Xu Ye knew her well enough that he didn't urge her to drink, but instead directly quoted the price of the bottle of red wine.

Upon hearing the number, Xu Moran thought she had misheard. Staring at the red wine in the decanter, she asked Xu Ye, "Is this red wine really that expensive?"

Xu Ye nodded, moved his face closer to hers, and whispered, "Ranran, I'm not lying to you, it really is that expensive." He paused, then looked into Xu Moran's eyes and said, "So, Ranran, we absolutely can't waste such expensive red wine."

“But…” Xu Moran hesitated, “I really can’t drink.”

Xu Ye smiled and tempted, "Ranran, how will you know you can't drink it if you don't try?"

That makes a lot of sense; how will you know if you don't try?

Xu Moran didn't hesitate any longer, picked up the wine glass and took a sip. "Ugh, this is so awful. This five-figure wine is worse than a drink that costs only a few dollars."

This was the conclusion Xu Moran reached after taking the first sip.

Seeing Xu Moran's furrowed brows, Xu Ye knew what she was thinking. He also picked up the wine glass in front of him, but his way of holding the glass was different from Xu Moran's. He held the stem of the glass with three fingers, tilted the glass at a 45-degree angle, and gently swirled it in one direction several times.

Next, he clearly and carefully demonstrated to Xu Moran the correct way to drink red wine, including how the tip of the tongue should curl to best appreciate its true flavor. He was a meticulous and patient teacher.

.

Following his instructions, Xu Moran took another sip and was surprised to find that it was indeed not as bad as before. She took another sip and found it to be delicious.

With the thought of not wasting any wine in mind, Xu Moran drank more than half of the bottle of red wine. It was really hard on her, as she was clearly already quite drunk, but she was still thinking about asking the waiter to pay the bill.

Her two hands, which were not entirely under her control, had just reached for her wallet when a waiter rushed to the table to tell her that someone had already paid the bill.

She naturally assumed it was Xu Xiusen, since it was Xu Xiusen who called to say he was treating, but she later found out that Xu Ye had paid for it.

This was the first birthday Xu Ye celebrated for her. In the days that followed, whenever she thought back on it, what impressed her most was not how delicious the steak was or how elegant the restaurant was, but how expensive that bottle of red wine was—so expensive that she couldn't bear to waste a single drop.

When Xu Mo stood up, she swayed several times and looked like she was about to fall, but a pair of large, strong hands caught her in time.

Xu Moran opened her blurry eyes and struggled to make out who had caught her. She chuckled and said, "Xu Ye, how can you be so good-looking?"

Xu Ye was about to reply, "No matter how good-looking he is, he's yours," but before he could speak, Xu Moran continued, "Shh, don't talk. I've heard people say that these days, good-looking men are either already someone else's husband or gay. Hahaha, Xu Ye, let me guess, which one are you?"

Xu Ye was so angry that his teeth itched. Who was talking nonsense in Xu Moran's ear? However, being as clever as he was, he quickly leaned close to Xu Moran's ear and said, "Ranran, I am honored to be the first type, and I will be your husband."

It is often said that one's mind is clear when drunk, and Xu Ye thought that Xu Moran would take his words to heart. However, when he finished speaking and looked down at Xu Moran, she had already fallen asleep.

Xu Ye carried Xu Moran in a princess carry and strode out of the restaurant.

As soon as he stepped out of the Western restaurant, someone came up to him. One of them had long hair and heavy makeup, dressed like a typical woman, but when she spoke, it was a man's voice: "Brother, you've finally come out."

Xiao Anhe said expressionlessly, "Let's talk in the car."

He was afraid of waking Xu Moran, so he spoke very softly. The man dressed as a woman was a bit oblivious and wanted to talk to Xiao Anhe, but was stopped in time by the man standing next to him. "Didn't you hear? Big brother said we'll talk in the car."

The man dressed as a woman said in confusion, "Why do I feel like my brother has changed a lot?"

The man who stopped him reminded him, "Whether our boss changes or not is none of your business. We just need to do our job. Like not long ago, since our boss wanted us to pretend to be a couple arguing, then we just pretended."

What about being falsely accused of being a father? What about the blood test for paternity? These were all arrangements made in advance by Xiao Anhe to remind Xu Xiusen.

He didn't know why Sun Xingchao would send Xu Moran, who had no investigative experience, to X City to secretly investigate the Fang family. He only knew that he had to protect Xu Moran. He would handle his own entanglements with the Fang family. If he didn't want Xu Moran to get involved, he could only let Xu Xiusen know in advance that Xu Moran was his biological daughter.

This would allow Xu Xiusen to keep Xu Moran occupied and prevent her from getting involved in the complicated feuds between the Xiao and Fang families.