Being honest about one’s emotions is a good habit, and Xie Ge sticks to it all the way. He always tells Xu Miao exactly how he feels—happy or upset—without holding back.
It’s not that he refuses to be considerate of Xu Miao. Work is work; you can’t always say no. Even Xie Hongming sometimes has dinners he can’t avoid, comes home reeking of alcohol, and then gets scolded for it.
But if Xie Ge had to act like his mother, he simply couldn’t bring himself to scold Xu Miao. After all, Xu Miao never went to those dinners by choice. How could he blame him? Wouldn’t that be like siding with outsiders against his own?
So Xie Ge stopped complaining. Without caring at all about the passersby, he kissed Xu Miao on the cheek and immediately began making his demands, all self-righteous confidence:
“I don’t care. From now on, you have to be home before ten at night. If something special comes up and you can’t, you have to tell me first. And you can’t go more than two hours without replying to my messages.”
“Also, both weekend days belong to me. I mean the kind of being together where you’re with me the whole time, not leaving me to sit around alone.”
“Also, I’m hungry. Take me to eat.”
His tone was bossy, but it made Xu Miao feel unexpectedly at ease.
Xu Miao had always thought Xie Ge was easy to understand. Whatever he thought showed right on his face, and he clearly voiced his wants. As long as Xu Miao met those requests, Xie Ge would let bygones be bygones and forget whatever mistakes had been made.
Xu Miao thought for a moment, then asked, “Barbecue?”
Xie Ge nodded.
Xu Miao hadn’t driven that night, so he ordered a car on his phone. The two of them waited a few minutes at the roadside until it arrived, then got in together.
Whether Xie Ge did it on purpose or only just remembered, he waited until the car had been driving a while before asking, “Isn’t it kind of bad for us to just leave? What about your colleague?”
“Don’t worry about him,” Xu Miao said, then after a glance at Xie Ge, changed his tone. “Unless you really think it’s bad. Should we go back and bring him along?”
Xie Ge: “Forget it, ignore him.”
By the time they arrived it was nearly eleven, but the barbecue shop was still buzzing, filled with voices and smoke. Just standing at the entrance, you could smell the rich aroma of fat sizzling over charcoal.
They found a free table. The waiter brought utensils and disposable aprons.
Xu Miao scanned the QR code and handed his phone to Xie Ge. “Order what you like.”
While Xie Ge focused on the screen, Xu Miao shook out an apron and carefully slipped it on him like dressing a child, tying a neat bow at the back.
When that was done, he rinsed the utensils with hot tea before asking, “Finished? Do you want beer?”
Xie Ge considered. Xu Miao had already drunk a round at the work dinner, while he hadn’t had a drop. If they drank together now, Xu Miao would be the first one down. And Xie Ge had never seen him drunk before.
“All done,” Xie Ge said, handing back the phone. “Beer, of course! My idiot brother always says barbecue without beer is a waste.”
Xu Miao chuckled. “Does your brother know you badmouth him like this?”
Xie Ge huffed. “He badmouths me too!”
Xu Miao ordered a big pitcher of beer and settled the bill.
Xie Ge wasn’t picky about food. With Xu Miao doing the grilling, he ate more than usual and downed several glasses of beer, forgetting entirely that his original plan was to get Xu Miao drunk, not himself.
Just as he reached for another, Xu Miao pressed a hand lightly over his glass. “Are you good at holding liquor? If not, don’t drink any more. If you start causing trouble, I’ll really beat you up.”
“There’s no one in the world who holds their liquor better than me! My brother says when I’m drunk, I just fall asleep. Super well-behaved!”
He said it with such certainty that Xu Miao, half-convinced, let go.
And as if to prove it, Xie Ge downed the remaining half-pitcher all by himself.
Half a minute later, like a character in a TV drama, he slumped forward with a loud thud.
Fortunately, the table was big and Xie Ge had eaten cleanly, so his face didn’t land in grease—but it gave Xu Miao a real scare.
He looked at the boy sprawled across the table for a long while before finally accepting the truth: Xie Ge was drunk. He walked over, removed the disposable apron, and still held out a sliver of hope that maybe this was just an act. After all, less than a pitcher shouldn’t knock someone out cold.
But no—hope dashed.
At least Xie Ge hadn’t lied about his drinking habits. He was quiet on the way home, lying obediently on Xu Miao’s lap in the car without making a fuss.
Xu Miao got him back smoothly, sat him down on the sofa, and was about to fetch honey water—when suddenly, he was pulled down by the waist and tumbled onto the cushions.
Xie Ge hugged him from behind, nuzzling his back, neck, and hair like an overexcited puppy, chanting “Wife, wife, wife” over and over without pause.
A drunk man is heavier and stronger than a sober one, and Xie Ge’s arms were locked tight.
Once he’d had his fill from behind, he flipped Xu Miao over and continued his relentless rubbing face-to-face, messing up his hair until it stood on end.
Xu Miao, helpless, bumped their foreheads together in warning. “Keep it up and I’ll really hit you.”
But to Xie Ge, that wasn’t a threat at all. Since Xu Miao didn’t use much force, he mistook it as flirting—and gleefully bumped him back, laughing even harder.
The one doing the bumping laughed like a fool; the one being bumped couldn’t hold a straight face and ended up laughing too.
Xu Miao’s already thin patience for him was worn away completely. He shut his eyes and surrendered, letting Xie Ge do whatever he wanted.
But even closing his eyes wasn’t allowed.
“Wife, why are you closing your eyes?” Xie Ge pried them open with gentle fingers. “Don’t sleep yet! I’m still awake. How can you go to bed first?”
“I’m tired,” Xu Miao mumbled weakly. “I want to sleep.”
“You just don’t want to pay attention to me!” Xie Ge shouted. “I know it—you closed your eyes just to ignore me! Why am I not sleepy? Why am I not tired? Why don’t I want to sleep?”
