Is my roommate a caged bird? I'm stealing her away.

Chen Boxu had already turned back to look at the card table, as if the incident had never happened.

"Continue," he said.

Old Wu quickly called out, "Yes, yes, continue. Whose turn is it? Wu Yang, it's your turn."

The game restarted, but the atmosphere had changed. No one talked or laughed loudly anymore, and people played their cards more cautiously.

Zhou Suisui kept her head down, her fingers unconsciously fidgeting with her skirt. The spot on her calf where she had been kicked didn't actually hurt that much; she had only said that to appear weak.

But at this moment, the warmth of his palms prying her fingers apart still seemed to linger on her knees.

She quietly raised her eyes and looked at Chen Boxu's profile.

He was looking at the cards in his hand, his profile appearing cold and hard under the light. He had just protected her, glossing over it with a simple misunderstanding and agreeing to cover the medical expenses, not even giving Su Wei a chance to retaliate.

But later he pried her hands off and made her sit up straight.

Zhou Suisui lowered her eyes, her thoughts growing increasingly chaotic. She couldn't understand what Chen Boxu was trying to do; this man's mind was too unpredictable.

Sometimes I feel like he's interested in me, and other times I feel like he's very distant.

Good heavens! Why didn't God give her time? He made her, a complete novice in love, challenge a seasoned veteran in the dating world.

Zhou Suisui felt that her long road to power was even longer.

---

Xu Shao grabbed Su Wei's wrist and dragged her into the empty lounge next door, slamming the door shut behind him.

A muffled thud shut out all outside noise.

Su Wei stumbled as he flung her, almost falling, before managing to steady herself by grabbing the back of the sofa.

She clutched her wrist, which was already red and swollen. The pain brought tears to her eyes, but she held them back.

"Young Master Xu..." Her voice trembled as she tried to get closer to him, "Please let me explain, it really is Zhou Suisui..."

"I'm asking you," Xu Shao interrupted her, his voice low but icy, "what were you doing with your legs under the card table just now?"

Su Wei was taken aback, her eyes flickering. "I...I didn't do anything. I was just sitting normally, and I might have bumped into something accidentally..."

"An accident?" Xu Shao took a step closer, looking down at her. "Your injury is on the side of your calf, near your ankle. Zhou Suisui was sitting opposite me, and you were sitting next to me. For her to kick you, she had to cross most of the table and go around my leg. Is she a trained acrobat?"

"She...she might have stretched out her legs..."

"You think she's acting in One Piece? Does she have 1.5-meter legs? Can't believe it!" Xu Shao sneered. "Su Wei, do you think I'm new here?"

"I really don't know how she kicked it, maybe she did it on purpose..."

"Which way are you putting your legs?" Xu Shao suddenly changed the question, speaking faster.

"I... I just leave it there normally."

"If it were placed normally, which way would it face? Towards me? Towards the middle of the table? Or towards Wu Yang?" Xu Shao's gaze was sharp as a knife.

Su Wei panicked a little when he asked her: "Towards...towards the middle, I didn't notice..."

"Didn't you notice?" Xu Shao scoffed. "Your leg must have twisted towards Wu Yang."

"I didn't!" Su Wei retorted instinctively, raising her voice slightly.

"No?" Xu Shao took out a cigarette case from his pocket, tapped out a cigarette, lit it, took a drag, and slowly exhaled the smoke, blurring the cold expression on his face.

"Then tell me, last month when Cheng Fang organized a gathering, you accidentally spilled wine on his pants, and you squatted down and spent ages wiping it off. What part of his clothes were you wiping?"

Su Wei's face turned deathly pale instantly: "That was an accident! I really didn't mean to!"

"An accident?" Xu Shao flicked his cigarette ash. "Also, when Lao Wu came over to clink glasses with you last time, what did you whisper in his ear? Hmm? Brother Wu is really energetic today? Did you need to get that close to say it?"

"Young Master Xu, you've misunderstood..." Su Wei's voice was weak, and she shrank back slightly.

"Misunderstanding?" Xu Shao stubbed out his cigarette in the decorative vase beside him and approached her step by step.

"Then explain yourself again. What about Chen Boxu? The time he brought Lin Xiao here, you went up to him and said something like, 'Boxu, it's been so long, you haven't contacted me lately.' In front of Lin Xiao, what were you trying to remind him of? Remind him that he slept with you?"

"I didn't!" Su Wei shrieked in denial, tears finally streaming down her face. "Young Master Xu, you can't slander me like this! I've followed you for so long..."

"You've been following me for so long?" Xu Shao seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world, but there was no smile in his eyes, only a cold disgust:

"When you came with me, did you completely break off your relationship with Cheng Fang? Did you approach Lao Wu to get a meal ticket, or were you simply trying to prove that your charm hasn't diminished?"

He paused, his gaze sweeping coldly across her pale face, his tone full of sarcasm:

"Su Wei, I used to think you were just a little vain and liked to play minor tricks, nothing serious. Now I see things more clearly."

He leaned down slightly, close to her ear, and every word he uttered was venomous, "You're planning to seduce each and every one of us in this group, aren't you?"

Su Wei trembled violently, her lips quivering, unable to utter any further explanation. Overwhelmed by immense fear and humiliation.

Xu Shao straightened up, took two steps back, and looked at her as if she were something dirty.

"Get out." He uttered a single word, turned around, opened the door to the reception room, and walked out without looking back.

After returning to the private room, Xu Shao went straight to the sofa and sat down without saying a word. He poured himself a glass of wine and sipped it slowly. His face was expressionless, but the low pressure emanating from him made the already tense atmosphere even heavier.

About ten minutes later, the door to the lounge opened gently. Su Wei walked out with her head down, her eyes red and swollen, her makeup slightly smudged. She carefully shuffled to the edge of the sofa and found a corner furthest from Xu Shao that was also the most inconspicuous to sit down.

She hunched her shoulders, like a frightened quail, all her previous flamboyance and gentleness gone. She kept her eyes down the whole time, not daring to look at anyone.

The card game barely lasted another half hour in this awkward atmosphere. Old Wu, feeling extremely uneasy, finally waited until the game ended and quickly stood up to smooth things over:

"Oh dear, have you had enough fun? It's almost lunchtime. I've had a meal prepared at the restaurant. Shall we move over there and chat while we eat?"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and echoed their agreement. Cheng Fang, with his arm around Lily, stood up first, followed by the bespectacled man who also rose gracefully. The woman peeling the oranges followed.

Wu Yang stretched, his gaze sweeping over Su Wei in the corner with a half-smile, then glancing at Zhou Suisui.

Zhou Suisui was about to get up with Chen Boxu when she saw Xu Shao put down his wine glass and slowly speak, his tone revealing neither joy nor anger: "Wait a moment."

Old Wu was taken aback: "What does Young Master Xu mean...?"

Xu Shao picked up his phone, tapped the screen twice, and sent a voice message in a low voice: "Come in when you arrive."