
An Wujiu’s mind was in turmoil. Despite their bickering, not a word seemed to reach his ears. He experienced a strange sensation he had never felt before, as if all his senses were focused on the hand intertwined with Shen Ti’s.
His fingers, initially stiff, gradually became nimble, softening in his palm.
He even moved slightly, wanting to interlock their fingers.
Almost there, but suddenly Wu You spoke up, and An Wujiu instinctively withdrew his hand.
His heart was pounding fast.
“Oh, by the way, are you brain-dead or something? You messed up our rhythm in the broadcast.”
“So what? I’ve got money anyway.”
Shen Ti seemed oblivious to the fact that An Wujiu had withdrawn his hand, holding it as if he were unaware of anything.
It wasn’t until they reached the landing of the spiral staircase and entered a corridor on the first floor that An Wujiu reached out and grabbed Shen Ti’s sleeve.
“I do care.”
It was strange. An Wujiu had a cold and clever face most of the time, often devising strategies, but when facing Shen Ti, he would exhibit a simple and pure demeanor, as straightforward as a child, as if it were his nature.
For Shen Ti, this was an excellent weapon, never failing to hit its mark.
As Shen Ti stood there stunned, gradually returning to his senses, his eyes locked onto An Wujiu’s clear and distinct eyes. “You’re not lying to me, are you?”
An Wujiu denied it, then added, “I’m genuinely worried about you.”
He took a step closer, tilting his face up to look at Shen Ti. “What about you? Why did you come out so quickly? And why did you buy the broadcast to find me?”
When An Wujiu was straightforward, he often came with a penchant for getting to the bottom of things.
Shen Ti understood this well and didn’t intend to give him a hard time.
“Of course, it’s to report to my creditor, my lord.”
He clasped his hands behind his back, turned around, and faced away from An Wujiu.
His voice became more steady.
“You were the one who told me to live well; have you forgotten?”
A soft corner in An Wujiu’s heart suddenly sank.
“I haven’t forgotten.” An Wujiu followed behind Shen Ti.
Hearing his voice, Shen Ti satisfactorily stopped, waiting for An Wujiu to catch up. Then he draped his arm over An Wujiu’s shoulder, and together they walked from the end of the corridor to the lobby on the first floor.
The place was magnificent and luxurious, with a huge and sparkling crystal chandelier hanging in the center, surrounded by splendorous gold and jade, and the floor covered with long-haired carpets.
The more extravagant it looked, the more out of place the players in it seemed.
An Wujiu scanned the lobby but didn’t spot Zhong Yirou and Yang Erci’s figures.
Were they not here this round?
He took a head count.
Earlier, the holy voice said there were a total of fifty-four people. Not enough.
It’s also possible that they’re here but haven’t come out yet.
An Wujiu hoped they were here because if they could form a group, their chances of winning would be much higher.
But if they weren’t here, he couldn’t help but feel somewhat uneasy.
The carpet felt soft underfoot, providing comfort as they walked.
At least the environment here was much better than before, An Wujiu reassured himself.
He looked ahead, watching Wu You awkwardly talk to Nan Shan, adjusting his hat from time to time, unsure of how to wear it properly.
An Wujiu couldn’t help but smile, feeling much less on edge. He hoped that this round of the formal game wouldn’t endanger anyone’s life.
Just as he silently prayed, Toudou Sakura, who was in the same room earlier, came running toward him with joy written all over her face.
An Wujiu found it strange. They had only played a warm-up game together, so they weren’t that familiar with each other.
“Hey!”
Just as An Wujiu felt a bit lost, Toudou Sakura stopped in front of him, but her eyes weren’t on him.
Toudou Sakura slightly tilted her head toward Shen Ti, her twin ponytails swaying playfully.
“Meeting again, Shen Ti.”
An Wujiu was taken aback.
So they did know each other.
The girl looked up at Shen Ti, her face filled with excitement and joy—a sight that An Wujiu had never seen before.
For some reason, An Wujiu felt like Shen Ti’s hand on his shoulder was like a branding iron, scorching and heating him up, leaving him at a loss.
“Do you two know each other?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Toudou Sakura said, taking another step forward.
But Shen Ti unexpectedly stepped back, reducing the distance between them to less than a social distance, still holding onto An Wujiu as they both retreated a half step.
Toudou Sakura was momentarily stunned.
“Do you forget?” Shen Ti looked up for a moment, then his gaze turned toward An Wujiu, noticing a tiny piece of golden paper stuck to his head from somewhere.
So Shen Ti raised his hand, plucking off the shiny piece of paper for An Wujiu, showing it to him.
An Wujiu instinctively touched his hair, then saw Shen Ti turning to face Toudou Sakura, shrugging.
“Sorry, I’m a bit face-blind. I really don’t remember.”
Whether it was his sincerity or Toudou Sakura’s persistent nature, upon hearing his words, Toudou Sakura actually smiled and extended her hand to him.
At that moment, An Wujiu suddenly had a strange thought, feeling like he was too aloof, too incomprehensible.
He thought that, apart from being somewhat useful in survival games, people like him didn’t seem to have much interesting about them.
But this girl in front of him was becoming more and more resilient. “It’s okay; can we get to know each other again? I’m Toudou Sakura.”
Shen Ti casually said, “Sure, I’m Shen Ti.” But instead of shaking Toudou Sakura’s hand, he placed both hands on An Wujiu’s shoulders and pulled him in front of himself.
His hand slid down An Wujiu’s shoulder to his forearm, lifting one of his hands, and using the mannerisms of close friends, he gave Toudou Sakura’s hand a light pat with An Wujiu’s hand.
“This is my creditor; he’s called An Wujiu.”
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Heeeelp 😭 Shen Ti using An Wujiu’s hand😭😭😭😭