"..." Rong Shaoze stared at her without speaking.
"If you wanted to see me, why didn’t you just come upstairs to find me? What’s with the drunken fit here?" Lin Xinlan chastised him expressionlessly.
"..." Rong Shaoze still didn’t speak, continuing to stare intently at her.
He didn’t even blink, as if she would disappear the moment he did.
Lin Xinlan furrowed her brows, asking with suspicion, "How much have you drunk?"
Lin Xinlan was speechless. How could he drink that much and not die of alcohol poisoning?
"You’re drunk. I’ll have the butler help you up to rest. Whatever it is, you can talk about it tomorrow. For now, go sleep it off."
Rong Shaoze was taken aback, then suddenly smiled tenderly, "Xinlan, you care about me."
Lin Xinlan froze, his sudden tenderness making her feel very uncomfortable.
It was like someone who had always been brutal to you, whom you feared, was suddenly smiling warmly and acting kind towards you.
It made you question their motives and unable to adapt to their change, leaving you with a creepy feeling inside.
Anyway, Lin Xinlan’s feelings were all sorts of complicated...
After all, she wasn’t concerned about his well-being.
She merely thought it was exhausting to talk to a drunkard and didn’t want to be unable to rest the entire night because of him, which was why she was urging him to sleep.
If he hadn’t come to her, even if he drank himself to death and caused a huge scene downstairs, she wouldn’t have cared in the slightest.
Lin Xinlan opened her mouth to argue but then held back.
Forget it, no use arguing with him. Let him think what he wants.
"Do you want to go rest? If not, I’m going up to sleep," she asked indifferently.
Rong Shaoze immediately came to his senses and nodded eagerly, "Yes... help me up..."
As he finished speaking, he leaned toward her. Lin Xinlan hurried to dodge, but he reached out with a large hand and held her tightly in his arms.
The strong odor of alcohol hit her nostrils, and Lin Xinlan frowned in disgust, struggling as she said, "You reek of alcohol, don’t get so close to me!"
"Do I?" Rong Shaoze furrowed his brows unconsciously.
No one had ever told him he stank before, so his first reaction was to doubt it.
Seeing Lin Xinlan’s genuine expression, he hesitantly raised his arm to sniff it, and it did seem somewhat smelly.
But, too proud to admit it, he said, "There’s a bit of alcohol smell, how is it stinky? Maybe there’s something wrong with your nose?"
This was Lin Xinlan’s first time talking to a drunk person, and she felt that a drunk was indeed just like a madman.
"The smell is coming from you, of course you can’t smell it. To me, it’s disgusting. Let go of me, go shower by yourself, and stay away from my bed tonight."
What if he became wildly aggressive in his drunkenness later on?
She wasn’t about to offer herself up to get hurt by him.
After hearing Lin Xinlan’s words, Rong Shaoze’s dark eyes stared at her seriously.
Lin Xinlan inwardly cursed, worrying she might have angered him.
All the servants around were anxious, thinking what they should do if the young master got angry. When sober, his wrath was frightening enough, let alone when he was drunk—wouldn’t it be like an earthquake?
While everyone was wildly guessing, Rong Shaoze frowned slightly, saying a bit plaintively, "Xinlan, you despise me..."
"..." Lin Xinlan almost didn’t catch her breath.