I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"You downed a whole bottle of Shangfang water in one go without even turning red or out of breath! Impressive alcohol tolerance! Come on, let's continue! Let's drink until we're completely drunk today!"

Qing Denggang recently acquired a new talent that enhances his alcohol tolerance: "Drinking Master".

With this talent, Qingdeng's alcohol tolerance increased significantly.

In the past, after drinking a whole bottle of sake in one go, one would feel somewhat drunk.

Now, after downing an entire bottle of wine in one gulp, he was completely unaffected, showing no unusual physical reaction whatsoever.

Qing Deng didn't mind drinking and chatting with Makimura, but he had promised Kinoshita Mai that he would go out with her this afternoon, so it wasn't convenient for him to get too drunk.

Just as I was thinking about Kinoshita Mai, the person involved on the other end gently moved her round and cute knees closer to Aoto.

"Qingdeng, don't drink too much... Don't drink blindly just because Mr. Makimura is urging you to drink."

Kinoshita Mai's beautiful eyes shone with pure worry.

She wasn't worried that Qingdeng would get too drunk and ruin their afternoon sightseeing plans.

She was simply worried that Qingdeng would harm his health by drinking too much alcohol.

While advising Qingdeng not to get too drunk, she pulled out a clean red handkerchief from the high bulge of her dress.

"Seriously... even if you're going to drink, don't drink so fast... look, your chin and neck are all wet."

As Kinoshita Mai said this, she used the red handkerchief in her hand to wipe away the wine stains remaining on Aoto's face and neck.

Suddenly, Makimura grinned, watching with great interest as Kinoshita Mai gently wiped Aoto's face.

"Hehehe~~ Young Master, the way you look right now... resembles a loving wife with her husband~~"

Kinoshita Mai was naturally thin-skinned, and after hearing Makimura's teasing, her face instantly turned red, and transparent gas floated from her head.

Crimson clouds and steam rise together.

"Ju, young master, your relationship is much better than I expected."

"Hehehe, it's so good to be young. Watching you two interact makes me feel young again, both physically and mentally."

"Sigh, back then, when Kiryu told me that the young master had someone he liked, I couldn't believe it."

"Now it seems... no matter how unbelievable it may seem, I have no choice but to believe it."

"Although asking this might be a bit of a breach of privacy, as an elder who has watched the young master grow up, I'll still ask: Tachibana-kun, what kind of relationship do you and the young master have reached?"

Makimura's blunt statement left Kinoshita Mai stunned... The next moment, the crimson glow deepened, and the steam thickened.

—Tsk… Could it be… this is what they call “meeting the parents”…?

Qingdeng subconsciously swallowed.

Judging from Kinoshita Mai's attitude towards Makimura, and Makimura's earlier statement that he "watched the young master grow up from childhood," Makimura is indeed worthy of the role of "Kinoshita Mai's patriarch."

Being suddenly pulled into this "battle" that makes countless couples hesitate without any prior preparation... even with Qing Deng's composure, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

—Let's meet the parents! Anyway, it's only a matter of time before this happens!

With this thought in mind, Qing Deng sat up straight.

"We're now discussing marriage!"

As if to enhance the credibility of his words, as soon as the resolute tone fell, Qing Deng stretched out his arm and pulled Kinoshita Mai into his arms, the action was quite intimate.

In an instant, the hall became exceptionally quiet.

Makimura stared wide-eyed in surprise, his mouth slightly agape, his eyes fixed on Aoto before glancing at Kinoshita Mai, who was being held by Aoto.

Compared to Makimura, Kiryu's reaction was much calmer.

He shrugged with a half-smile, his expression complex, as if he already knew everything.

Qingdeng wasn't bragging.

He and Mai Kinoshita have indeed reached a point where they can talk freely about important life matters and how many children they want in the future.

"Huh? Huh? Huh?"

The carved image of Kinoshita Mai resembles a malfunctioning robot, stiffly turning its head and scanning its surroundings with a vacant gaze.

A moment later, Kinoshita Mai regained her senses.

After regaining consciousness, Kinoshita Mai hesitated and pursed her lips.

The next moment, she did something that made Makimura's eyes widen even more and Kiryu's expression become even more complicated:

She opened her arms and wrapped them around Qingdeng's waist, resting her left cheek against Qingdeng's chest.

Despite blushing deeply and being too embarrassed to look at anyone, Kinoshita Mai forced her eyes open and looked firmly at the two elders in front of her. Her eyes held a hint of pride amidst her shyness.

His expression seemed to be saying to Kiryu and Makimura: Yes! Aoto wasn't wrong! We're practically a married couple now!

Seeing Kinoshita Mai's bold and unrestrained manner, Aoto was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted.

He cooperated by holding the beauty in his arms even tighter.

This act, akin to declaring territorial sovereignty, is as if loudly proclaiming: "See that?! Kinoshita Mai is my wife!"

The silence lasted for quite a while...

"Hahaha...this is truly...surprising."

Makimura scratched his head with a wry smile.

"You two are already in this kind of relationship... Well, that's normal, though."

Due to various reasons such as short life expectancy, marriages in the Edo period were conducted very quickly, whether through arranged marriages or free love.

Meeting at the beginning of the month, dating in the middle of the month, and getting married at the end of the month—this was the mainstream in the Edo period.

The modern practice of dating for several years before getting married is considered an unconventional and bizarre behavior in today's society.

This explains why, the day after Aoto and Souji confessed their feelings for each other, Souji immediately started discussing marriage with Aoto.

Qing Deng met Kinoshita Mai in January of last year, and all told, the two have known each other for almost a year.

Therefore, as Makimura just said, it is quite common for the two of them to have developed into a relationship that is only one step away from marriage after so much time.

"Oh dear! It's truly a moving experience..."

Mucun gulped down several mouthfuls of liquor.

"In the blink of an eye, the young master has reached the age where he can get married and have children... Alas, time flies!"

"Tachibana, I don't know if you know, but the young master was very popular back in Osaka. There were countless people who admired and pursued him!"

"That's still true now." Kiryu adjusted his glasses and added with a smile, "Almost every day, gentlemen of all ages, from the thirties to the forties, go to great lengths to visit our shop just to catch a glimpse of the young master."

“Some of the bolder ones directly invited the young master out for meals and outings, and some even went so far as to express their love and propose marriage.”

“Say something like, ‘Don’t work as a salesperson in this small, run-down job agency anymore. Marry me, and I’ll take you to live a happy life where you never have to worry about food or drink!’”

"Tsk, thinking about it carefully, it's really infuriating. How dare they say my shop is small and shabby."

"If it were the young master in the past, he would definitely be at a loss and not know how to deal with these men who are obviously pursuing him."

"And now... although the young master still trembles with fear when she sees strangers, she can bravely say 'no' to the men who pursue and harass her."

"When the young master rejected these people, he used the same excuse: I am already someone’s fiancée, I love my fiancé very much, so please stop bothering me."

No sooner had Kiryu finished speaking than a huge scream echoed throughout the hall.

"Wa ...

Kinoshita Mai loosened her arms from around Aoto's waist and covered her face with her hands.

After screaming, she said urgently in an almost pleading tone:

"Kiryu-san! Stop talking! I... I only said these things because I wanted to finally get rid of those annoying guys and stop bothering me..."

Before she could finish speaking, Makimura on the other side gave a knowing smile and then delivered another devastating blow to Kinoshita Mai:

"Young Master, you've become much bolder! The engagement hasn't even been finalized yet, and you're already calling yourself so-and-so's fiancée in front of others."

Makimura's timely "finishing blow" successfully caused Kinoshita Mai to fall into a semi-conscious state due to excessive shame.

—My fiancée…

Qing Deng, who was desperately trying to suppress his laughter, was so bad that his shoulders started to tremble unnaturally as he looked at Kinoshita Mai with a mocking expression.

Kinoshita Mai noticed Aoto's gaze and her pretty face immediately turned even redder.

She buried her face deep into Qingdeng's waist while swinging her small fists and pounding them hard against Qingdeng's chest.

"Ugh, stop laughing! Don't laugh!"

After Kiryu started this, Makimura became very talkative—he also began to reveal information about Kinoshita Mai.

"Hahaha, right, I suddenly remembered. Ju, I know why the young master likes you. She once told me that she hopes her future husband will be a great hero..."

"Wa ...

The croaking sound, like that of a frog, interrupted Makimura's words.

"Don't listen! Don't listen! Don't listen!"

Kinoshita Mai couldn't stop Makimura, but she could stop Aoto.

After a series of shouts, Kinoshita Mai straightened up and covered Aoto's ears with both hands.

However, it was too late; Qingdeng had already heard the most crucial part of the content.

Aoto cast another teasing glance at Kinoshita Mai.

Kinoshita Mai and Aoto locked eyes.

The next instant, she seemed to lose all her strength and collapsed into Qingdeng's arms.

"Ughhhhhh..."

A shy, adorable moan escaped Qing Deng's chest.

She didn't look up at anyone for a long time.

Kiryu and Makimura were not ungrateful; they knew that while teasing Kinoshita Mai was fun, if they continued, this naturally shy and delicate girl might actually faint from embarrassment.

Therefore, after laughing heartily a few times, the two elderly people let Kinoshita Mai go and started chatting about ordinary family matters.

After chatting casually for a while, Makimura suddenly changed the subject: