Chapter 74: Are You Trying to Woo Me? (1/2)

Soon, the food arrived. Sun Tiger spared no expense and ordered luxurious and delicious-looking food for us. Despite that, I had no appetite at all, perhaps because Huang Xiaotao was there but Dali was sitting in between us, so we hadn’t said a word to each other since we took our seats.

Sun Tiger and Wang Yuanchao were particularly lively. Halfway through the meal, they started a drinking duel. Although Wang Yuanchao was only a low-rank police officer at the moment, the way Sun Tiger interacted with him did not reflect that at all—it looked more like they were equals!

Both of them were seasoned players in this game as they were more than able to hold their liquor. After a while, they were locked in a stalemate and the game turned boring, so they turned their attention to us rookies.

I told them I never drank or smoked in order to protect my senses, so I politely refused. As a result, they switched targets to Dali.

Sun Tiger’s way of persuading Dali was very simple. He simply guilted Dali with phrases like, “Come on, let’s drink like grown men!” But Wang Yuanchao was much more assertive. Just as Dali was still pinching his nose and forcing the glass of spirit down his throat, Wang Yuanchao picked up the bottle again. He filled two glasses to the brim with alcohol, then downed one cup and put the empty glass next to the full one and stared down the poor Dali. In that situation, no one would’ve dared to refuse.

Dali was quite well known in college for being able to hold his liquor. But comparing college kids to these two hardboiled officers was like comparing ducklings to eagles. After a while, Dali swayed left to right, his face turned almost purple, and he face-planted onto the table.

Huang Xiaotao looked at him and laughed pitifully. But when her eyes caught mine, her expression changed and she turned away immediately.

What did I do now? I wondered. Was it because of the way I chatted with Sun Tiger about his daughter earlier?

By the end of the meal, Sun Tiger was already considerably drunk when he patted my shoulder and slurred, “Kiddo! Look at Old Wang there! Did you know that when I was in my thirties, I was even worse than him? I thought there was no cure for me. I thought I would stay that way for the rest of my life. But a fortune-teller told me that when I turned forty, I would meet a man who would change my fate, and what do you know—I met your grandfather! Without him, without the Song family’s treasured knowledge, I would’ve never climbed up to the rank that I’m at now! So let’s drink to the Song family!”

He then poured himself a glass full of wine.

I felt it would be inappropriate to refuse, so I poured myself a cup of tea and replied, “Uncle Sun, I hope you don’t mind if I replace the wine with tea.”

“Go ahead! Bottoms up!” He then clinked the glass with my cup and poured the entire glass of wine into down his throat.

After dinner, Wang Yuanchao picked up Sun Tiger and called a cab. I picked up the conked-out Dali and helped him into Huang Xiaotao’s car.

On the way back, Dali slept like a log in the back seat. Huang Xiaotao drove silently and said nothing to me. Seeing that we were about to reach my college, I worked up my courage and asked, “Do you… Do you remember my promise to take you out?”

“Yeah. I’ve got a day off tomorrow, but it’s not the weekend yet. Will you be free?”

“Yes!” I nodded repeatedly.

I didn’t expect it to be so easy. The fact that it went so smoothly gave me enough confidence to add, “I need to clarify something with you. I used to know Sun Tiger’s daughter because we were friends when we were younger, but that’s all there is to it.”

Huang Xiaotao threw me a glance. “Idiot! Did you think that I was jealous? Why would I be? We’re not in that kind of relationship!”

I blushed and scratched my head when I heard that reply. I fumbled for words to say, but my mind drew a blank. During that awkward silence, Huang Xiaotao suddenly turned to the side of the road and parked the car.

“You’ve been acting weird lately, you know?” she commented. “Why are you always sending me texts at night asking me mundane things like if I’ve eaten or slept?”

My face burned to the roots of my hair. I cursed myself for having acted so foolishly. At that moment, I wished I could dig a deep hole and just hide there and never come out again.

And then Huang Xiaotao asked a question that made me blush even redder.

“Song Yang, are you trying to woo me?”

I felt all the blood in my body rushing to the top of my head. My cheeks were so feverishly hot you could fry eggs on them.

“N-No, I’m not…” I stammered. “I was just asking… If you find it annoying, then I’ll stop sending them.”

“I didn’t say I was annoyed.”

“Huh?”

Huang Xiaotao laughed and reached over and patted my shoulder.

“You have to be bolder than that if you want to woo a girl, you understand?” she chirped. “There was a guy from the tax bureau who tried to woo me last year. He sent enough roses to fill a whole car to the police station and told me if I didn’t agree to go out with him, he would put up a huge banner across the police station that said ‘Huang Xiaotao, I love you!’”

“Oh, so did you go out with him?”