Caught Peeping

After a comfortable afternoon nap, Li Yang was instantly full of energy again. The familiar scent of Manman had barely reached him before he knew that little rascal was up to mischief again!

"Dummy, not here, okay?"

"I don't care, I want to!"

Manman lay in Li Yang's arms, acting spoiled.

Fine then. With just one look from Li Yang, Manman understood.

Li Yang scooped Manman up and ran into the master bedroom's bathroom without even putting on his shoes...

Liang Shanjuan wasn't actually used to taking afternoon naps. When Manman had gotten up earlier, she had already been awakened, though she'd been too lazy to open her eyes.

When she saw Manman sneak into Li Yang's bedroom, a woman's gossipy curiosity instantly left her wide awake. Barefoot, she quietly followed after them...

It seemed like a very, very long time had passed...

"Baby, don't do that again in the future!"

"Mm, I know, darling."

Manman closed her eyes and didn't want to move. After gently kissing Li Yang for a while, she said nothing more.

The two rested in bed for a while.

"Are you two done yet?"

Liang Shanjuan's pleasant voice came from outside the door.

"It's fine. Come in, Juanjuan."

Manman had gotten Li Yang to put on his pants beforehand, while she herself was still wearing a camisole nightgown. They both looked toward Liang Shanjuan as she entered through the doorway.

"Manman, how did you disappear in the blink of an eye? So you ran here again. You two must really be true love—you can't bear to be apart for even a moment!"

"Of course! You don't know this, but sometimes if I'm gone for less than half a day, he starts anxiously looking everywhere for me!"

Having gotten what he wanted, Li Yang now acted smug and started teasing Manman about how clingy she was!

"Fine, fine, everything you say is right. I'm not afraid of my little sister laughing at me anyway, so tell her whatever you want!"

"Hehe, I believe you, Manman!"

In truth, Liang Shanjuan understood everything perfectly well. She was merely pretending not to know anything.

The three of them went to the living room together. Liang Shanjuan took out all kinds of expensive fruit drinks and snacks girls liked from the refrigerator and placed them on the coffee table.

"Help yourselves, don't be shy!"

"I don't come back often either. Sometimes the things I buy just sit around until they spoil because no one eats them." As she spoke, Liang Shanjuan peeled a large banana for Li Yang and stuffed it into his hand.

"Have some. We'll be drinking tonight, and fruit can help protect your stomach."

"Thanks, old classmate."

Li Yang didn't stand on ceremony. He picked it up and finished it in two or three bites.

"Mm, it really is good. You should have some too."

As he spoke, Li Yang pointed at the fruit platter for her.

"Hey, little sis, why did you shower again?"

Manman saw the droplets of water that hadn't been dried from Liang Shanjuan's shoulders and asked.

"Oh, I sweated again after waking up, so I just rinsed off."

"Here, Manman, try the grapes I bought. See how they taste."

Liang Shanjuan handed Manman a bunch of crystal grapes for her to eat.

Even as Manman ate, she didn't forget to feed some to Li Yang!

"It's about time. I'll head over and take a look. You two can go later, just in time to catch dinner."

Li Yang looked at his wristwatch. It was only four o'clock now, and dinner wouldn't start until six at the earliest. After all, summer days were long.

"Let's go wander around the market. It happens to be the Yan Qiu Fair today!"

Liang Shanjuan suddenly remembered there was a market today and suggested it to Manman.

"Sure, I want to look around too. It's been so long since I went!" Manman said.

"Then drink less, baby. We'll come find you tonight."

"Alright. Oh, sweetheart, help me buy a lottery ticket. Just play the same numbers as before."

Li Yang took out his usual numbers—one ticket each for Super Lotto and Double Color Ball. He had bought the same numbers every draw without interruption, yet so far, he had only ever won ten yuan.

"Okay, baby. Don't worry."

Manman took the lottery tickets and put them into the bag beside her.

"I'm heading out first. You two keep having fun!"

Li Yang touched Manman's cheek, picked up a bottle of drink he had been drinking, then smiled and waved to Liang Shanjuan before heading downstairs alone.

There still wasn't a single person in the courtyard. Li Yang thought to himself that it was such a pity for such a large house to have no sense of life in it.

He made his way up to the second floor with practiced ease. Before he even reached the room, Li Yang heard a noisy racket coming from inside!

"Holy shit, that's awesome! Did your hand touch manure or something? It's fucking strong!"

It turned out they were playing Tractor, a card game that was probably played everywhere in the country. Some people called it Golden Flower, and different places had different names.

Locally, it was generally called "Pushing Tractor"!

"Damn, it's pretty lively in here!"

Li Yang tucked an expensive functional drink he had brought from Shanjuan's home beneath his arm. He normally couldn't bear to spend money on a bottle like that.

"Come on, join us for a few rounds."

He Junjun enthusiastically pulled over a stool and had Li Yang sit beside him.

"Sure. I'll win some money so I can treat everyone to taxis home tonight."

Li Yang joked confidently to the group.

That immediately drew a chorus of jeers!

He didn't argue. Keeping a low profile, he took out his wallet and pulled out some loose fifty-, twenty-, and ten-yuan bills, placing them on the table.

"How big are we playing?"

Li Yang didn't smoke, so he casually grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds from beside him and started cracking them one-handed.

Xu Rui had gotten a strong hand in the previous round and raked in nearly a hundred yuan. It was his turn to deal now.

"Five yuan to start, fifty yuan max. You can't go more than three rounds without showing your cards. We're all friends here—there's no need to fight to the death and hurt the mood!"

"Definitely. We're just passing the time, so playing casually is enough!"

As the two chatted, all three cards had already been dealt. Li Yang kept cracking sunflower seeds without looking at his cards.

Xu Rui spoke first. He looked at his hand with a serious expression and tossed in five yuan. When it was Li Yang's turn, he casually threw in ten yuan. "I'm playing blind once!" After saying that, he went back to cracking sunflower seeds.

"I'll follow." He Junjun below him also tossed in twenty yuan without changing his expression. He picked up a Red Flag Canal cigarette from the table and lit one. He had looked at his cards earlier, so he definitely couldn't keep playing blind.

The people after them all looked cautious as they considered whether to place their bets.

Manman and Liang Shanjuan changed clothes, put on their bags, took their parasols, and headed out together. They didn't forget to bring drinks for the road.

"Did you go find Li Yang to do naughty things again just now, Manman?"

"Get out of here. Am I that kind of person? Don't slander me!"

Manman defended herself with a serious expression.

"Hehe, didn't you look in the mirror, sis?"

Liang Shanjuan smiled mischievously and pointed at Manman's fair, smooth neck.

"Hehe, I'll tell you the truth. Li Yang wanted to, but I didn't agree. After all, we were at your house, but he insisted on pulling me into it!"

"You know how much I love him. I definitely couldn't refuse him, but don't worry—we only kissed. We didn't do anything else!"

"Oh, it's fine, sis. I'm not blaming you two. Even if you really did, it wouldn't matter. I know people in love are all like that—they wish they could hold each other twenty-four hours a day and never separate!"

"Thank you, Juanjuan. We should keep in touch more from now on. Don't make things so distant between us. Have you forgotten that we even shared the same blanket before? I loved sleeping while hugging you. You were so warm in winter—it felt amazing!"

Manman recalled the happy times they had shared and couldn't help reminiscing!

"Then tell me, sis. Did you two do it just now?"

Liang Shanjuan's curiosity was truly something else. She clearly already knew, yet she still had to get to the bottom of it!

"Alright, it won't hurt to tell you. What kind of relationship do we have? I'm not afraid of letting you know."

"I couldn't control myself just now, alright?!"

After saying that, Manman's face carried a hint of bashfulness! Luckily, she was wearing large sunglasses, so nothing unusual could be seen.

"Hehe, looks like it put you in a good mood, sis. Otherwise, you wouldn't have wanted it either!"

"Alright, alright, I'm so embarrassed! Let's stop there. You should start dating too, or you can't keep asking about my private matters every day!"

"I want to, sis, but what if I can't meet anyone suitable? I'd rather go without than settle. If I can't find someone I like, then I'll just stay single."

As Liang Shanjuan said that, the scene from earlier suddenly came to her mind!

By then, the two had reached the nearby Yan Qiu Market. Both sides of the street were lined with stalls selling food, drinks, entertainment, clothes, and all sorts of other things. Though the weather was hot, it still couldn't stop the hardworking vendors.

There weren't many people passing by either. Over the past few years, old traditions had gradually been impacted by the market economy. A new generation no longer liked this kind of shopping, and it was being replaced by malls and supermarkets. In the future, online shopping would gradually enter the market as well, while the primitive marketing style of street stalls would lose its former glory.

The two passed a lottery shop. Since they needed to buy lottery tickets for Li Yang, Manman pulled Liang Shanjuan inside.

Other than the female owner, who was dozing off, there wasn't a single person inside. It was probably because of the heat. Most people would choose to come out for a stroll after dinner at night and buy a few tickets to test their luck.

Most people didn't really believe in lottery tickets. After all, winning five million yuan was no different from a pipe dream or money falling from the sky for ordinary people.

Still, there were quite a few people like Li Yang who persistently bought the same numbers every draw.

"Boss, help me print these tickets. Just repeat the same numbers."

Manman carefully took the lottery ticket out of her bag and handed it over.

"Alright, miss. Please wait a moment."

The owner was a middle-aged woman. Seeing two beauties come into her shop, she was naturally quite happy. She immediately perked up, stood, and took the ticket.

"Oh my, your luck isn't bad, but it's a bit of a shame, miss."

"What is?"

Hearing the owner's excited voice, Manman curiously leaned over and asked!

"This Double Color Ball ticket won five plus zero—fourth prize, two hundred yuan. And Super Lotto won ten yuan."

"If you'd gotten one more number, it would've been six plus zero. You could have won at least tens of thousands of yuan."

After hearing the owner's explanation, the two women, who had never bought lottery tickets before, became excited too.

The owner printed another Super Lotto ticket and another Double Color Ball ticket with the same numbers. She gave the remaining change back to Manman.

"Boss lady, what's this?"

Liang Shanjuan pointed curiously at the scratch cards and asked with interest.

"Oh, those are scratch-off tickets. They come in different prices and prize amounts, and you can claim the prize as soon as you scratch one."

"Give me a few to try!"

Liang Shanjuan took out her wallet and paid fifty yuan, buying five ten-yuan tickets before seriously starting to scratch them.

"Manman, help me test my luck too!"

Liang Shanjuan tossed two tickets to Manman, and the two beauties began scratching them with nervous expressions.

After the owner confirmed it, they really had won—a thousand yuan, and it had been scratched from the ticket in Manman's hand.

The two happily claimed the prize on the spot before going out to shop.

In the end, at Liang Shanjuan's insistence, they each bought a pretty dress and two pairs of high heels, then happily went home.

"Manman, how about you two don't go back tonight? Stay at my place for the night. My parents usually don't come upstairs, so no one will bother us. Living alone in such a huge house is pretty boring, and since we happened to meet, let's have a proper get-together, okay?"

"I'm fine with anything, as long as it's not troublesome for you. I can decide for Li Yang—he'll listen to me. Don't worry."

Manman also wanted to spend more time with Liang Shanjuan. They had a good relationship, and more importantly, they got along well. There was none of that scheming, fake-sister drama between them.

So they both wanted to stay together a little longer.

Just like that, after the two discussed it, they brought the things they had bought back home first. Then they headed out toward Wang Long's house, planning to enjoy another banquet meal along the way!

When they arrived, Li Yang was having a great time playing cards and had won several hundred yuan. Qin Shou, Zhang Hua, and Zhang Bao had lost money, He Junjun was roughly even, and Xu Rui had won a little too. Damn, it was strange—his luck had been unbelievably good today!

Then Wang Long came over and called everyone to dinner. He had also taken a nap at noon and had recovered quite a bit by now. Another fierce battle awaited them that night.

Manman and the other women sat at one table, while the people left on this side were all close friends. They barely managed to fill a large table, and after only a few bites, another earth-shaking drinking contest began.

At ten that night, Liang Shanjuan and Manman caught Li Yang at the entrance outside just after he had gone to the bathroom and was about to return inside to keep drinking. The two beauties each took one of his arms and dragged him away.

No matter how he struggled, the two acted like wives refusing to let their husband continue drinking. Half coaxing and half persuading, they sent him back home.

Who knew how the guys would tease Li Yang once they found out he had slipped away midway?

"Look at you, idiot. If you kept drinking, you wouldn't have made it back. Wang Long had already brought out the second case of baijiu!"

Liang Shanjuan sternly scolded Li Yang as he tried to go back and continue the fight.

Deep down, she didn't want Li Yang to drink too much. Otherwise, seeing him suffer would make her heart ache too.

After sitting for a while, Li Yang's drunkenness hit him, and the world began spinning around him.

He hurried into the bathroom and threw up. Tonight, everyone had truly exceeded themselves. Every one of them had drunk more than usual.

Women could never understand men's obsession with drinking.

It tasted awful, and drinking too much made them miserable, so why did men love cigarettes and alcohol so much?

How many people had cried out in misery after drinking, swearing they would never drink again? Yet once they sobered up the next day, they would sit back down at the drinking table as usual, having forgotten yesterday's vows completely and tossed them far beyond the clouds!