After finishing his drink, Jing Tian put down his glass and smacked his lips. The unique taste of carbonated drinks made him feel refreshed and not satisfied enough.

He raised his hand and wiped his lips with the back of his hand, then looked at the empty glass in front of him.

When the girl poured the alcohol just now, he was worried that it might be too much. Now it seemed a bit too little.

He felt a bit regretful and then picked up a nearby juice to refill his glass.

Alcoholic beverages were delicious, but he couldn’t drink anymore. He had promised to drink at most half a glass, and he had already reached that limit. He had to keep his word.

“How do you feel?” Zheng Xunqian asked.

Jing Tian glanced at him, “okay.”

“Are you feeling dizzy?” Zheng Xunqian asked again.

“Not so soon,” Jing Tian said, then thought for a moment before quickly adding, “My tolerance isn’t that bad either.”

Zheng Xunqian nodded and then reached for the bottle left not far from them by the girl who poured the alcohol earlier, lightly tapping the glass bottle with his fingers, “So, want a little more?”

The way he said it had a hint of mischief.

Jing Tian quickly held up his glass, “No, thanks.”

Zheng Xunqian didn’t insist, withdrew his hand, and sighed with a smile, “Okay.”

Jing Tian lowered his head and took a sip of orange juice.

It was cool and refreshing. It was only slightly worse than the one mixed with alcohol earlier.

After all the commotion, Yang Yue and Shu Ziqin finally returned from the dance floor. Both of them had a slight sweat on their foreheads, indicating that they had a lot of fun.

Shu Ziqin seemed to be in a good mood. After sitting down, Yang Yue handed him the newly opened bottle of sparkling wine, and he took it and blew on it like Yang Yue did.

Yang Yue’s alcohol tolerance was unfathomable. Even after drinking most of the bottle, he remained unfazed. For him, this low-alcohol fruit wine was probably no different from soda.

Although Shu Ziqin’s alcohol tolerance was unknown, it was probably much better than Jing Tian’s. After drinking half a bottle, he breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Yang Yue again.

Yang Yue leaned closer to him and said something in his ear, causing Shu Ziqin to nod with a smile after hearing it.

Yang Yue also smiled, gesturing with his hand, then suddenly reached out his arm and hugged Shu Ziqin’s neck, getting close to him.

Shu Ziqin visibly panicked, his smile froze on his face. Yang Yue didn’t seem to notice, whispering something in his ear again before letting go and sitting back on the sofa, laughing heartily and slapping his thigh.

Shu Ziqin remained stiff, his smile becoming somewhat foolish. He looked at Yang Yue, who was laughing without a care in the world, and silently raised his hand to touch his neck that had just been hugged.

The girl who had toasted Jing Tian earlier called out to them, “Wanna play cards? We’re short of one person.”

Yang Yue slapped Shu Ziqin’s back and said loudly, “Let’s go!”

Shu Ziqin immediately accepted the challenge bravely.

After he got the cards, someone told him that if he lost, he would have to accept a punishment.

“What kind of punishment?” he asked.

The girl repeated her trick, smiling at him, “How about this, if you lose, give me your contact information.”

The onlookers had no principles and started cheering again.

Shu Ziqin also smiled, “I can give it to you now.”

The girl suddenly became disdainful, “How shameless! Not upholding male decency!”

Seeing Shu Ziqin’s stunned expression as he held the cards, Yang Yue laughed loudly, slapping the table. Seeing him so happy, Shu Ziqin laughed along.

Jing Tian, who had been silently watching the whole time, also laughed.

He leaned over to Zheng Xunqian’s ear and whispered to him, “Yang Yue asked me last night how Shu Ziqin was able to get in, did our school expand its enrollment?”

Zheng Xunqian turned to look at him with a smile, “I think he’s quite willing to get along with Shu Ziqin.”

“That’s just how Yang Yue is,” Jing Tian said, “He’s a good person, probably just afraid that Shu Ziqin would feel awkward with everyone and brought him along to play.”

Zheng Xunqian stared at his face, nodded slightly, and then changed the subject completely, “Your face is so red.”

Jing Tian was stunned for half a second, then quickly moved away, creating some distance between them.

After a while, he came back to his senses. How could anyone tell if someone’s face was red under this lighting? Zheng Xunqian was probably teasing him.

“Are you already drunk?” Zheng Xunqian asked.

“How could I be!” Jing Tian touched his slightly hot cheeks with his hand, “Just feeling a bit sweaty.”

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xunqian raised his hand to touch his face.

After a brief moment of daze, Jing Tian quickly moved back. But they were sitting on the same sofa, so he couldn’t get far away.

Zheng Xunqian gently touched his face and then said, “You really are sweating.”

“In that case, don’t touch,” Jing Tian pushed away his hand, “Is it dirty?”

“How could it be,” Zheng Xunqian said after retracting his hand, “I’ve hugged you when you were sweating all over before.”

Jing Tian blinked, and his already warm skin seemed to get even hotter.

“Oh, right, you don’t remember,” Zheng Xunqian said deliberately.

Jing Tian chose to remain silent.

Zheng Xunqian glanced at him again, “if something happens tonight, you can forget too.”

“What?” Jing Tian asked.

“If you drink a little more, by tomorrow morning, it’ll be as if nothing ever happened,” Zheng Xunqian said.

“…”

The implications of his words were too heavy.

Jing Tian felt like his face was getting hot again.

Meanwhile, Shu Ziqin was being targeted by everyone and ended up losing miserably. He took out his phone obediently and exchanged contact information with the girl, then asked, “Is this enough? Is this really considered a punishment?”

Yang Yue smiled and said to him, “You can treat it as a reward if you want, Caicai is pursued by many people.”

Only now did Shu Ziqin come to his senses and shook his head hastily, “No, I…I…”

“You think it’s not enough, right? Then let’s change it,” Yang Yue said, picking up a playing card, “You two should kiss across the card!”

The onlookers immediately started cheering again.

Shu Ziqin looked at Yang Yue, then at the card in Yang Yue’s hand, completely at a loss.

Jing Tian nudged Zheng Xunqian with his elbow, “Poor guy! This is too pitiful!”

“Indeed,” Zheng Xunqian nodded.

Jing Tian continued nudging him, “Help him, come on, help him.”

After a moment of contemplation, Zheng Xunqian said, “Then you have to promise me something.”

Jing Tian thought it was a bit strange to exchange favors like this when it wasn’t helping him, but he still asked, “What is it?”

Zheng Xunqian didn’t answer him.

While chaos ensued over there, Yang Yue went over to pull Shu Ziqin’s arm, thrusting the card into his hand like an evil old procurer coercing a young woman into selling herself.

Seeing the young woman about to burst into tears, Zheng Xunqian stood up, crossed over half the table, and took the playing card from Yang Yue’s hand.

The surroundings immediately quieted down.

“Don’t make a fuss,” he said to Yang Yue, then pointed at the silent Caicai, “This is too casual, not upholding male decency, not worthy of a good girl like her.”

Caicai, who was usually bold and forthright, looked embarrassed at this moment and finally spoke up, “Exactly! I don’t like men who are so casual!”

Everyone burst into laughter again.

But the main participants from before were clearly forcing smiles.

Shu Ziqin, who had been happy all evening, now looked dejected, his smile forced and strained.

As for Caicai, who had been high-spirited earlier, she excused herself with a forced smile, then got up and went to the restroom.

Yang Yue sat there awkwardly, biting his finger. He was usually good at understanding others’ emotions, but after drinking two bottles just now, he was a bit excited. Now that he had calmed down, he finally realized that he had done something stupid.

He was too busy making fun of Shu Ziqin, and he didn’t consider whether the girl would actually be willing or not.

He scratched his head in a tangled mess, mustering the courage to stand up and ran towards the direction of the bathroom, probably wanting to apologize to Caicai in person.

Shu Ziqin, who was left alone, looked even more pitiful.

Jing Tian wanted to shed a tear of sorrow for him.

Just as he hesitated whether to go forward and comfort him, he saw Zheng Xunqian, who had sat down beside him again, seemingly indifferent to the tragedy unfolding before them, still smiling.

“Thank me,” he said to Jing Tian.

“…You haven’t answered me yet,” Jing Tian said, “What do you want me to promise?”

Zheng Xunqian pursed his lips, quietly looking at him, then shook his head after a moment, “Forget it, let’s talk about it later.”

A hint of dissatisfaction emerged from Jing Tian’s heart, bubbling up like the carbonated bubbles in the alcoholic beverage he had just consumed. He lowered his head and asked again, “Just tell me, what is it?”

They were sitting so close together on the same sofa. If Zheng Xunqian wanted to, he could easily touch his skin with his lips by turning his head slightly.

He couldn’t escape, just like how he couldn’t avoid Zheng Xunqian’s fingers touching his cheek earlier.

What do you want? Just say it.

How many times had he thought it was natural for things to develop this way, only for Zheng Xunqian to not make a move?

Was it because their feelings were not mutual, or because Zheng Xunqian had never had such thoughts?

“Why aren’t you answering?” Jing Tian turned his head to look at him, deliberately facing him.

Zheng Xunqian looked into his eyes and said, “You seem a little drunk.”

Jing Tian stared at him for a moment, then suddenly picked up the half-full bottle next to him and poured it into his cup that still had some juice left.

Until the mixed drink was almost overflowing from the cup, he picked up the cup, took small sips at first, then tilted his head back and drank the rest in one gulp.

He put down the cup under Zheng Xunqian’s astonished gaze, sighed, and wiped his mouth.

“You…”

Jing Tian interrupted him, “I’m about to get drunk.”