Chapter 63: Drunken Cao Kui

  Cao Keren's heavy drinking has always been a curse. Every time she gets drunk, she does something that makes people's hair stand on end.

  It was at our year-end party, Cao Ke Rui had just joined the team and it was her first time attending a party, she couldn't help but feel excited. She drank a few more cups than usual. The little girl's alcohol tolerance wasn't good, which is normal, after drinking a few cups, her face turned bright red, and she fell asleep with a loud snore on the table.

  I didn't expect this girl not only had a poor capacity for liquor, but also had poor drinking manners. Just a few minutes after getting drunk, she suddenly sat up as if electrified. She walked to the front of our department head, snatched off his glasses and put them on her own face. Under everyone's astonished gaze, she climbed onto a stool.

  Cleared his throat, and in a loud, clear voice, he spoke nonsense for an hour. I don't remember the content very well, but one sentence was something like "God gave you a pair of bright eyes, yet you put on glasses." Later, he started crying and laughing hysterically, and several strong men couldn't pull him down.

  The next day when coming to work, Cao Ke Rui still had a radiant smile on his face. He greeted everyone as if nothing was wrong, as if the one who went crazy yesterday was someone else.

  The second time was what I mentioned earlier. The boss called it the century confession, and Lu Huan added that it was destructive.

  Our second gathering was just after returning from Shanxi, ending a several-month excavation. Everyone wanted to get together for dinner to celebrate. We had Korean BBQ and booked a private room. It was a long table where everyone sat on the floor.

  Having had the experience last time, I deliberately chose a location that was farther away from her. Thinking that it would be safer to observe from a distance. As expected, after three rounds of drinks, Cao Kerui did not disappoint and got drunk again.

  I stood afar with the intention of watching a good show, but unexpectedly she slammed her hand on the table, got up and pointed at my nose, saying that sentence which had been used to tease me for a long time.

  "Xun Yi, wait till I'm dead one day"

  The people on both sides of the table suddenly turned their heads to look at me, and I was so embarrassed that I wanted to stick my head into my socks.

  The ending is still the same. The next morning, people woke up as if nothing had happened. I walked with my head down for half a month until I got used to the sentence "Did you sleep well today?"

  At this moment, Lu Huan and I are both vigilantly watching her, even the drunken Lao Da suddenly sobered up, vigilantly watching Cao Ke Rui for any movement.

  Cao Kesui quietly drank a lot of wine and suddenly fell head-first onto the dinner table. I looked at the village chief's wife, as well as the child who was either their grandson or granddaughter, or possibly their second child. I said to the village chief's wife, "Take the kid out to play first."

  The village head's wife was a bit bewildered, but still took the child and left.

  "Why don't you drink anymore? Let me refill your cup." The village chief was still urging him to drink. The eldest waved his hand, "Wait a minute."

  The three of us stared at Cao Kerui who was lying on the table. After a while, she suddenly sat up with a jolt.

  The precursor of this storm...

  After a few seconds of silence, Cao Kerui pointed at me and I swallowed a mouthful of saliva. This can't be my bad luck again, right? But my worry seemed to be unnecessary as Cao Kerui just paused in front of me and then pointed his hand towards Lao Da instead.

  Oh yeah, it's not me!

  "Luò! Shān! Běn!" Cao Ke Rui said with a pause between each word, his tone vicious and harsh.

  The boss hastily waved his hand and said "it wasn't me".

  "It's you!" Cao Kerui rolled her eyes. "I've disliked this name of yours for a long time. What were you thinking, ah? You're already fifty-six and you want me to call you...?" After finishing speaking, Cao Kerui put one hand on her waist and pinched her brow with the other, shaking her head in frustration.

  "And that mouth of yours, doesn't it cost anything to insult people? If the Olympics had an event for scolding, you would have been a world champion long ago and wouldn't still be on the archaeological team."

  Lao Da is a bit of a sarcastic person, but he's kind-hearted. We usually don't say anything, but Cao Ke Rui finally let it all out after getting drunk.

  I secretly looked at Lao Da's expression, which had already twisted to a certain extent. I couldn't help but worry about Cao Ke Rui's future career.

  Cao Ke Rui waved her hand, looking like she wanted to say something else. I quickly covered her mouth and pressed her into the chair. Who knew that when she sat down, she would lean against my shoulder, using her index finger to slowly fiddle with my shirt collar.

  "And you." My back stiffened, it's over, looks like I won't be able to avoid it.

  "Sun Yi, just give in to me. I'll definitely treat you well," Cao Ke Rui said dazedly, leaning on my shoulder. My shoulder jerked and threw Cao Ke Rui off, she leaned back and almost fell off the stool, I quickly reached out to catch her.

  She jumped down from the stool again, hugged my arm and burst into loud sobs 'Are you in love with someone else? Tell me'

  Lao Da and Lu Huan had a look of watching a good show, I poked Cao Ke Rui's forehead with my index finger, separating her from my arm. The faint mark of nasal mucus was visible above. Lao Da saw that it wasn't his business, immediately switched to spectator mode. 'Sun Yi, tell me, is there someone in your heart?'

  I helplessly shook my head and said to Lu Huan, "Quickly move her away for me."

  Lu Huan immediately understood and stood up, carrying Cao Kerui to the side room to rest. The village chief was also frightened by this crying and commotion, and couldn't figure out what was going on.

  It seems that from now on, every time there's a drinking gathering, I'll have to avoid Cao Ke Rui, otherwise no matter how far I stand, I'll still get caught in the crossfire.

  Lao Da and Cao Ke Rui both fell asleep, in the afternoon only I and Lu Huan were still relatively awake. After asking for directions, we went to find the village head's blind son in the afternoon.

  The kidnapper's home had no gate, and was surrounded by a low wall made of unevenly sized stones that anyone could easily step over. The house itself was also dilapidated, and if it rained heavily, the whole thing might collapse.

  Before entering the house, I was struggling with what to call him. Should I call him Uncle Cripple? Blind Man? His name is such that no matter how you call it, it sounds like scolding.

  Lu Huan stepped into the house and asked, "Is anyone home?" The house was quiet for a while without any sound.

  "What's going on? Is nobody home?" As he spoke, Lu Huan was about to enter the house when I stopped him.

  "There's no one else, let's go outside and wait." Lu Huan responded with a grunt, turned around and followed me out. At this time, a clanging sound came from inside the house, like metal hitting the ground. A coughing sound was transmitted over, and a person walked out of the house.

  Wearing a nylon green shirt with a patch sewn on the hem, he had a moderate length of white hair on both sides of his temples. One hand was leaning on a worn-out and shiny crutch wrapped with iron at the bottom. He slowly walked out of the house.

  I suppose this is the crooked and blind son of the village head.

  I stepped forward and carefully asked "Excuse me, are you... um..." but the words stuck in my throat as I didn't know how to address him.

  "Just call me blind" The blind man walked past me, then behind me picked up a small broom and began to sweep the floor lightly. He avoided all the objects on the ground and accurately circumvented me. His movements were smooth, not like those of a blind person at all.

  I hastily dodged to one side and waited until the blind man had finished sweeping the ground before speaking up.

  "Hello, I'm Sun Yi, a staff member who is taking an exam on this mountain. There's something I'd like to ask you."

  The blind man leaned his broom against the wall and patted the dust off his coat.

  "Let's get down to business"

  I and Lu Huan hurriedly followed up, and walked into the house.

  The interior decoration is simple, a wooden board bed, and a small spittoon with red and blue stripes on the ground. On the right side there is a cabinet. In front of the cabinet are two wooden chairs, placed side by side, with two small cushions on top.

  At this time, a thing rushed over from behind me with a "meow". I took a look and it was an old yellow cat. Its tail seemed to have been burned by fire, with a charred patch. It jumped out of nowhere and walked to the blind man's side, curled up into a ball and lay there. Only then did I see the blind man's true face, and I was startled.

  Those two eyeballs were intact, but one was a greyish white eyeball without pupils, looking very hollow. In the middle of the bridge of his nose, there was a scar about the length of my index finger. This scar made him look extremely ferocious.

  The blind man tapped the leg of the wooden chair with his cane and sat down.

  I walked over with Lu Huan, sitting neatly on it, and suddenly felt a kind of inexplicable tension. In fact, this feeling has been there since I entered the house, this blind man seems to have a suppressive atmosphere, plus this face, it's hard not to feel tense.

  "Old man, we two have come today with something to ask."

  "Leave that doll alone."

  Before I could finish speaking, the rascal blurted out such a sentence.