Chaos All Around

Liu Shang, equally drunk, did not hesitate. Acting purely on instinct, he picked up the cigarette pack and lit one for himself.

Liu Shang was a genuine old smoker. For someone who had spent years doing research and living in laboratories, it was perfectly normal.

So, in everyone else's eyes, his sequence of movements and the emotion with which he exhaled smoke seemed incredibly strange and shocking.

Even Lu Kai himself unconsciously widened his eyes.

When Lu Kai smoked before, he still carried a young man's arrogant swagger. Liu Shang, on the other hand, seemed to have smoking ingrained in his very bones.

"Liu Shang, how come I never knew you smoked?" Jiang Ruolin asked in surprise, tightly holding his hand.

Liu Shang smiled at her. "I quit the moment I met you. I wanted to lose fewer years of my life, so I could stay by your side for a few more."

Again, his voice was utterly calm, yet his words were filled with such deep emotion that they struck straight at the heart.

In that atmosphere, at that very instant, Jiang Ruolin's eyes brimmed with tears. Even her lips, as she held Liu Shang's hand, pouted slightly in grievance.

"Why are you so foolish?"

The other girls at the table were moved by Liu Shang's words as well. Some covered their mouths, some applauded, and some teased, "So cheesy! So touching! So jealous!"

Seeing this, Lu Kai shook his head with a bitter smile, then suddenly raised his glass and downed the fourth cup in one gulp.

After that, he collapsed unconscious without hesitation, throwing everyone around him into a panic.

Seeing him like that, Liu Shang did not hesitate either. Before Jiang Ruolin beside him could stop him, he downed the fourth cup as well.

"Liu Shang, have you lost your mind?"

"Who drinks like that?!"

After seeing Tan Feng, Lu Kai, and the others in such miserable condition, Jiang Ruolin was truly anxious, afraid something might happen to Liu Shang from all that drinking.

Fortunately, after the fourth cup, Liu Shang was still relatively all right. He was clearly drunk and unsteady on his feet, but otherwise, there did not seem to be any major problem.

Only then did Jiang Ruolin relax a little, tenderly feeding Liu Shang several sips of fruit juice.

"Liu Shang, are you okay?"

"Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

Liu Shang shook his head without speaking. He merely looked at her and smiled like a big boy, making Jiang Ruolin's heart ache all the more.

After drinking over a kilogram of hard liquor in a row, Liu Shang could no longer hold himself back. Accompanied and supported by Jiang Ruolin, he headed toward the restroom.

Just as they reached the corridor, a girl who was also one of the gathering's organizers hurried over to Jiang Ruolin.

"Ruolin, do you have a bank card or any cash on you?"

"Zhou Liang, Tan Feng, and all the others are drunk. The original plan was for them to cover the bill first, then we'd split it equally afterward."

"Today's banquet is probably going to cost a lot. None of us brought that much money!"

Hearing this, Jiang Ruolin frowned. She had not brought her wallet with her this time either.

Seeing Jiang Ruolin's expression, the girl sighed. "Looks like we can only call for emergency help..."

As the two of them frowned, Liu Shang smiled and took a bank card from his pocket, handing it directly to the girl.

"Put it on this card. The password is Jiang Ruolin's birthday, ******."

Though it felt somewhat inappropriate, in the midst of this chaos, there was no room to consider anything else.

While Liu Shang was inside the restroom vomiting violently, the girl had already returned after paying the bill and handed the bank card to Jiang Ruolin.

"Whew, what a relief. It would've been mortifying if we couldn't pay the bill."

"Also, Ruolin, your boyfriend is pretty well-off!"

"I'm heading out first. It looks like Tan Feng, Lu Kai, and a few others were taken straight to the hospital. I'm going over to check on them."

"They really drank way too much tonight."

After she hurried away, Jiang Ruolin's best friend Jiang Tong—the girl who had earlier said Liu Shang was thick-skinned but quite handsome—came out after washing her hands.

"Ruolin, is your guy all right?"

Jiang Ruolin frowned and shook her head. "He's been throwing up for ages."

Jiang Tong stopped beside Jiang Ruolin. "I have to say, he looked pretty handsome when he was competing in drinks and smoking."

"His mouth is a little too active, but he really is funny and knows how to make girls happy."

"We've known each other for so many years. I've always admired your eye for people and for shopping, and this time is no exception."

"You have no idea how jealous I was when he sang to you just now."

"Everyone in our circle understands what gatherings like today are really about."

"Liu Shang drank like his life depended on it, then drank Tan Feng, Zhou Liang, Lu Kai, and all the others under the table—all because of you."

"If, and I mean if, one day in the future you have to give him up because of your family or some other reason, then maybe I'll consider taking him off your hands!"

"My family background can't compare to yours, and my parents don't have especially high standards when it comes to the boyfriend I choose. They won't pick at his family circumstances either. As long as he truly loves me and I like him, that's enough."

How could the intelligent and considerate Jiang Ruolin fail to understand everything Jiang Tong had said before that?

But after Jiang Tong's words, which sounded like a joke yet did not seem entirely unserious, Jiang Ruolin smiled and shoved her away. "Dream on. I'm not giving him to anyone!"

By the time Liu Shang came out of the restroom, almost everyone had left.

To sum it up, the place was a complete mess, with people down all over the place.

Just as the two of them stepped out of the hotel, a gust of wind blew past. Liu Shang visibly staggered, and his drunkenness surged like flames fanned by the wind.

"Liu Shang, are you okay?"

In response to Jiang Ruolin's question, Liu Shang shook his head. Then he pulled his arm from her support, draped it directly around Jiang Ruolin's neck, and leaned his whole body against her with great intimacy.

Jiang Ruolin shot him an annoyed look, then moved away the wandering hand Liu Shang had "accidentally" placed on her chest.

Still, she tacitly allowed this intimate posture between them.

When they returned to the sparsely populated, dimly lit path on campus, Jiang Ruolin could clearly sense Liu Shang's restless desire, and even her own heartbeat began to race.

"Drinking like that was terrifying. Should I take you to the hospital too?"

Liu Shang smiled and shook his head. "What hospital? I'll be fine after going back to the dorm and sleeping it off."

Jiang Ruolin could not help frowning. "You threw up again at the school gate just now. You're probably going to have a hard night, and there's no one in the dorm to take care of you."

"How about we book a hotel room tonight? I can stay beside you and look after you."

Jiang Ruolin had no idea how much courage it took to say those words. By the end, her voice was even trembling slightly.

But to her surprise, Liu Shang shook his head without the slightest hesitation. "Heh, if you stay out all night and spend the night at a hotel with your drunk boyfriend, I'm afraid the news will set the whole campus ablaze before dawn."

"Rumors can melt gold."

"And on a larger scale, it'll probably reach the teachers and your parents soon enough. No matter what the truth is, I might temporarily lose you because of it. I won't allow something like that to happen."