By noon the next day, Tang Zhiwu felt as if her throat were on fire—dry and painfully scorching.
She tried to speak, but her vocal cords seemed detached from her body, utterly incapable of producing a sound.
Only after opening her eyes and taking a moment to recover did the symptoms gradually ease.
“I’m never drinking again, wuwuwuwu…”
As the hangover set in, Tang—who had always overestimated herself—inevitably crashed, sinking into endless self-reproach.
She raised a hand, using her fingers to brush away the disheveled strands of hair from her face.
All the scattered items from her bag had spilled out, strewn everywhere, a sight that only fueled her irritation.
Clatter—
Just as she was about to push herself up from the sofa, Tang Zhiwu caught sight of Tie Jun, the alpaca, waddling toward her with a water bowl in its mouth.
“Hey! Hey, hey, hey!!”
Tang Zhiwu’s eyes widened in horror as she reached out to stop the unruly creature.
But before her hand could fully extend, Tie Jun was already right in front of her.
It came to an abrupt halt, and due to inertia, the water in the brimming bowl sloshed out right before Tang Zhiwu’s eyes.
Her notebook from yesterday’s library session—the very record of her efforts, the essence of her work—lay scattered on the floor, right in front of the bowl.
The water splashed directly onto it, soaking the open notebook from the center.
Tang Zhiwu’s eyes lost their light, her face ashen.
She stared, bloodshot eyes fixed on the soaked notebook, its pages now stuck together, and fell into a heavy silence.
Seeing Tang Zhiwu frozen, Tie Jun assumed she couldn’t reach the water. Determined to uphold its mission of “taking care of Tang Zhiwu,”
it lowered its long neck and pushed the bowl forward, rolling it right over the notebook as it moved closer to her.
Now, the notebook wasn’t just soaked—it was utterly crushed.
Unable to bear the sight, Tang Zhiwu closed her eyes and tilted her head back.
Her eyes were dry; not a single tear could be squeezed out.
The day of the presentation will be the day Tie Jun meets its end!!
Wordlessly, Tang Zhiwu stood up, lifting the water bowl with one hand while gripping Tie Jun’s collar tightly with the other.
She locked both the alpaca and the bowl inside Tie Jun’s pen.
Faced with the mess on the floor and an afternoon class ahead, Tang Zhiwu had no choice but to start cleaning up.
She picked up the scattered items one by one, including the notebook that had met its tragic end.
Once everything was dried and put away, Tang Zhiwu finally had a moment to reach for her phone on the sofa.
As soon as she turned on the screen, something even more mortifying appeared.
Instead of the home screen, she was greeted by a WeChat chat interface.
Seeing the contact name at the top, Tang Zhiwu nearly exploded on the spot.
Tie Jun Sister: [Voice Message]
Jin Zhi: [Mm.]
Bracing herself, Tang Zhiwu extended a trembling finger and tapped on the voice message she had sent.
“Xu… Xu Ge… Jin Zhi…”
A soft, almost coquettish voice—her own—played back, echoing in Tang Zhiwu’s ears.
She stood frozen, unable to move.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to; her toes were already digging deep into the ground.
“You lunatic, Tang Zhiwu, you really are messed up.”
She cursed herself silently several times, but in the end, she couldn’t pretend she hadn’t seen it.
After struggling for a while, she finally gathered her courage and edited a message to send.
At noon, Xu Ge was dining in the Hundred Flavors Pavilion of his estate.
The room was still empty except for him. He had no habit of having attendants serve him during meals, so after the young servants and maids laid out the dishes, they all left.
From a distance, besides the steaming delicacies on the table, there was also a jade pendant beside Xu Ge’s hand.
Just as he took a bite, the jade pendant stirred, and a letter appeared.
Xu Ge glanced sideways, the corners of his narrow, cold eyes curving slightly into an almost imperceptible arc.
He set down the jade bowl and chopsticks in his hands on the table.
After wiping the corners of his mouth with a nearby hand towel, he eagerly opened the letter.
Tie Jun Sister: 【Sorry Jin Zhi, I got completely drunk yesterday and was acting crazy, wuwuwu o(╥﹏╥)o, please don’t mind it.】
The smile in Xu Ge’s eyes deepened. He rose from his seat and immediately left the Hundred Flavors Pavilion, heading toward the Frost Chill Pavilion.
The two young servants guarding the entrance frowned deeply, exchanging glances. “Did His Excellency not like today’s dishes?”
The other shook his head in confusion. “I don’t know. The menu was the same a few days ago, and His Excellency finished it. What happened today…”
“Never mind. Note down today’s dishes and tell the kitchen to reduce how often they prepare them.”
The two quickly called over the other attendants, stepped inside, cleared away the barely touched dishes, and tidied up the Hundred Flavors Pavilion.
As soon as Xu Ge entered the Frost Chill Pavilion, before he even had a chance to sit down, he pulled out a blank sheet of paper from the table and began writing.
Only after placing the letter on the jade pendant did he finally relax and take a seat.
An inexplicable sense of ease softened his usually rigid posture, and he slowly leaned back into the chair.
Today, Xu Ge wore a robe of dark ink-colored brocade. The inner lining and cuffs were no longer edged with silver as before but with an audacious gold trim.
A belt of the same color, woven with golden spider patterns, cinched his waist. His black hair was tied up and secured with a jade-inlaid gold crown.
His narrow eyes were noble yet cold, his brows sharp as blades, and his dark pupils profound, making him appear even more arrogant and untamable.
In his lazy, detached state, he now focused entirely on the jade pendant, not looking away for even a moment.
Tang Zhiwu sprawled lazily on the sofa like a slacker. Hearing the notification tone, she jolted, immediately tapping open the chat window.
Jin Zhi: 【It’s no trouble, but why were you drinking?】
Tang Zhiwu replied without a second thought.
Tie Jun Sister: 【I recently joined a research project at school about the First Year of Jiayi. Yesterday, I finally had some free time, so I went to the school library to look up materials. After a tiring day, I planned to have a little drink in the evening to relax, but…】
This time, Tang Zhiwu also sent a “crying panda head” emoji.
How utterly embarrassing.
Just thinking about the tone in her voice message, which sounded as if she were calling out a lover’s name, made Tang Zhiwu flush with shame and mortification.
As the screen changed, Tang Zhiwu lifted her head from the pillow.
Jin Zhi: 【Drink in moderation. A little wine lifts the spirits, but too much harms the body.】
Tang Zhiwu pouted, her face full of anguish.
Not only was it harmful to her health, but it also severely affected her schoolwork.