Chapter 139 Accidentally Drunk
Mu Yan does not drink alcohol.
However, Mu Yan believes that just because someone doesn't drink at twenty doesn't mean they still won't drink at twenty-five.
Steam rose from the hot pot, and the three people who hadn't seen each other for a long time sat around it, watching the red oil gradually boil.
Han Xiao was a tourist in Country A. On a whim, he brought two pieces of red oil hot pot base, saying he wanted to find Yao Zhiyuan and Mu Yan to have hot pot.
After graduation, the roommates went their separate ways. Yao Zhiyuan went abroad to study, and Han Xiao returned to his hometown to teach. Mu Yan first found a job in City A, and later went back to study. He didn't keep in frequent contact with his two roommates.
But people their age are always impulsive. That day, the group chat, which had been quiet for a long time, suddenly had dozens of messages. Han Xiao tagged Mu Yan and He Fan, who hadn't spoken, several times in the group, asking them to come and eat hot pot too.
He Fan said he had just returned to China not long ago and politely declined. The two of them then started bombarding Mu Yan, urging him to come over in a few days.
Mu Yan didn't have many friends or relatives here, so he was happy to go, especially since he hadn't had hot pot in a long time.
Yao Zhiyuan hadn't seen them for a long time, and it seemed like they had endless things to talk about. Before the hotpot even boiled, he started complaining about his roommates in Country A who smoked marijuana, threw parties, and brought along casual sex partners. He almost cried as if he were seeing family.
"It's not that... exaggerated, is it?" Mu Yan asked, turning around in surprise as she finished cutting the potatoes and putting them on a plate.
"Yes, really. Do you know how desperate I was when one of my alpha roommates invited a bunch of people over for a party? The pheromones in the room were so strong that even I, a beta, could smell them."
Han Xiao mixed the cocktail, sniffed it, and added some Sprite to the barrel: "So you used to scold me every day, now you finally realize how good we are, right?"
"You were really infatuated with someone like that, you seemed to have lost your mind. How are things now? When did you break up?"
"Pah, pah, pah, Qianqian and I are getting married." Han Xiao glared at him. "Do you think everyone is like you, single for four years of college and still single now?"
Yao Zhiyuan was shocked to hear about this, but Mu Yan didn't find it too strange. Han Xiao and his girlfriend had broken up and gotten back together so many times. Only couples who have feelings for each other would do this, and it was only natural that they would eventually get together.
Han Xiao ignored him and took the initiative to take two glasses from the sterilizer and pour two glasses of wine from the wine barrel.
Han Xiao and Yao Zhiyuan are both good drinkers, and naturally they would drink together when they met an old friend in a foreign land.
"Does Mu Yan want some?" Yao Zhiyuan asked Mu Yan casually.
Mu Yan didn't drink alcohol in college. Once, when they went to a barbecue, Mu Yan got drunk after drinking half a can of beer, and her boyfriend at the time had to pick her up.
They hadn't originally intended to pressure anyone to drink, but the alcohol content was really low, and since they were in Yao Zhiyuan's rented apartment anyway, it wouldn't matter if they got drunk.
The wine in the barrel was clear and transparent, with a few lemon and mint leaves floating on top. Mu Yan hesitated.
It's so rare to meet old friends in a foreign land. He's not the type of person who would get drunk after half a can of beer back in college. Plus, the iced cocktail was steaming cold, and the hot pot looked delicious together. Mu Yan hesitated for a moment, but then decided to have a little.
Han Xiao's cocktail is sweet, mainly with lemon and Sprite flavors. It's sweet and sour with bubbles, and quite delicious.
The three chatted about all sorts of things, and Mu Yan unknowingly became a little tipsy.
Mu Yan was almost startled when Xie Chen's voice came through the phone.
"Have you been drinking?" Xie Chen asked, frowning.
"No, no... I didn't drink alcohol," Mu Yan explained. "They drank it. I drank Sprite... but this Sprite seems a bit sour... and a bit bitter."
That means you drank it.
Before Xie Chen could say anything, Yao Zhiyuan took his phone and said, "Are you his friend or family? He drank a little, it's okay. I have a bed at home, he can go home tomorrow when he's sober. I'm his college roommate, it's fine for him to be with me."
"No need to trouble you," Xie Chen replied politely. "Are you almost done? I'll come pick him up."
“We’ve almost finished eating. Did you bring him here? I can send you the location.”
Xie Chen was actually waiting in a nearby hotel, and had already asked Mu Yan for the specific address. It only took him about five minutes to get to the door of Yao Zhiyuan's rented apartment.
Knowing that someone had come to pick her up, Mu Yan, feeling dizzy, propped her head up with her hands and looked towards the door. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were wet, as if veiled in mist.
"Sorry to bother you," Xie Chen nodded to Yao Zhiyuan and Han Xiao, "I'm his brother, I came to pick him up."
Mu Yan didn't say much about his family, but Yao Zhiyuan and Han Xiao seemed to remember that he had an older brother.
Although the two of them had a slightly better alcohol tolerance than Mu Yan, they had still drunk quite a bit, one glass after another. They didn't have time to think about anything else, and just helped Mu Yan up, saying, "Sorry, brother, we were just having a great time today and got your Mu Yan drunk."
The smell from a distance told you that most of the liquor in the barrel was soda, but even if you couldn't smell it, you could tell from Mu Yan's expression that no one was trying to force him to drink.
Xie Chen smiled, half-supported and half-carried Mu Yan to his feet, and asked Yao Zhiyuan and the others if they needed help clearing the table.
"No need, no need," Yao Zhiyuan said, his tongue slurring. "I'll hire a cleaning lady tomorrow."
"Han Xiao," Mu Yan seemed to remember something, turned around from Xie Chen's arms and called out to her friend softly, "that... Cherry."
"Oh right, you have a good memory. You even remembered when you were drunk. I almost forgot." Han Xiao handed over a bag of small cherries he had brought from City A.
This type of cherry is not particularly sweet; it is a local variety grown for ornamental purposes.
There used to be many of these planted along the roadsides in City A, and they were also planted on the campus of University A, but they all thought they were too sour. Han Xiao didn't know why Mu Yan suddenly wanted to eat them.
When he asked Mu Yan and Yao Zhiyuan if they wanted him to bring them anything, the two of them were initially polite.
Later, when he mentioned that he had brought two large suitcases and planned to do some purchasing on behalf of others, Yao Zhiyuan rattled off a list of snacks and seasonings since they were just sitting there empty.
Mu Yan said he wanted these local small cherries. Although Han Xiao didn't know why, he felt that since they had been abroad for a long time, it was normal for them to want him to bring them some soil, so he didn't ask any further questions.
Xie Chen was slightly taken aback when he saw it. It seemed that when he and Mu Yan went to the countryside in City A to eat wontons, there were cherry trees planted by the roadside.
It was early spring then, and the cherry trees only had small, green fruits hanging on the branches. He asked Mu Yan what they were, and Mu Yan smiled and said they were small cherries, even searching for pictures to show him.
Xie Chen had never eaten this local variety of cherry before, so he asked a few more questions.
Mu Yan said that these cherries are juicy but a bit sour and not particularly delicious. The host probably wouldn't use them to entertain guests. But if Xie Chen wanted some, he could pick some sweet ones for Xie Chen to try next time.
After getting drunk, Mu Yan was walking unsteadily. After entering the elevator, Xie Chen lifted him up by the bottom like he was carrying a child.
Mu Yan gasped softly, instinctively wrapping her arms around his neck. The bag in her hand wobbled, and a few small cherries almost fell out.
"Let me take it for you," Xie Chen reached out to take it. "You're drunk, so don't accidentally drop it on the ground."
Mu Yan clutched the bag tightly as if it were a precious treasure, refusing to give it to him no matter what.
Xie Chen smiled at him, not wanting to argue with the drunkard, and simply told him to hold on tight.
“…I won’t give it to my brother,” Mu Yan said somewhat childishly.
"Fine, fine," Xie Chen said helplessly, "If you don't want it, you don't have to. I'm not going to fight you for it."
“My brother doesn’t like this. He thinks it’s sour. He likes to eat the big, black ones. I always buy him the big, black ones.”
Xie Chen thought for a moment and realized that the brother he was talking about was probably not himself; Mu Yan was probably referring to his other brother whom he had grown up with.
"You said you'd never eaten this kind before..." Mu Yan added, a little aggrieved, seeing his lack of reaction, "That's why I asked Han Xiao to bring it for me. It's very cheap, and no one grows it in greenhouses. If we can't eat it this year, we'll have to wait until next year."
She just said she wouldn't give it to him, but now she's saying she wants to eat it herself.
When Xie Chen saw Mu Yan in City A before, he did ask her a few questions out of curiosity, but now that Mu Yan is like this, he is a little confused.
"...Didn't you say you wouldn't give it to me?"
“It’s not for my brother,” Mu Yan blinked, then suddenly leaned close to his ear, “It’s for… for my husband.”
Xie Chen's breath hitched, and his heart skipped a beat.
When Mu Yan is sober, let alone calling him "husband," even if she is forced into a corner in bed, she can't utter a single dirty word.
His Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he asked Mu Yan if he could feed his husband one.
Mu Yan blinked, obediently took a cherry out of the bag, pinched the stem, and held it to his lips.
Xie Chen turned his head away, saying, "Use your mouth."
Mu Yan tilted her head, seemingly not understanding what he meant, and looked at him with some confusion.
Xie Chen held him with one arm, patiently using his other hand to gently touch Mu Yan's lips with his thumb, then touched his own.
Mu Yan finally understood. His eyelashes trembled, but he wasn't shy. Instead, he lowered his head seriously, removed the stem from the cherry, then tilted his head back, slightly parted his lips, put the cherry in his mouth, and brought it to Xie Chen's lips.
Xie Chen reached out and held the back of his neck, lowered his head and kissed his lips, transferring the cherry to him.
The pulp was crushed between his lips and teeth, and the sweet and sour juice splashed everywhere. Mu Yan seemed to find it sour and frowned slightly.
“...It’s sour,” he said, sounding somewhat aggrieved.
"It's clearly sweet," Xie Chen said with a smile.
[Author's Note]
A new pre-order for my column, "The Femme Fatale," is a cheesy, stepmother-themed novel. If you're interested, feel free to add it to your favorites.
A cold and aloof Taoist priest with a heart for the world (shou) x A gloomy and sickly younger emperor (gong)
Xuan Yi's master once said, "When the world is governed by the Way, one should sacrifice oneself for the Way; when the world is not governed by the Way, one should sacrifice oneself for the Way."
The master died at the hands of the new emperor. Scalding hot talisman water was poured into his throat. The new emperor said, "Let the world see what kind of monster this talisman water of the sorcerer who wreaked havoc on the human world really is."
In chaotic times of war, only the victors are remembered and the vanquished are condemned. The new emperor looked at the sixteen-year-old Xuan Yi and asked him if he could be called a great emperor of all time.
A slender young man, dressed in a simple Taoist robe, stood in the courtyard, his eyes lowered indifferently, and replied: "Your Majesty's pacification of the nine provinces and the world is a blessing for all people."
“I should have killed you,” Li Heng said, looking at him.
But how could anyone in the world be born looking like this? Even wearing a Taoist robe made of coarse cloth, he is as beautiful as a crane.
Li Heng had heard of Xuan Yi when he was still with his master in the Taiping Dao army. He was handsome and resourceful, and like his master, he possessed a set of bewitching arts that could make people willingly die for him.
His neck is so white and long, I really want to see him looking lost in thought, with his neck arched back, either dying or having an orgasm.
In the ninth year of the Yuanping era, Emperor Taizu became obsessed with seeking immortality and elixirs, but failed to find the right method and died in despair. The young Imperial Preceptor Xuan Yi then assisted Prince Li Zhaoling in ascending the throne.
Li Zhaoling's mother died early and he was of low status. He grew up in Xuan Yi's Taoist temple. Xuan Yi hit his palms with a ruler, sewed his clothes himself, and held him and patted his back to coax him to sleep when he was sick.
Xuan Yi taught him poetry, books, rites, and the Book of Changes, and also taught him the art of being an emperor. He helped him kill powerful ministers, seize military power, and pacify foreign tribes.
With absolute power and tyranny, he deceived the emperor and his superiors. Memorials impeaching the Grand Preceptor drifted onto Li Zhaoling's desk like snowflakes. On the day he returned power to the emperor, it was snowing heavily. Xuan Yi, holding his deceased master's memorial tablet, walked alone into the snow.
The young man in the snow was slender, yet his spine remained upright, as beautiful as a crane in a pond.
Behind him, Li Zhaoling's eyes darkened, the veins on his hand holding the umbrella bulged, and his gaze was sinister and ruthless, like a wolf that wanted to devour the crane.
*
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