Chapter 583: A Little Game
by cnwebnovelsChapter 583: A Little Game
Xia Jinyu suddenly glanced at Li Ruobing, then looked away. The private room was brightly lit, entirely unlike the dim cinema earlier. And across the grand round table of the Dragon and Phoenix room… Wu Chen’s seat did not obstruct her view of “Miss Bingbing” in the slightest! In other words, Xia Jinyu could observe Li Ruobing to the fullest extent!
Compared to Wu Chen, Bingbing seemed much more guarded! For reasons unknown, she seemed determined not to be seen through, choosing to simply “wear a mask”—relaxing her facial muscles completely, devoid of expression. That way… though one knew she was concealing something, discerning what she hid was difficult!
Psychologists weren’t gods!
There was little a psychologist could do with a silent person wearing a mask.
Yet! Xia Jinyu had already formed an assessment of Li Ruobing. She had acted like a sweet girl earlier, but when silent… perhaps she truly was an cold girl! Women habitually cold typically harbored more guarded toward the outside world, their temperaments either sensitive or tough… Pretending to be aloof was one matter; being genuinely aloof was another entirely!
A woman like this… who was a personal assistant or companion who was close to Wu Chen? And she was willing to sit by and watch Wu Chen… flirt with another woman?!
That made no sense!
Xia Jinyu was merely quick-minded, analyzing Li Ruobing in passing when she glanced at her. And the reason she had glanced over in the first place was: just what on earth did Miss Bingbing want to do?!
She had suddenly looked at the teapot!
Xia Jinyu had caught it!
The microscopic shift in Bingbing’s expression indicated she intended to do something! Something that might benefit her or satisfy some personal impulse! And moreover… a “mischievous deed”! When people were scheming to gain something, they wore precisely that look!
Though Bingbing’s facial shift was infinitesimally subtle—invisible to ordinary people—Xia Jinyu could detect it. And whatever this “bad thing” was, it certainly wasn’t simply pouring tea!
“Any game I want—really letting me decide?” Xia Jinyu asked, keeping Li Ruobing in her peripheral vision while fixing her gaze on Wu Chen. “Mr. Wu! I admire your confidence more and more! But… absolutely any game of my choosing, are you certain?”
“Mm-hmm,” Wu Chen nodded with a smile.
Still holding Xia Jinyu’s phone in his right hand, he sat up slightly as he nodded, reaching his left hand forward. The instant his fingertips brushed the teapot, he lifted them away, drew his hand back, and rubbed his fingertips together.
A perfectly natural gesture in mid-conversation.
Testing whether the teapot was hot!
It was scalding!
Playing the little sidekick, Li Ruobing immediately stood to pour tea for the two of them… having caught Wu Chen’s secondary hint: Don’t you dare splash her! It isn’t worth it just to see the color! The pot is hot enough to burn her!
“Professor Xia,” Li Ruobing offered a sweet-girl smile as she handed her the tea.
“Boss, careful, it’s hot.” Then she flashed Wu Chen an even sweeter smile.
Finally, she poured a cup for herself and sat down.
“Mr. Wu… then, if you win, I tell you my phone passcode. What if you lose?” Xia Jinyu asked in turn.
“I changed my passcode as well. If I lose, I’ll tell you my new one!” Wu Chen smiled, directly retrieving his phone and sliding it before Xia Jinyu.
“That seems fair.” Xia Jinyu picked up Wu Chen’s phone.
A little game.
Whether a contest of wills or simply part of getting acquainted, now that Xia Jinyu had come, she liked the process! In truth, Xia Jinyu’s heart was conflicted: she both anticipated seeing how this “worthy opponent” would perform, desperate to figure out what was truly going on with him, yet also hoped… to utterly defeat him at some point, label him a boring man, and bring the whole affair to an end!
Just as Xia Jinyu picked up Wu Chen’s phone, she clicked her tongue and shot him a meaningful look.
“What is it?” Wu Chen asked, feigning ignorance.
“For young people today—including people my age—a phone almost invariably contains unspeakable secrets! Privacy that must never be seen by a second soul! There may be exceptions, but people like you and me are hardly among them…”
“Exchanging phones, even letting the other person know the passcode, should strictly be an act reserved for those who share absolute intimacy and trust…”
“It produces the effect of reinforcing trust! Drawing people closer!”
“Letting someone learn your private secrets greatly lowers both people’s defenses in a romantic relationship… Even if the process might bring awkward embarrassment, the outcome is either… a falling out! Or… greater intimacy…”
Xia Jinyu concluded with a smile at Wu Chen. “Mr. Wu, you truly advance step by calculated step! You really know how to draw closer to a woman…”
“Of course. If I didn’t understand you, why would I come after you?” Wu Chen smiled.
Listening, Li Ruobing’s breath hitched for an instant.
Here you go again!
She still could not fathom why Wu Chen had suddenly become so overly aggressive, so forward! It was really overbearing! It made one… Wu Chen could not possibly be blind to what he was doing, so why on earth?!
“Still, your reasoning is sound!” Xia Jinyu continued. “However, you won’t win this time! If I be the only one to get your passcode… you know that letting a psychologist unilaterally learn the secrets on your phone won’t make much of an impression. I’ve seen far too much!”
Secrets?
Xia Jinyu was also a therapist! Before treating a patient, the most vital step was understanding them! She knew far too many secrets belonging to all sorts of people!
“It seems Professor Xia isn’t very good at lying,” Wu Chen chuckled.
That made Xia Jinyu’s expression stiffen.
A single sentence had insulted her on two levels!
First, asserting that she was lying!
Second, stating that she was bad at it!
“Do you think I’m the same as everyone else?” Wu Chen asked with another smile.
Li Ruobing just… felt a raging headache!
Again! Brother, are you sure you’re here to win Xia Jinyu over?!
“…Let’s begin the game!” Xia Jinyu drew a breath, then offered Wu Chen a smile. “Since I decide, then… it’s very simple! Guess what the latest photo in my phone is. If you guess right, you win; if you can’t, I win!”
You call this a game?
This couldn’t even be termed a game—it was deliberate harassment! There was zero fairness to speak of!
Xia Jinyu had her own pride. If this were a genuine contest of wits where she held the initiative, she would have selected a fair contest—such as guessing whether the server’s left or right foot would cross the threshold first… where both players had to guess!
Yet, while she now regarded Wu Chen as a worthy rival, Wu Chen… or rather, from start to finish, he had projected an attitude of “I am superior to you”!
Utterly arrogant!
Playing a game was one thing, but claiming any game was fine and letting her dictate everything! That attitude! Xia Jinyu felt he needed to be taught a lesson, his blazing arrogance knocked down a peg!
Come on! Guess!
“Mr. Wu… photos, for the purpose of this game, are entirely random… My last photo might have been taken today, or yesterday… or last week. Why was it taken? That depends on what I encountered… my mood… countless variables… You cannot deduce the answer through psychology, and knowing my personality is useless…”
Xia Jinyu looked into Wu Chen’s eyes. “Therefore! If you cannot answer, you lose! If you can answer, it proves you had people monitor me over an extended period!”
Finishing her piece, she gave Wu Chen a smile that practically asked: How can you possibly play now?
A dead end!
An airtight, logically closed deadlock!
Wu Chen either lost!
Or… was judged by Xia Jinyu to have spied on her, which meant… he could leave!