Liu Xinran subtly averted her gaze.
Xu Xiuwen probably guessed that Li Xiangjun's involvement might be related to Liu Xinran, which made him curious about their relationship.
It couldn't be a father-daughter relationship, given the differences in surname and age.
Could it be true, as Meng Dong had heard, that Liu Xinran was Li Xiangjun's woman?
Xu Xiuwen didn't dwell on it for long.
He turned back to the group.
The male host was also present.
Xu Xiuwen chose not to address the host's earlier pretense of not recognizing him.
He adjusted his mood and said, "Everyone should have had enough to drink, so let's call it a night. We'll drink again next time."
No one objected.
After what had just happened, everyone's enthusiasm had waned, and since they had drunk quite a bit, everyone was feeling tipsy.
Meng Dong was about to settle the bill, but Xu Xiuwen told him the boss had waived it.
Meng Dong managed a faint smile.
At the bar's entrance, the group said their goodbyes.
By now, it was already quite late.
Xu Xiuwen wasn't drunk, but he was far from clear-headed, so driving back to Jinling was out of the question.
He asked Lu Xinyao to find a hotel for the night.
They would have to stay over.
Lu Xinyao had also drunk a fair amount of alcohol, mostly drinking in place of him.
Given what had happened, an ordinary woman might have been completely shaken.
But Lu Xinyao remained very alert and calm.
She looked around the street and noticed several hotels nearby.
She selected one and went with Xu Xiuwen to the hotel.
At the hotel, Xu Xiuwen booked two deluxe rooms with large beds.
Their rooms were conveniently located across from each other.
At the door, Xu Xiuwen and Lu Xinyao said their goodbyes.
Lu Xinyao suddenly said, "Mr. Xu, thank you for protecting me earlier."
Xu Xiuwen was momentarily surprised, then smiled and said, "It's only right. You're with me, and I couldn't let you end up with that kind of scum."
Lu Xinyao shuddered as she recalled the situation and was grateful that Xu Xiuwen wasn't the kind of person who would have handed her over to Brother Long.
"Yes, I know you're not that kind of person."
"Alright, don't worry about it. Get some rest," Xu Xiuwen advised before turning to enter his room.
Once inside, Xu Xiuwen turned on the light and slowly walked to the bed.
By the bedside, he noticed a small card tucked under the fixed telephone on the nightstand.
He picked up the card and glanced at it.
It featured a photo of a seductive woman, and the contact details were printed below.
It was hard to believe that this had nothing to do with the hotel.
Although the woman in the photo was attractive, she didn't compare to his girlfriend.
Xu Xiuwen was unfazed.
He shook his head, put the card back in place, and lay down on the bed.
His vision blurred briefly before settling.
As he lay there, he suddenly felt parched.
Xu Xiuwen had already seen that the hotel provided bottled water in the room.
He got up, grabbed a bottle, twisted off the cap, and drank it quickly.
He downed the whole bottle and then lay back down on the bed.
But he soon realized that drinking the water did not relieve his dry mouth.
Instead, he felt an increasing sense of heat and inexplicable excitement.
The restlessness came on quickly and grew stronger, almost reaching a state of uncontrollable frenzy.
In no time, Xu Xiuwen's breathing became erratic.
He was gasping for air, each breath coming out with intense heat.
His body felt as though it was burning from head to toe, inside and out.
It was like he was being scorched.
Xu Xiuwen knew this was not from drunkenness.
He recognized the familiar feeling.
He suddenly remembered a similar sensation from the time An Shishi drugged him.
Could it be?
Xu Xiuwen's eyes widened.
Could it be that the cocktail contained drugs?
At this moment, this seemed to be the only reasonable explanation.
Xu Xiuwen had been drugged twice before.
The drug An Shishi used took effect quickly, but its effects weren't very strong.
It was vastly different from what he was experiencing now.
The drug Wang Erlong put in the cocktail, though slower to take effect, was far more intense.
In an instant, Xu Xiuwen's mind went blank.
He had only one thought now.
He needed a woman.
He needed to relieve himself.
Otherwise, if he held it in any longer, he would be overwhelmed.
Xu Xiuwen tossed and turned on the bed in agony.
He recalled the small card he had seen earlier.
He abruptly sat up and grabbed the card.
Sitting on the bed, he stared at the card in his hand, struggling internally.
In the end, his body's instincts and desires overwhelmed his reason.
He took out his phone and prepared to make a call.
His vision was blurred.
He couldn't clearly read the number on the card.
He shook his head and managed to make out the number.
He dialed the number on the card.
After a few beeps, the call was answered.
A woman's voice came through.
Xu Xiuwen had no time to assess how pleasant the voice was.
He quickly said into the phone, "You offer that kind of service, right? Get someone to me as fast as possible. That's my only request—fast."
"The guest is so impatient," the woman on the line replied in a sultry voice.
But before she could finish, she realized the call had already ended.
This left her unable to display her seductive charm.
After the call ended, Xu Xiuwen lay back on the bed, curled up.
At this moment, he was 100% certain that the drink had been drugged.
There are usually two solutions to this kind of situation.
Go to the hospital to have your stomach pumped, or find a woman to relieve the effects of the drug.
Now that the drug had fully taken effect, it was too late to go to the hospital.
So the only solution was to find a woman.
Xu Xiuwen had had several women.
But none of them were with him at the moment.
Water from afar cannot quench thirst nearby.
Xu Xiuwen had no choice but to resort to this method—calling a call girl.
Although Xu Xiuwen couldn't be considered a saint, he had never sought out a call girl in either his past or present life.
Perhaps in a sober state, he could have stayed true to himself.
But at this moment, he couldn't.
After a mental struggle, Xu Xiuwen eventually called the number on the card.
Once he made the decision, he felt a sudden sense of relief, and even his physical symptoms eased slightly.
Xu Xiuwen waited quietly in his room for the call girl to arrive.
Whether she would be attractive or plain, young or old, or have a good figure or not.
That was no longer something Xu Xiuwen could consider.
After Lu Xinyao returned to her room, she took a shower.
After the shower, she lay alone in bed but found it difficult to sleep.
Her mind kept replaying the scenes from the bar tonight.
Mr. Xu standing in front of her, Mr. Xu drinking that cocktail on her behalf…
These images kept appearing in her mind.
Lu Xinyao suddenly wondered, "What is Mr. Xu doing now?"
Has he gone to sleep?
Or is he, like me, unable to sleep?
Lu Xinyao abruptly sat up in bed.
Given how much Mr. Xu drank tonight, would he be sick?
Once this thought crossed her mind, she couldn't sit still any longer.
Lu Xinyao got dressed and decided to check on Mr. Xu.
She opened the door and, as she stepped outside, saw a woman standing outside the door to the opposite room.
The woman was dressed in a sexy, short dress, showing off her long legs encased in black stockings, and wearing black high heels.
Standing at the door, the woman took out a compact mirror from her small bag, checked her makeup, and then put the mirror away, ready to knock on the door.
Suddenly, she heard someone ask from behind, "Who are you?"
The woman turned to see another woman, Lu Xinyao, emerging from the opposite room.
The woman looked Lu Xinyao up and down.
Lu Xinyao was young and beautiful, far superior in every way.
The woman felt envious and chose to ignore her.
She turned back to continue knocking on the door.
Lu Xinyao moved in front of the woman, blocking her path to the door.
"I'm asking you a question. Who are you?"
Seeing the woman deliberately ignoring her, Lu Xinyao was irritated and raised her voice.
"What's it to you! Mind your own business," the woman snapped back.
Lu Xinyao was furious.
This woman clearly wasn't a respectable person.
In the middle of the night, dressed so provocatively, standing outside Mr. Xu's door.
What was she trying to do?
Was she trying to seduce Mr. Xu?
Though Lu Xinyao didn't know how the woman knew which room Mr. Xu was in, she felt she didn't stand a chance against someone like that.
Mr. Xu's girlfriends were all like celestial beings.
There's no way he'd be interested in a woman like her with such an overtly seductive demeanor.
Mr. Xu had protected her from being insulted at the bar tonight.
Now, Lu Xinyao needed to protect Mr. Xu from being disturbed by such a woman.
With a stern face, Lu Xinyao said, "This is Mr. Xu's room. He's asleep. You are not allowed to disturb him."
Upon hearing Lu Xinyao, the woman sneered, "Asleep? If he's asleep, then who was the man who just called? Is there another man in the room?"
"What call?"
"I don't have time to chat with you. Get out of the way."
"You need to explain. What call? Why are you knocking on Mr. Xu's door?"
The woman was also annoyed by Lu Xinyao and decided to reveal the details of the phone call Xu Xiuwen made earlier.
Although the woman wasn't very clear, Lu Xinyao understood what she meant.
It turned out that this woman was a call girl!
And Mr. Xu had called her earlier, seeking her services!
Lu Xinyao was stunned.
She couldn't believe that someone as outstanding as Mr. Xu would seek out a call girl while staying at a hotel.
Seeing Lu Xinyao's shocked expression, the woman laughed and said, "Now you understand what's going on, right? Move out of the way, don't waste my time making money."
"No!" Lu Xinyao snapped back, regaining her composure.
She spread her arms to block the woman. "I won't allow you to harass Mr. Xu."
"Oh, you keep calling him Mr. Xu. Is the person inside really the boss? He sounds quite young. Your comment makes me even more interested. Move aside."
"Shameless," Lu Xinyao couldn't help but curse.
The woman, infuriated by the insult, retorted, "Who are you calling shameless? I'm giving you face!"
Lu Xinyao didn't back down. "I'll insult whoever's shameless."
The woman shot back, "Calling me shameless? If I hadn't come, wouldn't you have knocked on the door yourself? It's the middle of the night, knocking on your boss's door. Don't lie and say you weren't trying to seduce Mr. Xu. You're just angry because I beat you to it. Hmph, Mr. Xu wouldn't look at you; you should reflect on yourself."
The woman's words enraged Lu Xinyao.
If it weren't for the fact that this involved Mr. Xu, Lu Xinyao would have called the police right then and there.
"How much do you want to leave?" Lu Xinyao forced herself to stay calm and asked.
The woman twirled a strand of hair and replied, "500 yuan."
Upon hearing this, Lu Xinyao quickly pulled out five 100-yuan bills from her wallet and handed them over.
"Here's the money. Leave quickly. I don't want to see you again."
The woman took the 500 yuan with a cold smirk, said nothing further, and turned to leave.
Lu Xinyao watched the woman's back until she disappeared from view, then let out a sigh of relief.
Next, she turned her gaze to Mr. Xu's room door.
A complex expression flickered across her face.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
Lu Xinyao knocked on Mr. Xu's door.
After waiting five agonizing minutes in the room, Xu Xiuwen finally heard the knock.
Those five minutes felt like a lifetime to him.
Using the little bit of rationality he had left, Xu Xiuwen got out of bed to open the door.
When the door opened, Xu Xiuwen was stunned to see Lu Xinyao standing outside.
His disappointment was almost palpable.
"What are you doing here?"
Looking at Xu Xiuwen blocking the door, Lu Xinyao said softly, "Mr. Xu, let me in to talk."
Xu Xiuwen didn't move aside.
"Lu Xinyao, it's getting late. Go back and rest. We'll talk tomorrow."
Lu Xinyao frowned slightly.
Normally, if Mr. Xu told her to leave, she wouldn't dare disobey.
But after spending the day in close proximity, she had realized that Mr. Xu was quite easygoing.
Feigning ignorance, Lu Xinyao asked, "Mr. Xu, why aren't you asleep yet? Are you waiting for someone?"
"I'm not waiting for anyone. I'm about to go to sleep."
Xu Xiuwen was straining to control himself, trying not to lose control.
Before Lu Xinyao arrived, he was uncomfortable but still managed to maintain some self-control.
However, seeing Lu Xinyao, hearing the woman's voice, and smelling the fragrance on her had ignited every part of him.
"What's wrong with you, Mr. Xu?"
Lu Xinyao finally noticed that Xu Xiuwen's reaction was off.
His eyes were bloodshot, with a dense network of veins, looking very scary…