Chapter 13 Drunken Embrace
After that day, Liang Sheng didn’t come looking for me again.
It felt like his sudden trip to Lincheng—for some project, claiming it was business—was all just an- Keeping clichéd love notes and binoculars quote unchanged to preserve dialogue authenticity.
excuse. He’d only wanted that one hug.
So when Qian called a week later, I stared at the screen for a few seconds before picking up. I didn’t even wipe the oil paint off my fingers.
Qian said, “Zhou Wen, Boss got poured a lot of drinks, but I’ve got urgent business back at the organization. Can you come get him?”
The place wasn’t far from my place. Twenty minutes from stepping out the door to seeing Liang Sheng.
He stood downstairs from the hotel, hands in his coat pockets, staring blankly at the road, looking genuinely drunk.
I was surprised. I walked over, waved in front of his face. “How’d you let them get you this bad? Can you still walk?”
At my voice, Liang Sheng slowly raised his eyes. They traveled up and settled on my face.
He stared until I started feeling awkward. Then he spoke.
“Fang Mu.”
I still wasn’t used to him calling me that. I hummed vaguely and got to the point. “Where do you live? I’ll take you home.”
I couldn’t help muttering, “Qian must’ve gone crazy today, leaving you alone like—”
I didn’t finish.
Liang Sheng pulled me into his arms completely.
He acted like he hadn’t heard my question. He just nuzzled against my neck, affectionate, and called again, “Fang Mu.”
This Liang Sheng felt strange. I didn’t know what to do with him.
I stiffened for a few seconds, then slowly lifted my arms and hugged him back.
I softened my voice. “What’s wrong?”
His voice carried a hint of grievance. “Last round, they mixed everything together and forced it on me.”
Normal, I thought, patting his back gently.
Even a strong outsider can’t overpower the local forces here. The market in Lincheng is limited. Anyone wanting a share has to build some goodwill.
“I have no connections here. They’re holding my paperwork, refusing to release it.”
No connections? Make some. Nothing starts easy.
“After I got drunk, they even called two girls to help me up, said they’d go home with me.”
My hand paused mid-motion. My expression turned odd.
Liang Sheng delivered his final complaint, emphasizing it deliberately. “But I didn’t want to go home with them.”
I stopped moving entirely. Didn’t speak.
After a few seconds, he shifted against my neck, confused. “Fang Mu?”
“Are you listening?”
When he gripped my shoulders and pulled back to look at me, he met my half-smiling eyes.
I caught the quick flicker in his gaze and laughed, annoyed.
“Liang Sheng, how did I never realize you had such acting talent?”
I’d wondered the whole way over what kind of party would dare force drinks on Liang Sheng.
Sure, a strong dragon doesn’t crush the local snake—but was Liang Sheng an ordinary dragon?
He’d never shown weakness like this in front of me before, so I’d been briefly taken in.
Even if someone had forced drinks tonight, growing up surrounded by knives in the dark, he’d stay sharper drunk than most people sober.
And Qian had been there. With him around, no one would dare try anything.
Girls helping him home? Laughable.
I just didn’t understand why he’d staged this whole thing.
Drink on purpose just so I’d come pick him up?
The people at the table would’ve run to the rooftop to curse if they knew.
Liang Sheng opened his mouth to explain, but surrendered under my stare.
He sighed, pulled me back into his arms, tone almost self-destructive. “Fine. I admit it. I told Qian to head back first.”
“I wanted to see you.”
“Fang Mu, I wanted to see you.”
“I was the one who let you go. I couldn’t find many excuses anymore.”
I’d been irritated, but two sentences in, I softened again, useless as ever.
Still, I asked grumpily, “Where do you live? I’ll take you back.”
“Don’t want to go back. Let me hold you a little longer.”
“…”
The phrase pushing his luck flashed through my mind.
But my arms wrapped around him honestly anyway. I buried my face in his chest and muttered, “How did I never notice you were so good at acting cute?”