Under the Cover of Being Mostly Drunk

"Say bye-bye to all your troubles, say hi-hi to all your happiness."

"Darling, darling, happy birthday..."

As Nan Xingyu got swept up in the song, she stepped right onto the sofa.

She waved the glow sticks in her hands even harder.

She drew even more attention in an instant.

Some people even started singing along.

Xi Jin's face turned completely dark.

The veins at his temples throbbed faintly.

Without realizing it, he raised a hand to his forehead, feeling as though he were being torn apart bit by bit.

He raised his eyes.

His gaze met Nan Xingyu's smiling eyes.

His eyes were almost cold enough to freeze over.

He knew Nan Xingyu wanted a chance to "get back at" him.

But he hadn't expected it.

She had actually chosen to make a spectacle of him in public.

Very well.

Nan Xingyu.

She was getting bolder and bolder.

Nan Xingyu had noticed his gaze on her long ago.

That look was like an arrow of ice, nearly piercing straight through her.

She deliberately straightened her back even more, banged the glow sticks together with both hands, and sang at the top of her voice to the onlookers:

"Darling, darling, happy birthday, may every day be wonderful..."

Didn't he like putting on an act?

Didn't he like maintaining that aloof, dignified image in front of others?

Let's see how he could lose his temper now.

She knew full well that if she provoked Xi Jin, he would surely pay her back twice over.

But since she had already provoked him,

she was going to enjoy watching him go crazy to the fullest.

Otherwise, wouldn't she have gotten the short end of the stick?

Enjoy it first, worry about it later.

The birthday celebration lasted only a few short minutes.

But to Xi Jin, it felt as long as several hours.

He struggled to keep up a respectable front, the corners of his mouth fixed in a deliberate, stiff curve.

Yet his eyes remained locked on Nan Xingyu, who was "going wild" on the sofa.

The undercurrents in his gaze threatened to spill over.

Finally.

The birthday song ended.

A server brought out a birthday cake with its candles lit.

The warm yellow candlelight fell across Xi Jin's face, softening the chill in his eyes a little.

Nan Xingyu jumped off the sofa and walked up to him, hands clasped behind her back, smiling without a care in the world:

"Baby, hurry and make a wish."

Xi Jin lifted his eyes to her.

His dark eyes were unfathomable.

His tone carried a hint of meaning. "Baby, I'm so happy. Shall we go home and have some more fun?"

Half an hour later.

Only a mess of cups and plates remained in the booth.

Xi Jin had gone to the restroom, planning to deal with her properly when they got home.

When he returned, he found Nan Xingyu passed out drunk.

One cheek rested against the tabletop, her long hair spilling down and covering most of her face, leaving only a reddened earlobe visible.

Xi Jin frowned and picked up the bottle on the table.

She had finished it.

Well done.

He suspected she had done it on purpose.

Nan Xingyu lay on the table, watching the black-and-white sneakers by her feet out of the corner of her eye.

She really was drunk.

But her mind was still clear.

She had already spoken to the server and had the remaining liquor stored at the bar, as usual.

The empty bottle on the table was just an act for Xi Jin.

Otherwise, how could she fool a man so sharp-eyed and observant?

Before she could think any further,

a warm hand pulled her up by the arm, and a familiar, cool aura enveloped her.

Her body relaxed instinctively.

The next second, she was lifted securely beneath the knees, and a sensation of weightlessness followed.

She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck and nestled her cheek into the warmth of his neck.

Xi Jin gave her a little bounce, adjusting his hold to make it more secure, and when he looked down, he caught sight of her rosy face.

He swore to himself: If I ever let her drink like this again, I'm a dog.

Eyes turned toward them all at once across the restaurant.

Whispers drifted over like scattered raindrops.

"Wow, that guy is so handsome! He's carrying her so steadily. He looks really strong."

"Wait, doesn't he look a bit like Xi Jin, the shooting champion from the world championships?"

"Oh, right! Now that you mention it, I see it too! The girl in his arms is so petite. Is she his girlfriend?"

Nan Xingyu leaned against Xi Jin's chest, unmoved as she listened to the discussion.

She had heard it so often.

She had grown used to it.

Nan Xingyu was placed securely in the car.

The front passenger seat was reclined.

Nan Xingyu curled up in a comfortable position and continued pretending to sleep, quietly opening her eyes a sliver to watch Xi Jin walk around to the driver's side and get in.

The car slowly started moving.

The dashboard's cool light fell across Xi Jin's face, outlining the clean line of his jaw.

Nan Xingyu quietly stole glances at him.

He really was handsome.

Noticing him move, Nan Xingyu immediately closed her eyes.

Before long, a large hand wrapped around hers, warm to the touch.

Nan Xingyu opened her eyes slightly.

She looked at their joined hands.

She liked things the way they were now.

Seventy percent drunk.

Thirty percent sober.

It seemed that only when she was drunk, when she wasn't clearheaded, could she indulge herself in this endless entanglement with him.

Ever since childhood, they had lived in two different worlds.

He was the Xi Family's young master, a favored son of heaven surrounded by admirers like stars around the moon.

She was the daughter of someone employed by the Xi Family, an "outsider" living under their roof.

In front of others, they acted more distant than strangers.

She would dutifully call him "Young Master Xi."

In private, they would secretly hide away in the glass conservatory, share a pair of headphones, and watch the same movie.

And eventually, sleep in the same bed.

They seemed to have grown used to this relationship that couldn't bear the light of day.

It was just that, as she grew older, she understood more clearly.

This was wrong.

Especially what his uncle had said that day—it was like a thorn lodged in her heart.

She could imagine how the Xi Family would look at her if their relationship ever came to light.

The "lowly" daughter of a housekeeper.

Daring to try to "seduce" her employer's young master.

A fox spirit through and through.

Although she wasn't someone who looked down on herself, and didn't believe people should be divided into ranks,

the world had already labeled her.

Labeled her unworthy.

Gradually,

she, too, came to feel she was unworthy.

Her mother would retire in another six months.

It was time to make a clean break with Xi Jin, too.

In the bathroom.

The sound of warm running water arose.

Xi Jin sat her on his lap and helped her out of her clothes.

Nan Xingyu wasn't flustered in the slightest.

She knew Xi Jin was going to bathe her.

Her acting was convincing. Every now and then, she smacked her lips, wrapped her arms around his neck, and murmured something.

Xi Jin always said that when she was drunk, she liked to cry, curse at him, and hit him.

But she didn't remember any of it.

Perhaps she really had been drunk.

So later, whenever she pretended to be drunk, she would deliberately imitate that behavior, cursing at him a few times and hitting him lightly to make her act more convincing.

In truth, she had been a crybaby since childhood.

When she got a problem wrong and Xi Jin scolded her, she would cry.

When she fell while learning to ride a bike and saw Xi Jin coming over, she would cry.

When he kissed her wildly and she couldn't take it, she would cry.

Xi Jin's attitude toward her tears always ran hot and cold.

Sometimes he would tenderly wipe her tears away.

Other times, he would watch her coldly until she had cried enough.

Later, she discovered something.

When she cried while drunk, he was at his most patient with her.

So tonight, after provoking him, she decisively chose to pretend to be drunk to escape the ordeal.

Xi Jin gently lowered her, now stripped bare, into the bathtub, supporting her back with one hand and using the showerhead to rinse her clean with the other.

His gaze darkened involuntarily.

His Adam's apple bobbed.

She could always arouse his desire so easily.

If she hadn't been drunk, he would have pinned her down and taken her right there.

But he knew that when she was drunk, she didn't like him kissing her. She would cry, curse, and hit him.

She would spill out every word she didn't dare say normally, all in one rush.

"Xi Jin, you bastard!"

"Xi Jin, I hate you."

"Xi Jin, I don't want to be with you anymore..."

He didn't want to hear her say those things.

He scooped her out of the bathtub, wrapped her in a bath towel, and carried her to the bed.

Like a clingy kitten, she rested her head gently against his waist.

She felt something.

She held back a laugh.

Acting drunk, she raised a hand as though unconsciously.

At once.

Xi Jin's muscles tensed, and his tone was warning, though his voice was somewhat hoarse. "Nan Xingyu?"

Nan Xingyu paid him no mind and, under the cover of her drunkenness, continued to run wild.

A muffled grunt came from above her head.

Usually, he was the one in control.

Seven parts drunk, Nan Xingyu grew all the more unrestrained.

She pulled it down.

The zipper.