TFRLTOP Chapter 34 Part 2

Ming Ming tilted her head at him for a couple of seconds, then launched herself forward. To her surprise, he caught her steadily, rose to his feet, and without sparing a glance at the other drunk, carried her straight home.

“Why does the person on his back look kind of familiar? Looks like the wife I never got to marry… wait, what wife? I don’t even have one…” Wang Hu smacked the horse’s rump, and the hooves clattered away, carrying him smoothly back home.

In the dead of night, his parents heard the noise, got up, and saw him reeking of liquor. They scolded, “You little punk! We told you to go to town and buy things, and you went off drinking instead—and got this drunk? You’ll be the death of us!”

Wang Hu, drunk and grinning like a fool, said to his mother, “Mom! I brought home a wife for you!”

His mother froze. “Where on earth did you get a wife?”

“Uh…” Wang Hu thought hard for a moment. “Well, she hasn’t divorced yet.”

Then, still chuckling, he patted her hand in reassurance. “Don’t worry, Mom. Give it a couple of years. Once she’s divorced, I’ll marry her back here.”

His mother rolled her eyes, kicked him around, and drove him back inside. “You’re unbelievable! Get drunk and you just spew nonsense!”

Meanwhile, Yan Junsheng carried Chen Chanjun on his back, lecturing as he walked. “I don’t care how busy you keep yourself every day, but at the very least, when you go out, you should tell me…”

He paused, realizing he was crossing a line, and tried to rephrase. “I don’t mean I’m worried about you. It’s just—thank goodness Wang Hu doesn’t have any bad intentions. You two were stone drunk and somehow still managed to find your way back…”

Silence.

“…Fine, I was worried about you.”

“Either way, we’re already married. You’re going out with another man, I won’t stop you if it’s for something important. But coming home dead drunk like this—it’s dangerous.” He let out a low sigh. “Do you know how long I waited for you today? I almost went to get your dad so we could look for you.”

Ming Ming was fast asleep on his back, not hearing a single word.

When they got home, Yan Junsheng carefully laid her down on the bed. But Ming Ming hooked her arms around his neck and refused to let go. He pried her hands off.

“If you’re awake, let go. Time to sleep.”

Hearing her soft snores on the way back, he’d already known all his words had fallen into the void of her drunken stupor. Now he wasn’t about to say more, afraid it would just rile her up into a drunken frenzy that would ruin the night’s sleep altogether.

“Who are you?”

Her finger traced along the outline of his eye. “You look kind of familiar… Mmm, your eyes are really nice.” In the depths of her memory, she seemed to recall another pair of equally distant, indifferent eyes. “So alike…” she murmured.

Something flickered in Yan Junsheng’s chest, but he couldn’t grasp it.

Ming Ming lifted a finger to tilt his chin up, studying him seriously. After a long moment, she sighed and muttered something under her breath. Yan Junsheng leaned closer. “What did you say?”

Their breaths mingled. The taste of alcohol lingered between them, and something deeper blossomed in his heart.

Suddenly, Ming Ming giggled, sweet and intoxicating, starlight shining in her eyes and dimples. Yan Junsheng’s heart skipped a beat, as though his feet had left solid ground and he was about to drown in her.

He couldn’t even tell who was drunk anymore.

Ming Ming tilted up, brushing her parted lips against his closed ones. Her tongue slipped along the seam, but she couldn’t breach his defenses.

Without support, she soon tired, and when he didn’t respond, she collapsed back in defeat.

But then his hand cupped her head.

The gates cracked open. His lips claimed hers, capturing her tongue. Their mouths mingled, sharing warmth and liquor, her head arched back under the fierce onslaught.

Yan Junsheng pulled her into his arms, answering with fervor.

When their lips finally parted, their tongues still tangled, a thin strand of silver clung between them. Ming Ming gazed into his eyes, lifting her hand to trace down his cheek. Every stroke sent tingles across his skin.

She looked at him like she was in love.

Just as Yan Junsheng bent down to kiss her again, he heard a faint sigh. He froze.

“What a pity.”

Smacking her lips, Ming Ming drew her hand back and snuggled into the pillow. Yan Junsheng’s heart sank. He pressed, “Pity what?”

Pity you’re not mine. I only stole this kiss under the cover of drunkenness. Hope the heroine doesn’t blame me…

But he never got an answer. The girl before him drifted quickly into deep sleep.

Yan Junsheng sat by the bed, staring at her for a long time.

He knew his gaze was trapped by her. Every word, every gesture could send him soaring into the clouds or crashing into the earth.

When had it started? Why? He tried to think but found no answer.

All he knew was that whenever he wanted to look for her, she was nowhere to be found.

Where had she gone? What was she doing? She was already his wife—why was she still out with another man?

At the village gate, the questions had surged inside him, but in the end, they had dissolved into nothing more than relief.

Thank God, she came back safe.

She’s her own person.

I never wanted to marry her.

While waiting, those two thoughts had tangled endlessly in his mind until they condensed into a smoldering, chaotic rage.

Damn it, she’s my wife! What does she have to do with you, Wang Hu?!

And when had that fire been extinguished?

The moment she drunkenly, yet decisively, agreed to come home with him.

Covering his eyes with his hand, he tilted his head back and swallowed the bitter-sweetness rising in his throat. But the pounding of his heart wouldn’t stop.

Yan Junsheng, oh Yan Junsheng. You really are something.