Chapter 123: Why Hasn't Lin Chen Returned?

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Lin Xi had played three rounds since sitting down and hadn’t won a single game. It wasn’t a matter of skill—each time she was ready to win early on, always just one step away, only to be cut off prematurely. Simply put, her luck was terrible. She had never lost at games that required strategy, but when it came to games of chance, she was famously unlucky. Yet Lin Xi refused to believe in bad luck.

Another round passed, and once again, Bai Xu cut her off. She began to sense something was amiss and glanced up at the figure opposite her. Catching her gaze, he wore a casual smile. “Want me to let you win?” he asked. That was just asking for trouble. Only Lin Xi’s good temper kept her from snapping back; if Bai Xu said that to Qin Yu or the others, the next second a tile would likely be smashed in his face.

Lin Xi said nothing and started drawing tiles. She had already figured out Bai Xu’s tactic: he was watching her discards carefully, deducing what she was aiming to win with. Although he could have won by self-draw, he deliberately blocked her, pushing tiles ahead of her. The prankster was definitely Bai Xu.

Cheng Si noticed too, stacking his tiles while teasing Bai Xu, “Having fun, huh? If you keep this up, why don’t you just start a table on your own and play by yourself?”

This round was good for Lin Xi. She had many winning tiles—from the three bamboo to the six bamboo—and any one would have done. But with the luck god absent, five minutes passed without a single bamboo tile drawn. She could only hope someone would discard one. Bai Xu obviously had them but saw that she was waiting for certain tiles and purposely held back to annoy her.

Lin Xi planned to outwait him. With so many rounds, she didn’t believe she couldn’t win. She saw Qin Yu hesitate after drawing a tile and felt an itch to prompt him. He glanced up briefly at her. Lin Xi was puzzled by his look. “Third Brother, not discarding?” she asked, eager to draw.

Qin Yu drew back, flipped a tile in his hand, and swiftly discarded the two bamboo. Lin Xi was momentarily stunned. Zhou Jingheng, sitting beside her, smiled and nudged, “Xi Xi, win on that one.”

“Tch. Is Third Brother doing this on purpose? Really good at dealing the winning tile,” Bai Xu said, seeing through it at once.

Lin Xi craned her neck to look at Qin Yu’s hand. “Third Brother throwing the game?”

“No,” Qin Yu pushed the tiles forward, calmly revealing them to everyone. “This one really had to go.”

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Lin Xi quickly scanned his tiles. None before or after matched the two bamboo, so she believed him. Cheng Si chuckled silently nearby. Bai Xu kept staring at Lin Xi’s hand, and Lin Xi was focused on hers, so nobody noticed Qin Yu’s subtle glances. Since they were seated facing each other, Qin Yu peeked at her draws and discards.

It wasn’t that Qin Yu was cheating; rather, he was also watching what Lin Xi intended to win with. Once he figured out she wanted bamboo tiles, he never held onto the bamboo tiles he drew in his first two turns. From the start, he had been planning to deal her the winning tile.

In the following rounds, Lin Xi won twice more—once by self-draw, once by Qin Yu’s discard. Naturally, she suspected Qin Yu might have manipulated things, but there was no clear pattern. Judging by his own tiles, his discards didn’t seem deliberately planned. Still, if it was pure coincidence, Lin Xi held onto a tiny doubt.

By afternoon’s end, Lin Xi had won two million. “Whose money did I win this from?” she asked Qin Yu, assuming he lost the most.

“Neither losing nor winning,” Qin Yu replied. He had been sitting out almost all afternoon, not playing seriously, with the chips still those left over from Second Brother.

“I won a little,” Cheng Si said, taking a lighthearted approach and not playing seriously.

Hearing this, Lin Xi turned her gaze to Bai Xu. “You lost this much?”

She recalled Bai Xu winning most rounds at first. Bai Xu hadn’t cared much; he was intentionally opposing Lin Xi. His focus wasn’t on Qin Yu and the others. Especially since Qin Yu had self-drawn several times later.

Most of Bai Xu’s winnings had actually gone to Qin Yu. Then, as Lin Xi kept winning, Bai Xu had ended up losing some more. Only then did he realize, after the whole round, he was the biggest sucker.

But it didn’t matter—just small change, like buying Lin Xi a piece of jewelry.

When dinner time came, the group sat on the balcony sipping tea and chatting casually.

“I heard something happened with the Song family early today?” Second Brother, unaware of the younger generation’s entanglements, merely wanted to ask about the Song family.

At this, Bai Xu looked at Lin Xi. Lin Xi peeked at Qin Yu, who remained unmoved, quietly sipping his tea without any sign of answering.

In the end, Cheng Si had to speak up.

“That old man took bribes and happened to offend Third Brother. It’s just an unlucky matter.”

Zhou Jingheng was slightly surprised. “Weren’t the two families somewhat close before?”

“Not really,” Qin Yu said coldly, setting down his teacup. “At best, just some business dealings.”

He always spoke with a ruthless tone. Zhou Jingheng didn’t dwell on it and quickly changed the subject.

Soon, the housekeeper wheeled in Grandfather Lin. The younger ones stood up. The housekeeper explained, “Grandfather said he wanted to see Xi Xi, so he had to disturb you.”

Zhou Jingheng stepped forward, taking over from the housekeeper, signaling her to attend to other tasks. They would take care of Grandfather.

After settling Grandfather Lin beside Lin Xi, everyone sat down.

Though carefully cared for, Grandfather Lin looked frail and thin, carrying a hint of illness.

Lin Xi touched his hand, clearly feeling the protruding bones beneath the skin.

She didn’t dare press too hard. “Grandpa, you wanted to see me?”

Grandfather Lin was relatively clear-headed now and asked why she hadn’t gone to work today.

“I took the day off. Look, Second Brother’s back,” Lin Xi said, pointing to Zhou Jingheng on the other side. “Grandpa, don’t you think you barely recognize him?”

Grandfather Lin paused, then reached out to grasp Zhou Jingheng’s hand. “Second son of the Zhou family?”

“That’s right, Grandpa. It’s me.” Zhou Jingheng was an only child, but since the younger generation ranked themselves in order, the elders habitually called him “Second son of the Zhou family.”

“Second son’s back? When did you come back?”

At noon, Zhou Jingheng had stopped by the Cheng household to see Grandfather Lin, but Grandfather Lin had eaten early and gone to rest. In the afternoon, the old man had greeted them briefly before going out to play chess, missing Zhou Jingheng.

Zhou Jingheng hadn’t stopped him and had waited until now.

“Yesterday. I arrived on yesterday’s flight but it was too late to come see you.”

“Good to be back, good indeed,” Grandfather Lin said with relief, holding his hand firmly. His gaze swept over Zhou Jingheng’s features before suddenly asking something that stunned everyone: “What about Lin Chen? Didn’t he come back with you?”

Everyone was silent.

Calculating the time, when Lin Chen was transferred away, Zhou Jingheng had started traveling frequently, spending much of the year abroad at embassies. So Grandfather Lin assumed they had gone overseas together back then.

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