Chapter 639 - 654: Return

As expected, Jiang Xia got drunk. Dead drunk.

By the end of the night, Jiang Xia and An Sancheng were no longer son-in-law and father-in-law. At some point, after some number of drinks, they had started calling each other "brother," which abruptly demoted An Ning to their niece’s generation.

Of the four people at the table, not a single one was sober by the end.

Well, that wasn’t quite right. An Guoping, who had been "cloud drinking" with them over the phone, was still sober. But his spirit was willing while his flesh was weak, and there was nothing he could do.

In the end, it all came down to An Ning.

An Ning had to carry all four of them back, one by one.

The last one she delivered was Jiang Xia. He was truly wasted, draped over An Ning’s shoulders with his legs half-dragging on the ground.

"My lady..."

Being called "my lady" almost made An Ning jolt and drop Jiang Xia right there on the ground.

"Mine!"

Like a petulant child, Jiang Xia wrapped his arms tightly around An Ning’s neck. Her face turned red, but it was from being choked.

"Jiang Xia, you better behave, or I’m throwing you in a ditch!"

"Heh heh... heh heh..."

Giggling foolishly, Jiang Xia couldn’t follow An Ning’s train of thought at all and just kept on giggling.

Luckily, their houses weren’t far apart. An Ning knocked on the door, and after getting Jiang Xia into bed, she left the rest to Master Tang.

Master Tang had anticipated this and sent An Ning off with a pot of hangover soup.

"Take this back for them to drink. It’ll save them the headache tomorrow morning."

"You think of everything, Master Tang."

An Ning left with the soup. Once back home, she made sure the three men each drank a bowl, then left them to their fate.

The next morning, Lin Cuihua and the others had already finished breakfast by the time the three men of the An family finally woke up.

Fortunately, Master Tang’s hangover soup was potent, and none of them suffered from a hangover headache.

Now that An Ning and Jiang Xia’s engagement was settled, the An family got busy with the house construction again.

However, Lin Cuihua shooed An Guoming and Yin Xuemei away. The hospital conditions back home weren’t as good, so she told the two of them to hurry back to Beijing to avoid any last-minute panic.

Yin Xuemei was only a few days from her due date, and Lin Cuihua planned to go over early to help during the postpartum confinement period.

In reality, Lin Cuihua wouldn’t have to do much of the actual work since they would have a nanny, but having a family member around was always more reassuring.

「Three days later.」

Lin Cuihua returned to Beijing with An Guoming and Yin Xuemei. An Guoqing and the others remained behind to continue building the house. An Ning had wanted to stay longer, but she received a call from Yu the Elder. The awards ceremony he had mentioned before was about to begin.

And so, An Ning and Jiang Xia had to leave as well.

However, Jiang Xia found a reliable person to oversee the construction of both the Jiang family and the An family homes, so the others didn’t have to worry too much.

This time, Jiang Xia and An Ning once again chose to drive back, but with Jiang Xia driving and An Ning as the passenger.

After they got on the highway, An Ning started telling Jiang Xia about her drive back last time.

"I seriously felt like the heavens were messing with me. Who ever heard of a single cloud chasing you just to rain on you?"

Jiang Xia, who was driving, glanced up. The sky was clear for miles. It probably wouldn’t rain.

The longer he spent with An Ning, the more Jiang Xia became a firm believer in Mysticism.

"An Ning, when we get back, I want to treat Hua Cheng and the others to a meal. What do you think?"

"Sure. You want to tell them we’re engaged."

Jiang Xia nodded.

"Should you invite them separately, or should we host together? I can invite Luo Li and Hei Niu."

"Let’s see when everyone’s free. If we can do it together, let’s do it together."

"Okay."

With that settled, Jiang Xia continued driving while An Ning, in the passenger seat, dedicated herself to one thing: snacking.

She snacked the entire way to Beijing, and by the time they arrived, she was full.

Upon entering Beijing, Jiang Xia drove to their small courtyard house, where they would be staying for the time being.

As for where they would live after they officially registered their marriage, that was a discussion for another day.

Someone had been looking after their houses, so there was no need to clean up when they got back. Feeling a bit too full from all the food in the car, all An Ning wanted to do after getting out was take a nap.

After seeing An Ning back to her place, Jiang Xia returned to his own house next door and went out to buy some groceries.

He had a bowl of noodles himself, then prepped the ingredients for dinner. An Ning would definitely be hungry when she woke up.

At a little past four in the afternoon, An Ning finally woke up.

The moment she stirred, Jiang Xia knew it next door.

They started shouting to each other through the wall.

"Are you hungry?"

"Starving!"

"Hang on, dinner will be ready in half an hour."

"Okay!"

’Food waiting for you the moment you wake up. Not bad at all.’

At this moment, An Ning was even starting to think that getting married sooner rather than later wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Half an hour later, the two of them were eating dinner.

"You’re so capable, I’m really tempted to trick you into marrying me sooner."

Jiang Xia placed some food in An Ning’s bowl. "I’m in a hurry too, but... we should wait until the houses back home are finished. Otherwise, our elders won’t feel right about it."

"Mm, you’re right."

An Ning understood this as well, so neither of them was rushing things.

After dinner, Jiang Xia cleared the dishes while An Ning’s job was to watch and admire.

After the meal, they held hands and went out for a stroll.

Along the way, Jiang Xia introduced An Ning to anyone and everyone they could talk to—the lady selling popsicles, the old man selling vegetables, the old madam doing embroidery.

"This is my fiancée."

"Not my girlfriend, my fiancée. We’ve already had the engagement banquet."

An Ning didn’t stop him. Whenever Jiang Xia struck up a conversation, she would just chime in from the side, confirming, "Yes, his fiancée."

She loved seeing the happy yet earnest expression on his face.

By the end of the evening, almost every household in the alley knew that Jiang Xia and An Ning were engaged.

Jiang Xia walked An Ning to her door. She looked at him with a grin. "I’m starting to think your mind wasn’t on the stroll."

"Mm... If it weren’t too high-profile, I’d want to announce it in the newspapers and on TV."

Jiang Xia made no effort to hide his intentions. He wanted the whole world to know.

"Well then, I’ll just have to play along."

An Ning and Jiang Xia stood face to face.

Their eyes met, and the atmosphere suddenly turned a little charged.

Jiang Xia leaned forward, his every slow movement filled with nervousness.

"This is taking forever!"

An Ning shot out an arm, grabbed Jiang Xia by the collar, and pulled him down. She closed the distance between them, rising onto her tiptoes.

Their cool lips touched. From that center point, an invisible electric current spread through their limbs, finally gathering in their hearts.

It was soft, light, and seemed to last an eternity, but it was only for an instant. An Ning released her grip, ready to make a satisfied retreat.

"My turn!"

With a husky, dominant voice, Jiang Xia reached out, pulled An Ning back, and turned the tables, deepening the kiss.

"AHEM— I didn’t see anything. I saw absolutely nothing. Where are my glasses? I can’t seem to find them."

An Guoping had arrived.

He put on a show of blindness, searching for his glasses. An Ning and Jiang Xia had already separated. The two of them, both mentally tough, handled it calmly. One composedly turned to leave, while the other composedly called out to An Guoping.

"Come on in."

An Guoping and Jiang Xia exchanged a slightly awkward greeting, then he followed An Ning into the courtyard.