Chapter 17: Truth or Dare

As soon as the monthly exams were over, the National Day holiday arrived in no time.

The day before the break, the parents of the Lu family had already vanished.

For the past two years, Xi Yu and Lu Jiachen had been swamped with work and rarely took vacations. This year, both had finally been promoted, so they seized the opportunity of the National Day holiday, dumped their youngest daughter on their eldest son, and cheerfully booked themselves a trip to Southeast Asia, leaving even before the official start of the holiday.

Lu Yi hadn’t expected that he would have to spend his break entertaining this little brat, and his irritation was palpable. But if he didn’t take her along, he feared she’d run back to complain to their parents.

On National Day itself, Chen Shujie and the others clamored for a get-together. Lu Yi’s phone kept buzzing on the coffee table, and before he could reply to confirm his plans, Lu Qingyue came dashing downstairs, calling out to her brother just as he was about to go change his clothes.

“Bro, are you guys going out to eat?”

Lu Yi lazily glanced at her, grunted in acknowledgment, while inwardly plotting how to shake off this little tag-along.

“Yeah. What do you want to eat? I’ll bring something back for you later.”

Lu Qingyue blinked slyly and said, very solemnly, “No, you should ask me to guess what you’re going to eat later.”

Lu Yi wasn’t sure what she was up to this time, but he obligingly played along. “Alright, then guess what we’re going to eat later.”

Lu Qingyue immediately replied, “I guess it’s Australian lobster.”

Lu Yi: “...”

He stared at her, half amused, half exasperated. “I said guess, not make a wish.”

“If you can’t guess, just keep guessing until you say Sha County noodles.”

Lu Qingyue: “...”

Afraid that Lu Yi would actually bring back Sha County noodles for her, she quickly intercepted him before he could head upstairs to change, her tone suddenly sweet and coaxing. “I don’t want Sha County noodles! Bro, why don’t you give me some money? I’ll go out with my classmates and promise not to bother you!”

Lu Yi stopped in his tracks and turned back. “Really?”

Lu Qingyue nodded vigorously.

If her wallet weren’t so empty, she honestly wouldn’t want to go out to eat with Lu Yi either. Every time she sat with that large group of older brothers and sisters, listening to them talk about things she barely understood or cared for, she’d much rather take the money and hang out with her own friends.

Lu Yi was clearly relieved as well.

He was even less eager to bring a kid to his gatherings. Every time his group of friends got together, having a little girl along felt like a nuisance—he’d have to watch his words, especially when the conversation strayed into risqué territory, for fear of corrupting the little devil.

Seeing she truly didn’t intend to tag along, Lu Yi generously transferred her two hundred yuan over WeChat, reminding her to eat well and have fun, and to ask for more if she needed it. The only condition was that she wasn’t to text him before nine o’clock.

Clutching her windfall, Lu Qingyue gleefully raised four fingers, swearing she wouldn’t even remember she had a brother before nine. Thus, the two struck a brief alliance, changed clothes, and left separately.

...

Starry Sky KTV.

When Lu Qingyue arrived, there were already a dozen people inside. Aside from a few familiar faces from her own class, there seemed to be kids from Class 2 and Class 5 as well.

Lu Ming was there too, currently sitting in the center of the circular sofa, shuffling a deck of cards with a look of utter confidence fixed on his opponent.

Lu Qingyue took a seat next to Zhou Tingting, picked up the menu, and casually asked, “What are they playing?”

Zhou Tingting, who had arrived half an hour earlier, glanced over at Lu Ming’s group and replied, “Fight the Landlord. Want to join?”

Lu Qingyue wasn’t interested. She ordered an orange juice for herself and sank into the sofa, listening as some boy from Class 2 caterwauled into the microphone nearby.

Lu Ming must have won, because a round of boisterous cheering erupted, with everyone demanding he foot the bill for the night. Looking smug, he tossed his cards onto the table, then spotted Lu Qingyue and waved her over. “Come play!”

Lu Qingyue didn’t want to—she wasn’t good at cards, and with no one to back her up, she’d just lose.

Lu Ming, knowing her card skills were lacking, neatly stacked the deck and suggested a different game.

“Let’s play Truth or Dare,” someone proposed.

A chorus of agreement followed, and soon several people gathered around the sofa.

Lu Qingyue and Zhou Tingting were caught within the circle and had no choice but to join in.

Lu Ming dug up an empty bottle from somewhere and spun it expertly on the table. It whirled around, finally coming to rest with its neck pointing at the boy from Class 2 who had just been singing.

He chose truth. Drawing a card, he read the question: “Do you like someone? What’s their name?”

The group instantly erupted in a fresh round of teasing.

The boy, tall and robust, wasn’t the shy type. He grabbed the microphone and admitted openly, “I like Lu Qingyue.”

Lu Qingyue: “???”

Lu Qingyue: “??????”

She’d been sipping her juice, thinking she’d escaped this round, only to be blindsided by the answer and nearly spit it out in shock.

The crowd’s excitement only escalated, while she sat there with a thundercloud over her face, fumbling for napkins to wipe her mouth. The scene turned a bit chaotic.

Little brother, what’s your deal?

How come you picked truth, but I’m the one doing the dare?

Someone from Class 2 started chanting, “Kiss her! Kiss her!”

Lu Qingyue’s face was stony: Like hell you will!

She shot the boy a fierce glare. Sensing her displeasure, he quickly stepped in to stop his classmates. “Alright, alright, let’s move on to the next round!”

Fortunately, even though everyone liked a bit of teasing, they had enough sense to let up. After a bit more good-natured ribbing, the game continued.

Several more rounds passed, and Lu Qingyue managed to dodge each one, watching from the sidelines as others were dared to confess to their crushes or drink wine arm-in-arm—an endless variety of antics.

Then, in a new round, as the bottle slowed, Lu Qingyue suddenly had a bad feeling.

That intuition was terrifyingly accurate. Like that split second in class when you accidentally catch the teacher’s eye and just know you’ll be called on next.

Sure enough, the bottle stopped with its neck pointing directly at her.

Lu Ming let out a whistle and asked, “Truth or dare?”

Lu Qingyue had planned to pick truth, but caught a mischievous glint in Lu Ming’s eyes in her peripheral vision. Growing wary, she chose dare.

The room’s energy instantly ramped up. Lu Ming, looking like he was ready to enjoy the show, pushed the penalty cards toward her.

Lu Qingyue drew one at random, glanced at it, and exhaled in relief.

Her challenge was to set her WeChat “poke” status to something specific and keep it for a week.

Compared to the wild dares from earlier, this one was mild and easy to accept.

So, without fuss, Lu Qingyue handed her phone to Lu Ming, letting him handle the settings. Lu Ming, though his scheme hadn’t succeeded, still found the dare embarrassing enough. After setting it, he handed her phone back, reminding her repeatedly, “You have to keep it for a week! Everyone here can bear witness!”

“Got it!” Lu Qingyue replied coolly, pocketed her phone, and headed off to the restroom.