I'm A Baller - Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Too Young and Naive
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Wang Yan drank generously. Li Yao and Guo Zihao had no other choice but to take turns drinking.
Right then, Guo Zihao could feel his stomach lurching.
Before that, he had already had his fair share of alcohol. Unlike Wang Yan, who barely drank during the truth or drink game, it was the girls who drank the most.
‘B*stard!
‘Is he trying to get the girls drunk?
‘I will avenge them today!’
Guo Zihao darted his eyes around the room and thought of a bad idea.
“Brother, there’s no fun just throwing back the alcohol like this. How about we add some fun?”
Li Yao supported his idea immediately. “Brother Guo, how do we add?”
“We’ll play the liar’s dice. Every round, 500 dollars, the winner will take the money but he will also have to drink. The loser will have to pay, but there’s no need to drink. Lastly, the person who vomits first will pay the bills for today. How about that?”
Li Yao was in a dilemma. Five hundred per round was too much. Losing ten rounds would cost 5,000 dollars. He could easily pay the 5,000 to retain his pride but wouldn’t he have to eat in the future?
This was only until Guo Zihao kept throwing him looks. He finally understood and nodded firmly. “Deal! No problem!”
Wang Yan was the only one left. Guo Zihao threw him a side-eye that was a little anxious and also provocative.
In Guo Zihao’s opinion, once Wang Yan decided to join the game, he would be dead meat.
At two against one, would they be unable to win against a kid?
The probability of a loss was higher than winning. Losing ten rounds would cost 5,000, and losing 20 rounds would cost ten thousand dollars.
He wasn’t bothered by five or six thousand dollars, but a student who was wearing a counterfeit watch would be dying of heartache.
In addition, he had Li Yao’s help to spread the burden, so he would be able to drink less and take some time to recover.
‘Once I beat the outsider and take all his money, I’ll top up 5,000 or 8,000 dollars to buy Lin Weiwei two bottles of good wine in front of Nawu. Won’t that improve my reputation tremendously?’
‘Hmm, then I will also receive a few words from Little Liu Li that I’m not that bad.’
His expectations were too good to be true, but Guo Zihao was deeply immersed in his imaginations and feeling proud of his quick thinking.
However, he didn’t understand why Liu Li and Nawu were laughing.
Did they not understand the rules?
While he was still in a state of confusion, he saw the Little Outsider shaking his head.
“No, it’s fine. I’ll settle the bills, I told Weiwei already. We’ll settle it among ourselves. If you want to play, I can accompany you.”
Hearing the first half of his sentence, his heart sank. ‘Who do you think you are? Why does Lin Weiwei even care about you? If you don’t dare to play, just say it!’
However, after he heard the last part of the sentence, he was satisfied. ‘I don’t care how you are going to pretend. As long as you’re willing to play, that’s all I need!’
He was about to retaliate but he saw Wang Yan waving his hand as he stood up. He called Lin Weiwei over.
“Why, Wang Wang, have you finally remembered me?”
Wang Yan chuckled as he lifted his phone. “Senior Weiwei, there isn’t enough alcohol. I said that I would treat everyone tonight. Order whatever you want and don’t worry about the bills.”
Lin Weiwei replied with enthusiasm, “Sure. Get me two dozen beers and a bottle of champagne, please. It won’t cost much, so I won’t insist on paying for them. You can settle the bills.”
It really didn’t cost that much. A can of beer cost 24 dollars, so two dozen would cost 576 dollars. Including the bottle of champagne, which cost around 398 dollars, the total amount didn’t even add up to 1,000. Would Guo Zihao have let Wang Yan show off and settled the bills?
He stood up at an instant to pay for them.
“Weiwei, I’ll pay, I’ll pay! We’ll be playing a game afterward, so let me pay for the bills!”
Just when he completed his sentence, Lin Weiwei frowned and glanced over to him. She didn’t reply to him. Instead, she immediately ordered from the menu and told the waiter, “Give me two dozen Budweiser beers and a bottle of Armand de Brignac. I have a membership card. If there are any complimentary gifts, I want the highest quality. Will that be okay?”
The waiter’s hands were trembling from excitement the moment he heard “a bottle of Armand de Brignac,” as he would be receiving commissions for every bottle sold. He nodded his head repeatedly in response.
Who was he kidding? How much would the compliments cost? It was just a fresh fruit platter and some dried nuts.
Two dozen Budweiser beers cost 958 dollars. The retail price of Armand de Brignac was 5,888 dollars; the dealer cost was only slightly more than half of its retail price, the excess being pure profit.
Guo Zihao was perplexed.
He could easily afford 6,000 dollars but Lin Weiwei would definitely not allow him to pay for the bills.
Because they weren’t that close, she wouldn’t want to owe him in any way.
But why would she allow Wang Yan to pay?
Lin Weiwei hadn’t even asked for his opinion before ordering such an exorbitant bottle of champagne. That wasn’t like her!
Guo Zihao remained puzzled at the situation, and the other newly arrived friends were just as confused.
What was going on?
Of course, they wouldn’t understand, as the answer laid in what had happened that morning. What they were experiencing now was the result.
Lin Weiwei was smart in that way. She knew what to do in front of different types of people.
One had to start from the beginning.
Wang Yan was supposed to stay at a hotel, but because of how Liu Li insisted, he would be staying over at Lu Yuanyuan’s place. Hence, he saved a total of 6,500 dollars.
All their closest friends knew that it was just a show of romance between the two of them and it didn’t really matter where he stayed.
But, in a short span of time, Lin Weiwei roughly learned his character through their interactions.
Firstly, the young boy valued the promises he made strongly.
Secondly, from the bottom of his heart, he had this carefree attitude that allowed him to be indifferent about the amount of money he had.
Whatever the reason was, since he had troubled Yuanyuan, he was serious about treating them in return.
If she didn’t let Wang Yan spend that 6,500 dollars, he wouldn’t have felt comfortable.
She was also clearly aware that 8,000 dollars were nothing to him. He had spent five hundred thousand on a watch and sixty thousand on clothes when he barely shopped for ten minutes. Why would a few thousand matter to him?
If she were to seek Wang Yan’s approval by asking questions like whether she could order this brand of alcohol, it would have made him look really stingy.
Therefore, Lin Weiwei ordered a total of over 6,000 dollars and made sure that it didn’t exceed by too much. Not only did she allow Wang Yan to look good in front of the rest, but it also allowed him to compensate for the trouble he had caused them. At the same time, she did take advantage of him.
What was knowing how to conduct oneself?
Professionalism.
Only those who had lunch with them in the afternoon would know what was going on.
Lu Yuanyuan cheered as she leaped over.
“Wow! I’ve been wanting to try out this brand for the longest time. I’m so happy! Thank you, Wang Wang!”
Upon seeing how excited Lu Yuanyuan was, Wang Yan was just as happy. He said while grinning, “If you like it, make sure to drink to your heart’s content. If you aren’t drunk at the end of the day, it’ll be Weiwei’s fault for not accompanying you. Smash that cake all over her face.”
Lin Weiwei rolled her eyes at him. Just when she was about to speak, the waiter came over with a QR code for the bills. She quietly swallowed her words.
After Wang Yan had paid for the bills, he informed the girls, “I’ll be playing a game that involves some luck with Brother Guo and Brother Li. That’s okay, right?”
Lin Weiwei thought for a second after hearing Nawu’s explanation and understood what Wang Yan was asking. She laughed. “That’s fine with me, enjoy your game.”
When she was laughing, she discreetly threw a wink at Wang Yan.
It meant, “Don’t worry about me, play as you wish.”
Upon receiving a direct answer, Wang Yan finally relaxed.
Actually, Wang Yan was still too naive, he did not really consider the problem deeply.
With Lin Weiwei’s social interaction skills and her appearance, her circle of friends wouldn’t be that small. She just didn’t want to throw a huge birthday party that day.
Guo Zihao and Li Yao weren’t the most important people in Lin Weiwei’s social circle. They would sometimes even annoy her.
Wang Yan was afraid that Lin Weiwei would be placed in an awkward predicament, thus he was trying to please them. However, there was really no need for that.
Nonetheless, from a girl’s point of view, Wang Yan was cautious and respectful. His actions were really mature for his age and they warmed Lin Weiwei’s heart.
He was rich and capable, but he was always trying to accommodate her feelings and please her even though he didn’t want anything from her. He was definitely a friend to keep.
Hence, she took the initiative and moved forward to hug Wang Yan before returning to her seat.
Her actions stunned the crowd.
It was rare to see the proud and arrogant Lin Weiwei behave so endearingly.
Even the quiet and low-profile Fu Yushi couldn’t resist stealing glances at Wang Yan.
Guo Zihao and Li Yao were exasperated.
‘What is she doing?
‘Is she trying to show who she’s closer to in front of us?’
Gu Zihao thought, ‘I’m your brother’s friend.’
Li Yao thought, ‘I’m your classmate.
‘Our relationship is nothing compared to a stranger?!
‘Just because he’s Liu Li’s boyfriend?!’
They could feel the anger building within them the more they thought about it. As a result, they were even more determined to make Wang Yan lose the game.
Actually, even until then, Guo Zihao and Li Yao were still in a blur. They were confident in themselves. They knew that Wang Yan might have some capability, but they didn’t know how he was going to play the game.
Whatever, it was time to bring out the alcohol and start the game!
The rule of the game was, everyone had five dice, ones were considered to be wild, meaning they could take on any value.
The three of them would take turns to bid. Guo Zihao first, followed by Wang Yan and Li Yao. They could challenge the previous bidder at any point in time, but there were no skipped turns. The winner would keep the money and drink while the loser would pay 500 dollars.
In the first round, Guo Zihao was the first bidder. He took a look at the dice cup and shouted confidently, “Six fives.”
It was Wang Yan’s turn. He hesitated before grinning and shouting, “I want to challenge your bet!”
Guo Zihao broke into laughter and uncovered his dice. There were three fives and a one.
“I don’t believe that the two of you don’t have at least two fives!”
Li Yao himself already had three fives. Wang Yan lost the first round.
“Hand over your money!” Guo Zihao finished the can of beer in one shot and shouted, “Bro, you’re still a newbie at games!”
“That was awesome, awesome!”
Wang Yan gave him a thumbs up and took out the money from his pocket.
Looking at the five hundred dollar notes left laying on the table, Li Yao was green with envy. He urged, “Next round! Next round!”
“Bring it on!”
Wang Yan excitedly covered his dice with the dice cup.
It was a game that involved money. Guo Zihao was happy, Li Yao was happy, and Wang Yan was also happy. So who would be the one to end up unhappy then?
Only time would tell.