"See? I told you so," Ruan Mingqing said with a faint smile when he couldn't offer a reply. "Some lapses in judgment are unforgivable, even if they are momentary impulses or born of ignorance. Mistakes carry a cost; that is the harsh reality."

Wang Zhuo gave a small sound of surprise, scratching his head with a wry smile, "Your argument… I feel like I've heard that somewhere before?"

Ruan Mingqing sighed softly. "Yao Jiaxin acted on a momentary impulse and killed someone, losing his own life in the process. Isn't that example sufficient? Gamblers and drug addicts are the same; it is precisely their recklessness and ignorance that have dragged them into irredeemable depths."

Wang Zhuo suddenly remembered where he had heard her line of reasoning; it was almost identical to his own theories for guiding women. Both were constructions based on reality and nature, and both were profoundly convincing!

"Sister Ruan, you are a truly rational woman," Wang Zhuo raised his glass in a toast. "I imagine most people, upon hearing about this incident, would pity the model or condemn her for shamelessness, rather than analyzing it as calmly as you do."

Something deep within Ruan Mingqing seemed stirred. After a period of silence, she let out a wistful sound. "In truth, I am merely complaining about the world's unfairness in a different manner. So many other women make countless mistakes yet still manage to live happily, while I, having done nothing wrong, have ended up in this plight."

Wang Zhuo remained silent. Women like Nan Bing and Lu Yao, who had performed the most debased acts, using their own hands to display their private parts for countless men to photograph, could still engage in passionate romance and enjoy the feeling of being loved and cherished. Yet, someone as outstanding as Ruan Mingqing was rendered a widow in the prime of her life. What good was fairness?

"Why did I bring this up?" Ruan Mingqing laughed self-deprecatingly, raising her glass again. "Here's to drinking!"

After finishing the fourth draft beer, Wang Zhuo began to feel dizzy. Ruan Mingqing, however, had already downed six glasses and still appeared unaffected.

"I need to use the restroom," she said, opening her purse, taking out a pack of tissues, and signaling to Wang Zhuo with her expression to keep an eye on her bag as she walked toward the washrooms.

Six draft beers, while not enough to intoxicate Ruan Mingqing, were certainly enough to necessitate a trip to the facilities, given the sheer volume consumed…

Wang Zhuo's gaze became slightly unfocused, and his thoughts occasionally short-circuited. Resting his chin in his hands, he watched the beautiful widow walk into the portable latrine provided for the patrons of the open-air eatery. The moment the door clicked shut from the inside, he blinked lightly and switched to his X-ray vision.

Under the influence of alcohol, Wang Zhuo felt no sense of impropriety regarding his actions. As he watched the beautiful widow finish her business, meticulously clean herself, and then stand up to put on her underwear and bra piece by piece, he let out a few carefree, foolish chuckles.

When Ruan Mingqing returned to the table, Wang Zhuo was negotiating with a waiter.

"I'm sorry, sir, we really don't serve hard liquor here," the waiter said, clearly troubled.

"But I only want hard liquor," Wang Zhuo insisted, becoming a bit unreasonable.

The waiter, looking no older than seventeen or eighteen, was experiencing such a confrontation for the first time and was momentarily timid and unsure how to proceed.

Seeing Wang Zhuo intent on making trouble, Ruan Mingqing intervened. "Wang Zhuo, just have more beer, don't insist on the baijiu."

Wang Zhuo waved her off, then suddenly reached out and pulled the waiter close, pulling a thick stack of pink bills from his pocket and shoving it into the young man's hand. "A bottle of the green-labeled Daquan Yuan; the rest is yours."

The waiter flinched, staring blankly at the wad of cash in his hand. It was an older server nearby who was quick-witted enough to pull the young man away, all while smilingly telling Wang Zhuo, "Please wait a moment, sir, he'll be right back!"

With that, she hurried the flustered waiter away, muttering a quiet complaint about the silly boy not being more perceptive.

Wang Zhuo watched them leave the stall, then turned back to Ruan Mingqing, shrugging his shoulders and smiling. "More than two years ago, I encountered the exact same situation with him."

"Were you also pushed away by a beautiful older sister?" Ruan Mingqing asked with a laugh.

Wang Zhuo nodded sheepishly, "She even took half the money."

Ruan Mingqing burst into laughter. "I never would have guessed you had a past like that."

Wang Zhuo smiled and pointed at her. "And who now could guess your past?"

This statement suddenly struck a chord with Ruan Mingqing. Her smile froze on her face, gradually fading as she sank into thought.

Wang Zhuo continued to tackle his fifth draft beer, devouring the freshly delivered oysters with relish. Occasionally glancing at the silent Ruan Mingqing, he would recall the scene he had just secretly witnessed and let out a quiet chuckle to himself.

Several minutes later, the Daquan Yuan baijiu arrived, transferred into a mineral water bottle. As the server placed the bottle down, he specifically smiled at Wang Zhuo and whispered a word of thanks, proving far more graceful than the stunned young waiter.

"The beer isn't cutting it; let's switch to this," Wang Zhuo said, shaking the mineral water bottle at Ruan Mingqing.

Ruan Mingqing snapped back to attention, glanced at the bottle in his hand, and nodded with a smile.

After each downed half a jin of the hard liquor, Wang Zhuo finally reached his tipping point and dared not drink more. Ruan Mingqing also showed slight signs of intoxication.

She stood up and stretched, saying, "I’m done eating; let’s walk for a bit."

Wang Zhuo stared blankly for a moment at the proud swell of her breasts as she stretched. Seeing his expression, Ruan Mingqing teased him with a playful glare, "What are you looking at?"

Wang Zhuo stood up with a clumsy chuckle. When he walked to stand beside her, he murmured, "Sister Ruan, you have a stunning figure."

Ruan Mingqing glanced at him and gently poked his waist with her fingertip. It didn't hurt; rather, it sent a subtle, intimate thrill through him.

The two left the open-air restaurant and stepped onto the street. It was past ten at night, and the cold wind immediately made Ruan Mingqing, lightly dressed, shiver, causing her to instinctively draw her shoulders in.

"Shall we grab a taxi?" Wang Zhuo suggested.

"No," Ruan Mingqing shook her head. "I want to feel the breeze and walk a bit."

Wang Zhuo checked his own attire; even if he took off his outer shirt, he was only wearing a crescent-shaped undershirt. He hadn't felt cold when they arrived and had left his jacket in the car, not expecting this situation.

"Are you cold?" Ruan Mingqing asked, looking at him with wide eyes.

How could a man admit to feeling cold in front of a woman? Wang Zhuo laughed heartily. "I'm worried you're cold."

Ruan Mingqing’s gaze drifted, and she pointed across the road with a smile, suggesting, "That way, neither of us will be cold."

…

On the autumn night street, the wind rustled fallen leaves, sharp and desolate.

Wang Zhuo walked forward at an unhurried pace, occasionally swaying slightly.

The beautiful widow, Ruan Mingqing, leaned close beside him, her arms wrapped around his sturdy right arm, her full chest pressed tightly against his sleeve from some unknown moment.

Wang Zhuo felt her softness and closeness, already hard as iron, but playing ignorant under the influence of alcohol, focusing only on walking.

Ruan Mingqing, too, was losing her composure in his masculine aura. Her steps faltered occasionally when her eyes fell upon the pronounced bulge in his trousers.

In the movie If You Are the One, the actress Che Xiao told Ge You, "Once a year." That scene became a classic. Yet, in Ruan Mingqing and Zeng Yan's life, nothing of the sort had happened for several years; they didn't even meet the standard of "once a year."

In colloquial terms, this was called "living as a widow," a situation sometimes more painful than actually being widowed.

The two walked on in silence, neither fast nor slow. The distance wasn't great, but by the time they reached the hotel parking lot, their moods had shifted significantly.

Arriving at the car, Ruan Mingqing reluctantly released Wang Zhuo’s arm and softly asked, "Shall we find another place to sit for a while?"

Wang Zhuo saw the deeply hidden anticipation in her eyes and felt his heart race. "Get in the car first."

"Shouldn't we get a designated driver?" Ruan Mingqing said, sounding a bit worried.

A designated driver was out of the question at a moment like this! Wang Zhuo gave a low chuckle and firmly shook his head.

The unlicensed Audi sped out of the parking lot. Wang Zhuo, utilizing his top-tier driving skills augmented by his holographic vision, slammed the accelerator to the floor, surging forward.

It was Ruan Mingqing’s first time in a speeding car driven while intoxicated; it felt as thrilling as a roller coaster. The car zipped onto the main road in an instant, merging into the dense traffic, weaving and overtaking constantly. Soon, they exited the main road and arrived outside a quiet, secluded park.

The heart that had risen to her throat finally settled. She let out a breath and asked, "Where is this?"

Wang Zhuo smiled faintly, thinking this was the most ideal spot in Jiangzhou City for 'car fun,' but he couldn't tell her yet.

According to surveys by seasoned enthusiasts of 'car fun,' the dining table is better than the bedroom, an in-law's house is worse than a hotel, and indoors is inferior to in a car. 'Car fun' not only maximizes pleasure due to the excitement and tension brought on by the risk of being spied upon, but it also offers advantages like audible breathing, mingling body odors, and tight proximity due to limited space—advantages unavailable indoors.

A car is a potent aphrodisiac for a woman and a spiritual Viagra for a man. The main reason Wang Zhuo had discarded the Lotus sports car in favor of this Audi was that the Lotus’s interior space was too small to be supportive when needed!

After the last Hongmen Feast incident, the cramped space inside that car had forced him to take Siyuan back to his home, resulting in an awkward encounter with the Meng sisters in his own garage, which caused quite a bit of trouble. Before using the Lotus, he had consistently used an eleven-seater van or his father's Range Rover—moments of intense pleasure indeed…

Seeing Wang Zhuo's smile, Ruan Mingqing suddenly grasped the implied meaning. Her heart began to pound like a drum. She scanned their surroundings: a secluded side path, dark and quiet nearby, with occasional cars passing on the street twenty meters away, their lights filtering through the tree canopy, casting dappled shadows.