"I didn’t drink any alcohol. It was juice." She slurred. She faintly remembered grabbing something that felt like cold glass and figured it was the usual bottle of juice she had stocked in her fridge. She had been drowning in her sorrow and didn’t pay any attention if she got the right bottle.

  "You drank wine." He deadpanned, closing the door behind her and locking all three locks.

  "I drank wine? But I promised grandfather-"

  "How much was in the bottle? Was it full?" He lifted the bottle and swished it even if he already knew it would be empty.

  "Mm, it was heavy. I don’t remember how much was in it." She tried to grab the bottle but he held it away from her.

  "You promised Elder Zhao you wouldn’t drink and you still did?" He teased her, nearly smiling at the way she pouted. She could barely keep her eyes open and he noticed how exceptionally tired she was. What had she been doing the entire day?

  "I-I-" Zhao Lifei stuttered as she felt guilty for breaking her promise.

  "Don’t hide it from him. Tell him and try to talk it out." He knew the familial relations between Zhao Lifei and her grandfather. He had an inkling that once she sobered up, she would beat herself up for this. It was also unwise to lie to Zhao Moyao who preferred the harshest truth over a comforting lie.

  "Okay." She readily agreed while running a tired hand through her hair.

  Yang Feng raised a brow at how she didn’t try to argue with him. He knew alcohol tended to lower one’s inhibitions and reveal their true self. Does she always act like a docile kitten when she’s had a drink? He lightly patted her head for her good behavior.

  "Did you eat anything?" He knew she often skips meals, and he wanted to find out if she was drinking on an empty stomach.

  "I don’t want to eat." She stubbornly said, walking away from him after feeling the desire to lay down and sleep.

  "You have to eat something, little one." He grabbed her wrist, pulling her closer to him.

  "But I’m not hungry-"

  "Well, what does your stomach say?" He chuckled, remembering how her stomach had growled every time she had refused to eat in front of him. She blushed at his words and tried to push him away, but he gently kept his hold on her.

  "Come now, don’t be stubborn." He curled an arm around her waist and smiled at how she didn’t try to push him away again.

  His touch was warm and comforting to her. She had never been treated with so much care before, and the sensation felt very new to her. Without realizing it, she had already leaned closer to him and the arm wrapped around her waist got tighter. Yang Feng’s tender smile had widened at this.

  "Let’s see what’s in the fridge." He walked with her towards the stainless steel double-door fridge and he nearly laughed when he opened it. It was stocked with leftovers!

  "Well then, I don’t have to worry about you starving anymore." He released her to start pulling out some of the dishes, and he was surprised when she suddenly embraced his arm.

  "Don’t go. You’re warm." She childishly said, her eyes looking up to him like a little puppy who desired attention.

  He felt his heart clench painfully at the sight of her begging eyes. "Little one, I’m not going anywhere." He cupped one side of her cheek and used the other arm to place it on her lower back, pulling her to him.

  "But-"

  "I’m only going to reheat the dishes and cook rice." Yang Feng didn’t think when she was drunk, she’d reveal a coquettish side of her. It was really nice to see her finally open up a bit and voice out what she wanted, instead of keeping it all in. But a side of him was bitter at this turn of events. Would she only reveal this side of her when she’s drunk?

  He pushed his negative thoughts away. He knew it was probably hard for her to express herself. He had always known that she was neglected as a child. With her traumatic experience with rejection, it was no wonder she would never ask for anything. The experience of losing the man you were groomed to love for the rest of your life would have surely done more damage to her heart.

  The walls around her were high and nearly unbreakable, but that didn’t mean Yang Feng didn’t have a bulldozer to knock it down.

  The only reason why he wasn’t forceful with her was that he knew it was the dumbest thing to do to a wounded woman. Any attempt to force her would only result in her running away from him.

  The harder he tried to pry her open, the harder she would close up.

  He still does not have a concrete idea on what kind of relationship he wanted with Zhao Lifei, but he knew he wanted her to be in his life and him in hers.

  Instead of crashing her walls to the ground, he was willing to gently scale it and let her pull out the bricks piece by piece. He was mostly fine with how their relationship had progressed up to now, slowly but surely.

  "Will you eat with me?" Her question surprised him. He took in her frail appearance. Her eyes were filled with sorrow and loneliness. He realized how incredibly big her apartment was for a single person. She must’ve felt alone here with no one to eat with.

  "Of course." He told her, moving his hand from her soft cheek to rub the back of her head. He realized she still smelled like him from this morning and smiled.

  Once again, in her drunken state, she was mesmerized by him. She suddenly poked his dimples. "Are you human?" She asked, using another finger to poke the other one.

  He blinked at her question. The intimate atmosphere was instantly gone and Yang Feng was pulled back to reality.

  "Huh?"

  "Alien." She suddenly said, nodding her head as if she had a sudden epiphany while she tugged at his hair.

  "What?" He was confused by her sudden shift of behavior.

  "It’s inhumane to be this handsome." She mumbled, her voice tinged with light envy.

  He laughed at her words, grabbing the fingers that were tugging at his hair. She thought he was handsome? The idea made him giddy inside. Originally, the day started off great until it got progressively bad. One of his projects wasn’t going as planned and the construction was delayed, he had three excruciatingly long and boring meetings, and his mother had not stopped from trying to get him on the phone.

  After being threatened by his brother to keep his mouth shut, Yang Yulong had refused to divulge the identity of the woman that was Yang Feng’s date to the banquet.

  Yang Feng had made sure to protect Zhao Lifei from the nagging that will surely come from his mother. Now that another photo of him intimately hugging a woman in the streets had circulated and getting news that a woman had stayed the night at his house within the same day, Madam Yang had even tried to get his father involved.

  He knew she was at his house right now, waiting for him to come home so she could both pry on his affairs and lecture him about giving his parents grandchildren out of filial piety.

  The old butler had already informed him that the Momzilla was home, so he deliberately decided to stay in Lifei’s house longer. Besides, she looked like she could use some company.

  When she wriggled her fingers out of his hands, she roughly tugged his hair again like a little kid. "Alright, alright. Be good." He chided her, flicking her forehead.

  "Be good? I can’t." She blurted out, pushing him off and walking away from him. He felt his heart race in panic at her retreating back. She was within arms reach, but he felt scared she would suddenly disappear without any reason.

  The view of her small and lonely back leaving him had made him terrified that he wouldn’t be able to close the distance between them. In his eyes, every woman were dispensable, so why wasn’t she the same?