Immortal Travel of Longevity

Yu Hongjin felt dizzy and completely muddled. Babbling nonsense after drinking wasn't exactly a new experience for her.

Song Bao watched her, both curious and in disbelief.

Why on earth was a child drinking like this?

She walked over and felt Yu Hongjin's forehead, finding nothing wrong.

Song Bao paused, thought for a moment, and asked, "Why are you drinking?"

Yu Hongjin's cheeks were flushed. She let out a hiccup and slurred, "S'good..."

Song Bao was amused by her strange pronunciation.

She smiled and asked, "What's so good about it, anyway?"

Yu Hongjin blinked a few times, as if thinking it over. A moment later, she gave her answer: "I don't know either..."

In truth, it all came down to fate. It had taken Yu Hongjin a long time to understand this balance of loss and gain. Without that mouthful of liquor back then, and without Chen Changsheng's rambling nonsense, she never would have taken form so quickly. To take that final step, what she had lacked was exactly that touch of mortal worldliness.

Song Bao thought for a moment and said, "Let me take you back."

Yu Hongjin sobered up a fraction and suddenly shouted, "No!"

Startled, Song Bao asked, "Wh—why?"

Yu Hongjin smacked her lips and said, "If I go back drunk, my sister will scold me."

Song Bao let out a laugh and said, "Then why did you drink?"

Yu Hongjin glanced down at her round belly and said, "You have to eat when you're hungry."

Seeing her aggrieved expression, Song Bao felt a sudden pang of sympathy. She hurriedly reached out to stroke Yu Hongjin's hair and said, "You do sound pitiful, but drinking isn't something a child should do."

"I'm not a child," Yu Hongjin blinked. "I'm a demon. The man-eating kind."

"How terrifying," Song Bao smiled.

She didn't believe the child's nonsense for a second.

With that, she stepped forward and scooped Yu Hongjin up into her arms.

Admittedly, Yu Hongjin was quite heavy. With all that liquor filling her belly, Song Bao actually had to strain to lift her.

Yu Hongjin blinked and said, "You smell nice."

Song Bao paused. "D-do I?"

Her cheeks reddened, seemingly a bit embarrassed.

Yu Hongjin blinked and said, "But not as nice as Sister Yun. Sister Yun smells the best."

Song Bao asked, "Sister Yun?"

"Haven't you seen her?"

"Huh?"

Song Bao searched her memory and asked, "Do you mean the auntie traveling with you?"

"Auntie?" Yu Hongjin paused before it clicked. "Oh..."

Song Bao asked, puzzled, "You call her 'sister'? I thought she was your mother, or maybe your grandmother."

That didn't sit quite right with Yu Hongjin. She said, "Sister Yun just looks old, that's all. Mmm..."

She tried to explain it to the stranger, paused, and then corrected herself, "Sister Yun isn't old, it's just that I look too young. Yeah, that's it."

Song Bao was utterly baffled by this logic. Assuming Yu Hongjin was just drunk, she simply said, "You really are completely drunk."

"Only half-drunk," Yu Hongjin said. "If I were really drunk, I'd probably scare you."

"Is that so?" Song Bao didn't pry.

Yu Hongjin stared at her face and asked, "What's your name?"

"Song Bao. The 'Bao' from eating your fill."

"Huh?"

Yu Hongjin asked, "Why are you named that?"

Song Bao said, "My dad told me we were really poor in the early years. We went hungry a lot, so my parents gave me this name, hoping I would never go hungry later on."

"So, are you full now?" Yu Hongjin asked.

Song Bao smiled. Finding the child's words endearing, she answered, "I suppose I am."

"What do you mean, 'suppose'?"

So Song Bao corrected herself: "I'm full."

Yu Hongjin raised an eyebrow and said, "It's a bad name. Song Bao, songbao—a coward. No good, people will make fun of you."

Song Bao smiled and said, "The other kids in our courtyard used to call me that when I was little, but I'm no coward. All the kids my age were actually pretty scared of me back then."

Yu Hongjin asked, "Why were they scared of you?"

"Because whoever called me that, I'd beat them up. Boys, girls—none of them could win against me. After they got beat up, my dad would drag me over to their house to apologize, but I never changed. Whoever messed with me got hit. Even now that they're grown up, a lot of them are still afraid of me."

"Wow, you're amazing."

Yu Hongjin blinked. "I wish Sister Yun were like you."

"Oh?" Song Bao asked. "Was your Sister Yun bullied a lot in the past?"

Yu Hongjin shook her head. "Not exactly. There's just this one person who always bullies her and makes her sad."

"Who is it?"

"A completely ridiculous Mister."

"Ah?" Song Bao seemed to understand. She asked, "Does your Sister Yun like this Mister?"

Yu Hongjin thought about it and said, "Probably."

"Then does that Mister like your Sister Yun?"

"I don't know..."

"Oh..."

Song Bao nodded and said, "I don't understand these things, but my dad told me that matters between men and women never make any sense. Just because you like him doesn't mean he'll definitely like you back, and you can't really tell who is right or wrong."

Yu Hongjin pondered this for a moment and pouted.

Song Bao glanced at her and asked, "Do you not like hearing me say that?"

Yu Hongjin shook her head and said, "No."

She said that, but deep down, she was still upset.

She respected Chen Changsheng because he was Mister Chen, but whenever it involved Sister Yun, she truly couldn't bring herself to like him.

Song Bao carried her, walking forward step by step.

Yu Hongjin finally realized where they were going. She hurriedly said, "I'm not going back! I'm not going back!"

She struggled for a moment.

Luckily, Song Bao was holding her tight, preventing her from falling. She said, "How can you not go back? If the adults in your family can't find you, they'll be worried sick."

Yu Hongjin said, "If I go back drunk, I'll get spanked."

Song Bao smiled and said, "My mom used to hit me all the time when I was little too. That's just how it is when you're a child."

Yu Hongjin said, "But it really, really hurts."

"Then next time, don't sneak out to drink. Wait, no—you shouldn't be drinking at all."

"I can't live without drinking."

"Sigh..."

Song Bao sighed and said, "Of all the things to like at your age, you had to like drinking."

She truly didn't understand what was so good about liquor.

Yu Hongjin blinked and asked, "Have you ever had liquor?"

Song Bao paused and said, "No. My mom said girls shouldn't drink. Liquor is for men."

"What?"

Yu Hongjin said, "Why should men get to drink, but women can't?"

Her eyes darted, and she asked, "I still have some on me. Want a taste?"

"Huh?"

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