Avoid the Protagonist
chapter-60

Chen Sinan’s silence was taken as agreement after he came back from smoking alone.

Though the room was to Chen Sinan’s liking, Zhuang Zhu’s wealthy friends would suffer unspeakably. If he stayed for the whole night, then their party would be about as eventful as a gathering for depressed monks, especially since none of the women were allowed to say. It was a pity because each and every one of them was an absolute stunner.

Chen Sinan glanced at Zhuang Zhu and flashed a smug little smile. “You guys can’t survive without women?”

The two rich guys laughed awkwardly, and Zhuang Zhu came out nearly sneering. “I wouldn’t go so far as to say that, but it’s not good for my body when I’m all pent up.” As he finished his cheeky reply, he turned over to Chen Sinan with a smirk. He had only intended to tease but decided to stop when he saw the man in front of him shooting daggers through his eyes. Instead, he did his best to change the topic. “But man, how rare is it for you to come early? What’s your reason?”

“Yeah! Just look at how honored Mo Bei is,” one of his friends chimed in.

“I just happened to have time tonight,” Chen Sinan said.

“No wonder. What did the Lai family do to you to turn you so ruthless?” Zhuang Zhu asked.

“Don’t mention them right now.” Chen Sinan replied. The thought of that Lai family woman hugging him was still fresh in his mind, and it made him furious.

He lifted his head to address Zhuang Zhu but stopped himself. There was no point in asking.

Zhuang Zhu was confused. “What is it?”

Chen Sinan ignored him. He was certain that, with Zhuang Zhu’s IQ, it was a waste of time to ask.

The handful of men sat around twiddling their thumbs until the main lead, Mo Bei, arrived.

“Sorry. I was stuck with my family, so I only just arrived.”

“It’s fine as long as you’re here!” Zhuang Zhu looked at Mo Bei, who seemed to have grown even more handsome during his time abroad. He went up to the guest of honor, and playfully tried to punch his shoulder while saying, “You’re becoming almost as handsome as I am!”

Mo Bei laughed and dodged the pretend strike. “Don’t compare me to someone like you.”

“F***. Surname Mo, are you looking for a fight?”

“Well I’m civilized, so I don’t resort to violence.”

Zhuang Zhu got even more riled up by his reply, he nearly pounced on him.

Mo Bei ignored him and rushed to get rid of him by heading towards Chen Sinan. “Long time no see.”

“Yeah, it’s been a while.”

Mo Bei smiled and continued the small talk. “I heard you took over the family enterprises.”

“I did. How was your time outside of the country?” Chen Sinan asked.

“It’s alright. I’ll probably stay here for a while. I’ll move back to China and see how the market is doing in the meantime.”

“Welcome home, then.”

The group of men ate a very lackluster dinner and shared a few bottles of wine. Other than the odd dirty joke, nothing special happened.

After dinner, Zhuang Zhu suggested playing mahjong.

All five people joined in to play, but after each game, one person waiting for a turn would end up in the loser’s seat. After only a few rounds, it was clear that the game was only really between two of the men.

Chen Sinan won many rounds, and so did Zhuang Zhu. As he placed a tile, Zhuan Zhu looked at his winning hand and bit into his cigarette. “The god of wealth is watching our game, and he’s definitely looking over me. My hands have been amazing, Master Shen!”

Chen Sinan was too lazy to respond.

Mo Bei had also won a few rounds. He looked at Chen Sinan and casually mentioned, “There’s this one woman from one of the countries I visited. I thought she was only good at cards, but it turns out she’s good at everything.”

Zhuang Zhu noticed how strange Mo Bei was acting when he talked about the woman, so he couldn’t help but gossip. “There’s more to her, isn’t there? C’mon, tell us! She blonde? She hot?”

Mo Bei smiled, “She’s not blonde. She’s a Chinese woman, and A’Nan happens to know her too.”

Chen Sinan could tell what Mo Bei was trying to get at as he continued. “Her name is Sheng Wenyang. She’s in the same grade as you and attends the same college.”

Chen Sinan stopped halfway through dropping a tile. “Sheng Wenyang?”

Mo Bei smiled, “When I was coming back, she promised me that you’d remember. Turns out she wasn’t kidding. She’ll be quite happy when I tell her the news.”

Chen Sinan laughed and decided not to speak his mind.

What a coincidence; Sheng Wenyang knew Mo Bei.

Zhuang Zhu examined how the two had been acting and snuck his way into the conversation. “Who’s Sheng Wenyang to you, A Nan?”