Kidnapping the Female Teacher's Best Friend - Chapter 34

Chapter 34

On Friday morning, after the last class, Mo Zibei’s school went on break; it was time for the extended weekend off again.

After the three of them met up, Meng Yuanhao persuaded Mo Zibei and Zhou Ruoxin to come to his house for lunch, saying it would be more convenient since his house had an a**yi (housekeeper).

Zhou Ruoxin asked Mo Zibei if she wanted to go, and Mo Zibei nodded in agreement.

The group cycled to Meng Yuanhao’s house. When they arrived, the a**yi was already busy in the kitchen. Meng Yuanhao had called her beforehand, and she had a spare key to the Meng family’s home.

After changing shoes inside, Meng Yuanhao dragged Mo Zibei to the living room to play video games. This time, Zhou Ruoxin didn’t watch shows on her phone as usual but sat next to them, watching them play.

Meng Yuanhao’s skills were already inferior to Mo Zibei’s, and being watched by Zhou Ruoxin made him subconsciously nervous, leading to consecutive losses and deaths…

Zhou Ruoxin clicked her tongue twice, her tone slightly disdainful, “You’re truly incredibly clumsy.”

“I wasn’t performing well today,” Meng Yuanhao felt a little embarrassed, blushing as he defended himself, “Besides… this game is inherently difficult.”

“Oh,” Zhou Ruoxin sneered, “Then why are you the only one dying?”

“You try it, you try it,” Meng Yuanhao threw his controller to her in frustration, “You play.”

Zhou Ruoxin pouted.

Mo Zibei looked up at Zhou Ruoxin, then turned her attention back to the game screen. Her hand movements didn’t stop, and she casually asked, “Ruoxin, do you want to play?”

Zhou Ruoxin wasn’t very interested initially, but hearing Mo Zibei ask, she quietly picked up the controller and sat down next to her.

“Pay attention to the buttons I press,” Mo Zibei explained to her while continuing the game.

She demonstrated the jump, duck, forward, and fire buttons for her several times.

Zhou Ruoxin observed carefully for a while and grasped the general idea.

Mo Zibei handed her controller to her, “You can try it now.”

Zhou Ruoxin put down the one she was holding and took the one Mo Zibei offered.

She was a novice and hadn’t played this kind of game. In less than a minute, all her lives were gone.

Meng Yuanhao held his waist and laughed heartily for a while. Zhou Ruoxin glared at him in exasperation.

Meng Yuanhao grunted in dissatisfaction, “Aww, you’re allowed to laugh at me, but I’m not allowed to laugh at you?”

“Immature!”

“You’re not immature? You’re not much better!”

“Being better than you is enough!”

After the two finished bickering, Mo Zibei took Zhou Ruoxin through a few more rounds. When Zhou Ruoxin ran out of lives, she would give her own controller to her, letting her continue playing.

After playing like this for more than half an hour, Zhou Ruoxin slowly got the hang of it and even found it quite interesting.

Later, the a**yi finished cooking, and the group went to the dining table.

Meng Yuanhao placed a few pieces of braised pork in his bowl, lowered his head, and shoveled a few mouthfuls of rice, proposing, “After lunch, how about the three of us go play billiards?” Zhou Ruoxin also knew how to play billiards, although her skill was a bit lacking.

Mo Zibei bit into a meatball and didn’t say anything.

Zhou Ruoxin looked up at Mo Zibei and quietly asked, “Zibei, do you want to go?”

“The three of us haven’t played billiards together in a long time, and today is the first day of the break. We should relax a bit.”

Mo Zibei felt that Meng Yuanhao made sense, “Okay, let’s go together.”

Meng Yuanhao enthusiastically slapped the table, “Then it’s settled,” he took a sip of water from his cup, “It’s too hot to cycle. Let’s take a taxi at noon.”

The other two had no objection.

After eating, the three went out together. Meng Yuanhao hailed a car with his phone, and the driver picked them up at the entrance of their neighborhood.

It was Friday, but there were still quite a few people on the streets. When they arrived at their destination, they went straight to the arcade, where they could play billiards and other games.

Entering the arcade, they took the escalator to the third floor. This floor had billiards rooms, card rooms, mahjong rooms, board game rooms… many categories, as well as some milk tea shops and bakeries.

The three first went to the milk tea shop, each ordering a cup of milk tea, and walked toward the billiards room while drinking.

Mo Zibei told Zhou Ruoxin and Meng Yuanhao to play first while she went out for a stroll, sipping her milk tea. When she returned, she found that a few more people had joined the two of them, and they were people Mo Zibei knew: Guo Lianke, Pan Wu, and Wang Qi, who she had played poker with before.

Guo Lianke seemed to be teaching Zhou Ruoxin how to play billiards. From a distance, they looked very close.

Mo Zibei threw her empty milk tea cup into a nearby trash can and walked toward them.

Guo Lianke happened to turn his head just then and saw her, looking slightly surprised, “Mo Zibei, what are you doing here?”

Zhou Ruoxin turned around and looked at Mo Zibei, startled, “You two know each other?”

Mo Zibei nodded but didn’t elaborate. Pan Wu and Wang Qi beside him also came over and greeted her.

“What a coincidence,” Guo Lianke said with a smile, “These two are your friends, right?” He was referring to Zhou Ruoxin and Meng Yuanhao.

Mo Zibei affirmed with an “Mhm.”

“Speaking of which, it’s been a while since I saw you,” Guo Lianke sat diagonally on the edge of the billiards table, his cue stick vertical and resting at his side, “Are you free tomorrow?” This was an invitation for her to play cards.

“No, I have to do homework.” Pan Wu and Wang Qi looked slightly disappointed, and then they went back to playing billiards at the next table.

Guo Lianke said “Oh,” and added, “My treat today. You and your friends can play whatever you like.”

Mo Zibei didn’t respond and went to sit on a nearby sofa.

Zhou Ruoxin dropped her cue stick and followed her, sitting down next to her.

Guo Lianke looked at the two of them, then continued playing with Meng Yuanhao. Guo Lianke’s skill was good, and Meng Yuanhao was happy to start a game with him, taking the opportunity to learn some tips.

Only after Guo Lianke turned his face away and wasn’t looking in their direction did Zhou Ruoxin quietly ask, “How do you know that person?”

Mo Zibei explained briefly. Just as she finished, Guo Lianke came over with a few bottles of drinks, giving one to Zhou Ruoxin and one to Mo Zibei.

He opened the cola in his hand and casually asked, “Are you two high school classmates, or have you known each other since childhood?”

Zhou Ruoxin answered, “We lived together when we were little, and we’ve been to the same kindergarten, elementary school, junior high, and high school.”

“Oh,” he took a few sips of cola and smiled, “Then you must have a very good relationship.”

Zhou Ruoxin didn’t reply, but she smiled.

Mo Zibei quietly sipped her drink nearby, remaining silent the whole time.

“Zibei, come play with me for a bit.” Meng Yuanhao waved at her.

Mo Zibei didn’t move from her seat.

Zhou Ruoxin also spoke up, “Zibei, go play for a bit.” This person hadn’t touched a cue stick since entering the arcade.

Mo Zibei put down her cola, stood up, and walked over. She chalked the tip of the cue stick, glanced at the table, and asked Meng Yuanhao. She was replacing Guo Lianke and was supposed to shoot the striped balls.

She bent down, stepped aside, tilted her head to aim, then lowered her left palm, gripped the cue with her right hand, pulling it back. The front of the cue was placed in the web between her left thumb and forefinger. She gently pushed forward, and the white ball hit a striped ball in the direction of her force. The striped ball slowly rolled into the pocket along the trajectory of the force.

“Awesome.” Meng Yuanhao praised softly.

Guo Lianke had been watching them. Seeing Mo Zibei sink a ball, he smiled, then quietly said to Zhou Ruoxin, “Mo Zibei is also great at playing poker. She has a good brain and is particularly good at remembering cards.”

“Mhm.” Zhou Ruoxin smiled back.

Only when Guo Lianke wasn’t looking did Mo Zibei lean toward Meng Yuanhao, lowering her voice, “How did you two end up hanging out with them?”

Meng Yuanhao was waiting for Mo Zibei to take the next shot. He was surprised by her sudden question. He scratched his short hair and mumbled with a frown, “It was just Ruoxin and me playing, right? Her skill was bad, and I said a few things to her, and she got upset and absolutely refused to play with me anymore.”

Mo Zibei lowered her eyes, “And then?”

“Then that guy… Guo Lianke came over and said his skill was alright, and he could guide Ruoxin a bit. He even taught Ruoxin a few small tips right there… In the end, they started playing, and I was left aside.”

Mo Zibei pondered for a few seconds, then glanced over. Seeing that Guo Lianke was still chatting and laughing with Zhou Ruoxin, she covered her mouth and whispered to Meng Yuanhao, “Go tell Ruoxin that you’re hungry and want to go out to eat, right now.”

Meng Yuanhao was slightly surprised upon hearing this, then said dejectedly, “What if she ignores me?”

Mo Zibei asserted, “She won’t.” Since the three of them had just eaten lunch before coming here, it was impossible for them to be hungry now. This was clearly an excuse to leave.

“Oh.”

Meng Yuanhao put down the cue stick and repeated what Mo Zibei had told him to Zhou Ruoxin.

Zhou Ruoxin listened, glanced at Mo Zibei, instantly understood the meaning in her eyes, and turned to Guo Lianke, “We have to go eat now.”

“No problem, we can play together next time,” Guo Lianke smiled and pulled out his phone from his pants pocket, “Ruoxin, let’s exchange WeChat contacts. That way, it’ll be easier to keep in touch later.”

Zhou Ruoxin hesitated for a moment, then slowly took out her phone.

Mo Zibei let out a quiet sigh. She didn’t feel comfortable going over and saying anything right now.

After the two finished adding each other on WeChat, the three of them left together.

After descending to the ground floor, Zhou Ruoxin asked, “What’s wrong?”

Meng Yuanhao shook his head, saying he didn’t know. Mo Zibei also didn’t say anything. Then, she hailed a car with her phone. Leaving the arcade, the three walked to an intersection and waited there.

After the car arrived, Mo Zibei gestured with her chin toward Meng Yuanhao, “You sit in the front passenger seat.”

“Oh.”

After Zhou Ruoxin bent down and got into the back seat, Mo Zibei followed her in.

Once the car started, Mo Zibei quietly spoke to Zhou Ruoxin, “Don’t contact Guo Lianke later, and don’t reply if he sends you messages.”

Zhou Ruoxin looked slightly confused, “Isn’t he your friend?”

“We’re just poker buddies.”

“Oh…”

Mo Zibei pursed her lips and added, “In short, keep your distance from him in the future.”

“Can’t you tell me why?”

Mo Zibei was a bit conflicted. She didn’t know the person very well; she had only heard bits and pieces while playing cards.

Seeing her hesitation, Zhou Ruoxin quickly tugged on her sleeve, “If you don’t want to say, then never mind. I won’t contact him in the future, then.”

Mo Zibei affirmed with an “Mhm.”

After getting out of the car, the group walked into the neighborhood. Mo Zibei retrieved her backpack from Meng Yuanhao’s house, then followed Zhou Ruoxin back to the Zhou family’s house and went to her bedroom. After much thought, Mo Zibei still felt she should tell her what she knew, “Ruoxin, Guo Lianke is very well-known at XX Vocational School. He’s a big shot there, a kind of leader. He’s pursued many girls and had many girlfriends… You understand what I mean, right?”

Zhou Ruoxin was stunned upon hearing this. She hadn’t expected that to be the reason. Then, she smiled again. She had always thought Mo Zibei was completely clueless about matters of dating and liking someone, but now it seemed this person understood them too.

“I understand,” Zhou Ruoxin smiled brightly, “Don’t worry, I won’t fall for him.”

Mo Zibei nodded, “Then I’m going home.”

“Okay, I’ll see you out.”

Zhou Ruoxin saw her to the elevator entrance, and Mo Zibei didn’t let her go any further.

She put on her backpack, cycled home, took a nap, and after dinner, it was evening.

She took a shower, then returned to her room to start on her homework.

Around eight in the evening, Mu Hanxi called her.

“Kid, don’t forget to come over to my place for tutoring tomorrow afternoon after two o’clock.”

Mo Zibei spun the pen in her hand, the corners of her mouth turning up, “Okay.” How could she forget? She had been eagerly looking forward to the tutoring day!

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