Ye Zhen frowned and rambled with a bitter look, "I know all about it. You like her. You were… strongly attracted to her. You are even going to divorce me for her!” She sniffled. “My poor Zhouzhou. He is about to be a fatherless child…”

Ye Zhen started crying at this point. She felt very wronged, and she raised her voice. “You want to divorce me for her!”

She was being completely unreasonable.

Ye Zhen’s matter-of-fact attitude made Lu Beichuan laugh.

The car moved along smoothly. The chauffeur and the assistant in the passenger seat shuddered. The chauffeur silently raised the center board, blocking off the back seat from the front. The two exchanged a look and dared not make a sound.

As though being treated unfairly, Ye Zhen pointed at where his heart was in his chest, “You say to me now, wholeheartedly, that you love and that you will love me forever. You will never leave me! Say it! If you don’t say it… then you have been lying to me all along!”

Lu Beichuan held Ye Zhen in his arms dotingly and whispered into her ears. “It’s you. It has always been you. It was you that made me lose my mind…” Lu Beichuan paused for a second, then carried on, “I love you. I will never leave you.”

This was the first time Lu Beichuan had professed his love to her.

He knew that Ye Zhen would not remember any of these by the next day so he could say anything. He could say all of the words that he did not dare to say out aloud in the past and had been cooped up inside of him.

“I love you, Ye Zhen. Nobody loves you more than I do in this world. As long as you stay with me and never leave me, then I will never leave you.”

His words made Ye Zhen smile contently. She leaned up against Lu Beichuan’s chest and mumbled in her drunken way, “Mmm… I love you too, always and forever…”

The corners of Lu Beichuan’s lips curved upward slightly, and he placed his chin on the top of her head. He kissed her and felt very reassured.

They soon arrived at home. Lu Beichuan carried Ye Zhen out of the car. Mother Lu, seeing how drunk Ye Zhen was, quickly asked Nanny Yue to make some soup that would counter the effects of alcohol.

“This… Why did she drink so much?”

“The production team’s celebratory dinner. She had a little bit too much to drink,” explained Lu Beichuan.

“Bring her back to the room quickly and help wipe her down.”

Lu Beichuan nodded and carried Ye Zhen toward the bedroom.

After being placed on bed, Ye Zhen felt her stomach roiling. She struggled to open up her eyes and looked around. Then, with her hand over her mouth, she stumbled into the bathroom and puked her lungs out.

Lu Beichuan rubbed her back and gave her water to rinse her mouth out. He carefully helped her lay down on the bed and brought over warm water and a towel to help her clean up.

The lukewarm towel felt cool on Ye Zhen’s burning skin. It felt oddly comfortable.

Ye Zhen looked through her squinting eyes at Lu Beichuan, who was wiping down her body. His impeccable face enlarged and enlarged some more in front of her eyes, and her body which was burning up made her heart beat faster. She grabbed Lu Beichuan’s arm. Her mouth dried, and her heart pounded.

Ye Zhen’s brain was foggy but a very clear idea flashed through her mind.

Losing self-control after having alcohol.

So what?

She didn’t care anymore.

She became very strong all of a sudden. She yanked Lu Beichuan onto the bed and rolled on top of him. Sitting over Lu Beichuan’s waist, she looked at him from above. Pulling off her own clothes irritably, she leaned down and kissed Lu Beichuan on his lip.

Mother Lu was bringing over the hangover soup. She had just pushed over a crack on the door when she heard the ruckus from inside the room.

Startled, Mother Lu quickly backed up and closed the door.

Zhouzhou, standing behind her, asked baffled, “Grandma, why aren’t you going inside?”

Smiling, Mother Lu took Zhouzhou by his hand and headed downstairs with him. “Didn’t Zhouzhou say he would like a little brother or sister? You are about to have one soon.”

Ye Zhen woke up the next morning under the messy blanket. She had a splitting headache. She was suffering from all of the symptoms of overdrinking.

Still groggy, she reached a hand out for her cellphone that was sitting on the night table. Her hand was halfway to the phone when it was grabbed by another hand, and she was pulled back into someone’s arms.

It was Lu Beichuan.

Ye Zhen curled up and situated herself comfortably in his arms. Her back leaned against a broad and strong chest. Pressing up against her was flesh that was burning hot. Ye Zhen closed her eyes and mumbled, “What time is it now?”

“Still early. Get some more sleep.”

Sunlight coming through the window from the outside brightened the room. Ye Zhen, lying on Lu Beichuan’s arm and leaned up against his chest, let out a comfortable yawn. Her mind started to click the next second. Her brain, like a clock that had been winded by someone, started to work.

She remembered celebrating their box office records at a hotel last night. Everybody on their team was drinking excessively. Some were crying and some were fuzzing. Naturally, she had quite a bit to drink herself.

And that was all she could recall.

Ye Zhen looked down on her own body and saw marks all over. Bits and pieces of memories rushed into Ye Zhen’s brain, and her head hurt like it was going to explode. Memories came flooding like a tidal wave.

“Speak! Why do you like Ye Qing?... You are even going to divorce me for her!” She sniffled. “My poor Zhouzhou. He is about to be a fatherless child…

“Do you love me… mmm… I love you too…

“Lu Beichuan, keep your eyes open wide. I am taking you today! You just lay there docilely!”

***

She would say none of those words when she was sober, not even to save her life. Yet she said it so matter-of-factly when she was drunk. Now that they were coming back to her, her own stupidity made her feel it was difficult to breathe!

Ye Zhen only wished she could travel back in time and strangle her drunken self, who had spewed all sorts of random stuff!

As the old adage goes, alcohol is bad news!

Ye Zhen felt too ashamed of herself to face anyone.

She grabbed the blanket, pulled it over her head, and hid her body under the blanket. Not even her head could be seen from the outside.

All the ruckus alerted Lu Beichuan. He opened up his eyes and looked at Ye Zhen, whose head could not be found and asked in a low voice, “What’s the matter?”

Ye Zhen continued to hide under the blanket without a word. Her face was burning up.

She felt embarrassed from everything that she had done and every word that she had said the night before.

Lu Beichuan chuckled lightly but did not point out her embarrassment. With tacit understanding, the two did not exchange a word about what had happened the night before.

Ye Zhen’s body moved a little. All of a sudden, her over-exhausted muscle would not have any of it. Her entire body ached, and she couldn't help but let out a groan.

Lu Beichuan reached out and massaged her waist and legs. That made Ye Zhen feel better instantly.

Still groggy, Ye Zhen yawned. She felt so comfortable that she wanted to go back to sleep.

Lu Beichuan quickly scooped her back out from under the blanket. It was bright and early and he had beauty in his arms. The young and energetic man had desires. His breathing became heavier. Leaning close to her ears and sniffing the fragrance from her hair, he said in a hoarse voice, “It’s Saturday today. Do you have any plans?”

Ye Zhen grabbed Lu Beichuan’s hand that had been moving around as though it had a mind of its own. She turned her head and looked at him through narrowed eyes. “Speak properly.”

Some people might appear to be gentlemanly, but that was just a disguise. They were animals deep down inside.

Lu Beichuan chuckled softly. His warm breath landing on Ye Zhen’s ear, an er*tic zone for her.

There were still marks left by him on her fair neck. Lu Beichuan’s eyes dimmed, and he placed his lips over it.

It was only kissing at first, and Ye Zhen did not react too much to that. Lu Beichuan took things a step further and started nibbling.

Suddenly, a knocking sound came from the door along with a milky voice urging, “Daddy! Mommy! Time to wake up! The sun is shining on your bottom already!”

The voice belonged to Zhouzhou.

Ye Zhen quickly pushed Lu Beichuan aside and reached for her phone. It was already 10 AM.

“It’s 10 already. Hurry and get up! I don’t want our child to see us like this.”

Ye Zhen couldn't help but blush when she recalled what had just happened a second ago. She gave Lu Beichuan a stare.

It was broad daylight, and they were being impure.

Caught unprepared, Lu Beichuan was pushed away cruelly by Ye Zhen. He closed his eyes and let out a very helpless sigh. Leaning against the headboard, he watched as Ye Zhen got dressed and out of the bed.

Ye Zhen put her sleepwear back on, turned, and saw that Lu Beichuan was leaning up against the headboard. She quickly tossed the sleepwear onto Lu Beichuan. “Hurry up and put it on. You don’t want Zhouzhou to see you like that!”

Lu Beichuan dilly-dallied as he put his clothes on. Only after that did Ye Zhen open up the door.

“Good morning, Mommy!” Zhouzhou’s eyes beamed when he saw Ye Zhen. He held onto Ye Zhen and wouldn’t let go.

“Zhouzhou is such a good boy today to come to wake Mommy up.”

“Because I want to play with my little brother and sister!” Zhouzhou looked around her as though he was searching for something. He finally looked up dubiously, “Mommy, where are my little brother and sister?”

Zhouzhou looked as though he had been wronged, “Didn’t you and Daddy make a little sister last night?”

Ye Zhen’s face stiffened a little, but she still explained patiently, “Stop with the nonsense. What little sister?”

“So it’s not a little sister but a little brother? Then… where is little brother? I want a little brother!”

“No little brother either!”

Zhouzhou felt that he had been cheated and wronged. He tugged onto Ye Zhen’s hand and whined for a little brother and sister. He lifted his head and shrieked. He looked as though he would not give up until Ye Zhen produced a younger sibling for him.

“Mommy is a liar! You made a little brother or sister last night! I don’t care! I don’t care! I want to play with them!"

Ye Zhen’s smile froze on her. The affection in her eyes began to fade slowly.

“Who told you that?”

“Grandma said so!” Zhouzhou looked at Ye Zhen with his clear eyes as though he had been wronged. He looked both simple and naïve. “Grandma said you and Daddy are working on getting me a little brother or sister!”

Lu Beichuan happened to hear that. “Lu Zhifei!”

His stern voice worked better than anything else. Zhouzhou stopped talking immediately. Intimidated by the very stern-looking Lu Beichuan, he couldn't help but reach his arms back to cover up his little bottom as he walked backward. He said, with a lack of confidence, “Daddy… no spanking… you promised you will not spank Zhouzhou again…”

Ye Zhen pulled his little hand in front of him. “Daddy won’t, but… Mommy will!”

Having said that, she smacked him a couple of times on his hand. Startled, Zhouzhou called out, "Grandma! Grandma! Help! Mommy is going to hit Zhouzhou!”

“What is it? What’s going on?” Mother Lu came downstairs frantically and Zhouzhou threw himself into her arms as he complained to her about what had just happened. “Daddy spanked Zhouzhou and… Mommy… Mommy hit Zhouzhou too.”

“What is wrong with the two of you? Are you just having fun hitting your child? He is just three years old. He doesn’t know any better. Why would you hit him?” Mother Lu put her arms around him and coaxed him. “Zhouzhou, good boy. Don’t cry. How about Grandma take you to the amusement park today?”

Zhouzhou wiped away his tears and nodded. “Okay.”

Mother Lu gave Lu Beichuan and Ye Zhen a stare before she walked downstairs with Zhouzhou.

Ye Zhen gave Lu Beichuan a glare. She pulled up her collar to cover up the marks on her and walked inside of the bathroom, angered from embarrassment.

After the fiasco, Lu Beichuan had lost interest as well. Leaning against the bathroom door, he said to Ye Zhen in a low voice, “You have more or less wrapped up matters regarding the movie. Have Qin Zhiyin take care of whatever else that may come up. You take a few days off and rest up at home before heading into the office again.”

Ye Zhen’s fame had risen with that of the movie.

All the fans had commented online that both the producer and the cast of Qinhuai's Riverbank were unheard of. As such, the movie that they had produced would be awful. Ye Zhen had let them go on about it for months. And then, many had their faces slapped a few months later.

Ye Zhen nodded.