The bustle of Night Tokyo had faded away, and Teacher Ge and the others were all drunk.
Though they had agreed not to bring up their earlier conflicts again, once they had some alcohol in them, they had to speak their hearts. And once they had spoken their hearts, they inevitably drank even more. On and on it went, until every last one of them was drunk.
Lingzi, on the other hand, was relatively clear-headed. She was inevitably a little muddled, but she had not drunk too much.
After stuffing Tao Tao into a taxi, Wang Yan supported Teacher Ge while Lingzi held up Linghong, and they sent them home.
Once Teacher Ge and Linghong had been settled in, Lingzi wiped the fine beads of sweat from her forehead and let out a long breath of relief. "Come to my place for a glass of water and a rest before you go."
Having said that, she did not wait for Wang Yan to agree or refuse. She simply headed up the stairs toward her room.
Wang Yan smiled and silently followed behind her. They entered the room together, and he sat down beside the table.
Lingzi busied herself pouring him a glass of water and setting it before him, then sat beside him. "I only just got back and haven't had time to tidy up properly. It's a little messy."
"I've been here once. I know you're a clean person."
"When?"
"New Year's Eve in '91. You were all drunk at the time, so I brought you back and tossed you onto the bed. You grabbed my hand and wouldn't let me leave, muttering, 'Why do you always run away?'"
Lingzi slapped her forehead. "Right, right, right. I'd completely forgotten. You didn't tell me that back then, did you?"
"No.