HEIFEIGU -Chapter 74

“Some people really aren’t afraid of death.” Wu Lianmian’s dirty eyes swept over Xie Jixing. “You? Not bad… not bad at all.”

His smile grew increasingly lecherous. “You look so tender and clean, but brother tells you this—once you open your mouth, even if you beg for mercy later, don’t think I’ll let you off.”

Jiang Yueli’s expression darkened. She stared at Xie Jixing. “What are you causing trouble for? Go back there and stay with Teacher Huai.”

Xie Jixing patted her shoulder reassuringly, smiling even brighter. “Don’t worry, Miss Jiang. I’m in a good mood today. I’ll just play along with Mr. Wu a bit.”

“Miss Yue, have you checked?”

Yue Qinyao stared at the paper phone. Why is there a foreign word?

“Got it. The one with the highest resale value… Romanee-Conti… over 20,000 per bottle.”

Wow, this works. Xie Jixing felt a bit happier.

“Miss Yue, get ready—I’ll grab ten bottles for us first.”

He looked at the already opened bottles on the table, then set them aside, turning to Wu Lianmian. “I don’t like other people’s drinks. I want… that one…”

Eh, what’s it called again? Forgot.

Yue Qinyao leaned close to his ear.

“Romanee-Conti.”

“Right, Romanee-Conti.”

“Perfect.” Wu Lianmian leaned back in his chair. “Open them. Drink as much as you can, go ahead.”

“One cup of yours, ten of mine,” Xie Jixing tapped the table with his fingers. “Of course, that still depends on you, Mr. Wu—how much can you drink?”

Wu Lianmian laughed heartily. “Good, good. If I drink too little, it wouldn’t be fun.”

He placed two bottles in front of him. “I’ll start with these.”

Steady!

Xie Jixing felt even better—reselling one bottle at 20,000, twenty bottles? That’s 400,000 in one go. Not bad.

“I’ll follow Mr. Wu and start with twenty bottles too.” Gotta stay calm, can’t be reckless.

This place often hosted celebrities, and the high-end liquor selection was complete. The twenty bottles of Romanee-Conti were quickly brought over.

Even someone naturally alcohol-tolerant wouldn’t survive twenty bottles without serious effects. Xie Jixing, as a newcomer from Tingyun Entertainment, couldn’t afford an accident.

Director Yang tried to intervene again, but Zhao Chaoran held him back. Zhao Chaoran’s gaze on Xie Jixing was full of interest.

Xie Jixing glanced at the row of bottles on the table, then subtly set a small fire. He burned along the line of bottles.

The drinks on the table were all replaced with empty paper cups.

“Miss Yue, delivery’s here. Sign for it!”

With the twenty bottles in hand, it was time to show his performance.

Pouring the deep red liquid into ten glasses before him, Wu Lianmian slowly lifted his own. “Cheers.”

Everyone saw Xie Jixing drink ten glasses of red wine without flinching.

Even Wei Tingquan’s cold, beautiful face twitched. He leaned toward Huai Xinhou, whispering, “Teacher Huai, is he really this capable?”

Huai Xinhou was dumbfounded. Last time at a variety show dinner, he only saw Xie Jixing’s eating power; today he witnessed his extraordinary drinking ability.

So his alcohol tolerance was terrifying too?!

“Interesting.” The previously lazy Wu Lianmian straightened in his chair and poured himself another glass, downing it in one gulp.

Xie Jixing then poured another ten glasses and drank them expressionlessly.

Everyone was stunned.

Even Zhao Chaoran was baffled, suspecting Xie Jixing of some sleight-of-hand.

But the bottles and glasses were from the restaurant; Zhao and Wu had only decided to come tonight, leaving no room for prepared tricks or gimmicks.

It turned out that this kid had some brains, but they were useless.

To test him, Zhao Chaoran held out a cup. “Teacher Xie, can you pour me a glass too?”

This guy was so annoying!

Xie Jixing bared his teeth in his mind. Pouring him a glass would mean actually opening a bottle of wine, watching 20,000 yuan go down the drain—it was practically a death sentence for a small money lover like him.

“One glass is already quite a lot…” Xie Jixing wasn’t too keen. “If you want to drink, can’t you just open a bottle yourself?”

Zhao Chaoran: ???

Was my one glass really delaying your 20 bottles? There had to be something fishy here!

“Not enough to drink?” Zhao Chaoran insisted, bringing the cup closer. “Pour me a glass, and I’ll open two more bottles for you.”

“Alright then.” Pouring one glass in exchange for two bottles was a pretty good deal. Xie Jixing moved a bottle and poured a glass for Zhao Chaoran.

The wine smelled rich and tasted mellow. Zhao Chaoran drank the glass with no problem at all.

Since the bottles were already opened, Xie Jixing went ahead and poured himself a few glasses of the real thing.

Mm, no wonder this wine cost 30,000 yuan a bottle—it really was delicious!

They went back and forth like this, and in less than an hour, Wu Lianmian was already drunk under the table.

Xie Jixing savored the last small sip, then called out to Zhao Chaoran, who was helping Wu Lianmian up and heading out. “Hey, you guys…”

“What?” Zhao Chaoran glared at Wu Lianmian, who kept leaning on him. With his level of skill, he still had the nerve to challenge someone to a drinking contest?

“I just poured you a glass—don’t forget to pay me back those two bottles you owe.” Xie Jixing reminded him.

Alright, alright, 20 bottles still aren’t enough for you, huh?

Zhao Chaoran gritted his teeth and swiped two more bottles with Wu Lianmian’s card. Not only did he lose hundreds of thousands, he didn’t even get any advantage—just lost face. He wanted to stuff Wu Lianmian into a toilet as soon as he got out.

Xie Jixing finished more than half a bottle of red wine, staring blankly into his glass.

Hehe, delicious, love it, want more—should I open another bottle?

But thinking of the price, he decided against it. Even with money now, he couldn’t be so extravagant.

The crew gathered around. Jiang Yueli held Xie Jixing’s hand and kept checking, still uneasy. “Are you really okay? That’s twenty bottles of red wine!”

Xie Jixing chuckled—actually it was just more than half a bottle.

“You seem a little drunk,” Jiang Yueli said as she helped him up. “Look at you—a room full of people, everyone older than you—what gives you, a little kid, the right to solve problems?”

It sounded like a rebuke to Xie Jixing but hit everyone in the room like a slap.

After saying this, Jiang Yueli’s eyes reddened. A bunch of people with connections and experience saw her being bullied, and yet a younger guy she had known for only a day stood up and helped her.

“It’s mutual,” Xie Jixing comforted her. “Others have everything and too many concerns; I have nothing, so the barefoot doesn’t fear the shoe.”

“Let’s go, get some rest!” Jiang Yueli glared at Director Yang. “Don’t play with these people again.”

Xie Jixing comforted Jiang Yueli while giving Yue Qinyao a glance. Don’t forget the two new bottles we just opened.

Yue Qinyao gave a thumbs-up with her black hair, summoning the unlucky ghost who was resting to come back to work.

Jiang Yueli dragged Xie Jixing away—no one dared stop them. What she said earlier was indeed embarrassing for them.

A few schemers who wanted to cling to the big shots lost interest, but Director Yang still hadn’t left, so no one dared move. Only Wei Tingquan followed Jiang Yueli and Xie Jixing.

A few steps later, they heard Jiang Yueli’s angry voice from around the corner.

She must have been really angry—her tone was extremely intense, clearly complaining.

Wei Tingquan hesitated, then followed.

Jiang Yueli saw him but didn’t hang up, still venting angrily. “What’s the deal with that Yang guy and Zhao Chaoran?”

“Before filming, you don’t say anything, and then this at the crew…”

Wei Tingquan shrugged. Scary.

He approached Xie Jixing from behind, tugged at his sleeve, and extended a hand. “Hi, let’s get acquainted. I’m Wei Tingquan.”

Xie Jixing glanced at him but didn’t move.

What did this mean?

“He harassed me before too, very annoying,” Wei Tingquan shyly scratched his head. His cold beauty melted. “So I think you’re really handsome.”

The enemy of my enemy is my friend—makes sense.

“And then?” Xie Jixing was a bit sympathetic. “Did he succeed?”

“Nope.” Wei Tingquan pouted. “My boyfriend broke his hand, so he didn’t dare mess with me again. Many people noticed that.”

What? What?? WHAT???

Bro, you suddenly tell me you have a boyfriend—should I pretend I didn’t hear that?

Xie Jixing wanted to kick over this bowl of dog food, but unexpectedly, after the cold beauty melted, he became clingy. Wei Tingquan kept babbling about himself and his boyfriend’s little stories all the way.

Claiming it was to make sure Xie Jixing got home safely because he’d had too much to drink.

After pretending to be aloof all day, it seemed he had pent-up energy.

Xie Jixing recalled that this guy had over 30 million followers. Did they know he acted like this privately?

“Of course not,” Wei Tingquan replied with pride.

Xie Jixing: Damn, a little too much wine, and secrets are spilling.

“I’ve built a perfect persona,” Wei Tingquan said proudly. “Everyone thinks I grew up eating flowers and drinking snow water.”

“Actually, I love spicy peppers with pork intestines, and snails’ noodles.”

After Jiang Yueli hung up, confirming Wu Lianmian and Zhao Chaoran were both out of trouble, she calmed down.

But today’s anger was intense—she had a bit of a headache. Seeing the two already chatting, she gave Wei Tingquan an instruction. “Little Wei, I’m leaving. Please escort Xingxing back.”

Wei Tingquan nodded, though his mind was still on recommending instant snail noodles to Xie Jixing.

“My boyfriend likes Luobawang, but I think it’s not stinky enough…”

Xie Jixing suspected he was sneaking in personal preferences, slipping dog food into the noodles.

Finally arriving at his floor, the overwhelming dog food was already stuck in his throat.

Wei Tingquan finally changed the subject, asking, “Xingxing, do you have a boyfriend?”

“No.” Xie Jixing sped up, not wanting to hear the word “boyfriend” again.

“Why not? You’re so handsome, how do you not have one?” Wei Tingquan ran up. “I could introduce you to a guy—”

He cut himself off just in time because at Xie Jixing’s door stood a tall, imposing man.

Though in shadow, his aura was intimidating.

Wei Tingquan quickly said goodbye. “Bye, Xingxing, see you tomorrow.”

No boyfriend, yet this tall, fierce-looking guy—who was he?

Little Wei ran off.