Chapter 214: I Am Arrogant

Watched everyone with suspicion.

But became gentle the moment he looked her way.

"You’ve always been there for me."

Shen Yan froze.

Every trace of comedy left her face.

Her crimson eyes softened.

Shen Tian smiled.

"I know I don’t say it enough."

"But I’m glad you’re home."

Shen Yan stared.

Then...

She wrapped both arms around him.

"Tian..."

Yin Suyi immediately pulled at Shen Tian’s other arm.

"Enough."

Shen Yan held tighter.

"No."

"He needs to breathe."

"He’s fine."

Shen Tian sighed while trapped between them.

The old man watched from across the room.

He leaned toward Meng Lan.

"I’m learning."

Meng Lan stared.

"You are not entering this competition."

"I could."

"You would die again."

"Fair."

Round Five...

Su Yue landed on a truth tile.

Chi Lingxi drew the question.

"Who in the room surprised you the most after meeting them?"

Su Yue looked around.

Then...

Naturally...

Toward Shen Tian.

Everyone noticed.

Her face warmed.

She considered lying.

Then decided not to.

"Shen Tian."

Shen Yan’s eyes narrowed.

Yin Suyi lifted her teacup.

Su Yue continued before fear stopped her.

"I thought he’d be arrogant."

Shen Tian looked offended.

"I am arrogant."

"You are."

She smiled.

"But not the way I expected."

She looked toward him.

"You listen."

"You remember things."

"You help people without making them feel small."

"And..."

She laughed softly.

"You’re much more ridiculous than the news makes you seem."

Shen Tian smiled.

"Thank you?"

"It’s a compliment."

Chi Lingxi smiled at Su Yue.

The tension softened.

Round Six...

Chi Lingxi landed on the same type of tile.

Su Yue drew her question.

"What moment made you realize you were in love?"

Chi Lingxi froze.

Shen Tian looked toward her.

Her face immediately reddened.

"I’m not answering that."

Bai Xue pointed toward her outer cardigan.

"Penalty."

Chi Lingxi stared.

Then sighed.

She started removing the cardigan.

Halfway through...

She stopped.

Then slowly sat back.

"No."

Everyone waited.

Chi Lingxi looked toward Shen Tian.

"I’ll answer."

Her hands tightened around the edge of the cardigan.

"At the race."

Shen Tian became quiet.

"When the car was sliding..."

Her voice softened.

"I thought we were going to die."

"Then he appeared."

"He didn’t know whether he could still win."

"He didn’t know whether helping us would damage his car."

"He didn’t hesitate."

Her eyes became slightly wet.

"He just came back."

Shen Tian reached for her hand.

Chi Lingxi held it.

"And after..."

"When he gave us the money..."

"I realized he hadn’t come for the prize."

"He’d come because he knew I might be in danger."

She smiled faintly.

"I think that’s when it happened."

The room remained quiet.

Shen Tian squeezed her hand.

Chi Lingxi smiled at him.

The game suddenly felt less like a competition.

More like something else.

A chance to say things they rarely said.

Later rounds became sillier.

Ling Shuangxue lost a challenge and had to tell an embarrassing childhood story.

She revealed that she had once tried to charge her classmates interest on borrowed pencils.

Nobody was surprised.

Bai Xue laughed so hard she fell sideways.

Chu Luoshen admitted she used to rehearse arguments alone in mirrors.

Qin Ruobing confessed she had secretly kept every handmade card Ling Shuangxue gave her as a child.

Li Lian sang a deliberately terrible version of one of Chu Zijin’s songs.

Chu Zijin threw a cushion at her.

The old man was challenged to remain silent for five minutes.

He failed after twelve seconds.

Meng Lan won a round and made him hand over the wine bottle hidden inside his robe.

Everyone applauded.

The strip penalties became almost irrelevant.

A sock here.

A hair ribbon there.

An outer robe folded beside someone’s seat.

Instead...

The truth questions took over.

They became closer.

Not because of anything dramatic.

Because they laughed.

Shared stories.

Teased one another.

Saw sides that normally remained hidden beneath power, wealth, cultivation, jealousy, and complicated relationships.

Even Yin Suyi relaxed.

At one point...

Shen Tian looked toward her.

She sat surrounded by women who had entered her son’s life.

Women she had once viewed almost entirely as rivals for his attention.

Now...

She was laughing quietly while Chu Mei attempted to balance three snacks on her forehead.

Something had changed.

Not completely.

Yin Suyi would still compete.

Shen Yan would still glare.

Bai Xue would still provoke everyone for entertainment.

But the group was slowly becoming...

A family.

A strange one.

A deeply unhealthy one, according to any outsider.

But theirs.

Shen Tian leaned back.

Su Yue rested against his shoulder.

Chi Lingxi sat close to his other side.

Shen Yan had claimed a place near his legs after losing her original seat to Yin Suyi.

His mother gently ran her fingers through his hair while pretending she wasn’t.

The fireplace burned.

Rain continued outside.

Xu Ning floated above them.

She looked around.

Then smiled.

[Host.]

Hm?

[You look happy.]

Shen Tian considered denying it.

Then didn’t.

I am.

Xu Ning’s smile softened.

For once...

No system screen appeared.

The following morning...

Shen Tian woke before sunrise.

Not naturally.

A weight rested on his chest.

He opened his eyes.

Chi Lingxi had fallen asleep against one side of him during the board game.

Su Yue rested on the other.

At some point...

The group had abandoned the sitting room and moved into a large shared lounge filled with floor mattresses and blankets.

No one had wanted to return to their rooms.

Shen Yan slept near his shoulder.

Yin Suyi rested close enough that one hand still held his sleeve.

Bai Xue was asleep beneath the table for reasons nobody understood.

Chu Mei and Chu Chuchu had built a blanket structure.

The old man slept sitting upright.

Meng Lan had placed a cushion behind his head.

Shen Tian stared at the ceiling.

Then slowly smiled.

Carefully...

He attempted to move.

Yin Suyi’s hand tightened.

He froze.

Her eyes remained closed.

"Stay."

Shen Tian blinked.

"You’re awake?"

"No."

"Mother."

"Sleep."

--------

(Author’s Note: IMPORTANT!)

SEND POWESTONES!!!

ALL SUPER GIFTS (Magic Castle, Space Ship, Golden Gachapon) = MORE ChapterS!