I got out of the car in front of the hotel, and suddenly I was wide awake: I needed to pee!
What?
Xu Jiao was momentarily stunned, then sighed helplessly and said, "Alright, alright, let's find a room first."
No way! I just need to pee! Move aside!
In a drunken frenzy, I pushed Xu Jiao away and headed towards a small grove nearby. Xu Jiao sighed again, not stopping me as I entered the grove, but I ended up going in the opposite direction.
Goodbye!
Once out of the grove, I hailed a cab and went straight home. Today was just about getting to know Xu Jiao; I still needed to steal the account book from her factory.
Why did I pretend to be drunk? Because if I wasn't, I'd have no excuse to escape. That woman wanted to sleep with me. If I wasn't drunk, how could I say no? Would I stammer shyly that it wasn't possible? Hell no, that would disgust me and offend her. If things went wrong, she might not want to hang out with me anymore, and I still hadn't stolen the account book.
If I acted drunk, tomorrow when Xu Jiao asked where I went, I'd just say I didn't know—I blacked out from drinking. That would settle things. Maybe Xu Jiao would even feel sorry for not taking care of me.
As soon as I reached my front door, Wang Meng called me. I didn’t answer. Then another unknown number called; I ignored that too. I knew they had realized I was missing and were looking for me. But since I was drunk, I wouldn’t pick up.
Hey, you’re back! How was your day?
When I walked into the house, Linna was doing yoga. As soon as I entered, she stopped—she didn’t want me to see her practice.
Not bad.
I replied casually as I changed my shoes and sat down on the sofa. What’s the big deal about doing yoga? Why hide it from me? It wasn’t very pleasant.
Hey, wait! Come here!
Just as I settled on the sofa, Linna waved at me from the center of the living room. Frowning, I thought she was calling a dog over. Why should I just go over? Where’s my dignity as a man?
No way! If you have something to say, come over here!
I said coolly. In my mind, it sounded cool; what left me speechless was when Linna threw a slipper at me! It hit my head perfectly!
What?
I told you to come here!
We both said at the same time. Clearly, my authority didn’t match hers—she was genuinely angry. But why?
What’s wrong with you?
I asked in confusion as Linna glared at me with her piercing eyes as if I'd stolen her eggs! Honestly, I had no idea why she was upset.
The moment I realized she was really angry, my first instinct was to calm her down. But first, as a man, shouldn’t I know what mistake I'd made? Otherwise, how could I make it right?
Xiang Dong! You’re something else! Just when I said we could be together, you come home smelling like another woman’s perfume? Here I thought you were a good man; you’ve really disappointed me!
Linna said coldly. After hearing this, I was taken aback—so it was because she caught a whiff of Xu Jiao’s scent on me when I'd passed by her earlier. That little nose of hers really picked up on everything!
Haha!
I laughed; it was quite amusing.
"What are you laughing at? Trying to get yourself killed?" Linna glared at me, her small face taut with tension, as if ready to strike at any moment. But honestly, I was just happy—this little girl was actually feeling jealous? Jealousy is a spice of love.
"Do you see what time it is?"
Even though jealousy adds flavor to love, I dared not laugh anymore. I turned the question back to Linna. She paused for a moment and replied casually, "It's eight o'clock. Why? Just say what you need to say."
"Alright, I'll be honest. You know it's only eight o'clock, so what can I do this early? I did have dinner with a woman today, just a little while ago. I had dinner with the owner of Fake Winery because I needed to get close to her to steal her account book. And now I'm back."
I looked at Linna with a sincere smile, and after hearing my explanation, her eyes flickered as if she was considering the truth of my words. Perhaps seeing my earnestness made her believe me.
"Oh, well then, I've cooked. You should take a shower; you smell too bad for my liking," Linna said as she turned to leave. How could I let her off that easily? It was amusing to see her jealous.
"Hey, were you just jealous? Aren't you going to say something about me having dinner with another woman?"
I continued to tease her; watching Linna's jealous reactions was quite entertaining, and I enjoyed provoking her.
"Get lost! I'm warning you not to push your luck! I absolutely hate men who are careless!"
Linna shot me a warning glare over her shoulder. I couldn't help but chuckle at her response and pressed on.
"What counts as pushing it too far? You know how things are in this world; sometimes one has no choice but to act. Why don’t you give me some guidelines so I know where the line is?"
"Just stay away from me."
Linna's face flushed red as she shot me an annoyed look. The more she acted like this, the more I wanted to tease her. I kept asking for guidelines.
"Ah! Let go!"
Just as I opened my mouth again, a sharp pain shot through my foot! That little brat had stomped down hard on my foot! Damn it, is she trying to murder her husband?
"Get lost! If you delay my cooking, you'll regret it!"
Linna said coldly, her face still flushed with anger. I hobbled back to the sofa, wincing in pain. This girl was too sensitive; how could she go all out when we were just playing around? It hurt!
After that incident, I decided not to provoke her anymore. While I remained silent, she spoke up about Xi Qinqin from Liuzi. She mentioned that she had hired a nanny for Xi Qinqin using my money since she couldn't always be by Xi Qinqin's side.
This was indeed an important matter, so I stopped teasing her.
"Well, you've done well with that. Just don't think that because there's a nanny now you can ignore things; make sure you check in regularly."
I told Linna, who nodded obediently and assured me that she would take good care of my brother's mother.
Hearing that made me smile; after all, Linna was quite clever. Perhaps she realized that she had overreacted earlier and was trying to make amends with me. Honestly, I didn't mind; a bit of playful banter now and then was nice.
The next day, I deliberately waited until Xu Jiao finished delivering the wine before heading out. If I had met Xu Jiao early like usual, there would have been no excuse for visiting her factory.
After arriving at Tianchi, I was summoned by Wang Meng in his office. He asked why I'd gone missing yesterday. Apologetically, I explained that I really couldn't handle my liquor and had blacked out; I had no idea what happened.
"Come on now! You really need to get your act together! Xu Jiao called me multiple times yesterday; she's worried about you! You should be ashamed—it's embarrassing for someone on their first dinner with you," Wang Meng shook his head with a wry smile.
Indeed, anyone would feel embarrassed by how I'd behaved yesterday. I awkwardly chuckled and replied, "Sorry about that, Manager Wang. I realize now that it was wrong of me; if I can't drink, then I shouldn't drink at all. I'm not sure if Miss Xu is angry with me; I'd really like to see her."
I finished speaking, and Wang Meng immediately said, "Well then, just go ahead and apologize properly. You made someone worry about you all night for nothing."
Wang Meng was very proactive about my situation with Xu Jiao.
"Alright, then. Where is Miss Xu's factory?" I continued to ask.
Wang Meng told me the location of Xu Jiao's factory and even gave me her phone number. In fact, I already had her number since she called me yesterday.
"It's working hours, Manager Wang. Is this really okay?"
"What's wrong with that? We're brothers, right? Just go ahead, no need to rush back," Wang Meng waved his hand and laughed. I nodded happily in response and immediately left his office. With such support, it felt like I was stealing the account book with an imperial decree—perfect!
Once downstairs, I informed Xiao Dao that I was heading out and asked him to keep an eye on the waitstaff.
"Hey, Dong Ge, there's something I haven't told you yet."
"We can talk about it when I get back," I said and turned to leave. I didn't think Xiao Dao would have anything particularly important to share; if there was something I needed to know, he would tell me.
After exiting Tianchi, I hailed a cab and headed towards Xu Jiao's winery. Her winery was far from the center of town, located deep in the southern suburbs. After all, being a winery, she would definitely choose a secluded spot.
The ride was quiet until the driver stopped in front of the shabby factory. I got out and looked at the dilapidated building before me.
It was filthy!
The rundown factory stood two stories high with a small yard in front, featuring a rusted iron gate overflowing with various kinds of trash and leftover grains from wine production.
I frowned; any kind of deception pales in comparison to the sin of neglecting food and drink—this was harmful to others.
"Is anyone there? Open up!"
I knocked on the heavy iron door, producing loud thuds. After a short while, a man appeared wearing extremely dirty work clothes.
"Who are you looking for?" he asked. I told him I was looking for Xu Jiao. The man asked me to wait a moment before entering the winery. Soon after, Xu Jiao came out.
"Oh my! Dong Ge! Where were you last night? I worried about you all night and didn’t even get a call from you," Xu Jiao exclaimed as she emerged. I felt that the only clean thing about this winery was Xu Jiao herself—though she was only clean in terms of her clothing.
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