Chapter 71: Never Have I Ever
Chapter 71: Never Have I Ever
As the night progressed, the air started turning colder. But the atmosphere of the open courtyard was filled with warmth as everyone prepared to start the game.
Wen Zhe Yuan distributed the wine jars and Xiang Ling noticed that the men had brought more than enough wine. Each person got a full jar of wine and there were still several left to savor later. After pouring herself a cup, she suggested, "Let’s toast before we begin the game."
All six of them emptied their cups before refilling them. The more she drank, the more she savored the wine. "What kind of wine is this? Where did you find it?" she asked, already considering purchasing some for herself. Being ten thousand years old, she had tasted several types of wine. It was a wonder that there was still a wine that could impress her tastebuds.
"We’ll disclose that if you win the game," Dao Ming challenged her, seated between Wei Guang and Xin Cheng. His gaze stared right into her eyes and even in the moonlight, the crimson rings around his irises were so evident.
Xiang Ling raised an eyebrow at the wolf-shifter. "Very well. Let’s commence the game then. Since I’m most familiar with it, I’ll start. Let’s begin with a single hand, given it’s our first time playing."
As she raised one hand with fingers spread, the others followed suit. With a composed demeanor, she began, "Never Have I Ever..." Surveying the table, she pondered her statement, and with a straight face, continued, "... been married to a woman."
An immediate groan from the five men made Xiang Ling chuckle. She relished their annoyance. "Are you trying to play rough? If so, maybe one of us should employ the same tactic. Since you are supposedly married to all five of us, you should fold all your fingers." Xin Cheng wasn’t having any of her nonsense.
Xiang Ling immediately threw her hands up in surrender. "My apologies. Let’s take this as a trial round. Alright?"
Fortunately, the men didn’t hold her accountable for so long and decided to continue the game. Next, it was Zhe Yuan’s turn. The man looked thoughtful for a moment or two before he spoke, "Never Have I Ever..." his eyes landed on Xiang Ling and she didn’t like the sudden spark that filled his eyes right before he dropped his next words. "... tormented innocent people."
Xiang Ling excitedly looked around the table to see who had folded their fingers only to find all the five men looking at her with similar expressions on their faces. It took her brain a moment to process the situation and she used her other hand to point a finger at herself in a silent question. Almost immediately, all five men nodded their heads.
"You..."
She was at a complete loss for words but there was nothing she could do about the situation. Feeling reluctant, she forced herself to fold her thumb and reached out for the cup before she finished the wine and poured more for the next round.
"Look at you all. Aren’t you tormenting an innocent right now?" She mumbled before returning her attention to the men who seemed quite amused by her reaction. It was their moment to relish her annoyance.
Next was Li Xian’s turn. The man looked around the table once before he spoke, "Never Have I Ever punished my partner." His gaze landed on a completely baffled-looking Xiang Ling and he had to fight back the smile that was threatening to spill on his lips.
"Look, now you all are getting personal here. Didn’t we just agree to not play dirty? Then what is all this? You can’t keep bringing my dark past that I don’t even recall." Xiang Ling complained as she glared at the men, not hiding her dissatisfaction with how the game was going.
Finally, Wei Guang decided to help her out. "She is right. It’s not fair to keep bringing up the incidents from her past."
Though these five men were not close friends or talked too much, it seemed like they had a common understanding between them. One such thing that Xiang Ling noticed was how everyone listened whenever Wei Guang was saying something or giving some sort of advice. It was a kind of respectful gesture that probably came with him being the eldest and the most sensible one.
"Never Have I Ever... " Wei Guang began and with a soft smile on his lips, as he looked at Xiang Ling, continued, "... drank alcohol with a woman."
"No, you just didn’t."
"What in the world of stars -"
All four men groaned out loudly while a huge smile bloomed on Xiang Ling’s lips. She watched as all five men folded one of their fingers and finished the content of their cups before refilling them.
Next was Dao Ming’s turn and as Xiang Ling once again found herself looking into his eyes which were staring right back at her, she felt that the man was up to no good. A moment of silence later, he began, "Never Have I Ever kissed someone."
The moment these words entered Xiang Ling’s ears, her eyes darted at Xin Cheng and found him also looking up at her with an unreadable expression on his face. Moments passed and the others at the table realized something was wrong when they noticed neither she nor Xin Cheng had taken away their eyes from one another.
He was the first one to fold his finger and Xiang Ling immediately followed suit. She felt her cheeks burning as she felt the intensity of the gazes that were focused on her. She drowned not only one but two cups of wine to calm herself down.
"LingLing..."
"Huh?"
Xiang Ling turned her eyes toward Zhe Yuan sitting beside her and found his beautiful purple eyes staring at her with an expression she hadn’t seen in those eyes before.
The man inched his face closer before he spoke, "I want to fold my finger too."
Before Xiang Ling’s brain could have understood the meaning of those words, something soft was already pressed against her lips.
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A/N:
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