Ethan Grant took it with some suspicion. As soon as he opened the gourd’s lid, a strong aroma of wine wafted out. He exclaimed, “It really is wine.” Then he glanced at Wild Child and blinked, chuckling, “You must have swiped this, right?”

　　Wild Child frowned slightly.

　　“Don’t, don’t get me wrong.”

　　Ethan Grant hurriedly said, “Even if you did swipe it, so what? When people can’t survive, why can’t I steal? Survival is a human instinct. I’m not afraid to tell you, I’ve done this before. No, actually, I used to do this for a living.”

　　Wild Child’s little frown relaxed again. Suddenly, he raised his hand, signaling Ethan Grant to drink.

　　Ethan Grant chuckled, “Well, then I’ll gladly accept.”

　　With that, he took a swig, wiped his mouth, and said repeatedly, “Good wine, really good wine.”

　　With the wine to liven things up, the chunks of meat were quickly finished off by Ethan Grant.

　　Wild Child handed another piece to Ethan Grant.

　　Ethan Grant reached out halfway, then suddenly pulled his hand back, saying, “You keep it for yourself.”

　　Wild Child looked a bit unhappy and pushed the meat forward a little more.

　　Damn, he’s being so kind, if I don’t accept, wouldn’t that be looking down on him? Ethan Grant immediately took it, then handed the wine gourd back, and started eating heartily, mumbling, “When I get rich in the future, I’ll definitely treat you to a big feast.” As soon as he said it, he was stunned. Get rich? I’m still up to my neck in debt.

　　Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but sigh. How am I supposed to survive here?

　　Suddenly, he felt someone tap his right shoulder a few times. He turned his head and saw Wild Child looking at him curiously.

　　Ethan Grant smiled, “It’s nothing, nothing, drink up. If there’s wine today, let’s get drunk today—who cares if it rains or blows tomorrow.”

　　Soon, the two of them finished off the whole gourd of wine.

　　After the wine was gone, Ethan Grant thought to himself, Little Ye has it pretty tough as it is, and today I’ve eaten quite a bit of his food. I should give something back, but I have no money, and nothing to give him. Feeling a bit guilty, he suddenly looked at the empty gourd in his hand, his eyes lit up, and he said, “Little Ye, let me tell you a story.”

　　Wild Child was taken aback, then nodded vigorously, squatting beside Ethan Grant, his little hands propping up his chin, eyes full of anticipation.

　　Ethan Grant cleared his throat and said, “Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, in the distant south, there was a mountain called Gourd Mountain—”

Chapter 9 Richie! Richie!

　　The summer sun was always so dazzling, even in the cool morning.

　　“Mmm—!”

　　Ethan Grant murmured, shielding his eyes from the sunlight with his hand, and slowly opened his eyes. “What time is it?”

　　Last night, when he was drinking, he thought the wine of the Tang Dynasty was very mild. He was used to drinking strong liquors like whiskey and Wuliangye in modern times, so he thought nothing would happen. But he hadn’t realized that this was no longer his old body. The alcohol tolerance of this body was just so-so—after all, he’d been a homebody. So, as he told the story, the alcohol started to kick in, and he soon drifted off to sleep.

　　He slept straight through till morning.

　　Suddenly remembering something, he looked around and found that Wild Child was nowhere to be seen.

　　Instead, there was a mongrel dog wandering nearby. Ethan Grant recognized this dog—it belonged to Uncle Guan San’s family in the village. Because it was a yellow-haired dog, it was called Little Young. Of course, dogs were all free-range now, and when they grew up, they’d be slaughtered for food. This meant they often relieved themselves everywhere, especially in front of people’s doors. Ethan Grant’s home was its personal latrine. The villagers all disliked this dog, but no one said anything, so as not to hurt anyone’s feelings.

　　Although dogs are said to be man’s best friend, Ethan Grant personally had no fondness for them at all—in fact, he was full of hostility. It wasn’t that he lacked compassion, but when he was a child, he was often chased around late at night by several dogs, and was nearly bitten a few times. Luckily, he was clever enough to climb walls or trees. But once, he had to hide in a tree all night, mainly because a big dog kept watch below until morning, when someone finally rescued him. You could say, apart from people, dogs bullied him the most, so he really disliked them.

　　He waved his hand casually, trying to shoo Little Young away.

　　But the stubborn mongrel paid Ethan Grant no mind and kept wandering nearby.

　　“Ah—!”

　　Ethan Grant wasn’t in the mood to argue with Little Young, so he let out a groan, put his hands behind his head as a pillow, and gazed into the distance. He saw many villagers walking in groups along the winding paths, and looking at those hardworking figures, he couldn’t help but give a self-mocking smile. “They look more like people in debt than I do!”

　　With that, he sighed again, turned to the side, fiddled with the grass in front of him, and thought silently, Am I really going to just ignore everything and leave it all to that woman? That’s not very manly. And what if she can’t handle it? Wouldn’t I be hurting her? I guess I was right all along—whoever I marry, I’ll just end up hurting them. No, I have to do something. If I really hurt her, how would I be any different from that scumbag?

　　The “scumbag” he was thinking of was his biological father. That’s what he always called him, even to his face.