護花近衛 - 第1901章 遇到大小姐 - 清風書屋

"All right, let's get back to singing. The contest is over, and now you know, Zhang Duopan—there is always a stronger hand, and always a peak beyond the peak?" He Meiyue looked at Zhang Duopan's deflated face and shook her head helplessly. What she detested most was that spoiled-rich-boy air of his, as though he were the greatest man under heaven. Watching him be taken down a peg did feel good.

Zhang Duopan's face was black with displeasure. He was unconvinced. Yes—he had lost unfairly. He could have won, but Fan Ganhe had botched it. He still had no idea that Wei Zhao was the one who had pulled the strings; had he known, he probably would not have been this angry.

But as things stood, he assumed his own side had simply fumbled it, so he was thoroughly sulky. Hearing He Meiyue say that, he felt all the more that he must not lose face in front of Bai Weituo, so he stiffened his neck and said, "How about this—drinking and such are petty tricks, no proper contest. If we are going to compete, let us compete on something big. Dare you?"

"Oh? How?" Bai Weituo had won the drinking match and was brimming with confidence; naturally he would not show weakness now.

"Like this: at the freshman gala, each of us puts up one act. Whosever act places higher wins. And the loser gives up Meiyue of his own accord. How about it?" At the risk of being cursed out by He Meiyue, Zhang Duopan once again used her as the prize.

Of course, he had his reasons. Bai Weituo had just won, and his pride was swelling; if he made the demand again now, perhaps Bai Weituo would agree in a fit of hot-headedness, and then even if He Meiyue objected, it would be too late. A man of honor does not go back on his word—and then Zhang Duopan would have all the more grounds to needle him.

Though what Bai Weituo was drinking was water, Fan Ganhe had still had the waiter leave some liquor in the bottle to make it look real. That was nothing to Zhang Duopan, but Bai Weituo was a little tipsy; hearing Zhang Duopan's words, he immediately declared with great bravado, "Fine, let's compete. Who's afraid of who?"

Whatever else one might say of Bai Weituo, he had some confidence in his voice—otherwise he would not have started off singing duets with He Meiyue. It was his strong suit: in high school he had always gone onstage at the school arts festival, and he had even taken first place in the solo competition, so he was not the least bit afraid of Zhang Duopan.

"Good. A gentleman's word..." Zhang Duopan said quickly, delighted at heart.

"...is his bond!" Bai Weituo finished.

"Careful—I said each of us puts up one act, not that we perform it ourselves. Meaning, so long as the act is planned by me and I take part in it, that is fine!" Zhang Duopan looked at Bai Weituo smugly. Wasn't this fellow full of confidence? He did not mind knocking him down a bit, sapping his morale.

"Hmph, so what?" Bai Weituo knew too that Zhang Duopan had played a word game—one person putting up an act and one person performing an act were different. Putting up could mean putting up an act the whole group completed together, so long as he was involved; but performing alone meant just one person...

But the words had already been said, and Bai Weituo could not take them back; he could only grit his teeth and say it.

"Good. Meiyue, this time it was his own choice—and it is not as if I pressured him. Brother Bai's voice is quite good; who knows, perhaps he really will get a fine result?" Zhang Duopan said with a chuckle.

He Meiyue shook her head. She wanted to speak, but it really was too late now; the two of them were already squared off, and for her to say anything more would be a bit unreasonable. One was an old classmate, and the other a new classmate she rather liked; had He Meiyue been utterly sick of the two of them, she would certainly have stopped them.

But the key point was that He Meiyue did not dislike them, so she simply let them carry on.