A Kiss to Seal the Bet

Ning Ran absolutely refused to believe her luck could be so abysmal as to draw the same penalty slip again. Therefore, even after hearing Jiang Zhe’s newly added rule, she still nodded in agreement.

This time, it was Jiang Zhe’s turn to write ten new penalty slips, which Ning Ran would then place into the drawing box.

Jiang Zhe did not refuse. First, he inverted the drawing box, emptying out the remaining nine slips. As he repositioned them, his finger deftly nudged a hidden mechanism within the box, and a fourth wooden panel silently descended.

Unlike the second and third layers, the fourth wooden panel was entirely blank.

So, even if Ning Ran meticulously inspected the slips to avoid leaving any marks, she couldn’t escape the trap. As she placed all the slips into the drawing box, preparing to gamble on a small chance for a big win, Jiang Zhe directly lowered the fifth layer.

The ten slips on the fifth layer all contained the exact same content.

Of course, if Ning Ran had continued to write the slips herself, Jiang Zhe would have merely swapped the order of the panels. After all, the drawing box’s mechanism could not only lower panels but also retract them. The thickness of the five panels was concealed by the sliding side of the box opening, making it impossible to detect any flaws.

Ning Ran had already inspected the inside of the drawing box, so she wouldn’t check it again. Even if she did, with Jiang Zhe’s speed, he could easily retract the fifth panel and secretly hide another slip.

Thus, when Ning Ran once again drew the same penalty, she froze in a daze.

No way! No way! No way!

Last time, she could rationalize it as a fluke, a mere coincidence. But this time, with no marks and relying purely on luck, why had she drawn the same penalty again?

Did she have some special destiny with kissing?

Ning Ran stood rooted to the spot, clutching the slip. Her eyes were unconsciously wide, her mouth slightly agape, betraying her disbelief. Her gaze finally focused on the smiling Jiang Zhe, pulling her back to reality.

This is real!

Unlike last time’s option to redraw, there was no backing out now.

However, Ning Ran, unwilling to bow to fate, felt she could still salvage the situation. Her mind quickly replayed Su Lianlian’s manipulative remarks, believing that sharpening her weapons at the last minute might still prove useful.

“Jiang Zhe, I…”

“Shh.”

But just as Ning Ran had begun to formulate her words, before she could finish speaking, Jiang Zhe raised his index finger to his lips. His other hand also lifted, his finger hovering in the air before Ning Ran.

Jiang Zhe smiled and shook his head, his dark eyes profound. Ning Ran’s small reflection shimmered in his clear pupils.

“You must be true to your word. Thirty seconds have already passed. You have two minutes and thirty seconds left. You need to act quickly.”

Hearing Jiang Zhe’s words, Ning Ran panicked. The sudden time limit gave her a sense of urgent desperation.

Ning Ran bit her lower lip, staring at Jiang Zhe, ready to throw caution to the wind.

She truly couldn’t just casually kiss someone.

Especially since, within the limited time, Jiang Zhe was the only suitable candidate.

This meant that to complete the penalty, she would have to actively kiss Jiang Zhe—and for thirty seconds!

Ahhhhhhh…

At this moment, dozens of marmots seemed to be screaming inside Ning Ran, making her face flush crimson then pale, her expression constantly shifting. She couldn’t bring herself to take that step.

Jiang Zhe, however, remained unhurried, glancing at his wristwatch. Then, he tilted his head, looking at the silent Ning Ran, and spoke with a smile, “One minute and forty-eight seconds left, Ning Ran. Yesterday, when you said you wanted to be my friend, I was very happy. Especially after today’s match against the fencing club president, it made me feel that you are absolutely the best friend.”

“So, you’ll honor the bet and be my friend, won’t you?”

When it came to manipulative words, Ning Ran, despite her attempts to learn, was no match for Jiang Zhe. His repeated use of “friend” placed Ning Ran squarely on a roasting spit, turning her over and over.

This left Ning Ran unable to simply give up, her cheeks once again flushing with embarrassment.

Rather than reneging on her word, Jiang Zhe’s remarks allowed Ning Ran’s proud nature to override her reason, making her feel that she couldn’t lose her dignity.

Witnessing the shifting expressions on Ning Ran’s face, Jiang Zhe’s smile deepened. He thought, Ning Ran is still just a child. If it were him, the situation would have unfolded quite differently.

After all, if he had no morals, others couldn’t morally bind him.

“Last minute. I just heard people outside the lounge, Ning Ran. You can open the door and find… Mmgh.”

Jiang Zhe hadn’t even finished speaking, hadn’t even begun his 3-2-1 countdown for a psychological attack, when Ning Ran utterly collapsed. She quickly reached out, grasped Jiang Zhe’s hand, pulled him closer, and with her other hand, lifted his chin, fiercely kissing him.

A true warrior must be brave enough to face difficulties.

It’s just a kiss.

What was she afraid of!

And, thinking about it seriously, Jiang Zhe is handsome—a rich woman’s favorite.

No matter how you look at it, she wouldn’t lose out.

It was just… the kiss lasted a bit long. In this zero-distance contact, Ning Ran gazed at Jiang Zhe, so close that his face blurred. She could only see his long eyelashes trembling slightly as he closed his eyes, a sensation that seemed to tickle her heart.

His soft lips were like jelly, so pliant she wanted to take a bite.

Ning Ran’s mind went blank, feeling a tingling, electrifying sensation throughout her body, making her feel utterly strange. Subconsciously, she wanted to pull away but suddenly remembered the time limit for the kiss; letting go would mean starting over.

This is already killing me, don’t even think about doing it again! Ning Ran could only keep their lips pressed together.

Her hand, still grasping Jiang Zhe’s, did not immediately let go; it now held him even tighter.

This time, it wasn’t from holding her breath. A belated wave of shame washed over her, turning Ning Ran’s entire face crimson—even her fair neck flushed deeply. She was practically a cooked shrimp.

No matter how much she tried to reassure herself, kissing for thirty seconds was, for Ning Ran, harder than climbing the world’s highest peak. She felt suffocation dogging her every breath, unable to breathe.

Ning Ran, subconsciously holding her breath, thought of many things, but in reality, only twenty seconds had passed. There were still ten seconds left. Her tight grip on Jiang Zhe’s hand caused him pain. He wanted to comfort Ning Ran but feared a counterproductive reaction.

Jiang Zhe, having worked for many years, was no innocent young man. Although he didn’t have a girlfriend, he had seen enough to know. At private parties, some people had even put on live shows of intimacy, yet Jiang Zhe had always continued drinking without changing his expression.

Now, Jiang Zhe hadn’t expected Ning Ran to be so innocent. After all, heroines in dating games often had experience with many suitors; a simple kiss without tongue was nothing, and even more intimate actions were performed skillfully.

This villainess young lady, Ning Ran, was different. Yet, her voluptuous figure invited tantalizing thoughts. Could this be considered a contrast moe?

[Congratulations! Successfully bound game character—Ning Ran]

[Heartbeat value acquisition channel activated.]

[Please note, the heartbeat value generated by this character binding is not included. Please replenish heartbeat values as soon as possible to increase survival time.]

??

When the mechanical alert sounded, Jiang Zhe inwardly sighed in relief. However, upon hearing the subsequent reminders, he felt he had relaxed too soon.

He raised his wrist, glancing at the battery icon on the inner side. Less than a third of its charge remained.