Chapter 39

Xu Er had not played mahjong for a long time. The last time was when Colin and his friends were one player short and he happened to be free to fill the spot. So, when he first started, he was still a bit nervous, and he had no idea what the playing style of Song Ruichi’s friends was like.

At the beginning, every time he drew or discarded a tile, he would turn to look at Song Ruichi, as if waiting for his tacit approval before daring to throw the tile out. However, this behavior did not last long.

After they had played a round, the person before him, Chen Yu, discarded a two of wan. Xu Er happened to have a one and a three of wan, which would allow him to complete a sequence. Just as he reached his hand out, Ying Jing shouted, "Pong!"

Xu Er immediately pulled his hand back.

"What do you think you’re doing!" Shi Ziyi, seeing this, slapped Ying Jing’s hand away. "What 'pong'? Don't you see our Xu Er is trying to claim that?"

Ying Jing immediately put the two of wan down. "Okay, okay."

Xu Er was a bit confused, but the scene unfolding before him wouldn't let him stay confused for long. The group moved with ferocious intensity; Shi Ziyi forcefully shoved the two of wan in front of him, Song Ruichi cooperated by placing the one and three of wan out for him, and discarded the nine of wan, which Xu Er had already prepared as a useless tile. Then it was the turn of the person after him.

Xu Er thought to himself, "Huh?"

He turned to look at Song Ruichi in confusion, and Song Ruichi just smiled at him, signaling him to keep playing.

Still carrying this confusion, Xu Er saw Shi Ziyi discard a five of bams. Xu Er happened to have a five of bams and said, "Pong."

Coincidentally, Chen Yu spoke at the same time: "I'll take that for a sequence."

"Take what!" Ying Jing, from the side, stood up with the air of someone settling a score, and flat-out shoved the five of bams in front of Xu Er. "Don't you see our Xu Er wants to pong?"

Song Ruichi then cooperated by laying out the two five of bams from Xu Er's hand. Shi Ziyi laughed and clapped.

"Fine, fine, fine." Chen Yu also nodded with a smile. "So that's how we're playing."

Xu Er looked at Song Ruichi with renewed confusion.

"Don't doubt it," Shi Ziyi said to Xu Er from across the table. "Song-Song said, just play however you want."

Xu Er still looked at Song Ruichi. "Huh?"

Song Ruichi nodded. "Just play however you want."

In the time that followed, Xu Er truly felt how "however you want" that really was. He couldn't tell if this group was coddling him or if they were playing with a "nobody intends to survive" philosophy of mutual destruction.

They even called this Xu Er's "newbie halo." Xu Er had never seen anyone else's newbie halo look like this. With Song Ruichi’s assistance, the main strategy was to patch up any gaps in Xu Er’s hand, and anyone who dared to snatch a tile from Xu Er was a dog. Priority was given to letting Xu Er pong; letting him take tiles for sequences was one thing, but they also played fast and loose.

For example, after taking a four of bams from the opposite player, Shi Ziyi, Song Ruichi managed to lay out the four tiles of "two, three, four, five of bams" on the table. When Xu Er thought this was too absurd, everyone actually said:

"Great kong!"

"Hard kong!"

And then they drew a tile for Xu Er from the end of the wall.

Or, for instance, when Xu Er drew a seven of bams—which he could either keep or discard—and was debating what to do, Ying Jing would ask him, "What tile do you want?" Song Ruichi would then pick a seven of dots from the discards on the table, put it into Xu Er's hand, put the seven of bams back, and discard an eight of wan.

*Click.* He was ready to win.

"Good!"

"Brilliant!"

"As expected of our Xu Er!"

Or again, when Xu Er discarded a three of dots, Shi Ziyi said he had won, and Ying Jing and Chen Yu, sitting next to Xu Er, jumped up in a flash. Shi Ziyi thought for a moment: "Should I count it as a self-drawn win?"

Ying Jing and Chen Yu: "In your dreams."

Shi Ziyi clapped his hands: "Count it as Xu Er's self-drawn win."

Ying Jing and Chen Yu exchanged a knowing smile and high-fived. "That's it."

Xu Er thought to himself, *Wow.*

Then, he very unceremoniously took credit for the win. At first, he was embarrassed; this was just too much cheating. But this group was simply too interesting. Over time, Xu Er couldn't beat them, so he joined them. Eventually, many times, without Song Ruichi even needing to move, Xu Er would cooperate himself. Every time the three of them did something, Xu Er was either laughing or on the verge of laughing—they were just too good at creating spectacles.

The whole afternoon was joyful. No, it should be an afternoon plus dinner time, all very joyful.

The happiness continued, and it was even livelier eating at Shi Ziyi’s restaurant. Of course, dinner didn't revolve entirely around Xu Er. More friends came to eat, and Xu Er secretly observed. He thought that the person Song Ruichi liked probably hadn't come; he recognized basically everyone there. That person didn't seem to be there in the evening either, because the way everyone greeted Song Ruichi when they walked in was very ordinary.

*Song Ruichi is so mysterious, is it really necessary?*

Not long after, Xiao Xia and her boyfriend arrived. Xu Er noticed that under that specific premise, their interactions were indeed different—very different. At the dinner table, everyone spoke their minds, and jokes flew everywhere. By the end of the meal, Xu Er felt he had contracted a disease where he was bound to laugh the moment any of Song Ruichi's friends opened their mouths. He laughed so much that his head hurt on the way back.

Coming out of the parking lot, they stopped at the first red light, and Xu Er picked up his water to take a sip. This red light was a bit long; the map showed over seventy seconds left. Putting the water down, Xu Er heard Song Ruichi say, "You were very happy today."

Xu Er had just calmed down, but at Song Ruichi's words, he swayed again. "Yeah."

Song Ruichi reached over, and Xu Er cooperatively leaned his head toward him. It was a simple, habitual action for them in the past. But this time, after Song Ruichi ruffled his hair, Xu Er felt a very strange sensation. It was a different kind of happiness, unlike the one from the evening.

Liking someone is wonderful, and discovering that you like them is also wonderful.

"Aren't you going to ask me why I'm happy?" Xu Er asked after sitting back properly.

Song Ruichi: "Isn't it because of me?"

Xu Er laughed out loud. "Ha! You're so full of yourself."

Song Ruichi remained very confident. "Otherwise?"

Only then did Xu Er recall that Song Ruichi had asked him similar questions many times, and he had invariably answered that it was because of Song Ruichi. So, this confidence was something Xu Er had given him. Since that was the case, then Mr. Song should continue to be confident.

"Of course," Xu Er said, feigning a turn of phrase before smiling again, "it's because of you."

Song Ruichi: "You told me before that when you go out with friends and they say something funny, you just sit there and giggle like a fool."

Xu Er laughed. He seemed to understand what Song Ruichi wanted to say. "You saw it for yourself today?"

Song Ruichi: "Yes, it was visualized."

Xu Er laughed. "Am I very silly?"

Song Ruichi: "You are."

Xu Er paused and sat up. "I didn't ask that so you would answer like that."

Song Ruichi laughed. "Then what did Mr. Xu mean?"

Song Ruichi was doing it on purpose. But Xu Er was still willing to give Song Ruichi another chance.

"Let's try again," Xu Er asked. "Am I very silly?"

Song Ruichi: "You are."

Xu Er pointed outside. "Stop the car, I want to get out."

Song Ruichi drove even faster instead, smiling as he said, "They all like you. They said you're very well-behaved."

Xu Er crossed his arms. "That's a fact."

Song Ruichi imitated Xu Er's tone. "That's a fact," and then said in his own voice, "Who wouldn't like little Xu Er?"

Xu Er secretly glanced at Song Ruichi, coughing inwardly. "Then does Mr. Song like him?"

Mr. Song said: "I like him."

Although Xu Er knew that answering "I like him" under these premises was inevitable, he was still made a little happy by Song Ruichi’s unhesitating response. Logically, he should have naturally said he liked Song Ruichi back. At the very least, a "Well, I like you too."

But a red light appeared.

Song Ruichi stepped on the brake, and the car swayed gently, interrupting Xu Er's preparation. His tense nerves were suddenly released, and he slumped into his seat.

Xu Er began to recall how he used to communicate with Song Ruichi. He thought he had come to a realization—which might be nonsense—that it’s better to be a straight man; now he had hesitations, hidden thoughts, and felt embarrassed.

After this red light, Song Ruichi’s car headed south. At the next intersection, he turned, and Xu Er finally reacted: "Huh? Are we going to your place?"

Song Ruichi: "Shall we go?"

Xu Er laughed. "You're already driving to your place."

Song Ruichi: "Just going through the motions."

Xu Er: "What if I don't want to go?"

Song Ruichi: "Soso misses you."

Xu Er paused, then laughed. "Mr. Song."

Song Ruichi: "What is it, Mr. Xu?"

Xu Er: "You really know how to handle me."

Song Ruichi: "My pleasure."

Xu Er: "It has been a long time since I saw Soso."

Song Ruichi asked: "How many days has it been?"

Xu Er: "Four days. The last time was Tuesday when I went to your place for dinner."

Song Ruichi: "Are you coming next Tuesday?"

Xu Er: "I'll come," Xu Er added, "I want to eat salt and pepper shrimp."

Song Ruichi: "I make salt and pepper shrimp on Thursdays."

Xu Er turned to look at Song Ruichi. "Why don't you make them on Tuesday?"

Song Ruichi asked instead: "Are you coming on Thursday?"

Xu Er: "I'll come."

Song Ruichi: "Good."

Xu Er was stunned for a moment, feeling as though he had been led around by Song Ruichi. Before he could figure it out, Song Ruichi said again: "There's chocolate inside."

Song Ruichi was referring to the small cabinet in front of Xu Er’s knees. Xu Er opened it and sure enough, saw a piece of chocolate that Song Ruichi liked. They had eaten hot pot in the evening, and now, with Song Ruichi mentioning it, his mouth really started craving something sweet.

Xu Er took it out, tore open the wrapper, and took a bite. But before he could even start chewing, Song Ruichi said: "That’s what I wanted to eat."

The movement in Xu Er’s mouth stopped instantly. Indeed, Song Ruichi hadn't said it was for Xu Er to eat. Xu Er chewed twice, *crunch, crunch*, and after thinking about it, handed the rest to him.

Song Ruichi saw it out of the corner of his eye. He leaned over slightly and took the half-eaten chocolate from Xu Er’s hand. Xu Er pulled his hand back and folded the chocolate wrapper, over and over again.

In his mind, the term "indirect kiss" suddenly flashed.

The sweetness of the chocolate dissipated quickly, and the bitterness vanished just as fast. Xu Er slowly pursed his lips, sinking bit by bit into the seat, watching the road ahead while suppressing a smile.

Not long after, the car arrived at Song Ruichi’s place. After parking, Song Ruichi put Xu Er’s bag from the backseat onto his own shoulder and went upstairs with him.

As soon as the door opened, Xu Er called out, "Soso!"

That little cat, clearly having missed Xu Er, still walked over slowly when it heard his voice.