Chapter 253: I Am Not Drunk

I gazed at Mi Cai and asked in confusion, “Do you like drinking beer?”

She countered, “Isn’t it enjoyable to eat snacks and drink beer?”

“Of course it is for me!”

Mi Cai smiled slightly at me and said, “Then do you have any beer?”

“No, but there’s a convenience store at the end of this street. I can go buy some.”

“Let’s go together.”

“Then let’s go together.”

After reaching an agreement, we temporarily left the uneaten snacks at the guesthouse and walked toward the end of the street under the newly fallen night sky, chatting casually as we walked.

Mi Cai asked me, “Have your father Ban Di and your mom been to Xitang already?”

I stopped walking and replied with a helpless expression, “Yes, they have.”

“Ahh!… I’ve temporarily finished all my work as quickly as I could, but still missed them!”

With a small test, I found out Mi Cai’s true intention for returning. She had come back to help me realize my dream of opening a chain of guesthouses in scenic spots. In fact, she had subtly mentioned this a couple of days ago during our conversation, although it wasn’t very obvious then.

Mi Cai’s expression remained regretful as she asked me, “Then what did your parents say?”

“They didn’t say anything… because they haven’t come yet!”

Mi Cai placed her hands on her waist, clearly angry and unwilling to speak to me.

I removed her hands from her waist and teased, “Don’t be angry, I was just kidding you.”

“Hmph… I’ll make you drink beer later as punishment!”

I had never heard her use the tone word “Hmph” before, so suddenly hearing it made me feel quite unaccustomed, even causing me to widen my eyes in surprise. Yet the more I looked at her, the more familiar she seemed.

Ignoring me, Mi Cai turned around and walked forward by herself.

I caught up with her, grabbed her hand, and made her stop. She looked at me and asked, “Are you going to apologize?”

“Can you ‘Hmph’ again for me?”

“You won’t apologize, so why should I talk to you?”

“If you don’t ‘Hmph’ for me, why should I apologize to you?”

“You apologize first.”

“You ‘Hmph’ first.”

After repeating this several times, we somehow magically arrived at the convenience store at the end of the street. Temporarily setting aside our dispute, I asked Mi Cai, “What brand of beer do you want?”

“Whatever.”

I bought a case of canned Tsingtao beer. After paying, I noticed Mi Cai was already sitting on an electric rocking horse in front of the store window. Instinctively, I inserted a coin for her, and the rocking horse began to sway.

“Zhaoyang, aren’t you going to play too?”

“There’s only one coin left. I’ll save it for you later,” I said as I opened a can of beer and started drinking.

Mi Cai reached out her hand toward me, “Give me a can.”

“You’re already swaying. Drink it later.”

“Don’t worry. I have a great sense of balance.”

Seeing her so confident, I opened another can of beer for her and handed it over. As expected, she could easily drink the beer while swaying with the rhythm, but she seemed a bit unaccustomed to the taste of beer. She closed her eyes and made a painful expression.

I mocked, “Aren’t you a classic case of putting on airs? You can’t even drink beer!”

Mi Cai wiped the remaining beer from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand and said lightly, “Beer doesn’t taste good, but I feel happy drinking it.”

“If it doesn’t taste good, why are you happy?”

“Bad taste is a matter of taste sensation, while happiness belongs to emotional feelings. They’re independent and don’t conflict with each other!”

“Why do I feel you’ve become more philosophical lately?”

“Let me put it in simpler terms… Beer doesn’t taste good, but I’m happy because I can drink it with you.”

Of course, I didn’t doubt Mi Cai’s words at all. In fact, being with her, even doing something trivial would make me happy, and isn’t this exactly what being in love feels like?

As we were talking, Mi Cai finished a can of beer, and almost at the same time, the rocking horse stopped. I timely inserted another coin, and the rocking horse started swaying again with Mi Cai on it, as if creating a picture even more beautiful than the scenery of Xitang.

…

After leaving the convenience store, we returned again to the willow tree opposite the guesthouse. After finishing my meal, I picked up my guitar and began to play and sing. Mi Cai, still imitating my posture, drank beer and ate skewered snacks with great interest.

After singing only one line, she asked me, “Are you singing for me?”

“Not entirely, also for the passing tourists… I’ve calculated that if I sing for about half an hour, it usually brings some business to the guesthouse.”

“How hard you work!”

“So later, you can sing instead, okay?”

“Okay, no problem.”

I nodded and continued singing, but the number of tourists was gradually decreasing, as it was already past the evening peak hours.

Singing on, I suddenly felt a heaviness on my thigh, and the smooth flowing hair also affected my hand strumming the guitar strings. Looking down, I found that Mi Cai had already fallen asleep with her head resting on my leg.

I smiled, realizing she wouldn’t be able to fulfill her promise of singing for me tonight. But that was okay, because I knew she must be very tired by now, or perhaps it was just the beer.

I gently patted her, but she didn’t respond. So I placed the guitar aside, picked her up, and carried her into the guesthouse, then asked Tongzi to help me book a room.

After laying her gently on the bed, I noticed her face was flushed, clearly due to the effects of the alcohol. I went to make her some hangover tea, and once it had cooled down a bit, I woke her up.

I handed her the tea with a slightly scolding tone, “Look at you, getting drunk! Drink this quickly, or you’ll feel terrible tomorrow.”

Unlike most people, Mi Cai remained very quiet after getting drunk. Leaning against the headboard, she took the tea from my hands, took a sip, and said like a child, “I’m not drunk!”

I smiled and said, “Usually those who are drunk insist they’re not.”

Mi Cai turned the cup in her hands and didn’t speak further.

I told her, “I’m going to the front desk to settle today’s accounts. After you finish the tea, you should rest early.”

Before I could get up, Mi Cai reached out and grabbed my hand, shaking her head at me, signaling me not to leave.

“What’s wrong?”

“Let’s chat for a while… There are some things that maybe can only be said after drinking.”

My heart started beating faster, unsure of what she wanted to say to me.

Suddenly, she started crying, hugging me tightly, and the hangover tea in her hand spilled from the neck opening of my shirt as she sobbed.

She wept, saying, “Please don’t ever leave without saying goodbye again. I’m really scared of this feeling… It feels like I’ve lost you forever!”

Hearing this, my heart was filled with mixed emotions. Perhaps she had wanted to say these words to me that night when we stayed at the roadside motel, but at that time, I had been cold and indifferent, so today she had used the excuse of being tipsy to finally express these feelings.

She must have been more afraid of unexplained departures than anyone else, because her father, Mi Zhongxin, had also left in the same way, without even a single farewell word.

“I’m sorry. It’s because I wasn’t mature enough. I shouldn’t have made you experience this feeling again.”

Mi Cai cried even harder, “Zhaoyang… When I decided to be with you, the only word in my heart was ‘forever,’ which is why I was so scared you would betray me and betray that word. I know it’s because I’m too sensitive and overlooked your feelings!”

At that moment, no words could express my feelings adequately. I just tightly embraced her, giving her the support she needed in her tears.