Chapter 19: Truth or Dare

He Lizhen picked up a napkin, wiped her hands, and said: "I don't know either. I just feel it."

"Tch." Peng Qian straightened up in her seat. "Boring. So bland."

"Okay," He Lizhen said. "Stop drinking. Let's go after we're full."

"No. I'm not full yet." Peng Qian took the bottle opener and cracked open another beer.

He Lizhen: "..."

"Teacher? Teacher He?"

He Lizhen came to her senses and realized Li Ying was calling her.

"What's wrong?"

"Do you want to come join us?"

"What?" He Lizhen was confused. Join you for what?

"Oh, we're playing teams, and we're one person short." Li Ying seemed to have drunk quite a bit too — her eyes were bloodshot. "Let's play for a while. It's not late anyway."

"No—"

"Play, play, play!" Before He Lizhen could refuse, Peng Qian got excited. "I'll play with you! What are we playing?"

"Peng Qian!" He Lizhen whispered urgently. "You—"

"Okay, Teacher, come here quickly." Li Ying had finally found someone to make up the numbers, and her attention was entirely on Peng Qian now, completely ignoring He Lizhen's objections. Peng Qian stood up unsteadily. He Lizhen was afraid she would fall, so she kept a close eye on her the whole way over.

"Add another seat." Li Ying squeezed out space for Peng Qian and dragged over a chair. Although Peng Qian didn't teach Class 6, there were only a few teachers in the senior group at Yangcheng No. 2 Middle School, and the students knew them all.

"Teacher Peng, let's play Truth or Dare, in teams." Li Ying explained the rules quickly. "We're one team, and they're another."

He Lizhen stood awkwardly to the side, wanting to retreat to their original table. But Wu Yueming pulled a chair over from somewhere and placed it directly next to her legs without a word. He Lizhen didn't want to refuse the gesture, so she sat down.

She had barely settled when she noticed Wan Kun sitting directly opposite her.

He was leaning back with a posture of complete indifference, utterly lazy. Perhaps because he'd been drinking, he seemed a little sluggish, his edges slightly softened.

"There are too many people, so we won't roll the dice one by one. Each team will send one person, and the winner will choose someone from the other side to play with." Li Ying explained quickly, then tossed two dice into an empty glass.

These students, He Lizhen thought silently, carry dice with them.

The game started quickly.

The first round: Wu Yueming versus Li Ying. Li Ying held the glass and shook it dramatically — up, down, left, right, as though performing some kind of ritual — finally slamming it down on the table amid Wu Yueming's impatient complaints.

Two, three, five.

"Hahaha!" Wu Yueming laughed so hard he nearly fell over. "I have to admire your dice-rolling skills." He took the glass, spun it casually in his hand, and slammed it down on the table.

One, three, four.

"..."

"Wu Yueming, you're really something!" Several girls teased. Li Ying snatched the cup back triumphantly. Wu Yueming grinned, gestured toward Wan Kun, and said: "I'm just creating an opportunity for you. Go ahead."

"I'm choosing you!" Li Ying said. "For laughing at me. Tell me — truth or dare?"

Wu Yueming spread his hands with the casual air of a small-time hooligan. "Whatever."

"Then dare."

"Okay. What do you want me to do?"

Li Ying looked around. Her eyes suddenly caught on He Lizhen sitting next to Wu Yueming. He Lizhen had a bad feeling. Sure enough, Li Ying's eyes lit up. "Give Teacher He a hug!"

He Lizhen: "..."

They were both drunk. Wu Yueming didn't hesitate at all. He nodded. "Okay." He turned to He Lizhen. "Teacher, thank you for your careful guidance. Let's hug."

He Lizhen looked at him with amusement. "You're thanking me for my careful guidance?"

Wu Yueming nodded solemnly.

"Alright," He Lizhen said. "If you promise me you'll hand in your homework next week, I'll hug you."

Wu Yueming's face darkened visibly.

"Will you promise?"

"How about something else?" Wu Yueming leaned closer, a little cheeky. "I won't cause any more trouble in your classes."

He Lizhen raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

"A million times serious!"

He Lizhen nodded, stood up, and hugged him.

"Oh oh oh—!" The entire table — students plus Peng Qian — erupted in noise. Wu Yueming returned the hug with a grin.

Wan Kun sat on his stool. His hair fell forward, obscuring his eyes, so his expression couldn't be read.

---

In the second round, Peng Qian played against a boy from the opposite team.

Peng Qian threw the dice with what seemed like divine intervention — fifty-fifty, ten points, winning without question. The boy opposite her chose truth, and Peng Qian asked: "Do you want to go to university?"

The boy blushed. Peng Qian immediately added: "Don't lie! If you can't even play games seriously, you'll never amount to anything."

Everyone at the table looked at him. The boy finally nodded, his face still red. "Yes..."

Silence fell. This boy's name was Li Rongqun, and over the years, he hadn't scored above thirty in any subject.

"Good, good." Peng Qian clapped, not wanting to dampen his enthusiasm. "Having ambition is a good thing! It's never too late to work hard!"

The games continued, round after round. Because a teacher was present, the students didn't go too wild. The questions and dares stayed within acceptable limits. There were occasional bursts of laughter. It was, overall, quite fun.

He Lizhen gradually relaxed into it. Young people truly were wonderful — fresh and lively. After a few bottles of wine, it seemed all grudges could be resolved, at least temporarily.

Soon it was Wan Kun's turn.

His opponent was a girl named Wu Jiajia, who sat next to Li Ying. She was good at dice too, scoring nine points. When Wan Kun's turn came, he slammed his cup down on the table casually, revealing five.

"Ouch." Wu Yueming winced theatrically at the number, then sat back down with a sigh. "You're done for. You're going to get eaten alive."

Wan Kun didn't seem to care. He smoked his cigarette casually and looked at Wu Jiajia.

Wu Jiajia blushed slightly under his gaze. She coughed. "I'm choosing you. Are you... are you playing truth or dare?"

He Lizhen, sitting on the other side of the table, saw Li Ying secretly tug at Wu Jiajia's hand from below. Wu Jiajia squeezed back. He Lizhen smiled faintly to herself. A girl's little secret — you help me, I'll help you.

Wan Kun said: "Whatever."

Wu Jiajia had been waiting for exactly that casual reply. The moment Wan Kun finished speaking, she couldn't help but clap her hands. "Then it's dare! Kiss Li Ying!"

Wu Yueming slammed his wine glass down. "What did I say? You're going to get eaten alive!"

The boys all cheered. He Lizhen looked at Wan Kun.

Before he stood up, for just a fleeting moment, He Lizhen felt his gaze meet hers. In that brief instant, she seemed to sense he had something to say. She tried to read it, to understand — but then Wan Kun reached out and grabbed Li Ying's arm. Li Ying hadn't expected it and was nearly knocked forward by his pull.

She leaned in. Wan Kun, taking advantage of the momentum, raised his other hand, pinched her chin, leaned in, and pressed his lips to hers. It barely qualified as a kiss, really — more like a venting gesture, a touch that meant nothing. After a beat, Wan Kun released her and sat back down.

Silence fell over the table.

After a while, Wu Yueming started clapping rhythmically.

Only then did everyone else come to their senses and burst into applause. Li Ying seemed startled, frozen. Wu Jiajia pulled at her sleeve for a while before she finally turned around.

One round ended. The second began.

Li Ying, going first, beat Wu Yueming again. Wu Yueming pushed his plate away. "Not my day."

Li Ying turned to look at Wan Kun.

"I'm choosing you," she said.

Wan Kun tilted his head to look at her.

"Do you want to play truth or dare?"

"Whatever," Wan Kun said.

"I want you to play truth!" Li Ying's voice rose suddenly, sharp with something beyond the game. "Do you like me?!"

Her question was so abrupt that everyone looked at each other in shock. Li Ying seemed to have been pushed beyond endurance by the kiss a moment ago. She was serious now.

Wan Kun said: "No, I don't."

He said it as casually as if commenting on whether the food was good or not. He Lizhen felt a small alarm go off inside her. This girl was so obviously in love with him, and he showed absolutely no mercy in his response.

Everyone sensed something had shifted. The table went quiet.

Li Ying had already started crying. Wu Jiajia tugged at her hand, but Li Ying jerked it away. In just moments, her makeup was ruined from tears.

"Do you have someone you like?" Li Ying's voice broke.

Wan Kun asked again, just as casually: "Yes."

Li Ying finally burst into full sobs, pointing at Wan Kun. "Wan Kun, you bastard—!!" She threw down her bag and ran out.

"Hey! Li Ying!" Wu Jiajia called after her and ran out too.

He Lizhen frowned, worried something might happen. She stood. "Peng Qian, keep an eye on things for a bit. I'll go check on her."

Peng Qian nodded. "Go ahead."

---

He Lizhen chased after them and found Li Ying and the others standing at the intersection. She ran over quickly. Wu Jiajia was trying to comfort Li Ying.

"How is she?"

Wu Jiajia glanced at He Lizhen. "She's fine." She patted Li Ying's shoulder. "It's okay. Don't mind him."

"Don't stand outside," He Lizhen said. "Go back first."

"I won't go back!" Li Ying cried.

"You have to! What if something happens to you outside like this?"

"If something happens, so be it! If I die, so be it!"

"..."

He Lizhen put on her teacher's authority. "If you keep making a scene like this, I'll call your home."

Actually, He Lizhen didn't know Li Ying's home phone number. But she was, after all, a teacher, and Li Ying believed her after hearing that — though she was still unwilling.

"Go and make Wan Kun leave! I won't go back until he leaves!"

He Lizhen really didn't want to communicate with Wan Kun right now. She tried to persuade Li Ying a few more times, but Li Ying stuck to this condition. He Lizhen had no choice but to go back first.

Inside, they had already started settling the bill.

Wu Yueming was frowning, shouting outside: "Check, please!"

He Lizhen returned to the table and said to Wan Kun: "Come outside."

No one else knew what was going on. But as soon as He Lizhen spoke, Wan Kun stood up, walked past her, and left the restaurant.

Wu Yueming blinked. "What's going on?"

A short while after Wan Kun left, Li Ying returned, rummaged through her bag, paid the bill, and the meal was effectively over.

"What a mess," Wu Yueming said, shaking his head in disappointment, and led the boys away.

"You guys shouldn't linger outside after drinking," He Lizhen called after them, watching their backs. Feeling they weren't listening, she raised her voice: "I'll call Teacher Hu when I get back and have him contact your parents. Those of you who aren't going home — you'd better think about it!"

The boys left grumbling. Peng Qian rolled her neck, stood up, and said: "I'm going home too."

"Are you sure you can manage? I'll take you," He Lizhen said.

"No need. I'll take a taxi."

Peng Qian hailed a taxi at the door. "I'll give you a ride."

"No need," He Lizhen said. "It's good to get some fresh air. It's suffocating in there."

---

After Peng Qian left, He Lizhen walked home under the moonlight.

She thought of Li Ying's miserable state at the table earlier and couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Although Li Ying was still young, as a woman, He Lizhen understood the longing for a lover that Li Ying felt. The ache of it. The way it didn't listen to reason.

It was all her fault for falling in love with that ruthless wolf cub.

Just as He Lizhen was mentally running through all the unflattering terms she knew to describe Wan Kun, a voice came from the alley ahead. The voice wasn't loud. The words were simple. But it carried unmistakable arrogance.

"Come here."