Conquering the Male Supporting Character – CH 012

Chapter 12. Drunk

Shi Yao’s wine was truly excellent. After downing a cup, Lu Wan felt a lingering fragrance on her lips and couldn’t help but lick the remaining liquid.

Now, apart from the silent maid, she was alone in the warm pavilion. The only sound was the bubbling of the soup, yet she felt quite at ease and poured herself another cup.

Although she wasn’t sure if Xie Yu would return, she could continue eating.

She rummaged through the remaining ingredients and found a bowl of plain noodles, so she promptly had it cooked.

The noodles were served in an exquisite porcelain bowl, topped with a spoonful of broth, looking clear, flavorful, and refreshing.

However, Lu Wan hesitated to eat.

She tilted her head, examining the bowl of noodles before her, her hand supporting her slightly flushed cheeks, her brows furrowed slightly, as if pondering some immense problem.

Snow began to fall again outside the window, softly pattering onto the branches of trees that hadn’t yet turned completely yellow.

Inside the warm pavilion, a cozy charcoal fire had already been lit. Lu Wan, sitting inside, looked thoughtful, picking up her wine cup and continuing to sip her wine slowly.

She had only taken a small sip when she saw a figure lift the curtain and enter the room.

The figure waved, and the Xie family maids around her withdrew, leaving only her own maid waiting at the door. Through the screen, she couldn’t see clearly inside, but she could enter immediately upon hearing Lu Wan call for someone.

Who was this person?

Lu Wan felt a white blur before her eyes, as if a fog had risen. She strained to open her eyes but couldn’t make out the person’s face.

Suddenly, a wave of panic washed over her. Where was she?

But the next second, she forgot what she was thinking, feeling as if she were floating on clouds.

Xie Yu stood before the table, catching the young woman’s bewildered gaze. Her eyes were misty, her beautifully shaped eyes fixed on him, shimmering yet filled with deep confusion.

He picked up the wine jar and shook it, then looked at Lu Wan’s flushed cheeks, raising an eyebrow slightly.

So, she’d gotten drunk alone?

His slender fingers slowly caressed the rim of the wine jar. Xie Yu lowered his eyes, discreetly observing the dizzy person before him. Seeing her finish a cup and about to refill it, he gently held the jar in place.

Lu Wan held the round jar, unable to move it. She blinked, following the jade-white fingers upwards, and saw a handsome, refined face looking down at her.

“You’re bullying me…” She paused, then suddenly her eyes welled up with tears, as if she had suffered a great injustice. “You’re so stunning, and you still bully me…”

Her complaint was sweet and soft, melting right into one’s bones.

If anyone else had heard this, they would probably have immediately reflected on what they had done wrong, but she was facing Xie Yu, whose heart was as hard as iron, completely unmoved by her.

Xie Yu quietly looked at her and found that this charmingly naive appearance somewhat resembled a certain kind of living creature he disliked the most.

“Lu Wan?”

“Mmm…” Lu Wan responded, her tone drawn out, lingering and sweet, like the plum blossom preserves he had previously offered her.

Lu Wan tried to take back the wine jar, but that hand still held it down, preventing her from moving.

He wouldn’t even let her drink the wine!

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Suddenly, she grabbed the hand of the culprit who hadn’t let her drink the plum wine and held it tightly in her own palm. Then she lowered her head and bit down.

Xie Yu truly hadn’t expected her to be so crazy after drinking. He instinctively tried to pull away, but she pulled even harder, her sharp little teeth digging into his flesh. Something soft and warm seemed to be gently rubbing against his skin.

He immediately realized what was happening, a rare look of disgust on his face. He forcefully pulled his hand back and picked up a handkerchief to wipe the unknown liquid from the back of his hand.

Xie Yu’s hands were extremely refined—fair, slender, and with well-defined knuckles. The only flaw was the thin callus on his left hand. But now there was another one: the tooth mark left by Lu Wan.

It wasn’t broken; it was red and shallow, like a crescent moon.

She hadn’t exerted any force, or perhaps she was too weak to exert any; she was clearly very drunk.

After he broke free, the drunkard seemed to realize her mistake, her eyes widening timidly as she looked at him, her eyelashes trembling, the corners of her eyes slightly red.

If someone unaware of the situation had seen this, they would surely have thought he was the one being frivolous.

Xie Yu picked up the wine jar and poured the remaining liquid onto his left hand, as if to wash it.

He deliberately slowed his movements, letting Lu Wan watch as the little wine remaining in the jar trickled down his fingertips to the ground until not a single drop flowed.

As he expected, the young woman’s eyes reddened, glaring fiercely at him, but when her gaze fell upon the teeth marks, she immediately became coy and timid, shrinking back—her expression changing swiftly.

He couldn’t help but rub his forehead, wondering how he could possibly argue with a young woman. He was really getting more and more childish.

Yet, he even felt a wicked sense of pleasure in it.

Lu Wan sniffed, snatched the jar, turned her back to him, and shifted her position further away from Xie Yu, leaving him with only a stubborn back view, as if to draw a line between them.

Sending such a drunken young woman home would probably make the Lu family furious.

Xie Yu clapped his hands, and a maid from the Xie household entered, bowing respectfully and awaiting his orders.

“Have someone bring a bowl of hangover soup.”

“Yes.” The maid shuffled out, afraid of disturbing anything.

Hearing the conversation inside, A-Yun grew anxious. Only Master Xie and her young lady were in the room. Even the legendary Young Master Xie Yu of Luoyang, so handsome and refined, was still a man after all. Her mistress was so beautiful; what if the ethereal Young Master Xie Yu were to fall for her?

She gritted her teeth, quietly walked to the edge of the screen, and peeked out to observe the room.

Unexpectedly, her mistress stood with her back to the young master, while Young Master Xie Yu sat on the other side of the table, a white handkerchief in his hand, carefully wiping his left hand.

The two were quite a distance apart.

A-Yun breathed a sigh of relief, realizing she had been too suspicious of Young Master Xie Yu and had underestimated his character. She quietly retreated, listening intently to the sounds inside.

Xie Yu, on the other hand, glanced up and saw the receding hem of a garment behind the screen. He glanced at the person with her back to him, then rose and walked to her.

He leaned down slightly, a smile playing on his lips, and coaxed her in a low voice, “Ah Wan, do you know what a system is?”

Lu Wan, whose eyes were half-closed, opened them wide at his question, staring at him with a complex expression, almost making Xie Yu think she had sobered up.

“A cyst stem…a cyst stem is…” Lu Wan’s voice trailed off, growing softer and softer, even her eyelashes drooping, obscuring the look in her eyes.

Suddenly, she raised her voice, stating emphatically, “A cyst stem is a stem of a cyst!”

If this was the truth coming out when drunk, it seemed she genuinely didn’t know. But was she truly drunk?

Xie Yu straightened up, reaching out to gently cup her small, round chin with his fingertips.

He cradled her delicate chin, but she was so drunk she could barely support herself. The tassels on her hairpin swayed incessantly, the perfectly round pearls on them gleaming, brushing against her dark, sparse temples. Even the fluffy white hair in her locks trembled.

Xie Yu’s fingertips lingered around her flower-like lips, his neatly manicured nails lightly tracing the defined, full lip line, smearing them with rouge—a vibrant, dazzling red.

It was a flirtatious, teasing gesture, done at his own discretion, yet possessing an indescribable allure.

His fingertips roamed, restless, as if wanting to explore deeper, but the young woman remained unmoved.

Xie Yu withdrew his hand listlessly; she was truly quite drunk.

He wiped his fingertips with a plain handkerchief, which was then speckled with red, like red plum blossoms in the snow. As if lured by something, he inexplicably sniffed the air, smelling a hint of roses, then frowned and tossed it away.

The door opened, and a maid quickly brought in a tray of steaming hangover soup. He personally carried it to Lu Wan, asking, “Would you like some of this sweet soup?”

“Sweet soup?” Lu Wan’s eyes lit up at the word, and she looked at the bowl tentatively, asking, “Is it sweet?”

“It has a lot of sugar in it, so it should be sweet.” Xie Yu held the bowl closer, casually gesturing for her to take it.

The maid carefully retreated. Having served in the inner courtyard since childhood, this was the first time she had seen her master so patiently coaxing a young lady; even the Shi family’s daughter had not received such treatment. If she had any sense, she should have left immediately.

“I want you to feed me!” Lu Wan became increasingly unreasonable, her dark eyes constantly glancing at the young man before her.

The man opposite her simply pushed the soup bowl closer to her, a clear refusal.

“How about I treat you to noodles? If I treat you to noodles, you’ll feed me the sweet soup, alright…”

The previously delicate young woman suddenly teared up again. She tugged at Xie Yu’s sleeve, sniffed, and whispered a deal: “A long, unbreakable noodle. Eating it on my birthday will grant me longevity.”

She looked up at him, her eyes full of expectation, gripping his sleeve tightly until her fingertips turned white.

When she was little, her grandfather would feed her sweet soup when she wasn’t feeling well, and he would cook her a bowl of noodles on her birthday.

But her grandfather passed away the day before her birthday.

If she never celebrated her birthday again, would her grandfather come back? She wanted to trade the noodles for the sweet soup. She waited and waited, but the person opposite her remained silent. Dejected, she lowered her head. Then she heard the young man softly reply, “Alright.”

His voice was soft, like a feather landing on snow.

She chuckled, her eyes crinkling with laughter—a genuine smile.

After Lu Wan obediently drank the hangover soup, her eyelids began to droop. Xie Yu pulled his own clothes from her hands and placed the bowl of soup on the table.

His gaze fell on the now-cold soup on the table. He stared at it for a long time, then suddenly laughed.

Many years ago today, his mother suddenly went mad, insisting he wasn’t her biological son. She smashed everything in his room, and from then on, her behavior was unpredictable, always targeting him.

That was also a snowy day. He was soaked by the wind and snow, chilled to the bone, and never celebrated his birthday again.

No one in the mansion would remember his birthday anymore.

Unexpectedly, he had stumbled upon a bowl of longevity noodles from Lu Wan today.

Xie Yu tasted the now-cold noodles; though they were all mushy, he could still taste their deliciousness.

He hadn’t tasted this flavor in many years.

Winter days always ended exceptionally early. When Lu Wan regained consciousness, it was already dusk, and even the well-lit, heated pavilion was lit.

She propped up her aching elbow, rubbed it with a frown, and looked up to see a figure holding a book not far away. Her pupils contracted sharply—it was Xie Yu.

As her consciousness gradually returned, she subconsciously looked at herself. She was still neat and tidy. Thank goodness, she hadn’t gone on a drunken rampage.

Lu Wan got up and walked over. Xie Yu seemed unaware of her approach, slowly turning a page. Standing beside him, Lu Wan spoke somewhat shyly, “I have a low alcohol tolerance, and I’ve certainly made a fool of myself today, causing you and Ah Yao a lot of trouble.”

“Ah Wan was quite quiet after drinking; nothing’s wrong,” Xie Yu said with a gentle smile, asking with great concern, “It’s getting late. Shall I take Ah Wan home?”

This attitude was far too kind; Lu Wan felt a jolt in her heart.

Translator’s Note:
When he asked about the “system,” the Chinese word is xìtǒng. Her answer was xītǒng (suction cup), saying “it’s a cup that can suck.” I used creative license in the translation since it’s not important to the plot.