Ugh, wasn't the Awakening System supposed to make me the main character?

At this moment, Ning Yaqin yawned, "Ah~ I'm a little sleepy. I got up too early today. I'm going to play for a while longer before going to sleep."

"You've worked hard, hehe~" Yu Muyuan patted Ning Yaqin's head, and a smile appeared on his face as if he was thinking about everything Ning Yaqin had prepared for him today.

"Okay, if you're sleepy, go to bed early." Ning Xueyang nodded in response, but her gaze fell on me.

The look in her eyes made it seem like she had me completely under her thumb.

At this point, I also realized that if Ning Yaqin said she was done playing, Yu Muyuan would most likely not continue playing either.

Then it will be just Ning Xueyang and me left, and we won't be able to continue playing anymore.

Even if they continue playing, it won't be a two-person game anymore; instead, one person will be playing the other...

Thinking about this, a sense of urgency rose in my heart.

We can no longer sit idly by and wait for our doom; we must do something now to turn the tide!

In a moment of desperation, I suddenly had an idea, a pretty good solution.

That means having Yu Muyuan draw the Joker card immediately after I get it.

As for why I'm sure she'll help, it's because if I tell her that I have to go into the room with Ning Xueyang if I lose, she, as my brother, won't stand idly by. And since she and Ning Yaqin didn't have a bet, it doesn't matter if she loses a few more rounds.

Of course, it wasn't appropriate to tell her directly, so I made an excuse to go to the restroom and then sent a message to Yu Muyuan from there.

[Gui Ye: Brother, brother, help me! If I lose more than Ning Xueyang, I'm going to go to her room.]

[Yu Muyuan: Call me godfather.]

Tsk!

Seeing the news about Yu Muyuan taking advantage of me, I stomped my foot in displeasure, but considering that it concerned my safety tonight, I could only grit my teeth and type it on my phone.

[Returning at Night: Godfather, please help me!]

[Yu Muyuan: My dear son, tell me, how can I help?]

Tsk! What a stupid little girl who takes advantage of others in their vulnerable state!

Forget it, it's more important to figure out how to get through tonight.

[Returning at Night: You took the Joker card from my hand. When I have the Joker card, I sit cross-legged; when I don't, I hug my knees with my hands. You do the same.]

When you draw the Joker from my hand, I cough. The number of coughs indicates which card I'm counting from your side.

[Yu Muyuan: OK, I'll help my eldest son out today.]

Tsk, fine, I'll let it go since this silly little girl agreed to help me.

With Yu Muyuan's help, things should get better from now on.

Although this might not guarantee Ning Xueyang's defeat, at least with Yu Muyuan drawing the Joker card from my hand, I won't lose.

After a brief conversation with Yu Muyuan, I adjusted my mindset and then returned to the living room.

When I arrived in the living room, Yu Muyuan was looking down, seemingly a little guilty. Ning Yaqin was watching her from the side, and Ning Xueyang turned her gaze to me after she saw me.

I don't know why, but I feel like the atmosphere is a bit strange.

I forced myself to endure the discomfort and went to my seat, sitting down carefully while keeping an eye on them.

I was about to say something to ease the awkwardness when Ning Xueyang spoke up before I could, "What were you doing in the bathroom just now, teacher?"

When Ning Xueyang asked me that question, my heart skipped a beat. Combined with Yu Muyuan's guilty look, I could roughly guess what had happened here.

"What else can you do in the toilet? Use the toilet, of course!"

As I spoke, I glanced at Yu Muyuan, trying to glean some information from him, but Yu Muyuan remained silent, simply keeping his head down.

"Oh, I see. Well then..."

"Well, Ning Yaqin just said she wanted to sleep, so why don't we continue quickly so we can play a few more rounds?"

Seeing that Ning Xueyang was about to press for more information, Yu Muyuan promptly changed the subject.

Waaaaah, you truly are my good brother.

Immediately, I chimed in, "Yeah, let's play games first!"

As I spoke, I picked up the playing cards on the table and started shuffling them.

However, before shuffling the cards, I saw the little devil that was placed alone on the table, and a wicked thought suddenly came to my mind.

The outcome of the entire game is determined by this one card, so should I do something with this card?

Or I could just make a mark on this card so I won't draw it from anyone else later.

Although it's a bit cheating, there's nothing I can do about it. If I keep losing, I'll have to share a room with Ning Xueyang.

Looking back on today's experience, I really wouldn't have been able to stand sharing a room with Ning Xueyang if it were far away again.

But less than a second after I pinched her, Ning Xueyang called out, "Teacher~"

"Ah? W-what happened?"

Feeling guilty, I looked up, my voice a little flustered. The first thing I saw was Ning Xueyang's ambiguous smile.

Could this guy have found out?

"It's nothing, I just suddenly wanted to call you 'teacher.' Please continue shuffling the cards."

As Ning Xueyang said this, the ambiguous smile in her eyes became even more pronounced.

What's wrong with you? You called me out of the blue and startled me.

Laugh, laugh, laugh. I'll see how long you can keep laughing. You'll be crying when you lose all your money!

I refuse to believe that even if I use these tricks, I'll still lose!

"Is it really okay for the teacher to reshuffle the deck?"

Ning Xueyang asked casually.

At first I was a little scared, but I felt a little relieved after hearing Ning Xueyang's casual attitude.

It was probably just a casual question, right?

"Of course there's no problem! I shuffled the cards right under your noses, and they were all tails up, so how could there be a problem?"

Although I said those things, my little brain was already working at lightning speed.

There are 53 cards in total. If I deal first, then Ning Xueyang is my partner. All I need to do is shuffle the 51st card, which is the third to last card in the deck, into a joker.

In that case, Ning Xueyang will have a ghost in her hand at the start of the game, while Yu Muyuan and I will draw them from each other, so she will most likely lose this round!

After being bullied for so long, it's time for Guiye to sound the horn of counterattack!

The cards were dealt very quickly.

While dealing the cards, I also observed Ning Xueyang and Ning Yaqin's expressions, but I didn't notice anything unusual.

As for Yu Muyuan, she's an ally, so it doesn't matter if she's discovered.

But judging from her silly look, she probably didn't notice anything at all.

If that's the case, that would be perfect. It would mean my technique is excellent and no one noticed.

Just before the cards were dealt, I took a final look to make sure the Joker card I had marked was in Ning Xueyang's hand before I felt relieved.

Hmph, from now on, neither Yu Muyuan nor I will take any cards from her hand, as long as Ning Yaqin doesn't take any cards from Ning Xueyang's hand when the game ends!

Thinking of what I had said to Yu Muyuan on the phone before, I hugged my knees to let Yu Muyuan know that the Joker was not in my hand.

When Yu Muyuan saw my actions, he remembered and copied me, hugging his knees with both hands.

Ning Xueyang didn't show any emotion when she received the Joker card. After glancing at the card in her hand, she looked up at me with a smile.

!!!

For some reason, when Ning Xueyang looked at me like that, a strange chill ran through my body, and then I trembled uncontrollably.

What, what’s going on…

Just as I was still confused, that chilly feeling disappeared as Ning Xueyang looked down at her hand again.

Let's put all that aside for now. What's more important right now is to make Ning Xueyang lose this game.

Through my underhanded manipulation, after one game, Ning Xueyang had no choice but to reveal the Joker card that had been saved for last, and her gaze remained fixed on me, still with that enigmatic smile.

Ning Yaqin looked at her older sister Ning Xueyang, and the two smiled at each other.

I felt something was off, but I still thought it was Ning Xueyang's way of showing that she thought she had the victory in the bag.

Hmph, you like to laugh, huh? Wait until you lose another game, then let's see if you're still laughing.

Just as I was about to reach out to shuffle the cards to make it easier for me to cheat, Ning Xueyang stopped me with her hand. She still had that same smile on her face, but her gaze made me feel uneasy.

"Oh dear, teacher, you shuffled the cards last time, so let me shuffle them this time so you don't have to work so hard."

Although she spoke politely, the way Ning Xueyang controlled my hand made it seem like she didn't want to give me a chance to shuffle the cards at all.

"Well, it's really okay, after all, I'm a teacher~"

I forced a smile and reached out to take the cards from Ning Xueyang's hand, but Ning Xueyang blocked my way.

"I'd better not trouble you, teacher."

In the blink of an eye, Ning Xueyang had shuffled the cards and was dealing them out one by one.