Late Night Tales Of The Capital - Chapter 148
Chapter 148 Small Wine Cup
It grew darker gradually.
The evening sky looked as though it was burning.
The evening sun turned the entire city scarlet.
A square pear wood table was placed near the window of the third floor of the Divine Sect Seminary. There were eight dishes with one bowl of soup placed on it, along with a jar of high-quality apricot flower wine and a colorful wine pot that looked as though it was made of sheet metal. Four people sat on each corner of the table. Ye Que was sitting opposite Qian Shuxiao, and Red Bean faced Qian Shuhua.
Ye Que looked a little awkward at this moment.
Qian Shuhua was fuming mad; there was no way for her not to be angry. Not long ago, she had gone all out to attack Red Bean, thinking that she could teach this ignorant young woman a lesson. She did not expect to meet her match. Before she even knew what happened, she had already been punched in the face.
Just one punch created a huge black bruise around her left eye.
There was a tinge of red in the bruise, and the red parts, in turn, looked a little purplish.
Even though her looks were still intact, it was somewhat embarrassing for her. Furthermore, she had fought against another woman. Since young, Qian Shuhua hated to lose to women the most, and it was something that she could not accept at all. She still hated Lin Mei’er for snatching Ye Yunhai and beating her up. In fact, she was mulling over it every day and could not wait for the day to make Lin pay for that.
You could say that she was small-hearted.
But, anyway, which woman in this world was not small-hearted? Which one of them could be open-minded?
Most probably, only their bosoms were bigger than men’s.
Red Bean looked somewhat pleased with herself as she sat at the table. “How dare you try to take me on? Why don’t you look at yourself first? No one in the Divine Sect can win me in a one-on-one battle. Of course, Ye Que is the only exception. Even I can’t decipher him. He’s obviously from a low-level Realm, but his fighting prowess is incredibly huge and he keeps improving every minute, as if he has a never-ending supply of potential,” she thought to herself.
Qian Shuxiao looked very mischievous. He stood up to pour Ye Que a cup of wine before raising the pot of wine toward Red Bean, as if to ask, “Miss, do you drink?”
He did not forget to look at Ye Que after that.
Ye Que, on the other hand, had already turned his head away, as if it had nothing to do with him at all. “Whatever you do, don’t look at me or don’t look for me. I don’t know anything and can’t control anything. Leave women’s matters to them.”
Red Bean’s lips showed a faint smile, and she pushed the cup beside her arm a little forward.
Just as Qian Shuxiao was about to pour her some wine, someone slapped the table top. Qian Shuhua was glaring at him as she spoke, “Qian Shuxiao, pour for me first. Don’t you know who your real sister is!”
“This is Red Bean’s first trip to Luoyang, and we have to treat her like guests and do as she wishes,” Qian Shuxiao glared at his sister, before saying the expected words, “Can’t you be more mature?”
Qian Shuhua looked at her brother and felt her anger rising. “What sort of guest is she? Who agreed to let her up? Even though Ye Que is the leader of the Divine Sect Seminary, doesn’t this place belong to our family? Or are you saying that my words are rubbish and that you don’t have to listen to them at all?”
She pointed at her black, swollen eye before raising her voice by another decibel. “Haven’t you seen it? She personally hit your sister! Your biological sister! I don’t think there’s a less loyal brother than you out there in this world.”
Qian Shuxiao kept the wine pot raised and could not decide to pour for Red Bean or not. Eventually, he lamented softly, “You struck first, so why are you venting your anger on me after losing?”
Qian Shuhua slapped the table top again and stood up, her manner proof that she was thinking of hitting her own brother.
She raised her arm, but her rational side told her that she could not strike. She had to remain calm and control herself, for it was not the time to behave so fiercely. She cast a side glance at Red Bean and saw that she was still sitting perfectly still on the stool. She seemed to be smiling, as though she was watching a play.
“You have to remain calm and poised. You can’t lose out to this woman. You’re the daughter of a respectable family and the little princess of the Qian family. The riches of your family can rival that of kingdoms, and you shouldn’t compare with her,” Qian Shuhua thought as she took in a deep breath. She really managed to control her anger. At the very least, she had already stopped looking angry.
Qian Shuhua tried hard to eke out a grin before snatching the wine pot away from her brother’s hands. “Anyone who comes here from afar is a guest. Since it’s your first time to Luoyang, you have to taste this apricot flower wine. Let me fill your cup for you.”
She filled the cup beside Red Bean’s arm as she spoke, and it nearly overflowed.
She then turned to fill her own cup, and it was also brimming with wine.
After pouring, Qian Shuhua directly placed the pot of wine to one side, without even pouring some for her own brother. She instantly lifted her own wine cup, saying, “A palace was built in the nine heavens, and everyone attended the coronation.”
“These words symbolize the Divine Capital, Luoyang. Here, only things that you’ve never expected will happen, nothing less. There’s an abundance of food and clothes here, and you should do whatever makes you happy. All your expenses will be covered by our family.”
“I’ll toast to you, bottoms up!”
Qian Shuhua raised her head without even waiting for Red Bean to reply. She drank all of the apricot flower wine in her cup into her stomach.
Qian Shuhua began to understand now that she could compete with Red Bean in other ways since she could not beat her in a fight. Having been born in a mercantile family, she had gotten used to seeing such “drinking competitions” since a young age. In fact, she took part in them since she was seven, and perhaps due to her outstanding “talent”, she was nearly immune to being drunk. Now, it looked as though she was going to get one back over Red Bean by drinking.
Red Bean was still smiling as she stared straight at Qian Shuhua. She raised her cup and drained its contents without even looking at them.
“The guest shall do as the host suggests,” Red Bean said very calmly after drinking the cup of wine.
She then added, “This is not the first time I’ve been to Luoyang. I’ve been here before.”
The two young ladies looked quietly at each other, neither of them paying any attention to Ye Que or Qian Shuxiao. In fact, the latter’s cup was still empty. He looked awkwardly at the pot of wine which was out of his reach. No one seemed to pass it to him, however.
Sparks seemed to be flying in the air.
Qian Shuxiao sighed and shook his head before heading downstairs to get himself another pot of wine.
Just like this, in the blink of an eye, he realized that the multi-colored sheet metal wine pot was completely empty when he returned. Qian Shuhua did not fill it up again. Instead, she placed the jar of wine directly beside her arm.
“The wine cup’s too small, and it’s not good enough. Why don’t we switch to bowls?” Qian Shuhua pointed to the wine cup beside her arm as she spoke, before looking at Red Bean as if she was taunting her.
“I’m fine with anything. As you please,” Red Bean said nonchalantly.
“Great. Wait,” Qian Shuhua immediately ran off, seemingly to find a bowl, as if she was afraid Red Bean would change her mind. Obviously, it was not going to be any ordinary bowl.
“Ms. Red Bean, my sister’s a little…” Qian Shuxiao hurriedly explained after seeing that his sister had left. It was obvious that Red Bean had an uncommon relationship with Ye Que, and there had to be something between them. As such, he could simply allow his sister to have her way.
Fruit that was forcibly plucked would not be sweet.
Without waiting for Qian Shuxiao to finish speaking, Red Bean had interrupted him. “No matter, I like to drink anyway. I can quench my thirst anyhow.”
