The moment flowed like the waves of wind. Another shot of drink followed—a mix of warm and cold. They received their two cups of tea.
Chóng Fēi's two bottles of wine came as well. First, he took his tea to drink. He gave a boyish, faint, general smile with a nod to the man.
The worker man also nodded once with a friendly smile. "Are you sure, Gōngzǐ?"
"Why would I not be sure, man?" Chóng Fēi said, light-hearted.
"Careful then.." The worker man returned a smile and left.
"Catch. Less sleep, more roaming tonight." Chóng Fēi rolled the cups at their spots. "This is not everyday I roam around the town like a creep and drink."
Lìngxiāo just watched how Chóng Fēi also sank into relaxation while the same clear cup slid over the wood.
'Less sleep..'
'More hours..I would be roaming into my homeland for the first time without any reason connected to any case..or task.'
His fingers steadied the cup at his grip on the table, a faint smile forming at Chóng Fēi's words—half a little worried if Chóng Fēi could really handle this much late-night activity with so much wine, and then himself within an expensive robe. Also half happiness to see the town with new eyes after years.
"If you wish then..I am keeping my daily things aside..for tonight." He said to him, letting himself break his daily routine a bit.
He didn't usually stop for those little moments, even when he was roaming around by his nature. He felt like something was missing for not getting more requests for any other work since the time he had come here.
But that was also true that there had been no other calls as big as this town—where he had to remove such a thick layer of a curse from a whole town, the very town that was behind all of his struggles.
It could have gone even worse and ended a few years ago if his uncle had never shown up.
While thinking about those ups and downs of everything, the taste and warmth of the tea wrapped around him once more. His second cup emptied too. He put the cup down.
'I think I am a little full by those only..'
But then deep red liquid painted the transparent cup—refilled by wine by Chóng Fēi.
'No..not wine..'
He blinked, looked at him, his smile polite but also unprepared. "Gōngzǐ, I do not drink."
"Like I drink always like this too?" Chóng Fēi said, not looking like he was going to let him drop it. His voice was a little rough from drinking, but casual.
Deeper than usual.
"It is just one cup. You should have gotten used to it because ALL kinds of clans in Yínglòu Chéng do it. This ritual is universal." He added, his eyes catching extra light as he looked at Lìngxiāo.
Then here he goes again—takes a long, deep sip from his first bottle. His tea seemed to have disappeared from the cup long before Lìngxiāo even noticed.
Lìngxiāo shut his mouth, watching him with a tight smile, blinking like a fox somehow got into unknown territory.
He really couldn't dodge the cup just like he had failed a few times at Hàngwō clan gatherings too. Having a celebration without a single cup of wine with any clan was like not serving proper hospitality or luxury if they weren't able to give it, or if anyone rejected.
They could reject. But after one cup.
And that was why he also didn't always attend the celebrations—because he felt like he would ruin his whole dignity by vomiting. But things got different and difficult if it was arranged by Hàngwō, and also..if Wàng Wùjī requested so gently like a little brother whose pure heart might shatter.
He shifted awkwardly, bracing himself for whatever came next. His fingers gently curled tighter around the cup once more, staring at it like it was bitter medicine.
But the difference was—bitter medicines heal, and this would burn his nervous system for a few hours, which felt like a total torture.
Chóng Fēi blinked slowly with half-lidded eyes, holding up the bottle lightly, seeming like he was waiting for another cheer—and here he couldn't even properly smell it.
Lìngxiāo swallowed softly. His gaze held Chóng Fēi's—only to look down at the table without lowering his head totally. His other hand clenched and unclenched over the bench near to the faintly sparkling silk of his robe.
'But I cannot..lose my control again. Who knows what I would end up doing which would be a disaster later.'
Finally, he managed to voice it. He sounded almost small and hesitant..a little embarrassed too. "A-at least let me mix some water with it, Gōngzǐ."
Chóng Fēi looked at him for a second. Then broke into a faint chuckle—deep into his throat like a sleepy raven, throwing his head back already while clinging to his already-half-finished bottle.
Watching him laugh like this, Lìngxiāo stared with slightly wide eyes. A shiver ran down his spine. It made him sit straighter. The voice felt like something else entirely.
Almost out of character.
'He is laughing like any curse..'
'I do not feel any curse energy in him..'
Then without warning—Chóng Fēi's laugh died down and he pointed at him, making Lìngxiāo freeze. His face was judgmental in a mix of playfully mocking way. Or dramatic perhaps.
'What is he trying to do..?'
Chóng Fēi said in a low tone. His blinks were a little faster than usual. "So..you can't drink a single cup with 'original' wine without mixing water?"
Lìngxiāo's cheeks burned. It was the truth. But since a powerful man like him—who made his name in a field which most of the time required clan support—couldn't drink a single cup of 'pure' wine, it felt actually stupid.
Not like he had just stayed away because of health. It was also..he just simply couldn't handle it.
"So..what if I cannot? My body requires to be pure and conscious all the time for my professionalism." Lìngxiāo muttered with silent stubbornness, his chin lightly up.
"Oh, why are you getting angry now? It is just wine. Not a big deal~" Chóng Fēi grinned, carefree. His arrogance melted into total mischief which felt new to swallow all at once.
Lìngxiāo exhaled slowly, his eyes lightly shutting for a second like meditating. "I do not get angry for unnecessary reasons."
"Good~" Chóng Fēi nodded sharply, too hard than he should. Then he snapped his finger up towards the man in the stall, making one come again.
The worker man came and he just said, "One bottle of water."
The man brought it quickly, setting it down between them at the table.
Lìngxiāo looked at it and then at him, suspicious.
'I hope he is not..playing any trick again..that ended up the water would be clear wine too..'
"Mix water then." Chóng Fēi said simply. His hand moving with the matching rhythm of his words, too casually, with a wink. "But still drink at least one cup."
And then by another long sip—his first bottle ended that he opened another one, newly excited again for it like it was the first, inhaling the sweet smell. He was even about to fall from his seat—and then caught himself at the last moment by digging his sword into the sand.
"Fine. Just one cup." Lìngxiāo mixed the water with the wine.
His face flushing red with both embarrassment and a bubbling laugh at how strange this guy was acting.
'He said he would not get drunk..'
'Then what is this..?'
'Has nobody ever told him that he gets drunk?'
'Or was it because he would yell at them again..?'
'I hope it is that..nothing more. I do not know how I would handle him..'
He raised his cup towards Chóng Fēi, his lips pressing down, adjusting his hat with the veil to hide.
"Yeah, cheers~" Chóng Fēi lightly touched his whole bottle with Lìngxiāo's small cup and drank.
Lìngxiāo took a deep breath before swallowing it down. The alcohol never gave him mercy from burning his throat. But it somehow removed a bit of ache in his throat from the cold, which couldn't be scratched like any other body part.
"E-wh.." He exhaled deeply like a faint cough and placed the cup down, his teeth running over his taste buds.
His world seemed to give a wave. His ears blurring for a moment that he can't hear—like something ran upward to his nerves. A little familiar but still daring.
He blinked tightly, watching Chóng Fēi like he had won something where Lìngxiāo had failed this time—and he knew it too.
'Yuck. It is still too sharp. How does he drink it without water?'
And then he poured himself water until the cup was finished too. All the few lunches and small snacks were nowhere to be found in his stomach, so the sharpness seemed to bite into his stomach though he had drunk a lot of water.
"Tasty? I know it is." Chóng Fēi said, chuckling, sometimes bobbing his head like a baby bird.
'He is totally sober..or is he just being relaxed..? But he said he is used to it..'
"Not much..for me.." Lìngxiāo shook his head lightly, clearing his throat.
Chóng Fēi pouted like it pinched at his ego—as if he had made it or something—staring. "How..dare you..dislike my taste, little gorgeous male siren?"
Lìngxiāo blinked, his mouth parted with disbelief. His face burned so hot that he was sure an egg could be boiled on it.
'Wh..what did he call me?!'