TSDT - 4

A buddy of theirs had recently broken up with his girlfriend, and the group joked that he and Meng Jingshu were brothers who broke up together. They decided to get together and insisted on celebrating their return to single life. After dinner, the men had nothing to do. They initially wanted to go to some “colorful” places, but the newly single A Qing wasn’t in the mood and refused. So, they went back to their usual spot to drink and play cards.

Someone teased him, “A Qing, don’t look so gloomy. Learn from our Brother Meng. He dated for several years, broke up just like that, and his ex even announced to the world on Weibo that he’s a heartbreaker, with so many fans cursing him as a scumbag. Look at him, he doesn’t even frown. Your ex was so strict; aren’t you relieved now?”

A Qing cursed him, “Get lost! No one will think you’re mute if you don’t talk.”

Meng Jingshu didn’t respond.

Wei Zhanfeng poured A Qing a drink, “A Qing, don’t be mad, Lao Su just has a foul mouth. As for Lao Meng... Lao Meng, what are you looking at?”

Meng Jingshu suddenly retracted his gaze, “Looking at the scenery.”

Wei Zhanfeng was suspicious, “What kind of scenery? You’ve been here hundreds of times and you’re still not tired of it?”

Tong Hao corrected him, “I’ve only been open for a year, and you guys have been back for half a year. Absolutely not hundreds of times.”

“...”

After several rounds of cards, the men grew somewhat bored. Lao Su looked at the lively scene on the other side of the large glass panel and suggested going downstairs to have some fun, “The girls here today are all quite stunning.”

Meng Jingshu had been distracted, but at this moment, he suddenly stood up, his long legs stepping out of the sofa.

“Something came up, I’m leaving first.”

After he left, Lao Su asked, “Lao Wei, is your company, Shufeng, that busy?”

Given Meng Jingshu’s cold demeanor and recent breakup, Lao Su couldn’t think of anything else that would make him leave so suddenly in the middle of the night besides work.

Wei Zhanfeng pushed up his glasses, “Probably personal matters.”

________________________________________

Meng Jingshu took it upon himself to sit down. The waiter brought over three drinks. The two men had the same drink, with a few ice cubes and no garnish. In front of Jiang Ying was a glass of orange juice.

Jiang Ying: “...”

The man with the pompadour raised an eyebrow, “President Meng, do you know this beautiful lady?”

Meng Jingshu nodded, “Yes, we’re together.”

Jiang Ying twitched her lips.

The man with the pompadour suddenly understood, looking at them with a hint of mocking amusement. “President Meng’s taste has changed, no wonder.”

Jiang Ying, of course, understood what he was implying, and it stung a little.

She stared at the man with the pompadour and smiled, “We’re just here to have fun, aren’t we?” She then pointed her chin at his left hand, “Mr. Hong, you took off your ring precisely to try something new, didn’t you?”

The man abruptly looked back at his hand, where a pale mark circled the base of his ring finger.

He awkwardly chuckled a few times and hid his hand under the table, “This beautiful lady is truly interesting. President Meng has good taste.”

Meng Jingshu glanced at Jiang Ying, a little surprised but showing no outward reaction. He then exchanged a few indifferent words with Mr. Hong, as if he hadn’t heard the earlier sarcastic remarks at all.

Mr. Hong couldn’t sit there any longer and quickly made an excuse to leave. Meng Jingshu stood up to bid him farewell. Just then, Mr. Hong’s friend, a curvy girl in a tight dress, came looking for him and couldn’t take her eyes off Meng Jingshu.

The three of them stood talking, and Jiang Ying felt like the air was being blocked by them. Her breathing became difficult, and she was incredibly annoyed.

Meng Jingshu was too much.

She didn’t know what went wrong between him and Fu Xuan, but she could tell he had wanted to break up for a long time. That night when he turned off his phone, his expression was contemptuous; he deliberately let Fu Xuan know he wasn’t coming home.

He slept with her only because he was breaking up.

He used this incident as a fuse.

He used her.

And brought her a whole week of bad luck.

Now he was still bothering her!

And deliberately ordered orange juice to mock her!

Who the hell drinks orange juice at a bar?!

Annoyed, she took a sip of lemon water, finding it bland. In a fit of pique, she picked up Meng Jingshu’s drink and chugged it down.

“...”

Her face flushed, her vision blurred, then blurred again, and then it felt like she was constantly floating on water.

Before her consciousness completely dissolved, Jiang Ying had only one thought: Meng Jingshu wanted to murder the man with the pompadour, didn’t he?

Greeting and getting to know someone only takes a minute or two. After the man left, Meng Jingshu pondered what to say to Jiang Ying. When he turned around, he froze.

His own glass was empty, and Jiang Ying’s eyes were glazed over.

“You drank it all?”

The reality was right in front of him, but Meng Jingshu couldn’t help but ask the obvious. He hadn’t been drinking some playful mixed drink, but pure hard liquor, the kind men used to assert dominance and hold their ground.

What had this person learned since graduating a few years ago? Talking freely with strangers. Drinking unknown liquor without a second thought.

He felt like a homeroom teacher who discovered a good student was dating prematurely, troubled.

Meng Jingshu bent down and patted Jiang Ying’s face, “Jiang Ying, speak.”

Jiang Ying clutched her phone tightly, glaring at him. After a long pause, she managed to squeeze out a few words, “It tastes awful!”

Meng Jingshu: “...”

It wasn’t meant for you to drink in the first place. You had perfectly good orange juice right there, but no, you had to try drinking alcohol like an adult.

But how could he argue with a drunk person?

He had seen her dressed lightly earlier and being hit on by the notoriously flirtatious Mr. Hong, so he had come over, afraid she’d get into trouble. Now that she was like this, leaving her alone would probably lead to her being picked up by someone else.

Meng Jingshu put his jacket over her, put his arm around her shoulder, and helped her up. Jiang Ying’s limbs were soft, and she twisted, trying to resist.

He was practically carrying her, “Don’t move around, I’ll take you back.”

An arm was suddenly pulled away from behind him, and a woman yelled at him, “You let go of her!”

Hearing that voice, Jiang Ying struggled free and lunged over, “Feifei... I’m so dizzy, Feifei...”

Huang Yanfei stumbled as she supported Jiang Ying, then finally saw the man’s face and was dumbfounded: “Uh... Meng Jingshu?”

Meng Jingshu also paused. He hadn’t seen Jiang Ying’s companion clearly from a distance before, but now he recalled that this was also a high school classmate: “Huang Yanfei.”

Jiang Ying moved restlessly, swayed, and almost pulled Huang Yanfei down with her. Meng Jingshu had no choice but to support her again, but she wouldn’t let go of Huang Yanfei, making all three of them somewhat flustered.

Meng Jingshu frowned and asked, “Can you take her back?”

Huang Yanfei thought about Jiang Ying’s tone last night, and the things she had said over the years about the man in front of her.

She said hesitantly, “I’m not entirely sure of her exact address.”

Meng Jingshu quickly made a decision, “I’ll take care of her, is that alright?”

Huang Yanfei smiled politely, “Then I’ll trouble you.”

Jiang Ying was completely disoriented from the alcohol. Meng Jingshu had to exert some effort to pry her off Huang Yanfei, like pulling apart sticky rice cakes.

Once in the car, Jiang Ying couldn’t even sit up straight and simply collapsed onto the man’s firm thighs, causing Meng Jingshu to stiffen and his eyebrows to arch. He called out to her, but there was no response. To prevent her from pressing on her stomach and potentially throwing up, Meng Jingshu pulled her up, wrapping one arm around her upper body to hold her against him.

He asked, “Jiang Ying, where do you live?”

Jiang Ying closed her eyes, and after a while, she slurred, “...Don’t tell you...”

Meng Jingshu was both annoyed and amused.

Now she knows to be on guard?

Holding her like this, he could touch anything.

He had never taken care of anyone before, let alone a drunk person, but at this moment, he suddenly felt playful.

“Jiang Ying, who am I?”

“...Sa...sha...”

“What? Speak louder.”

“...Idiot Sagittarius! Are you blind?! You trash!”

Meng Jingshu: “...”

The driver in front couldn’t help but stifle a laugh.

Meng Jingshu took a deep breath.

Fine.

You just wait.

He’d settle the score with her slowly once she sobered up.

________________________________________

Meng Jingshu woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of water. A moment later, there were messy, dragging footsteps, followed by a loud thump on the bed next to him as several large water droplets splashed onto his feet.

The world returned to quiet.

________________________________________

Meng Jingshu suppressed his temper, got up and went to check on the bed, feeling the woman’s long hair.

Good, it was wet.

She had washed her hair and hadn’t dried it at all, coming out directly, soaking the pillow as well.

“Jiang Ying, blow-dry your hair before sleeping.” He nudged the person on the bed.

Jiang Ying didn’t move.

He had booked a family suite, and he was lying on the large bed while the drunk person slept on the children’s bed. She was curled up, looking miserable.

Meng Jingshu stood by the bed, looking at her for a long time.

The lack of interaction in their standoff felt like punching a cotton ball.

If she slept like this, her head would probably ache terribly tomorrow.

Young Master Meng, who was serving someone for the first time, was very annoyed, his brow furrowed ever since he was woken up. He brought the hairdryer to the bedside, pressed the switch, and Jiang Ying, apart from an initial twitch, remained very quiet, sleeping like a docile piece of pork belly under the warm, whirring air.

And Meng Jingshu’s brow furrowed even tighter.

Why was it still so wet after almost five minutes of blowing? He usually only needed two quick swipes to dry his own hair.

He turned off the hairdryer and thought about the issue of surface area and evaporation. He finally decided to put Jiang Ying’s head on his lap and blow again, which indeed worked.

Her black hair draped over the man’s legs, gradually changing from strands to individual wisps. And Jiang Ying, stiff-necked, finally stirred awake from the torment.

At first, she didn’t open her eyes, just felt uncomfortable, twisting her neck and rubbing it around. Not quite sober, she couldn’t understand why the pillow was so hard, and even reached out to grab it a couple of times.

Meng Jingshu couldn’t tolerate it anymore. He put the hairdryer aside and pinched her shoulder to straighten her. The woman’s shoulders were slender and delicate, and a corner of her bathrobe slipped, making Meng Jingshu lick his teeth before pulling it back up for her.

The slow-witted drunkard finally noticed there was another person by the bed. She opened her eyes with a glare, wanting to scold him, to tell him that pinching someone so roughly was wrong.

Her fierce gaze shot out, meeting Meng Jingshu’s composed look. His eyes were lowered, his pupils deep.

A staring contest.

Steel against iron, whoever blinked first lost.

But Jiang Ying’s attention wasn’t on being fierce. She was struck by the face in her line of sight. This distance, this angle, made her mind go blank for a moment, almost to the point of losing focus. She completely forgot what she had wanted to say.

Meng Jingshu’s original intention was to criticize her a few times, to let her know she shouldn’t flirt or drink indiscriminately. But when he saw the girl’s eyes slowly become hazy, he knew he had misjudged.

A confrontational interaction between a man and a woman would only heat up the air.

He cleared his throat, “Turn around and blow-dry the back of your hair.”

She was indeed still drunk. She uttered an “oh” and obediently turned around.

Her hair was thick and fine. He absentmindedly helped her blow-dry it. When he put the hairdryer away, that intricate soft sensation still lingered in his hand. Meng Jingshu was lost in thought for a moment before remembering that the bed she was sleeping on had been wet from her hair.

Meng Jingshu told her, “Your bed is wet.”

His mind started playing illegal videos.

Jiang Ying sat up, not quite understanding what he meant.

Meng Jingshu stared at her bewildered little face, then directly grabbed her hand and made her press on the soaked bedsheet.

She recoiled as soon as she touched it, looking at him somewhat angrily, silently expressing her dissatisfaction.

Meng Jingshu: “Still sleeping in this bed?”

Jiang Ying shook her head.

Meng Jingshu lifted his chin: “Sleep over there?”

Jiang Ying looked over at the big bed, then at her own small one. She immediately nodded.

The man looked at her deeply, “You said it yourself.”

The drunkard was oblivious.

The two moved to the large bed. Jiang Ying burrowed under the covers. Meng Jingshu glanced at her, then lifted the covers and lay down too. He propped himself up and reached over Jiang Ying to turn off the light.

Half of Jiang Ying’s face was covered by his shadow, half-lit and half-dark, her features delicate but unreal. She very softly spoke her first words since waking up.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.”

Meng Jingshu paused.

In the shadows, Jiang Ying’s face was bare, her clean, bright black eyes watching him.

It felt like a dream.

His Adam’s apple bobbed. He turned off the light, and the room was plunged into darkness.

He sought out the warmth of the person in the bed, his voice suddenly hoarse.

“You’d better remember tomorrow, you started this.”

Wei Zhanfeng had once sarcastically mocked Meng Jingshu, calling him cold. The truth was far from it. At his age and with his physique, his needs were perfectly normal, and a few months ago, the frequency of his physical release was quite scientific and healthy.

For him, sex was about the impulse of the moment, the pleasure of the present. After it was over, it was just that, nothing to constantly dwell on. So, he secretly despised the state of Wei Zhanfeng and his friends, where either their brain or their dick was always active. He thought they were like middle schoolers who had never seen a woman.

But tonight, it seemed to overturn his understanding.

The drunk Jiang Ying was extraordinarily passionate, her slender body incredibly soft. She was in his arms, like a flowing, warm spring.

Alcohol made her honest, and her body’s reactions were quite direct. Sweet, trembling sounds escaped her throat, and Meng Jingshu, hearing them, felt a tingling sensation all over.

He wasn’t sure what precisely triggered his excitement, but he was insatiable.

The bright moon hung high, illuminating the entwined passion in the room.

The night wasn’t over yet, and he was already savoring the memory.