When Murong Huan returned, her eyes were still slightly red, but her expression appeared much more relaxed than before.
Some things don't need to be deliberately concealed; being open about them often feels much better.
Seeing everyone staring at her, Murong Huan mumbled that it was embarrassing, then picked up the cards and said, "Let's continue playing! I've shared such private matters with you all, now let's see who loses next!"
Murong Huan spoke while shuffling and dealing the cards again.
In this round, Song Yi got the highest card, while Xu Che got the lowest.
Song Yi looked at him with a smile and eagerly asked, "Truth or dare?"
Xu Che hesitated for a few seconds before saying, "Dare."
"Excellent," Song Yi nodded, then turned to look at Shen Yujing.
Shen Yujing was momentarily stunned, then broke into laughter, saying cheerfully, "Are you thinking of asking me for ideas to mess with him? I've known Xu Che for so many years; you've definitely come to the right person! I have plenty of..."
Song Yi interrupted Shen Yujing and announced loudly, "Since it's a dare, you have to princess-carry Shen Yujing while doing ten squats!"
Xu Che: "..."
Shen Yujing: "???"
The smile froze on Shen Yujing's face, his half-spoken words abruptly cut off.
Everyone burst into laughter, even Hang Feng couldn't help but smile as he looked at Xu Che, quite eager to witness this scene.
Song Yi turned to Shen Yujing again, deliberately putting on an apologetic expression, "Sorry, but I have plenty of ideas in this department too."
While Shen Yujing's methods would only target Xu Che, her approach was different - she could torment two people at once! What a bargain!
Just as Shen Yujing was about to say something, he saw Xu Che standing up and walking towards him.
Shen Yujing: "???"
Help! Save me!
Shen Yujing immediately jumped up and tried to run towards the door, but Murong Huan mercilessly blocked his path, while Quan Le cooperatively blocked the doorway.
Seeing no escape route, Shen Yujing changed his target and rushed towards the window. With his hand on the windowsill, he shouted with a resigned expression, "I refuse! Princess carry? I might as well jump down and die right here!"
Though Shen Yujing said this, he soon felt a force grabbing his ankles and pulling him backward.
Looking back, he saw Song Yi grabbing his left leg, and even more absurdly, Hang Feng holding his right leg!
Shen Yujing: "?"
He thought he was going crazy!
Despite Shen Yujing's vigorous resistance, he eventually surrendered exhaustedly under everyone's united effort.
When Xu Che finally princess-carried him, Shen Yujing felt life had lost all meaning.
Opening his eyes, he could see Quan Le and Hang Feng filming him with their phones.
Shen Yujing shouted, "What are you two doing?"
Hang Feng, feeling satisfied, put away his phone.
"For internal appreciation only, won't be shared outside," Quan Le answered seriously, then immediately posted it to their group chat.
This was the most humiliating second of Shen Yujing's life. After experiencing this, he stumbled back to his seat in a daze.
Why was it that even though Xu Che was the one being punished, he was the one who suffered?
He couldn't understand! Couldn't! Understand!!!
Though he didn't understand, when he raised his head again, there was determination in his eyes. "Come on! Let's continue! Continue!"
Now that he had been so humiliated, no one else would be spared! No one!
Everything went according to Shen Yujing's wishes - everyone took turns suffering, no one was spared.
For instance, Jiang Yiheng had to recite the multiplication table and post it on social media, Song Yi had to eat a cookie using only her nose and facial movements, the usually expressionless Hang Feng had to perform a rap, and Quan Le had to dance to a girl group song.
The atmosphere was very lively, and Murong Huan said, "Let's do one last round before we change games. We've had too many dares, so this time everyone has to choose truth no matter who gets picked."
And so the final unfortunate person turned out to be Shen Yujing, with Murong Huan as the questioner.
Truth? Shen Yujing wasn't afraid of that.
For Shen Yujing, his greatest virtue was his straightforwardness. In his dozen or so years of life, he hadn't done many things he regretted, and he rarely even talked behind people's backs because he usually preferred direct confrontation.
Murong Huan thought for a moment and asked, "What's your biggest fear?"
"Nothing," Shen Yujing answered without hesitation.
What could he possibly be afraid of? Ridiculous!
"Then who do you hate the most? Anyone from our school?"
Shen Yujing said, "No one."
This was also true - he preferred to resolve issues face-to-face and wasn't one to hold grudges.
Well... previously Jiang Yiheng and Xu Che would have counted, but they were on good terms now, so no one.
Murong Huan grew impatient and asked dissatisfied, "Can't you be more cooperative? You keep saying 'nothing' to everything I ask. How are we supposed to play like this? Then have you ever done anything that makes you feel guilty? Something that still makes your conscience ache when you think about it?"
When asked this question, Shen Yujing fell silent.
Murong Huan noticed his change in expression and immediately slapped the table, "Shen Yujing, you're hiding something! That instinctive reaction was too real! If you say 'nothing' again, you're clearly just making excuses!"
Something that made him feel guilty, that still troubled his conscience... there was indeed one thing.
Shen Yujing remembered that evening when he saw Song Yi slip a love letter into Jiang Yiheng's desk drawer, and what he did afterward.
He had replaced Song Yi's love letter to Jiang Yiheng with a note calling Jiang Yiheng a pig.
Even now, thinking about it still made him feel complicated.
Did he regret it? A little, since it was truly unethical.
But if given another chance, would he do it again?
The answer was still yes.
His actions then were unconscious and instinctive because he hadn't yet understood his own feelings.
Now that he understood, he certainly wouldn't have let it happen.
The more he thought about it, the more Shen Yujing felt he was despicable, like a rat in the gutter, doing things that couldn't bear the light of day.
During Shen Yujing's silence, Quan Le couldn't hold back anymore and asked, "Last year at my birthday, were you the one who hid cabbage in my cake?"
"Ah... yes," Shen Yujing was startled but nodded in admission, remembering that had indeed happened.
Quan Le roared, "I knew it! And you blamed it on Zhang Yong! Shen Yujing! I really misjudged you!"
"Just that?" Murong Huan was clearly disappointed, having expected some shocking gossip or embarrassing story about Shen Yujing.
At that moment, Murong Huan's phone screen lit up, and she excitedly stood up, "Let's go, the fireworks are all set up, let's hurry and watch!"
Everyone gradually stood up, and at this point, no one questioned whether Shen Yujing had answered the truth question honestly.
Shen Yujing leaned back in his chair, secretly breathing a sigh of relief, as if he had just escaped a crisis.
Fortunately, by coincidence, Quan Le had helped him deflect that question.
But still...
Thinking about that incident, Shen Yujing still felt very uneasy.
If Song Yi found out about it in the future, would she blame him?
Would it be better to confess such mistakes on his own rather than apologizing after being exposed?
Shen Yujing ran his fingers through his hair, his face full of worry.
As Quan Le passed by him, he directly grabbed Shen Yujing's hat and pulled, "I haven't even settled the score about the cabbage incident with you yet, why are you sitting here looking so troubled? Let's go!"
*
On the third-floor balcony, fireworks were set up along the edge, with safety measures in place to ensure they could see the fireworks while staying completely safe.
Where they were sitting, there were many small fireworks like sparklers arranged nearby, convenient for them to play with and take photos.
On the nearby table, beautiful candles were arranged, illuminating the night.
The butler brought bowls of small tangyuan (sweet rice balls), saying, "Everyone can have some food, there's still an hour until midnight."
Having rested for a while, everyone had recovered some energy. They accepted the tangyuan and chatted while eating, only setting off a few small fireworks for fun at this point.
Quan Le had already started playing with the fireworks, sometimes waving sparklers in front of Murong Huan, sometimes using smoke from small fireworks to draw in the air, until he picked up something unknown and pulled it in Song Yi's direction—
Watching the "fireworks" spray towards Song Yi, Shen Yujing felt his blood run cold.
He suddenly rose and shielded Song Yi with his body. The young man's chin rested against her forehead as his hands firmly protected her beneath him.
In that moment, Shen Yujing could hear his own heart pounding violently.
There was uncertainty, unease, and undisguised fear accompanied by his trembling body.
He didn't know if these fireworks would burn him when they fell on his body, or if there would be any more serious consequences, but at this moment he only wanted to protect her.
Shen Yujing's mind went blank, but instinct made him say, "I'm sorry."
Song Yi's voice now sounded soft and gentle as she asked, "What for?"
What did he have to be sorry about?
"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have switched your love letter to Jiang Yiheng with a note calling him a pig." At this point, Shen Yujing suddenly felt somewhat aggrieved.
Looking at Song Yi's gaze, what kind of man had she fallen for? At a time like this, he just stood there watching, clearly not worried about her at all!
Thinking of this, Shen Yujing's voice carried an unmistakable sob as he said, "Jiang Yiheng isn't good enough for you. If I'm gone, you can't choose him. Well, if I'm gone, I won't know who you choose anyway..."
"No," Song Yi interrupted Shen Yujing, pushing him up slightly.
They faced each other, eyes meeting.
At this moment, only one emotion remained on Song Yi's face: bewilderment. She asked, "What are you talking about?"
Why was he suddenly speaking as if giving his last words?
And when had she ever written a love letter to Jiang Yiheng? What was all this about?
But what happened next shocked Song Yi even more.
Because now Shen Yujing's eyes were red as he stared at her, clearly... crying?
Song Yi couldn't understand at all. She reached out to touch Shen Yujing's eyes, and only after feeling the moisture did she confirm he was actually crying.
Song Yi immediately felt uncomfortable and said awkwardly, "Whatever it is, get up first and then we can talk."
"I can't, I'm..."
I can't get up because I'm injured.
The words were on the tip of Shen Yujing's tongue, but suddenly something felt wrong.
Wait, if he was injured, why didn't anything hurt?
Shen Yujing maintained his position "sofa-cornering" Song Yi, supporting himself with one hand while reaching behind his back with the other to feel around.
His clothes were fine, his neck wasn't broken, there was no blood on his head - he seemed... completely unharmed?!
So Shen Yujing quickly scrambled up, turned around, and saw golden shimmering pieces scattered on the floor.
Shen Yujing looked at Quan Le in disbelief, "What's that in your hand?"
Quan Le answered, "A party popper, haven't you seen one before?"
Then Quan Le pulled another one towards Shen Yujing, "You like them? Happy New Year!"
Shen Yujing, face covered in golden sparkles: "..."
A party popper? Wasn't it a firecracker? How could this be?
How embarrassing! He was so embarrassed!
At this moment, Jiang Yiheng's voice rang out, filled with incredulity, "You should also explain what you meant about switching Song Yi's love letter to me?"
"Yes," Song Yi nodded, completely puzzled, "When did I ever write a love letter to Jiang Yiheng?"
Shen Yujing: "..."
How did he end up confessing to that too?
Maybe they should ask Quan Le to replace that party popper with a bomb and just blow him away.
