CHAPTER 22: WHO IS THE UNDERCOVER?

After eating and drinking well, most of the young students had already touched the wine and become slightly tipsy. Shen Mu used the excuse that his body had only just recovered and therefore he could could have a taste. Seeing that the majority of food on the table had been finished, Lu Ying excitedly took out a pre-prepared box: “Since everyone has eaten their fill, let’s play the game ba! I’ve prepared a few games here, everyone have a look at what you want to play?”

While speaking, Lu Ying took out several smaller boxes from within the original container. They consisted of different card games: Who is the undercover, Please close your eyes when it’s dark, King Game, Truth or Dare, Werewolf and so on.

“I want to play this!” Seeing the Truth or Dare, Bai Luo’s eyes lit up and she quickly took the box and hugged it in her arms. “A’Ying, let’s play this!” Her stubborn and determined manner seemed to communicate a particular meaning. If Lu Ying didn’t agree, Bai Luo wouldn’t let go. 

“It’s more boring to play only this game. Why don’t we add something else? How about we add another game as well and make those who lose in the additional game participate in the Truth or Dare ~” The girl wearing a short ponytail beside Bai Luo, said quietly and calmly.

“This is a great idea!” Lu Ying obviously wanted to play some games that were more interesting and so she was the first to agree, saying, “We have so many people so it isn’t really appropriate to play ‘Please close your eyes when it is dark’ or ‘Werewolf’. Why don’t we play ‘Who is undercover’*?!”

*T/N: Who is Undercover includes the roles of ‘civilian’, ‘undercover’ and sometimes a Mr.White/blank card recipient. The aim of the game is to identify the undercover. Civilians all receive the same word, the ‘undercover’ receives a similar word and mr.white gets a blank piece of paper (no word). Everyone gets a turn to describe their word each round and guess the undercover, however the undercover won’t necessarily know that their role is the undercover (since they don’t know everyone else’s word) and so they have to figure it out based on what people are saying. Thus, the longer the game continues, the easier it is for the undercover. See http://www.monabgames.com/undercover/ for more details

I drank a little too much. You guys play first, I’ll rest for a while.” Xia Li, red-faced from the alcohol, waved her hand. Several others also said that they wouldn’t play, and would watch for the first two rounds. After inviting them again, Lu Ying saw that they really didn’t want to play and gave up on forcing them, dealing cards to the rest.

“We have slightly more people than we need for the game. En, there are 17 people. Then how about we have two undercovers and two blank card recipients?” After a moment of thought, Lu Ying continued, “If the undercover wins, the undercover who hasn’t been caught can choose one of the players that have already been eliminated and let him choose either Truth or Dare. How is it?”

“If the good side wins, how do we calculate who does Truth or Dare? “Zhu Meng’s drinking showed on his face which was already quite red. He looked at Lu Ying intently.

“Good guys don’t count. Truth or dare is only for when the undercover wins ~ If good guys want to exercise their power, they have to pray that they’ll get the role of undercover in the next round, and then win!” Lu Ying said, seemingly unable to sense Zhu Meng’s fiery eyes.

“Come, come!” Everyone clamored while taking a card from Lu Ying’s hands. Some smiled, some pretended to be mysterious, and some were expressionless. Shen Mu also drew a card and looked down: beef jerky.

Beef jerky, beef jerky…… What’s a synonym for beef jerky? Is it lamb jerky? Pork jerky? Beef strips? Beef soup?…… Leather bag? Is the largest restriction range “food” or “animal”? First I should listen to what others say, Shen Mu thought quietly.

While Shen Mu was thinking, Lu Ying also handed a number to each participant, to make playing the game more convenient.

“Here, Shen Mu, your number, No. 12.” Lu Ying passed a number plate with a smile.

“Thank you class monitor, is Number 8 available? I want Number 8.” Shen Mu gave Lu Ying a lovely smile.

“En, I have it ah ~” Lu Ying was the star of the party. Although her drinking capacity was quite good, she still got drunk. She found a card and gave it to Shen Mu while grinning, “Refuel*, older sister thinks well of you! If you need anything, speak to the class monitor ah ~”

*T/N: refuel, similar to ‘jiayou’, meaning good luck.

“Pa! “Lin Huiru fiercely slammed the wine glass on the table beside them. It was unknown how the innocent wine glass had provoked her, “Why are you so troublesome? Play if you want, if you don’t want to play then get out!”

Shen Mu leaned closer to Lin Huiru and whispered: “Aren’t you afraid of collapsing, having drunk so much? Don’t forget that you have to enter the next round of the game soon.”

Lin Huiru’s face suddenly changed from red to white and a struggle could be seen taking place between her brows before her face finally turned red again: “Who do you think you’re scaring! It’s not like the body will enter as well!”

Shen Mu deliberately smiled and didn’t speak, causing Lin Huiru to feel a little itchy.

The body in the game was obviously the same as the body in reality. His own state of amnesia had clearly been brought to the game from reality. If that was the case, then wouldn’t a drunk state also be retained?

However … Shen Mu looked at Lin Huiru who had drunk until her complexion was rosy. With her personality, actually trying to play the game might result in her being forcibly pushed out. Perhaps she might be able to smoothly pass through this level depending on her luck instead. This time, would he still be placed into the same game as his classmate Lin?

Having thought of the Suspended Life Game, the strings that Shen Mu had constantly been burying in the depths of his heart, tightened again. Shen Xin’s uneasy tone still echoed next to his ears: “Brother, after you fell down, he hugged you with a very uncomfortable look. He then suddenly fainted, and continuously remained unconscious for two days…… “

The heating in the resturant’s private room was very warm during winter. The aroma of alcohol and delicious food diffused throughout the air. Shen Mu couldn’t help but take a sip from the decorative wine glass in front of him. It was filled with a top-notch grape wine. The smooth and soft liquid slipped down his throat and the flavour contained a slight bitter taste within the clear sweetness. Unknowingly, Shen Mu suddenly thought of that day when No. 8 had sported a drop of blueberry juice on the corner of his mouth and subconsciously licked his lips. He couldn’t help but lightly take another sip.

The whispered conversation between Shen Mu and Lin Huiru was just an ordinary exchange of mockery and ridicule to the both of them, yet in the eyes of the nearby people who cared to pay attention, it was an eye-catching anomaly. The volume of Shen Mu’s voice was low, but Lin Huiru was somewhat incapable of suppressing her voice. Although the room was noisy, those who sat close could inevitably hear a few words. The words, “body” and “go in” penetrated Gao Dazhuang’s ears. Mixed with alcohol, they almost broke down Gao Dazhunag’s mental state. Gao Dazhuang looked coldly at the number plate in Shen Mu’s hand, and the corner of his mouth revealed a sneer. Then, as if nothing had happened, he took his number from Lu Ying’s hand. His expression became increasingly gloomy.

When everyone had finished receiving their numbers and words, Lu Ying took out the subsidiary box for drawing lots from the King Game, and randomly drew a number: “Well, let’s start from…… No. 8 in a clockwise direction.” Lu Ying turned around the card in her hand and smiled at Shen Mu. The playing card displayed was exactly an “8”.

“En, it’s a kind of……” Shen Mu’s eyelids jumped. In ‘Who is The Undercover’, a player couldn’t speak either too clearly —— allowing the undercover to guess the civilian’s word, nor speak too vaguely —— otherwise at the end of the round they would be thrown out under suspicion of being the undercover player. Directly saying it’s food?…… If the real word wasn’t food, then he would be exposed immediately.

After thinking for a while, Shen Mu said: “It’s related to animals.”

No. 9 was Bai Luo. Having few concerns, she directly said: “It’s very delicious!”

No. 10 was the quiet girl with the short ponytail who sat beside Bai Luo. She said softly: “It can also be used for soup.”

…Could beef jerky be used to make soup?

Seeing the short ponytailed girl’s serious look, Shen Mu became somewhat hesitant. Perhaps the other person’s understanding of beef jerky wasn’t of the snacking kind, but rather as a special beef jerky for soup?

It seems that I’m not proficient in cooking. Shen Mu reached another conclusion.

Immediately, No. 11 excitedly said: “Mine can’t be used to make soup!”

Because Shen Mu took the number 8 card halfway through, the order was messed up. The girl on the other table took No. 11 and finished her turn. No. 12 was Lu Ying’s boyfriend, Du Lanyu, and he enthusiastically said, “I also don’t think that it can be used to make soup!”

Lu Ying speechlessly gave him a glance. His actions were secretly setting him on the path of being voted out. However, the most important purpose of playing the game was to have fun. Lu Ying smiled and patted him, and had a face full of happiness.

“It has many flavors.” Lin Huiru had no interest.

“It’s a kind of…” Su Yingxing thought for a while, “easy to carry snack.”

“It’s a kind of meat.” Gao Dazhuang said with a frown.

……

The first round was about to end, and a rough indication of the word had already appeared. Even if the person given the undercover role really had received the words ‘leather bag’ or something similar, they should have guessed the real words ages ago. The last girl finished her description: “It is a snack that can be easily carried.”

Everyone proceeded with the voting clamorously. Du Lanyu and Duan Mawei had the most votes, and seeing that everyone had begun seriously counting the votes, Duan Mawei probably felt that he could no longer pretend: “I admit defeat, I’m the one with the blank paper.” Saying this, he shrank back, feeling slightly embarrassed. Bai Luo took the lead and heckled him from the side: “You can’t be like this, breaking the rules of the game! Accept the punishment!”

“Oh oh oh!”

“Agreed!”

“Accept the punishment!”

Bai Luo’s proposal immediately received the support of the masses. Duan Mawei hadn’t expected this to happen, but it was impossible to stop half-way, so he said with a flushed face: “Then I will sing a song for everyone!”

“Truth or dare!” Not knowing who took the lead and shouted this, it immediately received a big response. Duan Mawei seemed to have thought of something, and looked a little hesitant.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to play, but Xiao Jing, you know that the regulations state that you must drink three glasses as punishment~” Bai Luo hurriedly grabbed a large wine glass and filled it to the brim. The large wine glasses of the Mi La Restaurant looked very beautiful with the red wine inside, but with their size, they were unlike the delicate white wine glasses. They seemed to be used like fruit juice cups, filled up to around 250 milliliters. To add to the celebratory atmosphere, everyone used the large wine glasses, with those who could drink pouring more, and those who couldn’t, pouring less. If you didn’t drink wine, the glasses also looked good containing juice. Although red wine wasn’t very stimulating, it greatly improved the mood. If you really downed three glasses, you would neither be able to get up, nor fall asleep that night.

Xiao Jing’s complexion instantly became very unsightly and she seemed to look at Bai Luo with resentment. Seeing her like that, Bai Luo felt a little throbbing in his heart and was also a little puzzled: “Then let’s just play games ah, nothing will happen, you know that.”

Xiao Jing’s complexion changed again, finally saying with a smile: “Then fine, I choose to play the game.” There was immediately a burst of rowdy cheering, and the atmosphere became lively again.

“Huh?” Lu Ying opened the Truth or Dare card box, only to find the cards that were originally placed in two separate grooves compartments had been mixed together due to the jolting. Seeing this situation, some unknown person proposed: “It’s too much trouble to separate them again. Let’s just use them the way they are, you get what you get!” This immediately received everyone’s approval.

Seeing this, Xiao Jing no longer hesitated, directly taking a card from the pile. She nervously took a look before loosening a breath: “I have to make a phone call.”

The card instructs her to call the three individuals that she had contacted most recently and confess to the other party without explaining that it was a dare until the next day. This was originally a slightly stimulating task, but seeing Xiao Jing’s look of relief, her three most recent contacts were presumably of a non-threatening nature.

Sure enough, Xiao Jing, who was so hesitant before, secretly smiled as she made the call. It turned out that on the other end of the line was actually Xiao Jing’s mother. Xiao Jing’s “confession of love” made her mother very happy, and Xiao Jing was in high spirits.

After Xiao Jing received her punishment for violating the rules, the game continued. The clamouring noise from the mass of people was almost deafening, causing Shen Mu to be unable to remember who said what, but he firmly believed that he wasn’t in the role of undercover. In the second round, Du Lanyu didn’t live up to expectations and was eliminated, being persecuted to death.

In this instance of the game ‘Who Is The Undercover?’ the longer it dragged on, the more it depended on luck since so much information was unavoidably revealed due to the sheer amount of people playing. The undercover also kept track of everything. Every round of voting depended on fate and whether one’s speech made others want to vote for them. Soon, Shen Mu was also voted out until the undercover, Bai Luo, was the only one remaining, obtaining victory.

“Hahahahaha, you guys didn’t think of this right! I got preserved pork!” Bai Luo laughed with pride, “I’d long guessed that you guys had beef jerky! Hahahahaha! Come, let me see which pitiful little thing had fallen into my hands!”

Bai Luo took a number plate from the middle: “En! It’s No. 12!”

Du Lanyu, who’d been enjoying the show in a lively manner, immediately became the object of laughter. Seeing that it was Du Lanyu, a trace of what seemed like disappointment flashed across Bai Luo’s eyes, before he immediately pulled out a card from the card pile in high spirits: “En? Wear your underwear to run three laps outside?” Bai Luo’s voice gradually lightened, and seemed to contain a trace of doubt. He looked back at Lu Ying, the two of them seeing the puzzled look in the other’s eyes.

In this noisy atmosphere, other people didn’t notice Bai Luo’s hesitation. A full glass was pushed in front of Du Lanyu: “Either drink or run! Gonna drink?”

Seeing the full glass in front of him, Du Lanyu who had already drunk half a belly full of alcohol, patted the table arrogantly: “Run! Isn’t it just running! It’s not like I’ve never run before!”

Lu Ying anxiously pulled Bai Luo to one side: “Weren’t the punishments that were too excessive taken out? How come the underwear one is in there again!”

The intoxicated Bai Luo also slightly sobered up: “At that time, the class monitor of class 1 called us over to receive the experimental report so I went over to get it. Xiao Jing said that she’d sort out the cards, but when I came back I didn’t check.” Bai Luo felt a little uneasy. “Don’t tell me none of it was sorted, I remember there being several outrageous punishments in there!”

“Xiao Jing, you…” Turning back to look at Xiao Jing, he discovered that Xiao Jing, who’d originally been full of energy, had actually fallen asleep on the back of the chair.

“Should we hurry…” Lu Ying immediately began thinking of a solution. However, Du Lanyu had already prepared himself, and before Lu Ying had even finished her words, he was heckled to stand at the front with Bai Luo following him in a daze. There was almost no one at the tables anymore and the cards had been left there with no one to take charge. Gao Dazhuang who hadn’t joined in the rowdiness opened his narrowed eyes, picked up the cards that were sitting to the side and randomly flipped through them. When he came across a few particular cards, his eyes visibly brightened and he furtively stashed the cards into his sleeves. Seeing that no one had noticed, he placed a blank card from the game ‘Who is the Undercover’ into his pocket, before pretending to have suddenly regained his energy, and joining the jeering crowd in shouting: “Run, run!”

Du Lanyu was “ready for the journey”, and everyone had agreed that they wouldn’t film a video in order to give Lu Ying face*. Receiving this promise, Du Lanyu patted Su Yingxing reassuringly: “Su Su, see this? Learn from big brother! Learning from your lesson, your big bro definitely won’t appear on the forum!” saying this, he laughed loudly three times and confidently set off.

*T/N: in case anyone has forgotten, ‘giving face’ is to show someone respect, honor and decency. In this case, they are really just sparing Lu Ying a little dignity 🙂

Su Yingxing said nothing: “…”, then immediately opened his phone and captured the scene mercilessly.

The majority of the people in the room followed him in running out. Shen Mu stood by the large window of the private room, watching Du Lanyu run downstairs with his string of followers. He couldn’t help but shed some tears of sympathy for these ignorant youths. The influence of alcohol ah——you guys don’t have to worry that this won’t  be uploaded, the passerbyers certainly haven’t promised that they wouldn’t record it. This place was full of restaurants, how many happy students had already turned on their sparkling mobile phones…

Soon, the crowd enthusiastically returned, and after being chilled by the frigid wind, much of the alcohol’s effects had dispersed. Thinking of the cards that hadn’t been sorted out yet, Lu Ying looked at her watch and said: “It’s already past nine o’clock, why don’t we stop playing for today? We still have class tomorrow~”

“Hai, but all you have to do in Old Xu’s classes is listen!” Whether due to drinking too much or some other unknown reason, Zhu Meng, who never slacked off in class, was the first to object, “It has only been dares so far, we haven’t even gotten to the truth part and we are already finishing?”

“Then should we do karaoke?” Lu Ying suggested.

“Ai, didn’t you say that we still have class tomorrow? Then let’s not go karaoke, and just play two more rounds!” Gao Dazhuang touched the card hidden in his sleeve as he spoke.

“Then that’s fine!” Lu Ying’s playful nature also emerged, and she didn’t want to kill the mood. There were only a few of those cards with excessive demands. Surely no one would be that unlucky.

Eh? Missed call? He Feizhou took his card before picking up his phone to find that there were a few missed calls. The time showed that the calls had taken place a few minutes ago, probably from when everyone was too busy running outside in order to join in on the fun, so they didn’t hear the ringtone.

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General Announcement:

Sorry for not updating SLG last week! We’ve been very busy so we didn’t manage to update on time. Because we have upcoming exams, we’re planning to take a bit of a break for the next two weeks, but we won’t stop updating entirely. To make up for last week we’re planning a release for this Sunday (14/06/20). The chapter is extra-long so please enjoy (QAQ our pain is your gain)! Our normal schedule should resume on the 3rd of July and in the meantime we’ll post chapters whenever we can, but there won’t be a specific schedule. Also, someone is finally going to show up in the next chapter, can you guess who? In the meantime, sorry for the delay, we’ll work hard! Thanks for your comments and support! Stay safe everyone!