Chapter 328 - 182: Scheming

Chapter 328: Chapter 182: Scheming

After all, his family background was arguably the best in their little group, as his parents were both exceptionally successful people.

So, Cheng Xiao didn’t dare to argue, only glancing over at Cao Cheng.

After a moment’s hesitation, he immediately pulled out his phone.

"Well, I’ll call Lin Shen then and see what he’s up to."

"Don’t!"

Jiang Yan hurriedly stopped Cao Cheng.

After all, he knew perfectly well that Lin Shen and Zheng Yanfei were on the villa’s B1 level, having some fun.

As for what kind of fun... any man could guess.

So Jiang Yan decisively stopped him, afraid he might interrupt something important for Lin Shen.

"Just wait a little longer, it’s not urgent..."

"Hello?"

Before he could even finish his sentence, Xu Manman’s call to Zheng Yanfei connected, leaving Jiang Yan completely dumbfounded.

’Seriously, girl!’

’Are you in that much of a hurry?’

"Feifei, where are you?"

"Me...? I’m watching a movie with my boyfriend."

"Where are you watching a movie?"

"Just on the villa’s B1 level."

Zheng Yanfei hurriedly explained.

"Do you need something?"

"Not really, I just hadn’t seen you, so I wanted to ask where you were. We thought you and Lin Shen had left early."

As soon as Xu Manman heard there was a movie theater on the B1 level, she got excited.

"So you can watch movies in this mansion! You should have said so earlier. I’ll bring Jiang Chuan to find you right now!"

"Hey! No, no, no!"

Zheng Yanfei immediately panicked on the other end of the line.

"The movie’s already over! We’re coming up now, we’ll be right there!"

"Okay, I’ll wait for you guys. Hurry up, everyone wants to start the next activity."

"Mm."

「Basement Level 1, Private Cinema.」

After hanging up, Zheng Yanfei, who was sitting on the sofa, looked up at Lin Shen with her big, watery eyes, a picture of pitiable charm.

...

He finally understood why the little girl had insisted on doing this.

This was, frankly, a bit beyond Lin Shen’s expectations.

Before this little girl, he’d thought the foreign girl, Aria, had been the best performer among all the women he’d been with.

Lin Ping wasn’t bad either, actually. It was probably just her personality that kept her from ever truly letting loose.

Still, she had the mature allure of a beautiful woman.

But Lin Shen never expected that Zheng Yanfei could perform so well!

The key was, she was only twenty years old!

He would even go so far as to say it was no exaggeration to rank Zheng Yanfei number one among all the women he’d been with!

"You seem quite experienced."

Lin Shen leaned in and whispered with a light laugh in Zheng Yanfei’s ear.

"Have you had a lot of boyfriends?"

"No!"

Zheng Yanfei looked both embarrassed and annoyed.

"Brother, how could you say that about me! I just practiced diligently in my dorm for a while; I haven’t had that many boyfriends!"

"Then how many have you had?"

"I’m not telling you."

Zheng Yanfei said with a grin, which made Lin Shen raise an eyebrow and reach out to pinch her perky butt.

This made her cover her rear with a wronged expression.

"Brother, do you really care about that so much?"

"Just asking. It’s fine if you don’t want to say."

In truth, Lin Shen wasn’t particularly fixated on things like that.

After all, given the society we live in, you couldn’t be too old-fashioned about it. Otherwise, you’d only be making things hard on yourself.

’As long as a girlfriend hasn’t had any ex-boyfriends, that’s all that matters,’ Lin Shen thought. ’As for a lover, I don’t care how many boyfriends you’ve had. It has nothing to do with me.’

’I want you as you are now.’

’As long as you’re loyal to me, I can take care of you.’

Seeing Lin Shen’s nonchalant attitude, Zheng Yanfei looked like she wanted to say something, but in the end, she kept it to herself.

When the two of them went up to the first floor of the villa, they found everyone already gathered in the spacious living room.

A huge, long table was covered with an array of drinks and snacks.

"You’re finally here!"

Xu Manman immediately went over to Zheng Yanfei’s side, and just as she was about to ask something, her nose twitched slightly.

"Huh? What’s that smell?"

"It’s probably the smell from the private cinema! I’m going to wash my hands first!"

Zheng Yanfei seemed to realize something and scrambled to her feet, heading for the restroom with a flustered look. This left Xu Manman momentarily stunned.

Lin Shen took the opportunity to change the subject.

"By the way, what are you all planning to play?"

"We’ve got two options: a murder mystery game or a tense and exciting game of Ludo!"

Xu Manman asked for Lin Shen’s opinion.

"Shen, which one do you want to play?"

"I’m fine with either."

Lin Shen was a little confused.

"I saw a lot of other activities on the services list. You don’t want to do any of those?"

"Those activities are all too expensive," Jiang Yan explained softly.

"You’ve already spent so much money, we can’t let you spend any more. So we put our heads together and decided to play some party games that don’t cost much. What do you think?"

"Fine."

Lin Shen didn’t really care. After all, money like that was nothing to him.

But since everyone wanted to play something else, he naturally wouldn’t be a spoilsport.

After Zheng Yanfei came out, everyone voted and decided to play the murder mystery game.

In fact, back when he was still dating Gu Wanting, Lin Shen used to play this game with her often.

It’s highly interactive and requires a lot of communication, making it perfect for strangers to get to know each other quickly. It’s a great social party game.

Of course, that’s only if the script is good and you have a professional host.

Lin Shen didn’t have to worry about that, as the estate had already prepared everything for him.

The script was a carefully selected mystery. Its classic "snowed-in at a remote mansion" theme was a perfect fit for the estate’s atmosphere.

Then, after everyone received their character scripts, the butler surprised them by providing costumes for each person to match their role!

For instance, Lin Shen played the eldest son of the estate’s owner. He put on a sharp, well-fitting suit that accentuated his tall, athletic build.

Seeing him, Zheng Yanfei’s eyes practically turned into hearts. She swooned, her face filled with adoration.

"Wow! Brother, you’re so handsome!"

"You’re very beautiful, too."

Lin Shen looked Zheng Yanfei up and down.

As his wife in the script, she wore an elegant black swan evening gown that outlined her delicate and graceful figure.

Her fair, beautiful legs were hidden by the voluminous skirt, but her waist was so slender you could wrap a hand around it.

Combined with her exquisite, beautiful face, she gave off the distinct impression of a novel’s female protagonist.

"Thank you for the compliment, Brother!"

In response to Lin Shen’s praise, Zheng Yanfei grinned and took his arm.

The others also went to their rooms one by one to change into their costumes.

The script’s premise was simple: the owner of the estate invites his close friends and family to a dinner party to discuss the distribution of his inheritance.

However, he ends up dying unexpectedly, and the murderer is hidden among the eight of them, including Lin Shen.

They just needed to use the clues scattered around the estate to determine the time of the crime and catch the true culprit.

To give everyone an immersive experience, the butler had even arranged for numerous attendants to act as NPCs. The players could complete tasks given by these NPCs to receive clues about the killer.

This live-action role-playing style of murder mystery pushed the game experience to the max!

Zheng Yanfei was instantly filled with excitement, pulling Lin Shen along to wander through the estate and complete various tasks.

The others also sprang into action, clearly having a blast.

Soon, everyone was immersed in their respective scripts, starting to piece together the course of events using the clues they found.

The game lasted from afternoon to evening, until the sky was completely dark.

In the end, Lin Shen shouldered the task of sorting out the logic for the entire team.

Using his clear and meticulous thought process to organize the timeline, he quickly identified the final murderer—

The butler’s son, played by Cao Cheng!

Originally, his character had no connection to the estate owner’s inheritance, but in reality, he was the owner’s illegitimate son!

He had collaborated with the butler to murder the estate owner, then used the butler to test the others, hoping to make them turn on each other so he could be the one to reap all the rewards.

Unfortunately for him, Lin Shen saw through Cao Cheng’s script.

「8:00 PM.」

When the dust had settled, everyone sat on sofas or chairs, quietly listening to the butler in the center of the living room announce the game’s results.

In the end, Lin Shen won, and also completed his personal mission to secretly protect Zheng Yanfei.

"Wow!"

Zheng Yanfei threw herself into Lin Shen’s arms, as if completely immersed in her role, and looked up at him affectionately.

"Husband, thank you for secretly protecting me so many times!"

"It’s what I was supposed to do."

Lin Shen rubbed the little girl’s head, then smiled at everyone.

"Everyone, go change your clothes, and then let’s meet in the back garden. The chefs have already prepared a courtyard barbecue over there. It’s our last event for the day!"