Arc 2: Luxury Cruise
Chapter 25
Austin asked Xu Ziyue to help push his wheelchair while he would guide the way.
They took the elevator to the second floor.
As soon as the elevator door opened and Xu Ziyue walked out while pushing the wheelchair, he was met with a crossroad that split into three different directions. The paths were covered in red carpet. Even through the shoes, Xu Ziyue could tell how soft it was.
Austin said: "Go straight."
Xu Ziyue nodded. Pursing his lips, he pushed the wheelchair forward.
At the end of the corridor was a double sided carved wooden door. It looked quite expensive. On both sides of the door stood two men in black suits. When they saw Austin and Xu Ziyue come over, they grabbed the handle and held the door open.
As soon as the door was opened, cool air from inside poured over onto Xu Ziyue. At the same time, there were people dressed in all kinds of attire walking around inside. There were lively sounds of people speaking, an excited atmosphere and there were even faint sounds of someone breaking down and crying.
That cry only lasted for a moment. Before Xu Ziyue was able to hear what he was crying about, it faded in the crowd.
"This is the cruise ships casino. Anything can be betted here."
Xu Ziyue didn"t understand what he meant and just looked at Austin blankly, "I didn"t bring any money……..And I don"t know how to gamble."
Smiling gently at Xu Ziyue, Austin raised his hand and rubbed his neck.
Xu Ziyue instantly felt dizzy. Gooseb.u.mps emerged all across his body. As Austin"s finger moved across his skin, a shudder travelled from his neck to the rest of his body.
Please read this from kk translates
"I, I, I, I………" Xu Ziyue could no longer speak normally.
Austin"s finger travelled up and moved across the side of Xu Ziyue"s face. His finger gently brushed against Xu Ziyue"s pink cheeks before slowly withdrawing. At this moment, Xu Ziyue"s eyes were slightly wet.
"It"s okay, I brought chips. If you don"t know how to gamble, I can teach you."
Even in a noisy environment, Austin"s gentle voice sounded like it was spoken right next to Xu Ziyue"s ear, making his ears numb.
Xu Ziyue blushed. Removing his hand from the wheelchair, he covered his face and squatted down onto the floor.
AHHHHHH———– His heart was about to burst!
"What"s wrong? Do you feel sick?" Austin lowered his head and looked at Xu Ziyue who was squatting beside his wheelchair. His tone was filled with concern and when he spoke, hot breath could be felt on Xu Ziyue"s end, making Xu Ziyue who originally had no resistance even more weak.
Xu Ziyue: "Yingyingying……….."(KKnotes: AKA pathetic crying sounds)
Austin: "………." What is this sound………
Xu Ziyue had his face buried in the palms of his hands and was squatting there like a big round ball.
His sullen voice reached Austin"s ear, "Don"t tease me……." That tone of his sounded like he was being bullied.
Austin: "………"
A waiter nearby brought over Austin"s chips. Austin waved his hand to indicate for him to wait.
He propped his elbow onto his wheelchair"s hand rest and, while supporting his chin in his hand, he watched Xu Ziyue with interest. There was no sign of the gentleness he had earlier when he was speaking to Xu Ziyue. Instead, there was a hint of something dark in his gaze.
By the time Xu Ziyue recovered and looked back up at Austin, Austin had returned back to his usual gentle look.
Probably because he had covered his face for a long time, Xu Ziyue"s face and the edges of his eyes were red. Along with his slightly wet eyes, he looked like he had just cried.
Because he was squatting there too long, his legs felt numb as soon as he moved to get back up. In the end, he fell back onto his b.u.t.t. Xu Ziyue looked at Austin with embarra.s.sment and shame.
As Austin reached out to help pull Xu Ziyue up, he saw Xu Ziyue quickly shrink away with his head lowered. Only the red tips of his ears could be seen past his head. Austin appeared to have thought of something and could only laugh helplessly: "Slow down, we are not in a hurry."
By the time the heat on Xu Ziyue"s face dissipated, ten minutes had already pa.s.sed.
Austin received a box from the waiter, "The chips are inside. If it"s not enough, I"ll get more later."
Xu Ziyue quickly waved his hand, "No, no no. No need. I"ll just watch." He didn"t know how to do these things, nor did he have any interest.
"Your card. You can only get a stamp after playing ten rounds at the casino."
Xu Ziyue looked down at the card hanging from his neck and finally remembered its existence. It was however something he didn"t have to complete.
Austin said: "It"s okay. You can give it a go first and pay me back later. It"s too time-consuming going back and forth." He tilted his head and smiled, "Well?"
"O-okay….."
Xu Ziyue nodded his head in daze.
Sitting at the gambling table, Xu Ziyue hammered his chest as he lamented over the fact that he was once again seduced by beauty. But if it was to happen again………He still probably wouldn"t have any resistance towards it. Xu Ziyue knew himself well. Since he was able to walk, he would always run off at the shops to hug a good-looking person"s leg and call out sweetly "big brother" or "big sister". When he started school, the cla.s.s teacher was a young female teacher. Every time she taught Chinese, Xu Ziyue would actively raise his hand and do everything he could to get the teacher"s praise. Later he learnt about shame and started to befriend good-looking people instead…………In short, he had no resistance to beauty.
If he was able to resist the ultrgood-looking Austin here, that would be even more strange.
After Austin brought Xu Ziyue over to a table, a waiter gave Xu Ziyue a stool to sit on. Austin on the other hand stuck closely by Xu Ziyue"s side.
There were a lot of people around so there wasn"t much s.p.a.ce for everyone, especially with Austin"s wheelchair taking up so much s.p.a.ce.
"I"ll teach you Sic Bo first." Austin gestured for the waiter to open the box for him, "Sic Bo is a common game of high or low. From 4 to 10 is low and from 11 to 17 is high."
Xu Ziyue asked: "Then what about 3 and 18?"
"That"s a loss. The dealer wins."
Xu Ziyue nodded. He seemed to both understand yet not understand.
Austin encouraged him: "You try it first." He shoved a few chips into Xu Ziyue"s hand.
When Xu Ziyue"s hand touched Austin"s had, he was secretly very pleased. But if you"re asking him to gamble……. Xu Ziyue closed his eyes and placed his bet on high.
The final result was low.
Xu Ziyue"s first attempt was a loss.
A game of Sic Bo progresses very quickly. It didn"t take long for him to acc.u.mulate ten attempts. Of those ten attempts, he had more losses than wins. Once those ten attempts were over, Xu Ziyue was no longer willing to play.
Austin didn"t pressure him. He called for the waiter to stamp Xu Ziyue"s card before proposing, "if you don"t want to play at the casino, we can change locations."
"Change?"
"How about the opera?"
Xu Ziyue nodded quickly. He remembered that there was such a activity on this ship. Although he had never watched an opera before, he was very curious. Compared to gambling, he was more willing to quietly watch a show.
Just as they closed the box and was about to leave, a scream rang through the casino.
Xu Ziyue turned his head and looked over. A man grasping tightly onto his half missing arm stumbled out of the crowd.
Xu Ziyue saw a green symbol above his head and quickly looked over at the crowd. There were also about four or five people scattered about in the crowd with the symbol. They watched their companion who had lost his arm with a pale expression. It was as if they were looking at their future selves.
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KK has something to say:
Oh no, another casualty!