Chapter 145: The Boss Lady is a Master

“Want to play for money?”

“No money games, I’m dirt poor and gambling and drugs are completely off-limits!”

Dong Wenhao coughed: “We don’t usually gamble either, but we thought we’d play for money since the boss is here.”

Jiang Qin looked puzzled after hearing this: “Oh, so I’m just an easy target in your eyes?”

“No, no, no, it’s because you’re an honorable boss, so we wanted to play something higher stakes.”

Jiang Qin smirked: “Heh heh, Wenhao, you want to learn how to swindle people from me? You’re on the right track, but not enticing enough yet.”

Lu Feiyu couldn’t help speaking up: “Boss, we usually have fun playing Stick-It, but just think, having all those paper notes stuck to your face would really undermine your authority. Authority like that can’t be bought with money.”

“Authority is certainly a lofty concept.”

After listening, Jiang Qin poked Dong Wenhao: “Did you hear that? Even Lu is learning faster than you. I’m almost convinced.”

Dong Wenhao coughed: “Great, the boss agreed to gamble! Five yuan a hand!”

“What? When did I agree? Five yuan is way too much, I only spend fifty cents on ice cream!”

“Boss? The boss lady really has you whipped, huh?”

“Nonsense, it’s five yuan!”

Jiang Qin grumbled as he started dealing the cards.

The poker game played in Room 208 was one Dong Wenhao taught from his hometown, involving five players.

The emperor is revealed, while the minister is hidden, teaming up against three commoners. Whoever gets rid of all their cards first wins. The fun lies in the mystery of the minister’s identity, which even the emperor doesn’t know.

One round requires four decks, over two hundred cards total.

After Dong Wenhao explained the rules, Jiang Qin thought he understood and confidently dealt the cards, only to finish dead last.

“Boss, you lost, pay up!” Dong Wenhao held out his hand.

Jiang Qin frowned at him: “Let’s keep a tally first, no need to rush. Maybe I’ll win it back later.”

Lu Feiyu looked up: “Boss, don’t forget about my five yuan too.”

“I’ve only played one round, how do I already owe you two?”

“Dong is the emperor, I’m the minister. Since you finished last, you have to pay double, that’s the rule.”

“What a stupid rule, even shadier than me.”

Dong Wenhao and Lu Feiyu exchanged a glance, their faces filled with the excitement of fleecing a big spender. For someone new to this card game, it’s nearly impossible to gain the upper hand – they’re bound to be semi-clueless and lose money.

It takes at least eight or nine rounds before even a genius can fully grasp the nuances.

So they felt the boss agreeing to gamble was purely to give his employees a treat.

“Boss, you’re not going to get all heated over losing some money, are you?”

Jiang Qin chuckled coldly: “That would be uncouth. There’s no hierarchy at the poker table, I know that much. Reshuffle, I’ve got the hang of it now.”

Ma Yubao coughed: “The loser shuffles, that’s another rule.”

“Damn it!”

Jiang Qin cursed as he scooped up the scattered cards and started a new round, unsurprisingly finishing dead last again.

The other four were about to split their sides laughing, especially Yang Shuai, whose grin was stretched from ear to ear.

As they laughed, Room 208’s door suddenly opened and a lovely young face peeked in, eyes cold, expression both fierce and adorable. Her full cherry lips glistened under the light, looking plump and juicy, as if a lick would make them moist.

At the same time, all the employees in 208 turned to look outside, their eyes lighting up as they cried out in sweet unison, “Boss lady!”

Feng Nanshu smiled pleasantly, then came in and sat beside Jiang Qin, looking perfectly demure.

Seeming to have just showered, a gentle floral scent wafted from the little rich girl next to Jiang Qin, smelling faintly elegant and making his heart itch a little.

“Want to play?” Jiang Qin offered her the cards.

Feng Nanshu leaned over to look: “I don’t know how, I’ll just watch you.”

“Deal the cards.” Jiang Qin shuffled the deck and placed it on the mat.

“Boss, you haven’t paid for the last two hands. We had a deal, you can’t welch.”

Jiang Qin raised an eyebrow: “You think I’d run out on my debts? If I really didn’t pay up, you could all take the office laptops and I wouldn’t say a word.”

Dong Wenhao paused: “But those laptops are ours, I think.”

“We’re all one family here. Now deal them, I want to redeem myself.”

So they dealt out another raucous hand. This time the jockeying was more intense, and apart from Lu Feiyu going out first as a commoner, the rest were still scrambling.

When it was Jiang Qin’s turn, he hesitated, feeling his hand wasn’t that great. Going out second would be tough, the safest bet was third or fourth.

“Play this one next.”

Feng Nanshu reached out her slender white hand, pointing at Jiang Qin’s cards as her breath caressed his face, carrying a warm, girlish fragrance.

“But that’s the highest card. If I get blocked, I’m stuck.”

This was Jiang Qin’s first real close look at Feng Nanshu. He felt like turning his head slightly would bump her cute little nose, maybe even sense the warmth of her skin – or maybe that was his imagination.

“They don’t have anything higher than that.”

“I don’t believe it.”

“Big brother, play that one next, trust your little sister,” Feng Nanshu turned to him, her little mouth nearly touching his.

Jiang Qin’s breath caught as he involuntarily tossed out his highest five jacks. The others immediately changed expression and shook their heads, refusing to take them.

The next hand went similarly, with Feng Nanshu telling Jiang Qin what to play and him obediently following, swiftly and precisely, leaving the hidden minister Dong Wenhao too afraid to make a move.

Ma Yubao frowned silently, having planned to trap the boss by holding back, but before he knew it Jiang Qin had discarded all his cards.

After a few rounds, Dong Wenhao and Lu Feiyu had each lost over ten yuan, their faces fallen.

“How about another round?” Jiang Qin smirked crookedly.

Dong Wenhao shook his head dejectedly: “No more, the boss lady is a master. If we keep going we’ll be cleaned out.”

Feng Nanshu said seriously: “I don’t know how to play.”

“One big happy family never tells the whole truth,” Dong Wenhao muttered under his breath.

Feng Nanshu’s eyelashes fluttered: “I really don’t know how, but I’m good at math. My high school entrance exam score was 671, though I only got 12 on the essay.”

“……”

After a long pause, Dong Wenhao pulled out his wallet tearfully, fished out some change and handed it to Jiang Qin, refusing to play any longer.

Well damn, if they kept playing, the situation would just devolve into the boss lady winning back the wages the boss had paid out, an endless cycle fueling the company’s healthy growth and prosperity.

Man, you two must be laundering money or something!

Seeing Dong Wenhao insisting on withdrawing, Lu Feiyu and Ma Yubao also handed over cash, patting their butts and getting ready to head back to the dorms for sleep.

Jiang Qin looked up to see it had grown dark outside. The winter night seemed especially heavy, the wind gusting through the window felt bitterly cold, the air carrying a damp scent like rain was coming.

Turning back, Feng Nanshu was still sitting obediently, her beautiful eyes fixed unblinkingly on him.

“Looks like rain, let me walk you back to the dorms.”

“Okay.”

Jiang Qin stood up, grabbed his coat from the chair and headed out, but noticed the little rich girl was just standing there, calmly watching him as if waiting for something.

“Let’s go.”

Feng Nanshu looked down at her feet: “Jiang Qin, I can’t move.”

Jiang Qin frowned: “Your feet fell asleep? But you were fine just now.”

“My feet are sealed, I need to feel the strength transferred from your palms before they’ll recover.”

“Huh?”

Jiang Qin got it – she wanted to hold hands, this devilish little vixen. She’d been snuggling into me while playing cards, and now more tricks.

“Suit yourself then, I’m leaving. But just a heads up, when I go, Su Nai’s computer will start making a really scary noise.”

Su Nai’s eyes flashed dangerously, thinking to herself – You’ve got guts trying that in front of me, dog boss! If I wasn’t worried about the boss lady seeing blood, today would be your death anniversary next year!

Seeing Jiang Qin leaving, Feng Nanshu’s eyes drooped slightly, but she still pushed open the door and followed, her little shoes tapping along the empty hallway.

“The wind’s so strong, did Zhu Bajie show up?”

Jiang Qin stepped outside the entrepreneurship base to find a huge gale whipping through campus, sounding like spirits were wailing all around, the remaining leaves swirling chaotically in the howling gusts.

The little rich girl looked worried, her gaze glued to Jiang Qin as she followed stride for stride.

Jiang Qin slowed his pace to let her catch up, then took her slightly cool hand and held it tightly in his.

“Is the seal broken now?”

“Broken,” Feng Nanshu replied matter-of-factly to her own nonsense, all traces of fear vanished from her heart.

Jiang Qin walked hand-in-hand with her towards the female dorms, but they soon ran into the hand-holding pair of Cao Guangyu and Ding Xue, the four of them exchanging glances in an awkward atmosphere.

“Well, well.”

“Well your ass, get lost!”

Before Cao Guangyu could finish his single syllable witticism, Jiang Qin cut him off curtly.

He knew that dog Cao wanted to say something obnoxious like, “Ohh holding hands again? Thought you said you didn’t do the dating thing,” followed by that stupid grin like he’d uncovered some big secret.

Jiang Qin felt he had nothing to hide, but Cao’s smug attitude really got under his skin.

Get lost!

Cao Guangyu grumbled insults as he pulled Ding Xue away.

“Jiang Qin.”

“Hmm?”

“If the ultimate fate of lovers is growing old never seeing each other, why do so many people still want to become lovers?”

Watching Cao and Ding leaving, Feng Nanshu spoke softly, her expression full of bewilderment.

“I guess…they just want to indulge themselves for a little while.”