Chapter 20
Xie Xiaojiang talked incessantly all the way, and at the end, he sincerely apologized to Wei Yuhuan.
Wei Yuhuan couldn’t be angry about this anymore. Moreover, after a month of getting along, his liking for Xie Xiaojiang had already blinded him. Even if Xie Xiaojiang was a person with a twisted mind and bad values before, he decided to personally help him change for the better. Besides, this little guy’s nature was not bad, and he could be forgiven.
“Alright, alright,” Wei Yuhuan pulled him closer to him and teased him, “If I’m still holding a grudge against you, do I need to be so nice to you?”
Xie Xiaojiang sniffled and laughed, his nose red from the cold, which made Wei Yuhuan want to pinch him again.
When they arrived home, Xie Xiaojiang was a little listless. After all, he drank more than five catties of white wine in one go, and just cried a lot, which was extremely exhausting.
After hastily washing his face, he went to sleep on his own.
When Wei Yuhuan finished showering and got into bed, he saw that Xie Xiaojiang had already curled up and fallen asleep. His long breaths and rosy cheeks indicated that he was physically fine, but his breath had a strong smell of alcohol, making him look like a “drunken crab.”
Wei Yuhuan breathed a sigh of relief and hugged Xie Xiaojiang gently, who was too lovable, so he just wanted to give him some warmth.
However, Xie Xiaojiang’s body was radiating warmth all over, like a natural little heater in this cold southern winter.
Once Wei Yuhuan hugged him, he couldn’t let go. Xie Xiaojiang, being held by someone, snuggled closer to Wei Yuhuan’s embrace, murmured something, and then fell asleep again.
This action made Wei Yuhuan’s heart tremble again. He didn’t dare to move too much, for fear of disturbing the little crab’s sound sleep.
The next morning, Xie Xiaojiang woke up in Wei Yuhuan’s arms.
Sharing a bed for a month, although not sleeping close, they shared a blanket, and the two had already become familiar with each other’s scent. When Xie Xiaojiang opened his eyes, he didn’t feel that anything was wrong at first, but then he realized that he was almost wrapped up in Wei Yuhuan’s arms.
His face blushed, and even though there was no involvement in anything, the ambiguous posture of being held by two grown men shook him deeply.
Wei Yuhuan didn’t wake up, and his hands were still on Xie Xiaojiang’s body. For a moment, Xie Xiaojiang didn’t dare to move, but besides fear, he felt like he was enjoying the feeling of being held.
Mainly, Xie Xiaojiang never experienced any fatherly love, his father never fulfilled his duties as a father, and his grandfather was a person who was reserved in words and actions. As a result, Xie Xiaojiang’s growth path severely lacked the guidance and care of older same-sex individuals.
Wei Yuhuan had the kind of temperament that Xie Xiaojiang longed for – wise, inclusive, and mature charm, like a gentle older brother, making people unconsciously want to depend on him.
Xie Xiaojiang felt his heart beating a little faster. Just as he wanted to close his eyes and lie on the bed for a while, Wei Yuhuan woke up a bit and he got nervous, quickly breaking free.
“What time is it?” Wei Yuhuan’s voice was sexy with a morning hoarseness.
“Um, it’s after eight o’clock,” Xie Xiaojiang said, getting out of bed and hopping towards the bathroom.
Seeing that he was in good spirits, with almost no hangover symptoms, Wei Yuhuan couldn’t help but smile. This kid really could drink!
With Xie Xiaojiang’s alcohol tolerance determined, Wei Yuhuan notified Shen Xuan to set up the banquet.
Xie Ye and Huan Yu had also done their preparations, and everyone was working together to take down Hongrui before the Spring Festival, so that they could each bring home a big red envelope.
The banquet was set for the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, and Wei Yuhuan even sent an invitation to Wang Laoye, under the pretext of celebrating Little New Year. Wang Daqi happily accepted, having been a soldier and with a good drinking capacity, he could drink almost anyone under the table, and he was not afraid even though he knew this was a “Hongmen Banquet”.
On that day, Xie Xiaojiang attended as Wei Yuhuan’s personal assistant and little brother, dressed to impress.
For more than a month, Wei Yuhuan had taken Xie Xiaojiang to attend various banquets and social events, all leading up to this banquet.
Xie Xiaojing was used to such occasions, so he didn’t appear timid or afraid. On the contrary, because of his strong learning ability, he had learned the manners and gestures of social occasions in just one month, and was extremely confident in handling social conversations.
Although he didn’t have a high education, he was smart and quick-witted. When encountering something he didn’t understand, as long as he blinked his big eyes, he would give people the impression of being “humble, cute and eager to learn”, making people feel more fond of him.
With these characteristics, coupled with his good looks, Xie Xiaojiang had already become close with a group of subordinates in Wei Yuhuan’s company.
Of course, among these people, only Li Xiuya, who has always treated people with a bit of coldness, still kept a little distance from him.
After the banquet started, Xie Xiaojiang didn’t immediately jump out to drink with Wang Daqi. Wei Yuhuan reminded him to quietly eat first and not to stand out.
Xie Xiaojiang understood the strategy of playing dumb at first and then revealing his strength, and since Wang Daqi also had a group of people with him, Wei Yuhuan naturally couldn’t let him rush in as cannon fodder.
At the table with ten or so people, they started chatting one after another. Wang Daqi was the main speaker, partly because of his age and also because of his military experience, which made some of the younger inexperienced men listen attentively. In fact, those with more social experience knew that some of the things Wang Daqi said were exaggerated, but if they were intimidated by his experience and aura, they wouldn’t be able to talk about anything later.
Wei Yuhuan listened respectfully on the surface but kept his thoughts to himself. Xie Xiaojiang, on the other hand, was completely absorbed in listening to Wang Daqi’s stories. He was in awe of the man who had been in wars, salvaged ships in the South China Sea, and even had dinner with a commander who later became the Minister of National Defense. Xie Xiaojiang forgot to eat and just stared at Wang Daqi with admiration.
Blowing one’s own trumpet requires interaction in order to succeed. Wang Daqi needed someone willing to listen and praise him, and his keen intuition told him that Xie Xiaojiang was the perfect candidate. Xie Xiaojiang even asked timely questions like “What happened next?” and showed strong interest in Wang Daqi’s stories. As a result, Wang Daqi was happy to keep talking and drinking more.
Wei Yuhuan watched as things progressed in the planned direction, but strangely, he felt uneasy. Seeing Xie Xiaojiang’s open admiration for Wang Daqi, he wanted to pull him aside and hide him, as Xie’s focused expression belonged to him before.
Wei Yuhuan ate his food with a heavy heart and began to feel uneasy about his possessiveness towards Xie Xiaojiang.
After three rounds of drinking, both sides were a little drunk, and they finally began to discuss the main topic.
Wang Daqi continued to play the game with Xiao Shen in a leisurely manner: “Xiao Shen, you are so accomplished at such a young age, very impressive. I salute you with a toast.” The underlying meaning of his words was “if you want me to take you seriously, you have to beat me in drinking first.”
Xiao Shen responded modestly, “No, no, I should be toasting you instead.” He then signaled Wei Yuhuan with his eyes.
Wei Yuhuan immediately stood up and introduced his assistant, Xiao Jiang, who had just joined the company recently. He explained that Xiao Jiang had been involved in the project from start to finish and had insisted on coming to meet Wang Daqi. “Come on, Xiao Jiang, toast Wang Daqi,” Wei Yuhuan said.
Xiao Jiang promptly stood up and raised his glass. “Mr. Wang, you are my elder, I should drink first, you can follow suit,” he said.
Wang Daqi was not one to follow suit, he also drank the toast. He was impressed with Xiao Jiang, who looked even younger than Xiao Shen and Wei Yuhuan, but had no problem drinking white wine.
Xiao Jiang continued, “Mr. Wang, I was deeply touched by your stories earlier. You radiate a sense of righteousness that inspires me. A thousand cups of wine are not enough for a true friend. I heard from Mr. Wei that you can hold your liquor very well. Today, I will drink with you until we are both satisfied!”
Wang Daqi laughed heartily, “Good, good! Waiter, more wine!”
As the waiter brought more wine, Xiao Jiang kept up with Wang Daqi, drinking one glass after another. Wang Daqi was pleased with Xiao Jiang’s attitude and admiring expression. Meanwhile, Wei Yuhuan and Xiao Shen interjected timely comments to distract Wang Daqi’s attention, leaving him completely unaware that Xiao Jiang was the secret weapon brought by the other company to deal with him.
After drinking two or three catties of white wine, Wang Daqi’s brain was congested, and he finally realized that he had fallen into a trap!
At this moment, Wei Yuhuan and Xiao Shen were still soberly sitting across from him, while he was already quite drunk.
Looking at the smiling Xiao Jiang, showing off his two small tiger teeth with a naive look on his face, Wang Daqi realized that Xiao Jiang was not the “young and impetuous” person he had initially thought. He had come prepared!
Wang Daqi paused for a moment, then laughed heartily again. He gave Xiao Jiang a thumbs up and said only four words, “Impressive young man!”
Wang Daqi completely let go of his arrogance and calmly discussed business with Xiao Shen.
Xiao Jiang sat down quietly, having eaten a little food and listened to their conversation without interrupting. He had initially thought that the person they were dealing with tonight was going to be a big problem, as Wei Yuhuan had been so concerned and wanted to test the wine, but he drank less tonight than on the wine-testing day.
Xiao Jiang sat there happily, listening to their discussion and not interjecting anymore.
At the dinner table, they talked briefly, and Wang Daqi asked Shen Xuan and the others to discuss in detail at a later date. The meal ended on a high note.
Before leaving the table, Wang Daqi gestured for Xie Xiaojiang to come over and handed him a business card with a smile.
Xie Xiaojiang was surprised and grateful, thanking him. When Wei Yuhuan took him to social occasions before, Xie Xiaojiang had seen that these high-ranking bosses only gave their cards to people of the same status.
Wang Daqi asked, “What about yours?”
Xie Xiaojiang blushed and said, “I don’t have a card yet.”
Wang Daqi chuckled and looked at Wei Yuhuan, who was looking in their direction, and whispered to Xie Xiaojiang, “You’re pretty good. If you ever want to change jobs, you can consider coming to Hongrui. I won’t treat you unfairly.”
Xie Xiaojiang: “…” Did he just get poached? (⊙v⊙)