Chapter 5

During the brief wait before the drinks were brought to the table at the event, Song Ruichi chatted briefly on his phone. After ending the conversation, he glanced over at his friend’s table.

Xu Er naturally had some suspicions.

“Aren’t you going over there?” Xu Er asked after a moment’s thought.

Song Ruichi shook his head. “No need.”

Xu Er hesitated. “Do you think they might kill me?”

Song Ruichi replied calmly, “Then they’ll have to step over my corpse first.”

“Ha ha ha,” Xu Er burst out laughing. “You’re so humorous.”

Song Ruichi glanced at him and, for some reason, smiled too.

Before long, the colorful drinks arrived at the table.

Each time a new drink was placed before Xu Er, he would study it carefully. Seeing his genuine curiosity, Song Ruichi asked the waiter to pause and explain the different drinks.

Xu Er listened attentively and managed to remember a few details— which were specialty blends, which were cocktails. However, he couldn’t keep track of the orange flavor or apple flavor because their colors were similar, and they all smelled strongly of alcohol.

“Have you been to a bar before?” Song Ruichi asked after the waiter left.

Xu Er shook his head. “No.”

Song Ruichi’s curiosity deepened. “Then why come today?”

Xu Er pointed at Song Ruichi. “Wasn’t it you...?” He blurted out the first three words before realizing it sounded awkward, so he rephrased, “Because I ran into you.”

Song Ruichi was clearly taken aback for a moment but smiled. “So you were originally planning to...?”

Xu Er smiled back. “Leave.”

Song Ruichi caught on. “You came because I asked?”

Xu Er nodded, looking at Song Ruichi. “Yeah.”

Song Ruichi chuckled and leaned back a little. “It’s still not too late to leave.”

“No,” Xu Er shook his head. “I’m here to help Soso win the little bear.”

Song Ruichi raised an eyebrow slightly. “That confident, huh?” His gaze fell on the drinks on the table. “If the bar is hosting this event, it must be challenging.”

Xu Er considered this, then looked at Song Ruichi. “No problem. You can drink well.”

Song Ruichi asked, “How can you tell?”

Xu Er was momentarily stumped.

But soon, he thought of an answer and mimicked the gesture.

He lifted his chin and looked disdainfully at the drinks on the table. “You drink whatever you want; leave the rest to me.”

Song Ruichi laughed. “Is that really me?”

Xu Er reined himself in and pinched a bit of air. “Just exaggerating.”

The waiter returned with two empty glasses and a timer.

Song Ruichi placed an empty glass in front of Xu Er. “So, are you helping me win the little bear, or am I winning it myself?”

For some reason, Xu Er suddenly grew serious. “If I take even a sip, this game counts as something we accomplished together.”

Song Ruichi smiled helplessly. “Alright.” He asked, “So, which one do you plan to sip?”

Xu Er scanned the drinks. “I haven’t tried any yet.”

Song Ruichi added, “Then sip them all.”

Xu Er nodded. “Exactly.”

Following the principle of proximity, Song Ruichi picked the specialty blend closest to Xu Er.

Although it was called a sip, Song Ruichi poured just a tiny drop into Xu Er’s empty glass—just enough for a taste.

The moment the drink touched Xu Er’s lips, Song Ruichi started the timer.

“Hey,” Xu Er pursed his lips. “Not bad. This one’s orange-flavored—I can taste it.”

Song Ruichi picked up another glass. “Try this one.”

Xu Er handed it over. “Here you go.”

There were twenty colorful drinks arranged on the table. After just five sips, Xu Er’s palate was already overwhelmed and confused. He could no longer distinguish which tasted bad—only that each drink was different from the last.

At some point, Song Ruichi stopped pouring and simply placed a drink in front of Xu Er.

Xu Er looked puzzled. “Huh?”

Song Ruichi said, “Just drink it straight. This kind of glass is hard to pour from.”

“Oh,” Xu Er realized, then picked up the glass, remembering this was one of those legendary cocktails.

“Straw.”

Just as Xu Er was about to bring his mouth to the glass, Song Ruichi added another word.

Xu Er acknowledged again, only then noticing the glass had a straw.

Of course, with a straw, one should drink through it. That made sense.

Reasonable.

The moment Xu Er touched the straw, it seemed his lips lost the ability to sip delicately—he took a big gulp instead.

A gulp so large the liquid level in the glass noticeably dropped.

The sudden rush hit Xu Er hard. As he swallowed, an unfamiliar sensation surged through him, crashing into his brain. He instantly felt both dazed and dizzy.

He exchanged glances with Song Ruichi.

“Ha ha,” Xu Er laughed first, a bit embarrassed.

Song Ruichi told him, “Drink slower.”

Xu Er’s brain started pounding like a heart—thumping rapidly.

“Eight minutes have passed already.”

Xu Er looked at the drinks, still scattered as if untouched, and repeated, “Eight minutes have passed.”

“Xu Er,” Song Ruichi called his name from across the table. “Are you okay?”

Xu Er asked, “How many drinks left?”

“Five.”

“Okay,” Xu Er bent his hand into a fist. “K.”

The drinks were divided into two groups: those Xu Er had tasted, and those untouched.

He reached precisely for the remaining five.

But before he could touch any, someone grabbed his wrist.

Xu Er looked to the owner of the hand. “Huh?”

“Can you still drink?” Song Ruichi asked.

Xu Er replied, “Of course.” Then asked him back, “Why wouldn’t I?”

Song Ruichi seemed to try reading the truth in his eyes.

Whether or not he succeeded, Song Ruichi let go.

What followed was that Xu Er, in the next half minute, rapidly gulped down five drinks one after another as if someone were rushing him. As he drank, a voice in his head kept saying, “Not enough time, not enough time.”

After swallowing the last gulp, Xu Er finally could clearly distinguish the flavor in his mouth.

“This is passion fruit,” he told Song Ruichi.

Song Ruichi asked, “Are you alright?”

Xu Er nodded. “Pretty tasty.”

Song Ruichi said, “I’m asking you.”

Xu Er looked at Song Ruichi, puzzled. “You’re asking me?”

Song Ruichi smiled. “Who am I?”

“Song Ruichi,” Xu Er answered.

Song Ruichi nodded. “I’ll drink the rest.”

Xu Er placed both hands on the table, furrowing his brow at Song Ruichi. “I think I can still drink.”

“You can’t,” Song Ruichi said firmly.

Xu Er seemed not to hear, still reaching for the passion fruit drink.

Before Xu Er could touch the glass, Song Ruichi took it away.

“Sit still. Don’t move,” Song Ruichi instructed.

Xu Er continued as if he hadn’t heard, reaching for another glass.

It was hopeless. Song Ruichi grabbed his wrist again.

Not entirely without a sense of crisis, Xu Er dared not look at Song Ruichi. He acted like a child caught doing something wrong, slowly withdrawing his hand.

“Sit still. Don’t move,” Xu Er repeated, nodding. “Okay.”

Song Ruichi started drinking. Xu Er checked the timer. “Eighteen minutes left.”

“Mm,” Song Ruichi acknowledged.

He drank quickly, finishing a glass in one gulp.

Xu Er felt a bit dry sitting there. He looked at the empty glass in Song Ruichi’s hand. “What am I supposed to do?”

Song Ruichi put down the empty glass, picked up another, and replied, “Watch me drink.”

Xu Er pursed his lips.

Song Ruichi said watch, so watch he would.

This man had a certain charm when drinking.

But pinpointing exactly what made him handsome was difficult to articulate. It wasn’t his mannerisms or savoring the drink—he simply lifted the glass and drank.

After a moment—no one knew how long—Xu Er changed his posture. One forearm rested on the table, the other propped his head as he gazed intently at Song Ruichi, eyes burning with focus.

Soon, it was cocktail time.

Song Ruichi also drank through a straw.

For some reason, this action struck Xu Er as a strong contrast.

Only moments ago, Song Ruichi had been tilting his head back, drinking straight from the glass. Now, he lowered his head to sip through the straw.

Xu Er noticed a small tuft of hair that had slipped away from the main sweep, curling and twisting along Song Ruichi’s jawline, resting on his neck. Under the bar’s lights, it cast a faint shadow.

Xu Er’s mind conjured words to describe the moment: wild, graceful, sharp, sensual.

Truly handsome.

His heart pounded even harder. He half suspected it was visiting his brain in some unknown way.

“Alright.”

After an unknown passage of time, a voice broke the silence.

Xu Er blinked and realized it was Song Ruichi speaking.

He glanced at the timer—one minute remained.

Xu Er lowered his head from his hand and asked, “Are you okay?”

For some unknown reason, Song Ruichi laughed and asked, “You’re asking me?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m fine. Ring the bell.”

Xu Er was silent for a moment before understanding what Song Ruichi meant by ringing the bell.

He looked around the table and found the bell right in front of him.

“Remember?” Song Ruichi asked. “What do you get after finishing all 20 drinks?”

Xu Er thought for a moment and gave a thumbs-up. “You’re impressive.”

Song Ruichi chuckled. “What?”

Xu Er laughed inexplicably too, extending his thumb toward Song Ruichi. “You’re impressive—I’m complimenting you.”

Song Ruichi was quite helpless. “Thank you.”

Xu Er grinned. “Am I funny?”

Song Ruichi nodded. “Yes, very funny.”

“I think so too.”

The waiter came by again. The singer on stage kept performing. The bar was noisy, so Xu Er couldn’t hear everything clearly. After a few words, the waiter left.

A while later, the waiter returned and handed Song Ruichi a small bag.

After the waiter left again, Song Ruichi passed the bag to Xu Er.

Xu Er opened it to find a small teddy bear.

At that moment, a sudden realization struck him with an “Oh!”

He had won the little bear.

“Let’s go.”

Song Ruichi stood up.

“Where to?” Xu Er asked.

“Home. I’ll take you back,” Song Ruichi said.

Xu Er nodded; it made sense.

“Okay.”

On the way from the bar to Xu Er’s home, Xu Er remembered nothing at all.