harleyscars Chapter 161 Truth
Chapter 161 Truth
"Let's play a game."
Zhou Shan took out a glass bottle from her bag. It was transparent, a soda bottle, and it was clean. The label on the bottle was torn in half, leaving a ring of adhesive residue.
She placed the bottle in the middle of the moisture-proof mat and swept it around.
"Truth or Dare, spin the bottle, whoever it lands on gets to choose."
Zhao Qihang was the first to raise his hand, "This is good, this is good."
Chen Xu didn't say anything, but moved to the middle of the mat.
Song Huan leaned against the edge of the moisture-proof mat, her hands resting on her knees, and nodded.
Xiao Yunqing pulled her coat up a little, tucked her chin into the collar, and nodded slightly.
Zhou Shan rubbed her hands together and then pressed the bottle down.
"I'll go first."
With a twist of my finger, the bottle spun on the mat, the glass rubbing against the moisture-proof mat with a soft, rustling sound.
After a few laps, it slowed down, shook the bottle, and aimed the bottle opening at Zhou Shan herself.
The smile on her face froze.
Xiao Yunqing was the first to laugh out loud, sticking her chin out from her collar.
Truth or Dare?
Zhou Shan pursed her lips slightly. "The truth."
Xiao Yunqing leaned forward, resting her hands on the mat. "Do you have someone you like?"
Zhou Shan's face turned red starting from her neck.
She lowered her head and drew a circle on the sleeping mat with her finger.
"no."
The sound was soft, but very clear.
After answering, she looked up at Xiao Yunqing, her face flushed and her eyes narrowed.
"You're dead."
Xiao Yunqing stuck out her tongue and tucked it back into her collar, leaving only half of her face exposed.
Zhou Shan picked up the bottle and spun it hard.
The bottle spun very fast, and the residual adhesive on the label on the bottle shimmered in circles under the light.
It slowed down, swayed a bit, and stopped in front of Chen Xu.
Chen Xu was stunned for a moment.
Zhao Qihang sprang up from the cushion, knelt down, rubbed his hands together, and his eyes lit up.
"Quiet down, quiet down, let me ask, let me ask."
He moved forward half a meter, got close to Chen Xu, and winked.
"Chen Xu, do you have someone you like?"
Chen Xu blushed.
Her cheeks turned red all the way to her ears, and from her ears to her neck; even a small patch of her forehead turned red.
He lowered his head, stared at the bottle, and moved his lips slightly, but didn't make a sound.
Zhao Qihang patted him on the shoulder, "You're not allowed to lie, lying means you can't take a joke."
Several people nearby nodded in agreement.
Zhou Shan nodded forcefully, and Xiao Yunqing also peeked out from her collar and nodded.
Song Huan leaned against the cushion and nodded as well.
Chen Xu's mouth moved again.
The sound was squeezed out of his throat, muffled.
"……have."
There was a moment of silence.
Zhao Qihang's eyes widened, and his mouth opened wide, unable to close.
"Holy crap," he said, taking a half-step back and plopping down on the cushion, "you actually have someone you like?"
Chen Xu's face turned even redder, almost purple.
He picked up the bottle and handed it to Zhao Qihang.
"Next one, next one."
Zhao Qihang was still in shock when the bottle was stuffed into his arms.
He paused for two seconds, placed the bottle on the mat, rested his fingers on the bottle, glanced at Chen Xu, then at Song Huan, and then at Xiao Yunqing.
With a twist of the finger, the bottle began to spin.
It spins very fast, drawing circles among several people.
Slowing down, he shook the bottle and aimed it at Song Huan.
Zhao Qihang was the first to shout, his voice booming through the night sky, drawing the attention of several groups nearby.
Chen Xu also called out, but his voice was softer and muffled.
Zhou Shan jumped up from the mat, half-squatting, her hands clenched into fists, her expression indescribable, like someone who had only half-unwrapped a gift and hadn't yet seen what it was.
Xiao Yunqing huddled inside her collar and didn't move.
But she blushed.
The part peeking out from the edge of the neckline changed from white to pink, and then from pink to red.
Zhou Shan pressed down on the shoulders of the two boys next to her and pushed them back.
She squatted down in front of Song Huan, resting her hands on her knees, a warm smile on her face.
"Song Huan," she drawled, "what kind of girl do you like?"
Zhao Qihang and Chen Xu both yelled at the same time, howling and screaming like two dogs whose tails had been stepped on.
Zhao Qihang even slapped the mat, making a loud bang.
Xiao Yunqing lowered her head, burying her chin in her collar.
The collar of his coat was turned up, covering half of his face.
The exposed ears were red, red all the way to the earlobes and the tips, as if they had been burned.
Her inner thoughts drifted over, jumbled and chaotic, like a piece of paper crumpled into a ball.
[How did he answer?]
[What would you say?]
What kind of girl...?
[What does this have to do with me?]
[What does this have to do with me!]
Song Huan coughed and said calmly, "I don't know."
Zhou Shan's face fell. "What kind of answer is that?"
Zhao Qihang patted the mat beside him, "No, no, you have to choose one."
Chen Xu nodded along, nodding vigorously.
Song Huan was both amused and exasperated. She took her hand off her knee and touched her chin.
The moonlight shone down from above, casting the shadow of his fingers on his face.
"If I had to say..."
He paused for a moment.
Xiao Yunqing's ears perked up.
It wasn't that he was actually standing upright, but the posture and angle drew everyone's attention half an inch towards him.
"She probably has long, straight black hair, a high ponytail, a high nose bridge, big eyes, brown pupils, and her bangs are tucked behind her ears. She's good-looking but doesn't realize it herself."
He paused for a moment, then added, "I like to stuff snacks into my backpack and I like to drink honey grapefruit tea."
Zhao Qihang opened his mouth.
He paused for a moment, then added, "I don't dislike durian, I like bowl cakes and strawberry sundaes, I have type O blood, I pout when I'm angry, and I cry silently."
There was silence for about three seconds.
Zhou Shan was the first to react, jumping up from the ground and pointing at Xiao Yunqing.
"Xiao Yunqing, they've read out your ID number!"
Zhao Qihang and Chen Xu turned to look at Xiao Yunqing at the same time, and a commotion arose from their mouths, howling and carrying far in the night wind.
Xiao Yunqing buried her face completely into the collar of her coat, leaving only the top of her head visible.
A few tufts of hair stuck up and shone in the moonlight.
"What does this have to do with me?"
The voice came out muffled from the collar, short and sharp, as if someone had pinched it, "He wasn't talking about me, I'm not like that at all."
Her inner thoughts drifted out from her collar, even more chaotic than before.
It's like someone has torn that crumpled piece of paper apart, leaving it in pieces that can't be put back together.
[He wasn't talking about me.]
But what he said...
[If it's not me, then who am I?]
[Don't think about it anymore.]
Stop thinking about it!
Song Huan breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back on the cushion.
Zhao Qihang was still making a fuss when Zhou Shan gave him a push, saying, "Alright, alright, keep going."
The bottle started spinning again.
One lap, two laps, three laps.
Slowing down, he shook the bottle and aimed it at Xiao Yunqing.
She paused for a moment, then looked up from her collar.
Her face was still red, and her eyes were wide open.
Zhao Qihang, Zhou Shan, and Chen Xu all ventured forward at the same time.
There was a cacophony of voices, all overlapping each other, making it impossible to discern who was saying what.
Zhao Qihang's voice was the loudest, drowning out the other two.
"If Song Huan starts dating, can you honestly offer your blessings?"
He raised his voice, it boomed through the night sky, "No lying!"
It's quiet now.
The wind stopped, and the sound of the waves ceased.
The chirping of insects in the distance and the laughter from the next group all stopped.
The only sound on the entire beach was the occasional crackling of wood popping from the fire, one after another.
Xiao Yunqing stood there, stunned.
Her face was still red, but her expression had changed.
It wasn't the kind of blushing that comes from shyness, it was something else entirely.
She looked at Zhao Qihang, opened her mouth slightly, but didn't say anything, and then closed it again.
She had thought about countless questions: who she liked, when she started liking him, and what type of person she liked.
They had thought of the answer for each one.
They could handle each one with ease.
But I hadn't thought about that problem.
She glanced at Song Huan subconsciously.
He was looking at her too.
Their eyes met briefly, like being burned, before bouncing away simultaneously.
She turned her gaze back to the bottle in front of her.
The bottle's mouth faces her, and the bottom faces the sea.
The moonlight shone on the glass, reflecting a small patch of white light.
"I wish you well," she said softly, as if afraid of waking someone. "Why not offer my blessings?"
She peeked her chin out from her collar and slowly pulled her coat up.
He gripped the zipper pull with his fingers, squeezed it briefly, then released it.
"Whether he's in a relationship or not is none of my business."
Her ears turned red.
Starting from the earlobe and spreading towards the ear tip, it turned completely red, appearing somewhat translucent in the moonlight.
The corners of his mouth were turned up in a smile that was hard to describe, like he was laughing at someone else, or maybe he was laughing at himself.
Her innermost thoughts drifted out from her collar, light and thin, like a leaf blown by the wind, landing on the water's surface without causing any ripples, just floating there.
Anyway, he's not going to like anyone else.