Translator: Vivi from dummytranslations
Editor: Drago
Proofreader: SleepyMango123
Scheming white lotus(4.07) - The rules of a crow’s beak

Shen Ze exited the school gates and was single-mindedly heading towards the bus stop, when he heard a ‘mournful’ cry.

He instinctively stopped, scratched his ears before turning to the direction where the sound originated.

There, he saw Xiang Han surrounded by a group of thugs. Both his hands clutched  his bag as he stared ‘pitifully’ at him.

He unconsciously frowned and wanted to go over when he suddenly remembered how the other person did not wake him up this morning, causing him to oversleep. Therefore, he stopped and turned around to leave again.

Xiang Han saw this and hurriedly shouted, “Brother, didn’t you say you owed me a favour before and would return it whenever I needed it? You said so at that time when I helped you to buy your un-ah, that thing.”

Shen Ze’s expression turned black, and he seemingly sprinted over in the blink of an eye. He smacked a palm over Xiang Han’s mouth, gnashing his teeth, “Shut up!”

Xiang Han blinked slowly with an expression of innocence.

The group of thugs wore stupefied expressions, especially one of them, whose glasses even dropped down. He took a closer look at Shen Ze and his hands shook, “B-Brother Shen?”

Xiang Han’s face was full of black lines. Big brother, you look much bigger than Shen Ze, ah.

Shen Ze swept a glance over him while the thugs tried to flatter him, “That...Brother Shen, I’m Ah Biao from the West Gate. I helped open your car door the last time you went to Brilliant Jade with Mr Gu.”

Mr Gu?

Xiang Han’s eyes lit up as he remembered that the protagonist gong seemed to be called Gu Hai Sheng. This Mr Gu was most probably referring to him. Looks like Shen Ze wasn’t only an underling of Gu Hai Sheng, but he seemed to be faring quite well too?

“Oh, so it’s you.” Shen Ze completely had no recollection of this person but pretended to remember as he nodded. Then, he released Xiang Han’s hands which were struggling to pry his hands away, and said, “This is my little brother.”

“So, this is your younger brother?” Ah Biao hurriedly waved a hand to signal the others to move aside and smiled at Xiang Han, “I’m so sorry little brother. This is really a case of misunderstanding. Actually, we’re just playing with you, don’t take it to heart.”

Xiang Han reluctantly nodded, his expression somewhat ‘fearful’ like a frightened bunny.

Ah Biao was feeling guilty and swept a glance over Shen Ze. Seeing his expressionless face, he couldn’t help gritting his teeth and steeled his heart to take out his wallet. He pulled out several red notes, stuffing it into Xiang Han’s hands.

“Little brother, we’re really just playing with you. Take this money and go buy something delicious. Only with some discord, will friendship grow, right? Hahaha…”

Xiang Han accepted it with a smile, “Thank you Brother Biao.”

“I-It’s nothing.” Ah Biao’s heart was currently dripping blood.

The corners of Shen Ze’s lips unconsciously curled up. Half a moment later, he suddenly grabbed Xiang Han and pulled him over.

Xiang Han shivered, knowing he was only waiting to settle accounts at an opportune moment and hurriedly feigned joy, “Elder brother, you also have a share in this. I’ll treat you to a meal.”

Shen Ze’s expression didn’t even change as he took the money and stuffed it into his own pockets. Pushing Xiang Han against a wall, he warned sternly, “I’ve returned this favour. You’re not allowed to pull something like this again.”

“Oh.” Xiang Han nodded obediently while feigning curiosity, “Elder brother, why did that person call you brother Shen? Do you know him?”

“I don’t.” Shen Ze immediately turned around to leave.

Seeing this, Xiang Han hurriedly followed behind to ask, “Then what about Mr Gu?”

Shen Ze’s steps halted abruptly, his face turning cold, “None of your business.”

Xiang Han choked when he heard this and simply decided to remind him, “Elder brother, my money…”

Shen Ze replied extremely seriously, “It’s mine.”

Xiang Han, “...”

So angry! He clearly spent a lot of effort to act pitiful. Moreover, Shen Ze’s pocket money was more than enough, did he still lack a few hundred?

Xiang Han watched Shen Ze’s back, feeling his anger rise. Noticing a small rock a distance away, he thought for a moment before deliberately saying, “Brother, there’s a stone there. Be careful not to trip.”

Shen Ze’s figure shook. The leg he lifted missed a step, causing him to nearly slip.

Hm? His ability failed again. Xiang Han pondered deeply over this matter, not even noticing Shen Ze’s furious glare.

Afterwards, Xiang Han conducted a series of experiments on the group of thugs from earlier and finally gained an understanding over the rules of his crow’s beak.

Number one, only the bad things come true but good things don’t. Number two, his words must be unintentional, which means they must not be spoken deliberately.

For example, if he wanted to say something, he needed to say it quickly and could not let it brew in his mind for too long. In addition, words like ‘don’t…’ and ‘not to…’ guaranteed a higher success rate.

The group of thugs were tormented to the point of being unable to cry. Now, they only wished to run and hide whenever they saw him.

Apart from his crow’s beak, Xiang Han also learnt many things about Shen Ze and Mr Gu from them.

After knowing Gu Hai Sheng intended to adopt Shen Ze, Xiang Han was extremely shocked.

No wonder Shen Ze constantly disappeared, running off somewhere to find him. Turns out, their relationship was actually this close? However, Gu Hai Sheng would be sent to prison next year, a good relationship wasn’t anything worth celebrating.

After school, Xiang Han told his driver to return first before stealthily heading to Brilliant Jade.

Shen Ze hadn’t showed up for class this afternoon. According to Ah Biao, whenever he skipped school, he would usually go to that place.

Xiang Han found this place but was unable to enter due to his age. Relying on his spiritual force, he finally managed to mingle his way in with much difficulty.

Shen Ze had just finished a round in the firing range and intended to return home when he saw a familiar figure upon walking into the main hall.

His brows furrowed, hurriedly walking over to drag the other person to the side. His voice was extremely low when he asked, “How did you come in?”

“...I walked in.”

“This is not a place you can come. Go back with me. Now.” Shen Ze didn’t have the mood to bicker with him and directly grabbed his arm as he headed for the exit.

“Ah Ze?”

Just as he took two steps, a voice suddenly came from behind him, freezing Shen Ze in his step. The hand gripping Xiang Han’s arm unconsciously tightened.

“Mr Gu.” He reluctantly turned around, instinctively pushing Xiang Han to hide behind himself.

However, the more he tried to hide him, the more curious Gu Hai Sheng became. Arms circling around the man in his embrace, Gu Hai Sheng came forward and sized Xiang Han up for a moment before asking with interest, “This is…?”

Nervousness flashed in Shen Ze’s eyes, but he quickly replied, “My little brother.”

“Oh?” Gu Hai Sheng’s eyes grew even deeper. Seeing Shen Ze’s anxiety, he deliberately said, “I don’t remember you mentioning any brother. It can’t be your lover, right?”

“Mr Gu must be joking.” Shen Ze’s expression was awkward and a little stiff.

Xiang Han stood behind him, looking at the person in Gu Hai Sheng’s arms. He couldn’t help feeling surprised: this person wasn’t the protagonist shou.

The two should have already met. If the protagonist gong did something like this...will it result in domestic violence?

Gu Hai Sheng observed Shen Ze’s nervous expression and felt somewhat intrigued. It couldn’t be that Shen Ze, this rascal, really got into a puppy-love relationship?

He waved a hand, “Don’t stand on ceremony. Since it’s your little brother, bring him around to play for a while.”

Without giving Shen Ze any opportunity to refuse, he directly instructed the manager, “Prepare a private room and call a few more people.”

Xiang Han wanted to speak but at this time, Shen Ze slapped a hand over his mouth to shut him up.

Watching Gu Hai Sheng leave with the person in his arms, Shen Ze finally turned back and warned him, “Later on when you go into the room, speak less and follow me closely.”

“Okay.” Xiang Han hurriedly nodded.

Shen Ze’s frowned, probably worried he hadn’t understood the severity of the situation and explained in a low voice, “Mr Gu likes men, especially the young and cute ones. You better be careful.”

Oh? That’s like Jiang Han, ah. Wait a minute, he remembered that the protagonist shou didn’t seem to fall under this category of people.

Plagued with unanswered doubts, Xiang Han was pulled into the private room by Shen Ze.

However, the scene in the room was different from what Xiang Han expected. Although Gu Hai Sheng had called for a few people, they only played at a table.

Seeing them enter, Gu Hai Sheng smiled, “Let your little brother go over there and eat something delicious. Come over and play two rounds with me.:

Shen Ze finally understood, Gu Hai Sheng had deliberately teased him. Remembering his uneasiness from earlier, he couldn’t help feeling vexed and hauled Xiang Han, who was feigning confusion, over. He gritted his teeth, “Say something.”

“Ah? What do I say?” At this time, he was truly confused.

“Say that I can win.” Shen Ze snorted coldly.

His relationship with Gu Hai Sheng was quite good so this sort of joke can still be overlooked.

Xiang Han heard this and said without much thought, “Mr Gu, don’t lose too badly later on.”

Saying this, he threw a glance at Shen Ze, expressing that he had already tried his best.

A sudden burst of joy welled up in Gu Hai Sheng’s heart. Waiting for Shen Ze to take a seat, he calmly asked, “Look at you being so worried, is he really your little brother?”

“Of course.” Shen Ze was shuffling the tiles, his eyes looking down but his actions were extremely smooth. He slowly said, “He’s Auntie Zhu’s son.”

Gu Hai Sheng knew about the matter of his father’s remarriage. He was surprised when he heard this, “Since when did you change so much? No wonder you didn’t want to become my foster son, it’s because you intend to become a family with them?

“I never wanted to be your son, you’re only how many years older than me?” Shen Ze snorted lightly and secretly thought, wait and see how badly you’ll lose today.

Although this was indeed what he hoped for, Shen Ze didn’t think too much of it in reality. After all, his skills couldn’t be compared to Gu Hai Sheng and something like superstition was too unreliable. That’s right, all the things that had occurred till now, he merely considered them as coincidences.

Unexpectedly, Gu Hai Sheng’s luck today was terrible beyond belief and he hadn’t even won once.

Xiang Han took a plate and stood by the side, eating with relish as he watched the show with interest.

His ability worked again. Looks like the rules he had figured out were truly useful.

When they nearly reached the end, Shen Ze finally couldn’t help but look at Xiang Han with an increasingly complicated gaze.

Looking at the tile he had just drawn, Shen Ze was speechless. He had a feeling that even if he closed his eyes and played...he would still win.

He had an absurd thought, this step-brother of his...couldn’t possibly know witchcraft, right?

Losing for the upteenth time, Gu Hai Sheng finally tossed out a tile and said helplessly, “I’m not playing anymore, my luck today isn’t good.”

Shen Ze calmly received the money and even split half with Xiang Han, patting his head as he said, “You’re not bad.”

Xiang Han, “...” Rude.

Gu Hai Sheng was somewhat enraged and amused, and grabbed Xiang Han who was still busy counting his money, “Little rascal, if it wasn’t for your unlucky crow’s beak, how could laozi lose so badly? Do you know the consequences of offending Gu Hai Sheng? From now on, you’ll stay here and…”

Before he could finish, Shen Ze had already stepped forward, “Mr Gu, he’s a coward, don’t scare him.”

Saying this, he also reached out a hand to grab Xiang Han, intending to pull him back. But Xiang Han had been tugged by both of them and lost his balance, causing the money to slip out of his hands as he nearly fell.

Gu Hai Sheng was nearer and he had been sitting, so he instinctively raised a hand to catch him.

At this time, the door was abruptly kicked open and the protagonist shou, dressed in full uniform suit, appeared. Raising the badge in his hands, he coldly spoke, “Police! This is an inspection.”

Everybody, “...”

***