"Let me take her to the room."
"Okay."
Just as Xu Lin was about to move, Ji Yun pressed her small face against his neck, and her warm lips made him a bit itchy.
Walking became an issue instantly; he couldn't just shake them off. Mother Bai also tried to pull her daughter but found it impossible.
"Let me do it." Chu Fengyi stepped forward and, with a little effort, managed to pull Bai Xiaoxiao off.
With his left arm free, Xu Lin easily lifted Ji Yun up in a princess carry.
Chu Qingchan watched Ji Yun being carried and felt envious; she wanted a princess carry too. If she'd known, she would have pretended to be drunk as well.
"Chu Qingchan, I know you can handle a bottle or two just fine. Don't try to act drunk."
Chu Fengyi said, making Chu Qingchan roll her eyes, but the two of them didn't say anything more.
Liu Qinnuan actually felt a bit dizzy. She usually wasn't pushed to drink much because of her young age, and a couple of bottles were usually no problem. But today, after just over one bottle, she felt dizzy.
At least she had a good meal. She thought she should call her mom; otherwise, her mom would worry. She had said she was going to see Miss Chu, not Xu Lin. If she mentioned a boy, her mom definitely wouldn't let her out.
Bai Xiaoxiao was carried to the bedroom by Chu Fengyi. Xu Lin couldn't keep holding Ji Yun like this, so everyone decided to leave.
"Uncle, we're heading out now. Didn't expect them to get drunk after just a little bit."
"Haha, drinking a little is fine, but girls should definitely drink less when they're out."
"Yes, we'll get going then. You all should rest early. None of us have cleaned up the dishes; I'm afraid we can't help with that."
"No problem, just a few dishes, I'll clean them quickly. Can you find your way out? Don't get lost again; let your aunt take you."
"No, no, we can recognize the way this time."
Xu Lin smiled awkwardly; he'd just bragged, now he was embarrassing himself.
In the end, Chu Qingchan supported Liu Qinnuan, Chu Fengyi carried Ji Yun, and Xu Lin hailed a cab, heading to the main road.
"I can carry her."
"Don't try to take advantage."
Seeing Chu Fengyi, so small, carrying Ji Yun gave the impression of a child carrying an adult, even though Chu Fengyi was indeed an adult.
Passersby glanced at them and whispered.
Xu Lin understood why: it looked bad for a young man to let a girl carry another girl.
It wasn't that he didn't want to carry her; Chu Fengyi and Chu Qingchan wouldn't let him. These sisters were something else.
Once on the street, the cab Xu Lin called arrived. Since they had all been drinking, they couldn't drive.
Two cabs pulled up. Chu Fengyi first placed Ji Yun into one, with Chu Qingchan and Chu Fengyi on either side of her. Xu Lin and Liu Qinnuan took the second cab.
"Liu Qinnuan, you didn't book a hotel, right?"
"No."
"Then spend the night at Chu Qingchan's place."
"Not going to your place?" Liu Qinnuan looked at him with a betrayed expression.
"Did you bring a gift? Just going to my place?"
"I did… almost forgot. My suitcase is still at Sister Bai's place."
"Get it tomorrow when you and Ji Yun go shopping."
"Alright."
As they neared the neighborhood, Xu Lin suddenly realized that even though he'd told Ji Yun's parents she'd be back late, bringing her back drunk would surely upset them.
As a guy, he should've stopped her from drinking. No, he needed to maintain a good image with his future in-laws.
A few minutes later, after getting out of the cab, Xu Lin quickly followed the just-dismounted Chu Qingchan and Chu Fengyi.
"Hey, how about leaving Ji Yun with me today?"
"What are you up to?"
Instantly, their gazes became like wild beasts in the night, their eyes glimmering with a cold greenish light.
"It's just that she's drunk. If we send her home and her parents see her, they'll be mad."
"You don't want to get caught, right? So instead of leaving her with Chu Qingchan, just leave her with me, okay?" Chu Fengyi remarked.
"That works. By the way, I've never been to your place."
Xu Lin recalled and realized he hadn't actually been to Chu Fengyi's house in Linshui since she bought it.
"It's just the building behind you."
"Alright then, I'll head home now. You guys rest early too."
"Hey, hey, don't forget the reward you promised me."
Chu Fengyi had finally found a legitimate reason to go out and have some fun.
As for Chu Qingchan, you deliberately caused trouble, but in the end, the winner is still me.
"I also won two rounds, remember that."
Chu Qingchan didn't care about Chu Fengyi's bragging. She had also won two rounds. But she needed to find a good time to go back and make a plan.
Hearing this from both of them, Xu Lin felt a bit uncomfortable. When there are many people, it means he can't accompany each one as much as he would like.
One-on-one, two people have their own space and time, but even then, many people feel the companionship is not enough.
Let alone with twelve of them, if he really wanted to do it right, time and companionship are crucial issues.
After all, you don't marry a wife just to have a trophy; she's supposed to be your lover, your family.
Of course, it's not without its benefits. After marriage, most conflicts between a couple arise because they are too familiar with each other and spend too much time together.
This is also a big temptation for infidelity; the outside world seems more exciting, but he wouldn't make that mistake.
With twelve wives, he couldn't give each one an overwhelming amount of time, so there would inevitably be some unnecessary conflicts among them.
"Bye, you should rest early tonight too. Don't stay up writing until 1 or 2 a.m. again."
"Okay, I'm off then."
The four of them turned left, while Xu Lin walked straight through the central green belt path towards his building.
After a few steps, Xu Lin realized he had forgotten something again. He had left Chenpi in the yard, who had run off to play.
"Sigh... I'm such an irresponsible owner."
When he got home, he found his parents in the living room with Old man Qin, chatting.
"Hey, back so late? Did you go on a date? Haha!"
Old man Qin looked much better and immediately made a joke. Xu Lin smiled and sat down.
"Uncle Qin, did you bring any meat today?"
"You rascal, I did, but we ate it all."
"As long as you enjoyed it."
"We enjoyed it very much. Xiao Qin comes to my house every day with a bunch of food we can't finish and does all the housework, leaving me with nothing to do, which is quite annoying."
"She is indebted to you, after all."
"She's been kind enough. She gave me 20,000 yuan, comes by every day to make breakfast, buys meat and vegetables, and even unclogged the toilet last time. She's a good kid."
Listening to this, Xu Lin hadn't expected Qin Tiantian to go to such lengths.
His phone suddenly buzzed, and he saw it was a message from Xing Mimi.
He thought they were supposed to take some time to cool down before she'd contact him again.
He opened the message and saw a cute husky face, with her tiny hand angrily pressing on its head.
Then another picture came in, showing a black Sony camera and a ring light.
"Would you like to take it?"
"What do you mean?"
"Come to my house and get it."
"Huh? It's not really appropriate; it's already this late."
"That's exactly why it's good. My mom is back, and she doesn't know I'm an up-and-coming creator. I bought it without her knowing."
"Oh, I see."
"So, are you coming or not?"
"How much?"
"It's free."
"I'm on my way."
Xu Lin ran back to his bedroom, changed his clothes, and headed outside.
"Xu Lin, where are you going? It's almost 10 o'clock."
"I left something at Bai Xiaoxiao's place."
"Then hurry back."
"Okay, your son has never stayed out all night, has he?"