Ji Mingqian staggered a bit, straightened up, and looked at them with drunken eyes, smiling foolishly."You’re here, let’s drink, let’s drink..."

Across from them, the bartender looked at the two who had suddenly appeared, with hats and masks not a single item missing, unable to discern any of their features in the dim light.

"May I ask who you are?"

Gu Xinuo said, "We’re his family."

The bartender glanced at Ji Mingqian and, seeing no objection from him, felt slightly relieved, "That’s good, he’s drunk a lot of alcohol, you should quickly take him home."

"Anuo, you go pay the bill, I’ll take him out." Chu Chen grabbed Ji Mingqian’s wildly flailing hand while twisting the back of his collar with the other.

Gu Xinuo hummed in acknowledgment, and Chu Chen hauled Ji Mingqian outside.

"Don’t drag me, let’s drink, let’s drink."

Rarely did Ji Mingqian get so utterly drunk in public, and while Chu Chen was speechless, he was even more puzzled about what could have driven Ji Mingqian to drink to such a state.

Opening the car door, he forcibly stuffed him into the car and then went around to get in the other side.

Perhaps because he had drunk too much, Ji Mingqian collapsed in the back seat, unusually quiet.

Soon, Gu Xinuo also got back into the car and glanced at the man sprawled in the back, drunk as mud, with a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth.

On the way back, the person in the back seat mumbled incoherently, as if babbling in a dream.

But his fierce tone sounded as though he was cursing someone.

Chu Chen and Gu Xinuo exchanged glances, somewhat dumbfounded.

"Did you understand what he was saying?" Gu Xinuo blinked curiously.

Chu Chen shook his head, "No."

Gu Xinuo turned to look at the person in the back seat and pushed his arm, "Ji Mingqian, what are you talking about? Who provoked you?"

"I’m not dealing with you anymore; don’t touch me." Ji Mingqian suddenly raised his voice as if a firecracker was lit, "I’m too lazy to bother with your damn troubles, too lazy to care."

"What the hell is this nonsense about boundaries, it’s all bullshit."

The sudden roar startled Gu Xinuo into retracting her hand.

"Achen, has Aqian gone mad?"

Chu Chen, "..."

His intoxication intensifying, Ji Mingqian cursed with even more addictiveness, "Ungrateful bastard, I treated you so well and you still say I meddle too much, you’re truly ungrateful, ungrateful."

Gu Xinuo was utterly confused. Who could have provoked him to such anger?

Could it be that he had a girlfriend behind their backs?

Considering this, Gu Xinuo’s eyes lit up, and she pushed him again, "Ji Mingqian, did you argue with your girlfriend?"

"What girlfriend, I don’t give a damn about that stuff," Ji Mingqian growled, "Deceiving me of my hawthorn berry treats, always tricking me out of my hawthorn berries."

Hawthorn berries?

Gu Xinuo blinked, her face showing confusion. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Was he so upset just because someone tricked him out of a single hawthorn berry treat?

Was it really worth it?

"Achen, did Ajiu trick him again?"

Out of the four of them, only Ajiu liked to eat hawthorn berries, the rest didn’t care for them, finding them too sweet.

Chu Chen chuckled, "What are you thinking? It’s not Ajiu’s first time tricking him, there’s no way he’d become this bitter over a single hawthorn berry treat."

Gu Xinuo scratched her head, looking at Ji Mingqian with puzzled eyes. What could it be that drove him to drink like this?

She hadn’t heard about him having a girlfriend, and the likelihood of him having one truly wasn’t great.

Tired from ranting, Ji Mingqian closed his eyes and fell asleep.

He slept so heavily that even when Chu Chen carried him into the house, he didn’t stir.

After tossing him into the guest room, Chu Chen walked into the kitchen where Gu Xinuo was arranging takeout on the table—four dishes and a soup, appealing to all the senses.

"Is Aqian asleep?" Seeing him enter the kitchen, Gu Xinuo asked.

Chu Chen nodded, taking a pair of chopsticks she passed him.

Gu Xinuo pulled out a chair to sit, and smiled helplessly, "This is the first time I’ve seen Aqian like this in so long; it seems I’ll have to call Ajiu tomorrow to find out what’s going on."

"It could also be a matter of the heart," Chu Chen remarked somberly.

Gu Xinuo chuckled, "Wow, turns out my dear Chu Chen is quite the comedian."

It was a romantic matter, after all.

She was dying of laughter.

"Time to eat." Detecting the teasing in her words, Chu Chen lifted his hand and lightly scraped the tip of her nose.

Gu Xinuo smiled without saying a word.

...

H State

Having slept too much during the day, Ye Jiuliang turned into a night owl come evening.

If she couldn’t sleep, Li Mochan naturally wouldn’t go to bed alone, so while she played games, he would work on documents by her side.

Suddenly, the background music from the game disappeared.

Without waiting for him to glance over, the woman’s tender body leaned against him.

"Master Li."

Her voice was soft and elongated, calling out in such a way that made Li Mochan’s heart tremble.

He closed his laptop and casually placed it on the bedside table.

A long arm stretched out, easily drawing her into his embrace, "Tell me, what do you want to do?"

"Hey, what’s with that tone? Do I have to have a reason to call you?" Ye Jiuliang laid her head on his legs, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.

"What do you take me for?"

Li Mochan chuckled, his fingertips lightly pinching her chin, "My ancestors."

"Hahaha." Ye Jiuliang burst out laughing.

"Li Mochan, if the old man heard that, he might award you a session with the rattan stick."

Looking at the joyous expression of the person in his arms, Li Mochan couldn’t help but laugh along, "If you don’t sleep now, you’ll struggle to get up tomorrow again."

He had raised a wolf cub who loved to laze in bed; getting her up for breakfast each morning really was a headache.

"I heard that prenatal education also includes reading bedtime stories." Ye Jiuliang suddenly suggested.

Li Mochan raised an eyebrow, "So?"

Ye Jiuliang shifted her body, reached for the storybook on the pillow, and then handed it to Li Mochan, "Read this to me."

Li Mochan looked down at the book, his expression suddenly becoming odd.

His disbelief was palpable as he confirmed, "Wolf cub, are you sure you didn’t grab the wrong book?"

"Nope." She said.

Li Mochan was half-amused, half-bewildered, as he took the book from her hand, the cover alone exuding an eerie vibe.

"Are you sure you want a bedtime story like this for our child?"

Which family’s child listened to horror stories before bed?

Was he out of touch with the trends?

"Children, you know, we’ve got to start toughening up their courage from the womb." Ye Jiuliang said with utmost seriousness.

"What? Should I be reading Snow White or Cinderella instead?"

No way, that was not her style.

Li Mochan asked from the soul, "How about reading the company’s documents instead?"

Ye Jiuliang gave him a silent thumbs-up; her Master Li was indeed rich in imagination.

However, she hated company documents the most—dry and uninteresting, she refused, "No, I don’t like those."

Li Mochan smiled, lips curving up, but he still indulged her, flipping open the first page of the storybook and reminding her, "Cover up with the blanket, don’t catch a cold."

With a story to listen to, Ye Jiuliang obediently pulled the blanket over herself and found a comfortable position to lean against him in his arms.

"It was a deep, dark night in a secluded manor..."

His magnetic voice filled the room, yet the content was enough to send chills down the spine.

And yet, Ye Jiuliang listened with rapt attention.