Let Me Tell You Something Interesting
Wuma Xiu looked down at the two words on the altar, tried to hold back, but couldn't help bursting out laughing.
"Your handwriting is still the same as before."
"The name is good, though: Reunion. From now on, this jar of wine will be called Reunion, and it will be used to entertain old friends who have come from afar. But a name alone is not enough."
As Wuma Xiu spoke, he used his fingertip to carve another line of small characters below "Reunion," the handwriting elegant and refined, a stark contrast to the domineering carvings of God of Fire.
God of Fire leaned closer to take a look and saw that it read, "My friend God of Fire was angered by Fat Orange, so I opened this bottle of wine to soothe his heart."
"You..."
God of Fire reached out to snatch the wine jar.
Wuma Xiu was prepared. Holding the wine jar, he leaned back and lay down on the soft grass under the Ancient Tree, laughing so hard he almost fell over.
God of Fire missed his target and couldn't actually attack him.
He could only lean down and glare at him, his dark red eyes filled with both anger and helplessness. In the end, he was defeated by his friend's overly bright smile.
"Alright, I'll stop teasing you."
After laughing enough, Wuma Xiu sat up, held the wine jar on his lap, and broke the clay seal.
The aroma of the wine that burst forth at that moment was incredibly rich, as if someone had captured all the flowers of spring, the Starry Sky of summer nights, the streams of autumn, and the first snow of winter.
"It smells really good."
As God of Fire spoke, he realized why his friend treasured it so much.
Wuma Xiu picked up the wine jar.
To be honest, just holding the jar of wine in his hands and imagining the aroma when it was opened was enough to make him happy.
Drinking it now feels like a waste.
But if they didn't drink this "Reunion" wine when they Reunion, that would be the real regret.
With this thought in mind, Wuma Xiu picked up the wine jar and solemnly took the first sip.
He squinted as the liquor went down his throat.
After a long while, Wuma Xiu finally let out a soft breath.
He then handed the wine jar to God of Fire, his eyes becoming even more mellow with the wine's glow, his voice carrying a hint of childlike pride:
"Try it. I'd give it a nine out of ten; the remaining point is for you to decide."
He has never made a bad wine, and this jar is his masterpiece.
God of Fire took the wine jar, tilted his head back, and took a large gulp.
Then another big bite, and then another big bite.
His Adam's apple bobbed faster and faster, and the jar tilted at an increasingly steep angle.
Wuma Xiu finally panicked.
He pounced on her and snatched the wine jar back into his arms, clutching it tightly like a mother cat protecting her cubs, glaring at him with pursed lips:
"My friend, how could you drink like that?"
If you drink any more, it'll be all gone.
He'd worked so hard to brew it for so long, but the other person just drank it like it was nothing.
He hasn't had enough to drink yet?
They haven't even had their second bite yet!
God of Fire's arms were suddenly empty; his hand was still holding the wine jar. He was stunned for a moment before he realized what was happening.
The wine was taken back.
He watched as his friend clutched the wine jar tightly to his chest, a rare hint of guarded tension showing on his usually carefree and composed face.
God of Fire almost thought he was drinking some kind of magic pill that could make people young again, instead of wine.
Otherwise, why would his friend seem to be getting worse as he gets older?
"You brewed such a big jar, and I've only had a few sips."
God of Fire reached out to grab it, Wuma Xiu leaned back to avoid his claws.
"How many bites do you call that? Count them yourself, one bite, two bites, three bites, each bite is equivalent to half a bowl of my food."
Wuma Xiu freed one hand and started counting on his fingers to calculate the costs for him, feeling increasingly heartbroken as he did so.
"I only have this much, and those few gulps you just took almost half a jar. Do you know how complicated the brewing process is? Every single step is done entirely by hand, without any Divine Power intervention. You just guzzled it down like that, do you think you're doing justice to all the hard work I put in?"
God of Fire listened to his rambling complaints without offering any rebuttal, which was unusual. He had indeed drunk too quickly.
But that's because it tastes so good.
He leaned against the Ancient Tree, arms crossed, and waited for Wuma Xiu to finish pouring out his grievances before slowly speaking.
"That's why I gave it a perfect score. And I've never given your wine anything less than a perfect score."
Wuma Xiu choked for a moment, looked down at the wine jar in his arms, then looked up at God of Fire's unusually serious face, and suddenly felt that his protectiveness made him seem petty.
He took the wine jar from his pocket, placed it on the grass between them, sat cross-legged, and patted the jar's rim:
"Alright, you pass. But from now on, we'll take turns, one sip each. No cheating, no guzzling, and no sneaking extra sips when I'm not looking."
"OK."
God of Fire answered readily and sat down cross-legged.
After a while
Wuma Xiu leaned on the God of Fire's shoulder, his voice already tinged with drowsiness. He had drunk too much tonight and hadn't used his Divine Power to sober up, letting the effects of the alcohol slowly seep into his body.
It felt so comforting, like being wrapped in a warm bed of clouds, slowly sinking into a soft dream.
"I'll tell you something very interesting."
Wuma Xiu leaned against God of Fire's shoulder, the wine jar slowly turning between his fingers. Suddenly, he remembered something and started talking enthusiastically, even losing some of his drowsiness.
"When I first woke up, it was the first time I heard someone pray to me. Guess what they were praying for? They asked me to bless their family with many children and a thriving lineage. Isn't that ridiculous? I'm God of Wine, the god of wine. Even if we take a step back, praying to Love God for this kind of thing would be more reliable than praying to me."
He paused deliberately at this point, as if waiting for a straight man to respond.
Unfortunately, God of Fire didn't respond.
Wuma Xiu didn't mind and continued speaking on his own:
"And then, guess what I did?"
"I couldn't have guessed." This time, God of Fire cooperated.
"I knew you wouldn't guess. Just say, 'My best friend, tell me!' and I'll tell you."
This wasn't difficult for God of Fire, because God of Wine was indeed his best friend.
Saying "best friend" is perfectly natural.
However, as the words were about to come out, God of Fire suddenly remembered that every time the other person came, he would count on his fingers, his face beaming, all those friends who seemed to appear out of nowhere.
He then realized that it wouldn't be so easy to say those words.
His family's friends have many friends.
So many people that he could pull anyone he liked off on the street into his circle of "friends," and then treat them with genuine sincerity, generously offering his kindness and time.
The God of Fire never considered himself a narrow-minded deity.
He was naturally very important to his close friend, a fact he never doubted.
But is he the only one who matters most?
Or are there other gods or other people ranked ahead of him?
If we don't count the Goddess of Beauty, there's also the Music God who can play all the instruments, the Spring God of spring who never gets angry no matter how much she teases him, the Dream God who always drinks with her friends in her dreams, and even Qin Jiu, whom she just parted ways with. Perhaps they all hold a similar weight in her friend's heart...
The more God of Fire thought about it, the tighter his chest felt.
So he gulped down the entire "Reunion" wine brewed by his friend.
Okay, my anger has subsided a bit.
As for what happens when his friend discovers that he drank all the "Reunion" drink, will he fly into a rage or become a crybaby?
That happened later.