Chapter 223: Be Like a Man
Chapter 223: Chapter 223: Be Like a Man
Jiang Moli patted her head. "You silly girl. Turning down a free meal? Fine, go play in the mud with your little friends."
Lu Tingting swatted her hand away. "If you’re going to invite me, you have to invite Ke and the others too."
Jiang Moli was a little surprised, thinking the silly girl was quite loyal to her friends.
Little did she know, Lu Tingting just felt that if this turned out to be another trick, it would be less embarrassing with Song Ke and Wu Meixia there with her.
Yang Lijiong didn’t mind, either. What were two more people and two more pairs of chopsticks?
The restaurant was a time-honored establishment, famous for its beef and mutton dishes from the Halal culinary tradition.
Chen Lan and her brother hadn’t arrived yet, so Yang Lijiong got a private room and told Jiang Moli to go ahead and order.
Jiang Moli didn’t stand on ceremony, ordering one of everything: cold-dressed beef salad, steamed mutton with rice flour, stir-fried tender beef, braised beef offal, and stewed lamb trotters.
As the dishes began to arrive at the table, Chen Lan and her brother showed up as well.
Before entering the private room, Chen Zhiyuan was in high spirits.
But once he was inside and saw Jiang Moli sitting next to Yang Lijiong, the smile vanished from his face.
After the siblings were seated, Yang Lijiong made the introductions between Jiang Moli and Chen Lan.
"This is Jiang Moli from our troupe; she’s in charge of scriptwriting. And this is Chen Lan, a good friend I grew up with."
Jiang Moli raised her glass and clinked it against Chen Lan’s.
Watching this scene, Chen Zhiyuan couldn’t help but groan inwardly.
Judging by the way Yang Lijiong was treating Jiang Moli, their relationship was clearly anything but shallow.
If Yang Lijiong and his sister found out that he had hit on Jiang Moli, they would definitely tear him a new one.
With that thought, he quickly raised his glass, put on an apologetic smile for Jiang Moli, and said, "Old classmate, here’s to you. I’ll down this; you drink as you wish."
With that, he tilted his head back and downed the small cup of strong liquor in one gulp.
Chen Lan looked at the two of them curiously. "Are you two classmates?"
Seeing the nervous look on Chen Zhiyuan’s face, Jiang Moli’s lips curved into a smile. "That’s right. We were middle school classmates. It’s been a long time."
Chen Zhiyuan looked immensely relieved. "Right, right, it has been a long time. I never expected you’d join an arts troupe. You’ve got a bright future ahead of you, a bright future! Haha!"
"Thanks for the compliment."
Chen Zhiyuan returned to his seat, his heart finally settling back into his chest.
Jiang Moli had no intention of making a mortal enemy out of Chen Zhiyuan, either.
’It’s better to offend a gentleman than a scoundrel, after all. Chen Zhiyuan hangs around with rich kids like Fang Qihong all day. There’s no telling when he might have a moment of idiocy and do something vicious. By making peace with him today, I won’t have to worry about his crew causing trouble for Qian Ling and Chu Shan after I’m gone.’
Turning her head, she caught Lu Tingting sneaking a pour of liquor and reached out to take the cup away.
"Kids shouldn’t drink."
Lu Tingting was indignant. "How am I a kid? I’m only one year younger than you! If you can drink, why can’t I?"
Jiang Moli set the cup aside, picked up a piece of lamb trotter with her chopsticks, and placed it in Lu Tingting’s bowl.
"There’s a good girl. Gnaw on this. The more trotters you eat, the faster you’ll run."
Lu Tingting glared at her, her cheeks puffed in a pout, before picking up the lamb trotter and starting to gnaw on it.
’So good.’
Jiang Moli picked up Lu Tingting’s cup and poured all the liquor into her own.
’Wuliangye isn’t cheap. Can’t let it go to waste.’
Most of the dishes on the table were Jiang Moli’s favorites, and they were all cooked deliciously.
’A bite of meat, a sip of wine. Eat up, drink up, and then we’re gone.’
Seeing Jiang Moli struggle to pick up a piece of food, Yang Lijiong helped by placing it in her bowl.
Seeing her favorite piece of meat land in her bowl, Jiang Moli turned to Yang Lijiong with a sweet smile. "Thank you, my beautiful, kind-hearted fairy sister."
"Are you alright?"
Noticing Jiang Moli’s flushed cheeks and hazy eyes, Yang Lijiong leaned in closer, concerned.
Jiang Moli stared at her. "Hey, do you smell that?"
Yang Lijiong subconsciously sniffed the air. She was just about to say it was the aroma of liquor and meat when Jiang Moli cupped her face with both hands, her own almond-shaped eyes sparkling as she said:
"It’s because you’re here. You make the very air smell sweet."
Yang Lijiong: "..."
’Am I being hit on?’
"I just don’t know if your lips are sweet too. Let me give you a little kiss."
With that, she puckered her lips and moved in to kiss Yang Lijiong.
It was only then that everyone at the table realized Jiang Moli was drunk.
Lu Tingting angrily yanked Jiang Moli back. "You wretched woman! How dare you try to kiss someone else behind my Third Uncle’s back! Have you no decency?!"
Jiang Moli retorted indignantly, "I got married, I didn’t become a nun! What’s this about decency? We women need to think bigger! We should be like men: eating from our bowl while eyeing the pot and still thinking about what’s on the stove. Love one, love the next! Walk the path of men, and leave them with nowhere to go!"
Her world-shaking declaration left everyone in the private room so stunned they forgot how to manage their facial expressions.
...
Chen Zhiyuan had driven there, so after dinner, he first drove Jiang Moli and Lu Tingting home.
When they reached the entrance to the Military District Courtyard, his car couldn’t go any further, so Lu Tingting had to help Jiang Moli get out.
Once out of the car, Jiang Moli plonked herself down on the curb.
Lu Tingting tried to pull her up. "Come on, let’s go home."
Jiang Moli spread her arms, her tone wheedling. "Can’t walk. Don’t wanna walk. Need someone to carry me."
"If you won’t walk, then sleep here! I’m not dealing with you anymore!"
"My good little niece, it’s so cold."
She stared at Jiang Moli’s pale, delicate face. Her almond-shaped eyes seemed to be covered in a layer of mist, giving her a fragile, pitifully beautiful look.
Lu Tingting scratched her hair in frustration, then turned her back to Jiang Moli and crouched down.
Jiang Moli climbed onto her back with a satisfied hum. "Let’s go, homeward bound."
Lu Tingting pushed off the ground with her legs and hands, struggling for a good while before she could finally, painstakingly get to her feet, her face flushed red with the effort.
"Damn woman, why are you so heavy!"
Jiang Moli swung her legs. "My good little niece, walk faster."
"If you’ve got the guts, get down yourself! You’re heavy as a rock. What have you been eating?"
"If you talked less and saved your energy, you wouldn’t be so tired."
The words sounded very familiar, but Lu Tingting was too preoccupied to think about where she might have heard them before.
When she finally made it to the Lu Family’s front door, she was completely exhausted. Her legs were trembling, and she collapsed onto the ground from sheer exhaustion, taking Jiang Moli on her back down with her.
"Oof!" Jiang Moli cried out in pain.
It was just after 8 PM. An Hui and Lu Deyao were watching TV when they heard the commotion and came out, helping the two of them into the house.
Ma Hongmei mixed a large glass of honey water and helped Jiang Moli drink it.
Upon learning the aunt and niece had eaten together that evening, An Hui couldn’t help but scold Lu Tingting. "How could you let your Third Aunt drink so much? You should have stopped her."
Lu Tingting felt completely wronged. "She wanted to drink! She even stopped me from drinking!"
"Your Third Aunt was right not to let you drink."
Lu Tingting: "..."
After finishing the honey water, Jiang Moli’s head lolled to one side and she fell asleep.
An Hui and Ma Hongmei quickly helped her to the bed in her room. One helped her out of her clothes and shoes while the other went to get hot water to wash her face.
Lu Tingting stood by and watched.
’That wretched woman is usually so sharp-tongued and shameless, but she looks kind of cute when she’s asleep.’
’Her face was fair with a rosy blush, like a ripe peach. Her eyelashes were long and curly, the tip of her nose was pert, and her lips were delicate and bright. She looked as exquisite as a porcelain doll.’
Lu Tingting couldn’t resist reaching out to stroke Jiang Moli’s face.
’Her skin feels so nice. So smooth, soft, and supple.’
An Hui pushed her hand away. "What do you think you’re doing?"
’What’s the big deal? It’s just a little touch. It’s not like it hurts her.’
Lu Tingting sat down on the bed sullenly. "I’m not going back tonight. I’ll sleep here and help you guys look after her."