Liam Li was still talking when footsteps sounded outside the door.
See? I told you, don't get too close to Evan Lin. In a minute, you should beg your buddy Henry—maybe he'll let you off since you're coworkers.
Of course, Liam Li thought Summer Mu was under Henry Zhang’s control—after all, Henry was the lobby manager here and had some authority over personnel.
"Is that so?" Summer Mu looked at Liam Li and nodded slightly. "Then I should thank you for the reminder."
"No problem, no problem. Since you seem pretty sharp, I’ll help plead your case to Henry."
"But if Henry really goes after Evan Lin later, I’d advise you not to get mixed up in this mess." Jason Zhao looked at Summer Mu and snorted.
He’d just tried to chat with Lynn Chen, but noticed she kept glancing at Evan Lin, who was quietly eating with his head down. How could Jason Zhao not feel a little resentment toward Evan?
Back in River City, all the girls liked Jason Zhao. He’d flirted with quite a few.
The first time he saw Lynn Chen at Imperial Grand KTV, Jason Zhao was stunned. He’d already decided to win her over—and, as luck would have it, some fat loser showed up, giving him a chance to play the hero.
If things had gone according to plan, Lynn Chen would’ve been his for sure. But then, out of nowhere, disaster struck—Jason Zhao got beaten up and ended up looking like a pig, while that country bumpkin Evan Lin stole the spotlight.
This outing was Liam Li’s idea—he wanted to help Jason Zhao win over Lynn Chen. He didn’t expect Evan Lin to show up again and mess things up. Now Lynn doesn’t seem interested in Jason at all.
Jason Zhao was thinking about this when the door opened. Henry Zhang’s slightly tipsy face appeared first.
"Here he comes!" Jason Zhao’s eyes lit up, full of anticipation. He was just waiting for Henry Zhang to bring people in and teach Evan Lin a lesson to vent his own frustration.
"Henry, you’re here! Where’d you go just now? Evan Lin’s been here a while—did you go call for backup? Where are they?" Liam Li grinned at Henry Zhang, glancing behind him. "Henry, since it’s for my sake, tell your guys to go easy—just don’t cripple or kill anyone."
Liam Li’s words trailed off, puzzled—Henry Zhang didn’t have anyone with him.
Henry Zhang just laughed, saying, "I stepped out to wash my face and clear my head—I drank a little too much earlier. Hope you guys don’t mind."
Henry Zhang put the bottle of 1982 Lafite on the table. "I bumped into the waiter on my way back and heard you ordered a bottle of Lafite, so I grabbed it for you."
"Red wine’s trickier to open than beer, so I’ll help you guys out and let it breathe—the flavor’s better that way. Consider this bottle my apology."
After speaking, Henry Zhang opened the bottle with a corkscrew, poured it into a big glass decanter, and let it breathe.
Liam Li was stunned. "Henry, you’re really giving me face here! This bottle was supposed to be on Evan Lin’s friend—no need for you to go to all this trouble. Seriously, you don’t have to do so much for me."
Liam Li winked at Henry Zhang, still hoping Henry would go beat up Evan Lin. But after Henry came back, his attitude was weirdly different.
What’s going on here?
Not just Liam Li—Jason Zhao was confused too.
Yolanda Fang and Lynn Chen instinctively looked toward Evan Lin. Ever since Henry Zhang entered, Evan hadn’t even looked up.
The boy sitting next to Evan Lin didn’t look at Henry Zhang either. The two of them just naturally ignored him.
"Henry, you’re really going all out." Maggie Ma joked quickly. "Liam says you two are tight—guess he’s right."
"Yeah, who knew Liam had so much pull?" Cathy Li’s eyes sparkled.
"Of course! Liam and Henry Zhang are like brothers." Sisi Shao chimed in, though she still felt something was off but couldn’t put her finger on it.
"Absolutely, absolutely." Henry Zhang nodded, bowing slightly and sneaking a glance at Evan Lin and Summer Mu—neither of them looked up.
Henry Zhang steeled himself, shifted his gaze, and stared at the two crates of unfinished beer.
"I haven’t finished this crate yet—let me drink first. You all eat, and if you want more food, just order whatever you like." Henry Zhang greeted everyone, took out a bottle, opened it with a bottle opener, and started chugging in front of everyone.
"Hey, Henry, what are you doing?" Liam Li was startled.
After downing a whole bottle, Henry Zhang shook his head and burped. "Liam, don’t say anything—I’m happy today, and when I’m happy, I drink. I’m gonna drink a lot."
"Drinking is great—I haven’t had this much fun in years." Henry Zhang took a deep breath and kept pouring himself more.
Gulp gulp gulp…
One bottle after another—soon, Henry Zhang had finished the whole crate.
He drank so fast that his face was flushed and his eyes were unfocused.
"Henry, take it easy."
Liam Li was startled by the scene.
[Irrelevant passage skipped: non-novel content.]
Henry Zhang waved his hand. "There’s another crate—don’t stop me, I’m drinking more."
With that, Henry Zhang started on the second crate.
One bottle after another.
Just as he finished the second crate, Henry Zhang collapsed on the floor, totally drunk.
"Liam, what’s up with Henry?" Sisi Shao asked hesitantly.
"No idea—maybe he’s just really happy today." Liam Li looked embarrassed and glared hard at Evan Lin. "Guess you got lucky, Evan—if Henry wasn’t drunk, you wouldn’t be walking out of here tonight."
As soon as Liam finished, the supposedly dead-drunk Henry Zhang suddenly burst into tears.
"I was wrong, bro, I really was wrong—please forgive me."
"I didn’t recognize greatness when I saw it—I really was wrong, please let me off this once!" Henry Zhang sobbed, crawling up from the floor, snot and tears everywhere.
He’d been watching Summer Mu and Evan Lin’s reactions while drinking, but neither said a word, so he didn’t dare stop.
After finishing both crates, Henry panicked when Summer Mu still didn’t say a word.
If he lost this job, all his past efforts would be for nothing.
"Henry, what’s wrong?" Liam Li was startled and tried to help Henry Zhang, who was crawling toward Evan Lin.
"Get out of my way!" Henry Zhang shook off Liam Li’s hand, yelled at him, then crawled under the table toward Summer Mu, trying to grab her leg.
Summer Mu frowned. Just then, the door opened and three people came in, expressionless, looking at Summer.
Summer Mu tapped the table lightly. The three understood, stepped forward, and dragged Henry Zhang out.
Liam Li and the others froze.
The table fell silent.