Chapter 831 — The Billiard Ball Comes Alive

Wei Zhao had always held that Shen Yushu was no silly girl — quite the contrary, she was clever — so it was very likely that she now dared to provoke that Zhen Yingjun so recklessly only because he was along with her.

"Ten thousand yuan, one match. You dare?" Zhen Yingjun flew into a rage at having his billiard skills — the thing he was proudest of in all the world — so utterly ignored.

"But we didn't bring that much money, so we can't play you!" Shen Yushu said, rather regretfully.

"You don't have to put up any money. If you lose, all you need to do is admit my game is superb, and then learn billiards from me!" Zhen Yingjun was not such a fool as to blurt out some idiocy like "and if you lose, you sleep with me." He believed that in courting a girl one had to advance step by step.

"Oh?" Shen Yushu thought it over and decided that, put that way, it was really quite a bargain. She turned to Gu Mengyao. "Yao-yao, should we take him on?"

"Take him on at what? Are you sure you can win?" Gu Mengyao had no confidence at all in beating Zhen Yingjun. If he said his billiard skills were this and that extraordinary, he was probably not bragging, so she had no intention whatsoever of competing with him.

"I don't know..." Shen Yushu reckoned that was true enough; the two of them together might not beat Zhen Yingjun alone. But the boast had already been made, and to back out now would look like they were afraid of him. At that thought she could not help lifting her head to look at Wei Zhao. "Brother Shield, will we win?"

"We should..." Wei Zhao shrugged. "..."

"Fine, we'll play you! But it's the two of us — Yao-yao and me — against you, and if we win, you have to give each of us ten thousand yuan!" Hearing Wei Zhao say this, Shen Yushu took it that Wei Zhao was utterly certain of victory, and so she nodded and accepted Zhen Yingjun's challenge.

Wei Zhao gave a wry smile on the spot; he had not finished speaking. What he had meant to say was, "We should... and then again, maybe we shouldn't..." — but Shen Yushu had cut him off!

"Sure, no problem!" To Zhen Yingjun, money was no issue. "So how do we play? You tell me. Snooker?"

"What's snooker?" Shen Yushu did not understand.

"It's a way of playing billiards..." Zhen Yingjun sneered inwardly. You don't even know what snooker is, and you dare play against me? Isn't that just courting death?

"Oh, well, if you're playing me, then naturally we play my way!" Shen Yushu was unbothered. "Our way is one suit each, and whoever clears their own balls off the table first wins!"

"I see..." Zhen Yingjun thought to himself that this was more or less like eight-ball, only without some of the scoring and penalty rules, but that did not matter; he could still beat these two little chits with ease. "Fine, however you say we play, we play!"

When a master makes his move, you know at once whether he has it in him. Zhen Yingjun might be a man whom Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu thoroughly detested, but his game was genuinely good. Once the break was made, there was no suspense whatsoever: Zhen Yingjun sank every ball of his own suit into the pockets, while Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu potted just one — and that one by blind luck.

"How about that?" Zhen Yingjun had not expected to win so easily. These two were plainly raw beginners, without a shred of technique, flailing at the balls at random.

"Proper matches are best of three — you've only won one game, what's there to gloat about?" Shen Yushu was rather stunned. Hadn't Brother Shield said she could win? So why had they lost? She turned to Wei Zhao in a fluster.

"Fine, best of three it is!" Zhen Yingjun did not mind. With trash-level play like that of Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, a hundred games would still end in certain defeat for them, so he did not care whether he won in one game or two. He felt victory was already firmly in his grasp, and he wanted these two little chits to lose in complete and utter conviction. "Next game, I'll take one shot, and the two of you can take one shot each, whatever you like! As long as the two of you together pot all the balls of your suit, I'll count it as your win!"

Having won the first game, Zhen Yingjun now knew the true level of Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, so he did not mind talking big.

"All right..." This time Shen Yushu had lost her confidence. Earlier she had been counting on Wei Zhao to turn the tide, but in the end Wei Zhao had never appeared, and she had lost, beyond any doubt...

Wei Zhao had no choice but to rise and walk over, stationing himself at the edge of the billiard table with both hands resting upon it.

"What are you doing?" Zhen Yingjun had not expected Wei Zhao to thrust himself into this affair all of a sudden. He had conducted himself as a gentleman throughout, never resorting to force — what business did Wei Zhao have sticking his nose in?

"Nothing. Just having a look." Wei Zhao said flatly. "What, can't I watch while you play? I'm checking whether you cheat."

"Fine! Look, look all you want!" Hearing that Wei Zhao merely meant to watch — and that he claimed to be watching for cheating — Zhen Yingjun paid him no further mind. What could he possibly see? Besides, driving him off would only make it look as though he had a guilty conscience!

Earlier, Zhen Yingjun had thought Wei Zhao meant to play in place of Gu Mengyao or Shen Yushu. That he would certainly never have permitted, for he did not know Wei Zhao's level — who knew whether the man was a billiards ace? How could he let Wei Zhao ruin a beauty who was practically already in his hands?

But Wei Zhao showed no intention of interfering, so Zhen Yingjun ignored him and said directly to Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, "You two break first. I'll spot you three shots!"

Normally, a good billiards player can sink a ball on the break, but Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu obviously could not; they simply lacked the skill, so the break gave them no advantage whatsoever. Still, Zhen Yingjun had already declared that he would spot Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu three shots — three shots each made six — a very large handicap indeed, and proof enough of how conceited Zhen Yingjun was.

"Crack!"

Shen Yushu broke, scattering the balls in the middle of the table into utter chaos, yet not a single ball dropped into a pocket.

Then Gu Mengyao took her turn. She too aimed at a ball of her own suit and struck, but between her aim and her force, the ball ended up nowhere near a pocket.

Afterward Shen Yushu took the table again. Yet that light, delicate shot of hers, though it did not sink a ball of her suit, sent the ball caroming wildly back and forth across the table, as though it had come alive...

Shen Yushu was struck dumb, Gu Mengyao was struck dumb, and Zhen Yingjun, standing to one side, was left gaping at the scene as well! What on earth was going on? Would this ball never stop? How could Shen Yushu possibly have that much force in her? To strike a ball like that — and still it would not stop?

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