I Revealed My True Identity After Confessing My Love - Chapter 31

“Come here.”

Du Xiran’s low voice echoed in the private karaoke room.

Ye Nanning didn’t know what she wanted, but Du Xiran’s voice felt like a spell. She walked over subconsciously, resigned to whatever punishment might be coming her way.

“Sit,” Du Xiran pointed to the seat next to her.

As soon as she sat down, Du Xiran pressed down on her head.

Ye Nanning: !!

No way, no way… President Du isn’t so overwhelmed by my beauty that she’s going to force a kiss on me, is she?

The next moment, Du Xiran opened her mouth.

Ye Nanning: Oh, I’m dead.

Then, Du Xiran blew a puff of “immortal air” onto her thumb and forefinger and flicked Ye Nanning’s forehead.

“Ow” Ye Nanning let out an involuntary cry, clutching her forehead and looking at her in shock.

Du Xiran gave a mischievous smile. “Still out of tune?”

Ye Nanning shook her head vigorously.

“Then keep singing. If you go off-key again, the punishment doubles,” Du Xiran said.

Ye Nanning had no choice but to sing obediently, focusing with all her might. However, Du Xiran began to purposely mess with her.

There was a feather pendant on Du Xiran’s keychain. She brushed the feather back and forth across Ye Nanning’s face, watching with great amusement as the girl tried to suppress her laughter. It was much more adorable than her usual stoic expression.

Ye Nanning had decent willpower; she managed to maintain her pitch despite the tickling.

Seeing this, Du Xiran’s playful side took over. She slid the feather from Ye Nanning’s face down to her neck.

Ye Nanning tilted her head to the side, a smile finally breaking across her face as she tried to push Du Xiran away.

Looking at that sudden smile, Du Xiran momentarily understood why the “cold and abstinent” type was so attractive. Usually, when a cold person smiles, the contrast is so overwhelming that it triggers a deep sense of pleasure in others.

Subconsciously wanting to see more of her expressions, Du Xiran tossed the keys aside and started tickling her directly.

Ye Nanning couldn’t hold it together anymore. She collapsed onto the sofa, microphone in hand, her crisp laughter broadcasting through the speakers and filling the room.

“President Du, you’re cheating!” Ye Nanning gasped through her laughter, trying to push Du Xiran’s hands away.

“I never said cheating wasn’t allowed,” Du Xiran laughed triumphantly. She sat directly on Ye Nanning’s lap to pin her down, tickling her with both hands.

Ye Nanning was laughing so hard tears came to her eyes. She rubbed her head against the sofa, her hair becoming a mess as she begged for mercy: “I was wrong! Hahaha, President Du, let me go!”

Du Xiran finally let go, laughing as she released her. She looked down at the panting, teary-eyed Ye Nanning and paused.

Then she let out a snicker. “Why does this look like I’m forcing myself on an innocent woman?”

Realization dawned on Ye Nanning, and her face instantly flushed bright red. Looking at Du Xiran still sitting on her lap, she impulsively sat up, startling Du Xiran.

Du Xiran looked at the close-proximity Ye Nanning, smiled, and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “Look at this mess.”

Ye Nanning felt like she was going to faint, the kind of suffocation caused by pure happiness.

However, happiness is always fleeting. Du Xiran sat back after fixing her hair and took a sip of her drink. “What do you want to drink?”

Ye Nanning picked up a cocktail nearby, took a few sips, fixed her hair, and said, “President Du, you should sing a couple of songs too.”

Du Xiran: “Forget it, I’m a terrible singer.”

“I won’t say you’re terrible. Besides, singing is about the fun, not whether it’s good or not,” Ye Nanning argued.

Du Xiran thought about it and realized she was right. Since she had already exposed her playful side, she might as well go all out.

She picked up the mic and started singing haphazardly. Before long, applause broke out. Ye Nanning cheered: “So beautiful! It’s like a heavenly melody!”

Du Xiran: “…”

Ye Nanning: “The most beautiful voice in the world!”

“…”

“As expected, President Du is the best at everything she does!”

“…”

“So good! One more song!”

Unable to take it anymore, Du Xiran turned around to look at her. Ye Nanning immediately sat up straight, clapping like a seal and saying weakly, “It really does sound good.”

“If you keep lying through your teeth, believe it or not, I’ll pin you to the floor as punishment,” Du Xiran threatened.

Ye Nanning: !!!

As soon as Du Xiran started singing again, Ye Nanning said, “President Du’s singing is truly the best.”

Du Xiran whipped her head back, staring at her with a “death glare.” However, the other party had a “thick-skinned” look on her face, and her eyes even seemed a bit expectant.

Just as she put down the mic to punish the disobedient girl, Xu Huan and the others pushed the door open and walked in.

The group looked upset, muttering complaints to one another.

“What happened to you guys?” Du Xiran asked.

Xu Huan sat down and took a gulp of wine. “We ran into a group of rich kids outside. They mocked us for not knowing how to play bowling. We had a match and lost.”

Chen Shuimin added: “Unbelievable. They were so condescending, saying people shouldn’t go to places they don’t belong. Honestly, who doesn’t own a few designer pieces? Next time I’m wearing my full set to blind them!”

Old Wang: “Forget it, don’t be unhappy. It’s not worth getting angry at people like that. Come on, let’s just enjoy ourselves.”

The others were still fuming. They dealt with enough stress at work trying to get ahead, only to be looked down upon by people born with silver spoons. It was discouraging.

The singing stopped, and everyone drank in silence.

At that moment, Du Xiran took off her suit jacket. “Come on, let’s go find them for a rematch.”

Everyone froze, staring at her in shock. She tied her hair into a low, capable ponytail and turned toward the door. “Where are they?”

Xu Huan immediately stood up and followed excitedly. “They’re still over by the bowling lanes.”

The others followed suit. Ye Nanning was the last to leave; she carefully folded the jacket Du Xiran had tossed on the sofa before following.

There were many young people in the bowling area. Xu Huan pointed to a group of glamorous young men and women sitting on the central sofas.

Someone noticed them, and seeing the aura-heavy woman leading the group, they laughed. “What? Not willing to accept defeat and back for a rematch?”

“I wouldn’t call it a challenge, just a friendly exchange of skills,” Du Xiran said with a smile.

“No problem,” a woman called over a nearby guy. “You play with her.”

The rest of the crowd gathered to watch the show. Xu Huan whispered to Du Xiran: “President Du, do you actually know how to play? They look like regulars.”

“Who cares,” Du Xiran whispered back. “They don’t know us anyway, it doesn’t matter if we lose. But if they lose, they’re the ones who care about their reputation, they’ll be fuming. We’re playing for the mindset, get it?”

The colleagues: “…”

Perspective shifted.

When they thought about it, it made sense. These rich kids valued their “face” much more. Losing would be humiliating for them. For corporate workers like them who deal with grief daily? Losing a game was nothing!

The colleagues’ gloom vanished, and they began cheering for Du Xiran.

Ye Nanning stood in the corner with a quiet smile, her eyes fixed on Du Xiran.

Du Xiran and the guy went to pick their balls. He threw his, and Du Xiran threw hers with practiced ease.

“Yes!” Xu Huan and the colleagues hugged each other in excitement. It turned out President Du wasn’t just playing around, she had the look of a champion.

The game was points-based. They played five rounds, and the scores were neck and neck. Another man from the rich group got interested, swapped out the first guy, and took over.

Seeing this, Du Xiran asked her employees, “Does anyone else want to try? Just for fun.”

The employees waved her off. They’d much rather watch Du Xiran perform than embarrass themselves.

Du Xiran turned her gaze toward Ye Nanning. She was the youngest and likely had the least ego about winning or losing. Du Xiran wanted her to experience the world and build some confidence.

“Ye Nanning, you try,” Du Xiran called out.

The colleagues made way. Xu Huan encouraged her: “Go on, Xiao Ye, just play around. It’s fine if you lose.”

Ye Nanning gave a slight nod and walked to the front. The opposing side went quiet for a moment as several guys instinctively moved closer to watch her.

The man competing against her whistled, arrogantly picked up the heaviest ball, and knocked down eight pins with a single strike. He flicked his hair and looked at Ye Nanning playfully.

As Ye Nanning went to pick up a ball, Du Xiran reminded her: “You picked the heaviest one. Swap it for the one next to it; it’s lighter.”

“It’s okay.” Ye Nanning was used to the heaviest balls; they were more stable and had more impact. She stepped back, aimed, and released. The ball rolled steadily along the arrows and CRASH it hit the center pin, taking all ten down.

The colleagues were stunned for a second before erupting in cheers: “AAAAAH! Xiao Ye! You’re amazing!!”

Ye Nanning glanced back at them. When she saw Du Xiran giving her a thumbs up, she turned back with a shy look.

The man looked at her with newfound respect. For the next few rounds, both sides scored nearly perfect points.

In the end, Du Xiran and Ye Nanning’s combined score won by a narrow margin. Xu Huan and the others were thrilled, leading them back triumphantly.

“Wait, let’s go again. How about Snooker?” the woman said, her face dark. She clearly couldn’t handle the loss. Just as Du Xiran predicted, she felt she had lost face and wanted to win it back.

Du Xiran turned back. “Sorry, our time is valuable. Unlike you, we aren’t ‘idle hands.’”

Colleagues: “Pffft.”

Ye Nanning smiled at the pun (a play on words in Chinese).

Others around them caught the “idle/useless” jab and laughed. The woman’s face was hideous. Determined to win her pride back, she said, “One game. If you win, I’ll pay for your entire tab tonight.”

“And if we lose?”

“If you lose, there’s no penalty.”