Chapter 69: The Moon is Beautiful Tonight
Chapter 69: Chapter 69: The Moon is Beautiful Tonight
Through the rearview mirror, Ji Wanqiu saw her daughter’s melancholy expression and couldn’t help but think of how Jiang Xia had called her "Mom" earlier.
He’d said it so naturally. ’Has he been practicing in secret?’ She was starting to wonder if she’d somehow gained another son.
"Yanwan, you two haven’t... you know... have you?" she asked cautiously.
Lin Yanwan froze, her face flushing with a mix of embarrassment and annoyance. "Mom, what are you talking about! Of course not!"
"Oh, good! As long as you haven’t, that’s good." Ji Wanqiu let out a huge sigh of relief. She had been worried that her daughter, head-over-heels in love, might have given away the most precious thing she had.
’If that were the case,’ she thought, ’I’d definitely make her father break his third leg.’
’That little brat. He’s barely old enough to shave and he’s already acting like a degenerate!’
◇
Jiang Xia stumbled home, drunk. Xia Shanshan and Jiang Wende were sitting on the sofa watching the current hit drama, *Infiltration*.
Smelling the alcohol on her son the moment he walked in, Xia Shanshan rushed to pour him a glass of hot water.
"Why did you drink so much?"
Jiang Xia sat down on a stool, his head spinning. He downed the glass of hot water in one go, and his churning stomach finally started to settle a little.
"It wasn’t that much. Just a few beers."
"A few isn’t a lot?"
At this point, Xia Shanshan wasn’t in the mood to ask about his exams. She went into the bathroom, wet a towel, and handed it to him to wipe his face.
He scrubbed his face hard and shook his head. "Mom, I’m going to take a shower and go to bed. My head’s a little fuzzy."
"Go on, go on. You go wash up, I’ll get your clothes."
Jiang Xia nodded and walked into the bathroom. As the hot water rained down on him, the alcohol hit him even harder. A wave of nausea washed over him, and he turned to the toilet and wretched violently.
After seemingly emptying his entire stomach, he let out a long breath. That felt much better.
’I can’t believe my alcohol tolerance got worse after I was reborn,’ he thought. ’Back in my past life, Wang Ming and I could easily polish off a whole case of beer while eating skewers on the street.’
Hearing the sounds of vomiting from the bathroom, Xia Shanshan hurried to the kitchen to brew him a bowl of ginger tea. Vomiting after drinking was terrible for your stomach.
Half an hour later, Jiang Xia emerged from the bathroom, his face beet red. He’d meant to take a shower, but he’d mostly just stood there dizzily under the spray. Instead of sobering him up, the hot water seemed to have sent all the alcohol straight to his head.
"Son, drink this ginger tea before you go to sleep," Xia Shanshan said.
With his eyes half-closed, Jiang Xia took the bowl, drank it all in one go, then stumbled back to his room, flopped onto his bed, and fell fast asleep.
Xia Shanshan sighed, gently closed the door, and shot her husband a glare.
"Look at your son. Why did he have to drink so much? You’re his father, you should have a word with him."
"The college entrance exams are finally over. It’s normal for him to want to blow off some steam," Jiang Wende said, unconcerned. What man doesn’t drink? Even he would have a drink or two when he wasn’t driving.
"Right, right, you’re always right."
Xia Shanshan grumbled to herself as she started washing Jiang Xia’s clothes, which reeked of alcohol.
◇
「In the bedroom.」
Jiang Xia woke up suddenly, a wave of nausea washing over him. Forcing down the discomfort in his stomach, he groggily fumbled for his phone under the pillow and called his wife.
Lin Yanwan had just finished her shower and climbed into bed, ready to sleep, when her phone suddenly rang.
"Master, you have a call from Jiang Gouzi..."
She glanced instinctively at the crack under her door. The living room light was still on. Before the second ring, she snatched up the phone, dove under her comforter, and whispered, "Hello?"
But the other end of the line was silent, save for the sound of Jiang Xia’s heavy breathing. Thinking he might have butt-dialed her, Lin Yanwan whispered again, "Jiang Xia?"
"..."
"I’m hanging up if you don’t say anything."
"...*huff*..."
"Jiang Gouzi!!!"
"..."
Just as she was about to angrily hit the end-call button, she heard Jiang Xia’s sleepy mumble from the other end.
"Wife... I miss you so much..."
Her breath caught in her throat, and the annoyed expression on her face slowly softened.
"You’re talking nonsense again. Are you drunk?"
"..."
"Wife, please... *huff*... please... don’t divorce me... *huff, huff*... okay...?"
Jiang Xia mumbled in his sleep, his words punctuated by ragged breaths.
Though his voice was slurred, she heard every word perfectly. It was as if a shooting star had struck the softest part of her heart.
She bit her lip, holding the phone tightly to her ear. A blush crept onto her face as she asked softly, "And who’s your wife?"
"My baby..."
"And who’s your baby?"
"...Lin Yanwan."
A sudden joy blossomed in her heart, and an unconscious smile spread across her blushing face.
"Do you love her very much?"
"I... I love her so much... so, so, so, so, so much..."
Jiang Xia kept repeating the words, his voice growing fainter and fainter.
"If you love her so much, then why did you agree to divorce her?"
"..."
"Jiang Xia?"
"Are you asleep?"
He smacked his lips, his drowsy voice now tinged with the sound of a sob. "I let her down. I couldn’t give her a good life... I didn’t want her to keep suffering with me... *sob*... I’m useless... I can’t make her happy..."
Lin Yanwan’s eyes grew moist. She whispered softly, "You idiot."
"She... knows now."
"No, don’t let her know..."
"If you had another chance, would you still want to divorce her?"
For a long time, there was no sound from the other end but his heavy breathing. Finally, he mumbled to himself, "Wife, I love you..."
It wasn’t the direct answer she was looking for, but Lin Yanwan knew what he meant.
"I love you too," she murmured back.
"...*huff*... I don’t want *you* to love me... I... I just want my wife to love me... *huff, huff*..."
"Alright, alright. Your wife loves you the most."
"Really... really? My wife loves me the most... Hehehe..."
"Go to sleep now. Goodnight, hubby. Mwah~"
After whispering this furtively, she immediately hung up the phone, the tips of her ears burning hot.
She wasn’t sure if Jiang Xia had heard her, or if he was truly dead drunk, or if he was just using the alcohol as an excuse to bare his soul to her.
But either way, she had now found the reason why Jiang Xia, in his past life, had deliberately picked fights with her over so many little things.
’So it was all just because he felt he’d let me down?’
’What an idiot.’
Lin Yanwan looked at her phone, and after a moment’s thought, changed his contact name from "Jiang Gouzi" back to "Hubby."
She let out a long sigh and gazed out the window at the night sky. ’The crescent moon is so beautiful tonight.’
...
(Lin Yanwan and Jiang Xia now have character cards! If you have a moment, please go give them a look. Thanks!~)