twenty three

"Stop drinking, Xiao Qing, what are you doing!" In the bar, Li Muqing called out Zhao Xiaolong and his buddies, but didn't say anything, just kept pouring herself drinks. Zhao Yezhi couldn't stand it anymore, snatched the drink from Li Muqing, and said.

"Stop pretending to be a coward! Give me the wine!" Li Muqing snatched the wine glass back and then drank it in big gulps.

Even Zhao Yezhi couldn't persuade her, and the others dared not speak. They could only hold their wine glasses and drink with Li Muqing. In the end, everyone except Zhao Yezhi was drunk. Li Muqing, drunk, clung to Zhao Xiaolong, constantly asking for kisses. Seeing that Li Muqing was completely intoxicated, Zhao Yezhi grabbed her and took her home.

Zhao Yezhi finally managed to get Li Muqing to her doorstep, but Li Muqing was still drunk and groggily trying to get kisses everywhere. Zhao Yezhi got impatient: "Look at you! What could possibly make you so pathetic?"

"Kiss me, I'm giving you a free kiss today, you're getting a good deal, kiss me..." Li Muqing said drunkenly, hugging Zhao Yezhi.

"What are you doing? I've never seen you this thirsty in all these years. Did you take aphrodisiacs?" Zhao Yezhi frowned.

"I told you to kiss me, did you hear me?!" Li Muqing shouted, her drunken eyes wide.

"Alright, alright, but don't regret it!" Zhao Yezhi pressed Li Muqing's head down and kissed her—or rather, bit her.

"Ugh!!!" Li Muqing slapped Zhao Yezhi's back hard, and finally pushed him hard, forcing Zhao Yezhi to let go.

"Fuck your grandpa!" Blood trickled from the corner of Li Muqing's mouth.

"Awake?" Zhao Yezhi wiped his mouth. "Not causing trouble anymore?"

Just then, Zhao Yezhi's phone rang. He took it out and listened; it was Qiu Jie.

"Okay, I'll be right there."

Zhao Yezhi hung up the phone, looked at Li Muqing who was taking out her keys to open the door, and asked, "Are you alright? If not, I'm leaving."

"Get the hell out of here, all of you get the fuck out of here! I'm perfectly fine!"

Seeing that Li Muqing was able to go home by herself, Zhao Yezhi was relieved. He walked to the elevator and pressed the button to go downstairs.

After Zhao Yezhi left, Xiao Jian secretly peeked out from the corner of the stairs and watched Li Muqing sitting motionless at his doorstep. The sadness in his heart grew stronger and stronger.

He slowly walked to Li Muqing's side, squatted down, and gently patted her face: "Li...Li Muqing? Are you...are you alright?"

Li Muqing kept her eyes closed and remained silent.

Seeing that Li Muqing seemed to be asleep, Xiao Jian decided to carry him home. Just as Xiao Jian reached out to hug Li Muqing and help him up from the ground, Li Muqing suddenly opened his eyes and, without thinking twice, turned around and threw a heavy punch at Xiao Jian: "You dare to take advantage of me? You're tired of living!"

Then came Xiao Jian's scream, but it was drowned out by a loud slam of the door.

That night, Li Muqing slept soundly—he was truly drunk.

The next day, Xiao Jian surprisingly didn't go to set up his breakfast stall—his left eye was really swollen.

Wang Youai almost laughed himself to the ground when he saw Xiao Jian's one-eyed face. However, he was a decent guy; after laughing, he even asked Xiao Jian who had done this to him and whether he needed help getting revenge. Xiao Jian, upon realizing that the person who hit him was Li Muqing, lost all his temper. He could only blame his bad luck for foolishly approaching someone when the King of Hell was constipated.

Because of his eye problems, Xiao Jian barely slept all night. He racked his brains, unable to understand why Li Muqing and Zhao Yezhi had kissed. He couldn't forget what he saw the moment the elevator doors opened—two living, breathing men, kissing so brazenly in front of his own doorstep, seen by everyone… No, no, no, that wasn't what Xiao Jian was thinking about. What puzzled him was why, when he saw the two kissing, he suddenly felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck him from head to toe. Was it shock? No. Was it curiosity? Impossible! How could he describe the feeling? It was as if all his strength had been drained from his body; his legs went weak, and his head short-circuited. But what exactly was this feeling? Xiao Jian couldn't figure it out. However, the only thing he was certain of was that if heaven could give him another chance to see this scene again, he hoped that chance would come ten thousand years from now.

After figuring this out, Xiao Jian was troubled again—what else could he do?

The answer came quickly.

That afternoon, Li Muqing invited Wang Youai and a few of his buddies to go drinking. After Wang Youai told Xiao Jian about this, Xiao Jian also wanted to go. When Wang Youai saw that Xiao Jian had even canceled his date with Wang Ting in order to go drinking, she thought to herself, "When did Xiao Heizi become so fond of drinking? Or was it that I never realized he was an alcoholic before?"

Regardless of what Wang Youai thought, Xiao Jian insisted on going. Wang Youai didn't care, since they all knew each other. So that night, she took Xiao Jian to the bar they frequented. Xiao Jian remembered that it was in this bar that Li Muqing told him that she liked men.

When Wang Youai and Xiao Jian arrived, Li Muqing was already drinking with Zhao Xiaolong and the others. Wang Youai greeted them and sat down. Li Muqing turned her head and glanced at Xiao Jian, who still had a bruise on his left eye. The moment Xiao Jian met her gaze, his chest pounded violently. Unfortunately, Li Muqing only glanced at him quickly before continuing to play drinking games with Zhao Xiaolong.

This was the first time Xiao Jian had ever experienced being ignored by Li Muqing, and to be honest, it was really unpleasant. However, after figuring things out last night, he didn't care anymore. He sat next to Li Muqing, and every time she lost, he would pick up his glass and drink the wine in it. Li Muqing ignored him and kept pouring wine into the empty glass. After she finished, she would pick up her glass to drink, but Xiao Jian would drink it all first. Li Muqing ignored him and kept pouring. The second time Xiao Jian did this, Li Muqing rolled her eyes at him. The third time, Li Muqing's breathing became heavy. The fourth time, everyone around them was embarrassed, but Xiao Jian still wouldn't let Li Muqing drink. When Xiao Jian finished his glass for the fifth time, Li Muqing finally couldn't take it anymore.

"Are you out of your mind? Go drink water if you're thirsty, this is alcohol!"

"I...I'm not out of my mind, I know this is alcohol, I just...I won't let you drink it!" Xiao Jian said this with such confidence that it terrified Wang Youai and Zhao Xiaolong.

"What gives you the right?" Li Muqing pretended to be unable to stand it, picked up her wine glass, and was about to pour more wine.

Just as he was about to put it in his mouth, Xiao Jian snatched the cup away and drank it all in one gulp.

"Just because...just because you're my buddy!" Xiao Jian shouted.