Fighting For My Wife With Myself After Being Reborn - Chapter 12.1

The lounge bar was bathed in a clear, translucent blue light that swept across the room. On the first floor, a few tables were scattered with guests; colorful glass tables held drinks and plates of exquisite snacks as people shared stories of their lives and work.

In the center of the stage, a resident singer performed a low-pitched love song requested by a guest.

Up in a second-floor private booth, three people stood around a table, raising their glasses with smiles on their faces.

“Cheers—!”

Glasses clinked. Among the beer-filled mugs, one glass contained orange juice.

“We have a little baby among the three of us,” Jian Yulan said with a beaming smile, looking at Gu Yinghuai, who was sipping juice. “Please, it’s not easy for us to get out like this; stop drinking that lousy orange juice!”

“Exactly! I won’t nag you during company dinners, but right now is sisters’ night! We’re drinking until we drop to celebrate escaping that sea of misery!” Chen Miao downed half a glass of ice-cold beer in one go. The cold, stimulating sting felt like it was opening every pore in her body—the refreshment was so intense her soul nearly flew to the atmosphere. “We are the best—!”

“Yeah!!” Jian Yulan raised her glass to clink with Chen Miao’s. “Congrats to us on surviving!”

Gu Yinghuai took a sip of her juice, smiling at her two friends who were already acting tipsy after just a few sips. “My tolerance isn’t great. If I drink too early, I’ll pass out. I’ll drink with you after I’ve eaten something. You two can stick to your duel for now.”

“Tch, boring,” Jian Yulan teased. She turned to hug Chen Miao, leaning on her shoulder and faking a cry. “Oh, Miao Miao, my dear Miao Miao, you’re still the best.”

Chen Miao patted her head playfully. “Good girl, good girl.”

Jian Yulan jumped up to swat at her. “Go to hell—!”

Chen Miao laughed and dodged the punch. She reached out, grabbed a small decorative flower from a plate, and presented it to Jian Yulan with dramatic flair. “Oh, baby, won’t you forgive me?”

The decorative flower was tiny and brightly colored, making Chen Miao’s fingers look even paler as she pinched the stem. Jian Yulan smiled and took the flower. “So pretty, I love it,” she said, before immediately trying to stuff it into Chen Miao’s mouth.

Chen Miao screamed and ran away. “Murder! Yinghuai, run!”

Jian Yulan shouted “Don’t run!” as she chased Chen Miao in circles around the booth.

“You two really have a great relationship,” Gu Yinghuai remarked while nibbling on a rib. Upon hearing this, the two stopped their chase and turned in unison to look at her in disbelief.

“Are you crazy?!” “Is there something wrong with you?!”

They spoke at the same time.

Gu Yinghuai laughed even harder. “See? I told you your relationship is great.”

The tension evaporated instantly. The two sat down dejectedly to mope over their drinks.

Once the food was finished, Jian Yulan called the waiter to clear the table and ordered fruit platters and several types of cocktails, clearly intending to make a night of it.

Drinking without talking was dull. Under the influence of alcohol, Jian Yulan and Chen Miao flanked Gu Yinghuai, asking about her love life with mischievous expressions.

“Hey, Yinghuai, what does it feel like to be in love?” Jian Yulan’s face was flushed red. The alcohol had slowed her brain, making her tongue heavy.

“You’re the only one of us who isn’t single. Tell us, is it amazing to date a girl?” Chen Miao cupped her face, her eyes full of longing. “A girl who is fragrant and soft when you hug her… Heavens, just imagining it is too much for me.”

“Hmm? Dating a girl feels great.” Gu Yinghuai took a sip of a Bloody Mary, her pale cheeks staining a matching red. “She’s especially considerate. Though she occasionally acts silly or makes me angry, even that is cute. She’s like a little kid.”

Her orange juice had been forcibly replaced with cocktails by her friends after the last plate was cleared. Since none of them knew much about cocktails, they had ordered a random assortment to try one by one.

Jian Yulan’s eyes sparkled with a hunger for gossip. “The one who came to the company to find you last time was your girlfriend, right? Even though you didn’t say, I figured it out with my superior intelligence.”

Chen Miao leaned in curiously. “What? How come I didn’t know?”

Jian Yulan chuckled and ate a piece of watermelon. “A few days ago at noon—I think you were in the restroom so you missed it—Yinghuai’s girlfriend came to deliver lunch.”

“How sweet,” Chen Miao sighed. Although she often teased Jian Yulan about how easy it was to get scammed by bad men or women in relationships, if a beautiful older sister actually beckoned to her, she’d definitely wag her tail and run over.

Ah, the struggles of being attracted to beauty, Chen Miao thought with a sigh.

“Mmh…” Under the influence of alcohol, Gu Yinghuai became more talkative and relaxed than usual. “It was her. She showed up suddenly and gave me a huge fright. After eating, she rushed back to work.”

“Damn, I’m being flexed on! But your girlfriend is so mysterious. Who wears full gear in the middle of summer? Is she sick?” Jian Yulan chewed on her straw, recalling the fleeting glimpse of the figure that afternoon. Suddenly, a bold thought popped up. “Could she be a celebrity?”

“Pfft—” Chen Miao, who was trying another cocktail, nearly choked. “Hahaha! Yulan, what are you thinking?! A celebrity? That’s hilarious, hahahaha!”

She laughed until tears came. Jian Yulan feigned a punch in the air and said, “What! I’m serious. With that figure, it’s a waste not to be a model. You didn’t see her—wow, her legs were so long, I felt like they reached my chest.”

Chen Miao didn’t take her seriously, thinking she was exaggerating. Leg-long-as-a-chest? She must be drunk.

“We haven’t even had that much tonight and you’re already talking nonsense.” She felt Jian Yulan’s forehead and muttered, “No fever either…”

“Go away, I’m not talking to you. I’m ostracizing you. Yinghuai, Miao Miao is bullying me—” Jian Yulan abandoned Chen Miao and leaned her head on Gu Yinghuai’s shoulder to complain.

Gu Yinghuai patted Jian Yulan’s warm cheek. “There, there, let’s ignore her.”

Chen Miao made a face at the cuddly pair and went back to tasting her drink.

The booth fell quiet. Downstairs, the resident singer changed to someone else—a raspy voice singing light rock, sounding excessively sexy.

Chen Miao moved from the table to the window. Leaning on the sill, she looked down at the first floor, tapping her fingers and humming along.

“Yinghuai, what does kissing feel like?” Both Chen Miao and Jian Yulan had been single since birth. Their understanding of romance came almost entirely from TV dramas or acquaintances, but usually, no one would ask such a blunt question.

Today, fueled by liquid courage, Jian Yulan sprawled on the table and asked curiously.

Chen Miao stopped humming, her eyes wide. She couldn’t believe Yulan actually asked that.

Yulan, you are my god—

Normally, Gu Yinghuai wouldn’t answer, but tonight, both the asker and the asked were quite drunk. Neither felt anything was amiss.

So, Gu Yinghuai actually answered.

“Let me think how to describe it…” Gu Yinghuai tapped her forehead, trying to find the right words.

“It’s like eating your favorite food!” “You never get tired of it, no matter how much you eat!”

After thinking for a long time, she gave an answer that surprised everyone.

“Huh? Why am I suddenly hungry?” Jian Yulan asked, thinking she misheard.

Chen Miao swallowed hard. She imagined herself passionately kissing a bowl of river snail rice noodles and suddenly felt hungry too.

“You just get hungrier the more you kiss.” By the end of a kiss, Gu Yinghuai always felt her stomach was empty, desperately needing food to satisfy the growling void.

At times like those, Shen Huaixu could always satisfy her.

With kisses, fingers, or tongues.

The lonely, empty stomach would be satisfied, her furrowed brows would relax, and she would let Shen Huaixu lead her into a feast of pleasure.

The spicy memories made Gu Yinghuai feel hot all over. To hide it, she raised her glass and downed her drink in one gulp, trying to suppress her increasingly “adult” thoughts.

Jian Yulan realized she might not get the answer she was looking for. She leaned on Gu Yinghuai’s shoulder, her eyes growing misty and her eyelids fluttering.

Chen Miao continued leaning by the window, enjoying the rare peace.

Before long, the two—one with average tolerance and one with terrible tolerance—were huddling like ducklings in winter, head-to-head and nodding off.

Seeing as it was nearly 11:00 PM and it might be dangerous to stay any longer, Chen Miao had to step up and wake the two ducklings.

“Stop sleeping, go home and sleep.” Chen Miao gave each of them a light flick on the forehead. “It’s almost eleven, time to go.” She yawned, clearly exhausted herself.

“That hurts,” Jian Yulan rubbed the spot.

“Oh no, is it almost eleven?” Gu Yinghuai woke up with a start. She had dozed off briefly; now her head felt heavy and her legs felt like cotton.

Chen Miao’s flick had woken her up. Looking at the time on her screen, Gu Yinghuai cried out, “Crap, I forgot to tell my girlfriend the party was ending.”

She felt terrible for forgetting something so important. She wondered how long Shen Huaixu had been waiting.

She hurried to message Shen Huaixu. It seemed Shen Huaixu was watching her phone, as the reply came instantly.

Not Wanting to Work: [Give me ten minutes.]

Refusing Overtime: [No rush, stay safe on the road! (Worried Cat.jpg)]

Not Wanting to Work: [(Received.jpg)]

“Well? What did she say?” Chen Miao asked.

Gu Yinghuai gave a weak smile. “She said wait ten minutes.”

She was feeling very dizzy now, even slightly nauseous. Any movement made the world spin. It was miserable.