41 1,000,000,000 Times! (1/2)

Wang Yang went outside to the balcony, where he saw Rachel standing hunched against the rails. Smiling, he said to her, ”What are you looking at? Why don't you join our card game?”

Rachel wagged her head slowly and smiled. ”I don't know any card games. I'm a total idiot when it comes to these things. So I came out to get some fresh air.”

Wang Yang nodded. Reclining against the rails and tilting his head toward Rachel, he asked, ”Rachel, you're turning 20. How do you feel?”

”Jeez!” Rachel seemed to be taken aback by the question. She said, in a pretended rage, ”Yang, don't you know you aren't supposed to ask a girl such questions? It's so annoying.” Then, she breathed through her nose and added, smilingly, ”I feel one year older, I guess.”

Wang Yang cracked up in laughter. He tilted his head at the clear, blue sky and consoled her. ”Everybody gets old. But look on the bright side. One more year and you'll be able to drink legally in this country,” he said thoughtfully, ”Aren't you stoked?”

Rachel rolled her eyes and made a pouting face. ”I'd be stoked if I were an alcoholic, but I'm not.”

Wang Yang shrugged and replied, ”I'm not an alcoholic, either. I guess there's nothing to look forward to then.”

Smiling, Rachel said, ”Yeah. You can look forward to growing a beard though. It'll make you look more handsome.”

Wang Yang stroked his baby-butt smooth chin and asked doubtfully, ”You really think so?”

Right at that moment came Jessica's voice, ”Rachel, Yang, let's play some cards!” She was standing in the living room at some little distance from the balcony, egging them on, ”Come on!”

”Coming!” Wang Yang answered. He turned back to Rachel and urged with a smile, ”Come on, you're the birthday girl. It won't be fun without you.”

Rachel assented with a nod. ”I guess you're right.”

Inside the living room, the friends were sitting in a circle on the floor, playing a game of Texas Hold 'em. Michael Pitt was holding two cards with still fingers and an unlit cigarette between his teeth. His face, haggard, as usual, was expressionless. Joshua kept studying him out of the corner of his eye with his head bent forward and his brows knitted. Meanwhile, Zachary seemed as if he had washed his hands of that game completely. His heart, eyes, and soul were not in the cards, but in Erin Elis, who was sitting beside him.

”Looks like the game's starting to heat up!” Wang Yang joined the circle with a smile. Jessica and Rachel sat across him in the circle, ready to join the next game.

The last community card was revealed and Michael Pitt won with three of a kind—tens. He swept the plastic chips from the middle of the circle to the side of his feet, where an impressive mound was taking shape. He had bought those plastic chips yesterday under Wang Yang's instruction, in preparation for today's game.

Seeing his own pile of chips dwindling, Joshua interrupted the game with a loud flourish of words. Then, suddenly came the three terrible words, ”You are cheating!”

Michael Pitt shook his head with his cigarette sticking out from his mouth. ”No, I'm just lucky.”

The muscles were rigid in Joshua's jaw as he tried to suppress his outrage. ”Luck? You've been winning too many games straight. It can't be luck! Come on; tell us. How did you do it?”

”Joshua, shut up. You're embarrassing yourself,” Jessica said reproachfully as she picked up the deck of shuffled cards and proceeded to deal.

Upon picking up the first card and taking a look, Wang Yang chuckled, ”Wow, nice!”

Jessica looked up at him and smiled, as her hands continued to dole out cards in circular rotation. ”Really?”

Wang Yang nodded gleefully. He picked up the second card and burst out with joy, ”Wow, this is awesome! Jessica, you're my lucky star!” When it came to his turn to bet, Wang Yang gathered all his starting chips and shoved it to the middle of the congregation with a glowing air of prowess and pride. ”All in!”

Wang Yang's blatant display of confidence sent thrills of indignation into the hearts of his opponents. They looked at Wang Yang with full suspicion. Even Jessica was a little skeptical. Could she have dealt Wang Yang such a good hand? Could it be a pair of aces?

”Please!” Joshua shouted indignantly. It was not the gentleman's way to force opponents to raise their stakes even before the first card was revealed. But to his eyes, Wang Yang's countenance was positively bullish. He considered a moment, then laid his cards down resignedly. ”I fold!” he said.

”I fold, too,” said Zachary, dropping his cards. He looked at Erin sidelong and told her, ”Erin, don't raise.” Then, scratching his head, he told everyone, ”Nobody raise!”

Everybody evidently felt that Wang Yang held superior cards, and one by one they decided to fold. Wang Yang let out a cheer. Sweeping all the chips to his side of the floor, his eyes gleaming with joy, Wang Yang chuckled and chuckled. Unlike at a casino, it was not the custom among friends playing Texas Poker at home to reveal cards upon winning. But upon his curious friends' requests, Wang Yang whanged his cards down—three of hearts and six of spades.

The jaws of the others dropped as they looked at him. Then, there was a chorus of curses. It turned out his cards were dogs! Jessica, expecting to see a pair of aces, seemed a little disappointed.

Zachary, having been cast a disapproving look by Erin, grumbled, ”Yang, you sly dog!”

Joshua scrunched his hair and said disgruntledly, ”Man, I had a pair of nines!”

Rachel smiled and said, ”We got to see another side of Wang Yang. I never knew he was such a good actor!”

Wang Yang laughed in a manner that others found annoying. Then, gathering the cards in his hands, he said, ”Come on, round two. Let's get at it.”

After the card games, the gang sang and dance and watched DVDs until the sun went down. The cake that Wang Yang had ordered came, and everybody stood around it as they sang ”Happy Birthday” to Rachel. They ate the cake and frolicked late into the night. The party ended on a high note, and one by one, laughing and in great spirits, the guests left the apartment for their homes.

Silence settled like dust after the party. Wang Yang was sitting on the wicker sofa watching television, while Michael Pitt was sitting on the other end of that sofa, thinking about the day's event. Suddenly, he asked, ”Yang, there's something I don't quite understand. Jessica and Rachel—which one of them is your girlfriend?”

That stymied Wang Yang. He wheeled upon Michael Pitt and shrugged his shoulders. ”Neither of them is my girlfriend,” said Wang Yang.

”Interesting,” said Michael Pitt with a thin, cunning smile. Wang Yang ignored him and went back to his television. After a period of silence, Michael Pitt spoke again, ”Didn't you notice it? They're both into you.”

Wang Yang watched the television without saying a word. How could he not notice it? He was neither stupid nor inexperienced when it came to love. He sensed it, all right. It was just that… Wang Yang turned off the television with the click of the remote. Then, he rose from the sofa and started for his bedroom. ”Give it a rest, Michael. It's none of your business,” he remarked.

Michael Pitt put his feet up where Wang Yang was sitting and reclined on the sofa, angling his head at Wang Yang as he walked off. ”Come now, you can't run away forever,” he said.

”I know,” Wang Yang stopped to say, then strode into his bedroom. For some reason, Michael Pitt's words had a profound effect on him; they echoed in his head, causing him intense frustration. He paced back and forth in his room as he recounted that incident on the beach with Jessica—he had been about to propose to her, but then someone else's face had come to his mind, and at that moment, he felt he was not ready to embark on a new relationship.

Wang Yang made another lap around his room and came to a corner where a cardboard box filled with books lay. It was the very box that he had brought with him when he was kicked out of USC. All the books were still inside, untouched when they should have been placed on a bookshelf. He picked a book out of the cardboard box titled Little Women and sat down on the side of his bed. As he opened the book, the first thing he saw was a photograph.

In the photograph was a blonde girl with the most vivid and attractive smile. Her eyes had a twinkle that resembled stars in a night sky. Wang Yang laid his back on his bed, holding the photo up with outstretched arms, and breathed out through his nose. ”D*mn it…” he murmured.