The battle situation descended into complete chaos after Chen Jinli joined the fray.

Logically speaking, He Ran was right. Within this group of spoiled rich kids, if he restrained himself, the rest of them would probably be easily defeated by Gou An.

However, they overlooked the fact that sometimes older men might also try to win a woman’s heart with plush toys.

Because he ate a few extra grains of rice or because he was influenced by He Jinxing, the situation changed after Chen Jinli started playing. He quickly cleared the table three times in a short period of time, and the situation changed from the initial fierce battle between Gou An and He Ran to a delicate three-way standoff.

Young Uncle Chen truly lived up to his name.

The table was cleared in a few more strokes. He stood to the side, expressionless, while Gou An’s arm was almost scratched raw by Zhou Yutong, her face full of disbelief. “He knows I want this bear, and he also knows that the reason I want this bear is because it has the same birthday as me…”

Her voice wasn’t quiet.

Everyone around heard it, including Chen Jinli and his group. 

Xiao Miao exclaimed “Oh dear!”. Seeing this, she became hesitant, feeling a bit sorry for the little girl getting upset over a plush toy. She tugged at Jiang Yi’s arm and whispered, “How about we forget about it? I can ask for something else…”

Jiang Yi recognized Zhou Yutong, but he didn’t know what was going on between Chen Jinli and his niece. He turned his head and looked at the person who had made the little girl so angry that she was crying.

But the person in question remained calm, turned his head and asked, “You don’t want it anymore?”

Xiao Miao: “…No need, thank you.”

Chen Jinli withdrew his gaze but did not look at Zhou Yutong. He said calmly, “Even if you don’t want it, I have to finish the competition. A person has to see things through to the end.”

Gou An: “…”

Gou An endured the pain in her arm, which was probably bruised by now from all the pounding, her lips twitching slightly. She found it hard to look directly at Professor Chen—who had once been the No.1 Academic in her heart and whom she had eagerly sought to pursue graduate studies with—acting so inhumanly.

What could she say?

“Change your romantic target as soon as possible.”

As soon as Gou An finished speaking, they felt Chen Jinli, who was preparing to cast another shot not far away, raise his eyes and glance in their direction.

Zhou Yutong, who was already feeling stunned, took this glance as a provocation. She didn’t expect Chen Jinli to be so heartless and ruthless. She threw herself into Gou An’s arms and burst into tears, feeling extremely heartbroken.

Gou An was about to say something to comfort her when she heard a commotion nearby. It was Chen Jinli, expressionless, hitting the cue ball directly into the pocket.

A mistake that may or may not have been intentional.

The turn went to Gou An, ball in hand.

She patted the groundhog in her arms, who was bursting with tears, and muttered, “It’s okay, it’s okay,” thinking to herself: Hmm, a woman’s tears have won the day.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

At this point, the object of everyone’s struggle no longer seemed to be the plush bear worth hundreds of thousands; it was all about pride.

After handing Zhou Yutong to Tang Xinjiu, Gou An stroked the tip of the cue stick and braced herself to get back into the game.

This time she remained calm and played well, managing to pot six balls. However, the seventh ball had a bad angle, and she circled the table for a long time without finding a good starting position…

After finally finding a possible spot, she bent down, aimed for a long time, but dared not move the cue stick.

Just as she was so focused and nervous that a thin layer of sweat appeared on her forehead, a somewhat unfamiliar presence enveloped her from behind, gently and without aggression.

A pale hand, slender and with distinct knuckles, covered the back of her hand, feeling slightly cool to the touch.

“You found a good spot, but the angle is too high. You can’t get it in like that. Relax your fingers and watch the tip.” A gentle, youthful voice with a slight smile sounded in her ear. “Jiejie, concentrate.”

With the end of the cue stick held steady, the boy exerted only a slight force, and with a few soft clicks, the colored ball struck the edge of the table with a crisp sound. After a few bounces, the red ball with the tricky angle went into the pocket safely.

After a few seconds of silence, applause broke out.

Gou An blinked in shock, turning her head slightly to look at the boy behind her. At this moment, he was still standing beside her, not having moved away.

“You can do this too?”

Gou An’s voice was filled with surprise.

“Hmm, I know how to play a little.” He Yuan lowered his eyes and said half-jokingly, “After all, I’m one of those playboys.”

A hint of a smile played in his light-colored eyes. Neither of the two people engaged in their conversation seemed to notice; they were standing too close…

She could almost smell his breath through her nose.

In the dim light of the bar, from a distance, it looked as if a young man was supporting Miss Gou’s slender waist, whispering sweet nothings to her ear.

… …

Inside the private room, the man calmly withdrew his gaze, casually placing the wine glass in his hand on the glass coffee table in front of him.

Three minutes later, the door to the private room was respectfully opened from the outside, and a tall, slender man appeared, interrupting the delicate atmosphere and the already heated and arrogant battle.

Amidst the stares of everyone turning to look at him, he walked to the pool table, took off his coat, and casually tossed it onto the chair next to him.

He loosened the buttons on his collar, the edge of his shirt brushing against his prominent Adam’s apple, which bobbed as he raised his eyes.

His gaze swept casually over the bewildered face of the little miss frozen at the table, and he smiled at her.

“This old man will play a couple of rounds with you guys. You don’t mind, do you?”

From the Day the Engagement was Broken translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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T/N: Gou An actually just says ‘target’ but the context here is romantic—as in the person Zhou Yutong wants to pursue romantically.

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