Before entering, Ming Mei said, "Remember what Huo Er told you. You are Kang Chen's trusted aides. For his sake, protect him. Don't tell anyone that you saw me, including Kang Chen himself."
The two men had straightened up again: "We didn't see anything."
"Very well." Ming Mei closed her umbrella, bent down, and went inside.
She placed the umbrella upright beside her, then crouched down. She didn't immediately pull Kang Chen up but simply knelt beside him, gazing at him for a long while without moving, as if time had frozen in that moment.
This wasn't the first time Ming Mei had seen Kang Chen drunk, but this was the worst she had ever witnessed him—completely wasted, like a puddle of mud.
The words "a puddle of mud" were ones Ming Mei had never imagined applying to Kang Chen. A man like him—standing tall, unwavering, resolute—should live without shame or regret, always carrying himself more boldly than anyone else.
