He hurried over, sat down beside her, and pulled out a small yellow can from the bag, handing it to her.
“I even asked the shopkeeper to warm it up a bit. Hot drinks are more comfortable to have.”
“……”
Song Qiuyu held the warm yellow can in silence.
“What’s wrong, too little strength to open it?”
Jiang Xiao seemed not to notice anything odd, reaching out to take the can and help her open it.
“But this is Pineapple Beer.”
Song Qiuyu was speechless.
“Yeah, beer!”
Of course Jiang Xiao knew Pineapple Beer was just a regular canned beverage, but he kept a straight face and pretended otherwise.
“Are you looking down on me?”
Song Qiuyu didn’t believe Jiang Xiao could be this clueless.
“Not at all.”
Jiang Xiao shook his head.
“And you even heated it up. All the bubbles are gone—it’s basically just regular pineapple juice now!”
Song Qiuyu puffed up her cheeks, forced to admit Jiang Xiao never intended to get her drunk after all.
“So, what do we do now?”
Jiang Xiao deliberately sighed, tilting his head as if asking for her guidance.
“But you’re a good person.”
Song Qiuyu seemed to hesitate, frowning as if troubled.
“That’s right, I’m a good person.”
Jiang Xiao accepted the label with pride, even acting rather pleased.
“Then I’ll just pretend this is real beer, just this once.”
With that, Song Qiuyu tried to open the can.
“Can’t do it?”
Jiang Xiao watched for a while.
“I don’t have much strength left.”
Song Qiuyu lowered her head.
“So Xi’er wants me to help?”
Jiang Xiao gently pinched the top of the can, applying almost no force.
“…”
“When you want help, you have to say it out loud. Say ‘Help me, please.’ Like that.”
“…Help.”
Song Qiuyu took a deep breath, squeezed the can, and shyly whispered, “Help me, please, Jiang Xiao!”
“As you command!”
Jiang Xiao popped the can open effortlessly and handed it back to her.
Song Qiuyu held the can tightly with both hands, taking two small sips. A bit of clear liquid dribbled from her lips, tracing down her beautiful jaw.
All she’d drunk was warm pineapple juice, yet somehow her discomfort seemed to lessen.
It surprised her.
Seeing this, Jiang Xiao opened another can and tipped his head back to drink.
After two more small sips, Song Qiuyu sneaked a sideways glance at Jiang Xiao’s profile. Suddenly overcome with impulse, she edged closer, wanting to kiss him.
Before she could, Jiang Xiao seemed to sense it and turned toward her. Song Qiuyu jumped in fright and quickly looked away.
She tried to act casual and kept drinking.
“Xi’er, when you’re about to get drunk, remember to give me a signal like before so I can help you in time.”
Jiang Xiao didn’t expose her, just spoke in a calm, slow voice.
“…Oh.”
Song Qiuyu felt oddly conflicted.
It was so hard to say things like that, and she always felt so embarrassed afterward.
But getting help and a response… didn’t feel bad at all.
Maybe it could become addictive?
Anyway, it was just a dream.
So, after finishing her can, she tapped the side of it with her finger, hesitated for two seconds, and finally set it down.
“Jiang Xiao, I think I’m drunk.”
Just imagining it made her body temperature soar again. Song Qiuyu squeezed her hands together.
“Mm.”
Jiang Xiao also finished his drink.
“So, you said you’re suffering—where exactly hurts? Can you tell me?”
“Mm…”
Song Qiuyu’s heart pounded. She scooted closer, turned to him, and grabbed his hand, pressing it against her chest through her fingers.
It’s fine. This is just a dream. It’s nothing like reality. Jiang Xiao won’t ever know!
No matter what they did here, the real Jiang Xiao would never find out.
Her fingertips slipped lower, the thin nightdress bunching and creasing. Song Qiuyu pressed her lips together, bringing that long-imagined warmth closer to her wound.
After all her clumsy self-care, Jiang Xiao’s arrival felt like her only salvation.
She wanted to be more proactive, but held herself back, biting her lip, tears in her eyes, and whispered:
“Help me, Jiang Xiao.”
Jiang Xiao’s eyes narrowed slightly, the fingers of the hand she’d grabbed curling up.
Wasn’t this supposed to be a chance to get closer?
This was going a bit faster than he’d imagined, but it wasn’t all that different from what he’d thought—Xi’er really did need care, and she was even trying to take care of herself.
But it was her first time as a girl, and from the look of it, her first time doing anything like this.
She was terrible at it, the scene was a mess.
If he asked her now if she was using him as seasoning for things she’d already done, Xi’er would probably explode on the spot…
No need to even ask.
Just looking at her pitiful face, he already understood.
Xi’er’s eyes were red, definitely from crying.
If he hadn’t come to her tonight, was she planning to cry all alone? Why wouldn’t she just come to him for help?
“Jiang Xiao…”
Song Qiuyu’s eyes grew even redder at the corners. Jiang Xiao’s silence left her helpless—she didn’t know what to do.
She could only bury her shame, rubbing her burning cheek against his face, again and again, making her discomfort intensify.
Her body pressed helplessly against his, her heart pounding wildly, as if she were a terminal patient desperately in need of a cure.
“I feel awful, please help me.”
Jiang Xiao considered for a while, then went to wash his hands before returning.
As soon as her small hands grabbed his again, he clearly felt her high fever, but decided to treat it as just a normal human reaction—she was just too shy.
He would take care of her, inside and out, all of it.
As his fingertips pressed gently, the sweet fragrance spilled out like autumn rain in the night, filling the quiet room with an ambiguous tension.
“Xi’er, do you remember what we saw last night?”
Jiang Xiao thought for a moment, then nuzzled his face against her soft thigh, kissing the tiny heart-shaped birthmark there.
“Ah!”
Sudden warmth swept in. Song Qiuyu shuddered, her ears turning scarlet. She couldn’t think anymore.
Her small hand instinctively covered her mouth as she struggled to breathe, her lips and nose full of Jiang Xiao’s scent.
Though she was only drinking warmed Pineapple Beer, she really did feel drunk, her mind growing even hazier.
Her head spun, her body burned, she was about to faint. But she forced herself to speak: “Jiang Xiao, don’t… don’t talk while doing that! It’s so weird!”
But Jiang Xiao didn’t listen. He smiled in response: “Want to try?”
“Wait, no, you can’t, Jiang Xiao! You really don’t need to help me this much!”
Song Qiuyu panicked.
“Jiang—”
“But I want to help you.”
Jiang Xiao rubbed his cheek against her thigh twice more, his voice dropping lower.
“Mmm…” Song Qiuyu bit her lip, staring at what was happening in front of her, and suddenly felt like she was about to ascend to heaven.
And by heaven, she meant she was dying of embarrassment.
Help, this dream is terrifying. How can Jiang Xiao in her dream be this skilled!
“Xi’er, don’t you want to give it a try?”
Jiang Xiao caught the moment she hesitated and pressed his advantage.
“Um, then…”
Song Qiuyu covered her eyes with the back of her hand, “I really can’t do anything with you. Fine, just this once, only this once.”
It was just a dream, but it was still so embarrassing. Dream-Jiang Xiao really was the worst!
“If Xi’er doesn’t like it—”
Jiang Xiao’s eyes reflected the most beautiful sight in the world, his resolve clear: to do everything he could to ease the pain of the person he loved, and he pressed his lips to her.
“Then we’ll only try it this once.”
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