"No need to be so enthusiastic, just call me Xiao Bai."
Tao Bai shook hands lightly with Meng Qi before sitting down opposite the two women.
There were three fruit platters on the table; the ones in front of the two women were already mostly eaten.
"Xiao Bai, you really are punctual!"
Fan Qinzhu pushed a plate of fruit toward Tao Bai.
"Have some fruit first.
What kind of spice level do you want for the hotpot?"
"I'll defer to the host."
Tao Bai said, glancing at the two of them.
"Extra spicy then, yeah?"
Meng Qi naturally took over the conversation since she had lost their bet.
"That works."
"Can you drink alcohol?"
"Yes."
"Hey little handsome guy! We need the extra spicy pot, and we need to order a few more dishes!"
A waiter arrived in response to their call and asked Tao Bai what he wanted to order.
Tao Bai indicated he was fine with anything and they could order whatever they liked.
"Omasum tripe, fresh-cut ribeye, aortic valve, crispy gongcai, luncheon meat, crispy pork, pork belly, duck intestines, kidneys, pork brain, duck blood, potatoes, bean curd skin, enoki mushrooms, frozen tofu...
Oh, and add a portion of lettuce tips, mustard greens, fish mint roots, cilantro, and pea shoots.
Oh, and get a case of Mountain City beer."
Hearing this, Meng Qi took over the conversation again and began ordering proficiently.
Before long, the red soup in the pot was rolling, the aroma wafting through the air.
The three of them began dipping their food and eating.
Chatting while they ate, Tao Bai learned that both women were married; one was 21, the other 22.
Since today was the Beginning of Spring, they had called up their best friend to go shopping and eat hotpot.
Their husbands, meanwhile, were left at home making dumplings.
"Aren't you afraid your husbands will find out?"
"It's just eating hotpot, what's there to be scared of?"
Fan Qinzhu said dismissively.
"Won't even let laozi treat a junior schoolmate to hotpot;
Laozi will definitely going to twist his ear off tonight!"
Meng Qi put a piece of tripe in Tao Bai's bowl, took a sip of beer, and chimed in,
"Xiao Bai, are you afraid your partner at home will twist your ear?"
"Who would dare twist 'BenZuo's' ear?"
Tao Bai put the red, spicy tripe into his mouth, then threw his head back and downed a mouthful of beer, speaking with heroic arrogance.
Having been in Nancheng for over a month, Tao Bai naturally knew what "twisting ears" meant—
It was slang for a henpecked husband.
He also knew that the people of Nancheng had a paranoid love for zhe'ergen (fish mint roots).
He was also no longer unfamiliar with the term "Laozi" (I/Me/Daddy).
It meant roughly the same thing as the "BenZuo" he usually called himself.
In Shan Province, there was only one "Laozi" (referring to the sage Laozi), but here, they were everywhere.
"Xiao Bai is rising up, huh? Even calling yourself 'BenZuo' Hahaha, you're so funny,"
Meng Qi flattered him with feigned amusement.
...
"Where exactly is Shen Yuan?"
Tao Bai's voice suddenly rose a few octaves, sounding like a drunkard.
"Let's talk after this glass..."
Fan Qinzhu had already moved to sit beside Tao Bai.
She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and handed him another glass of wine.
"No can do... BenZuo... bang so... can't drink anymore..."
"Come on..."
As she spoke, Fan Qinzhu brought the glass to his lips, and Tao Bai threw his head back and drained it again.
"Where is Shen Yuan!?"
"Finish this glass and we'll talk..."
Meng Qi sat on Tao Bai's right side, linking her arm through his and rubbing her softness against him as she brought a glass to his lips. Tao Bai drained it once again.
...
Food and drink consumed, the two women tossed the feigning-drunk Tao Bai onto the soft bed of a hotel room.
They touched Tao Bai's face several times.
Fan Qinzhu looked at Meng Qi and whispered:
"Get a cup and pour half a cup of water."
Meng Qi grabbed a cup, opened a bottle of mineral water, poured half a cup, and handed it to Fan Qinzhu.
*Zzzzt!*
Fan Qinzhu unzipped her bag, took out a small bottle, and quickly twisted off the cap.
"Oh no!"
Fan Qinzhu let out a soft cry.
"What's wrong?"
Meng Qi asked in a hushed voice.
"I put too much,"
Fan Qinzhu said with regret, "I poured about half the bottle."
"That much? Will it cause a fatality?"
"Go get another cup and pour a small amount of water.
We can dilute this a bit, it should be fine..."
Fan Qinzhu frowned imperceptibly, thinking to herself, I have to buy another bottle of the white stuff.
Hearing this, Meng Qi did as told.
After Fan Qinzhu mixed the water, she added:
"Take this cup and dump it."
While Meng Qi went to the bathroom to pour out the water, Fan Qinzhu brought the mixed water to Tao Bai's lips.
"Xiao Bai, come on, drink some water..."
*Gulp, gulp...*
Tao Bai felt that the taste of this water was different from the water Xiao Yu had prepared before.
It wasn't a difference in concentration, but a completely different taste, strange in a way he couldn't describe.
Regardless of what it was, he would mobilize his spiritual power to dissolve it first!
"Can't drink... can't drink anymore..."
Tao Bai mumbled, then raised his voice and shouted again,
"Ya! Bada Shu and Xiao Jiujiu..."
What Xiao Jiujiu?
Could Shen Yuan be his Xiao Jiujiu?
Hearing Tao Bai's shout, Fan Qinzhu grew suspicious.
But there are very few people named Shen in Nancheng to begin with, and I haven't heard of anyone with that name.
What does he want with Shen Yuan anyway?
Sigh, what do I care what he's doing?
Thinking this, her hands didn't stop.
She poured most of the cup of water down Tao Bai's throat.
Actually, what Tao Bai had just shouted was a foreign song he had recently learned. (The Star by Vitas)
The meaning in Russian Language was roughly—I will wait patiently.
At this moment, Tao Bai, eyes closed, suddenly heard their conversation:
"Old rules. You won, you go first."
"Say, what if he wakes up halfway through?"
"Hah, we just do what we did before, carry on!"
Fan Qinzhu said.
"As long as you suck it tight, what man wouldn't enjoy it?
So, nothing to worry about.
Besides, it's more fun if he's awake!"
After she finished speaking, Tao Bai heard someone climb onto the bed and approach him.
Tao Bai had already released the restriction on his belt while speaking drunken nonsense when they were helping him to the hotel.
Now, Meng Qi carefully pulled down his trousers and placed them on the bedside cabinet.
"Wow!"
Meng Qi exclaimed.
Fan Qinzhu looked over towards the sound and was also startled.
"It's this long before it even rises?"
Fan Qinzhu was shocked.
"It's longer than anyone else's I've ever seen!"
"And there's a scent of sandalwood..."
Meng Qi leaned closer and remarked.
"I... I can smell it too!"
Fan Qinzhu, who hadn't even gotten close yet, felt an itch in her heart and her body growing hotter.
"Delicious!"
Meng Qi put the soft, ripe banana into her mouth and exclaimed in surprise.
"I... I want a taste too!"
Fan Qinzhu leaned over without hesitation.
Under their ceaseless tasting, the soft, ripe banana began to rejuvenate, turning into a hard, large green banana.
On the head of the banana, a furious eye glared viciously at the two women.
But the two were unmoved, continuing their own way, even intensifying their efforts by sitting directly on it!
The angry green banana suddenly felt its single eye go dark!
It struggled frantically in the darkness, yet seemed unable to break free no matter what...
In the darkness, it saw only vague glimmers of light.
Just as it was about to touch the light, it was instantly swallowed by the boundless darkness again...
Darkness and light alternated continuously, just like the changes of Yin and Yang—Yang within Yin, Yin within Yang...
After Meng Qi had wet a patch of the bedsheet, Fan Qinzhu, whose heart was already unbearably itchy, immediately pounced.
This anger that is hard to quell—let me be the one to calm its fury!
Thinking this, Fan Qinzhu sat down on it, the alternation of Yin and Yang moving from slow to fast.
Tao Bai first let out a comfortable groan, then slowly opened his eyes.
Looking at Fan Qinzhu, who was practicing squats on his body, he feigned surprise and shouted,
"Senior Sister, what are you doing?"
"Junior Brother, does it feel good?"
"You..."
Tao Bai pushed against Fan Qinzhu's belly with his hands in annoyance, stopping her from squatting.
"Do you know where Shen Yuan is or not?"
"Junior Brother, let Senior Sister finish her exercise and get blissed out, then we'll talk…"
Fan Qinzhu said pleadingly, her face flushed red.
Hearing this, Tao Bai's hands naturally slid upward until they grasped two mounds of softness...
...
Two hours later, the two women lay limp on the bed.
Tao Bai, however, pulled a lighter from his pocket, and with a ding, lit a True Dragon cigarette, puffing clouds of smoke at the head of the bed.
The two women kept praising how amazing the Junior Brother was, how envious they were of his partner at home, and so on, but they didn't mention a word about Shen Yuan.
Fortunately, Tao Bai realized he had been deceived by Fan Qinzhu the first time they engaged in 'exercise,' so he went into overtime and took both of them one more time.
This time, Tao Bai cast the Eclipsed Moon Withered Phoenix Art on them.
Over the next month, they would age five years.
Consider it a small punishment for constantly cuckolding their husbands and deceiving BenZuo!
Finishing his cigarette, Tao Bai put on his pants.
He glanced at the two naked women on the bed who were unfaithful to their husbands, looking slightly disappointed.
"Junior Brother, let's come out for hotpot again next time!"
Fan Qinzhu said with a smile.
"Come my ass.
You two have absolutely no integrity!"
Tao Bai walked straight to the door and slammed it shut with a *bang*.