Round One (12)

“Wine?”
Si Jiu nodded vigorously. “Yes, wine. Do you have any?”
She could actually eat food… it was simply miraculous.
Just now, watching Shen Yu eat, she had impulsively snatched a piece of vegetable, and she really did “eat” it.
Since she could eat, she might as well drink, too.
Now, this was a real surprise.
Shen Yu, however, looked troubled. “Uncle and I don’t drink.”
“What?” Si Jiu’s face fell.
Her eyes, always lively and sparkling, seemed to lose their brilliance.
It was almost unbearable to watch.
Shen Yu relented. “But there are some bottles at home—gifts from others. Sometimes it’s too awkward to refuse, so they just ended up here.
They’ve just been sitting around.
I don’t even know if they’re expired…”
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
Pushed along by her, Shen Yu had no choice but to take her to the storeroom.
“Wow… there’s so much! Just gathering dust in here!
What a waste.” Si Jiu clinked and clattered as she rummaged through the bottles.
There really was a lot—white, red, domestic, foreign, all kinds.
“Oh… there’s even Daughter’s Red!” Si Jiu lifted a jar of wine, unsealed its cover, and a rich, mellow aroma flooded the air.
She inhaled deeply, her eyes narrowing into crescent moons. “It smells so good!”
“That jar’s been here for as long as I can remember, it might be expired… Hey!”
Si Jiu was already gulping down several mouthfuls.

Shen Yu was dumbfounded.
“The older the wine, the better it tastes. What would a kid like you understand?”
She took another swig, then waved the jar at Shen Yu. “Want a taste?”
“No, no… you, please enjoy it yourself.”
“Tch.”
“How about I make you some snacks to go with the wine? I’ve heard drinking on an empty stomach gets you drunk faster.” Though he wasn’t sure if ghosts could get drunk.
A drunk ghost would just be a drunken ghost, wouldn’t it?
His thoughts wandered.
Si Jiu neither agreed nor refused.
She was the type to lose herself with drink, and now, wrapping an arm around Shen Yu’s neck, she dragged him out into the courtyard. “Forget the snacks. Tonight, let’s drink, pour our hearts out, and gaze at the moon. We’ll talk about poetry and philosophy, from verses to the meaning of life.”
Shen Yu was not short, but Si Jiu insisted on slinging her arm around his shoulders like old friends, so he good-naturedly bent over to accommodate her.
They came to the garden.
A sea of small daisies was blooming exuberantly, and deep in the flowerbeds stood a white swing.
Whatever brightness had just touched her mood now sank to the bottom.
Si Jiu was no longer interested in talking; she just drank, mouthful after mouthful.
White, red, domestic, foreign—it made no difference to her, and in no time, several bottles had been opened.
Little by little, she began to feel dizzy.
Si Jiu didn’t know if ghosts could get drunk. But she was drunk, at least.
She was a bit agitated. Getting drunk was simply the result of not suppressing herself.
And when she was drunk, she became angry.
“Tell me, why is that fool so stupid?” She grabbed Shen Yu by the collar and demanded.
At such close range, with her intoxicating beauty and hazy, drunken eyes, Shen Yu could hardly endure it.

He didn’t know who she meant by ‘that fool,’ nor why she was asking why a fool was foolish.
If a fool wasn’t foolish, would they still be called a fool?
“That fool. Couldn’t even recognize a person. Kept calling out ‘Tang, Tang, Tang, Tang,’ so sickening.”
Shen Yu tried to pry her hand away, but failed; he could only lean back.
She was too close for him to handle.
The more he retreated, the closer she got.
“Even slept holding on. Even kissed. Even tucked in the blanket. Even fed blood…” With every accusation, she leaned in a little more, until she was practically sprawled on top of him.
Pinned beneath her, Shen Yu dared not move, his hands planted behind him for support.
What was she saying? He couldn’t tell anymore. His mind was a jumble, with only one sentence spiraling madly: Ahhhh… we’re about to kiss!!!

“Yinyin is so afraid of pain.”
Suddenly, her expression turned aggrieved.
“Yinyin is the little young master I raised!”
As soon as she’d said it, she seemed to lose all strength. Her body went limp and collapsed downward, her face already so close to Shen Yu’s that as she fell, her lips landed squarely on his.

Shen Yinyin could have dodged.
But for a split second, it was as if he was frozen in place, staring at her, motionless.
Just as their lips were about to meet, a hand suddenly intervened, cupping the drunkard’s chin.
She tilted her head and, burying her face downward, planted a loud smack on that pale palm.

Shen Yu managed to twist his head aside and met a pair of eyes smoldering with barely suppressed anger. A chill swept over him from head to toe.

“Uncle, uncle, uncle… Uncle!!!”