Chapter 43, "Sweet Wine," continues with even more ecstatic surprises!

Lu Wensheng draped his limp arm around Shen Hegui's neck, tilted his head back, and asked drunkenly, "Why do you need to tell me tomorrow morning?"

With a slight shift in her gaze, her eyes fell precisely on Shen Hegui's sharply defined profile.

This face is quite pretty, with flawless skin. I wonder what it would feel like to kiss it?

I want to kiss you!

Shen Hegui walked steadily to the small couch in the inner hall, stopped, and looked at her meaningfully: "You will naturally know the reason tomorrow morning."

Lu Wensheng's eyes darted around. Although drunk, her mind was still sharp. She instantly grasped the crux of the matter and pressed, "Since you can tell me tomorrow morning, does that mean you're neither married nor have a lover?"

"Nothing." Shen Hegui replied irritably to the drunkard Lu Wensheng, gently placing him on the small couch. The fabric of their clothes rustled against each other. "I'll have someone bring you some hangover soup. You wait here."

Seeing that Shen Hegui was about to leave, Lu Wensheng was unwilling to comply.

She grabbed Shen Hegui's hand and pulled him close, her voice rising with urgency: "What hangover soup? What would I do with that stuff? Your face is so intoxicating, I never want to wake up again! I've got my eye on you, you're not allowed to leave!"

Lu Wensheng's attack was sudden and surprisingly strong. Shen Hegui was completely unprepared and, losing his balance, he lurched towards her. In a flash, he could only quickly brace himself with his arms beside her to regain his footing.

The two instantly fell into an extremely delicate position, their noses almost touching, their breaths mingling.

In her hazy memory, Lu Wensheng vaguely recalled: she seemed to have made a promise with someone to say six cheesy pick-up lines, but she couldn't remember who it was.

Never mind, there are only five lines left now anyway.

Taking advantage of the extremely close distance, Lu Wensheng raised his hand and grasped Shen Hegui's nape. His fair fingertips dug into Shen Hegui's cool hair, and with just a little force, he eliminated the last gap between them.

The aroma of wine, mingled with the fragrance of Lu Wensheng's daughter, gradually seeped into Shen Hegui's breath.

Lu Wensheng gently nuzzled Shen Hegui's straight nose and said, "There are more than 360 days in a year, and at least 30,000 days in a lifetime. I'll spend the first 10,000 days growing up and working hard to earn money, and the next 20,000 days I'll spend every moment with you. You're the one I see when I open my eyes, and you're the one I dream about..."

Lu Wensheng tilted her head slightly and placed a precious and gentle kiss on the corner of his lips, softly replying, "So, how about I marry you?"

The touching words and the sincere kiss instantly stopped Shen Hegui's intention to leave. He clearly felt that his usually calm heart had lost its rhythm for a moment.

Being drunk made Lu Wensheng mistakenly believe that time had stopped in the past and that she was still an ordinary little girl.

Fragments of past memories surged up, and Lu Wensheng compared Shen Hegui's face with that of other men one by one.

Quickly draw a conclusion:

Ninety-five percent of the men in the village and town are ugly and deformed. If I suddenly meet someone so good-looking tonight, I must take him home. Anyway, I have to have a husband, so I might as well choose a good-looking one.

The candlelight flickered, and time passed slowly. Still waiting for Shen Hegui's reply, Lu Wensheng touched his cheek, her large, innocent eyes wide with wonder, and asked, "Why did you suddenly become mute?"

How strange, this person has no expression on their face, and their eyes are dark and hard, like they want to eat someone.

Lu Wensheng paused for a moment, then suddenly realized.

Oh! I get it! She must have been rejected!

Lu Wensheng explained, feeling wronged: "I've never kissed anyone before, you're the first. Don't worry, I'm a clean and devoted person!"

Shen Hegui took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart, pulled away Lu Wensheng's hand that was gripping his seven-inch mark, clenched it tightly, and tried to keep his tone gentle: "You've never kissed anyone."

The fleeting yet tender touch in the rain suddenly resurfaced, and a word of correction came to mind before it even began: "But you've already kissed me, only twice. It's too early to discuss marriage now..."

Shen Hegui was halfway through his sentence when confusion arose.

Why didn't he dislike Lu Wensheng's kiss? Was it because it was so quick, so fast, that his body didn't have time to react?

Or perhaps, Lu Wensheng has always been special to him, but he has always been bothered by it and has been avoiding it.

What Shen Zhao said was indeed true: he liked to take things from him, but... he had never taken people from him. In the past, he had envied countless times Lu Wensheng's unreserved kindness towards Shen Zhao; the feeling of being remembered in someone's heart was something he had never experienced since birth.

If Lu Wensheng had met him and chosen him from the very beginning, would everything have been completely different?

If he hadn't rejected Lu Wensheng's covetousness towards him earlier and had accepted it readily, wouldn't Lu Wensheng's unreserved kindness towards Shen Zhao have already fallen on him?

Silently smoothing the stray hairs at Lu Wensheng's temples, Shen Hegui's gaze fell on her innocent face, as pink as peach blossoms in March.

These words, which I've pondered countless times over the past few days, resurfaced in my mind:

"At first I was unwilling, but after spending time together every day, it naturally came together."

“Young master, don’t worry too much. Love is about people, not about gender or worldly doctrines.”

"At first, I couldn't accept it either, just like you, but then I realized that I couldn't accept other people, but he could!"

"In this life, it's easy to get married, but difficult to find a soulmate, and even more difficult to stay with one! True love is a rare find in this world; if you miss it, you'll regret it for the rest of your life!"

After waiting for a long time without hearing anything, Lu Wensheng frowned and began to grumble, "If you don't want to, then you don't want to. Don't pinch my wrist; I can't move it!"

His thoughts were interrupted, and Shen Hegui’s gaze shifted downwards, landing for the third time on those full, red lips that had offended him twice.

He suddenly raised his hand and pressed it hard against Lu Wensheng's slightly dry lips. "I don't care if you've kissed anyone else before, but from this moment on, only I can be near your lips. For the sake of fairness, I will do the same!"

Shen Hegui's eyes instantly turned into a bottomless abyss.

Lu Wensheng: "What are you doing..."

Whether it's that his body couldn't react in time, or that Lu Wensheng is special to him, he'll find out by trying!

He grabbed Lu Wensheng's chin and pressed it against his.

"Um...you...hmm?!"

Lu Wensheng was momentarily bewildered. Wasn't he temporarily against marrying her? Then why did he kiss her?

She tried to push Shen Hegui away, but found that her whole body was limp and she couldn't muster any strength. Her wrists were being gripped tighter and tighter, and she completely lost the ability to move.

The back of his head was forcibly lifted by an irresistible force, and all the air between his lips and teeth was taken away.

With the lack of oxygen and the rising effects of alcohol, Lu Wensheng's thoughts began to spiral into confusion and disorder.

She stared blankly into Shen Hegui's dangerous, turbulent gaze, and flinched in fright.

His eyes were so fierce, like a wild beast.

How annoying! Why can't she breathe?

It took Lu Wensheng a few seconds of slow, deliberate thought for her to realize that she was being kissed and plundered.

With a determined heart, she bit the troublesome Shen Hegui hard. Taking advantage of his pain and lapse in attention, she suddenly turned her head away. Her instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm screamed at this moment, making her want to escape. But as soon as she struggled, she found that her legs had already been firmly restrained by Shen Hegui and she could not move.

"You...you can't keep pressuring me like this if you don't agree to marry me!" Lu Wensheng insisted stubbornly, suppressing her panic and fear.

Shen Hegui did not respond immediately.

Because he was laughing.

At first, it was just a low, hoarse laugh with a slight tremor in her shoulders, but then the laughter became increasingly difficult to suppress, gradually becoming clearer and more flamboyant.

As expected, Lu Wensheng was different to him! He didn't dislike him at all, and even liked him a little.

Shen Hegui's gaze was obscure yet intense.

He propped himself up, forcefully wiped the blood from his lower lip, released Lu Wensheng's hands, and coaxed in a low voice, "I agree, as long as you dare to marry me! Be good and let me kiss you properly."

The drunkard Lu Wensheng was absorbed in his own world and ignored him.

Looking at his suddenly freed hands with a puzzled expression, Lu Wensheng turned back and carefully covered Shen Hegui's phoenix eyes, muttering, "He can't be fierce like this anymore, seal! Seal!"

Her mind raced, and she muttered, "Sack, I need to find a sack!" Anyone who frightened her, she would put a sack over their neck and beat them up, then she wouldn't have to be afraid of anything anymore.

Suddenly losing light, Shen Hegui blinked slowly twice, unable to control herself. Her exceptionally long eyelashes brushed against Lu Wensheng's palm, making it itch. She couldn't help but pull her hand back and scratch it a few times.

Seeing Lu Wensheng's dazed and confused appearance, Shen Hegui realized that Lu Wensheng had been completely blinded by the strong liquor.

He had already dismissed everyone around the main hall. The people in the palace were thorough in their work, and the small kitchen must have prepared a hangover soup, but he didn't want to wait even a moment longer.

Shen Hegui's gaze fell on the teacup beside him. He stood up and quickly stepped forward, scratching the pad of his index finger with his thumbnail. Bright red blood droplets fell one after another into the blue jade cup.

Adding warm tea, Shen Hegui pulled Lu Wensheng, who could barely stand no matter how hard he tried, into his arms and coaxed, "Drink it, and I'll give you a sack."

Upon seeing Shen Hegui's familiar face, Lu Wensheng raised his eyebrows in disbelief: "There's such a good thing!"

Without hesitation, she downed the water in one gulp, smacked her lips twice, and asked, "What's in this water? It tastes weird."

Shen Hegui: "This tonic, which is priceless, can help you regain some clarity."

"Oh!" He's a fraud! She was perfectly lucid.

A few breaths later.

Shen Hegui: "Who am I?"

Lu Wensheng: "Liar!"

Shen Hegui: "..."

Ten breaths later.

Shen Hegui: "Who am I?"

Lu Wensheng: "Lonely? Croak? Frog Prince?"

Shen Hegui: "..."

Several dozen breaths later.

Shen Hegui: "Who am I?"

Lu Wensheng shook his head, trying to open his eyes wide to see the world clearly: "Why are my eyes suddenly so blurry and I feel dizzy?"

She took a deep breath of the delicate fragrance that surrounded her, then looked up in confusion: "Chen Hegui?"

Why is he in her house? Shouldn't he be in a storybook?

That's too bizarre! She must be dreaming!

Shen Hegui: "..." Very good! Excellent! We can't argue with a drunkard.

Helping the slightly more lucid Lu Wensheng to the low couch, Shen Hegui whispered again, "Let me kiss you properly, and then I'll let you marry me."

Lu Wensheng pointed at himself in disbelief: "You...you're going to marry me?!"

Shen Hegui squatted down and gently stroked Lu Wensheng's delicate skin, asking softly, "What, you're scared again?"

Daring not?! What's there to be afraid of! It's just marrying a paper doll in a dream! Besides, he's quite pitiful. In the entire 300,000-plus words, he's the only one who's been a vegetarian and hasn't eaten a single piece of meat.

Lu Wensheng slapped her thigh and readily agreed, "Come on!" It's just a kiss, and she wants a sip of broth. Anyway, it's in a dream, so she has nothing to lose.

With his gaze fixed on Lu Wensheng's full lips, Shen Hegui slowly approached.

He didn't rush to seize it, but instead slowly approached it, tentatively touching, then moving away, then touching again... repeating this cycle over and over.

Lu Wensheng was somewhat distracted by his excessive gentleness and care, but just as she opened her mouth to say something, Shen Hegui's kiss suddenly changed.

His neck was firmly held in place, leaving her no room to retreat. Then, with an almost predatory force, he pried open her lips and teeth.

The air suddenly became thin and scalding hot, and her consciousness teetered on the edge of dizziness. She tried to open her mouth wide to breathe, but only received a deeper plundering in return.

In a daze, a vague thought flashed by—this dream was a little too real!

Shen Hegui had confirmed that Lu Wensheng was different to him, but he did not let go of Lu Wensheng.

Outside the window, the stars shone brightly; inside the hall, the candlelight cast a warm yellow glow.

Because he clearly sensed a familiar impulse, like a stream converging into a river, slowly growing stronger.

Time passed slowly.

Just when Lu Wensheng thought she would die from lack of oxygen in her dream, she finally gained her freedom.

Before she could even catch her breath, she was enveloped in a broad chest.

"Hahahaha..." Shen Hegui was overjoyed.

It's truly unexpected! He was able to recover without medicine after meeting Lu Wensheng!

Suddenly a gust of wind blew into the inner hall, causing the curtains to flutter.

On the night he was reborn, he asked Lin Shoubai to find young and beautiful men and women, but he found that he felt disgusted even by glancing at them, let alone touching them.

He felt nauseous at the mere sight of exposed human skin below a neck; only when stained with dripping blood did that nausea give way to a calm indifference.

The shameful scene of Shen Rui's affair with many women, which I had suddenly stumbled upon in my previous life, flooded back into my mind.

They instantly fell silent, as if they had lost all hope.

Shen Hegui ignored her, only holding Lu Wensheng tightly, his voice a mixture of fierceness and regret: "I should have snatched you away from Shen Zhao sooner!"

He released Lu Wensheng, then took her hand in his. "From now on, you can only be alone!"

Meeting Shen Hegui's intensely burning gaze, Lu Wensheng responded indifferently, "Oh." What's with this sudden outburst?

The suppressed effects of the alcohol surged up again, and Lu Wensheng couldn't help but burp before falling backward.

Her thoughts once again became inverted and disordered.

Ruan Ruan pushed away Shen Hegui, who was trying to help her, and whispered, "Go home! I want to go home! My mother is still waiting for me."

"Alright." Shen Hegui carefully pulled her into his arms. "I'll have someone prepare a carriage. You stay here and wait for me."

"Hmm," Lu Wensheng mumbled in response.

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Author's Note: The male lead is reborn! Surprised? Unexpected, right? [Dog head with rose in hand] There's even more surprise before the finale, but I won't tell you. [Facepalm peeking]