Yang Shuyu looked at Cheng Yi incredulously. Although she had been pestering him for a while and Cheng Yi's words were sometimes hurtful, what she hadn't expected was that Cheng Yi would humiliate her in front of so many people.
Thinking of this made her skin feel tight.
Yang Shuyu's face became extremely stiff, and it took her a while to find her voice again, "Mr. Yi, Mr. Yi, if you don't like the scent of this perfume, I won't wear it again."
Seeing the scene turn awkward, Lu Jiang stepped in to ease the tension, "Shuyu, look how unhappy you've made Mr. Yi. Why don't you offer him a drink?"
Understanding that Lu Jiang was giving her a way out, Yang Shuyu picked up a glass from the table and said, "Mr. Yi, I offer this drink to you."
Then she drank it all in one gulp.
Lu Jiang glanced at Cheng Yi's expression and then said, "Alright, alright, let's all have a drink."
With that, he refilled Cheng Yi's glass, and after a few rounds, the incident seemed to be settled.
After the ordeal, Yang Shuyu behaved much more cautiously, sitting next to Cheng Yi and hardly daring to breathe, afraid of upsetting him again.
Of course, besides Yang Shuyu, Xinan also felt uneasy. She couldn't figure out what Cheng Yi was thinking. He had been so affectionate with Yang Shuyu in the makeup room just moments ago, yet now he seemed like a completely different person.
Xinan laughed at herself, Cheng Yi treated her the same way, perhaps even worse than how he treated Yang Shuyu.
"Drink this glass for me," Cheng Yi slightly lifted his face, his eyes fixated on Xinan.
Xinan felt a sinking feeling in her heart. Was it her turn now?
But her alcohol tolerance was poor, and she hadn't recovered from the drink she had when she arrived.
Seeing Cheng Yi's expression change, Lu Jiang hurriedly urged Xinan, "Xinan, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and drink!"
Xinan managed a weak smile and obediently drank the glass for Cheng Yi, knowing that provoking him was not a wise move.
One glass followed by another, and eventually, Cheng Yi's drinks were all consumed by her.
Seeing Xinan's flush face, Meng Qiu asked with concern, "Sister Xinan, are you alright?"
Xinan waved her hand and glanced sideways at the man next to her, who was busy uttering pleasantries to others.
Then another glass was presented to her.
His hands were beautiful, with long, slender fingers. The veins on the back of his hands were prominent as he held the glass, making it look not like a glass but a piece of art.
When Xinan took the glass, her fingers lightly touched the back of his cool hand, but the man quickly withdrew his hand.
Xinan paused for a moment, then drank the liquor.
Suddenly, her stomach churned as if something was about to burst forth. Ignoring the glances of others, Xinan ran out quickly and violently vomited in the restroom.
Feeling like her chest was blocked and unable to breathe, she didn't know how long she vomited before her stomach was finally empty.
It had been a long time since she had last vomited from drinking, and suddenly, her eyes felt sore.
She remembered the times she went out with Tan Bo and others, where drinking was always part of the fun.
Before that incident, Xinan had never drunk alcohol. Seeing Cheng Yi and Tan Bo drinking happily, her curiosity was piqued, and she wanted to try it.
So, she took advantage of Cheng Yi's absence in the restroom, and pleaded with Tan Bo to order her a drink. Little did she know, her alcohol tolerance was so poor that one drink was enough to knock her out.
When Cheng Yi returned and saw the flushed face and dazed eyes of the girl, he felt a massive headache.
Then a look at Tan Bo, "Don't ever let her drink again."
The voice was icy and chilling, even Tan Bo was taken aback by it.
From that day on, as long as Cheng Yi was around, no one dared to let her drink, even at very important occasions, Cheng Yi would silently move her drink to his place.
By then, Cheng Yi was genuinely kind to her, and Xinan even felt that he might have liked her a bit...
Meng Qiu followed into the bathroom, gently rubbing Xinan's back, "Sister Xinan, are you okay?"
Xinan came back to her senses and slowly straightened up, "I'm fine."
"Sister Xinan, why don't you go back and rest? I'll go talk to Director Lu Jiang."
Xinan shook her head, "I'm fine, Meng Qiu. Don't worry about me."
Xinan certainly would not leave such a mess for Meng Qiu to handle. Having just graduated from university, she could neither afford to provoke nor should provoke anyone there.
Moreover, now that Cheng Yi was deliberately making things difficult for her, how could he let her leave easily?
After returning to the private room, Xinan could clearly feel Cheng Yi's gaze on her, but she dared not look at him.
"I see you're quite good at pretending," the man's contemptuous voice came.
The sound was very low, only heard by Xinan.
Her body stiffened, she did not respond, but puppet-like, she gave him a forced smile.
Cheng Yi scoffed, glanced at the people in the room, and said loudly, "It seems Miss Xi can handle her liquor quite well, having drunk so much and still being so sober."
Saying so, he took a whole unopened bottle of liquor and placed it in front of Xinan, then leisurely said, "In that case, if Miss Xi can drink this bottle all at once, we'll call it a night here."
The people in the private room looked at Xinan with pity.
Xinan's face turned extremely ugly, her already pale face now devoid of any color.
"Can... can I not drink it?"
"What do you think?"
Li Yu couldn't stand it anymore and stood up to speak to Mr. Yi, "Mr. Yi, Xinan has already drunk enough previously, she even vomited just now. How about this, let me drink it for her?"
Mr. Yi seemed to hear some hilarious joke, laughed out loud, then slowly set his gaze on Li Yu, "You drink for her, who do you think you are?"
Xinan, not wanting Li Yu to upset Mr. Yi because of her, picked up the bottle and began to drink.
"Xinan, you..."
"Sister Xinan..."
Li Yu and Meng Qiu called out at the same time.
Xinan drank sporadically, feeling like her stomach was on fire, but no matter how much it hurt, she had to endure.
After taking the last sip, Xinan slammed the bottle down on the table, looked straight at Cheng Yi, and slowly said, "Are you satisfied?"
Finally, Mr. Yi called a halt to the drinking party. As people left one by one, Xinan slowly walked out of the private room, with Meng Qiu supporting her, fearing she might fall.
Xinan leaned on Meng Qiu and the wall as she slowly walked home.
Once home, Xinan couldn't hold it in any longer; she stumbled into the bathroom and began to vomit, seeing Xinan tormented like this, Meng Qiu felt deeply heartbroken.