My Darling (我的曼达林)

Untitled Part 18

Chu Jian finally has a moment where she shows an inkling of jealousy. And, the relationship can't stay secret forever.

Chapter 5.3 — Age-Old Jealousies (3)

That night, Chu Jian was again unable to sleep—the third time in her life.

She discovered that Macau was a very mysterious place. For instance, it was after she and Jian Bianlin had run into each other in the casino last time that they had started to frequently see one another. Huge strides had been made in their relationship that had caught her completely off guard, and nights of sleeplessness also began to occur one after the other.

Some time past three in the morning, while staring at the ceiling, Chu Jian had already finished thinking through the decorating style that would be used in her salon's new branch store that would open next year. She still could not sleep, however, so she pulled out a rose-red knit cardigan and stepped out the door of her room.

But in the end, she had just arrived downstairs and exchanged for some casino chips, with the intention of experiencing the thrill of sitting at a table game, when Jian Bianlin's phone call came in.

At three o'clock in the morning, many of the tables only had one or two patrons.

Chu Jian selected a table where no one was sitting. Soon, Jian Bianlin arrived and sat down next to her. To conceal some of his distinguishing facial features, when he came out, he had put on a pair of gray, half-frame glasses with flat lenses.

"You can't sleep either?" For some reason, Chu Jian had a feeling like she was squandering away her fortunes and had been caught redhanded. "Don't you have to film tomorrow?"

His expression extremely solemn, he picked up the little stack of gaming chips in front of her and began counting them one by one.

One sound of clack... Another sound of clack... There was a distinctive rhythm to his actions...

After pondering for half a minute, Chu Jian still did not know what he wanted to do. She could not resist and wanted to reclaim a couple of chips from his palm so she could place a bet. However, right as she stretched out her arm, he flipped his hand over and seized the back of hers.

She struggled slightly against his grasp, her face a little hot.

Fortunately, Jian Bianlin merely clasped her hand for a moment and then loosened his hold. "You didn't lose enough last time in the machines? This time, you're even daring to play a table game?"

Chu Jian answered sullenly, "My whole purpose for changing these was to lose them anyway. It's just to kill time."

"Why won't you win?"

"It's not like I know how to play."

Jian Bianlin pulled off his glasses, a rarely-seen smile on his face. "You're lucky in love, so that means you're unlucky at cards?"

Chu Jian was taken aback for a moment. Propping her chin on her hand, she shifted her eyes away to look elsewhere.

Pretending she had not heard.

From somewhere on him, Jian Bianlin pulled out disc after disc of large denomination gambling chips until, finally, when seven stacks were laid out in display in front of her, he opened his mouth and told her, "Go lose all these."

Chu Jian had initially thought he was joking. However, after an hour, she was not laughing.

In only sixty-odd minutes, she had lost all except for the one red, leftover chip that she now held in her palm and was flipping over back and forth. She was practically on the verge of tears. "You're not even helping me win it back."