Since Ning Qiuxiu was being so provocative, Zhan Qingyue couldn’t just back down; it would make him seem less manly.

Zhan Qingyue went to download the game client, and while waiting, Ning Qiuxiu excitedly rubbed her hands together and said, “Father and son game, the loser has to call the other ‘daddy.’”

— Recently, Zhan Qingyue had tricked Ning Qiuxiu less often, and Ning Qiuxiu, feeling braver, was testing boundaries by daring Zhan Qingyue to call her ‘daddy.’

Zhan Qingyue: “Then wouldn’t I be at a disadvantage? You’re practically my daughter already.”

“…” Ning Qiuxiu felt a bit uneasy but maintained her thick skin and said, “When did I become your daughter? Don’t slander me. Unsubstantiated claims are malicious defamation!”

“Evidence…” Zhan Qingyue pulled out his phone and showed her a screenshot.

【Sharp-tongued Little Bamboo Rat: Must be extremely happy, sponsor dad is mighty.】

“???” Ning Qiuxiu’s attention was focused on the nickname Zhan Qingyue had given her: Little Bamboo Rat?!

Who’s being called a bamboo rat here!

Ning Qiuxiu glared and said, “Don’t you think it’s a bit degrading for you to marry a bamboo rat?”

“Not at all,” Zhan Qingyue, who clearly wouldn’t play along with her game, smiled and said, “Top 1 in cuteness.”

“…Well, thank you then.”

I’ll block you later!

Seeing her gritting her teeth, Zhan Qingyue guessed she was probably planning to block him and said, “I’ve changed it now.”

“?” Ning Qiuxiu looked at him, asking what he had changed.

Zhan Qingyue showed her the chat window.

“Little Cabbage?!” Ning Qiuxiu read aloud, “What’s this about?”

It was a reference to being like a cabbage in the garden, coveted by pigs outside the wall, but Zhan Qingyue wouldn’t admit it. He said, “I recently found that cabbage is quite fresh.”

The taste is good too.

“…” Ning Qiuxiu, shamefully comforted by his words, realized that good communication was a skill.

No matter how annoyed she was, a well-phrased comment could make things clear.

“Fine,” Ning Qiuxiu generously moved past the issue and said, “What do you want to bet? I’m only betting on this.”

Zhan Qingyue thought for a moment and said, “You young people love playing Truth or Dare. If I win, you choose one of the two—Truth or Dare. How about that?”

“… You young people! Mr. Zhan, did you get possessed by some old guy?”

“Don’t go over the top!” Ning Qiuxiu demanded, setting the terms.

Zhan Qingyue promised he wouldn’t be any more shameless than asking to be called “Daddy,” otherwise, she could accuse him of cheating.

After they finished negotiating, Zhan Qingyue installed and updated the game on Xiao Chi’s account.

The two official accounts given were for the newly released warrior class, with identical equipment, so there wouldn’t be any level or equipment differences.

Ning Qiuxiu wasn’t worried that Zhan Qingyue would use his money to outplay her.

Ning Qiuxiu gave him 15 minutes to get familiar with the skills and practice on small monsters.

Of course, she couldn’t give too much time in case he turned out to be exceptionally skilled.

“Time’s up!” As soon as the 15 minutes were over, Ning Qiuxiu confidently challenged him, “Ebaby!”

Zhan Qingyue accepted her challenge.

The background music in the game instantly became intense.

Ning Qiuxiu controlled her character, following the moves Xiao Chi had taught her that afternoon—positioning, using skills, and repositioning.

The Golden Warrior had only five skills: attack, control, dodge, ultimate, and tanking.

It was super simple.

Ning Qiuxiu went all out, but since she wasn’t very familiar with the game, she found herself frequently checking the cooldowns and even looking at the keyboard for skills, which affected her control over her character’s positioning.

As a result, she dealt a lot of damage but noticed that Zhan Qingyue’s health bar had only dropped a little…

“…” Ning Qiuxiu didn’t get discouraged and aimed for a control skill and then her ultimate.

However, Zhan Qingyue, as expected, casually used a tanking skill…

He dodged the ultimate and delayed time!

This was the core tactic Xiao Chi had taught her.

Ning Qiuxiu frantically maneuvered her character to run, but it was too late.

Zhan Qingyue, knowing she had no ultimate left, quickly used a control skill, followed by an attack.

As the control time ended, he used his ultimate.

Her health bar disappeared quickly, and by the time she activated her tanking skill, she was left with only a sliver of health.

Confused and stunned, Ning Qiuxiu forgot she still had a dodge skill and was taken out by a simple attack from Zhan Qingyue.

Ning Qiuxiu: “…”

“You were cheating!” Ning Qiuxiu didn’t believe Zhan Qingyue hadn’t played the game before.

His skill level clearly exceeded hers. “You must have played secretly!”

Zhan Qingyue, having finished showing off, casually leaned back in his chair and said, “It’s just a difference in understanding of the game.”

“???” What’s that supposed to mean?

Ning Qiuxiu looked puzzled, so Zhan Qingyue took the initiative to explain.

“You might not know this because you haven’t played many games, but games of the same type share a lot in common. For example, if I’ve played Game A and understand its mechanics well, and then I come across Game B, which is similar to Game A, I can apply my understanding of skills and roles from Game A to Game B.”

Seeing Ning Qiuxiu still looking confused, Zhan Qingyue gave an example: “For instance, in this game, the warrior class is similar to the tank class in another game. If I know how to use a certain skill effectively in Game A, I can apply that knowledge to Game B. Got it?”

“……” Clearly, she didn’t get it.

But she did understand one thing: “So, you’ve played a game similar to this one before?”

Zhan Qingyue replied, “Yes, but it was quite different.”

“……So, doesn’t that contradict what you just said? Also, Xiao Qi has played many games of the same type before. Why was I able to win against her?”

Zhan Qingyue gave her a look that said her question was strange and said, “Do I really need to explain this?”

From his expression, Ning Qiuxiu understood the underlying message—it’s because you both were just inexperienced.

“……” Frustrating! Could it be that even in pay-to-win games, there’s such a thing as talent? Isn’t it just about having better equipment to crush opponents?

Seeing Ning Qiuxiu looking like she was about to bang her head on the table in frustration, Zhan Qingyue chuckled and said, “Autumn, I almost became a professional esports player.”

Wow.

Zhan Qingyue’s statement shocked Ning Qiuxiu.

He didn’t seem like someone who would be into games, let alone have a past like that.

She hadn’t read about this in any book, and it was something she had never heard before.

But at least her crushed ego started to heal a little.

It’s good to know that being utterly beaten wasn’t due to her intelligence or other issues.

If it was just because he was a pro, then that was different.

“So, why didn’t you pursue it?” Ning Qiuxiu asked curiously.

Zhan Qingyue shrugged and said, “My family has too much money. If I don’t inherit it, it’ll end up in someone else’s hands. Without money, you can’t do whatever you want.”

“……”

Actually, Zhan Qingyue didn’t mention that at the time, his father’s health was starting to decline, his mother had shamelessly run off with someone else, his younger brother was still young, and his elderly grandfather was getting on in years.

Under these circumstances, he had no chance to chase his dreams.

Of course, he didn’t want to pass on this negative emotion to Ning Qiuxiu.

Ning Qiuxiu had originally planned to make excuses if she made a mistake, saying it should be a best-of-three, but now… cough, it seemed like she would just be beaten again if they tried once more.

If she was outplayed, she had to accept the consequences.

Zhan Qingyue tore two pieces of paper from his notebook, wrote something on them, folded them up, and labeled them “Truth” and “Dare.”

He pushed them in front of Ning Qiuxiu and said, “Choose. The penalty is inside.”

Ning Qiuxiu looked at the two pieces of paper and thought about Zhan Qingyue’s intentions.

Would Zhan Qingyue really want to play such a childish game of Truth or Dare for no reason?

It didn’t seem like his style.

He must have some purpose!

So, Dare would definitely be safer than Truth.

He couldn’t make her confess to someone, eat something disgusting, or call 10086 for silly tasks.

Dare wasn’t particularly valuable to her.

Truth, on the other hand, was different. He might use it to ask probing questions, which was highly likely.

For example, he might ask about her intentions for marrying him—what should she do?

After thinking it over, Ning Qiuxiu decisively chose Dare.

Seeing her choice, Zhan Qingyue suppressed the satisfaction that nearly showed in his eyes, maintaining a suitably restrained smile, making Ning Qiuxiu feel she had made the right choice.

As expected, Ning Qiuxiu saw his expression, which was filled with a subtle triumph.

She shook the piece of paper in her hand and said, “I’ll open it now.”

Zhan Qingyue nodded.

When Ning Qiuxiu unfolded the paper and saw what was written inside, her face immediately turned indescribable.

“Please give your dad a sweet kiss.”

“???” Isn’t this a bit too over the top and shameless?

“Ahem,” Zhan Qingyue coughed awkwardly, “I thought you’d choose the truth, given how well you know me.”

Ning Qiuxiu opened another note, which read: “What’s Ning’s way to make money?”

That sneaky guy, he took such a long detour just to find out how she makes money.

It really fits the nature of a scheming capitalist.

If he couldn’t find out directly, he tried to trap her this way.

Ning Qiuxiu was feeling down.

The longest road she’d traveled was falling for Zhan Qingyue’s tricks.

Of course, she didn’t know that Zhan Qingyue’s tricks were even longer than she imagined…

“Deal with it, I have to accept the punishment,” Ning Qiuxiu said, a bit uncomfortable, crumpling the two notes into balls.

Their current awkward relationship made kissing extremely embarrassing.

“Okay,” Zhan Qingyue nodded, looking a bit uneasy himself.

Oh, so you’re embarrassed too? It’s ironic that Zhan Qingyue didn’t expect her to go off-script.

She casually wrote something on the dare and ended up putting herself in a tough spot.

Moreover, with Zhan Qingyue being so handsome, many women would envy her.

Others sought but couldn’t get it, but she could do whatever she wanted. In a way, she actually gained from this.

Feeling this, Ning Qiuxiu was no longer awkward.

She stood up, walked over to Zhan Qingyue, and, pretending to be a bit of a rogue, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

In an instant, a strange sensation spread through her body from their connected lips.

Though her lips usually weren’t sensitive, touching his felt electrifying, making her shiver with goosebumps.

But she didn’t pull away immediately.

She lingered for a few seconds, teasingly touching his lips with her tongue and said, “So sweet.”

Zhan Qingyue: “…”

After the kiss, Ning Qiuxiu noticed Zhan Qingyue’s expression was…

ahem.

To avoid retaliation and because she felt a bit shy, she said, “I’m starving after playing all afternoon. I’m going to check when dinner’s ready.”

With that, she quickly left the study without waiting for Zhan Qingyue’s response.

Once back in the hallway, Ning Qiuxiu leaned against the door, taking a deep breath.

Even though she felt she’d gained an advantage, such an intimate kiss was hard to ignore.

Even with her thick skin, her face turned bright red.

She remembered Zhan Qingyue’s embarrassed expression and felt refreshed.

Wow, running off after getting the upper hand was thrilling.

Ning Qiuxiu thought she’d won another round in her struggle with Zhan Qingyue and felt quite pleased.

Little did she know that Zhan Qingyue was now savoring the kiss, which wasn’t exactly skilled but still sweet, with a low laugh.

He knew Ning Qiuxiu had secrets she was hiding, so she would definitely avoid choosing the truth.

He set a trap with the dare and acted like she got a benefit, even though he was happy with the outcome.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Zhan seemed still not fully aware of the situation, and the road ahead was still uncertain.

But Zhan Qingyue wasn’t in a hurry.

He preferred to gradually lead the prey into his full scheme, making them feel like they’ve gained something while being completely consumed.

The kiss only made Ning Qiuxiu awkward for one night, and by the next day, she had completely forgotten about it.