Approaching midnight, Ye Jiuliang finished her bath and came downstairs, finding only Jiang Yisheng in the living room.

"Yisheng, why are you still here?" she asked, slightly surprised, as he usually would have retired to his room to rest by this time.

Jiang Yisheng put down his book and pointed towards the dining room, "The three of them are still drinking."

Hearing this, Ye Jiuliang frowned.

These guys must be getting carried away with their drinking.

She glanced at the liquor cabinet with the corner of her eye and felt a sudden pang of anxiety.

At a glance, about a third of the alcohol was gone.

"Mohan."

As she stepped into the dining room, a strong scent of alcohol was rampant.

"Li Mochan, if I don’t drink you under the table today, I’m not leaving," Ji Mingqian declared, his handsome face flushed, clearly very drunk.

Holding a bottle of alcohol, he pointed at Li Mochan and shouted.

"Drink, keep drinking."

Compared to him, Feng Yi wasn’t doing much better; his eyelids were barely staying open, yet he was still clinging to his bottle of alcohol.

Ye Jiuliang gave the two a glance and finally rested her gaze on her own man. Under the light, his cold, expressionless features and faint eye color made it unclear whether he was drunk or not.

Seeing her arrive, Li Mochan stood up and walked steadily toward her, the scent of alcohol enveloping her.

Suddenly, the tall and broad figure tilted and fell onto her, his iron arms wrapping around her waist.

"Little wolf cub, I’ve drunk them all under the table," his slightly hoarse voice seemed to have been rubbed repeatedly in his throat, rich and magnetic.

Ye Jiuliang couldn’t help but laugh; even he seemed quite drunk.

She raised her hand to support him and teased, "Do you want to keep drinking, or do you want to go back to the room to rest, hmm?"

"I want you," Li Mochan mumbled into her neck, his voice deep and husky, "I want my little wolf cub."

A blush crossed Ye Jiuliang’s eyes, and she slapped his back with her hand, "Li Mochan, are you pretending to be drunk?"

Li Mochan said nothing but continued to nuzzle her.

Her warm breath scattered across her cheek, and Ye Jiuliang, feeling helpless, supported him as they started to walk outside.

"Yisheng, leave those two to you," she said upon seeing Jiang Yisheng coming towards her.

Jiang Yisheng glanced into the dining room and nodded.

After helping the man back to the bedroom, Ye Jiuliang settled him on the sofa and turned to walk into the bathroom.

Shortly after, she came out with a basin of water.

At first glance, the sofa was empty.

"Mohan?"

Strange, where could he have gone in such a short time?

"Li Mochan?"

She set down the basin of water and began to search for him in the bedroom.

After looking around to no avail, she knitted her brows. Could he have gone downstairs?

Ye Jiuliang opened the door, took a step out, and saw Jiang Yisheng running up frantically, as if she was his lifeline.

"Jiuliang, something’s wrong, you better go down and take a look," he urged.

Ye Jiuliang paused, "What happened?"

"Cousin has beaten up Mingqian," Jiang Yisheng said with a strange look and a tone full of helplessness.

As his words fell, a blur shot past him.

Second floor, guest room.

When Ye Jiuliang arrived, she saw Li Mochan gripping Ji Mingqian by his collar, about to greet Ji Mingqian’s face with a punch.

Damn, what is going on here.

They must be drunk out of their minds.

In the nick of time, Ye Jiuliang grabbed Li Mochan’s arm, tugged, and pushed Ji Mingqian toward Jiang Yisheng.

"Yisheng."

Jiang Yisheng reacted and extended his hand to support Ji Mingqian, making him sit on the sofa.

Blocked by someone, Li Mochan’s deep black eyes showed a hint of displeasure, and when he turned his head to see it was Ye Jiuliang, he immediately felt aggrieved.

"Pup, you’re stopping me."

Is she starting to feel sorry for Ji Mingqian?

"You’re protecting him," he continued his complaint.

Ye Jiuliang couldn’t help but laugh and cry at his grievances, "Why are you hitting him?"

Li Mochan grabbed her hand, his deep eyes intoxicated, "He wants to steal you, he can’t go grocery shopping with you."

He paused before adding, "He says he’s your childhood sweetheart, that’s not possible either."

Hearing his drunken words, Ye Jiuliang couldn’t help but find it funny.

This was clearly the talk of someone who was truly drunk.

Still jealous even when intoxicated, really...

"Mohan, he was just joking. How about we go back to rest, alright?" Ye Jiuliang whispered soothingly.

Li Mochan’s steps wavered, his brows frowned tightly, "Can we just ignore him, please?"

Ye Jiuliang, feeling the urge to laugh, went along with his words, "Alright, ignore him, I’ll only keep company with you. Can we go upstairs now?"

At her words, Li Mochan reluctantly agreed and Ye Jiuliang quickly led him away.

Jiang Yisheng looked at the person fast asleep on the sofa, shaking his head with a light chuckle.

He could sleep even after being beaten up.

Hopefully, he won’t remember what happened tonight when he wakes up tomorrow; otherwise, there’ll be quite a spectacle to watch.

**

The next day, everyone got up late.

Ji Mingqian was the last one to awake.

When he came downstairs, Jiang Yisheng was the only person in the living room.

"Where are the others?" Ji Mingqian asked.

Jiang Yisheng put down his coffee, "They just went out."

Seeing him constantly rubbing his shoulder and neck, Jiang Yisheng’s eyes flickered slightly, "What’s wrong with you?"

"The bed here is too hard; it gave me a terrible sore neck and shoulders from sleeping," Ji Mingqian complained.

As one of the few who knew the truth, Jiang Yisheng glanced at him slyly, feeling relieved inside.

It seems he really doesn’t remember because of the alcohol blackout.

That’s good, otherwise, a fight might’ve broken out.

...

The annual boat party changes its location every year.

This year’s party was not only scheduled a few days earlier but also held further away from the capital.

Z City, being quite a distance from the capital, takes about three hours by plane to reach, and precisely because of this, most of the guests invited this year arrived a day early, staying at Mr. Cui’s private resort.

Ye Jiuliang hid in the shade of the trees to cool off, her gaze sweeping over the pavilion not far away, her lips curving into a playful smile.

Aside from her own family’s elder, the Li and Xiao family elders were also there, along with a new face she didn’t recognize. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

The silver-haired man’s hair was combed back neatly, his gray suit making him look brisk and energetic; his wrinkled face was fixed in a genial smile, and he seemed quite kindly and amiable. However, to have achieved his position today, there was no way he was as simple as he seemed on the surface.

She thought, this must be Mr. Cui Zhong, whom Feng Yi had mentioned a couple of days ago.

If the capital had three heavyweights, then Z City was the domain of the Cui Family, with Mr. Cui being a significant figure in the financial sector, the Cui’s presence evident in various realms of the business world.

"We meet again, Jiuliang."

A deep male voice came from beside her, and Ye Jiuliang snapped out of her thoughts, not even bothering to glance at him.

Her voice was cold as she said, "We’re not familiar, please address me as Miss Ye."

Xiao Lingchen laughed softly, his interest apparent as he looked at her, "Is that so? I thought our relationship had grown closer after that last meal."

Only then did Ye Jiuliang look directly at him, her lips curling into a scornful smile, "Mr. Xiao, delusions are an illness, and I’m certain the Xiao Family can afford the medical bill for that."

Even after being insulted, Xiao Lingchen wasn’t annoyed.