15 A Fierce Battle

Su Jingqiu developed a lasting aversion to alcohol after that strange female drinker, feeling nauseated at the mere thought of it. At first, he thought she was there to cause trouble, but as the drinking went on, he realized she seemed intent on making him look foolish. She kept challenging him to drinking bets:

Lose, and you have to bark like a dog!
Lose, and you have to say “I love you”!
Lose, and you have to slap the tree by the door!
...

Su Jingqiu refused to gamble with her; eventually, it turned into a pure drinking contest. Lu Manman was determined to test Su Jingqiu’s tolerance, dragging him along until the bar closed. Outside the bar, she clung to him, swaying drunkenly into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and deliberately kissing him. Su Jingqiu instinctively pushed her away and wiped his face with disdain.

Before he entered the house, Lu Manman had already messaged Si Mingming, saying, “Your husband’s drinking is nothing special, but his character when drunk is quite good.”

Si Mingming naturally believed her. Alcohol had no effect on Lu Manman; she could singlehandedly outdrink a whole room full of people. Little Su Jingqiu was insignificant compared to her.

Rarely did Si Mingming stay up; tonight, she sat in the living room waiting for Su Jingqiu. Lu Manman’s playful spirit was piqued, so she asked Si Mingming to test Su Jingqiu’s honesty. Si Mingming’s interest was also piqued; she was eager to see how a man lied.

When Su Jingqiu came in and saw Si Mingming, he glanced at his watch. At this hour, his health-conscious wife was still awake—was she trying to stay up late?

“Drinking again?” Si Mingming stepped forward, grabbed his collar, and sniffed. Her warm breath brushed his neck.

“Yeah.” Su Jingqiu stepped back to sit on the sofa and somehow began to complain to Si Mingming: “Today I ran into a bunch of drunks who booked the whole bar. The woman leading them was like a lunatic, dragging me to drink and sing.” Before Si Mingming could ask more, Su Jingqiu continued. He desperately wanted to vent his thoughts about that female drunkard. He half hoped the bar would have such crazy people every day, yet he couldn’t help but curse her in his heart. The girl was brilliantly radiant, a genuinely good person with a personality like a big goofball. They turned his bar into a raucous mess; passersby outside thought a fight had broken out.

This was Su Jingqiu’s first sincere conversation with Si Mingming. He had drunk some alcohol but was not drunk, and the language switch inside his body was flipped on. His confidante was a quiet person who asked no questions, just listened silently and occasionally chuckled. For instance, when he mentioned the female lunatic making him bark like a dog if he lost, Si Mingming’s mind vividly pictured the scenario. Her good friend was capable of such antics.

“Is it really that funny?” Su Jingqiu asked curiously. “What I said—is it that amusing?”

Si Mingming put away her smile and nodded. “Quite funny.” Her husband had unknowingly insulted her good friend as a big fool, but it wasn’t really an insult—just a description of her character. Calling friends over to make noise and play games in the bar, as if bringing everyone to the American Wild West. These were objective observations; Lu Manman was indeed such a person.

Su Jingqiu glanced at her and slumped back on the sofa, somewhat aggrieved: “Money is hard to earn, shit is hard to swallow.”

“Will that female drinker come back?” Si Mingming asked.

“She said she would when she left. She even grabbed my collar, wanting to kiss me.” Su Jingqiu disdainfully wiped his face again. “Good thing your man dodged quickly!”

“Your man?” The three words slipped out of Su Jingqiu’s mouth without warning, and both of them froze. He was mostly sober now, pondering how he had suddenly become “her man.” On second thought, legally he was indeed her man, so it wasn’t a slip of the tongue. Thinking this way eased his mind.

Si Mingming didn’t witness a lying man but unexpectedly gained a man who kept chatting with her. The feeling of having her original assumptions overturned was quite strange. Su Jingqiu was clearly troubled by Lu Manman’s attempt to “force a kiss,” and Si Mingming saw his germophobic tendencies flare up.

She leaned a little closer to Su Jingqiu and asked, “You don’t like others kissing you?”

“What’s so great about kissing? Too much saliva, it’s disgusting.”

---

“Then didn’t you kiss when you were dating before?”

“Better once we were familiar,” Su Jingqiu said.

“Then let me try.”

“Try what?” Su Jingqiu looked at her.

“Try if we’re familiar enough.”

They had just shared a pleasant conversation, and Su Jingqiu had toned down his usual sharpness toward her. A sort of friendship-like feeling began to bud between them. Si Mingming felt this was unacceptable; she couldn’t form a friendship with her husband—who would sleep with a friend?

She leaned a bit closer again, gazing into his eyes. Su Jingqiu, drunk, had a sluggish mind that only saw the surface of things. What he saw was his wife studying him, though he didn’t know what for.

Until Si Mingming’s lips brushed against his cheek, Su Jingqiu’s dull mind hadn’t even registered it. The alcohol seemed to flood his body faster, rushing through every corner and causing a dizzying reaction.

He reached out to push Si Mingming away, but she suddenly cupped his face and kissed his lips.

“I want to see how bad your cleanliness obsession really is.” Si Mingming refused to back down and boldly pressed her tongue into his mouth. When he panicked and tried to escape, she sat squarely on his lap. In an instant, he pinned her down on the sofa, his hand gripping her neck, his eyes burning red as he warned, “Don’t get any ideas! I’m not drunk; I know exactly what’s going on.”

Seeing the smile in Si Mingming’s eyes made his teeth itch with frustration. He pressed his legs down hard on hers and asked, “Did you bite my lip?”

Si Mingming admitted generously, “Yes.”

“I really underestimated you, Si Mingming. You’re so devious.”

“Let go and let me talk properly.” Si Mingming lifted her leg and kneeled sharply into his back. “You’re crushing me.”

Si Mingming spoke without filter, unaware how those words sounded to a man with a dirty mind. Even the usually blunt Su Jingqiu realized he was being impolite and quickly rolled off her, sitting on the floor to recover.

“I’ll never drink again.” He said this, then tilted his head and leaned against the sofa, soon falling asleep. The sofa was his good friend; returning home late at night, he often had no energy to make it to the bedroom and would spend the night there.

Si Mingming watched him sleep and felt they had indeed grown a little closer. At least compared to how familiar he was with Lu Manman, he didn’t find her kisses disgusting.

Lu Manman asked Si Mingming, “So? Did he confess everything?”

“Not a word missing. He even told the part about you force-kissing him,” Si Mingming told her. “He said you’re a big goofball.”

Lu Manman sent a string of laughter emojis, then said, “Si Mingming, I have to say, the husband you picked might be better than most. Just his face alone beats 99% of men.”

“Fine enough. The gift I gave you might be useless now unless your husband is all show and no substance.” Lu Manman didn’t dislike Su Jingqiu; she thought he looked more agreeable than Bai Yang. His innocence shone from within, a pity for his floral arm tattoo.

Si Mingming grew sleepy, went to the bedroom, and collapsed on the bed without replying to Lu Manman’s final message. The next day she overslept and found Su Jingqiu had already left. By experience, he probably went to tend to his daytime business.

---

Si Mingming believed Su Jingqiu had one obvious merit: he was not lazy. He ran a restaurant and a bar—one occupied by day, the other by night—leaving little time for rest. He managed the restaurant by day and the bar by night, sleeping six or seven hours at home before rising to repeat the cycle.

She had never seen anyone’s life as monotonous as hers; by comparison, Su Jingqiu wasn’t much better.

After getting up, she reviewed the finalized personnel optimization plan her subordinate sent, focusing on severance pay, including year-end bonus calculations, annual leave conversions, stock vesting, and other details. She carefully ran the numbers on her computer; everything matched the model. She immediately drafted an email requesting final approval. If all went well, the plan would be entered into the system as Vice President Shi Yinan requested.

This was another signal.

It meant the layoffs would not stop anytime soon; it would be a prolonged effort.

While reviewing her subordinate’s email, she inadvertently picked at her finger until it bled. She got up, grabbed a tissue to wrap it, then continued working.

By the time she finished, it was evening, and her Sunday was effectively wasted. Over the years, Si Mingming had grown accustomed to this pace; wherever she went, she carried her laptop and phone. Her rapid career advancement was fueled by unseen effort. Yet this evening, she felt a touch of confusion, staring at the clouds outside, wondering, “What if one day I lose my job? What should I do then?”

This question did not trouble her long. She quickly took out her phone and calculated her savings, insurance, and investments. She was suddenly grateful that she wasn’t materialistic; her savings would comfortably support her for several years.

Su Jingqiu’s call interrupted her thoughts. He sounded very serious on the phone: “Si Mingyue, you’d better come to my restaurant.”

“Why?”

“Because our mother is here.”

After Su Jingqiu hung up, he faced the unexpected visitor, Nie Rushuang. His mother-in-law was a peculiar woman. Upon entering the restaurant, she strode straight to him and introduced herself: “I’m Si Mingyue’s mother. I need to have a talk with you.”

“I only know Si Mingming,” Su Jingqiu said.

“That’s not important—just one person,” Nie Rushuang replied.

Her eyes, like spotlights, swept across his restaurant. Her hair was a striking silver-gray, short and thick at the crown, radiating a mix of chivalry and worldly shrewdness. She hardly looked like Si Mingming’s biological mother.

Su Jingqiu invited Nie Rushuang to sit and turned to call Si Mingming. In a sense, the two of them were now grasshoppers tied to the same string. Su Jingqiu had to bring Si Mingming along to face her fierce mother.

By her gaze alone, Si Mingming seemed to be her mother’s very own daughter.

While waiting for Si Mingming, Nie Rushuang remembered a small item in her drawer, and those certain words resurfaced in her mind as she gave Su Jingqiu a meaningful look.

The look made Su Jingqiu uneasy.