茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

Chapter Sixty: The Card Game

The “Girl 5” sitting in the living room stood up along with Tang Baona as Xiang Kun entered, her expression remained unchanged.

However, Xiang Kun had still picked up from her gaze and slightly dilated pupils that she recognized him too.

“This is my cousin, Xia Libing, a star student at the Medical University with two Master’s degrees! She’s currently doing her internship in * *University Affiliated Hospital,” Yang Zhen’er introduced her cousin to Xiang Kun, then to her cousin, she said, “This is Teacher Saitama that I have told you about! He’s a programmer, but he is incredibly strong and has practiced martial arts!”

“We’ve been through this before; I did not practice martial arts,” Xiang Kun said with a bit of frustration.

“Alright, alright, so you didn’t practice martial arts, then you must have some innate talent, some superhuman strength,” Yang Zhen’er laughed and asked him to sit, and then went to get some drinks from the refrigerator.

After Xiang Kun took his seat, Tang Baona asked, “Are you feeling any better?”

“Yes, I am pretty much alright,” Xiang Kun nodded, then glanced at her ankle and asked, “What about you? Is your foot alright now?”

Tang Baona stretched out the foot that got hurt earlier, and adeptly twisted her ankle and said, “All good now. I never got a chance to properly thank you for giving me a ride back that night.”

“No need to thank me, even without me, there would have been plenty of people lining up to carry you home that day, I could feel their envious gazes,” Xiang Kun waved it off with a smile.

Tang Baona rolled her eyes at him, and didn’t carry on that topic, she asked instead, “What have you been up to lately? Have you started looking for a new job? Something to do with pharmaceuticals, biology as you mentioned?”

“Oh, I haven’t started job hunting. I am thinking if it’s possible for me to start my own business, and I have a rudimentary idea about it,” Xiang Kun happened to say as much.

As they were talking, Yang Zhen’er returned with drinks and a plate of sliced watermelon.

Seeing that he was being handed a bottle of Evian Mineral Water, Xiang Kun swallowed back his refusal and thanked her to accept it.

“Why did you suddenly think of playing cards?” Xiang Kun asked after taking a sip of mineral water.

Tang Baona chuckled, “We used to play cards together all the time. But over the past couple of years, those who went abroad, did so; those who started working, did so; those who started families, did so. We never had enough of us to round up a game. Plus, Xia always complained about us being too dull. I figured since you are a programmer, you ought to be good with numbers, you should be ripe for card games…”

Adding on to Tang Baona’s point, Yang Zhen’er said, “And don’t underestimate our young Xia, she’s a freak…uh, no, a genius with an IQ of 140. Several key universities wanted her from the age of 14, but she waited until the college entrance examination, and then enrolled into a medical university that I’d never even heard of, with one of the top three scores in the province. After graduating with her master’s degree… she passed the entrance exam again, and pursued another master’s… Teacher Saitama, you might be a great fighter, but I’m not so sure about winning the game against her!”

Xiang Kun noticed that ever since he walked in, Xia Libing’s gaze had been fixated on him.

Of course, he didn’t think that it was because his masculine charm was out of control, and that Xia Libing had fallen for him. It felt more like scrutiny and observation.

“Two Master’s degrees… Now that’s a straight-A student,” Xiang Kun remarked, then turned to Xia Libing and asked, “May I know which two fields are your master’s degrees in, Miss Nia?”

Xia Libing answered succinctly, “Psychopathology and mental hygiene, Applied psychology.”

Xiang Kun nodded, deep in thought.

Tang Baona opened two new decks of cards, handed them to Xia Libing to shuffle, and then turned to ask Xiang Kun, “Shall we play ‘Fight the Landlord’?” “I’m up for any game,” Xiang Kun nodded.

The way Xia Libing shuffled cards looked quite professional, just like the croupier in a casino. It was quite pleasing to the eye, of course, it also helped that the person shuffling was attractive herself.

As he was drawing cards, Xiang Kun asked, “Miss Xia is Miss Yang’s cousin, she should be younger than you guys, why do you call her ‘Old Xia’?”

Tang Baona laughed, “Because since she was a little child she has acted like an adult. She’s either reading books or listening to our aunts chatter. She’s never been naughty or rebellious, even during her teenage years. We all say she is an old soul, so unconsciously, we all started calling her ‘Old Xia’.”

Yang Zhen’er interjected, “Could you stop with ‘Miss Xia,’ ‘Miss Yang’, and ‘Miss

Tang’. We all call you ‘Teacher Saitama’, you know.”

Xiang Kun nodded, “Alright, then I’ll call you Zhen’er. By the way, Zhen’er, I heard from Nana that you work at a pharmaceutical company, do you work in research?”

Yang Zhen’er shook the cards in her hand and winked at Xiang Kun, “Let’s play the game first. If you win this round, you can ask the loser a question.”

“What if I end up being your teammate?”

Yang Zhen’er suggested, “Even if you are my teammate, you can still ask the loser. They both know my situation! If you are the landlord, you can ask each of them a question! By the way, if you lose, we can also ask you questions!”

Xiang Kun nodded, “Okay.”

Thus, their game of Landlord turned into a game of Truth or Dare. The loser had to answer a question from the winner truthfully or do something as requested by the winner, although it wouldn’t be anything too outrageous, such as singing a song or telling a joke.

Xiang Kun had occasionally played Landlord at school and when he returned home for the New Year.

Basically, to be good at these kinds of card games, in addition to luck and basic card-playing skills, the most crucial abilities are card memorization and calculation.

There are 108 cards in two decks of poker cards, with 33 cards for the landlord and 25 for each farmer.

Based on your own cards, the cards that have been played and the manner in which others play, you can deduce the cards in your opponent’s and teammate’s hands, thereby deciding the most beneficial sequence and combination of cards to play.

Xiang Kun used to be pretty good at memorizing cards. Now, his memory and calculation abilities have greatly improved after several variations, making card memorization a breeze for him.

In addition to memorizing cards, he could also observe the expressions of the players and the changes in their faces.

At this proximity, Xiang Kun could even hear the heartbeats of the other three people and clearly sense the rhythm of their breathing.

Especially Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er, their emotional fluctuations became very clear when they got involved in the game. Not only could he deduce from their expressions, heartbeats, and breathing, but he could also tell from the slight changes in their body odor when they became nervous or excited.

Xiang Kun sat next to Yang Zhen’er. When she was playing cards, he could gauge Tang Baona’s feelings and the cards she held based on how she reacted and his card memory.

The only person Xiang Kun had difficulty gleaning valid information from through observation was Xia Libing who sat opposite him.

This genius student with an IQof 140, according to Yang Zhen’er, always maintained a calm posture when playing cards. Even when she got a bomb of six Aces, there was very little change in her heartbeat, scent, and breathing.

However, by observing the slight dilation and contraction of her pupils, Xiang Kun could confirm that Xia Libing did have emotional fluctuations.

In the first game, Xiang Kun, as the landlord, barely managed to win. His cards weren’t good. Even if he could roughly calculate the cards in their hands, he wouldn’t have won without a few obvious mistakes made by Yang Zhen’er, who was his upper hand.

“Okay, ‘Teacher Saitama’, you won, do you have any questions? Ask what you want, I’ll tell you everything I know!” After perching herself properly, Yang Zhen’er spoke to Xiang Kun.

“I want to know, what’s the name of your company? What do you do there? What is your company’s pharmaceutical research mainly focused on? How many labs does your company have and what kind of equipment do you have? Do you…” He asked a dozen questions at once.

Yang Zhen’er rolled her eyes, “How many questions do you want to ask? Anyway, since they’re all about my work, I’ll answer them. Yep, I’m in charge of finance in our company…..”