Chapter 44 Drunk

Chapter 44: Drunkenness

"Ms. Liu, who are you waiting for here?"

Xie Xinyi took off her raincoat, shaking off the water as she playfully teased Ms. Liu. She expected Ms. Liu to act mysterious, making her guess as usual, but after her words hung in the air for a while, Ms. Liu remained silent.

Puzzled, Xie Xinyi looked up. Instead of Ms. Liu's usual beaming smile, she saw a look of grave concern, her brows tightly furrowed as if facing a formidable enemy.

"What's wrong?"

Sensing something amiss, she leaned in and whispered. Ms. Liu didn't reply immediately. After glancing around to ensure no one was near, she leaned close to Xie Xinyi's ear and whispered, "Something happened with Xiao Jiang's family."

Since their "chance encounter" at the produce and non-staple food store, Xiao Jiang had taken sick leave. Cui Mama and Ms. Liu, unaware of the true circumstances, had wondered why the usually spirited girl had suddenly fallen ill and for so long.

While the two were in the dark, Xie Xinyi knew the reason for Xiao Jiang's leave. Still, she hadn't expected the outcome to materialize so quickly.

"What happened?" Xie Xinyi frowned.

Though she knew the result would inevitably be bad, she still felt a knot of apprehension.

With Li Xiaofang pregnant and Shang Fushun's mother being the kind of person she was, Xie Xinyi thought of Xiao Jiang's temperament and glanced at Ms. Liu.

As they were standing right at the workshop entrance during the morning rush hour, three or four colleagues greeted them in passing. Ms. Liu didn't answer immediately but quickly pulled Xie Xinyi into a corner. After ensuring no one was around, Liu Chunhua shared the news she'd heard from a relative.

"You know my sister-in-law's youngest daughter, right?" Ms. Liu whispered, leaning closer. "She works at the same unit as Shang Fushun. When I brought her some flatbread yesterday, she told me Shang Fushun hadn't been to work for two days."

With Xiao Jiang on leave, it was no surprise Shang Fushun hadn't gone to work either. Xie Xinyi had guessed as much.

After all, he'd gotten someone pregnant and kept his wife in the dark. This matter had to be resolved one way or another.

Xie Xinyi understood the process wouldn't be simple or easy, but what Ms. Liu said next left her utterly dumbfounded.

"...Shang Fushun was beaten up?"

Xie Xinyi was surprised, and Ms. Liu was equally puzzled. "Yes, my niece said when Shang Fushun showed up for work yesterday, his entire face and neck were covered with scratches."

"Scratches all over his face and neck?"

Xie Xinyi pictured the scene, thinking someone as mild-mannered as Xiao Jiang wouldn't be capable of such a thing. Meanwhile, Ms. Liu continued, "He claimed a cat had scratched him, but a cat scratching his neck is one thing—scratching his face..."

Liu Chunhua looked incredulous. "That’s hard to imagine."

And indeed, it was hard to imagine.

Shang Fushun still shuddered at the memory of Jiang Tiantian lunging at him, scratching.

He had no idea how she’d found out about him and Li Xiaofang, but the moment she returned home that day, she grilled him intensely.

At first, Shang Fushun tried to dance around the subject and lie his way out. Even when Jiang Tiantian mentioned seeing his mother accompanying Li Xiaofang grocery shopping, he kept insisting the child Li Xiaofang was carrying had nothing to do with him.

He deliberately brought up his childhood history with Li Xiaofang as an example, pretending to be innocent and accusing Jiang Tiantian of distrusting him. In the end, he even swore to the heavens, vowing he’d never betrayed her, sacrificing both his dignity and his life in his performance.

But despite all that, Jiang Tiantian didn’t believe him. She threatened to take the matter to the police. In a panic, he pushed her, and the next moment, she flew at him like a madwoman.

She truly seemed possessed.

Since marrying him, Xiao Jiang had never once raised her voice at him. They respected each other and seemed the perfect couple—so many in the factory envied him for finding such a good wife.

Xiao Jiang had always been gentle. When his mother was around, she wouldn’t dare speak loudly at him, let alone hit him.

But that day, it was as if she had gone mad. Despite his vows, she refused to believe him. Ignoring his mother’s attempts to mediate, she lunged at him, hitting and scratching like a shrew, with none of her usual gentleness in sight.

His mother tried to pull them apart but couldn’t. In moments, Xiao Jiang had covered his face and neck with bloody scratches.

Shang Fushun was supposed to go to work that day, but with the glaring scratches on his face and neck, he had no choice but to take two days of sick leave.

During those two days at home, Jiang Tiantian relentlessly hounded him about Li Xiaofang’s pregnancy, even threatening to expose the affair at his workplace.

Shang Fushun knew his relationship with Li Xiaofang couldn’t see the light of day. If Jiang Tiantian really caused a scene at his unit, losing his job would be the least of his worries—being sent to a labor camp would be a far greater loss.

He couldn’t figure out how she’d found out. After all, his mother had kept Li Xiaofang’s pregnancy a secret even from his younger brother. No relatives or friends were told, and not a word had leaked outside.

He’d also been extremely careful about Li Xiaofang’s presence in the city, renting an apartment far from their home to avoid being seen.

He’d been so cautious, meeting her discreetly every time. Given Jiang Tiantian’s carefree nature, she should never have found out. Yet now, not only did she know about Li Xiaofang, but she was also certain the child was his.

Shang Fushun was terrified. In their arguments, he was constantly on the defensive. Finally, worn down by the fighting, he had no choice but to agree to Jiang Tiantian’s demand for a divorce.

The affair with Li Xiaofang had been an accident. He never expected her to get pregnant after just one encounter, and he certainly never planned to divorce Jiang Tiantian.

Jiang Tiantian and Li Xiaofang—one a city girl born and raised locally, the other a rural woman who’d never left her province before turning twenty. Shang Fushun knew which one brought him prestige and which had the ability to support his future.

But all of that depended on him having an heir.

Jiang Tiantian was perfect in every way—thoughtful, understanding, willing to defy her family for a poor man like him. But her inability to bear children was the greatest pain for Shang Fushun, an only son.

He desperately wanted a child of his own. Even without family pressure, he longed for a child, just like his brother had. So when the young and vibrant Li Xiaofang threw herself into his arms, he didn’t push her away.

He thought one time wouldn’t matter. He thought no one would find out. He thought Jiang Tiantian loved him. He thought...

He believed he and Jiang Tiantian would live happily together for the rest of their lives. But Jiang Tiantian...

Over such a small matter, she’d made a huge scene, scratched his face, and insisted on divorce.

Shang Fushun didn’t understand and tried to persuade her to stay, but Jiang Tiantian threatened to expose his affair with Li Xiaofang to everyone if he refused to divorce.

As a rural boy, his family had worked tirelessly to secure him an apprenticeship in the city. After finally putting down roots here, how could he let anyone destroy everything he’d painstakingly worked for?

Jiang Tiantian was determined to divorce him, abandoning her usual gentleness to threaten him.

Threaten him?

So what if they divorced? What did he have to fear?

After all, Li Xiaofang was carrying his child, and Jiang Tiantian couldn’t have children. After thinking for all of two seconds, he quickly finalized the divorce with Jiang Tiantian the very next day.

Few people knew about his divorce from Xiao Jiang. Even Xie Xinyi only found out when Xiao Jiang returned to work the following day.

When the "scratching cat" appeared in the workshop, Ms. Liu treaded carefully, avoiding any mention of Shang Fushun’s injuries or asking Xiao Jiang what had happened.

After hearing about Xiao Jiang’s husband from Ms. Liu the previous day, Xie Xinyi had guessed part of the story. She planned to ask Xiao Jiang after work, not wanting to reopen wounds in front of others. But before she could, Xiao Jiang, seeing their hesitant expressions, bluntly blurted out that she had already divorced.

"What? Divorced?" Ms. Liu exclaimed in surprise.

Xie Xinyi never expected it. Though she’d been mentally prepared for bad news, she was stunned by Xiao Jiang’s swift action. "You divorced yesterday?"

Xiao Jiang gave a nod, "We divorced yesterday morning. The moment I moved out, that bastard moved that woman in."

He actually brought Li Xiaofang over!

Shang's mother and son would truly do any despicable thing just to continue their family line.

Ms. Liu was so infuriated by their actions that she gritted her teeth, but after venting her anger, she comforted Xiao Jiang, advising her not to sink to their level.

Xie Xinyi also joined in comforting her, "Blessed people don't enter unlucky households. Leaving him might be the heavens helping you."

With the Shang mother’s overbearing nature and Shang Fushun’s submissive obedience to her, Xiao Jiang would have been trapped in the endless cycle of the pressure to produce an heir, draining all her energy.

Such a family didn’t deserve a kind-hearted person like Xiao Jiang, so the divorce wasn’t such a bad thing for her.

However, people’s values in this era were very different from future generations. Just because Xie Xinyi thought this way didn’t mean Xiao Jiang, born in the 1950s, felt the same.

Initially, Xie Xinyi had also wondered how Xiao Jiang would react upon learning her husband had cheated. She imagined Xiao Jiang might make a scene and then choose to forgive him, or confront Li Xiaofang directly, or even bottle up her disgust and continue living with Shang Fushun. But she never expected Xiao Jiang to divorce him so decisively.

Recalling how the girl had cried her eyes out when wrongly accused and how she had timidly lowered her head in front of Shang’s mother, the stark contrast made it hard for Xie Xinyi to believe that Xiao Jiang had been the one to initiate the divorce.

After all, this was the 1970s—a traditional era where even a couple’s argument could be the talk of the town for months. A divorce was undoubtedly a massive scandal, likely to be talked about for years, and the recently divorced would be swamped with gossip and judgment from busybodies.

Life would be tough, and Xiao Jiang, as someone from this era, should have understood this better than Xie Xinyi. She never expected the seemingly delicate girl to make such a resolute decision when faced with adversity.

While Xie Xinyi was surprised by Xiao Jiang’s transformation, Xiao Jiang herself didn't shy away from discussing her divorce. "My family opposed my marriage to him back then, but I didn’t look down on him. Now, he’s the one who’s looked down on me."

Xiao Jiang snorted coldly, her face showing no trace of sorrow, only full of disgust for the scumbag. "I’m going to make that good-for-nothing suffer, scratch up his face, and make him too ashamed to show himself in public. Since I’m not having an easy time, neither will he!"

Exactly, why should one always be forgiving when in the right?

Shang Fushun, this mama’s boy, might seem soft-hearted, but in reality, he just wanted to have his cake and eat it too.

Despite having a family, he had no problem accepting another woman’s advances.

He enjoyed the stability Xiao Jiang brought him while also craving the excitement from outside affairs.

Claiming he had no choice was just an excuse for his selfishness.

Xie Xinyi had seen too many men like this in her previous life—all convinced that the other woman understood them best, while their properly married wives only knew how to argue and fight, never measuring up to the "understanding flowers" outside.

They arrogantly believed these "understanding flowers" admired and liked them, not realizing that if they lost their stable jobs and incomes, those "flowers" would flee faster than rabbits.

Xie Xinyi looked down on Shang Fushun’s feigned suffering, and in this matter, Xiao Jiang was the victim.

Since Xiao Jiang had done nothing wrong and Shang Fushun was at fault, the consequences should naturally fall on Shang Fushun.

Xie Xinyi was glad Xiao Jiang had made this decision and was moved by her calm demeanor when discussing the divorce.

Earlier, when Xiao Jiang seriously announced her divorce, Xie Xinyi had worried she might be affected, but now...

She looked at the girl before her, who seemed carefree and even suggested treating her and Ms. Liu to a celebration that night.

Her eyes smiled, confident and bold—completely different from the timid wife she had been in front of Shang’s mother. So, what was there to worry about?

"Let’s go, we must celebrate."

Leaving behind negative people deserved a proper celebration.

The three agreed that after work, Ms. Liu and Xie Xinyi would call home, and then they would head straight to the government restaurant.

Being single again deserved a celebration. Xiao Jiang ordered everything available at the restaurant that day and even secretly brought out a bottle of liquor.

They ate dishes with liquor and drank while talking, quickly finishing the bottle of baijiu.

Xie Xinyi knew her alcohol tolerance was poor and had experienced the potency of this era’s baijiu, so when Ms. Liu poured her a third glass, she soberly blocked her cup. "Ms. Liu, I really can’t drink anymore. If I have any more, I won’t even make it home."

But Liu Chunhua was in high spirits and wouldn’t take no for an answer. "It’s fine. If you can’t make it back, I’ll call your man to come pick you up."

Well, a woman couldn’t afford to be looked down on outside.

Xie Xinyi shook her slightly dizzy head and raised her glass to drink Ms. Liu’s persuasion.

"...Xinyi, Xinyi, wake up. Your partner is here to pick you up!"

Ms. Liu looked at the passed-out drinker on the table and smiled apologetically at the stern-faced man standing beside her. "...We didn’t expect her alcohol tolerance to be this poor."

As a northerner, how could someone get this drunk after less than four glasses?

Ms. Liu tried to explain to Gu Yu, intending to also mention why they had been drinking, but upon seeing his unapproachable expression, she quickly shut her mouth.

"I’ll take her back now."

Fortunately, after helping the wobbly Xie Xinyi onto the vehicle, the man politely said this to her and Xiao Jiang, or else Ms. Liu’s old heart would have frozen over.

She wondered how Xie Xinyi usually got along with this stone-faced guy. Ms. Liu watched as the stern-faced man carefully helped the girl onto the bicycle’s back seat, took off his shirt to secure the swaying Xie Xinyi firmly against himself, and then pedaled away, one hand steering the handlebars and the other steadily supporting the person behind him. It looked somewhat comical but also touching.

Ms. Liu looked up at the round moon in the sky, then at the empty space beside her...

Sigh... she just didn’t have that kind of luck!

While Ms. Liu returned home and lamented to her husband about not having such good fortune, Gu Yu sighed silently as he looked at the girl slumped against his back.

Tonight, he had been getting materials ready for tomorrow’s use at the military unit when he received a call from home. Wen Shuhua said Xie Xinyi had been out drinking with friends and urgently asked him to pick her up from the government restaurant.

Gu Yu had wondered how someone who got drunk so easily dared to go out drinking. When he arrived at the restaurant, two strangers simply said they hadn’t expected it and didn’t elaborate, only mentioning they didn’t know Xie Xinyi’s alcohol tolerance was so poor.

It was indeed poor—otherwise, she wouldn’t have insisted she wasn’t drunk the whole way back, and when he carried her upstairs, she mistook him for a drinking buddy, raising her hand and blurting out, "Happy single life!"

Happy single life?

Gu Yu looked at the wandering hand over his chest.

He didn’t know about happiness in single life, but he knew he was pretty uncomfortable right now.

Whether it was from cycling or some other reason, wherever the girl’s hand touched felt like it was on fire—wherever her hand went, the fire followed.

Gu Yu took a deep breath, grabbed the offending hand, and held it tightly in his palm. Just as he was about to put the girl down and get a towel, he felt someone wrap their arms around his waist.

It was hot today, and Gu Yu was only wearing a thin short-sleeved shirt. The moment the girl’s soft body pressed against him, his spine tingled.

A pair of slender arms circled his waist and slowly slid downward. The pleasant scent of soap from the girl wafted over, and the man’s throat tightened. He immediately grabbed the hands that were about to cause trouble.

The girl’s hands were very soft—Gu Yu could hold them both with one hand. He looked down at those misbehaving hands, then glanced sideways at the person mumbling incoherently behind him. After taking several deep breaths, he suppressed the urge building inside him.

Knowing her alcohol tolerance was poor yet drinking so much—Gu Yu felt helpless. He gently loosened the girl’s hands from his waist and prepared to turn around to adjust her position. But as he turned halfway, the girl suddenly leaned forward.

Gu Yu quickly turned back and caught Xie Xinyi, who was about to fall off the bed.

"Mmm... don't move... I'm... not drunk..."

Perhaps sensing the change in position, the girl's arms wrapped around his waist again, her face lifting slightly against his abdomen as she mumbled for him to stay still, her grip tightening gradually.

Her face, flushed from the alcohol, looked pinker than usual, with glassy, dazed eyes gazing up at him. With just one glance downward, Gu Yu's gaze darkened with intensity.

He stared, momentarily frozen, while the girl seemed unsatisfied with their current posture. Her hands slid from his waist to his front, then slowly traveled upward...

Gu Yu's back stiffened, and the next moment, the girl was draped all over him.

"...I'm not drunk, really, don't move, be good..."

Her hands rested on his neck, swaying gently. The sudden closeness left Gu Yu briefly stunned before he reacted, wrapping his arms around her unsteady figure. Just as he was about to caution her to slow down, her soft lips pressed against his.

Her soft, slightly moist lips brushed against his briefly before pulling away.

Gu Yu stood completely still, even forgetting to breathe.

It wasn't until he felt her pulling back that he regained his senses. But he didn't give her a chance to recover—as her eyes met his, he cupped the back of her neck and instinctively leaned in to claim her lips.

Her lips were soft, much like her body, sweetly enticing, making him want to draw closer, closer still, until she melted into him and they became one.

Gu Yu chased her lips relentlessly, refusing to let go. Under his kiss, her body grew limp, and she tilted her head back to accept his dominance.

She clung to him for support, offering no resistance or distaste, only gasping lightly between breaths as she met his increasingly fervent kisses.

Their breaths intertwined intimately, the quiet of the night punctuated by soft, wet sounds. Watching her grow more pliant, Gu Yu moved his hands from her neck to her waist, scooping her up until she was pressed fully against him.

Sitting on the bed, he cupped the nape of her neck, seeking her lips again without giving her time to react.

Girls were kissed with dazed eyes, their consciousness wavering between clarity and blur as they slowly responded to the man.

Whether it was the alcohol or something else, tonight the girl was much more uninhibited than usual.

With her arms looped around his neck and her knees kneeling halfway on the bed, her upper body pressed entirely against his, her reactions shifted from initially reserved to gradually passionate.

As she drew nearer, Gu Yu supported her, easing them down onto the bed. Just as their passion reached its peak and seemed destined to culminate, she suddenly squirmed. "Mmm... ow, you're biting me!"

His breath hitched. Seeing her frown in pain and try to push him away, he realized he'd been too rough.

He had gotten carried away—now was not the time for this.

Her words brought back a sliver of rationality. Propping himself up on the bed, he steadied his uneven breathing, then gently brushed his lips against hers and murmured in a slightly hoarse voice, "Sorry."

She murmured drowsily in response, then looped her arms around his neck and returned the light kiss...