noveltune Chapter 423 You Should Maybe Pay Attention to the Card Game
Chapter 423 You Should Maybe Pay Attention to the Card Game
One of the young men, with dyed yellow hair, suddenly realized what was going on. He nudged the person next to him with his elbow, lowering his voice but unable to hide his surprise: "Holy crap! Is that the Young Master Ye that Brother Jie always mentions?"
"He looks so young..." another companion in a tight T-shirt clicked his tongue, his eyes filled with undisguised envy. "The key is, he's fucking handsome!"
The eyes of the stylishly dressed and exquisitely made-up girls who were sitting or standing at the card table suddenly lit up!
Their gazes swept over Ye Fan like searchlights—his tall and straight figure, his handsome features, and his innate nobility and composure were completely out of place in the surrounding environment filled with the smell of smoke, coarse language, and the atmosphere of the underworld, yet they formed a fatal attraction.
Whispers and giggles immediately spread among the girls.
Lin Qingyang was clearly pleased to see this scene. While skillfully shuffling the cards, he winked mischievously at the girls and deliberately raised his voice: "Did you hear that, ladies? Young Master Ye! Young! Handsome! And rich! He's one of those guys you'd be hard-pressed to find even with a lantern! This is a rare opportunity, whether you can seize it or not depends on your own abilities!"
This is like dropping a drop of water into a pan of hot oil!
As soon as he finished speaking, the girls who were originally somewhat reserved or observing immediately seemed to receive some kind of signal. They put on the sweetest smiles, swayed their waists, and stomped around Ye Fan in their high heels!
"Young Master Ye~ Let's get acquainted! My name is Xiao Fu, Fu as in Hibiscus!" A girl wearing a sequined miniskirt and with a hot figure boldly approached Ye Fan, her strong perfume wafting towards him.
"Hello, Young Master Ye! I'm Xiao Li, my name is Lin with one 'wood' removed!" Another girl with an even sweeter voice retorted, almost touching Ye Fan's arm.
"And there's me, Young Master Ye! My name is..."
The melodious chirping of birds instantly enveloped Ye Fan.
They struck poses, their eyes sparkling, using every trick in the book, afraid of missing out on this potential "golden bachelor."
Ye Fan stood calmly in place, without even swaying.
The calm, aloof, and subtly oppressive aura emanating from him contrasted sharply with the boisterous men and women around him, who exuded a distinctly vulgar or江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and江湖义气, a code of honor among outlaws) vibe.
In this noisy and greasy atmosphere of the card game, he was like a piece of warm yet cold jade, completely out of place.
Even Wu Shaojie, though also involved, still clearly showed the characteristics of a well-educated, worldly-wise rich second-generation, sharing the same aura as Ye Fan.
Now look at Lin Qingyang, sitting at the head of the mahjong table, a cigarette dangling from his lips, expertly shuffling the tiles, and occasionally letting out a curse word or two—
The shrewd, scholarly boss image he had projected when greeting Ye Fan at the door had completely vanished; he had blended seamlessly into the bustling world of martial arts, as if he were a completely different person.
He was bossy and arrogant, putting his arm around the tattooed burly man next to him, slapping the table and laughing loudly. He was a "younger and more educated" version of his father, that gangster boss.
Ye Fan understood immediately, a barely perceptible smile playing on his lips: Sure enough, it was "his cultured father." The switch was seamless.
......
Most of the girls who surrounded her were only twenty-one or twenty-two years old, and the most mature ones were only around twenty-five. Their makeup was exquisite, but it couldn't hide the naivety that hadn't completely faded from their brows.
They attach themselves to "gangster bosses" like Lin Qingyang or people in his circle, seeking nothing more than excitement, vanity, or a seemingly easy shortcut.
Upon seeing Ye Fan, a target whose appearance, temperament, and wealth far surpassed those of ordinary people, they were like cats that had smelled top-quality catnip, each one using all their charms, wishing they could stick to him immediately.
However, Ye Fan maintained a faint, distant smile, his eyes calm and unwavering. He seemed oblivious to their enthusiastic self-introductions and deliberate displays of coquettishness, neither responding nor moving, like a handsome yet cold jade sculpture, silently deflecting all their probing and enthusiasm.
At the card table, Lin Qingyang had already shuffled the cards with a clatter. He slammed the cards down on the table with a "bang" and shouted with boundless enthusiasm, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and bet! I promised you'd win something today, don't be ungrateful! Come on, come on!"
That shout was like flipping a switch.
The men who had been surrounding Ye Fan were immediately drawn to the card game, and they all pulled out banknotes and slammed them on the table:
"five hundred!"
"two thousand!"
"I'll bet three thousand!"
......
The scene instantly became lively again, with the clinking of chips, shouts of encouragement, and laughter filling the courtyard once more.
Seeing this, most of the girls wisely dispersed, either sitting back next to their male companions or getting drinks.
The only one who was dressed the sweetest and cutest—with an oval face, big eyes, a high nose, cherry lips, skin as white as a porcelain doll, and wearing a puffy skirt like a girl straight out of an anime—was still unwilling to give up.
Instead of leaving, she took another half step closer to Ye Fan, pouting her small lips, which were coated with glossy lip gloss, and spoke in a sweet and coquettish voice, with a hint of barely perceptible grievance: "Young Master Ye~ They say 'you can't hit a smiling face'! I've been so enthusiastic and proactive in talking to you, why don't you even acknowledge me for a second?"
With her innocent, big eyes blinking and her graceful figure, she perfectly embodied "cuteness," and most men would have already softened their hearts.
Ye Fan didn't even take his eyes off the card table, but simply nodded his chin towards the lively game, his voice flat and even: "Didn't President Lin say he wanted to lose a little? Perhaps you should pay attention to the game; it's a rare opportunity."
This is clearly a polite refusal and a change of topic.
The cute girl's sweet smile froze for a moment, then she plastered on an even brighter smile, twisting her body stubbornly, "Oh dear~ how much money can you win in a card game?"
She stamped her foot slightly, perfectly capturing the naive charm of a little girl: "I just want to get to know you!"
However, no matter how much she tried to charm and coax him, Ye Fan remained unmoved, his eyes cold and indifferent, and even the slight, perfunctory smile on his lips faded away.
Finally, the sweet mask on the girl's face shattered completely.
She abruptly pulled back from her forward-leaning posture, her eyebrows furrowing, and let out a very soft but disdainful snort from her nose: "Hmph!"
She glanced at Ye Fan from head to toe, her eyes filled with annoyance at being looked down upon and a cynical air of self-righteous world-weariness: "So what if you have a little money? What are you pretending to be so high and mighty for! What kind of situations haven't I seen, what kind of men haven't I met?"
After saying that, she tossed her hair forcefully, turned around and left with a clattering sound in her high heels, her back view showing a mix of dishevelment and forced bravado.