No Gambler Loses Every Day

Lu Yan froze in disbelief. He felt as if all the blood in his body had run cold, only to heat up instantly and rush straight to his brain.

What kind of joke was this? It was a terrible joke. He held the dazed Jiang Ci in his arms.

Now, they were sitting on the bed, wrapped in each other's embrace. His lips twitched. “Do you even know what you just did?”

The faint trace of moisture on the corner of his lips burned like fire, delivering a resounding slap to the face of the self-pitying, self-exiling Lu Yan of just moments ago.

What was this? Was it flirtation, or something else? Was she actually awake, or had their lips met by pure coincidence, accompanied by a random sleep-talk?

Lu Yan didn't know. In his past life, ever since he fell ill, he had never bothered reading relationship advice articles.

He hadn't had the time for such things anyway; his days had been entirely consumed by what he could and couldn't eat. Just staying alive had drained the life out of him.

Jiang Ci was still whispering incoherently in his ear. “Don't leave...”

Lu Yan's hand, which he had just raised to push her away, fell back down limply. He asked tentatively,

“Who shouldn't leave?”

“You... don't leave...”

Lu Yan could clearly feel her soft body wrapping tightly around him, as if she wanted to melt entirely into him. He swallowed hard.

“Then... who am I?”

He fell silent after asking. He didn't know if she would answer, or what he would do if her answer wasn't the one he wanted to hear.

But he took the gamble. Even though his luck had always been terrible, he used every ounce of courage he had managed to muster to place his bet.

Because he wanted to win. He wanted to win so badly.

Jiang Ci opened her eyes dazed, only to close them again. She snuggled deeper into his chest. “You're... Lu Yan...”

“Mm, that's right, I am.” Lu Yan let out a low chuckle, the corners of his lips curling upward.

He was Lu Yan. From the moment he heard his own name escape her lips, he knew he hadn't lost this time.

He had won big!

Smiling, he gazed down at Jiang Ci in his arms. “Why won't you let me leave, hm?”

Jiang Ci mumbled incoherently, unable to form words, and simply held him even tighter.

Not going to say, are you? Lu Yan's eyes curved with pure delight. If you won't say it, I'll just assume you like me too.

If you like me too, then this is easy. He leaned back, letting Jiang Ci fall with him so that she ended up draped halfway over his body.

The faint scent of jasmine still lingered around his nose. Perhaps because Jiang Ci had been lying there for a while, the blanket felt exceptionally warm, making him feel incredibly sleepy.

Tonight's dreams probably wouldn't be too bad.

And so, on a bed that was neither too big nor too small, wrapped in a blanket neither too thick nor too thin, and bound by a relationship neither too close nor too distant, the two of them held each other tightly and passed a perfectly ordinary night.

Well, maybe it wasn't that wonderful. Lu Yan didn't sleep very well, nor did he turn into some beast.

Instead, Jiang Ci held him like a stuffed doll the entire night.

He complied obediently. Over the course of the night, he spent at least half the time wide awake.

During the other half, he drifted in and out of a light, hazy sleep.

His sleep quality was practically nonexistent. Yet, just as the first faint light of dawn appeared, a sudden wave of drowsiness hit him, tugging at his consciousness.

Since he could finally fall asleep, he decided to just let it happen. His class wasn't until the afternoon anyway.

But just as his mind began to slip into a deep slumber...

Jiang Ci knit her brows.

Her head throbbed painfully, pulsing as if something had been stuffed inside. She was also incredibly thirsty, her mouth completely dry.

She opened her eyes, instinctively wanting to get out of bed to find some water.

Only to realize she wasn't in her own bed. Her pupils dilated instantly.

She stiffly turned her head. Lu Yan's face was barely two centimeters away from her nose. She could even see the fine hairs on his face.

Thump! Thump!

Jiang Ci could feel her heart pounding furiously against her ribs.

She instinctively backed away, forgetting that she wasn't in her own bed, but in Lu Yan's.

Sharing a bed already cut their space in half, and in her panicked state, she recoiled far too violently.

Thud. She tumbled right off the bed.

Jiang Ci figured she must be dreaming. All she had to do was close her eyes and open them again.

Lying on the floor, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and opened them once more.

Well.

Page refresh failed. She was still on the floor.

The groggy confusion of waking up began to fade, and last night's memories came flooding back. Shards of memory battered her brain.

Drinking, emptying the jar, leaving her room, barging into his room, sleeping on his bed...

Honestly, up to this point, it was relatively normal and acceptable. It wasn't like she had never been in Lu Yan's room or slept on his bed before.

But as for what happened afterward, she couldn't figure out what she had done no matter how hard she racked her brain.

Even waking up next to him in the morning wasn't that big of a deal. It wasn't their first time, after all, and it wasn't too out of line.

But knowing Lu Yan, if he had found her sleeping on his bed, he would have absolutely woken her up and escorted her back to her own room.

What on earth had happened to make him sleep beside her the entire night? Jiang Ci truly couldn't fathom it, nor did she dare to let her thoughts wander in that direction.

She could only hope for the best. What if he had been too exhausted last night, collapsed onto the bed, and hadn't even noticed her?

If that were the case, then he wouldn't know anything about what she had done.

Although she knew the probability of this was lower than her waking up to a sudden enlightenment and ascending to immortality, she couldn't come up with any other creative excuses.

And this particular excuse happened to provide the perfect strategic guidance for her next move.

After a brief brainstorm on the floor, Little Jiang ultimately chose a tactical retreat.

Rolling over from beneath the bed, she went from lying on her back to crawling on her stomach, slowly making her way toward the door.

Whether due to her hangover or the immense psychological burden of potentially being caught red-handed, she felt incredibly weak, unable to muster any strength in her limbs.

She had to constantly monitor Lu Yan's breathing, terrified he would wake up before she could make her escape.

If he did, she would be completely doomed. She had absolutely no desire to find out what had transpired last night.

If possible, she wanted nothing more than to slap her yesterday self twice for drinking, so she wouldn't have done something so utterly ridiculous.

Inch by inch, she crawled forward. When she finally reached the door, she raised her hand, intending to turn the handle and make her escape.

She grabbed the handle and was about to pull it open when her hand was suddenly enveloped by a warm touch.

Along with her hand, the door handle was pushed forward by this warmth.

Blocking the door completely.

Lying on the floor, she heard an amused voice from above.

“And where might Fellow Daoist Jiang be heading?”