The Drunken Maiden

Chapter 137

Inside the Sanbai Wine Workshop, the air was heavy with the sweet, cloying scent of fermentation.

"Fill it up... another round!"

With a crisp thud, Ye Zhenzhen slammed her coarse ceramic wine bowl heavily onto the wooden table.

Her usually cold and frosty top-student face was now as red as a fully ripe peach.

Her eyes were glazed over, their focus drifting off to some unknown dimension long ago.

Gu Ran held down the paw she was using to reach for the wine jug with one hand, wearing a half-smile. "Dr. Ye, that's about enough. If you drink any more, I'll have to carry you up Jingyang Ridge to fight a tiger like Wu Song."

"Cut... cut the crap!"

Ye Zhenzhen tried her best to put on her older sister authority, holding up a finger and waving it so fast in front of Gu Ran's eyes that it left an afterimage. "It's sweet! It's delicious! I'm... not drunk! I can still do two sets of mock exams!"

Sweet?

That was just the illusion of fermented glutinous rice. This stuff was a classic delayed-kick drink that would knock you out the moment you stepped outside.

"Alright, alright, you're not drunk. I'm the one who's drunk."

Gu Ran paid the bill swiftly and snatched her wine bowl away. "Let's go, back to the guesthouse. We have to get up early tomorrow to watch the sunrise."

"I'm not leaving!"

Ye Zhenzhen slapped the table, squinting her eyes, and pointed at Gu Ran with a slurred tongue. "Gu... Gu 'Dog' Ran, are you looking down on my alcohol tolerance?"

Seeing this, Gu Ran was instantly amused.

She usually maintained her aloof top-student persona, but who knew she would act like such a sore loser when drunk?

It was a bit cute. He wanted to pinch her cheeks.

"How could I? Heroine Ye has a boundless capacity for liquor." Gu Ran walked around behind her, speaking as if coaxing a kindergartener. "But we have to watch the sunrise at the East Scenic Zone tomorrow, and Mr. Sun waits for no one."

"Sunrise..."

Ye Zhenzhen's brain stalled for two seconds before she nodded obediently. "Okay... watch the sunrise. Let's go!"

She stood up abruptly, twisted her high-heeled sandal, and her entire body tipped stiffly to the side like a piece of boiled, soft noodle.

Gu Ran was quick on his feet. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her tightly into his embrace.

A warm, soft, and fragrant body crashed right into him. The heavy scent of alcohol mixed with her unique osmanthus fragrance rushed straight to his head.

"And you call this not drunk?" Gu Ran looked down at the dazed girl in his arms. "You can barely walk in a straight line, and you still want to get your driver's license?"

"Who says I can't!"

Hearing this, the stubborn girl pushed him away and pointed defiantly at the bluestone pavement beneath her feet. "Watch! I'll walk a... a military march for you!"

She took a deep breath, lifted her leg, and stepped down.

She had intended to walk in a straight line, but ended up doing a serpentine zigzag. Her final step sent her careening straight toward the river railing.

Are you trying to go into the river to catch fish?!

Gu Ran cursed under his breath, took two quick steps forward to yank her back, and crouched down in front of her without leaving room for argument. "Get on."

Ye Zhenzhen stared at his broad back, her sluggish brain turning slowly. "What... what for?"

"Zhu Bajie carrying his wife." Gu Ran looked back, his tone teasing. "Hurry up, or I'll just throw you over my shoulder, and you'll be the one losing face."

Perhaps the words losing face triggered her top-student sense of shame. She obediently climbed onto his back, her arms wrapping softly around his neck.

So light.

At one hundred and sixty-eight centimeters tall, she was as light as a feather. Where did all the food she ate normally go?

Did she really only grow flesh where she was supposed to, and nowhere else?

...

Late at night in Wuzhen, red lanterns swayed in the wind.

Gu Ran walked very steadily, but the person on his back grew quieter and quieter. Only her warm breath puffed rhythmically against the crook of his neck, itching unbearably.

"Gu Ran..." a whimpering mumble came from behind.

"Hmm? Tell me in advance if you need to throw up. Cleaning this river is pretty expensive, we can't afford to pay for it."

"Gu Ran... I'm so tired."

Hearing these words, Gu Ran paused his steps.

"I'm really... so tired."

Ye Zhenzhen buried her face in his clothes, her voice muffled and trembling with long-suppressed emotion. "I have to do practice questions every day... I have to be first place... I can't let Mom down... I can't let people look down on a kid from a single-parent family..."

Gu Ran's heart gave a twinge, feeling as if something had stung it.

He was used to seeing the radiant and brilliant Ye Zhenzhen on a daily basis, but he had forgotten that she was only eighteen years old.

That proud swan had always been carrying a crushing burden beneath her wings.

"You don't have to be so tired anymore."

Gu Ran's voice was a bit deep, but it carried a gentleness he had never shown before. "Once you get to college, if you don't want to test first, then don't. If the sky falls, I'll hold it up for you."

"What's the use of you holding it up..."

Ye Zhenzhen sniffled, her arms tightening around his neck as if terrified her only piece of driftwood would float away.

A long silence followed.

Just as Gu Ran thought she had fallen asleep, an incredibly soft, incredibly faint murmur drifted into his ear.

"Gu Ran... if only we... weren't sister and brother..."

Boom!

Gu Ran's feet instantly rooted to the spot. It felt like something had exploded in his brain, making his scalp tingle.

What did that mean?

He stood on the stone bridge, the river water murmuring beneath them.

For a long time, the young woman didn't say another word, as if that sentence just now had merely been sleep talking.

He hoisted the person on his back a little higher, making their bodies press together seamlessly.

"Ye Zhenzhen, was your biology taught by a PE teacher?"

"On our household register, we have different fathers and different mothers. My surname is Gu, your surname is Ye. We have absolutely no relation to each other."

"The law governs heaven and earth, but can it govern two people with no blood relation falling in love?"

Dead silence from his back.

After a long while, just as Gu Ran assumed the girl had finally fallen asleep and took a step forward, a sudden, sharp pain flared in his shoulder.

"Hiss—"

Is this girl part dog?!

The young woman bit down on his shoulder. Right through his thin T-shirt, her teeth sank into his flesh.

It hurt a lot, but Gu Ran didn't dodge. Instead, he turned his head and gave a helpless, doting smile.

"Gu 'Dog' Ran..."

"I'm here."

"You are a... bastard."

"Hmm? How come I didn't know about this?"

"But I... think I kind of like bastards..."

"Alright, then I guess I know about it now."

The voices faded into the evening breeze. Gu Ran took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surging heat within his body, and couldn't help but quicken his pace.

If they didn't get back soon, he was genuinely afraid of what he might do right there on the street...

...

Guesthouse, Room 201.

Beep— the room card unlocked the door.

Gu Ran didn't turn on the main light, leaving only a dim wall lamp on in the entryway.

He gently placed Ye Zhenzhen on the bed, then slowly took off her shoes.

The young woman sank into the soft, large bed. Her long hair was a mess, her cheeks were flushed, and her slightly open collar revealed a patch of smooth, white skin. Her lips looked exceptionally moist from the alcohol.

Gu Ran looked down at her from above, his gaze unconsciously beginning to linger, his throat gradually tightening.

You're using this to test a cadre?!

Wait, what?

I'm not a cadre?

Then what the hell is there to test!

"Phew..."

Forget it, forget it, today is not a good day to cause a loss of life...

Gu Ran closed his eyes, silently recited the Diamond Sutra twice in his head, bent over to pull the blanket over her, and then said softly, "I'll go pour you a glass of water. Go to sleep after you drink it."

With that, he turned to leave, acting as if there were savage beasts right behind him.

But his shirt hem suddenly tightened.

Gu Ran looked back to see that Ye Zhenzhen had opened her eyes at some point.

Those eyes, which were always so cold and aloof, were now covered in a layer of mist. Like a startled little deer, she was clutching the hem of his shirt for dear life.

"Don't go..."

Hearing that sweet, clingy voice, Gu Ran's own voice grew a little hoarse. "Be good, drink some water."

"I don't want water!"

Fueled by the alcohol, Ye Zhenzhen reached out and gave him a hard pull.

Caught completely off guard, Gu Ran lost his balance and fell forward right onto the bed.

"Thud."

Their bodies crashed heavily together, the mattress letting out a muffled groan under the sudden weight.

Gu Ran planted his hands firmly on either side of her, barely arresting his momentum in time to avoid crushing her with his full weight.

But the distance between them had been reduced to practically nothing. They were so close they could even see the fine peach fuzz on each other's faces.

Nose to nose, their scorching breaths intertwined.

"Gu... Gu 'Dog' Ran, don't go..."