Shi Zhi’s alcohol tolerance was pretty good. By the time the car drove back to the city, she had already consumed nearly half of the third bottle of red wine.

B University had just entered summer vacation, and whether or not she returned to the dorm didn’t matter. As for the bar, it wasn’t her home. She was just the free labor in her uncle and aunt’s hands—an employee they didn’t have to pay to hire, filling many roles.

She wanted to drink.

She wanted to forget whatever soft feelings she had somehow evolved into.

But she couldn’t find anyone to drink with.

Thinking about her friends at the bar—Wan Ran, Old Qian, and Ling Ling—each one had worse drinking habits than the last.

Wan Ran, still hurt from a past relationship, would start cursing men when she drank too much, indiscriminately attacking, wishing all male animals would go extinct.

Old Qian didn’t talk much while drinking, but he’d chain smoke, finishing a pack and a half of cheap cigarettes during a three-hour drinking session. The cigarettes were strong, the kind that made your eyes water.

As for Ling Ling, three beers and she was already drunk. Drink a little more and she’d perform, singing various KTV classics, standing on chairs and screeching into the microphone…

Shi Zhi hadn’t figured out how to spend the night yet. Turning to Fu Xiling, she asked, “Take me to a hotel?”

Fu Xiling was really good at handling things.

He didn’t panic and ask, “What are we going to do at the hotel?” like a naive boy. Nor was he the type of greasy man whose mind was full of dirty jokes.

He held the bottom of the steering wheel, his expression and tone unchanged, as if her question didn’t surprise him. Casually, he joked, “Do you want to go to my place, or to Shen Jia’s?”

Shi Zhi answered, “Either is fine. Whatever.”

But Fu Xiling thought for a moment, turned off the car’s GPS, and dismissed his two suggestions. “Let’s go to my place. There’s more wine, so you can drink freely.”

Shi Zhi had changed residences many times, but she hadn’t had a real home in a long time.

Suddenly, she was very curious about what a wealthy person like Fu Xiling would call home.

The car quickly drove to Fu Xiling’s neighborhood. He glanced at the wine bottle in Shi Zhi’s hand, noting it was about a third full. “You can’t drink anymore?”

“No.”

Shi Zhi capped the bottle with its cork, deciding not to drink more. “I just feel like the wine at your place would taste better.”

Fu Xiling’s house did indeed have a lot of good wine.

His father had high blood pressure, and the private doctor and family strictly monitored his alcohol consumption. But the family didn’t openly talk about his health problems, and business partners and occasional friends didn’t know.

Business was large, and naturally, their network was vast. During the holidays, they often received expensive cigarettes and wines as gifts in return.

Most of the wine was controlled by Fu Xiling’s mother, who would send it to Fu Xiling’s place so his father wouldn’t be tempted to sneak a drink.

Fu Xiling parked in the underground garage. “I’m not worried about getting fatty liver from drinking. We’re here, let’s go.”

Shi Zhi, who rarely wore high heels and had drunk quite a bit, stumbled a little as she got out of the car, holding onto the door.

Fu Xiling walked around the car, handed her the car keys, and immediately lifted her up. “Lock the car.”

Shi Zhi didn’t refuse. “Which one is the lock button?”

“The one with the lock pattern. Just press it.”

He carried her all the way to the door and then set her down.

Fu Xiling’s house was in a good location. The 200-square-meter flat was just for him, and he had an extra room dedicated solely to storing wine.

He opened the door to that room and turned on the lights. “The wine is all here. You pick.”

Shi Zhi chose a bottle of red wine, leaned against the wall, and then turned to take a good look at the apartment.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows was a park of some sort, and the lake reflected the lights, with a perfect view.

Shi Zhi had always wanted a home. Watching Fu Xiling open a huge integrated fridge that blended into the cabinets, she felt a bit jealous.

As Fu Xiling handed her the soda water, Shi Zhi asked, “Have you never faced something that really upset you?”

Fu Xiling twisted the cap off the soda water and seemed to genuinely think about it before saying, “Maybe I haven’t.”

He said, “Most problems in this world can be solved with money, and unfortunately, our family is very rich.”

Hearing this, Shi Zhi almost wanted to pour the soda water over his head to dampen his arrogance.

Shi Zhi took a sip, frowning.

Fu Xiling asked, “Don’t like it?”

“Don’t like it.”

Fu Xiling grabbed a bottle of mineral water for her. “My second aunt says this is good for the body. I didn’t like it at first either, but now I’m used to it.”

“If I were as rich as you, I’d value my life more.”

“Shi Zhi.”

“Hmm?”

“If you really want to cry, I can go out and leave the house to you.”

Shi Zhi just smiled. “I’m sad, but not as much as you think. There are plenty of people who chase after me. The main reason I picked Shen Jia was that his family’s doing well. From the start, I had my own plans. I’m not the kind of person who would live or die for love.”

Although it sounded like self-comfort from someone not good at showing weakness, Fu Xiling didn’t say anything more.

That evening, their interaction was quite peaceful.

The living room was carpeted, and Shi Zhi sat on the floor, leaning against the sofa while slowly drinking wine.

Fu Xiling sat nearby, playing a game.

After a while, Shi Zhi hadn’t moved, and Fu Xiling noticed. Staring at the TV screen, he said, “When you finish the wine, go get more yourself.”

Not knowing what she was thinking, Shi Zhi didn’t answer, so Fu Xiling paused the game, put down the controller, and looked over—

Shi Zhi was staring out the window quietly. Her eyes were bright, and her gaze was cool. She had pale skin, and despite drinking several bottles of red wine, her face remained fair, with only her lips tinted like rose petals.

Her black dress pooled around her knees, exposing her alluring calves.

Fu Xiling went to the wine room, opened the wine cabinet, picked out two bottles of the most expensive red wine, and sat next to Shi Zhi. “Do you want me to drink with you?”

Initially, Fu Xiling hadn’t planned to drink.

He brought a girl back to his place—if he got drunk before she did, what kind of situation would that be?

“No need.”

Shi Zhi didn’t use a wine glass to drink her red wine. She didn’t even decant it, casually drinking straight from the bottle. But her movements were undeniably beautiful.

Her long black hair cascaded over her shoulders, her neck arched back like a black swan.

After finishing, Shi Zhi smiled at Fu Xiling, a smile that was quite captivating.

She said, “You wanted to kiss me just now, didn’t you?”

Fu Xiling didn’t confirm or deny.

He opened a bottle of red wine with a corkscrew, and the fermented fruity aroma spread. He looked directly into Shi Zhi’s eyes, “If anyone else talked to me like that, I’d think they were trying to seduce me. If you don’t mean it, then just drink the wine properly.”

Shi Zhi definitely had that intention.

She wasn’t particularly interested in Fu Xiling as a person—what his character was or why he did things, she didn’t want to think too deeply about.

Shi Zhi just suddenly realized that she didn’t mind physical contact with him. When he held her, her heart would race.

Fu Xiling might have ordered some takeout for a late-night snack. He looked at his phone for the delivery information. “Twenty more minutes…”

Shi Zhi wasn’t listening at all.

When she was with Shen Jia, she carefully planned their future together, even considering marriage. She spent all her time pretending to be gentle and reserved, never doing anything spontaneous. She had kissed Shen Jia, but it was always calm and uneventful.

Fu Xiling was different.

They took what they needed from each other, without worrying about anything else. She set the wine bottle down, then sat on his lap.

Fu Xiling didn’t make any move at first. He furrowed his brows, leaned back a little, and silently stared at Shi Zhi, asking if she had drunk too much.

“I haven’t drunk too much.”

Shi Zhi hadn’t drunk too much.

She simply wanted to try kissing someone like Fu Xiling to see what it felt like. That’s why she did it.

She smelled of wine, her eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings before closing her eyes.

Fu Xiling’s self-control was good.

He had originally planned to say that it was fine, considering she had just broken up, drank a lot of wine, and this was just a small kiss as a way of letting her have her way.

But Shi Zhi was too aggressive.

It wasn’t like she was drunkenly grabbing anyone to kiss them. She opened her mouth, and Fu Xiling couldn’t help but grab the back of her head, kissing her back fiercely.

They kissed for more than ten minutes, only stopping when the delivery guy rang the doorbell.

Fu Xiling went to the door, grabbed the takeout, closed the door, and wiped the bloodstain from his lip with his hand. “Are you in elementary school? Biting? Didn’t Shen Jia teach you how to kiss?”

Shi Zhi’s eyes were bright, and her lips were red.

She said, “Then you teach me.”

The takeout wasn’t even opened. Fu Xiling casually placed it on the hallway console and walked back to the living room. He picked up Shi Zhi, held her waist, and kissed her again.

Their kiss was a little rough, the leather sofa creaking under the pressure. But it was just kissing.

The straps of her dress slipped off her shoulders, and Fu Xiling raised his hand to help her adjust them.

He hadn’t drunk a single drop of alcohol, and his mind was still clear. He propped his arms on the sides of the sofa, their foreheads touching. “Sleep in the master bedroom or the guest room?”

Shi Zhi’s breath was uneven as she tilted her head and looked at him. “Guest room.”

He smiled. “Then no more kissing. It’ll lead to trouble.”

The next morning, when Fu Xiling woke up, there was no one in the guest room.

Only the cleaning lady, who came on schedule, was in the living room, picking up the empty wine bottles.

She said, “A young girl came by in the morning. She asked me to tell you she borrowed a piece of clothing.”

Fu Xiling searched through his closet. He had too many clothes and couldn’t tell which one Shi Zhi had taken.

He sent her a WeChat message asking where she was.

Shi Zhi didn’t reply eagerly. She hadn’t responded the entire morning.

It wasn’t until noon that Fu Xiling drove to B University to pick up Zhou Lang. They sat down at the small crayfish restaurant they had been to before, and his phone finally rang.

Shi Zhi had only sent two words back—

“School.”

Zhou Lang really loved this crayfish place, so he ordered two large portions. While ordering, he glanced at Fu Xiling. “In a good mood? Did you win the lottery?”

Fu Xiling recorded a few seconds of video inside the restaurant and sent it to Shi Zhi, saying he was at this restaurant near B University and asked if she wanted to come.

When she didn’t respond, Fu Xiling sent another message, “Should I come pick you up?”

The message came back with a red exclamation mark.

It said: “Message sent, but the recipient has rejected it.”