Chapter 77

Xia Xi had already tried hard to open her eyes wide, but the alcohol had gotten to her head, and she saw double when looking at people.

Several faces of Xu Yanfeng swam before her eyes, and she couldn't tell which was real and which were hallucinations.

She shook her head hard, but it didn't help; she still couldn't see clearly.

Xia Xi remained silent, and Xu Yanfeng assumed she couldn't recognize people, which made him furious, yet he involuntarily took a few steps forward so she could see clearly who he was.

"You… hic." Xia Xi accidentally burped as she opened her mouth, the strong alcohol smell escaping; she embarrassed covered her mouth, and muffled words leaked from between her fingers: "How did you come here?"

"You're allowed to get some air here, but no one else is allowed to come here?" Xu Yanfeng snapped.

He hadn't forgotten what happened last time—her phone had fallen into his room, and he had unintentionally discovered that the encrypted album was filled with his photos; when he went to confront her, she said she was just keeping them as a memento, which didn't mean she still had feelings for him.

She also told him to stop there, not to pester her anymore, and to let her go.

That day, a feeling of suffocation had lodged in her chest, and even to this day it remained there, never dissipating.

Although Xia Xi was very drunk, she firmly remembered not to get overly entangled with Xu Yanfeng, so she pulled off the jacket from her shoulder and handed it to him: "Well… well, you take your time to get some air; I'll… I'll go first."

Xu Yanfeng's thick, dense eyelashes drooped as he looked at the jacket she held in her hand, but he didn't reach out to take it for a while. Following that hand upward, he saw a layer of goosebumps on her snow-white arm, obviously from the cold.

Her face also showed an abnormal redness, due to the alcohol and also because of the cold weather.

"I don't want something you've worn." Xu Yanfeng expressed his concern in a cold, unfeeling way, like the cold wind blowing in from outside, stabbing into the bones.

If Xia Xi were sober, she could still tell the truth from falsehood in his words, but now her mind was muddled and she wouldn't think; hearing this, she immediately furrowed her brows, throwing all social etiquette to the dogs, and she pointed at his nose and retorted: "Are you despising me? You must have something wrong—was it me who asked you for the clothes? Or did you give them to me on your own initiative?"

As she became feisty, her body swayed; Xia Xi staggered a few steps in place and grabbed hold of the railing behind her.

She wasn't done; she directly threw the expensive suit onto the ground and stomped on it with her high heels: "You want it or not, forget it, I'm indulging you."

Xu Yanfeng looked at the crumpled fabric on the ground, bearing several footprints, and the corner of his mouth twitched rarely. When she lost her temper, her speech became much clearer and more fluent, without stuttering.

"What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen someone get drunk and crazy?" Xia Xi glared at him and shouted fiercely.

Xu Yanfeng laughed; she still knew she was acting drunk and crazy.

Xia Xi's vision was blurry; she vaguely saw Xu Yanfeng seeming to laugh, but she couldn't tell whether it was a sneer or something else, and in her subconscious, this man definitely had no good expression toward her.

He had been like this before—offhandedly mocking her, taunting her, provoking her, bullying her…

Thinking of the word "bully," a sense of grievance welled up in Xia Xi's heart, and her mind flashed to the class reunion when, disregarding her wishes, he dragged her into a private room and forced a kiss, which many old classmates witnessed, leaving her wondering what they would speculate behind her back; also, when she went to measure the villa, he similarly overbearingly pressed her against the wall and forced a kiss.

Back when they were together, he never acted this eager; if she wanted to kiss him, she had to coax him like an ancestor.

The more Xia Xi thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt; she continued pointing at him and loudly demanded: "On what grounds?!"

Xu Yanfeng was quite bewildered: "What on what grounds?"

"On what grounds do you always bully me? You, right now, are just a bastard! A big bastard!" Xia Xi lifted her head high, nonchalantly raised her hand to wipe the corner of her eye, brushing away nonexistent tears. "Xia Xi, you're drunk, aren't you?" Xu Yanfeng didn't recall having bullied her, nor could he bear the title of "bastard," so he could only say she had drunk too much, her mind was muddled, she was talking nonsense, slapping false charges on him; although he knew she wasn't sober or rational now, arguing with her was pointless, yet he still earnestly said, "I didn't bully you."

"You did!" Xia Xi protested even louder.

After not seeing each other for years, this person had truly become wicked, bullying her and still refusing to admit it.

Xu Yanfeng looked at her with composure, and suddenly realized that drunk Xia Xi was actually nice—at least she wouldn't coldly distance herself from him: "Go on, tell me, where have I bullied you?"

"You!" Xia Xi curled her fingers back, pointing at her own mouth, looking indignant, "You forced a kiss on me!"

Xu Yanfeng pressed his lips together, trying hard not to laugh, and frankly said it was quite difficult to hold back: "Is that what you call bullying you?" Seeing that her brain seemed insufficient, he got the idea to tease her: "Let me give you a trick for revenge, how about that?"

"What?" The mentally insufficient Xia Xi readily took the bait.

Xu Yanfeng stepped closer and closer until he had her trapped between his chest and the balcony railing, his arms braced on either side of her body, forming a complete enclosure.

In an instant, Xia Xi's breathing became tight; she no longer felt cold, as if she had been thrown into a furnace to be roasted, roasting her cheeks hot and her limbs stiff. Her thoughts were in a jumble, unsure whether she wanted to flee this heat or indulge in this warmth.

Xu Yanfeng lowered his gaze; her trembling eyelashes fell into his sight, and his Adam's apple unconsciously rolled: "However you bully me, you should bully me back the same way—that's only fair."

Hearing this, Xia Xi raised her eyes doubtfully, feeling something was off but unable to articulate it.

Xu Yanfeng's voice was low and soothing as he coaxed: "One should take revenge early; the saying 'a gentleman's revenge, ten years is not too late' is just the weak putting up a front—do you agree?"

Xia Xi had been brainwashed, feeling his words made perfect sense; the person was right before her eyes, and there was no better time to retaliate. The thought arose, and she acted—she grabbed his collar with both hands, pulled his noble head down, and fiercely bit into him.

He had treated her like that last time, and she wanted to return it all!

Xia Xi thought while she bit him with all her might.

Xu Yanfeng kept his eyes open, soberly watching her intoxicated state; on his handsome face there was no anger at being retaliated against, only the pleasure of a wish fulfilled. The hand he had braced on the balcony railing slid to her waist, he exerted a little pressure, pressing her tighter against his chest.

*Ling Yan had only spaced out for a moment, and then she couldn't find Xu Yanfeng anywhere; after asking a few servers, she learned he had gone to the balcony.

She lifted one side of her skirt and went to look for Xu Yanfeng; just as she turned the corner, she saw his back. As she approached, she realized there was another person besides him on the balcony. She couldn't see that person's appearance, but she determined it was a woman.

Xu Yanfeng slightly turned his head, and Ling Yan, seeing clearly what he was doing, felt her pupils tremble slightly.

They… they were kissing.

Xu Yanfeng's suit jacket lay on the ground; he wore a pure black shirt, one hand gripping the woman's waist, the other supporting her nape. As they moved, his back arched in a beautiful line, his broad shoulders completely enveloping the woman's slender figure, only a strip of white skirt visible, draped over his leather shoes, piled up in wave-like folds.

The balcony lights were not as brilliant as the banquet hall's, casting a dim, dark-yellow hue; the satin skirt shimmered with a faint mermaid-like sheen under the light.

Ling Yan could barely stand, her hand bracing against the wall beside her, her face deathly pale.

She searched her mind for the woman in white satin dress at tonight's banquet, and the answer came effortlessly—because the first person to pop into her head was Xia Xi.

(End of chapter)