No One Else Will Do But You - Chapter 14

Pattaya truly comes alive at night.

The various nightclubs and ladyboy shows in front of them attract countless tourists from all over the world, especially male tourists.

“A Mu, why does this place look like a red-light district?”

Jiang Mu stopped and frowned. They shouldn’t have come to Pattaya; they should have gone to Bangkok instead. At their age, well… he was mainly worried that Shu Luo would be a bad influence.

“Let’s go back to the hotel and play cards. We’re going to Bangkok tomorrow afternoon, so we won’t stay here tonight,” Jiang Mu said, ruffling Shu Luo’s hair. He was already used to stroking Shu Luo’s hair, especially when he was talking.

Luis’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Can you teach me how to play Landlord Fight? I’ve always been very curious about this game. My Chinese exchange students love to play it.”

Shu Luo felt that Jiang Mu didn’t really want to go out either. “Sure. Let’s go back to the hotel and play cards. Luis, which hotel are you staying at?”

“The Hilton Hotel. What about you guys?”

“The same,” Jiang Mu replied.

“That’s great! Let’s go together, haha. How lucky!”

And so, the three of them returned to the hotel.

“Hey, Luis, I’m playing a ‘three with one.’ Are you going to play or not? My flowers have all withered!”

“My flowers are dead? Why would the flowers be dead? I didn’t hesitate for a long time…” Luis continued to play his “three with one” with a confused look on his face.

That’s a cultural difference! What does “the flowers are dead” mean? The translation should be “the flowers have withered,” okay…

Shu Luo silently complained in his mind.

“Single card,” Jiang Mu said, holding up the last single card in his hand.

Shu Luo smiled. “Don’t be in a hurry, Landlord Jiang. I, the peasant, still have a big move! Bomb!”

After playing the four cards, Shu Luo had two cards left in his hand.

Luis saw that they had so few cards left and immediately got anxious. “I… I still have eight…”

Shu Luo patted him on the shoulder for comfort and said with an air of authority, “It’s fine. Brother still has cards. Just wait and see.”

Jiang Mu’s lips curved upward. “You’re very confident.”

“Of course.”

The two looked at each other, full of smiles but also a hint of a competitive spirit.

“A two.” Shu Luo played his card and then held up his last card, still brimming with confidence. He had a great memory for cards!

Luis had no cards and passed.

Jiang Mu slowly put down his card and smiled at Shu Luo. “Little Joker.”

Shu Luo suddenly stood up from the bed, scratching his head. “What?! I remember the Little Joker was played! What happened? Did I misremember?”

Luis pulled back the frantic Shu Luo. He understood the Chinese for Little Joker. “That was from the last round…”

“WHAT!” Oh my gosh, did my amazing card-memorizing ability fail? Why did I remember the cards from the last round?

He collapsed onto the bed in despair, completely dejected. He had a reason to be so down. He had been playing since 6:30 p.m. and hadn’t won a single round… and he hadn’t even been the landlord once.

He suddenly sat up, straightened his back, and glared at Jiang Mu. It was this person. It was like he had a cheat code. He was also a foreigner like Luis, just with different blood, so how was he so good at Landlord Fight? Do French people even play Landlord Fight?

His anger was no longer enough to express his frustration, so he pounced on Jiang Mu and pinned him down.

“You mixed-heritage guy, why were you playing Landlord Fight in France? Look at Luis; he studies well and doesn’t play card games. Did you download Happy Landlord Fight abroad?!”

Jiang Mu helplessly let Shu Luo rant on top of him, even freeing a hand to smooth out his hair.

“I played with my mom and the housekeeper abroad. My mom taught me. I’ve been playing since I was a kid. Winning tonight was a complete accident. I usually lose.”

Shu Luo sat up and calmed himself down, but he still couldn’t accept that his card-memorizing ability had failed. So, he went back to lying on Jiang Mu’s chest, feeling dejected. Sigh, so tired.

Luis noticed how close they were. “Did you guys grow up together? You have a great relationship!”

Jiang Mu shook his head. “I came to China two years ago. We’re neighbors and also desk partners.”

Luis’s mouth hung open in shock. “You’re still desk partners?! But you guys look like you have a huge age gap. Are you in the same grade?”

Jiang Mu pulled the clingy guy off him and answered Luis’s question. “We both just graduated from middle school. I’m 16, but Shu Luo started school early, so he’s two years younger than me. But maybe because he’s a little small, we look very different when we’re together.”

“What do you mean ‘very different’? Why is it ‘very different’? Where’s the difference?!”

Shu Luo was already very emotional from losing the card games and was now easily angered.

Jiang Mu continued to soothe him. “Alright, just about the same.”

Luis looked at the sulking Shu Luo, his heart itching. He also wanted to go over and ruffle his hair like Jiang Mu did. He had never seen a little brother like this to play with in America, and he didn’t have a brother to be in a huff with. He suddenly felt a little envious of Jiang Mu, but it would be impolite to go and ruffle Shu Luo’s hair.

“Shu Luo, you’re so cute.”

What?

Shu Luo’s enraged state suddenly froze. He was stunned for a second and then became angry again. “I’m not cute! I’m not cute! I’m handsome! I’m really handsome! I’m so handsome, Luis! This is handsome!” He even emphasized the last few words in English.

Jiang Mu’s eyes darkened, but he managed to hide it without changing his expression. Is he coveting my Shu Luo? Ha.

“Alright, it’s almost nine o’clock, and I’m getting a little sleepy. Let’s end the game.”

Luis nodded in agreement and said thankfully, “Thank you guys so much for being so friendly and playing with me tonight. You even taught me how to play Landlord Fight. I can go back and teach my family.”

Shu Luo saw that he was about to leave and wanted him to stay. “Aren’t you going to play for a little longer?”

“It’s getting late. Aren’t you guys getting ready for bed? I’m fine with the jet lag, but I shouldn’t bother you. We can play tomorrow. You already gave me your phone number anyway.” He then waved and left. His room was on a higher floor.

After Luis left, Shu Luo sat cross-legged, resting his chin on his hands. “Luis is a good person with a good personality, and he looks decent, just a little dark.”

Jiang Mu wrapped his arm around his neck and whispered in his ear, “A good person? Am I not? A good personality? Is mine not? Good-looking? Am I not? And I’m very fair-skinned.”

“…” Shu Luo rolled his eyes and turned his head to look at him. “I wasn’t comparing him to you. Why are you so worried?”

“Worried? Of course, I’m worried. What if you run off with someone?”

Shu Luo put a hand on Jiang Mu’s face and turned it away. “Don’t talk to me in that Northeastern accent with your mixed-heritage face. It’s so awkward and not at all classy.”

Jiang Mu smiled and didn’t say anything else. He just muttered something to himself.

The two of them washed up and went to bed.

“Hey, A Mu, do you think we’ll be in the same class?”

“My mom said that as long as we get into Zhengcheng, we’ll be in the same class.”

“Did you pull some strings?”

“Not exactly. It’s the best combination.”

Shu Luo laughed heartily. “Then can we still be desk partners until graduation?”

“As long as we both choose science, and as long as our grades aren’t 100 points apart, but within 30 points.”

“30 points? That’s so hard. I’m usually over 100 points behind you in the exams.”

“Haven’t you heard? When two people spend a long time together, many things become similar: habits, hobbies… and even grades.”

Shu Luo imagined it. “Wow, if my exam score is close to yours, I can definitely get into Zhengcheng.”

“What I hope for is that our college entrance exam scores will be similar, and we’ll go to the same university.” Jiang Mu turned his face and looked at Shu Luo very seriously, without any hint of a joke.

Shu Luo also turned his face to meet his eyes. That power of conviction made him truly believe that his college entrance exam score would be close to Jiang Mu’s and that they would go to the same university.

“Okay. It’s a deal. We’ll go to the same university.”

Looking at Shu Luo’s smiling eyes, Jiang Mu hoped even more that it would be for life. Are they still just good brothers…?