Chapter 24: Naive White Rabbit

With just the two of them left in the living room again, Jiang Cheng watched as Ji Shuyi nearly slid off the chair, a limp noodle. He quickly got up, sat beside her to prevent a fall, and then, purely out of curiosity, asked, “What did you give my sister?”

The response he received was a far cry from the polite and obedient young lady who had been speaking to his sister and brother-in-law moments before. Now, without even a glance in his direction, she blurted out, “None of your business! Hmph.”

Jiang Cheng: “……”

“Ji Shuyi!” His voice was low, concealing his displeasure. “Even when you’re drunk, can’t you be nice to me?”

Ji Shuyi stubbornly turned her head away. “I just don’t want to. I just don’t want to be nice to you.”

As she spoke, she got up and staggered towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Jiang Cheng asked, his voice muffled.

Ji Shuyi blinked dazedly, mumbling back, “Dizzy. I want to go outside for some air.”

Jiang Cheng sighed helplessly. “You can barely stand, and you want to go out for air?”

Ji Shuyi batted away his hand as he tried to steady her, her voice slurred with intoxication. “Don’t need you to care~”

Rejected, Jiang Cheng took a deep, frustrated breath, wanting to turn around and ignore her completely. But standing there, watching the girl stumble and nearly fall after only a couple of steps, he hesitated for a second before striding forward to support her.

Jiang Cheng scoffed softly in annoyance. “Just a few drinks and you’re like this. You really have no self-awareness.”

After taking a few steps, Ji Shuyi felt her head spin even more. She didn’t even want to bother talking to him.

In the front yard, beneath a tree, was a swing. Ji Shuyi, suddenly seized by a playful impulse, walked over and sat down.

“Don’t just stand there like an idiot, push me!”

Sitting on the swing, Ji Shuyi glared at the man standing beside her like a statue.

Arms crossed, expressionless like a heartless bodyguard, Jiang Cheng said sullenly, “Why should I push you?”

Rejected, Ji Shuyi resentfully looked up at the towering figure. The night breeze made her head feel even lighter, and she couldn’t quite make out who was in front of her. She just felt that he was making an unpleasant face and she didn’t want to pay attention to him and started to swing by herself.

Just then, a maid’s voice came from behind them, “Young Master Cheng, the sobering soup is ready. Should I give it to Miss Shuyi?”

Jiang Cheng turned to look at the maid holding the sobering soup. “Give it to me.”

The maid handed over the soup, not daring to disturb them further, and turned to leave.

Jiang Cheng stood towering over her, holding the bowl out to Ji Shuyi with an indifferent tone, “Drink this sobering soup yourself.”

Ji Shuyi looked up at him, her cheeks puffed out, her eyes filled with resentment. Then, she turned her head away again, not responding with a single word, continuing to play on the swing by herself.

Jiang Cheng frowned in exasperation. “What? You want me to feed you?”

Ji Shuyi still ignored him, gently swinging back and forth, lost in her own little world.

Under the night sky, Jiang Cheng stood holding the soup bowl, looking down at the girl on the swing who refused to acknowledge him. In the silent stalemate, a gust of wind suddenly blew, and the drunken Ji Shuyi felt a wave of dizziness. Unconsciously, her delicate brows furrowed slightly as she raised a hand to pat her head.

Seeing that she was dizzy and uncomfortable, Jiang Cheng reluctantly relented. “I’m really giving in to you.”

Then, he awkwardly took a spoonful of the soup and tried to feed her.

“You’re standing so high, how am I supposed to drink?” Ji Shuyi, acting spoiled and entitled like a young miss, fussed, “You need to squat down to feed me.”

“You!…” Jiang Cheng looked at her dazed state and once again took a deep, helpless breath. “Fine, I’ll squat down and feed you, only because you’re drunk and I can’t be bothered to argue.”

He knelt down on one knee in front of the girl.

Ji Shuyi’s mood instantly improved. She obediently drank a few sips of the soup. The way he was feeding her, spoonful by spoonful, didn’t seem so annoying anymore. She even realized that the person in front of her was really good-looking. Pleased by the sight, the drunken beauty suddenly flashed him a brilliant smile.

That smile made all of Jiang Cheng’s movements freeze for a moment, his mind momentarily blank.

Her smiling eyes curved like crescents, seeming to hold all the starlight of the night, sparkling within. Her charming smile was as if her eyes were conveying affection, stirring the heart.

This was the first time he had seen her smile at him so purely and warmly, like a delicate, pristine flower blooming only for him.

He snapped back to reality when the girl’s hand gently touched his neck.

“Your tattoo is so special~”

Ji Shuyi, smiling, tilted her head and stared, fascinated, at the tattoo on his neck. Her fair, soft fingertips lightly caressed the tattoo as she murmured, “It’s a butterfly. But…”

The young woman suddenly stopped smiling and pouted. “But its wings are pierced by thorns. Does it hurt?”

Her warm fingertips brushed against his skin, and the way she tilted her head made Jiang Cheng lose himself again. He even softly replied, “It doesn’t hurt.”

It was as if he was afraid that saying ‘it hurts’ would frighten her.

Muddled, Ji Shuyi smiled. “Good, it’s good that it doesn’t hurt.”

It was the first time she had carefully examined his tattoo. It was a butterfly pierced by thorns, determined to break free from its cocoon despite all difficulties. The black and red color scheme seemed to symbolize that the price of rebirth was a desperate climb out of a bloody abyss…

This tattoo is so depressing, so bloody.

Jiang Cheng didn’t push away the small hand that was caressing his neck. Instead, he looked at the dazed girl, his jaw muscles twitching slightly. He suddenly called out, “Ji Shuyi.”

“Hmm?” the girl blinked and responded softly.

Under the night sky, Jiang Cheng stared intently into her eyes. After several seconds of silence, he spoke again, “Do you like Tang Yu?”

“Tang Yu?” Ji Shuyi’s wandering mind tried to recall who that was. Then, with a pout, she shook her head. “I don’t like him. We’re childhood friends.”

Jiang Cheng’s eyes flickered. He asked another question, “What about Jiang Cheng?”

“Jiang… Jiang Cheng?” Ji Shuyi frowned reflexively, even letting out a ‘hmph’. “I don’t like him either. There’s no way I could be with him.”

“Why?” Jiang Cheng blurted out, a little anxiously.

“Because… because… because…” Ji Shuyi lowered her head, her hands fidgeting together as she thought hard. After a moment, she looked up suddenly, smiling as she answered, “Because he’s a dog. We… we can’t mix humans and dogs~” (人狗殊途 – rén gǒu shū tú: This is a Chinese idiom meaning that humans and animals are not meant to be together.)

“Crap!” Jiang Cheng clenched his fist in frustration, questioning her fiercely, “Who’s a dog?”

“Why are you yelling at me!” Offended by his tone, Ji Shuyi angrily reached out to push him. However, the sudden movement destabilized the swing. She stumbled forward, caught off guard.

“Ah!”

In the nick of time, Jiang Cheng swiftly dropped the bowl of soup and grabbed the falling girl’s shoulders, becoming her human cushion as she landed against his chest.

In the instant they fell, the girl’s lips brushed against Jiang Cheng’s cheek, finally sliding to the hollow of his neck.

“Ooh~ You’re so… hard.”

Startled and regaining her senses, the girl mumbled softly. Her hot breath lingered around his neck as she spoke, her voice sounding a little delicate as if she had been hurt.

In that instant, Jiang Cheng heard himself swallow, even heard his heartbeat quicken. His hands, gripping the girl’s shoulders, tightened imperceptibly.

“Ouch~ That hurts. You’re squeezing me too hard,” Ji Shuyi cried out softly, trying to push herself up.

However, just as she straightened up, Jiang Cheng forcefully pressed her back against his chest, his voice low and husky:

“Ji Shuyi, you just kissed me.”

He paused for a second, then turned his head to look at her profile. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyelashes trembled nervously. Her hands were clenched into fists, pressed against his chest. His voice, laced with hidden aggression, entered her ear directly:

“What to do? I’m not one to be taken advantage of.”