Release that Man

Ye Shuang… Zuo Feiyang was silent for half a minute when he heard this name.Isn’t this the name of his Brother Shuang? When did it change to the name of a girl? Could this be… a secret code‽

“Would you like to see my identity card?” Ye Shuang asked with a smile. The bespectacled man had no idea why that question was asked, but Zuo Feiyang bit on his tongue to stop himself from saying the ‘okay’ that almost escaped from his lips.

Regardless, as strange as this self-introduction was, Zuo Feiyang understood the meaning of this ‘Ye Shuang’ that suddenly appeared before him. He knew the girl was somehow related to Brother Shuang. Thinking back to that regret he was feeling from losing, Zuo Feiyang felt like a basin of cold water had just been dumped on him, and he could not have felt worse before Sister Shuang. Even though he agreed to come to the casino to lower the guard of the bespectacled man, Zuo Feiyang had to admit that he had still lost his rationality when he faced his wins and losses.

His eyes wandered left and right. Realizing that his Brother Shuang was not around, Zuo Feiyang smiled apologetically and quickly swiped the rest of his chips on the table into his pocket and cleared his throat like nothing was wrong. “Miss Ye sure is good at gambling. I understand it now.”

Then, he turned around and walked away like he had just seen enlightenment. Now what he needed to do was to calm himself down, or else it would have been so easy for him to fall back down the abyss.

It was not a joke when people said that gambling addiction was no different from drug addiction—both were something that exhausted one’s rationality. Whether they were on guard or not, if a normal person submerged himself too long into it, they would eventually fall. Real experts like Albert did not see winning as their goal—gambling in their eyes was like a competition or a test; it was no different from sports like archery or running. No matter what, the result was not that important—the important part was whether their skill could bring them victory over the others.

The bespectacled man was stunned. What do you know? Why are you leaving? Come back here and explain it clearly!

Turning over a new leaf after being defeated by an expert… Isn’t that only possible in novels‽

Looking at Zuo Feiyang leave the casino without turning back once, the bespectacled man gritted his teeth darkly. He had a hard time resisting the urge to glare at Ye Shuang. However, since Ye Shuang was a guest on the boat, before he found out her real identity, he would not act recklessly.

Two more people walked in from the entrance. There was a middle-aged man around forty following behind Lu Shaoyue. Since there were not that many people in the casino, Ye Shuang and the bespectacled man, who stood around the dice table, were quite conspicuous. Lu Shaoyue halted his steps and walked over with a smile. “I see Miss Ye is also interested in dice.”

“Just playing for a while. I saw someone familiar earlier and came to play with him.” Ye Shuang also smiled. She nodded at the man next to Lu Shaoyue, but it did not look like she wanted to get to know him. The middle-aged man did not take offense. This meant that Ye Shuang was a part of Lu Shaoyue’s social circle. If Lu Shaoyue thought there was a need to, he naturally would have made the introduction. Similarly, Ye Shuang had no intention to introduce the bespectacled man next to her. After all, perhaps they were just standing there due to coincidence, and they might have no relationship at all.

“I planned to find you when the party starts tonight, but it appears like you are already very well rested,” Lu Shaoyue said in invitation. “If you don’t mind, how about you come with me to have a seat around the deck? There is an open cinema there, and we can enjoy the sun.”

So, there’s no relationship among them either. Ye Shuang came to this answer immediately. She glanced surreptitiously at the middle-aged man whom Ye Shuang realized Lu Shaoyue did not invite to the deck. She was about to say something when hurried footsteps came from the entrance. Before the party turned around, the dealer at the dice table bowed down to signify his apology.

The party all turned around to look in the direction of the entrance, and they saw Zuo Yuanhang walking their way. The latter stopped at the entrance for a while, and his gaze scanned the whole casino. He seemed to fail to find the person whom he was looking for, and then his gaze fell on Ye Shuang’s group.

“Zuo Yuanhang?” Lu Shaoyue leaned his body to the side and walked to stand next to Ye Shuang. “Is he here for Miss Ye?”

“I don’t think so…”

Before she could finish, Zuo Yuanhang was already standing before them. “Miss Ye.”

Ye Shuang coughed and ignored the gaze from Lu Shaoyue to ask, “What is it, Mr. Zuo?”

Zuo Yuanhang’s eyes were serious and severe. “I hear Feiyang was here. Have you seen him?”

Should she expose him‽ It would be so hard if she left the man with a bad impression that she was a tattle-tale. Zuo Feiyang would definitely not play with him anymore if he found out. Furthermore, she was not the only one who could reveal the truth. Ye Shuang gave the dealer a side-eye.

The dealer sweated profusely. Feeling Zuo Yuanhang’s scrutiny on him, he had to shoulder the responsibility of being the tattle-tale. “Yes, boss. The second young master was here earlier, and he lost quite a sum of money.”

Zuo Yuanhang’s lips curved, and he scoffed. The way he reacted gave everyone present the same thought—that poor boy was definitely going to get screwed!

Ye Shuang turned her head to look at the beautiful scenery out the window. Lu Shaoyue acted like this had nothing to do with him, and the bespectacled man suddenly excused himself to use the toilet. The middle-aged man… his presence had completely been forgotten. After he got the confirmed answer, Zuo Yuanhang did not stay to create more trouble. He turned to nod at Ye Shuang. “If you see my little brother in the future, please do take care of him.”

“Of course, of course!” Ye Shuang nodded. Zuo Yuanhang’s original role was to be the bad cop. His role was to come back to mock his brother’s ‘stupid’ decision when Zuo Feiyang was pretending to fall into the trap created by the people from the Xi Hwa Organization. Therefore, Zuo Yuanhang’s action then was totally understandable. If he played a big brother who was completely in the dark, how would he jump out to commit to the plan of blocking the Xi Hwa Organization when the situation called for it‽

The bespectacled man’s gaze darted around, and he did not dare look at Zuo Yuanhang. Now he was afraid that the dealer might sell him out as Zuo Feiyang’s partner. Thankfully, Zuo Yuanhang probably also did not want to expose all his trump cards so soon—he only chatted with Ye Shuang and then greeted Lu Shaoyue and the middle-aged man. He made sure to do the least that he needed to do as the host before leaving.

Ye Shuang sighed in relief and felt sorry for Zuo Feiyang. Even though it was still within the plan for him to cooperate with the Xi Hwa Organization, to make Zuo Yuanhang purposely come over, it was obviously because the man had received some horrible news… like his dumb brother had still fallen into the man’s trap even though he already knew that the man was up to no good. Based on that alone, it was understandable that Zuo Feiyang was about to be taught a severe lesson.

Lu Shaoyue watched Zuo Yuanhang walk away and sighed. “So many have fallen to the entrapment of gambling—Mr. Zuo probably has to worry a lot about this little brother of his.”

“Young people these are too easily swayed by what they see. Hmm, but this is another family’s business. Mr. Lu wants to go the open cinema, right‽” Ye Shuang did not want to say too much. The bespectacled man was still standing right there, so it would bad if he was tipped off somehow.

Therefore, Lu Shaoyue apologized quickly to the middle-aged man and took Ye Shuang to the deck, leaving the bespectacled man there to sigh in relief that he had not been exposed. What is this‽ Such a good player, but you say gambling is not good‽

…

The afternoon was spent watching the movie. With the wind in her hair and good company, it was the good life. It was better when it was still early. If it was at night, the sea breeze would not have been so enjoyable—it would have been torture. After all, they had not entered summer season yet, and no matter how warm Chaohai was during the day, it would have been so cold at night.

Zuo Yuanhang’s ship had nine floors above the water; it was two hundred plus meters long and sixty meters wide. Compared to other ships that were tens of floors tall, it was much smaller, but it was still quite rare in the nation. When it was almost night, the lights all over the ship were switched on, and the ship was extremely bright in the dark.

After a much-needed rest that afternoon, the guests started to wander about after dinner. However, since the total number of guests was just several hundred, when they were spread over nine floors, the place still looked quite deserted. Most female guests were absent—they were probably busy with their make-up, hair, and dresses for the upcoming ball.

The sea breeze at 6 pm was already quite cold. Since the sky was also darkening, Lu Shaoyue invited Ye Shuang to join him for dinner. At 7 pm, she went back to her room to change and clean up. She also used this time to communicate with Han Chu about the results of that afternoon. At 8:30 pm, Lu Shaoyue came to knock on her door, and they left together.

The dress that Ye Shuang brought was not from an expensive brand. After all, a socialite was not a celebrity—no one would be looking at the tag on everyone’s dress to make sure it was the latest brand. She had already gone past the stage where she needed to use appearance to improve her value—she could maintain her personal image as long as she did not make a fool of herself. What was not making a fool of herself? For example, she could not wear the latest and the most expensive thing, but at the very least, they had to have heard of the brand before.

“Quite a few people here, aren’t there?” Ye Shuang held Lu Shaoyue’s arm as they walked to the deck, and she said with interest, “I remember there are more than fifty rooms on the upscale decks. The people invited probably won’t stay in the rooms reserved for normal passengers, right? Each guest is only allowed to bring a partner with them, and that at most adds up to more than one hundred, but how come it looks like there are more than that here?”

Lu Shaoyue smiled, and his eyes scanned the deck. “Some celebrities and models were also invited. This is a tradition already for Zuo Yuanhang’s cruise. They are here to make the party look livelier, and some are here to perform. In other words, they are servers to improve the guests’ mood, so they aren’t really guests themselves. They are staying in the normal cabins.”

“Zuo Yuanhang sure is something else.” Ye Shuang did not know what to say.

“It’s a mutual thing.” Lu Shaoyue brought Ye Shuang down the stairs. “Adding them means adding a few more tables during buffet. The celebrities want to make use of this chance to make good connections, and the guests are happy to mingle with the people from the entertainment business.” Here, Lu Shaoyue paused and winked to make a joke. “You should know this. Most of the successful people who carry the whole company on their back are mostly around thirty or forty, but their appearance sometimes leaves much to be desired.”

Ye Shuang stopped herself from laughing out loud. The guests invited were indeed the best of their best, and the average age group was definitely over forty. The young ones were limited, and even so, their faces might not be perfect. Ye Shuang believed that Lu Shaoyue had left out an important point. Of these celebrities, some of them must have the wish of finding a sugar daddy or mommy so that they could skip around two decades of work. This was something mutual—Zuo Yuanhang was not going to act as pimp, but he was not going to limit it either.

Ye Shuang acted like she did not understand what Lu Shaoyue was saying. She followed the man into the ballroom and instantly shifted her personality into one that befitted the environment.