Chapter 571: Act Until She Cries

Chapter 571: Act Until She Cries

From a few simple observations and a little logical deduction, Xia Jinyu concluded that the wealthy young man before her almost certainly knew her identity. His appearance at this exact time, staging an “accidental” encounter, meant he had approached her for a reason.

While a slight chance remained that this was not the case, Xia Jinyu saw no need to guess. She could simply ask. If he had approached her intentionally, he would not lie about it—and she was entirely indifferent to whether he did.

She could see through virtually all falsehoods.

Strictly speaking, she could identify over 99.9 percent of lies, reading a person’s microexpressions in an instant to determine their veracity.

Naturally, exceptions existed.

Xia Jinyu had encountered such individuals. They were typically people who had received special training, such as professional gamblers who often competed in international tournaments or undercover operatives from security agencies. They shared a single trait: during conversation, their faces remained utterly placid, completely suppressing involuntary body language.

It was as if they were wearing masks.

In truth, Xia Jinyu was fairly tolerant of lying. She viewed humanity through a distinctive lens. In her eyes, the moment someone lied to her, they were forced to fabricate further falsehoods to sustain the initial fiction.

Such individuals became riddled with tells, making them even easier to see through. Genuinely honest people were far harder to decipher. Being honest did not compel one to answer every question; one could simply choose silence.

Faced with Xia Jinyu’s question, the corner of Wu Chen’s eye twitched almost imperceptibly.

It looked like the mild irritation of someone whose cover had been blown too easily, yet his smile never wavered.

“Rock-paper-scissors,” Wu Chen said, raising his left hand with an easy grin. “If you win, I’ll tell you.”

It was an abrupt, bizarre maneuver. Anyone familiar with Xia Jinyu knew she had once published an academic paper on rock-paper-scissors and psychology, and was a master of the game who virtually never lost.

Rock-paper-scissors was the simplest form of psychological contest, yet it could escalate into staggering complexity due to the presence of ties. When a match stalled indefinitely—such as through a dozen consecutive draws—what move should one deploy next? The psychological calculations, the attempts to deduce what “level” of thinking the opponent was on, were convoluted in the extreme. It was all too easy to outsmart oneself and be beaten by someone who didn’t know how to play.

Thus, understanding an opponent’s habits and psychological state was fundamental to the game.

Xia Jinyu knew next to nothing about Wu Chen.

Yet the moment he proposed rock-paper-scissors, she was certain he had come specifically for her. He knew precisely who she was.

“You could just admit it, couldn’t you?” Xia Jinyu chuckled, raising her right hand nonetheless. “Best two out of three. Three, two, one!”

In round one, Xia Jinyu threw rock; Wu Chen threw scissors.

In round two, Xia Jinyu threw scissors; Wu Chen threw paper.

In round three, Xia Jinyu threw scissors; Wu Chen threw paper.

Both executed three throws in rapid succession, the entire contest concluding in barely two seconds.

Wu Chen lost decisively.

Though they had agreed on best two out of three, Xia Jinyu had swept all three rounds. To her, the opening throw carried equal probabilities of winning, losing, or tying, meaning any choice was fine. From the second round onward, however, she had a high probability of winning—or at least tying—and a very low probability of losing.

While individuals with peculiar throwing habits did exist,

But the odds of encountering someone like that were low to begin with.

So winning the first round was normal, and winning three in a row was even more normal.

The outcome was exactly what Xia Jinyu expected and felt she had under control.

“Wow,” Wu Chen said with slightly exaggerated surprise, inspecting his palm before extending his hand to her with a relaxed smile. “A pleasure to meet you, Professor Xia. My surname is Wu.”

“Hello, Mr. Wu.” The striking professor smiled and took his hand. “Are you truly twenty-two?”

“Would you like to see my ID?” Wu Chen smiled.

“Ha.” Xia Jinyu shook her head; she had no need to inspect his credentials. “It’s just that you seem considerably more mature than the young men I’ve encountered, including my own students. I mean psychologically, not in terms of appearance…”

The maturity she meant wasn’t about his clothes or behavior.

It was about his overall demeanor. Even her most straightforward students displayed subtle awkwardness upon meeting her. They might strive to project composure, and might not do anything unusual, but their immediate microexpressions never lied.

The same applied to rock-paper-scissors. While sweeping three losses was trivial, and not making a fuss was ordinary enough,

It was rare for someone to be completely unconcerned inside. How could someone who actively initiated a challenge be entirely indifferent to losing?

He was open, composed, and met her gaze without the slightest hesitation.

In that regard, he was vastly more mature than the vast majority of twenty-two-year-old men she had known.

“I understand,” Wu Chen replied with a smile. “After all, every boy has had some fanciful thoughts about a female teacher. And you, Professor Xia… you’re still beautiful.”

“What a silver tongue,” Xia Jinyu chided with a teasing smile. “You must have sweet-talked plenty of young girls, haven’t you?” Her teasing gaze carried a subtle edge of pressure that made it difficult to gauge her true temper, naturally prompting people to rein themselves in. As for remaining captivating, Xia Jinyu was confident of her looks.

She accepted such compliments wholeheartedly.

Even when the person praising her had ulterior motives, she was least afraid of people with ulterior motives. In fact, psychological games were a pleasure to her.

“What’s so interesting about girls? I prefer women,” Wu Chen replied smoothly.

He was openly flirting with her.

Saying something like that so bluntly to a mature woman he barely knew was clearly overconfident.

That sort of remark usually required a certain degree of familiarity. Alternatively, the speaker might simply be trying to compliment her by expressing admiration for a mature woman, without caring whether it was awkward or what others thought.

Xia Jinyu subtly revised her opinion of Wu Chen.

Clearly, this was a young master with little complicated romantic experience who wasn’t particularly good at pleasing women. Such men were commonplace in high society. Born with a silver spoon, showered with adoration from infancy, he needed only crook a finger for women to flock to his side.

Consequently, he had never needed to expend effort mastering the art of flattery.

In relationships, if a man was extremely wealthy and handsome, like the male lead of a romance drama, most women would interpret even an inappropriate compliment from him as flirtatious, sweet, well-mannered, polite, or refreshingly straightforward.

If an ordinary-looking man without money said the exact same thing, he’d immediately be branded as having ulterior motives.

So Xia Jinyu understood the state of mind of the young man before her. And she hadn’t seen any trace of lust in Wu Chen’s eyes. Did he simply want to show off his masculine charm? Did he need something from her?

“Is someone in your family ill?” Xia Jinyu asked with a faint smile. “If you want me to fit someone in for a consultation, I’m afraid I can’t. You can contact my assistant about the details.”

“No one is ill,” Wu Chen said, shaking his head.

“Then your purpose in seeking me out is…?” Xia Jinyu inquired.

“I came because I’ve heard so much about you,” Wu Chen smiled.

Click!

Just as Wu Chen finished speaking, the lights in the theater suddenly dimmed. The movie was about to start, so the lights went out, leaving only the glow from the large screen.

“The movie is starting,” Wu Chen whispered, tilting his head slightly and lowering his voice. “We can talk after the film.”

The timing was perfect!

Neither of them spoke. They ate their popcorn, listened to the jumpy sound effects that every terrible horror movie seemed to use at the beginning, and watched a woman on screen take a half-hidden shower, all with rapt attention.

Five minutes later.

Li Ruobing, in her completely transformed outfit, entered the theater.