Hades, the Urban Legend

Chapter 603: Chapter 605: The Wine Doesn't Intoxicate

With Yang Chen's help, a simple home-cooked meal consisting of four dishes and a soup was quickly prepared. The fragrant dishes laid out on the table made Yang Chen's mouth water.

Liu Mingyu took off her apron, revealing a few beads of sweat on her forehead and slightly tousled hair. She looked more like a housewife than a company executive.

"Let's have some wine. After all, it's the first time you're having dinner at my place," Liu Mingyu suggested with a smile.

Yang Chen agreed, "But do you have any wine here, or should I go out and buy some?"

"I have some. Wait a moment," Liu Mingyu said, walking into a storage room. She returned shortly with two bottles of wine.

She placed the two seemingly ordinary bottles of wine on the table and said, "These were given to me by my dad. He said they are imported wines and taste really good. I don't have a habit of drinking alone at home, so it's perfect that you're here to help me finish them."

Yang Chen hadn't looked closely before, but now that he did, he was surprised. "Are you sure these were given to you by your dad?"

Liu Mingyu looked puzzled. "Why? Can't my dad give me wine?"

"Did he mention that these are Romanee-Conti wines?"

"Romanee-what? Is that the brand? I don't really know much about wine. Are they good?" Liu Mingyu thought that since her father gave them to her, they shouldn't be bad.

Yang Chen shook his head with a wry smile. It seemed Liu Qingshan himself didn't know the value of these wines. Thankfully, Yang Chen was here today, or these two bottles would have been wasted.

"Do you know about Lafite?" Yang Chen asked.

Liu Mingyu nodded, "Of course, I know Lafite. It's worth about ten to twenty thousand yuan per bottle."

"This wine, called Romanee-Conti, has an annual production that's less than one-fiftieth of Lafite. Worldwide, there are probably only one or two thousand bottles available on the market each year. Do you think it's precious?" Yang Chen said, somewhat wistfully.

Having spent many years abroad, Yang Chen had enjoyed the best of food and drink, including high-end wines. However, Romanee-Conti, being extremely rare, was something he seldom encountered, making him fully aware of its value.

Liu Mingyu's eyes widened. "So, according to you, this wine is extremely expensive?"

"If you were to buy it on the market, it would cost at least hundreds of thousands of yuan, and it might not even be available," Yang Chen chuckled. "But since we have it, let's drink it. Wine is meant to be drunk, not wasted."

Hearing that this seemingly ordinary bottle of wine was worth hundreds of thousands of yuan made Liu Mingyu feel like she was dreaming. But as Yang Chen said, it was just wine, and they should drink it. They opened a bottle, filled their glasses, and started their dinner, enjoying both the food and the wine.

For connoisseurs, such high-end wine would be savored slowly and appreciated. But neither Yang Chen nor Liu Mingyu cared much about these luxuries. Even if they drank it casually, each sip was worth thousands of yuan.

They chatted about various things, including recent events at the company, and before they knew it, they had finished the entire bottle of wine.

Liu Mingyu's tolerance for alcohol wasn't very high. After two glasses, her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were dreamy.

"Wow," Yang Chen said, savoring the fragrant wine. "Being the daughter of a mafia boss does come with its perks. Am I lucky today to be basking in the glow of the great Miss Liu?"

Liu Mingyu, slightly drunk and more charming under the light, said, "Don't call me Miss Liu. I don't like it and I'm not used to it."

"What's there to be unused to? As long as you have such a father, people will call you that. Some girls would love to be called that but never get the chance," Yang Chen replied with a smile.

Liu Mingyu rolled her eyes at Yang Chen, holding her wine glass and looking softly at the crimson liquid. "Every time I see my dad discussing gang business with his subordinates, I feel really scared. Even though he wasn't with me and my mom for so many years, staying in Yanjing, I always thought he was just doing business. There was nothing to worry about.

"But now, even though he's here in Zhonghai, I constantly feel like he might leave me at any moment. Why can't he just be a straightforward businessman instead of a gang leader?

"Before, when he occasionally came back to Zhonghai to visit us, even if it was just for a day or two, I was always so happy to see him. Now, I can see him every day if I want. He's very good to me, gives me a lot of power and money. But I'm not as happy seeing him as I used to be."

Yang Chen listened quietly, thinking that perhaps it wasn't just the alcohol that was making Liu Mingyu so tipsy. Sometimes, it's not the wine but the circumstances that make one feel intoxicated.

"Yang Chen, am I being unreasonable? My dad just wants to give me a better life, but I moved out to distance myself from him," Liu Mingyu said, pouting her rosy lips and looking at him with misty eyes.

"Of course not. It's not like you're cutting him off," Yang Chen reassured her. "Actually, I really admire you. After all these years of being kept in the dark about your father's true identity, you managed to accept everything. Plus, your father has another woman in Yanjing and even brought you a younger brother out of nowhere.

"These changes would make other girls either hate their father or despise everyone who lied to them. But you quietly accepted everything and even get along well with your brother. It's hard not to admire your big heart."

Liu Mingyu smiled serenely, resting her head on the table. "What can I do? It's already happened. No matter if they lied to me or not, my father is still my father, and my brother shares my blood. Would causing a scene benefit anyone?"

Yang Chen fell silent. Liu Mingyu could accept such a father and a half-brother, but he couldn't accept Yang Pojun and Yang Lie. Even though his blood relation to Yang Lie was closer than Liu Mingyu's to Liu Minghao. When there's hatred between family members, it's far scarier than between enemies.

Noticing Yang Chen's silence, Liu Mingyu asked, "Yang Chen, why have you never mentioned your family? What do they do? Are they in Zhonghai?"

Yang Chen realized it was time to share his family situation with the women around him. He had nothing to hide from them. Knowing each other's backgrounds would prevent surprises when meeting each other's families in the future.

However, Yang Chen didn't have the patience to recount his entire life story. He briefly mentioned his Yang family heritage and his reunion with Guo Xuehua. Even this short account left Liu Mingyu stunned. After staring at Yang Chen for a while, she suddenly laughed coquettishly. "So, I've unknowingly latched onto a prince. I really hit the jackpot."

Yang Chen rubbed his chin and sighed. "If having such a status could grant me any real privilege, I'd love to embrace it. But having this identity doesn't mean everything goes my way."

Despite being a bit tipsy, Liu Mingyu retained a sliver of clarity. "What's wrong? You seem troubled. You've never sounded so dejected before."

Yang Chen downed his glass of wine and, without hiding anything, recounted the situation with Mo Qianni from the morning.

Liu Mingyu's eyes showed a complex mix of emotions. Finally, she sighed softly and asked, "Have you thought about what to do?"

"What else can I do? I'll wait for my mother-in-law to calm down a bit, then go and apologize sincerely," Yang Chen said with a bitter smile.

Liu Mingyu nodded. "I was worried you might give up. I'm relieved to hear that."

Yang Chen was momentarily stunned before he realized what was happening. To put it bluntly, Liu Mingyu was feeling a sense of "shared fate." If Yang Chen gave up on Mo Qianni because of obstacles, there was a chance he might give up on her in the future too. "Stop overthinking. My greatest virtue is my shameless persistence. Even if you want to abandon me, I'll still stick around," Yang Chen said earnestly.

Liu Mingyu glanced sideways at Yang Chen with a half-smile. "I suddenly think having a gangster father isn't so bad. At least he wouldn't view children's relationships through the lens of conventional morality like Qianni's mother. Qianni must be in a lot of pain; you really know how to torment people."

Yang Chen wanted to say something but held back. What could he say? He had wanted to speak up for Mo Qianni during the day and knew how heartbroken she was, but he himself was in pain and had no ground to stand on.

They chatted idly while finishing dinner. Liu Mingyu, having drunk three glasses of red wine, felt a bit weak but still wanted to take the dishes back to the kitchen. It was her habit to do housework; she couldn't feel at ease without tidying up.

Yang Chen quickly pushed her back into her chair, saying, "You're so drunk, and you still want to do this? Just sit here obediently, and I'll take care of it."

"How can that be? It's your first time here, and I already made you chop vegetables. It wouldn't be right to have you clean up too," Liu Mingyu shook her head and insisted on picking up the plates.

Yang Chen simply took the plates from her, leaned in close to her face, and gave her a quick kiss. He smiled and said, "Don't automatically assume you have to serve me. What I want is a confidante, not a maid."

Without waiting for Liu Mingyu's reaction, he deftly collected the dishes and brought them to the kitchen. After disposing of the leftovers, he began washing the dishes.

Liu Mingyu sat in the dining room, gazing at Yang Chen's back as he washed dishes in the kitchen. She felt a warm fuzziness and instinctively touched the spot on her cheek where he had kissed her. A satisfied smile appeared on her lips.

Yang Chen wasn't inexperienced with housework. He had lived alone for quite some time before, so he quickly tidied everything up and walked out of the kitchen.

This was supposed to be a romantic and enchanting night. After all, he and Liu Mingyu hadn't been intimate for a long time, and now they were in her new cozy apartment. Naturally, he wanted to engage in some passionate activities to meet his expectations.

However, when Yang Chen eagerly wanted to take Liu Mingyu for a shared bath, he found that she had already fallen into a deep sleep, leaning against the table.