Crabs have a cooling nature according to traditional Chinese medicine, so at Fang Muyang’s suggestion, Fei Ni had two cups of warm yellow wine.

Fang Muyang hadn’t expected Fei Ni to have such low alcohol tolerance. After just two cups, she wasn’t quite herself anymore, looking at him with flushed cheeks and half-closed eyes. This was a side of Fei Ni he had never seen before. He wiped his hands and pinched her cheeks; at first, Fei Ni didn’t dodge, only smiling at him.

Fang Muyang offered her some crab meat he had picked clean, encouraging her to eat a bit more.

After eating the crab, Fei Ni reached for the wine bottle, intending to pour herself another drink.

Fang Muyang found her utterly adorable like this but worried she might not know her limits and drink too much. He took her wine cup, poured half a cup, took a sip himself, and then offered the remaining portion to her lips.

With her lips pressed against the cup, Fei Ni complained, “There’s still wine in the bottle, why did you steal my drink?”

She tilted her head back and took another large gulp, then showed Fang Muyang the empty bottom of the cup, smiling at him. “I want another cup, and this time don’t steal any of mine.”

“You’ll get drunk if you drink more. That’s enough,” Fang Muyang said. Though he enjoyed her playful and adorable demeanor, he didn’t want her to get truly drunk—that wouldn’t be pleasant.

Of course, drunk people never admit they’re drunk. Fei Ni pressed her fingers against her chin and shook her head, saying, “I won’t get drunk.”

She reached for the wine bottle near Fang Muyang’s hand, wanting to pour herself more.

“No more drinking,” Fang Muyang said, taking away the bottle. When Fei Ni asked for more wine, he only dipped his chopsticks in his cup and moistened her lips. Fang Muyang watched as Fei Ni’s lips grew redder; her eyes smiled at him with an unsatisfied look that seemed to say she could still drink more. Unable to resist, he pinched her cheek again, and Fei Ni complained, “Stop that, you’re hurting me.”

“Then let me massage it better.” Fang Muyang rubbed her face, but somehow managed to hurt her again while doing so. Still, he asked, “Is that better?”

“You hurt me again.”

But he wouldn’t let go. “Then you should hurt me back.”

Slightly annoyed, Fei Ni broke off a crab leg and poked his face with the small claw.

Fang Muyang generously let her do it.

Fei Ni found it pointless and said, “I won’t stoop to your level.”

She ignored the crab meat Fang Muyang had picked for her and instead broke off another crab leg, putting it in her mouth to bite, as if she were biting Fang Muyang instead.

Fang Muyang asked, “Can you bite through it?”

Fei Ni opened her mouth to show her neat white teeth, proving to Fang Muyang that she indeed could.

After finishing the meat from the crab leg, Fei Ni said she wanted another sip of wine.

Fang Muyang again dipped his chopsticks in the wine and brought them to Fei Ni’s lips.

Fei Ni licked her lips, seemingly unsatisfied, and said, “Little Fang, can’t you be more generous?”

But Fang Muyang wouldn’t be more generous; he only brought another drop of wine to her mouth with his chopsticks. Fei Ni quickly leaned forward and licked it before the drop could fall.

She called him stingy under her breath.

“I have money. If the wine’s gone, you can buy more. Let me have a little more.”

Fang Muyang asked with a smile, “How much money do you have?”

Fei Ni smiled and shook her head, “I’m not telling you.”

“Then how do I know you have enough money for me to buy another bottle?”

Fei Ni lifted her head and criticized him: “You’re always stingy when you should be generous, and generous when you should be stingy. Why don’t you buy yourself more clothes when you have money? If you dressed better, I wouldn’t be so embarrassed.”

Fang Muyang hadn’t expected Fei Ni to say this. He asked with a smile, “How have I embarrassed you?” In his impression, Fei Ni wasn’t someone who cared about appearances or used furniture to maintain his face. Though Fei Ni valued practicality, her standards differed from others. While some people thought having a sofa in the room gave them face, Fei Ni found chairs more practical and thought the sofa just took up space where she could put her piano.

“Dressed like this, people might think I’m only interested in you because you’re tall and big,” Fei Ni grew more irritated as she continued, “What’s so good about being tall and big? It just wastes fabric when making clothes. Can’t I be interested in your talent? Does talent only count when everyone recognizes it? You even make chairs so well; sometimes I want to show them what you can make.” Fei Ni listed a string of Fang Muyang’s good qualities—he could repair watches, play violin, paint… he was truly an excellent person.

Fang Muyang had never known he was so highly regarded in Fei Ni’s heart. He rubbed her nose and asked, “If I’m so perfect in your eyes, why don’t you tell others about my good qualities?”

Fei Ni laughed, “Would you tell others how much savings you have at home?” She shook her head, answering her question, then said, “I want another sip of wine, please pour me some.”

She emphasized the word “please.”

Fang Muyang hadn’t expected to marry such a lightweight who turned into a drunk with just a taste of alcohol. Right now, he very much wanted to pull this drunk’s head into his arms and ruffle her hair.

“How about we drink tomorrow? No more for today.”

Fei Ni sneered, “Didn’t you say you’d listen to me in everything? I knew it, not a single word was true, it was all just playing with me. You won’t even pour me a cup of wine.” Fei Ni suddenly moved close to his face and said, “Don’t tell me what you said about not having previous girlfriends was also a lie.”

Fang Muyang had bought vinegar specially for the crabs today, and this vinegar indeed proved to be well-brewed.

He stared into Fei Ni’s eyes and said, “It’s true.”

Fei Ni stared back at him for a long time, presumably confirming he was telling the truth, then said, “It’s fine even if it’s not true, I’m not that petty. Let’s have another drink.”

Fang Muyang poured water from the thermos into a cup and handed it to Fei Ni.

“You’re deceiving me again.”

“If you want wine, I’ll drink with you tomorrow.”

“But I want to drink today. If you were more generous with me, I’d be generous with you too.”

Fang Muyang rubbed Fei Ni’s earlobe with his thumb; it had already turned red from the drinks. He asked with a smile, “How do you plan to be generous?”

“I’ll play any song you want on the piano.”

That was the extent of her generosity.

Fei Ni remained alert; even drunk, she played contemporary popular songs for Fang Muyang. The songs, like the current Fei Ni, were more lively than usual. After playing, Fei Ni turned to smile at Fang Muyang, as if to say she had fulfilled her part of being generous, now it was his turn.

Fang Muyang took a sip from the remaining wine in his cup and brought it to Fei Ni’s mouth. Fei Ni hadn’t expected his “generosity” to be so stingy, still competing with her for the wine in her mouth. She couldn’t win against him, but she insisted on trying.

After several such exchanges, Fei Ni’s body went limp, and she fell softly onto the bed. She pressed her fingers against the tingling, itchy spot on her lips, blocking her mouth to prevent Fang Muyang from giving her more wine. Slowly, her fingers also took on the wine’s scent, though she couldn’t tell if it was hers or Fang Muyang’s. The itching was intense, her breathing became irregular, and her fingertips felt like ants were crawling on them. Unable to bear it, she had to tell him, “Drink your wine, I don’t want anymore.”

“Don’t want any more?”

“Don’t.”

“Do you still think I’m not generous enough?”

Fei Ni shook her head.

Fang Muyang didn’t know what to do with her. Doing anything to her now would feel like taking advantage. He disdained doing that because it wasn’t necessary. But seeing her like this was enough to drive him crazy.

In the end, he only rubbed her face with his fingers before letting her be. Having worked in the countryside for several years and staying busy after returning to the city, his fingertips were far from smooth. Fei Ni let out sounds of pain as he roughly rubbed her face.

He pressed his rough fingertips against her lips again, and whether it was the remaining wine taste or something else on his fingers, Fei Ni tasted them. Her lips were very red, and when his fingers touched them, they too became slightly stained with red.

Fang Muyang thought if he hadn’t sold his camera, he could have captured this moment of her, and after seeing it, she would surely never touch alcohol again. Of course, he couldn’t have the photo developed outside—he couldn’t let others see her like this.

Fei Ni stopped talking and lay there hugging her pillow, staring at Fang Muyang with a vacant smile.

Fang Muyang adjusted the pillow to support her head properly. Her eyes remained open until he kissed them several times, and then they finally closed.

He opened the thermos and poured a cup of water. After letting it cool slightly, he helped Fei Ni sit up and fed her the water bit by bit.

Having heard that preserved plums could help with drunkenness, Fang Muyang put one in her mouth. Fei Ni, with her eyes closed, obediently sucked on it.

Fang Muyang took out the ring from his trouser pocket and smiled helplessly. He had planned to give it to her today. He slipped the ring onto her finger and lifted her hand to look at it—it seemed as if it had always belonged there.

He kissed her forehead and prepared to let her sleep like this.

Fang Muyang took off her shoes and went to fetch water, mixing it with hot water to wash her face and hands. She wore a sweater over her shirt, and it would certainly be uncomfortable to sleep in, so although Fang Muyang was usually rough and careless, he tried to be gentle now. Still, while removing her sweater, his fingers couldn’t help but brush against her.

Fei Ni was naturally ticklish, and in her half-asleep state, feeling someone touch her ticklish spots, she couldn’t help but roll around trying to escape, all while laughing. She wrinkled the blue and white checkered bed sheet with her rolling but continued to laugh.

While laughing, she said, “Please, stop that.”

Her laughter was crystal clear and carried through the wall to next door.

This was the first time Wang Xiaoman had heard such loud sounds from next door. The laughter and voices were so unrestrained that even she felt embarrassed. The previous tenants had never been this noisy, no matter what they did. Was there any need to laugh so wildly? Fei Ni usually seemed so quiet and reserved, who knew she was like this in private? She pulled out two cotton balls and stuffed them into her husband’s ears.

Fang Muyang promptly silenced that laughing mouth, knowing Fei Ni would surely regret these sounds in the morning.