Chapter 104: Seizing the Moment of Weakness

Tang Xin didn't even greet those two. She turned and went with Li Sheng to carry the dishes into the kitchen, intending to consult with him about how to arrange things before bringing them out.

Meng Jia, for her part, had no desire to greet Tang Xin either, but the sight of Li Sheng stirred a faint unease within her.

For some reason, she suddenly thought of that night—she had clearly used the drug.

Yet Tang Xin hadn't fallen for it. Although the outcome had been exactly as Meng Jia envisioned, the course of events in between had not been something she could control.

After all, from childhood to adulthood, from her previous life up to the present, Meng Jia believed she understood Tang Xin very well.

So that night, someone must have helped her. As for who that could have been, aside from Li Sheng, Meng Jia simply couldn't think of anyone else.

And after Tang Xin married Li Sheng, she really did seem to be living quite well.

Meng Jia racked her brains, but she couldn't recall any celebrated figure surnamed Li among the people who had risen to fortune like Lu Liqin in her previous life. In the end, she could only chalk it up to her own excessive caution.

She reassured herself not to overthink things.

Lu Liqin had originally been standing at a distance in the yard. The items he had contributed were the most numerous and the most valuable, so the other educated youth didn't need his help and could simply wait to eat the ready-made dishes.

Ever since he'd had that dream, Lu Liqin had been acting strange all over—not only had he distanced himself from Meng Jia,

but even if he happened to catch sight of Tang Xin in the brigade, he no longer unconsciously gravitated toward her.

In other words, the two of them hadn't met and spoken alone for at least a month.

Longing is something that cannot be held back, especially after dreaming what he believed was a premonition of the previous life's outcome. Lu Liqin had always felt he owed Tang Xin something.

Just then, seeing Li Sheng heading off in another direction and those two inseparable figures finally separated by a little distance, Lu Liqin seized the opportunity to walk over.

Pretending to be casual, he lowered his voice and asked Tang Xin, "Girl, after knowing each other for more than ten years, can't we even be friends now?"

That word "girl" stirred deep memories in Tang Xin. She knew this was the emotion belonging to the original owner of this body.

So even though she was reluctant, Tang Xin still answered Lu Liqin's question seriously: "I'm married now. Isn't it only natural for me to keep my distance from other men so my husband won't misunderstand?"

Lu Liqin was left momentarily speechless, not knowing what to say. Indeed, there was no good answer to that topic.

Even now, he still couldn't understand it. Yes, after coming to the countryside, the two of them hadn't been as close as before because a small rift had developed between them for various reasons.

How had he let someone else slip in and snatch away his most precious treasure in one fell swoop?

At the thought, Lu Liqin's eyes dimmed all at once.

"I didn't mean anything else. I just wanted to talk to you. After all, before..."

Tang Xin turned her head and looked at him coolly. "Let's not talk. We have nothing to talk about. Every time back then, didn't you tell me not to bully Meng Jia, wanting to protect your precious Meng sister? Why aren't you going to find your Meng sister now?"

Every time she heard Meng Jia call out "Brother Lu," Tang Xin felt utterly disgusted.

Tang Xin had originally wanted to let it go and stop engaging with the male lead of the original book, but seeing Lu Liqin's devoted, lovesick expression, and recalling the fate of the original owner in the book,

she couldn't help adding: "We'd best not talk. From now on, even if we run into each other on the road, we should pretend not to know each other. After all, I'm a married woman—a grown man like you speaking to me alone, wouldn't that cause a bad impression? This time we're only sharing a meal together; in the future, I won't be eating with you all again."

She said "you all"—subconsciously, Tang Xin had always linked Lu Liqin and Meng Jia together.

Those words were harsh enough. Not wanting to make things any uglier, Lu Liqin could only turn and withdraw into the house in silence.

What Lu Liqin didn't know was that Li Sheng had seen him going over to talk to Tang Xin.

So during the meal, Li Sheng found every excuse to raise a toast to him.

Lu Liqin was already feeling low; perhaps seeking to drown his sorrows, he directly gulped down one large mouthful after another.

Li Sheng was straightforward enough. Rather than forcing the drinks, he simply proposed toast after toast.

Lu Liqin naturally didn't want to lose face in front of Tang Xin's husband, so he accepted every toast without refusal, drinking however much was offered.

Tang Xin, though, couldn't bear to watch any longer, worried that Li Sheng might drink too much. Li Xuewei quietly whispered in her ear,

telling her that she had long since swapped the liquor both men were drinking for plain boiled water.

Everyone in the room was an educated youth, and they had some knowledge of the tangled history among those three. Since it wasn't appropriate to advise them away from drinking, Li Xuewei could only resort to such a trick.

What Li Xuewei didn't know was that though she had turned both men's drinks into plain water,

there were others who couldn't resist stirring up trouble and switched them back. And so it ended up that Li Sheng was drinking water while Lu Liqin was still drinking real liquor.

How could a shrewd man like Li Sheng not notice something was amiss?

But he was only too happy to get that detestable man—who even now still coveted his wife—thoroughly drunk, so he didn't interfere and continued drinking with him.

In the end, it was Tang Xin who whispered in his ear: "Drink any more, and I won't let you through the door tonight."

That threat proved remarkably effective for Li Sheng, so he obediently kept to drinking plain water.

Before long, Lu Liqin was drunk—dead drunk, completely oblivious.

Fortunately, he handled his liquor well; once drunk, he merely slept. He was quickly helped back to his own room to rest.

It happened that none of the other educated youth were in the room at that moment; Lu Liqin was alone. So Meng Jia followed him in and closed the door behind her.

At that moment, Lu Liqin, who had seemed to be asleep, suddenly opened his eyes, looking restless and feverish.

Meng Jia hurried forward and poured him a glass of water to drink.

After drinking it, Lu Liqin only felt even more uncomfortable. In his dazed state, he seemed to see Tang Xin sitting before him...

As they ate and drank, the banquet in the educated youth compound was drawing to a close. Several of the women took the initiative to clean up.

Naturally, Tang Xin helped as well. She hadn't done much beyond eating what had been prepared, so of course she felt too embarrassed not to help gather the dishes.

When the tidying was finally done, since the tables and stools had been borrowed from everyone's rooms, they naturally had to be returned to their original places.

A few of the male educated youth picked up chairs and stools and headed back toward the dormitory. Gao Meitong was still saying, "Ah, educated youth Lu is drunk and resting. We'd better not disturb him."

But it wouldn't be right not to return the things to the rooms, after all—they were shared by everyone.

Just then, someone suddenly piped up: "Huh, where's educated youth Meng? After escorting educated youth Lu back to his room, we haven't seen her at all."