Chapter 329: Skin Thick as a City Wall

"Sure." Xia Xi supported her eyelids with her hand, indicating she was sober.

Xu Yanfeng glanced at her and was amused.

Xia Xi lowered her hand, tilted her neck back, and let out a long sigh.

Xu Yanfeng asked if she had run into trouble at work; Xia Xi tilted her head to look at him, a hint of worry in her eyes, and told him that Lu Mingji wanted her to go on a variety show—she felt annoyed, didn't want to go, but couldn't find an excuse to refuse.

"No way." Xia Xi, feeling the alcohol, slapped her thigh: "I'll go talk to Lu Mingji tomorrow—why does he get to decide? Why doesn't he go himself? The task he took on should be his to handle!"

"Is there no one else in the company willing to join?"

"None."

"You really don't want to go?"

"I'm just an ordinary person; I'm not used to being in front of the camera, and the thought of that scene makes me uncomfortable." Xia Xi crossed her arms, pouting: "Besides, I'm afraid I'll say the wrong thing and get scolded. Nowadays the online environment isn't as simple as before—one sentence can be interpreted in all kinds of ways."

"What's the show called?" Xu Yanfeng asked.

"I don't know." Xia Xi said, "Lu Mingji didn't even remember it—don't you think that's unreliable?"

While waiting at the red light, Xu Yanfeng rubbed her head: "Don't think too much about it; we'll talk about tomorrow's matters tomorrow."

"All right." Xia Xi exhaled, her breath heavy with alcohol.

Xu Yanfeng stared at her; the more he looked, the more her rosy cheeks resembled a ripe peach. He rubbed her cheek with his fingertip and asked, smiling, "Just how much did you drink?" He himself couldn't hold his liquor, and he remembered that hers wasn't great either.

Xia Xi made a scissor gesture beside her face, looking quite cute.

"Two glasses?" Xu Yanfeng doubted, "Two glasses and you're drunk?"

Xia Xi paused, then silently added a finger.

Xu Yanfeng: "Three glasses?"

Xia Xi added: "Two white, one red. The glasses were about the size of our usual water cups at home."

Xu Yanfeng: "……"

If she's not drunk, who is?

Xu Yanfeng clenched her three raised fingers in his palm and admonished her: "Drink less from now on, best not at all. You need to nurture your stomach—you've quit coffee, so naturally you should avoid alcohol if you can."

Xia Xi listened silently, her head growing more dazed. She had been abstaining to nurture her stomach, touching nothing, but tonight she couldn't help overindulging and drank too much.

When they arrived home, Xia Xi was already asleep, her body reeking of alcohol mixed with barbecue. Xu Yanfeng helped her undo the seatbelt, gazed at her for a while, then pinched her nose tip: "Drunkard."

Her nose twitched slightly twice, then there was no further reaction.

Helpless, Xu Yanfeng first got out of the car, slung the bag from her legs over his neck, hoisted her sideways, locked the car, and headed for the elevator.

A car's headlights shone from the side; Xu Yanfeng narrowed his eyes, thinking that the villa, renovated months ago and sitting unused, could finally be moved into—its privacy couldn't compare to this place.

The house was quiet; Zi Heng was already asleep, and Zhangyi in her own room heard the movement, knew the two had returned, and didn't come out to disturb them. Xu Yanfeng carried Xia Xi to the master bedroom, laid her on the bed, first took off the bag from her neck, then removed her outerwear.

Xia Xi turned over, opened her eyes, and her lashes fluttered slowly like tiny brushes.

"Awake?" Xu Yanfeng leaned over, hand propped beside her face, "Perfect—go take a bath in the bathroom before sleeping; you'll feel better."

Xia Xi closed her eyes again, unwilling to move. Xu Yanfeng tucked the strands of hair by her cheek behind her ear, with endless patience and tenderness: "Let me help you wash?"

"Sure." Xia Xi agreed quickly.

Xu Yanfeng chuckled lightly, lifted her, went to the bathroom, and as he removed her clothes piece by piece under the light—everything visible—he couldn't keep his mind from wandering.

As he leaned in to kiss her, Xia Xi was already half-awake; she pushed his face away, locked eyes with his dark pupils, and said, "What are you doing? This isn't helping me bathe—is this how you wash?"

She was finding fault; Xu Yanfeng laughed, caught her hands, placed them on his shirt buttons, and told her to undo them: "Then how should I wash? You teach me."

Xia Xi obliged, undoing the buttons one by one; the water‑dampened shirt fabric clung to her body, faintly visible, she pulled it apart, her fingers moved down to the belt buckle, fiddled with it for a moment, released it—and then… then she saw that tattoo.

A vivid, clear bite mark, as if it had just been made.

It was incredibly sexy.

Xia Xi gulped, her self‑control weaker than his; her finger touched it, then her lips pressed against it.

Xu Yanfeng felt like he was going to die.

Back on the bed, Xia Xi's gaze was resentful—what was supposed to be a nice bath had turned into this.

A lamp lingered in the master bedroom, casting a dim, amber glow; Xu Yanfeng lay on his side, propping his head with his hand, watching her and smiling: "Sobered up?"

Xia Xi wanted to hit him, but she had no strength, so she let it go, merely expressing her displeasure with her eyes.

Xu Yanfeng covered her eyes with his hand, "Don't look at me like that—if you keep staring, something might happen again." He leaned in and whispered in her ear: "I've already been very restrained."

Xia Xi was choked up; she couldn't see his restraint—just thinking about what he'd done made blood rush to her head, her whole face burning like a red‑hot iron.

Xu Yanfeng's fingers twined through her hair, stroking it gently, his expression serious as he analyzed: "You can't just look at the surface; you need to see the essence. We've been apart for years—thinking like this, I really am being restrained."

Xia Xi: "……"

Xia Xi simply closed her eyes; he always had a point.

Xu Yanfeng: "Besides, just now in the bathroom, it was you who—"

"Ah!" Xia Xi cried out in a hoarse voice; though she had no strength, the force with which she covered his mouth was considerable.

Xu Yanfeng's exposed eyes smiled charmingly; he took hold of her hand, lowered it, and kissed the inside of her wrist: "Even if you don't take the initiative, I still intend to…"

"Xu Yanfeng, aren't you done yet?" Xia Xi's face turned completely tomato‑red, her ears too.

Xu Yanfeng looked at her and chuckled low: "How do I see you as if the alcohol's hitting you again, your face so red—surely not from shyness? Xia Xi and the word 'shy' have nothing to do with each other."

Xia Xi, angry, bit him and said bluntly: "I am shy—unlike you, whose skin is thick as a city wall."

Xu Yanfeng: "It's your contagion. When you used to chase after me, wasn't it…?" Not wanting to say her skin was thick, lest she be unhappy, he rephrased: "So straightforward."

Xia Xi wrinkled her nose: "Do you have to brag about me chasing you for the rest of your life?"

Xu Yanfeng pondered seriously, the corners of his mouth breaking into a deep smile: "Probably."

Xia Xi: "……"

Xu Yanfeng, relentless: "Later I'll tell Zi Heng how his mom chased after his dad back then; when we have grandsons and granddaughters, I'll tell them too, passing it down through the generations."

Xia Xi: "……"

I really want to knock this person out with a pillow.

Thanks to getting drunk, Xia Xi almost was late for work the next day.

After waiting a bit in the office, hearing that Lu Mingji had arrived, Xia Xi went over to find him.

Lu Mingji pointed at the sofa in the reception area: "Sit." He stood up, walked out from behind his desk, sat opposite her, and asked, "Would you like coffee?"

Xia Xi crossed her legs, shook her head: "I've quit."

Lu Mingji raised an eyebrow and teased, "A workaholic actually gave up coffee."

Xia Xi didn't waste time on small talk, got straight to the matter: "Really, can't we find someone else to appear on the show?"