“Hey, try this. It’s fruit-flavored, low alcohol—don’t be afraid,” the man said with a smile.
Cheng Simian sniffed it lightly. “Blueberry?”
“Yeah. It’s one of their specialties here.”
Cheng Simian raised her eyebrows, intrigued. She’d never tried blueberry-flavored alcohol before.
Just as she brought the glass to her lips, her wrist was suddenly held firmly. Startled, Cheng Simian followed the hand gripping hers and looked up at the person.
Backlit by the lights, Su Xianyan’s eyes were unexpectedly bright. He stared at her intently and said in a low voice, “Who told you you could drink?”
Cheng Simian went momentarily speechless, feeling like she’d been caught red-handed. “I—I was just going to try a little.”
“Put it down.”
She pouted, but obediently set the glass down. The friend who had handed her the drink laughed and said, “Xianyan, the alcohol content is really low. It’s fine!”
Before he could finish, he met a sharp look from Su Xianyan. That silent reproach—coming from someone usually so gentle—was oddly intimidating. The friend froze, then quickly fled the scene. Seriously, was this Cheng Qin’s niece or his niece?
Watching him retreat at lightning speed, Cheng Simian immediately felt like she’d been tricked. If she’d known, she wouldn’t have given in to curiosity!
She sneaked a glance at Su Xianyan. His brow was faintly furrowed, his right hand rubbing his temple—clearly, he’d had a bit too much to drink.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Mm.” Su Xianyan responded softly, his gaze settling on her face. “Minors aren’t allowed to drink. Didn’t your teacher teach you that?”
Cheng Simian replied, “When has a teacher ever taught that?”
Su Xianyan paused. “Talking back now, too.”
“It’s not that…” Cheng Simian thought for a moment, then said, “It’s your birthday. Everyone was drinking, so I just wanted to have one too.”
Su Xianyan tapped her head lightly. “Just eat your cake.”
Cheng Simian clutched her head, indignant but not daring to argue!
“Come on! If I don’t outdrink you tonight, my surname’s not Cheng!”
“Alright, alright—let’s drink, let’s drink!”
“Help me up, help me up!”
“One more round!”
Everyone was drunk—some more, some less—but the worst of them were Cheng Qin and Cha Yiguan.
Cheng Simian sat on the sofa watching Cheng Qin make a drunken spectacle of himself, along with Cha Yiguan. The two of them twisted and staggered around, exhausting the people holding them up. She shook her head, then glanced at Su Xianyan beside her. Hmm… at least his drinking manners were good.
“Xianyan, can you still walk?” Cai Xinyuan asked as she came over.
Su Xianyan nodded and stood up from the sofa. He looked fine on the surface, but Cheng Simian saw him sway slightly. Her heart jumped, and she immediately stood up to support him.
Su Xianyan must really be drunk—normally, he would never so naturally place all his weight on her. The petite girl instantly became a human crutch.
“Simian, I’ll support him,” Cai Xinyuan said.
Cheng Simian glanced at her, then without hesitation lifted her arm and wrapped it around Su Xianyan’s waist. “It’s fine. I can do it. I’ll take him home.”
Cai Xinyuan paused, her gaze flicking to Cheng Simian’s hand. Just as she was about to say something, a friend called out from behind her, “Xinyuan, help me out—Cheng Qin’s too much for me alone!”
“Oh, okay,” Cai Xinyuan replied, then said to Cheng Simian, “Go wait by the entrance. The car’s been called.”
Cheng Simian nodded.
Cai Xinyuan curved her lips slightly, hesitation flashing briefly in her eyes.
With Cai Xinyuan and another person supporting him, Cheng Qin was taken out, and the private room finally quieted down.
“Can you stand steady?” Cheng Simian asked, looking up at Su Xianyan. His eyes were bright—but to her, they felt a little… empty.
“I can.”
“You can?” Cheng Simian laughed softly. “Because I feel like the moment I let go, you’ll fall.”
Su Xianyan narrowed his eyes slightly and bent down toward her. “What did you say?”
Cheng Simian froze. He was leaning on her shoulder, and she had her arms around his waist—it was already rather intimate. Now that he bent down, she was completely enveloped in his arms.
She tightened her grip on his clothes. The dim lighting, the rich scent of alcohol, a handsome man in her arms…
She took a few deep breaths and whispered, “Su Xianyan, will you remember what happened after you got drunk… tomorrow?”
“Hm?”
“I…”
Cheng Simian didn’t know why she was asking. Maybe she just felt like she should do something. Everyone else had already helped the drunk people leave, and she was the only one left, supporting Su Xianyan alone.
She tilted her head to look at him. His eyes were half-closed. She’d met many people before, yet she couldn’t tear her gaze away from him.
Just as the two of them stood frozen like that, the private room door was pushed open again.
“Little sister! Why are you still standing there? Let’s go.” A friend who had just seen Cheng Qin off returned. “I’ll take him—I’ll take him. With arms and legs that skinny, how could you carry someone?”
As he spoke, he directly took Su Xianyan and led him toward the door.
Cheng Simian stood there watching his back, feeling both a little disappointed and oddly relieved.
In the end, the three drunk men were all safely sent home. After settling them into their beds, the friends who hadn’t drunk much prepared to leave.
“Little sister, it’s late—you should get some sleep too. Your uncle and Cha Yiguan are probably out cold and won’t cause trouble, so don’t worry.”
“Mm.”
After everyone left, Cai Xinyuan paused at the door and turned back. “Simian, if anything’s wrong with Xianyan, call me.”
Cheng Simian curled her lips into an innocent smile. “You drank quite a bit today too, Sister. Go home and rest—how could I trouble you?”
Cai Xinyuan’s gaze dimmed slightly. She nodded and left with the others. A strange, restless feeling stirred in her heart. She always felt that Cheng Simian held some inexplicable hostility toward her—and that hostility didn’t seem like mere childish rebellion.
Once everyone was gone and the drunkards were all lying in their own beds, Cheng Simian went upstairs and stopped outside Su Xianyan’s bedroom door.
The door wasn’t locked. She pushed it open and went in.
“Su Xianyan?” There was no response. She walked over to the bed and crouched down quietly beside it.
He seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep. His eyelashes lay softly against his skin, his lips pressed into an alluring curve. Cheng Simian squatted beside him, resting her chin on one hand, and muttered to herself, “How can someone be this good-looking?”
After squatting for too long, her legs began to go numb, so she dragged a chair over and sat by the bed. In a soft voice, she said, “I don’t know why, but the first time I saw you, I just felt comfortable looking at you.”
After saying that, she added decisively, “I swear, it’s not because you’re handsome. It’s just that… you feel familiar. You cooked for me the first time we met—someone who does that has to be a good person.”
Only the bedside lamp was on, casting a dim, warm glow over the room—gentle and beautiful. Cheng Simian reached out and held the hand he had left outside the blanket, resting her head lightly against the quilt, like a small animal clinging tightly to warmth.
In the quiet room, her soft murmuring could be heard. She said, “No one’s ever treated me this well. No one cares whether I’ve eaten, whether I’m hurt, or whether I’m doing well in school… Su Xianyan, you’re the best person I’ve ever met.”
“My parents don’t want me. The friends I used to have couldn’t be relied on—once my family went bankrupt, they didn’t want anything to do with me anymore. Well… there was one exception—the one in the hospital last time, Lin Luan. Ah, forget it. You said I shouldn’t get too close to him.”
He slept so quietly, as if he were seriously listening to her. As Cheng Simian continued talking, she began to feel a little pitiful. She should have been used to this, yet right now she felt wronged.
“This is really sad. What should I do?” She reached out and touched his cheek. It was smooth like white jade, even better than her own skin. Feeling a little dejected, she rubbed his face lightly, her gaze suddenly stopping on his lips.
Their faint color, that beautiful curve… The fleeting thought she’d had earlier in the private room resurfaced. In this quiet room, with no one to interrupt, the feeling seemed magnified several times over.
She quickly let go of his hand and stood up from the chair, turning to leave. But after taking a step, she hesitated—what was she doing right now? Feeling shy? Or simply not daring?
How could she not dare?
Cheng Simian scoffed at herself inwardly, then turned back to look at him. He was hers sooner or later anyway—just a matter of time. So, kissing him once wouldn’t matter, right?
She slowly leaned closer, her heart unconsciously tightening, her heartbeat pounding in her ears like a drum.
She brushed her lips against his lightly, not daring to linger—a fleeting touch.
Yet the warm, soft sensation struck her mind all at once. This was her first kiss—and it was with someone who was completely unconscious.
Cheng Simian’s face instantly flushed red. “What am I being shy about? A-anyway, you don’t know.”
She quieted for a moment, then took out the gift she’d been wanting to give him all night. She pulled his hand closer and fastened the bracelet from the small box onto his wrist. It was a matching pair—she had the other one herself…
“Happy birthday, Su Xianyan.”
With that, Cheng Simian left the room.
What she didn’t know was that the very next second after she stepped out, the person on the bed opened his eyes.
The drunken haze in his eyes cleared slightly. He glanced at the tightly closed door, then raised his hand to look at the black bracelet on his wrist. At its center was a silver bead, engraved with a faint letter “S.”
Su Xianyan lowered his hand, his gaze darkening slightly. He had already been conscious from the moment she rested her head against his chest; he’d simply been too dizzy to speak.
The next day, Cheng Qin, whose head felt like it was about to split, crawled out of bed.
After washing up, he walked into the living room and saw Cheng Simian coming out of the kitchen with a pot. He glanced at it. “What’s that?”
“Hangover soup.” Cheng Simian set the pot on the table.
Cheng Qin raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “You made this?”
“Yeah. I looked it up online—it’s pretty simple.”
Cheng Qin eyed her suspiciously, secretly thinking that this girl wasn’t bad after all—she even knew to make him hangover soup.
“Are you sure it’s edible?” Though he felt pleased, his mouth didn’t cooperate. He sat down casually at the dining table. “Fine, I’ll have a bowl. At least you went through the trouble of researching it.”
Cheng Simian paused, shooting him a look of disdain. Are you sure it’s edible? Who do you think this is for? You stinky little uncle—this is for my Su Su, okay?
Of course, Cheng Qin didn’t see her expression and waited smugly to be served. Cheng Simian snorted softly—luckily there was enough. She’d just spare him one bowl.
After drinking a mouthful, Cheng Qin was surprised to find it wasn’t some kind of disastrous cooking experiment. The taste was actually decent, so he finished the whole bowl without worry.
Cha Yiguan shuffled over to the table groggily. Seeing Cheng Qin drinking something, his gaze naturally fell on the pot.
“I’m hungry. Give me a bowl too.”
Cheng Simian quickly said, “That’s not breakfast—it’s hangover soup.”
“Hangover soup? Perfect, perfect. I need something to sober me up too.”
“No!” If Cha Yiguan had a big bowl too, there wouldn’t be enough left.
“Why not?” Cha Yiguan protested pitifully. “Cheng Qin gets some, but I don’t?”
Cheng Qin smiled in satisfaction. So it was specially made for him—this niece really knew how things worked. Sure enough, blood ties could be trusted.
That thought had barely passed when his sensible niece spoke, serious and firm:
“If you all finish it, what is Su Xianyan supposed to eat later?”