Decayed Vulgarian chapter 60
Chess
Silence. Continued silence. And more silence.
Shen Xun knew he wasn’t eloquent, often saying too much and making mistakes. He decided to play it cool, firm in his self-discipline and beliefs. He couldn’t let himself be swayed by Meng Yuan Cen’s sweet talk.
Even more so, he couldn’t impulsively agree to Meng Yuan Cen’s condition, as a form of resistance against the intense adult activities from that night. If he continued to cooperate like this, Meng Yuan Cen would surely take advantage and escalate things. Did he want to hurt his back further?
On the other side, Meng Yuan Cen still had a teasing smile, and the item in his hand was blatantly displayed under the ceiling light. He deliberately weighed it in front of Shen Xun, saying, “You need to give it a try to see if you can handle it.”
Shen Xun bit his lip, about to say something when—
Suddenly, the overhead light went out, leaving the entire living room in complete darkness.
Meng Yuan Cen immediately set down the item he was holding, pulled out his phone, and turned on the flashlight, shining it in Shen Xun’s direction. He reverted to his usual serious tone and asked, “What’s going on? Did the power go out?”
The two of them went to the balcony and saw that no windows were lit. Faintly, they could hear nearby residents complaining about the power outage and how they should have been informed in advance. When would the power be restored?
Since they had just moved into the new house, neither of them had thought of buying a flashlight, and they had to make do with their phones for illumination during this blackout. Unfortunately, both of their phones had low battery levels, so they couldn’t use any other functions, like mobile hotspots. They couldn’t even browse the internet, not knowing when the power would return, so they had to rely on this faint light to “survive.”
With a laptop that had power but no internet, and smartphones with internet but no power, the dim lighting was inadequate for reading. Suddenly, they found themselves with nothing to do, and it felt rather dull.
At this point, Meng Yuan Cen, jokingly and half-seriously, suggested, “Well, we can always have sex.”
When the power went out earlier, Shen Xun hadn’t forgotten to turn off the faucet, and unsurprisingly, the water supply had also stopped. It was the classic combo, and he couldn’t help but glare back, saying, “What if the water doesn’t come back after we finish? How are we going to take a shower?”
Meng Yuan Cen chuckled and said, “By the time we finish, the power and water should be back.”
Shen Xun snorted, teasing Meng Yuan Cen about having the mentality of a gambler.
Sitting idly was genuinely boring, but most of their usual activities were internet-related. Shen Xun racked his brain, and after thinking it over, he suddenly remembered a certain item he had seen when they moved. With enthusiasm, he picked up his phone and went to the storage room.
Meng Yuan Cen, curious, peered from behind and asked, “What are you looking for?”
Shen Xun responded, “Something fun.”
Meng Yuan Cen had an itch in his heart. “What kind of fun thing?”
Shen Xun replied, “I’ll keep you in suspense for now.”
Shen Xun only remembered that the item was in the storage room but not its exact location. After searching around for over ten minutes, he finally retrieved a dusty wooden box. He was even choked a few times by the dust.
Meng Yuan Cen poured a glass of water for Shen Xun and asked, “What’s inside this box?”
Shen Xun took a sip of water and said, “Chess.”
Meng Yuan Cen fell silent for a moment.
What’s so fun about chess? How could chess compare to making love?
Shen Xun was completely unaware of the emotional rollercoaster Meng Yuan Cen was going through. He asked eagerly, “Meng Yuan Cen, how about we play chess for a while?”
Meng Yuan Cen gritted his teeth and cursed in his heart, then raised his head with a flawless, refined smile. He said, “Playing chess is fine, but I have a condition. You have to agree to it before I’m willing to play with you.”
“What’s the condition?”
“The person who loses has to take off their clothes.”
“What?”
“The person who loses the first round takes off one piece of clothing, the person who loses the second round takes off two pieces, and so on.” To prevent his request from sounding too outrageous, Meng Yuan Cen added, “Assuming we each lose one round, theoretically, we would both need to take off one piece, but we can cancel each other out, so neither of us would have to undress.”
Shen Xun instinctively felt this was a trap and hesitated.
Meng Yuan Cen urged him, “I’ll give you one minute to consider. If you take more than a minute, even if you agree to my condition, I won’t play. I don’t really enjoy these mental activities, and besides, have you seen any couples playing chess at home?”
Shen Xun hastily agreed, fearing that Meng Yuan Cen would change his mind if he waited for even a second. “Let’s do as you said.”
Meng Yuan Cen finally found the situation becoming interesting.
He thought, “Shen Xun wears six pieces of clothing. That’s just right for three rounds to end.”
On the other side, Shen Xun set up the chessboard and neatly arranged his pieces. Finally, he looked up and tentatively asked, “Meng Yuan Cen, you know how to play chess, right?”
Meng Yuan Cen thought to himself that he had won second place in a provincial chess competition in his youth but hadn’t practiced for many years. Still, to avoid making Shen Xun overly cautious in their subsequent games, he just said, “A little bit.”
Shen Xun nodded upon hearing this. He knew the moves of each chess piece quite well. “I’m also quite familiar.”
Meng Yuan Cen raised his eyebrows slightly and gestured, “Please.”
After a few moves, Shen Xun couldn’t help but sigh, “I often saw an old man wearing a white undershirt playing chess at the gate when I was a kid. Now, the two of us are here playing chess seriously. It feels like I’m seeing our retired life.”
Even at this moment, making jokes, he was unaware that he was about to lose. Meng Yuan Cen, without changing his expression, just responded, “Times are changing. When we retire, our elderly life should be spent playing MOBA or FPS, right?”
“Perhaps,” Shen Xun said, making another move.
Meng Yuan Cen watched Shen Xun’s move and raised his eyebrows. He now felt more confident that Shen Xun’s skill in chess was indeed limited, not just modest. He suddenly felt that winning three rounds in a row might not be that difficult.
Half a minute later.
Shen Xun couldn’t believe the position of his king. He looked at his king and the two cannons in front of it, sinking into thought… His king seemed unsalvageable.
“Don’t think about it. You’ve lost this round,” Meng Yuan Cen was already rearranging the black chess pieces on his side. “Don’t you know about ‘double cannons’?”
“I don’t,” Shen Xun shook his head, having a sudden sense of enlightenment when understanding Meng Yuan Cen’s high-level chess skill.
Meng Yuan Cen couldn’t help but smile. ‘Double cannons’ was a very advanced tactic, but he pretended to be humble, saying, “This tactic is actually easy to counter. You didn’t know about it, so I was able to win. It was just luck this time.”
Shen Xun was dumbfounded. He was about to take off his jacket when Meng Yuan Cen stopped him. “Don’t take it off now. There’s a power outage, and there’s no air conditioning. You’ll get cold if you undress. Don’t catch a cold.”
He looked at Meng Yuan Cen, puzzled. “So when do I undress—”
Meng Yuancen laughed but didn’t respond to Shen Xun’s question. Instead, he said, “Don’t worry, I’ll tell you when.”
The second round took a bit longer.
In the early stages, Shen Xun managed to capture a few pieces, but he somehow lost the initiative to Meng Yuan Cen.
Meng Yuan Cen was intent on winning, slowly and meticulously eating up Shen Xun’s king piece. He then began the check—
In the first check with the rook, Shen Xun moved the king, and then the horse in line with the rook got captured.
In the second check with the horse, Shen Xun moved the king, and then the cannon within the horse’s attacking range was captured.
In the third check with the cannon, Shen Xun moved the king… even moving the king couldn’t save the king; he lost again.
Shen Xun learned from his failure, thinking hard. He somewhat figured out Meng Yuan Cen’s chess strategy—whenever the king was in check, Meng Yuan Cen’s next move would threaten another one of Shen Xun’s pieces.
To protect his king, he had to sacrifice one of his own chess pieces.
Realizing this, Shen Xun felt enlightened. He was not about to give up and wholeheartedly invested in the next game. On the other side, Meng Yuan Cen was smirking victoriously, unable to contain his boastfulness. “Hey, I’m so lucky, how did I win another round?”
Listening to this, Shen Xun wanted to rush over and punch him, but he couldn’t. If he did, he would probably end up being suppressed.
Shen Xun pinned all his hopes on the third round. If he won the third round, Meng Yuan Cen would have to remove three pieces of clothing, which would offset the three pieces of his clothing. That would be a satisfying outcome.
He was all fired up and about to make the first chess move when Meng Yuan Cen stopped him. “Wait.”
Seeing victory in sight, Meng Yuan Cen decided to stop pretending. “This time, I’ll let you have an advantage of two pieces. If you lose, I’ll still remove three pieces of clothing. In other words, neither of us will undress. How about that?”
Shen Xun squinted his eyes suspiciously. “being so generous? what’s the catch?”
“If I win,” Meng Yuan Cen smiled slyly and pointed to a black cloth on the sofa, “you have to wear that for me.”
Seeing Shen Xun not saying anything, Meng Yuan Cen smiled and said, “Actually, I consider myself quite skilled at chess. I used to play chess a lot in my childhood.”
Meaning, under normal circumstances, Shen Xun probably wouldn’t win.
Shen Xun: “…”
So, who was it that just said they hated chess and these mental activities?
Meng Yuan Cen continued earnestly, “I think my condition is very fair. Apart from my king piece, you can take two other pieces as you wish. If you win, the ‘debt’ you owe will be canceled out. Think about it, I’m giving away two pieces—if you take my rook and cannon—then I’ll lose two major pieces, and you’ll win easily, right?”
At that moment, the gambler’s mindset influenced Shen Xun. He slapped his head and made a decision, “Alright, let’s bet.”
He deliberated for a full two minutes, and eventually, he took a rook and a cannon.
Just as Meng Yuan Cen had anticipated, this move was typical for beginners. Everything was under Meng Yuan Cen’s control.
In the third round, Shen Xun played with utmost seriousness, being extremely cautious.
Meng Yuan Cen didn’t dare to let his guard down either. If earlier he only put in 80% effort, now it was his full attention. After all, the reward for victory excited him immensely.
In the early stage, they fought fiercely against each other, giving Shen Xun a sense of them being evenly matched.
Midway through the game, the living room’s main light suddenly returned to its usual brightness, and their phones finally got a break.
Originally, they were playing chess to pass the time, and now the power had been restored. They were still playing chess earnestly.
Meng Yuan Cen, under Shen Xun’s plotting, lost a knight, and then both of them lost their powerful pieces like the elephants and guards. The board was practically bare, and the king had much wider movement scope, appearing quite free, and it was saved.
Meng Yuan Cen then focused on his soldiers. Whenever he had time, he would move a few steps. Shen Xun even mocked him, asking when these soldiers would reach their destination.
Meng Yuan Cen just smiled and remained silent, but two minutes later, “Checkmate.”
Meng Yuan Cen breathed a sigh of relief; he had finally gotten what he wanted. “You’ve lost.”
You see, sometimes soldiers can be quite useful.
Shen Xun frowned, staring at the chessboard. He was still struggling not to accept the defeat. “My king can still move to the right.”
Meng Yuan Cen tapped his black “king” to remind Shen Xun, “You’re right; there’s no piece between us.”
So, he really did lose.
Shen Xun hadn’t realized it yet and was still analyzing the reasons for this failure. He was suddenly pulled by Meng Yuan Cen onto the sofa, with a piece of fabric handed over to his face – that was his prize. “Put it on.”
Worried that the other might get embarrassed and angry, Meng Yuan Cen chuckled, walked over to the light switch, “I’ll turn off the lights. A night light is enough. It’s a bit hazy and beautiful. Of course—”
He paused, “You look even more beautiful.”
Upon hearing this, Shen Xun blushed, fumbling to unbutton his shirt.
Meng Yuan Cen stood by, intentionally waiting for him to take off his shirt before he smiled.
Shen Xun, shrunk into the couch, lowered his head and remained silent. In the next instant, he was caught by Meng Yuan Cen, who held his chin and kissed him on the lips.
As Shen Xun tilted his head back, his neck muscles stretched, and his Adam’s apple moved under the skin. Meng Yuan Cen kissed the porcelain-like skin at the nape of his neck. His kisses were fervent, causing him to remove the tie and blindfold Shen Xun.
Seeing Shen Xun seem to struggle, Meng Yuan Cen bit his collarbone in a commanding way, prompting a muffled moan. He joked, “If you can’t see, you won’t feel shy.”
Shen Xun softly accused him of deceiving.
Meng Yuan Cen sat up, grabbing a handful of hair, cursing, then unbuckled his belt and placed it near Shen Xun’s lips. “Bite it. Don’t let it fall”
The palm of his hand pressed a chess piece onto Shen Xun’s chest, repeatedly pushing and rolling it. Because Shen Xun couldn’t see, his sensitivity to external touches heightened, causing him to curl his waist. He repeatedly, albeit indistinctly, inquired what Meng Yuan Cen was holding. The latter deliberately refrained from answering and grabbed Shen Xun’s hands, pushing him back onto the couch.
“Let me teach you how to play chess.”
His fingertip hooked onto the thin string around Shen Xun’s waist, snapping it lightly. “Pretend this is the Chu-Han River boundary.”
“The First side’s initial move, Cannon two to four, crossing the river boundary, is an unusual opening. As the cannon goes deep into the latter side’s camp, it’s susceptible to counterattacks. Beware of the other side seizing the opportunity after taking the cannon to gain an advantage…”
…