Chapter 21: The Game of Finger-Guessing

“Boss, you promised to look after us. This time, only you can help us. Anyway, you can lose up to ten times, and once we win, you can peacefully go to the competition. With your intelligence, I’m sure you’ll win.” Liu Saijian said.

“Liu Saijian, are you crazy? You want Xiao Fan to lose several times in a row? Even if you win, do you really think Xiao Fan will win that many times?” Jiang Jie Wei shouted.

“Shut the hell up! You’re not even playing this game. What business is it of yours?” Liu Saijian retorted.

He then turned to Zhang Xiaofan, pleading, “Boss, you promised us. You can’t just stand by and watch us die.”

Zhang Xiaofan sneered, his heart utterly cold at that moment. Did they really think he was a fool? With that attitude, not even a ghost would help them.

Though Liu Saijian was his roommate, they’d never been close; the guy had never helped him before. Now, just because he called him “Boss,” he expected him to save him? Did he really think Zhang Xiaofan was some kind of saint?

He glanced at Lin Rou and Hu Xiaotian and calmly asked, “What do you think?”

Lin Rou looked at him in a panic and shook her head. “The condition for victory is to end up with one hundred and fifty more coins than you started with. You want us to win, but you’d have to win three extra times. So you absolutely can’t do that.”

Hu Xiaotian took a deep breath to calm his nerves and said, “Xiaofan, we’re friends. I know if I were in trouble, you wouldn’t abandon me. So I can’t let you be in trouble either. I have enough coins now; I don’t need your help.”

Zhang Xiaofan nodded emphatically. “Don’t worry. If I get a chance, I’ll definitely help you.”

“Haha, Boss, they don’t need your help, so you only need to lose three times. Let me win, okay?” Liu Kaijian pressed anxiously.

Zhang Xiaofan replied, “There are still two days left. Let’s talk about it later.”

“You’re not willing? Damn it, and I still call you Boss. You’d just let us die.” Liu Kaijian’s face twisted with rage.

At this, the rest of the class looked at Zhang Xiaofan and his group with schadenfreude. Song Feng even jeered, “A little nobody still dreaming of being the boss. Ha! Embarrassed now, aren’t you?”

Chen Jing nestled in his arms, also sneering at Zhang Xiaofan.

Li Haoyu stood up and suddenly walked over to Lin Rou, saying in a low voice, “Let’s compete.”

The crowd laughed. “Out of these eight, Lin Rou’s the weakest. Li Haoyu, you sure know how to pick your opponent.”

“Yeah, aren’t you a man? Picking Lin Rou? Shame on you.”

Li Haoyu shouted, “What do you know? If you’ve got the guts, you do it!”

Lin Rou was frightened by his demeanor and shook her head. “I need to calm down. Please don’t choose me.”

“I’ll compete with you.” Murong Feng stepped forward.

Li Haoyu frowned. In this class, Murong Feng always kept to himself, but no one dared underestimate him, which made Li Haoyu hesitate.

“What’s the matter? Scared?” Murong Feng smiled. “I have two hundred and fifty-three coins, so I can afford to lose four times. I’ll make it easy for you: I’ll only play scissors.”

Li Haoyu only had enough coins to lose three times. He hesitated, but hearing Murong Feng’s words, he grinned viciously. “Fine, I’ll play you.”

Zhang Xiaofan quietly told Hu Xiaotian, “Watch their patterns closely.”

Hu Xiaotian nodded seriously.

Murong Feng and Li Haoyu stood together. Shen Fengxing sighed and stepped between them. “Ready, go.”

Their hands moved quickly—Murong Feng played scissors, and so did Li Haoyu.

Li Haoyu frowned. Was Murong Feng really playing scissors? He’d thought Murong Feng was trying to trick him, saying he’d play scissors but actually playing rock so Li Haoyu would play paper. So he’d chosen scissors.

But he hadn’t expected Murong Feng to be so straightforward.

“Hmph, so that’s how you want to play…”

Li Haoyu snorted and threw again.

Murong Feng still played scissors, while Li Haoyu played paper.

Li Haoyu’s expression changed dramatically. He yelled, “Why are you still playing scissors?”

He’d thought that after the first round of scissors, Murong Feng would play rock, so he’d chosen paper. But Murong Feng still played scissors.

“This Li Haoyu must be a real idiot,” Hu Xiaotian cursed.

Zhang Xiaofan said, “It’s not that he’s stupid—Murong Feng is just smarter. He always gives off this scheming vibe, so he used that to his advantage. He made Li Haoyu think he was being deceptive, but instead, he did exactly what he said he would.”

“Damn, Li Haoyu’s intelligence just backfired,” Hu Xiaotian remarked.

Murong Feng’s expression was cold. “Li Haoyu, I told you I’d play scissors. What, you didn’t believe me?”

Li Haoyu gritted his teeth. “Fine, again. If you dare, play scissors again.”

“Of course.”

Everyone watched as, under Shen Fengxing’s command, the two played again.

Murong Feng played scissors once more, and Li Haoyu played paper.

“What the hell, Li Haoyu, are you possessed?”

“Li Haoyu, are you out of your mind?” Shen Fengxing managed to say, “Murong Feng wins again.”

Murong Feng said, “Li Haoyu, I told you I’d play scissors, and you still played paper. Were you letting me win? Thanks for that.”

Li Haoyu nearly lost his footing. He muttered, “Impossible. Someone as shrewd as you wouldn’t keep playing scissors. You should have played rock…”

Hu Xiaotian clenched his fists. “Murong Feng is terrifying. It’s so easy to lose to him. Wasn’t he worried Li Haoyu would actually trust him and play rock?”

Zhang Xiaofan replied, “Murong Feng saw right through Li Haoyu. Li Haoyu is naturally cautious and thinks he’s clever, but that’s exactly why his cleverness worked against him.”

“But now, no one dares face Murong Feng, right?” Hu Xiaotian asked.

Zhang Xiaofan took a deep breath. He wasn’t sure, because Murong Feng had too many tricks up his sleeve.

Murong Feng looked at Li Haoyu and smiled. “Again. I’ll still play scissors.”

Li Haoyu stepped back in terror and shouted, “Fine, again!”

He was like a gambler who’d lost everything, down to his last chance. No one else would challenge him; his only hope was to win it back from Murong Feng.

Shen Fengxing announced the start. Both raised their hands and let them fall. Li Haoyu, terrified, threw rock, but this time, Murong Feng played paper.

“Paper? Damn it, you tricked me!” Li Haoyu lunged, but as soon as he reached out, blood gushed from his throat. He struggled for a moment, then moved no more.

Murong Feng shrugged and looked around, saying coolly, “How naive.”

“I didn’t expect that on the last turn, Murong Feng would switch,” Hu Xiaotian said in shock.

Zhang Xiaofan didn’t reply; he was thinking that if he had to face Murong Feng, he might not do any better. Clearly, Murong Feng was not to be trifled with—he was dangerous.

At that moment, Murong Feng advanced, victorious; Li Haoyu was dead.

Now, only Zhang Xiaofan, Hu Xiaotian, Liu Saijian, Lin Rou, Chen Siyu, and Wang Jiansi remained—just six people…