Xiaoyue raised her head to look at Su Nianhua, asking, "Nianhua, are you looking for a fight? I'm going to go get Ran now to help me."
"Three against one? How could he possibly win that one?" Su Nianhua was gnashing his teeth so hard that he was visibly shaking as he thought about what was going on. Looking at the smug Gu Qingcheng, he realized that he'd once again overlooked her cheap tricks.
So that game of Gomoku, played under duress with all of Gu Qingcheng's many weird reasons and blackmailing tactics as excuses to remove Su Nianhua's black stones, eventually resulted in a win for Gu Qingcheng.
Pestered relentlessly by Gu Qingcheng for yet another game, Su Nianhua shook his head firmly and refused to comply. Not even when Gu Qingcheng had laid bare all his untold, humiliating past events from primary school right through college.
...
While Tang Shi appeared to be mingling with his guests and participating in the party's activities, he was in fact keeping an eye on Gu Qingcheng.
Even at that distance, Tang Shi, with his 20/20 vision, could tell that Gu Qingcheng was playing Gomoku with Su Nianhua and Siyue.
It appeared that Gu Qingcheng had won, as her face lit up with a brilliant smile that dazzled like the bright morning sun.
Shortly after, she and Su Nianhua started another game. She looked focused, sometimes frowning, pouting at other times, and occasionally even chewing her nails, as though in deep thought.
She presented an enchanting picture of someone cheerful and energetic, her expressions a kaleidoscope of emotions.
By comparison, in his presence she was always uptight and reserved. The contrast was just staggering.
Despite knowing full well that her alluring cheerfulness and sunny disposition would be shown to other people but not to him, he somehow couldn't help but be lured by her.
It looked as though Gu Qingcheng was about to lose to Su Nianhua and had resorted to a cheap trick of kicking the table to dislodge the stones already placed on the Go board, thereby nullifying the game.
This was similar to what had happened when he was four and had met Qingcheng for the first time… The little Qingcheng would rather destroy what she couldn't possess.
Recalling that incident, Tang Shi's lips curled upward. Because he was lost in his reminiscing, he hadn't paid any attention to the game that he was supposedly playing, costing him the penalty of having to down a glass of wine.
Having successfully nullified the game, Gu Qingcheng and Su Nianhua appeared to be starting yet another game. From that distance, he could only make out that Gu Qingcheng seemed to be saying something to Su Nianhua while picking up some black stones that had already been placed on the board. In the meantime, Su Nianhua looked furious, as he watched helplessly and became increasingly moody as she picked up one black stone after another. Eventually, Su Nianhua looked so glum that it seemed as if he was almost on the verge of tears.
Amused, Tang Shi couldn't resist laughing quietly and that resulted him having to drink another glass of wine since he had lost another game.
Usually, a game like this would have been a piece of cake for Tang Shi. When was the last time he had lost in a game like this?
Perplexed, Lu Ran began to observe Tang Shi and realized that he'd been continually looking in another direction, at the place where Gu Qingcheng was seated.
When Tang Shi lost again and had to down another glass of wine, Lu Ran couldn't take it any longer and whispered in Tang Shi's ear, "Bro, shall we go find out what Nianhua is doing?"
At that, Tang Shi paused briefly as he reached for his wine glass. He looked a little glum as he said in a downcast voice, "If I'm there, she won't be happy."
Lu Ran was stunned.
Tang Shi picked up his wine glass and gulped down all his wine. Keeping his eyes lowered, he gripped his wine glass tightly and looked at Lu Ran, adding, "Let her be happy for a while longer."