Chapter 12: Annoying Mumu

“We…” Jiang Mengxin shook her head. “We believe in staying single.”

“Is that so? Then we’ll really get along!” Sister Li said.

Jiang Mengxin put down her chopsticks. To be honest, she was mostly full. “Sister, let’s talk business.”

“Oh, right!” Sister Li lamented. “Recently, every time we close up for the night, the wine in the shop gets stolen! I’ve staked out the entrance several times, but I can never catch anyone! It’s truly strange!”

“Are there no witnesses?” Jiang Mengxin asked.

Sister Li nodded. “None! I suspected the rascal might be hiding in the shop from the start, but I searched every nook and cranny, and there was absolutely no one! I have no idea how they’re getting in!”

“Are the doors and windows locked?” Jiang Mengxin asked.

“The door has a lock, but as for the windows…” Sister Li pointed to a half-closed window nearby. “See, those are fixed. With such a small gap, no one could possibly get in, right?”

“I see…” Jiang Mengxin smiled. “I understand.”

“You understand?” Sister Li asked, her voice filled with disbelief.

“Please close the shop early tonight, Sister. We’ll come by then to catch the thief,” Jiang Mengxin said.

“No problem… But is asking just that much enough?” Sister Li asked.

“Yes, it’s enough,” Jiang Mengxin responded with a calm expression.

“Alright, then I’ll leave it to you two!” Sister Li cupped her fists in a respectful gesture.

Jiang Mengxin felt a bit puzzled. Why hadn’t she heard a single peep from Su Mumu for a while?

“Mumu, what are you—huh!? What’s wrong with you?”

“Ugh… Xin Xin, this is delicious. You should try some too!” Su Mumu’s eyes were hazy with intoxication as she held up a glass of bright red fruit wine. *Gulp, gulp, gulp…*

“Don’t drink that! Spit it out!”

Jiang Mengxin immediately understood what was happening.

She grabbed Su Mumu’s shoulders and forced her to make eye contact. Su Mumu put down the empty glass, her cheeks puffed out, and tilted her head in confusion.

“What’s with that look? Are you okay? Can you hear me?” Jiang Mengxin asked.

*Glug, glug, glug…* Su Mumu performed an impression of a goldfish blowing bubbles.

Heavens! She was completely wasted!

Jiang Mengxin felt a cold sweat break out. It was true that when she first tried fruit wine, she had accidentally gotten drunk too.

“Anyway, spit the wine out first. Stop drinking!”

“Mmm?” Su Mumu tilted her head again.

“Stop acting cute! Spit… out… the… wine… in… your… mouth!” Jiang Mengxin put on a stern expression.

Then, Su Mumu nodded blankly.

It seemed she finally understood!

That wasn’t easy…

However, just as Jiang Mengxin’s heart relaxed a little, she suddenly felt something was wrong. She leaned back slightly. “What are you doing? Why are you getting so close?”

But no matter how Jiang Mengxin tried to avoid her, the Su Mumu in front of her kept pressing closer, her breath lingering in the air.

Suddenly.

Her heart trembled for a moment.

A very bad feeling surfaced…

“What are you—mmph! Mmm! Mmm!”

*Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle…*

“Mmph, mmm, mmm…”

*Gulp, gulp, gulp…*

Sister Li quickly stood up. “Ah, haha! You girls take your time eating. This big sister will take her leave now. I won’t disturb you…”

“It’s not like that!” Jiang Mengxin forcefully pushed Su Mumu away. A trace of fruit wine leaked uncontrollably from the corner of her mouth. “This is a mis—”

“Mmm, mmm, mmph!”

Jiang Mengxin’s mouth was blocked again.

Sister Li couldn’t help but look back once more, feeling deeply moved. ‘So that’s what staying single means… How happy. Sigh, I want to fall in love again too…’

These fragmented words reached Jiang Mengxin’s ears, and her cheeks instantly turned a deep crimson.

How many minutes had passed?

Or was it only a dozen seconds?

Jiang Mengxin felt lightheaded, unable to make sense of the situation.

*Mwah!*

The sound of a soft parting echoed. A long, beautiful silver thread stretched between them before finally snapping.

Only then did Su Mumu stop her willful behavior.

Like a woodpecker, her head bobbed up and down as she sank back into the whirlpool of intoxication.

“I really… have to hand it to you.” Jiang Mengxin wiped the wine stain from the corner of her mouth, her eyes filled with obvious resentment.

She bit her lip, but the words she wanted to say stayed trapped in her throat.

“… I’m a fox, meow, meow, meow…” Su Mumu mumbled in her sleep.

“What on earth!” Jiang Mengxin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “I think you’re just a thieving cat!”

“Cold, cold, cold…” Su Mumu began to shiver.

Jiang Mengxin shook her head helplessly. She reached out and hugged Su Mumu’s body. Her grip was just right, allowing warmth to spread between them.

“This way… it won’t be cold anymore, right?”

***

The moon hung high in the sky.

A cold wind wandered through the mountain forest.

Su Mumu was deliriously drunk.

It was unknown how much time passed before she finally woke up in a daze.

The moment she opened her eyes, she saw the familiar ceiling.

‘Is this… home?’

‘Wasn’t I at the Joyous Wine House…?’

Her throat was parched and her head throbbed with a dull pain. Su Mumu struggled to crawl out of bed and glanced at the phone beside her. It was flashing with incoming messages.

*Ding-ding-ding! x3*

What exactly happened?

Su Mumu picked up her phone and unlocked the screen. The glaring light made her uncomfortable.

— Jiang Mengxin hits good luck: Mumu, are you up?

— Jiang Mengxin hits good luck: It’s already past 11:00 PM. It’s almost time for the quest.

— Jiang Mengxin hits good luck: Hello? If you don’t reply, I’m going ahead by myself. You can just handle the “carry.”

(Read.)

As soon as Su Mumu opened the chat box, everything changed.

In the blink of an eye, messages came flooding in.

— Jiang Mengxin hits good luck: No pretending to be a cold goddess allowed!

Su Mumu rubbed her head, thought for a moment, and began to type.

— AAA infrastructure demon Su Mumu: Good evening, Xin Xin. Something very strange happened…

— Jiang Mengxin hits good luck: What?

— AAA infrastructure demon Su Mumu: I lost my memory of the entire afternoon.

— Jiang Mengxin hits good luck: … You were drunk.

— AAA infrastructure demon Su Mumu: I knew it! That fruit juice is a killer!

— Jiang Mengxin hits good luck: Exactly! It almost killed me!

What did that mean?

Su Mumu was stunned for a moment.

She knitted her brows tightly. Her mind was a chaotic mess, and she could not remember what had happened during that time at all.

— AAA infrastructure demon Su Mumu: Did I accidentally hurt you while I was acting drunk?

The message was sent.

But suddenly, there was no response.

Su Mumu stared strangely at the chat box. At the very top, next to Jiang Mengxin’s ID, the status [Typing…] kept appearing, but no message ever came through.

Strange.

‘Am I lagging?’

Su Mumu watched for a long time, but that [Typing…] status remained frozen at the top of the chat.

— AAA infrastructure demon Su Mumu: Am I lagging?

Strangely enough, even after sending that, there was still no response.

But Su Mumu noticed that the [Typing…] status at the top of the chat box suddenly disappeared.

Huh?

‘I’m not lagging?’

Su Mumu scratched her head.

Just as she was thinking about what other messages to send…

Suddenly, the phone vibrated violently, and a familiar ringtone rang out.

— You are my little, little apple —

The caller was none other than Jiang Mengxin.

Su Mumu answered without a second thought. “Hello? Xin Xin?”

There was no response from the other end for a long time.

Su Mumu became even more confused. “Hello? My dear Sister Jiang Mengxin?”

One second…

Three seconds…

Ten seconds…

There was no reply at all.

Su Mumu’s patience was beginning to wear thin.

Just then, from the other end of the line, a resentful voice came through, sounding as melodic as a warbler.

“Hateful Mumu…”

Su Mumu was dazed. It felt eerie, but she felt as if Jiang Mengxin’s shy and bashful expression had somehow appeared before her eyes.

Ah?

‘Bestie, that tone…’

‘… Is she acting spoiled?’

‘Did my ears fail me?’