Chapter 466

Chapter 466 This Is a Game

Su Rui was so flustered with embarrassment that he forgot to put his phone on silent. By the time he fumbled it out of his pocket, the ringtone had already been going off for half a minute.

His neighbor Xia Qing had long since turned to look his way with a puzzled expression on her face.

Because the seat backs were so high, Xia Qing hadn’t noticed anyone sitting next to her before. It was only when she heard that national anthem ringtone keep ringing that she started to feel genuinely bewildered.

In all of Ninghai, Su Rui was probably the only person who would use the national anthem as a ringtone.

Just as Xia Qing was about to stand up, Su Rui shot Cao Tianping a look.

The meaning was clear — cover for me!

Cao Tianping got the message, but instead of agreeing, he held up his fingers and made a gesture for “thirty”!

“Waive thirty thousand in sponsorship fees and I’ll help you out!”

“How can one little favor be worth thirty thousand? Thirty bucks, maybe!” Su Rui glared back at him! He was already in hot water, and this tightwad still wouldn’t change his ways!

“Either waive the thirty thousand, or you step out yourself.” Cao Tianping’s eyes were nearly swallowed up by the fat on his face, but they were still darting back and forth!

A nearby server watched these two grown men exchanging glances and making eyes at each other, and nearly dropped their jaw to the floor. Were these two openly flirting?

No, flirting didn’t even begin to cover it — the electricity flying between those two pairs of eyes could have roasted a whole suckling pig.

“Either way, this is your problem. The decision is yours.” Cao Tianping seemed convinced he had Su Rui right where he wanted him. He raised an eyebrow with confidence and blinked his little eyes provocatively.

Su Rui looked at this fat man making eyes at him and suddenly felt a chill run all over his body.

“Fine, you win!” Su Rui gritted his teeth and gave a firm nod.

“Deal!”

These two really did have a remarkable understanding of each other — communicating this much through eye contact alone. If they weren’t going to date, it really was a waste of the chemistry between them.

“Xia Qing, what’s going on?” Shi Cheng noticed Xia Qing’s expression looked off and asked.

“Nothing, let me take a look.”

With that, Xia Qing stood up, wanting to see who was sitting next to her.

At that moment, Cao Tianping picked up his phone and stood up, pretending to be on a call, saying: “What, you’re saying there’s a problem with the payment collection? Is the client short on funds or has the channel been compromised?”

“Set the payment issue aside for now, come back to the office immediately and we’ll go over it in detail. Alright, that’s it then.”

As the team leader of the marketing department, Cao Tianping did carry a certain air of authority. He delivered that phone call with such commanding energy that anyone who didn’t know better would have thought he was the head of Bikang.

Of course, from Su Rui’s perspective, this guy was nothing but a pig with a scallion stuck up its nose — putting on airs.

When Cao Tianping spotted Xia Qing, he quickly hung up and walked over, while conveniently using his increasingly rotund body to block her line of sight.

“Team Leader Cao, what are you doing here?” Xia Qing was genuinely surprised to see Cao Tianping.

At the same time, two patches of red bloomed on her cheeks. She had just confessed her secret crush on Su Rui in front of her family — if Cao Tianping had heard it and it got back to Su Rui, how would she ever face him again?

Having a secret crush was one thing, but having it out in the open was another. What if she got rejected? What if Su Rui distanced himself from her after that?

In that instant, countless worries surged through Xia Qing’s heart. She was afraid that after confessing, she might lose not only the chance at love but also the friendship she already had.

Yet in that moment, she seemed to have forgotten that she had originally planned to invite Su Rui to dinner with her parents that evening — which was essentially the same as a confession anyway.

Even the boldest of women becomes careful and cautious when it comes to a relationship she truly wants to protect. Not everyone can be as all-in as Qin Yueran, willing to throw caution to the wind and go for broke.

“I’m meeting a client here.” Cao Tianping said with a smile. “Assistant Xia, are you here with guests?”

“It’s nothing. By the way, have you seen Su Rui?” Xia Qing asked, her cheeks slightly flushed.

“Him? He just got called over and chewed out by the president, and now he’s back at his seat playing League of Legends.”

When Shi Cheng heard the words “League of Legends” referred to by its slang name, a faint look of contempt crossed his lips. How old was this guy, still playing a game like that? What kind of future could someone like that have?

If any of his own subordinates dared to do something like that during work hours, he would fire them on the spot without a second thought.

Shi Cheng knew what the slang term meant, but Xia Qing’s parents had absolutely no idea — their minds went somewhere else entirely.

Xia Min set his coffee cup down on the table with a thud and said, “Doing something like that in the office in broad daylight — what a disgrace!”

He was a conservative and serious man by nature, and hearing about Su Rui’s supposed behavior naturally filled him with indignation.

Ma Lan’s mouth fell open. She equally couldn’t imagine that the man her daughter had her eye on could do something like that.

Playing with himself?

Were young people nowadays really this brazen? How could they not care at all about appearances?

Xia Qing was a girl and also didn’t know that what Cao Tianping was referring to was the name of a game. She knew Su Rui wouldn’t do anything like that, and worried her parents would misunderstand him, so she said with a slightly red face, “Team Leader Cao, what did you just say Su Rui was doing?”

“He’s playing League of Legends. He loves sneaking off to do that during work hours.”

Cao Tianping, oblivious as ever, still hadn’t realized what was happening. He and his friends had always called the game by that slang name, so it came out completely naturally. Of course, anyone unfamiliar with the game would take it in an entirely different direction.

Su Rui, sitting in the corner nearby, wanted nothing more than to strangle Cao Tianping with his bare hands — no, strangling wasn’t even satisfying enough.

Did this guy ever think before he spoke?

Cao Tianping finally sensed something was off. He shot a meaningful glance toward Su Rui, then looked at Xia Qing’s parents, whose faces were full of fury, and continued smiling. “Don’t get the wrong idea, it’s just a game.”

“Just a game?” Xia Min said coldly. “Right, it certainly is a game!”

Shi Cheng twisted the knife from the side: “Sounds like this Su Rui has quite the unique hobby. Playing that kind of game all the time — isn’t he worried about wearing himself out?”

He knew perfectly well what League of Legends was, but he had absolutely no intention of explaining it for Su Rui’s sake. There was no way he’d do anything to help a rival. Not jumping at every chance to kick him while he was down was already generous enough.

Seeing the situation, Cao Tianping didn’t bother explaining further. Instead, he kept up the act of not knowing who Xia Qing’s parents were and said with a smile, “Assistant Xia, if you need to find Su Rui, just go find him directly. Every time he plays it doesn’t take long — from start to finish it’s… it’s over pretty quickly.”

Su Rui’s fists were clenched so tight they were cracking, and the veins on his neck were bulging.

Damn it, sure, he got killed off by the enemy heroes a little fast when playing League of Legends, but he was improving every time, wasn’t he? You fat idiot, saying he finishes quickly every time — do you have any idea how badly that can be misread?

This misunderstanding was deeper than the ocean. Even if Su Rui jumped into the Yellow River, he’d never wash himself clean of this.

Damn it, Fatty Cao — if he didn’t turn that loose-lipped mouth of his into a mute’s, it wouldn’t be justice.

Shi Cheng smiled meaningfully. “So he’s already worn himself out. That kind of game really does take a toll on the body if you play too much.”

Xia Min’s face had gone completely dark.

“Assistant Xia, why don’t you all keep chatting — I still have my client to get back to.” Cao Tianping smiled.

“Uh, alright.” Xia Qing sat back down, her face burning red. She didn’t believe for a second that Su Rui would do something like that, but just because she believed it didn’t mean her parents did.

And the moment Cao Tianping sat back down, a pair of hands clamped around his throat like iron pincers.

“Fatty Cao, do you believe I’ll kill you? How dare you trash my reputation like that — or have you forgotten that the concert tickets are still in my hands!” Su Rui said through gritted teeth.

“I… I’m being choked to death…” Cao Tianping’s face turned red as a boiled shrimp.

“I’m telling you, if you don’t clear this up for me, I am absolutely not giving you those concert tickets. You fat idiot!” Su Rui let go, and Cao Tianping slumped back in his seat, disheveled and gasping for breath.

“I didn’t mean it that way.”

“But that’s how it sounded to everyone else.”

“What does it matter to me how other people interpret it?”

“That’s not good enough. You have to clear it up. Otherwise, not only will you get no tickets, you can forget about ever attending any of Tang Ni Landor’s concerts again. I’ll tell her to permanently ban a trashy fan like you from the fan club.” Su Rui said in a fierce, low voice.

Cao Tianping had only been enjoying the moment — he hadn’t thought any of this through. His chubby face fell instantly.

“Xia Qing, I refuse to meet this Su Rui no matter what. And you need to stop thinking about a man like that — he is not taking my daughter away!” Xia Min was a conservative man, and after hearing Cao Tianping’s description of Su Rui, his impression of him had hit rock bottom.

“Dad, there must be some misunderstanding here. Su Rui is absolutely not that kind of person.” Xia Qing was nearly frantic. What on earth was going on with Su Rui? What was “League of Legends” anyway?

Unlike Xia Min’s stern disapproval, Shi Cheng’s tone was full of concern. “Xia Qing, I’m a few years older than you and I’ve seen more of the world. These days, you can never really know a person. Some people might seem upright and kind on the surface, but who knows what they’re getting up to behind closed doors.”

Hearing Shi Cheng’s description of Su Rui, Xia Qing frowned. She didn’t like hearing anyone talk about the man she cared for that way — it didn’t matter who it was.

“Xia Qing, Shi Cheng is right. These days you have to read people carefully, otherwise you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.” Ma Lan also weighed in. “This is a lifelong matter — you absolutely cannot be careless about it. On something like this, you have to take your father’s and my opinion into account!”

“You don’t know him. How can you judge a person so carelessly based on a word or two?” Xia Qing looked at the three of them, her gaze unwavering. “My happiness is mine to decide.”