Chapter 35

Among the four people playing mahjong, Ji Xi, who was facing Shu Shiran, was the first to notice her approach. He lifted his head with a casual, nonchalant air.

At the same moment, the elderly woman sitting to his left took back a tile she had just discarded.

"Oops, played the wrong one, played the wrong one."

Grandma Shu remarked, "Why are you taking back your tile?"

"Oh my, I didn't expect to be playing mahjong, so I didn't put on my glasses. I couldn't clearly tell the five-dot from the six-dot."

"Ask young Ji if he agrees to you taking it back."

Ji Xi was easygoing. "It's fine."

The group let her slide, allowing her to retract the move. It was only then that they noticed Shu Shiran.

"How did you all end up playing mahjong together?" Shu Shiran asked.

The several elderly ladies who had come to visit Ji Xi hadn't stayed long; some had left early due to prior engagements. In the end, two who were free remained—they were Grandma Shu's usual mahjong partners. The three of them gathered together, and with nothing to do, they felt like playing mahjong again, but they were one person short. Ji Xi happened to be there.

Fearing Shu Shiran would scold her about playing, Grandma Shu took the initiative to ask, "Nannan, would you like to join Ji Xi? He said he doesn't play much."

In truth, it wasn't that Shu Shiran forbade her grandmother from playing mahjong; she just didn't want her sitting there for half the day, needing Auntie Hui to nag her just to take her medicine. Since it was the Lunar New Year, playing cards and mahjong was perfectly normal, so she wouldn't object.

Shu Shiran looked at Ji Xi. He had already reached out to pull a chair from behind him to his side. Shu Shiran walked over, sat down, and looked at his hand.

It was Ji Xi's turn. He drew a tile, found it useless, and discarded it. Then, resting one hand on the table, he looked at Shu Shiran. Having finished assessing his hand, she met his pensive gaze.

Ji Xi tilted his head toward her and asked in a low voice, "What’s wrong?" He had likely sensed her mood.

Shu Shiran blinked and said, "Nothing."

She wasn't surprised that her grandmother said Ji Xi didn't play mahjong much. Surely, they didn't play as much on Wall Street as they did back home. She asked him, "You know how to declare a win, right?"

Ji Xi’s eyes flickered, and he nodded. Shu Shiran figured their skill levels were probably about the same.

"Ranran, you join young Ji and see if you can do better than that 'one shot, two wins' incident last time," her grandmother teased.

Only when those words were spoken did Shu Shiran realize that, aside from Ji Xi and her grandmother, the other two players were the very people involved in that "one shot, two wins" fiasco. Ji Xi curled his lips, looked at Shu Shiran, and teased in a low voice, "It seems you aren't very skilled."

Shu Shiran: "..." She had never claimed to be skilled.

Two other players had already reached the "ready" state, meaning they were one tile away from winning. Ji Xi’s luck was poor; he was still quite far from a complete hand. After a full round, it was Ji Xi's turn again. As he drew a tile, Shu Shiran leaned in to watch.

The familiar scent drifted closer, and the strands of her hair brushing against his arm felt like a tangible breeze. Ji Xi’s hand, holding the mahjong tile, paused for a second.

It was a four-dot, which was useless to them. Shu Shiran looked at the tiles already discarded on the table, unsure if the two players waiting for a win would need a four-dot. Remembering the lesson of the previous "one shot, two wins," she knew that intermediate tiles like the "four-dot" were more dangerous to discard.

She pointed to a "one-dot" that was also useless and said softly, "Discard that one."

When she finished speaking and saw no movement from Ji Xi, she assumed he was doubting her. She added, "If we lose, it's on me."

Ji Xi raised an eyebrow, tilted his head, and whispered to her, "Fine. It’s not like it’s my first time living off a woman anyway."

Shu Shiran: "..." With the elders present, that sounded inappropriate. She pinched the inside of his arm, annoyed, signaling him to be serious. From the perspective of others, it looked as if Shu Shiran was holding Ji Xi’s arm.

"They really are newlyweds, so affectionate," one lady noted.

"Indeed, they can't bear to be apart," another added.

Shu Shiran felt her face heat up and instinctively wanted to let go. Suddenly, she felt a warmth on the back of her hand. Ji Xi pressed down on her hand, not letting her pull away, and then discarded the one-dot.

Shu Shiran realized that letting go now would seem too deliberate, so she had no choice but to actually link her arm through his. Her hand moved from below, threading through the inside of his arm and resting gently. With this movement, the two inevitably leaned even closer.

A cool, crisp scent wafted from her side, and Shu Shiran’s body stiffened slightly. For a fleeting moment, she felt the arm beneath her palm tense up.

The one-dot was a safe tile. Ji Xi’s turn was followed by Grandma Shu’s. After another round of tiles were drawn, Grandma Shu was also ready for a win; only their side remained behind. Shu Shiran felt that Ji Xi’s luck was truly poor.

Ji Xi’s phone buzzed twice. He used his free hand to open it. It was Luke, who was pulling an all-nighter, asking how the report was coming along. It was Ji Xi’s turn to draw again. Seeing him checking his phone, Shu Shiran said, "Let me draw for you. Your luck is a bit off."

Ji Xi replied, "Sure."

Shu Shiran took the opportunity to release his arm to draw a tile. Ji Xi replied to the message.

- Ji Xi: Playing mahjong with my wife.
- Luke: Your wife plays mahjong?
- Luke: That’s perfect. Find someone else when I get there, and we can make a table of four.

Luke’s mother was a mahjong fanatic, and Luke had been influenced by it since childhood. For a time, he had frequently invited Jaziel and other friends to play mahjong on his yacht. A table full of people skilled at memorizing and calculating tiles was quite a rewarding challenge.

Shu Shiran’s luck was good; she drew a useful tile. They were finally one step closer to being ready for a win. However, deciding which tile to discard was a problem. The other three players were all waiting for a win, making it very dangerous.

Ji Xi looked up and saw Shu Shiran holding two tiles, her expression serious as she hesitated over which one to play.

- Ji Xi: Find two people.
- Ji Xi: My wife is a beginner.
- Ji Xi: They have to be on my side.
- Luke: A beginner?
- Luke: Then it’s the perfect time for you to show off.

Shu Shiran hadn't decided which to play. The others teased her, "Ranran, take your time deciding before you discard."

Shu Shiran was hesitant and asked Ji Xi, "Which one do you think I should play?"

Ji Xi pointed to the tile on her left. It looked like a casual gesture, a random choice. Shu Shiran thought for two seconds, deciding that a random choice was fine since she didn't know anyway. She discarded the tile Ji Xi had pointed to. The other three checked it, but no one declared a win.

Ji Xi continued to reply to his messages.

- Ji Xi: No need.
- Ji Xi: Everything on our side is decided by my wife.
- Ji Xi: She said if we lose, it’s on her.

The group played until dinnertime, and it was only when someone received a call from home urging them to return for dinner that they decided to pack up. Ji Xi asked Shu Shiran, "Do you want to continue?"

This was Shu Shiran’s first time playing mahjong for so long. Toward the end, she had essentially been the one playing, with Ji Xi watching from the side, discussing with him whenever she didn't know which tile to discard. At first, they had lost quite a bit and frequently triggered others' wins, but things improved later on. Shu Shiran even declared a win a few times; her luck grew better and better, and she did indeed feel a bit reluctant to stop.

Grandma Shu, who was usually kept on a short leash, heard this and said, "Nannan is even more addicted than I am."

Shu Shiran: "..." If this kept up, she wouldn't be able to lecture her grandmother about playing less mahjong with such confidence in the future.

"No, I was just calculating whether we won or lost in the end."

Ji Xi curled his lips, as if laughing at her stubbornness, but he didn't call her out. Shu Shiran was surprised to find that she and Ji Xi had actually won a small amount in the end, which delighted her. After calculating the money and dispersing, she received a WeChat transfer from Ji Xi.

Ji Xi: "Half each."

He was referring to the winnings from the mahjong game. Shu Shiran accepted it. Although it was a small sum, she felt very happy receiving it.

**

Shu Shiran and Ji Xi stayed in Lu Bei for several days, finally leaving on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. Xu Ying had returned from Switzerland and invited Shu Shiran and Zheng Tingyan out for dinner that evening. Ji Xi had a drinking party that night as well.

After they left Lu Bei in the afternoon, they returned to Chuan Song Number One together. The elevator arrived at Shu Shiran’s floor first. They had been sleeping in the same room in Lu Bei for the past few days, and now they were finally returning to their normal routine.

Before exiting the elevator, Shu Shiran looked at the bag Ji Xi was carrying. Auntie Hui had prepared plenty of food for them to bring back, all in portions for two.

Ji Xi said, "Shall I keep it at my place for now? Auntie Dou is coming over to cook in a few days; I'll call you over to eat then."

Shu Shiran nodded. "That works."

That evening, Shu Shiran met up with Xu Ying and Zheng Tingyan. Xu Ying gave them the gifts she had brought back from Switzerland. Both noticed her wrist, and Shu Shiran asked, "Aying, what happened to your wrist? Are you hurt?"

Xu Ying replied, "It's nothing, just a strain from skiing."

Zheng Tingyan said, "Then you should be resting at home."

Xu Ying responded, "There's nothing much to recover from, just a wrist strain. How are your blind dates going?"

At the mention of blind dates, Zheng Tingyan shook her head. She had been on four dates over the New Year, and she was incredibly annoyed. Primarily, she had an instinctive resistance to the blind dates arranged by her family; she didn't want a marriage of convenience. Moreover, the people she met were either people she already knew—where if there was going to be a spark, it would have happened long ago—or total strangers she had no interest in getting to know.

Zheng Tingyan wasn't the type to complain repeatedly, so she finished after saying it once. "By the way, Ranran, how is Ji Xi’s search for people going?"

Suddenly hearing Ji Xi’s name, Shu Shiran was stunned and asked, "What people?"

Zheng Tingyan: "For the art museum, to support it."

Xu Ying: "The art museum that Ji Xi had renamed?"

"Yes," Zheng Tingyan said. "I heard the museum is reopening after the New Year. The renaming caused the Ji family to lose so much face that they, of course, aren't willing to let it go. The Ji family has been in business for generations, and Ji Wenguang himself is a painter with deep connections in the arts. Under the Ji family's direction, many artists and institutions have refused to cooperate with the renamed museum."

They were waiting to see Ji Xi make a fool of himself. Seeing Shu Shiran’s look of total ignorance, Zheng Tingyan asked, "Ranran, you didn't know about this?"

Shu Shiran shook her head. She had been with Ji Xi for the past few days, and he hadn't mentioned a word of it.

Zheng Tingyan: "Then Ji Xi must have a solution by now."

Shu Shiran thought that must be the case.

Zheng Tingyan: "I don't know how he’s going to handle it. And I’m really curious about what the museum was renamed to."

Shu Shiran remembered Ji Xi saying on the day they registered their marriage that he wanted to call the museum "Er Qi," but they hadn't brought it up since. She wondered if it had just been a joke. It must have been a joke, right?

Shu Shiran picked up her glass to take a sip of water and, catching a glimpse of Xu Ying looking somewhat distracted, asked, "Aying, what's wrong? Did something happen on this trip to Switzerland?"