Chapter 57 Seducing While Drunk (1/2)

Xiao Bing smiled awkwardly, ”Of course not. I can tell that you are a faithful woman.”

”Thanks for thinking of me that way. Ah...” Zhu Liya stared at the goblet in her hand. Her eyes were blurred with regret and sadness.

Xiao Bing knew she was an arrogant woman from the first time he saw her. Arrogant women had highs standards for men and usually they were very picky when it came to marriage. So Xiao Bing could imagine the sadness and regret she was feeling.

She was just like Madame Bovary. Though people had been criticizing her for a long time, few of them knew why this tragedy happened. They didn't know how miserable and unreconciled she was.

Eventually, after being silent for quite a while, she said in a faint voice, ”I know what you're thinking of. I knew him since childhood. We lived in the same village. He was born in a rich family and my family was very poor. When I was in high school, my dad fell into a dry well. Then my mother got ill and unable to do anything. I felt like my family was cursed at that time. I had to drop out of school and take care of my brother.”

Xiao Bing was shocked. He had never thought that, in spite of her miserable marriage, this queenly lady would have had such a miserable childhood.

Zhu Liya continued, ”Then my mother got worse and was sent to a hospital. But the treatment was expensive. So I had to borrow money from others. But my father was gone and my mother was near death. The relatives who once seemed nice all turned their backs on me. How ironic...”

Zhu Liya sounded sarcastic. ”When you're okay, even strangers can call you a friend. But when something bad happens to you, all these so-called friends do is leave. At that time, Zhang Gui's father promised me that he would lend me money if I could marry his son.”

Feeling sorry for her, Zhang Gui asked, ”You said yes?”

”I had to. Zhang Gui did not have a very good reputation back then, and I knew that he had tried to peep on me while bathing. But I had to marry him. I think this is what they call fate. God has planned it for you.”

”The latter part of the story is simple,” sighed Zhu Liya. Then she said, ”His family nearly became broke because of a natural disaster. Zhang Gui and I came to this city to make a living. I was 24 when I came and now I'm 32. It took me 8 years to take root here while he was doing nothing but drinking and playing. I was a worker at first. Then I became an apprentice in a beauty salon, and then I had a small beauty saloon of my own. And now I'm going to run a restaurant.”

Xiao Bing said, ”It's an inspiring story.”

”In addition to drinking all day, Zhang Gui became addicted to gambling after my business got better... He even began whoring outside our home. I just pretended that I didn't know... There's no love between us at all. Why should I bother him about his cheating when I can have a good sleep without him?”

It made Xiao Bing feel sad. He believed that only an extremely hopeless woman could say it with such composure.

Xiao Bing suddenly asked, ”You have never thought about a divorce?”

Zhu Liya shook her head, ”I know this man. He knows that he will find no one better after the divorce. So he will never agree to it. I'm his cash cow. How can he still eat, drink, fuck, and gamble without me? And besides, it is his father's money that kept my mother alive. So I didn't think of it very often.”

”You're a good woman. It's a pity that didn't find your own happiness.”

Zhu Liya smiled, ”Thanks for listening to things that have nothing to do with you. Here's to you for helping me yesterday.”

There was a tempting blush on her haughty face after she drank all of the wine in that goblet.

Xiao Bing's head went blank for a few seconds. Noticing that, Zhu Liya grinned, ”Brother Bing, you are not drunk, are you? It's only two cups of wine.”

”No, of course not.” Then Xiao Bing thought to himself, ”You're just as seductive as Ayaka Tomoda from R country. But she doesn't have that queen vibe of yours. How can I not be drunk in that. What the hell is Zhuang Gui thinking? How can he leave his beautiful wife home and mess with the whores outside...”

”I invited you today for two reasons. One is to thank you. And the other...” said Zhu Liya, with her eyes fixed on Xiao Bing's, ”I've been doing nothing but thinking of different ways to make money, so I barely made any real friends these years. I have so much to talk about and right now you are the only person I can talk to.”

”It's okay. You can tell me these things whenever you want.”

”Really? You know I trust you with all my heart since last night. Now eat. You're not here to drink.”