Chapter 47 There is no life I cannot live

The four of them continued drinking for a while, then said goodbye after staying sober for a while. Hei Pi had the worst stomach reaction, and Da Tou drank the most, so they took a taxi back together. Lin Yao received a call from Lin Xiangrong, and he was anxious, so he said he would come to pick her up, and he was already on his way. Lin Yuxun told her that he would return to Nanjing early the next morning, and he had things to do, so he would stay for a while. She swayed slightly as she showed her last courtesy and wanted to call a designated driver to take him to the hotel. He was drunk, with a hint of intoxication in his eyes, "I can call a designated driver myself, and your car hasn't come yet. Didn't you say you would take me to the ferry?" "Did you say that? I feel dizzy." She remembered that she seemed to have said that, and looked at her watch, "It's almost twelve o'clock, and there's no one by the river. If you fall in, no one will rescue you." "Your guy called Brother Xiao Feng is so pretentious and boring, and it ruined my mood. Please take me out to get some fresh air and relax." He was probably drunk, and he said whatever he wanted to say. "Who are you to say that about him? He didn't mess with you. You're meddling in my business, aren't you?" She scooted toward the ferry, stabbing her in the chest, annoyed. After all this time, he was meddling in her affairs. He was certain that this Xiao Feng brother was her most handsome man, untouchable and guarded closely. Furious, he held back from revealing her secrets. The wind was strong, and she was still wrapped in his coat. She pulled it tighter, her steps unsteady. He supported her elbow, but she pulled it free. "I'm not drunk, I can walk." After leading him for about fifty meters, she stopped at a viewing platform at the ferry. The ferry was no longer what it used to be. The cross-river bridge, now accessible in just a few minutes, had long since eclipsed its former glory. It was late, the river dark and still, nothing visible save for the faint lights on the opposite side and the occasional car lights passing on the bridge. "There's nothing much to see at this time. It used to be... bustling here, but now... people..." Her words faltered, and she suddenly died. She clutched her arms, unsteady on her feet, her voice trembling. He sensed her distress and wanted to hug her, purely for psychological support. He supported her shoulders and turned her to face him. "Are you cold? Never mind. I won't look." She was much shorter than him, and with a push, she swung her face against his throat, his embrace tight. Her vulnerability at that moment, coupled with the alcohol, made no resistance to the embrace. He buried his head in the scent of her hair, his mind clouding. "Don't cry." "I'm not." "You are." "No." "Then let me see." He seized the opportunity, cupping her chin with his palm, pushing it up with uncontrolled force. Her face tilted upward, eyes blurred by the alcohol, her plump lips slightly pouting. As he'd suspected, the little face in his palm was damp, and he couldn't help but rub his thumb across his lips...

The four of them continued drinking for a while, then said goodbye while still sober.

Heipi had the worst stomach reaction and Datou drank the most, so the two of them took a taxi back together.

Lin Yao received a call from Lin Xiangrong. He was anxious and said he would come to pick her up and was already on the way.

Lin Yuxun told her that he would be returning to Nanjing early the next morning, as he had other matters to attend to and would be staying for a while. With a slightly unsteady step, she performed her final act of hospitality and called a designated driver to take him to the hotel.

He was drunk, his eyes gleaming with intoxication. "I can call a designated driver myself. Your car hasn't even arrived yet. Didn't you say you'd take me around the ferry?"

"Did he say that? I feel dizzy." She remembered that she seemed to have said that and looked at her watch. "It's almost twelve o'clock. There's no one by the river. If you fall in, no one will rescue you."

"That guy of yours called Brother Xiaofeng is so pretentious and boring. It ruined my mood. Could you please take me out for some fresh air and some relaxation?"

He was probably drunk and said whatever he wanted to say.

"What right do you have to talk about him? He didn't provoke you. Why are you meddling in other people's business?" She moved her feet towards the ferry and stabbed her in the chest, unhappy.

After all this time, he was considered to be meddling in her affairs. He was sure that this Xiao Feng brother was the most handsome one for her, and he was untouchable and protected tightly. He was angry, but he endured it and didn't reveal her secrets.

The wind was strong, and she was still wearing his coat. She pulled it tighter, and her steps were unsteady. He supported her elbow, but she broke free and said, "I'm not drunk. I can walk."

After walking him about fifty meters, she stopped at a viewing platform at the ferry.

The ferry crossing was no longer what it once was. The opening of the new cross-river bridge, which made reaching the shore a matter of minutes, had long since eclipsed its former glory. It was late, and the river was pitch black and calm. Apart from the faint lights on the opposite side and the occasional car lights passing on the bridge, nothing could be seen.

"There's nothing much to see at this time. It used to be... very lively here, but now... people are..."

The words were intermittent and the voice suddenly disappeared.

She hugged her arms tightly and stood unsteadily, her voice trembling.

He sensed she was sad and wanted to hug her, purely to give her psychological support. He held her shoulders and turned her to face him. "Are you cold? Never mind. I won't look anymore."

She was much shorter than him, and he bent her body and swung her, pressing her face against his throat, holding her tightly in his embrace.

At this time, vulnerability and alcohol do not resist embrace.

He buried his head in the fragrance of her hair and his mind became unclear.

"Don't cry."

"I didn't cry."

"You're crying."

"No."

"Then let me see."

He waited for an opportunity to hold her chin with his palm, and lifted it up without controlling the strength. Her face tilted up, her eyes blurred by the alcohol, her lips full and slightly parted. As he had guessed, the little face in his palm had two lines of moisture. He couldn't help but rub the moisture on her lips with his thumb, feeling the smooth and soft flesh. In an instant, he couldn't control himself and pressed down to kiss her.

The gradually growing affection, the strong physical attraction, the drunken brain, and the anger caused by being accused of meddling in other people's business just now, all mixed together, and the turmoil that was set off came without any warning.

She suddenly fell into a coma where she couldn't think.

The hot breath from his mouth was mixed with the smell of alcohol. He sucked her lips, and his cunning tongue probed into hers, chasing her, demanding the wetness in her mouth.

She had no idea how long it had been going on. Her lips and teeth were clumsy and powerless after being opened. Her breath was sucked away by his sucking. She couldn't breathe, and her tongue was entangled so she couldn't make any sound. When she came to her senses, she grabbed and pushed away the hands that were holding her waist. Her teeth were delayed in responding and she bit him.

He let go as she pleased.

She walked in a panic, feeling dizzy and disoriented. Her clothes fell off her body, she went in the wrong direction and then turned back in another direction, running towards the road with unsteady steps.

The impulsive man gasped, his eyes red like a wolf that had just torn apart a defeated one. Seeing her terrified look, he realized that he had done something stupid. He bent down with his palms on his knees, took a deep breath, and adjusted himself. He stumbled and caught up with her, "I'm sorry, I'm drunk."

The taxis along the river are basically empty at this time and stop when they see people.

"Be careful, wait a minute." He stopped her.

She shook off his hand, opened the car door and got in.

After getting in the car, she covered her face and cried. What happened today? Half drunk and half awake, she didn't know whether everything that happened today was real or a dream.

Lin Xiangrong was busy answering the phone, so he called her one after another. She answered the calls, and only when she heard their anxious inquiries did she finally come back to reality.

It was almost noon the next day.

Tang Ruifen and Lin Xiangrong were packing up the things they would take away for her tomorrow morning in the kitchen.

"You left before your butt even warmed up, and didn't even think about staying with me." Tang Ruifen muttered in a low voice.

"She's busy."

"Busy for nothing. Quit my job to become a headhunter. It's unstable, I don't have a house, a car, a boyfriend, and I don't know how much money I've saved. You heard your second sister-in-law's mouth yesterday, didn't you? If it wasn't for the old lady's birthday, I would have slapped her in the face."

"You talk too much." Lin Xiangrong lowered his voice.

"If she was obedient, would I have so much to say? I advised her to pursue a master's degree before, but she refused no matter what. At her age now, why would she take the postgraduate entrance examination? It would cost her money and time. The right thing should be done at the right time. If the time is wrong, it is wrong! She has completely gone astray, I tell you. She has fallen behind!" Tang Ruifen almost raised her voice, but she controlled herself, paused her mouth and hands for a while, and listened to the movement in her room.

"It was you who drove her astray with your mouth." Lin Xiangrong took the bag, pinched the sealing chain with two fingers, and clamped it hard without any force to seal the bag.

"How dare you say that to me? You committed a sin in the past! I'm too lazy to talk about the past."

Lin Xiangrong heard the words and walked out of the kitchen door without saying a word.

Tang Ruifen put all the sealed bags into another large plastic bag, tied a knot at the bag opening with air, went out of the kitchen and looked at the clock on the wall, wanting to remind the people in the room that it was getting late, but she held back.

The person who woke up got up immediately, washed up, went out to the living room, took out the hairband on his wrist and tied his hair.

Tang Ruifen brought her brunch to the table.

The table was already overflowing with food. Tang Ruifen had spent the morning making pot stickers, pan-fried buns, and other snacks. She was quite good at making snacks.

"Stop it, it's too much to finish." Lin Yao picked up a pot sticker with chopsticks and took a bite, then went into the kitchen.

"I'll make another bowl of noodles." Tang Ruifen worked tirelessly, scooping the noodles from the pot into the bowl and adding chicken soup.

To Lin Yao, Tang Ruifen was a complex of contradictions. She knew she gave her all, but she couldn't understand why she was stuck in a world of competition with Chen Lanjing. She didn't know the turning point, only that they suddenly stopped communicating, and then they started arguing over trivial matters at work and in the hospital, which then escalated into a fight over their children. Her stubbornness was unstoppable.

Her attitude towards Tang Ruifen was also a complex mix of contradictions. She cared about her happiness, but she couldn't cuddle and exchange intimate words with her like other daughters did when they came home and left. It wasn't that she didn't want to, it was that she couldn't.

Tang Ruifen wiped the spilled soup from the countertop with a rag, picked up the full bowl and walked towards the restaurant. "Some things require effort, some efforts should be made, some efforts should be made, and the best life should be achieved."

The words asking her to do better were much more subtle than before.

She smiled and said, "Mom, there is no life I can't live. Don't worry." After that, she stuffed the pot stickers left by the chopsticks into her mouth. Her mouth was full, but she couldn't taste anything after chewing it.

In the afternoon, Lin Xiangrong took her to visit her grandmother, who had been living with her uncle's family.

After a while of being affectionate, grandma pulled her into the room and separated her from Lin Xiangrong.

"I want to tell you something, but don't tell your mother." Grandma said mysteriously.

"What's up?"

"Someone came to see me this morning. Guess who?"

Her first reaction was Chen Lanjing, but she didn't mention it, saying she couldn't guess.

"Xiaofeng, Lan Jing's son Xiaofeng, came to see me this morning. I hadn't seen him for so many years that I didn't even recognize him. He chatted with me the whole morning. Don't tell your mother that you think I'm still in contact with Lan Jing, or she'll be angry with me."

Pei Yifeng was a posthumous child. When he was little, he and Lin Yao often went to his grandmother's house. The old lady was kind and felt sorry for the child without a father. He was taken care of by the old lady a lot. She gave him food and drink and treated him like Lin Yao's own grandson.

"Is he alone?"

"one person."

"What did you talk about?"

"He said he was getting married soon. He insisted on giving me a red envelope."

"Yeah. He's not a child anymore." She smiled.

"Still asking about you, you two haven't been in touch?"

"What did he ask me?"

"When are you planning to get married?"

She was stunned for a moment, "What did grandma say?"

Grandma smiled, "How could I let you fall behind? He's getting married soon, so I told him you'll be too. Yaoyao, you better try your best."

"What else did you talk about?"

"He looked at some old photos with me. He looked through my albums page by page and asked me for two photos. One is of you when you were little, when you were seven or eight years old and riding a bicycle with him. The other is a photo of you and me taken when you came back two years ago. I asked your uncle to have it developed at the photo studio."

"What does he want the picture for?"

"He said we don't see each other often, so he kept it to remember the past. When I left, I saw he put the photo here," Grandma smiled and pointed to the side of her chest. "He put it here, in this pocket."

On the way home, Lin Xiangrong, who never interfered with her, saw that she was in much worse shape this time. "Yaoyao, if you're tired outside, think about coming back. I'm going to retire in a few years, and I'm still in office now. I've used my connections and asked everyone to give me face. I can find a job back home. It shouldn't be difficult if you're not picky. You've come so far alone, it's hard to say if you want to come back any later."

"Dad, I definitely won't go back."

When her grandmother saw her off, she told her to eat well. She thought, "Eat well. Just having a bowl of rice is enough. There's nothing she can't live like outside, and she won't starve to death."

In the car, she called Tan Ming and said, "I have a flight tomorrow morning. I'll go directly to the company at noon and have an interview scheduled for the afternoon. Please hurry up and find someone for Song Yuqing."

Before coming back, Song Yuqing asked her to find two more people for them, a department director and an auditor. She and Long Wei had discussed it together. They would take care of the high-end positions themselves, and leave the general positions to her colleagues first. If they couldn't handle it, they would be there to help at any time.

She checked WeChat and saw that Lin Yuxun had sent another message.

I sent a message this morning: "I'm going to Nanjing, leaving now."

One post at noon: "I arrived in Nanjing."

Just now, "Yesterday, Datou asked which crayfish place in Nanjing was the best? I can't remember. I'll look for it."

He didn't say a word about his drunken behavior last night. She held her forehead and closed her eyes, feeling a headache. She blamed herself for drinking too much and getting so close to a drunk and frivolous young man. She decided to keep her distance from him and vowed that if she drank with him again in the future, she would no longer be called Lin Yao.

Yesterday, Datou mentioned where to get delicious crayfish, and she mentioned a certain street in Nanjing and a certain store. She remembered the name of the store.

She didn't hesitate or hesitate. She didn't reply to the first two messages, but she replied to this one:

"I was drunk and don't remember anything."