The card room had just been renovated, and its style resembled a combination of a flower shop and a bookstore.
Except for the mahjong table in the middle, which made a loud noise when turned on.
Lu Pingzhang preferred quietness, but Qiao Jin wanted to be lively and was willing to bring friends home, which made him happy as well, allowing him to join in the fun.
Besides this card room, many things in the house were different from the original decoration style, and even seemed out of place with Lu Pingzhang’s own personality, but Lu Pingzhang walked around and was very satisfied.
“Pong.” Bei Kaiyuan ponged Qiao Jin’s tile and played a three-striped tile.
He knew that the most important thing when visiting a brother’s house was to make the brother’s wife happy, so he smiled and asked, “I heard Qiao Jin changed jobs. How is it? Is it tiring?”
“It’s okay,” Qiao Jin said, “not much different.”
Lu Pingzhang sat across from Qiao Jin, drew a six bamboo tile, and had two already but didn’t keep them. Before discarding it, he glanced at Qiao Jin: “How is it not much different? Working overtime three days a week, getting home after dark, six bamboo.”
As they played mahjong, the atmosphere finally became harmonious, no longer as awkward and formal as when they first entered.
Qiao Jin hesitated for a moment and didn’t push the tiles.
Fu Linxiao drew a tile, shuffled it, and played one out.
“I used to work overtime too,” Qiao Jin picked up a useless tile and tossed it aside, “Working overtime isn’t tiring, and there’s nothing to do after work anyway.”
Before, when he worked overtime at his own company, someone was watching over him, so it didn’t matter. Lu Pingzhang could easily keep track of his every move, so he didn’t have to worry about whether he was too busy or tired. If he wanted to take a day off, he could just take it.
But it’s different at someone else’s company.
Qiao Jin smiled as he looked at his cards.
This setting was different from most business card tables—no cigarette smoke or dimly lit intrigue, only the scent of flowers and occasional casual chatter.
It suited Qiao Jin perfectly. It was clear he was very satisfied with this environment.
If he went out to play in such an atmosphere every time, Lu Pingzhang wouldn’t mind him going out.
Bei Kaiyuan touched Qiao Jin’s cards again, played one, and smiled as he reminded them, “I’m ready to win, so be careful.”
Lu Pingzhang picked up a card without looking at it and then played a six bamboo.
Qiao Jin hesitated again, but Lu Pingzhang didn’t even lift his eyelids. “If you should push the cards, push them. Otherwise, you’ll lose.”
Qiao Jin paused for a moment and pushed his cards.
Everyone was just playing for fun to pass the time; whether they paid or not didn’t matter.
Lu Pingzhang cleared his throat. Qiao Jin looked at him and heard him say, “This round, split the winnings with me.”
“Gentlemen,” Fu Linxiao interrupted them, smiling, “If we play like this, I won’t be able to leave today.”
They all laughed heartily and started over.
Bei Kaiyuan was always talkative. He ate some fruit, swallowed it, and then wanted to speak again: “When will the results of Hou Wude’s case be announced? Is the person you arranged reliable? I have a friend here who’s quite capable; I’ll introduce him to you later.”
Lu Pingzhang glanced at Qiao Jin, who noticed but remained silent and didn’t look over.
There was a brief silence at the card table. Lu Pingzhang only answered the first question: “The results will be out in the next couple of days. There’s no rush.”
“Why no rush?” Bei Kaiyuan said. “Things are so restrictive now. I’m worried he might snap and do something desperate. I’m on edge.”
Lu Pingzhang remained silent, and Bei Kaiyuan instructed him, “The bodyguards can’t be withdrawn. Recently, if you can avoid going out by car, don’t go out by car.”
Over the years, there have been many incidents—car accidents, fires, explosions—all ruled as accidents, but most were deliberately caused.
“Hmm,” Lu Pingzhang replied.
Bei Kaiyuan picked at some fruit with a toothpick and continued, “Bai Yuan is quite beautiful, but after this incident, it’ll be tough for her to keep her place in the entertainment industry. How much did you spend on her agency?”
Bei Kaiyuan got the hint, took a sip of his drink, and awkwardly changed the subject: “…Do you remember the big wheel game Liu Chengxu organized a while back? The results are out. Guess who won?”
Lu Pingzhang blurted out a name.
Bei Kaiyuan smiled knowingly: “You guessed right.”
Qiao Jin glanced at them and casually asked, “What game?”
Bei Kaiyuan: “The big spinning wheel game. Four people found a model to participate, and after ten months of pregnancy, they tested the DNA to see…”
Lu Pingzhang kicked him under the table.
Bei Kaiyuan paused and coughed to the side.
Qiao Jin listened curiously and looked at Lu Pingzhang: “See whose DNA matches, and that’s whose child, so that’s the ‘winner’?”
Lu Pingzhang remained silent.
Qiao Jin played the card in his hand and continued to ask, “How much is the prize pool?”
Lu Pingzhang couldn’t be too clear about this question, so he mumbled an unclear “Hmm” and said, “I’m not very familiar with it.”
Fu Linxiao usually played pretty extravagantly, but not this extravagant. Upon hearing this, he raised his eyebrows slightly but didn’t comment.
Lu Pingzhang drew a card without speaking. Qiao Jin finally looked up at him.
Bei Kaiyuan also looked at him. Lu Pingzhang glanced at him from the corner of his eye: “Why are you looking at me? What does this have to do with me? I didn’t participate.”
“It’s none of my business,” Bei Kaiyuan paused, a bit confused, “Isn’t this just casual conversation?”
Qiao Jin’s gaze remained fixed on him. Lu Pingzhang didn’t bother with the bigger picture anymore. He picked up nine tiles and pushed them forward: “I won. Should we eat?”
Lu Pingzhang looked at Qiao Jin, who then looked at Fu Linshao.
Fu Linshao, who had already received enough attention today, immediately said, “Sure, I’m fine with that. Need any help?”
“No need,” Lu Pingzhang stood up and nodded at Bei Kaiyuan, “Come with me.”
Then he realized his actions and tone were a bit abrupt, so he stiffly placed his phone next to Qiao Jin: “Keep an eye on my phone. Don’t answer any calls except from my secretary and assistant.”
Bei Kaiyuan also stood up and followed him out of the card room. As soon as they stepped outside, Lu Pingzhang whispered, ” Watch your words. That’s my wife. You keep mentioning Bai Yuan and the case. Can’t you talk about something else?”
Lu Pingzhang grew even more irritated upon hearing the big wheel: “You can’t tell him these things.”
“Who doesn’t know about these things? It’s just some gossip to liven up the atmosphere.” Bei Kaoyuan looked a bit innocent as he tried to reason with him, “Qiao Jin has been in society for several years and has plenty of friends. How could he not know these things?”
Lu Pingzhang didn’t want to reason with him and was very irritated: “He’s very innocent. He’s never gone out to play around, and he doesn’t have any messy friends. In short, don’t talk nonsense.”
“Alright, alright, I won’t say anything.” Bei Kaiyuan gave in, unable to express himself fully, “You’ve really changed. Did you take something? You weren’t like this before.”
Lu Pingzhang sighed: “Isn’t this what you taught me? To act according to your wife’s mood?”
Bei Kaiyuan had indeed said such things to him before, but Lu Pingzhang used to be a man of his word. Now he was suddenly learning to read people’s moods. The sudden change was hard to accept.
Bei Kaiyuan was quite pleased and couldn’t help but laugh, encouraging him, “Alright, keep up the good work.”
Qiao Jin and Fu Linshao were sitting in the card room. Qiao Jin had Lu Pingzhang’s phone on the table. He recalled how many times he had called Lu Pingzhang and been transferred by Secretary Yin.
Had Lu Pingzhang also given the same instructions to Secretary Yin back then?
Fu Linshao sat down, looked up, and sighed, “This is too hard. I had a few hands where I could have won, but I didn’t dare to push the tiles after hearing your conversation.”
Qiao Jin placed his hand on the dark screen of his phone: “You should give it a try. It’s just for entertainment and killing time, not for discussing any major business deals.”
“Lu Zong doesn’t dare to look you in the eye. How come I never noticed how formidable you are before?” Fu Linxiao raised his chin toward the phone in his hand, “A phone, such a personal item, and you just handed it over to him.”
“It’s just an illusion,” Qiao Jin paused for a moment, also feeling a slight illusion that Lu Pingzhang had changed a lot.
But he immediately dismissed the thought.
Lu Pingzhang might have changed, but it wasn’t the kind of change Fu Linshao or Bei Kaiyuan imagined.
Fu Linshao noticed that he hadn’t been very interested in the game since it started, so he asked, “What’s wrong? Are you unhappy about something?”
Qiao Jin sorted through his thoughts and decided not to hide it from him: “Just now, before we started playing cards, Sui Ran sent me a message.”
He spoke slowly, seeming a bit confused and helpless: “He said that Lu Pingzhang wants to buy his company.”
Fu Linshao looked at him in shock.
Qiao Jin was at a loss for words.
The two of them stood in silence in the quiet card room for a moment. Qiao Jin sighed, stood up, and took Lu Pingzhang’s phone: “Let’s go. You wait in the living room, and I’ll go cook.”
“Isn’t Lu Pingzhang the one who cooks?”
“Him?” Qiao Jin smiled silently, “He’s never cooked in his life, how could he possibly cook?”
The kitchen was indeed still quiet. Lu Pingzhang and Bei Kaiyuan were figuring out how to light the stove.
“You two wait outside.” He stood in front of the pot, the apron covering most of his sharpness, and what remained was dissolved by the sizzling sound coming from the pot.
Bei Kaiyuan was relieved and turned to run out.
Lu Pingzhang had never seen Qiao Jin like this before and stood still.
Qiao Jin nudged him with his arm: “Step back, there’s oil.”
Lu Pingzhang watched him pour oil into the pot and wait for it to heat up with a spatula. It seemed like he was different from usual, with an added touch of warmth and vitality, yet he stood in the kitchen as if he were sitting at his desk in the study or office.
“You don’t have to force yourself to change.” Qiao Jin stood with his back to the light, showing only half of his profile to Lu Pingzhang. “I mean, the mundane tasks of daily life, creating a family atmosphere—those kinds of things.”
He could tell, and Lu Pingzhang didn’t hide it. He stepped forward and hugged him, peering over his shoulder at the hot oil in the pot: “You must really like these things. I noticed that you get very happy when I wash the fruit.”
In fact, for Qiao Jin, washing fruit and buying a diamond ring were equally important to him.
Because it was Lu Pingzhang, whatever he did made Qiao Jin happy.
Qiao Jin twitched his lips but didn’t speak.
“What do you want to say?” Lu Pingzhang wrapped his arms around his waist and pressed, “Did I not perform well tonight?”
Qiao Jin paused for a few seconds before speaking: “It was good. Actually, everything you did tonight… was for my benefit. I could tell.”
Lu Pingzhang froze for a moment, and Qiao Jin continued, “Not just tonight, but over the past period of time, have you been doing everything for my benefit?”
Lu Pingzhang didn’t speak. He was blocked by Qiao Jin’s shadow and couldn’t see the expression on his face.
“Gentle, domestic, understanding.” Qiao Jin listed his recent behavior in a low voice, then recalled the message sent by Sui Ran.
Lu Pingzhang looked at him.
Qiao Jin pursed his lips, then relaxed quickly and said, “But it’s okay. You want to make me happy, I know.”
Leave a Reply