Soon, the food arrived. Sun Tiger spared no expense and ordered luxurious and delicious-looking food for us. Despite that, I had no appetite at all, perhaps because Huang Xiaotao was there but Dali was sitting in between us, so we hadn’t said a word to each other since we took our seats.

Sun Tiger and Wang Yuanchao were particularly lively. Halfway through the meal, they started a drinking duel. Although Wang Yuanchao was only a low-rank police officer at the moment, the way Sun Tiger interacted with him did not reflect that at all—it looked more like they were equals!

Both of them were seasoned players in this game as they were more than able to hold their liquor. After a while, they were locked in a stalemate and the game turned boring, so they turned their attention to us rookies.

I told them I never drank or smoked in order to protect my senses, so I politely refused. As a result, they switched targets to Dali.

Sun Tiger’s way of persuading Dali was very simple. He simply guilted Dali with phrases like, “Come on, let’s drink like grown men!” But Wang Yuanchao was much more assertive. Just as Dali was still pinching his nose and forcing the glass of spirit down his throat, Wang Yuanchao picked up the bottle again. He filled two glasses to the brim with alcohol, then downed one cup and put the empty glass next to the full one and stared down the poor Dali. In that situation, no one would’ve dared to refuse.

Dali was quite well known in college for being able to hold his liquor. But comparing college kids to these two hardboiled officers was like comparing ducklings to eagles. After a while, Dali swayed left to right, his face turned almost purple, and he face-planted onto the table.

Huang Xiaotao looked at him and laughed pitifully. But when her eyes caught mine, her expression changed and she turned away immediately.

What did I do now? I wondered. Was it because of the way I chatted with Sun Tiger about his daughter earlier?

By the end of the meal, Sun Tiger was already considerably drunk when he patted my shoulder and slurred, “Kiddo! Look at Old Wang there! Did you know that when I was in my thirties, I was even worse than him? I thought there was no cure for me. I thought I would stay that way for the rest of my life. But a fortune-teller told me that when I turned forty, I would meet a man who would change my fate, and what do you know—I met your grandfather! Without him, without the Song family’s treasured knowledge, I would’ve never climbed up to the rank that I’m at now! So let’s drink to the Song family!”

He then poured himself a glass full of wine.

I felt it would be inappropriate to refuse, so I poured myself a cup of tea and replied, “Uncle Sun, I hope you don’t mind if I replace the wine with tea.”

“Go ahead! Bottoms up!” He then clinked the glass with my cup and poured the entire glass of wine into down his throat.

After dinner, Wang Yuanchao picked up Sun Tiger and called a cab. I picked up the conked-out Dali and helped him into Huang Xiaotao’s car.

On the way back, Dali slept like a log in the back seat. Huang Xiaotao drove silently and said nothing to me. Seeing that we were about to reach my college, I worked up my courage and asked, “Do you… Do you remember my promise to take you out?”

“Yeah. I’ve got a day off tomorrow, but it’s not the weekend yet. Will you be free?”

“Yes!” I nodded repeatedly.

I didn’t expect it to be so easy. The fact that it went so smoothly gave me enough confidence to add, “I need to clarify something with you. I used to know Sun Tiger’s daughter because we were friends when we were younger, but that’s all there is to it.”

Huang Xiaotao threw me a glance. “Idiot! Did you think that I was jealous? Why would I be? We’re not in that kind of relationship!”

I blushed and scratched my head when I heard that reply. I fumbled for words to say, but my mind drew a blank. During that awkward silence, Huang Xiaotao suddenly turned to the side of the road and parked the car.

“You’ve been acting weird lately, you know?” she commented. “Why are you always sending me texts at night asking me mundane things like if I’ve eaten or slept?”

My face burned to the roots of my hair. I cursed myself for having acted so foolishly. At that moment, I wished I could dig a deep hole and just hide there and never come out again.

And then Huang Xiaotao asked a question that made me blush even redder.

“Song Yang, are you trying to woo me?”

I felt all the blood in my body rushing to the top of my head. My cheeks were so feverishly hot you could fry eggs on them.

“N-No, I’m not…” I stammered. “I was just asking… If you find it annoying, then I’ll stop sending them.”

“I didn’t say I was annoyed.”

“Huh?”

Huang Xiaotao laughed and reached over and patted my shoulder.

“You have to be bolder than that if you want to woo a girl, you understand?” she chirped. “There was a guy from the tax bureau who tried to woo me last year. He sent enough roses to fill a whole car to the police station and told me if I didn’t agree to go out with him, he would put up a huge banner across the police station that said ‘Huang Xiaotao, I love you!’”

“Oh, so did you go out with him?”

“Of course not, idiot!” answered Huang Xiaotao. “I told him I’d arrest him for disturbing public order if he did that, and he’s never bothered me ever since.”

“How do you like to be wooed, then?”

“Idiot!” Huang Xiaotao snorted. “You can’t just ask me that! Why would I tell you anyway? And look at you! Why is your face so red? Are you that stressed out when you’re with me? Do you think I’ll bite you?”

She then touched my face with both of her hands, and I blushed even harder and my face probably looked as red as a baboon’s butt at that point. Huang Xiaotao rested her slender fingers on my cheeks. Her fingers felt cool against my skin and it felt so nice that it helped calm me down a bit.

Because we were sitting in a car, we both had to turn our upper bodies towards each other to maintain this position. I realized that it was the first time I was up so close to Huang Xiaotao’s face. I couldn’t help but stare and admire her beauty.

Her eyes were crystal clear, like precious gems without any trace of impurities. When I looked at them more closely, I noticed that her eyes weren’t completely black—there were lines in her pupils that were light gray and they reflected light so beautifully they almost entranced me.

Her skin was translucent white with a tinge of pink. She had obviously taken great care of it. Even when I was examining it from this intimate distance, I still could not find any flaws or imperfections.

Underneath her tiny pert nose were her rosebud lips, which looked as red as a cherry in the dim light of the car. The corners of her lips curved up slightly even when she wasn’t smiling and it gave her a certain charm.

I wondered, had Huang Xiaotao always looked so lovely, or was it because I was looking at her through the rose-tinted eyes of a lover? No, that couldn’t have been it. Huang Xiaotao had always been an undeniably beautiful woman.

“Do you know why I find you so adorable?” Huang Xiaotao asked, which completely threw me off balance.

“Wh-Why?”

Huang Xiaotao smiled and replied, “Because I can just say anything and all your feelings are written on your face clearly. You’re even more transparent than a thermometer! It’s a lot of fun teasing you!”

“Teasing me? So that’s what you were doing?” I cried.

“Yeah!” nodded Huang Xiaotao.

“Geez, you’re toying with my emotions!”

“Toying with your emotions?” Huang Xiaotao slapped her thigh and laughed for what felt like hours. “You’re too funny, Song Yang! Alright, alright, I’m sorry! Let me make it up to you.”

“Make it up to me? How…?” My heartbeat quickened and my throat was dry. Our faces were merely inches apart at the time. Was she really going to… kiss me? But it all happened so fast! I wasn’t sure if I was mentally prepared for it yet!

“Now close your eyes,” Huang Xiaotao ordered in a playful tone.

I closed my eyes and felt Huang Xiaotao’s face getting closer and closer to mine. I could even feel her warm breath brushing against my face.

Then suddenly we heard Dali jolting awake in the back seat. He made a gargling noise and Huang Xiaotao quickly turned away from me and shouted, “Stop! Don’t throw up in my car!”

We hurried Dali out of the car and led him near a tree by the roadside.

“Dude, where are we?” he mumbled, still half-dazed.

“You’re drunk and I’m giving both of you a ride back to college,” said Huang Xiaotao.

“You’re the best, Xiaotao-jiejie,” Dali gurgled. Before he could say anything more, he spewed forth the contents of his stomach. It seemed that all the food he ate that evening was wasted because he regurgitated it all out into a small pool.

After Dali’s interruption, the atmosphere was completely ruined. Huang Xiaotao didn’t say a word after that till we reached the college. As Dali and I got out of the car, she uttered a simple, “Stay safe and take care,” then slammed the car door and drove away.

My heart grew restless as I tried to go to sleep later that night. A thought kept running through my head: was the date still on tomorrow?

Then, I received a text message from Huang Xiaotao. She said, “Meet me at eight o’clock in the morning tomorrow at the Golden Dragon Mall. Don’t be late!”

I pumped my fist in the air and shouted, “Oh yeah!”