Chapter 30: The Drunken Man

A gentle breeze blows in the evening, the night market is bustling with activity, buildings are built along the water, and occasionally a few awning boats pass by, carrying the melodious tunes of folk songs.

Yang Bai led his entourage to the banquet. Yueyinglou was bustling with people. As soon as they entered, a waiter stepped forward and asked, "Excuse me, are you Miss Yang from the Yang Family Gang?"

"Yes," Yang Bai replied.

"Please follow me. Miss Shang is already waiting for you upstairs."

The higher you go, the more you see flying bridges and railings, beaded curtains and elegant balustrades, and brightly lit candles, creating an extraordinary atmosphere. It truly deserves to be the premier of Yangzhou's three great restaurants.

The fact that the waiter here was so respectful suggests that she underestimated Miss Shang's stature.

Wanhan Pavilion, what a top-class private room! Yang Bai couldn't believe that she would one day be able to enter this place that could be described as a place where a fortune could be squandered.

Upon entering the room, a large round table was laden with dishes, all steaming hot and fragrant, too much to take in at once.

"Miss Yang, please make yourselves at home," Shang Yuji said, standing up and gesturing for them to sit.

The waiter asked respectfully, "Miss, is there anything else you need?"

Shang Yuji: "No need, you can go down first. By the way, tell the manager not to bring any more dishes, there's enough for us here."

When the manager of Yueyinglou heard that Shang Yuji wanted to use a private room to entertain guests, he was incredibly proactive and wanted to do everything he could to please her.

The young lady provided menus to three restaurants in Yangzhou, which boosted their businesses even further. Now that she needed to entertain guests, why did she choose Yueyinglou instead of the other two?

It must be because they think highly of Yueyinglou; this is Yueyinglou's opportunity.

If Miss Shang is satisfied, she might consider Yueyinglou for the next menu!

This allowed them to overtake the other two restaurants and instantly become the most famous restaurant in Yangzhou!

Unable to refuse, Shang Yuji had no choice but to agree. When Yang Bai arrived, he witnessed a feast comparable to the Manchu Han Imperial Feast.

During the banquet, Jiang Xi stared curiously at the wine in his glass. Seeing A Ji raise his glass and drink with Yang Bai, he also raised his glass, brought it close to his nose, sniffed it, and carefully took a sip from the rim.

As if his throat were on fire, he suppressed the itch and immediately put the glass back in its place.

Jiang Xiqu's face flushed a beautiful red from the sudden choking, making him look stunning. Unfortunately, Shang Yuji was busy entertaining guests and could only spare a hand to help him catch his breath before getting into another round of work.

The banquet ended quickly, and both host and guests were thoroughly entertained.

There was still a lot of food left on the table, so Yang Bai asked if they could take the extra food with them and let the younger members of the gang have a taste.

Shang Yuji would be more than willing to solve the problem of food waste.

After seeing Yang Bai and the others off downstairs, a cool breeze blew, clearing away the slight haze in her head from drinking.

Shang Yuji underestimated the intoxicating power of the wine while overestimating her own alcohol tolerance, and unsurprisingly, she got drunk.

After drinking too much, Shang Yuji became more talkative and clingy, holding Jiang Xiqu's arm as the two walked home together in the evening breeze.

Jiang Xi was unaware that A Ji was drunk, busy enjoying A Ji's intimacy with him.

It felt as if I had drunk the sweetest nectar in the world, and all this joy came from one person.

"Cloud sales".

Shang Yuji, slow to react due to intoxication, remembered that Yunxiao was her name and softly replied, "Hmm? I'm here."

"Cloud sales, cloud sales".

"Yes, I'm here..."

Jiang Xi called out all the way, and Shang Yuji responded the whole way.

They finally arrived at the mansion and happened to run into Wang Si, who was sweeping the courtyard. As the two passed by him, he smelled the alcohol on them and saw that Miss Shang was unusually dazed, so he realized that Miss Shang had probably drunk too much.

He waved to Jiang Xi and called out, "My lord, my lord Jiang!"

Hearing Wang Si's shout, Jiang Xi stopped and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Shang Yuji stopped and turned around with her.

Wang Si asked, "Miss Shang must be drunk. Sir, please take her back to her room first, and I'll go ask Sister Zhao to make some hangover soup!"

"Yunxiao, are you drunk?" Jiang Xi lowered her head and carefully looked at Shang Yuji's face.

He knew that drinking could lead to drunkenness, but shouldn't a drunk person be red-faced, shouting and yelling everywhere, or even recklessly hurting others?

"I'm not drunk!" Shang Yuji retorted.

Jiang Xi looked up and said to Wang Si, "Yun Xiao said she wasn't drunk."

Wang Si said helplessly, "A drunk person will not admit that he is drunk."

Upon hearing this, he thought Wang Si was right; perhaps Aji really was drunk?

Unexpectedly, Shang Yuji put one hand on her hip and pointed at Jiang Xi with the other: "Do you believe me or him?"

"It's yours! Of course it's yours!" Jiang Xi said decisively without the slightest hesitation.

Wang Si: ...

Wang Si had no choice but to rephrase: "After all, you've been drinking, so it's better to have a bowl of hangover soup. Otherwise, you'll have a headache when you wake up tomorrow."

"It can't hurt!" Upon hearing that Aji would be in pain, Jiang Xi immediately accepted Wang Si's suggestion, "Then I'll give Yunxiao the hangover soup once it's ready."

"I'll have to trouble you then, my lord."

After learning that Aji was drunk, Jiang Xi carefully escorted Shang Yuji back to her house, saying, "There's a threshold here, so remember to lift your foot so you don't step on it crookedly."

"Watch out for the wooden table, don't bump into it..."

Jiang Xi kept muttering to herself, which annoyed Shang Yuji. She finally managed to sit down on the edge of the bed. Just as she was checking the bed for any hard objects that might cause her to bump into something, the person next to her grabbed her shoulder and shoved her hard onto the bed.

Jiang Xi was initially bewildered by the sudden push, but then he smelled the familiar scent emanating from the pillow around him. His face flushed, and his ears burned. He raised his affectionate fox-like eyes and asked softly, "A-Ji... what's wrong?"

"You're being a bit noisy." Shang Yuji straddled him, trying to pin him down and prevent him from getting up.

"Um... Ah Ji, I, I won't make a fuss."

Surrounded by Aji's scent, Jiang Xi felt weak and powerless, wanting nothing more than to linger there. Finally, the unbearable torment brought tears to his eyes, and his voice trembled as he whispered, "Aji, Aji, I want to hug you, Aji... I like you, sob..."

The person straddling her appeared calm and composed, even though the other person looked shy, with a pink tongue peeking out from under their slightly parted lips, their eyes seemingly unfocused yet fixed on her, and a few strands of black hair scattered on their flushed cheeks, making them look pitifully alluring.

She thought for a moment, then her gaze fell on his rosy lips.

Why is he still talking?

Shang Yuji narrowed her eyes, pressed her body down, and the approaching distance magnified the figure in the fox's eyes until the softness covered and blocked those murmuring lips.

"Hmm...?" Jiang Xi blinked, her heart pounding like a drum. As she approached, her hands wrapped around her like vines, tightly holding her. Soft sobs escaped uncontrollably from between her arms.

When Shang Yuji tried to get up, the arm around her back clung tightly, preventing her from rising. She then glared at the person who seemed to be completely disoriented and had lost her bearings.

"Lick, Ah Ji, lick me again... I want more..."

Seeing that she couldn't get up, Shang Yuji gave up struggling, snuggled into his neck, and retorted, "It's not licking, it's kissing."

"Then kiss me again."

"No, I'm too tired."

His arms parted from her back and began to rub upwards little by little. Shang Yuji felt a little itchy and raised one hand to press down on his hand that was rubbing upwards: "What are you doing?"

"I'm not tired, I'll kiss Aji."

As a result, Shang Yuji did not cooperate and slumped softly on top of him. Jiang Xi was at a loss and was anxious to kiss her, so he was so anxious that tears came to his eyes.

In an instant, a brilliant idea struck him: Ah Ji was able to kiss him because he was on top of her. If Ah Ji switched places with him and was on the bottom of him, he could then kiss Ah Ji!

As soon as the idea came to him, he immediately tried it. Fortunately, Shang Yuji didn't react in time and let him do as he pleased. By the time he realized the situation, the balance of power had already shifted.

The candlelight flickered, and Shang Yuji, trapped in the small space, looked at his face, which seemed to be loved. His long hair fell in the air, and the familiar aura around him made her feel at ease.

Whether it was inside her house or the person who pinned her down between their arms.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

Jiang Xi looked at her and reached out to smooth her disheveled hair: "I'm going to kiss you."

Shang Yuji smiled radiantly: "Do you know what 'kin' means?"

"Of course I know!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he put his words into action, mimicking her movements from before. He lowered his body and closed the distance between them until their soft breasts touched, their breaths mingling at such close proximity.

The crisp laughter stopped abruptly. Jiang Xi raised her eyelids, and a crystal tear fell onto her cheek, sliding down her face. Along with it fell the thought that Shang Yuji had just had of pushing the person off her.

She no longer met those eyes that seemed both clear and alluring.

All the intimacy he knew came from her, even kisses were fleeting, but he was also a quick learner who could draw inferences from one instance: "Aji, I want to kiss you again, kiss your face, kiss your eyebrows and eyes..."

Perhaps it was because the night was so beautiful, and the woman under the lamplight was stunningly attractive, her eyes crinkling with intoxication. She smiled and said, "But you haven't finished learning how to kiss yet."

Knowing that Aji meant to indulge him, Jiang Xi rubbed his cheek against hers and said softly, "Aji, teach me again, I will learn well."

Their groping mouths entwined, and a wet, soft thing entered their unguarded place. After playing for a while, they were abruptly stopped by the host when they were about to leave. After struggling for a while, they finally managed to leave.

Shang Yuji's already confused thoughts became even more chaotic. The sound of candlelight occasionally broke the silence in the room, which was then mixed with intermittent breathing.

Before they could even rest properly, the studious students were already reviewing their lessons. Their high, straight noses pressed against their cheeks, signaling the start of a new round of invitations.

“Ah Ji…you, you rest for a while, I’ll do it this time…”

Even so, he had already lowered himself to review the knowledge he had just learned, and even spoke in the gaps between words.

As he relentlessly pushed her back, tears streamed down her face. Shang Yuji endured it all while tightly gripping his collar. In the end, she didn't even think to voice her objections, tacitly allowing him to push his luck time and time again.

She seemed to have become the pitiful one, accepting his offense with tears streaming down her face—an offense she had acquiesced to.

Ah Ji...

"I think I can kiss Ah Ji from now on."

"Um."

"I want to kiss you again, Ah Ji, um, kiss you anywhere."

"Um……"

"Is licking okay?"

She hesitated for a moment, then refused, saying, "Don't lick it. It'll make you covered in saliva, and you'll need to shower. It's too much trouble."

Jiang Xi felt there was hope, so she stopped what she was doing and tried to persuade herself, saying, "I'll help Aji wash, it's no trouble at all."

Shang Yuji didn't quite grasp the idea. She vaguely agreed with his words, but then felt something was off, so she didn't make any promises.

Fortunately, Aunt Zhao brought hangover soup in time, saving Shang Yuji's brain from overload.

When he brought over the hangover soup, Shang Yuji got up from the bed and asked, "What is this?"

"It's a hangover soup; drinking it will make you feel better."

Jiang Xi scooped up a spoonful and brought it to her lips. The unusually bright red color was not the result of her earlier fooling around.

She frowned and pursed her lips, raising her hand to take the spoon from his hand: "I'll drink it myself."

"Shall I feed you? Ah Ji, let me feed you."

Seeing her hesitant expression, she slowly lowered her raised hand and quietly agreed. Jiang Xi felt that the drunken Aji was easy to talk to.

He fed her spoonful by spoonful, slowly and deliberately. Several times, Shang Yuji wanted to snatch the soup bowl and gulp it down, but he still managed to coax her into giving up. She would just glare at him and then silently swallow the soup that was brought to her mouth.

After struggling for a long time, Shang Yuji finally finished the hangover soup and quietly breathed a sigh of relief. She pointed to the door and said, "I'm tired and need to rest. You can leave now."

“But Aji hasn’t changed her clothes yet, let me help her.” The soup bowl was placed on the table with a soft sound, and Jiang Xi was eager to try.

"I can do it myself."

As she said this, Jiang Xi could only find her some nightgowns so that she could change into them.

Shang Yuji lowered her head, her ten fingers struggling with the woven ribbon around her waist, but the more she stirred it, the more tangled it became. In desperation, she spread her hands to both sides: "You help me change."

Having received permission, Jiang Xi immediately stepped forward. Her delicate hands, with pink knuckles, deftly untied the sash around her waist, leaving her clothes loose and unfastened.

He was bending over, and Shang Yuji happened to see his bright red ears, like a gorgeous sunset. She reached out and grabbed his earlobe: "Your ears are so red."

When she was pulled, Jiang Xi lost her balance and her hand landed on her fair skin. The touch was so hot that she recoiled and complained, "It's so hot."

Jiang Xi was so anxious that sweat beaded on her nose. She quickly reassured him, "It'll be changed soon, Aji, just bear with it."

"Waaah..." The further Jiang Xi went, the harder it became for her to concentrate. The heat raged within her, unable to be released, and finally condensed into a sob.

Shang Yuji couldn't understand for a moment. He offered to help her change the clothes, but why did it seem like she was bullying and exploiting her?

That's outrageous!

I can vouch for her, she is a perfectly good citizen!

She cupped his cheeks in her hands and bit his cunning lips hard. Jiang Xi put down his nightgown and obeyed her. Seeing that she seemed to be taking a bite to vent her anger, he reluctantly chased after her, trying to entice her to stay.

Shang Yuji was puzzled. Why did a bite that started as a venting of anger change its nature later on?