Free in the Flowers

Chapter 7: Night Banquet

Wang Min and Guo Bin felt a mix of disappointment and jealousy over Zhang Wei's successful deal, but they naturally wouldn't refuse the opportunity to dine without spending money. They were determined to order some expensive dishes and drinks at the table, hoping to make Zhang Wei feel the pinch, even if they couldn't quite bankrupt him.

Although Zhang Wei could see through people's thoughts with his mind-reading abilities, he didn't notice the two's little schemes, and even if he had, he wouldn't have cared. The cost of the meal was merely a few thousand yuan, a drop in the bucket compared to the thirty thousand yuan he earned from the deal.

Because Zhang Wei was treating everyone to dinner tonight and there were no clients coming in the evening, Xu Ming had specially approved an early leave of one hour. There was no evening meeting, and after clocking out, everyone closed the store's main door and took a taxi straight to the restaurant.

Yulin Hotel wasn't considered a grand hotel in Beijing, but it was known for its affordable prices and delicious food, making it a fairly economical choice. If someone from the Zhongtong store was treating others to a meal, they would usually book a table here, and it was no different this time.

The lobby manager of Yulin Hotel, who was an old acquaintance of store manager Xu Ming, personally led the group of six to a private room. This room was quite quiet, with an eight-seater round table inside, and the air conditioning was already on, making it cooler than the outside.

As they were regular customers, the lobby manager served them personally, placing a menu in front of Xu Ming and asking, "Store manager Xu, what would you like to drink tonight? We have some fine Wuliangye liquor, would you like two bottles?" "Sure, bring us two bottles!"

“I've been wanting to try what Wuliangye tastes like. I've heard it's even more fragrant than Moutai,” said Guo Bin, his eyebrows raised upon hearing it was Wuliangye. “Come on, Old Zhao. Stop showing off your two sales tricks in front of me. If I wanted to drink Wuliangye, I wouldn't buy it from your store. Don't treat me like a fool,” Xu Ming waved his hand, dismissively. As the store manager of a real estate agency, he often treated clients to meals and was well-versed in these matters. He knew that the money spent on a bottle of Wuliangye at the restaurant could buy two bottles at an outside store; there was no need to waste that kind of money. “Alright, I'm just showing off my axe skills in front of Lu Ban. I forgot your expertise,” said the lobby manager known as Old Zhao, without showing any annoyance when Xu Ming declined, jokingly. “How about this? Let's each order a dish first, and then get a case of beer! How does that sound?” Xu Ming saw everyone looking at each other, none willing to order, so he picked up the menu on the table and asked. “Okay! And add a bottle of orange juice for me, I don't drink alcohol.”

As Li Lin rinsed the utensils with tea, she spoke. Hearing Li Lin's words, everyone nodded in agreement, each ordering a dish they liked. When it came to Zhang Wei's turn, however, he ordered three dishes in a row. Others were too embarrassed to order more, but as the host treating everyone, he naturally couldn't let the table look too meager, lest he be talked about behind his back. The drinks and dishes were quickly prepared. As the host, Zhang Wei naturally raised his glass first, leading a toast to the store manager, Xu Ming, who accepted every toast without refusal, giving everyone plenty of face. Xu Ming, having worked in the real estate agency industry for many years, had developed a strong constitution. Drinking a few bottles of beer only meant he had to visit the restroom a couple more times, with no hint of drunkenness, making him a veteran who had passed the 'alcohol' test, leaving Zhang Wei and the younger ones in awe. 'Clap clap clap...' After three rounds of drinks and five flavors of dishes, Wang Min clapped her hands and said, 'It's no fun just drinking like this. How about we play a guessing game? If you guess correctly, you can skip a drink; if you're wrong, you have to take a penalty drink. What do you think?' 'Great idea, Sister Wang! I agree,' Guo Bin said with a meaningful look at Zhang Wei, being the first to respond. Zhang Wei stared into Guo Bin's eyes, a glint flashing through them, his pupils contracting as he saw a row of golden characters appear in Guo Bin's eyes: 'Zhang Wei, don't think you're so great just because you got lucky and signed a deal. Tonight, Wang Min and I will get you drunk and let you lose face in front of everyone.'

Zhang Wei saw through the two people's little thoughts with his mind-reading ability, but he had no intention of exposing them. After all, with his ability to read minds, he was bound to win in riddles and had no reason to be afraid. 'Okay, I'll join too,' Xu Ming agreed with a smile. He liked drinking anyway, and with his large capacity for alcohol, he wasn't worried about getting drunk; rather, he was concerned about not enjoying himself to the fullest. 'Zhang Wei, you're the star of the show today and can't not participate. Besides, since Brother Xu has joined, you should at least respect him, right?' Wang Min tempted. 'Alright, I'll join,' Zhang Wei said very decisively. Since these two wanted to get him drunk, he naturally didn't mind giving them a taste of their own medicine. Li Lin and Wang Jianfa both declined in turn because neither of them could drink, so the others didn't press the issue. Seeing that Zhang Wei had agreed, Guo Bin's face lit up with joy. He left the private room and came back in with a bundle of beer, which he slammed onto the table, saying, 'Tonight we won't stop until we're all drunk. Let's see who can't hold out first.' 'Okay, anyone who loses and doesn't drink is a coward,' Wang Min glanced at Zhang Wei provocatively and said, 'I'll start with a riddle, you guess!' 'What kind of chicken doesn't cluck but gets angry when beaten?' Wang Min asked with a sly look in her eyes. 'I know, it's a turkey eaten at Halloween,' Guo Bin quickly answered as soon as he heard Wang Min's riddle. 'Wrong.'

Wang Min shook her head and turned to look at Zhang Wei. After hearing the riddle, Zhang Wei initially thought it was a turkey, but after Guo Bin was negated by Wang Min, he realized that this answer was incorrect. He was just about to look into Wang Min's eyes, ready to use telepathy to see through the answer, when he saw Xu Ge waving a lighter in his hand, and suddenly he understood, saying, 'It's a lighter, right?' 'I guessed it was a lighter too,' Xu Ge said, lighting a cigarette and taking a deep breath. 'Yes, Xu Ge is right, it's a lighter,' Wang Min softly responded, casting a glare at Guo Bin and thinking to herself: 'Guo Bin is really silly, we agreed to get Zhang Wei drunk, but everyone else guessed it right except for him, what a fool.' Actually, this answer was not that difficult to guess; most smokers could figure it out, but since neither Zhang Wei nor Guo Bin smoked, it was the smoker Xu Ge who guessed it first. 'Alright, it's my turn,' Guo Bin said, draining the beer in his glass in one gulp and taking a bite of food. 'A group of women sitting together chatting, guess an idiom.' 'I guess it's 'all talking at once',' Wang Min said. 'I guess it's 'be widely discussed by',' Xu Ming said. 'No, no...' Guo Bin stretched out his index finger, shaking it at the two of them with a sly smile and asked, 'Zhang Wei, what's your guess?' 'Hehe, this is really not easy to guess, let me think about it.'

Zhang Wei frowned, pretending to ponder, when in fact he had already seen the answer through Guo Bin's heart. His pretense was merely to tantalize the other party.

"Hehe, I knew you wouldn't be able to guess it. How about we make a bet? If you guess the riddle, I'll drink three glasses, and if you can't, you'll drink three glasses. What do you say?" Guo Bin patted his chest, full of confidence, believing that as long as no one had seen the answer, it would definitely be impossible to guess.

"Everyone is here to eat and drink well, there's no need to drink so much alcohol," Zhang Wei said, pretending to be less confident.

"Zhang Wei, if you talk like that, you're just admitting defeat. Are you afraid of having a couple more drinks, big guy?" Seeing Zhang Wei reject his proposal, Guo Bin felt even more certain that Zhang Wei couldn't guess the answer and tried to provoke him.

"Yeah! Zhang Wei, if you're a man, take the bet," Wang Min also egged him on from the side.

"Fine, since you guys say so, I'll take on this bet," Zhang Wei seemed unable to bear their mockery and agreed.

Hearing Zhang Wei accept the bet, Li Lin, Wang Jianfa, and Xu Ming also looked at Zhang Wei with curiosity, wanting to see if he could guess the answer. If not, he would have to drink three glasses of alcohol at once, which, although it was beer, was not so easy to handle even for three glasses.

"A group of women sitting together chatting idly?" Zhang Wei frowned, pretending to ponder, and mused for a moment.

"Zhang Wei, are you really up for this? If you can't guess, just accept the punishment and drink!"

Guo Bin let out a sly chuckle, as if he was certain that Zhang Wei would never guess it and would end up having to drink a forfeit. "I guess it's a baseless rumor," said Zhang Wei. "Pfft..." Xu Ming had just taken a sip of tea to moisten his throat and hadn't yet swallowed when he heard Zhang Wei's answer. He sprayed the tea out of his mouth, right onto Guo Bin's face, and couldn't help but burst into laughter: "A baseless rumor, what a good answer, it's profound." "What profundity! A baseless rumor? You men are all no good," Li Lin also reacted in an instant, her face flushed as she spat out. "Hehe, this riddle is quite interesting, I'll tell it to my wife when I get back," Wang Jianfa said with a smile. "That idiot Guo Bin, now he's lifting a rock only to drop it on his own foot. Drink three mouthfuls of beer, you'll kill yourself," Wang Min cursed inwardly. She began to regret agreeing to get Zhang Wei drunk with him. Nowadays, it's not the god-like opponents you fear, but the pig-like teammates. They hadn't even finished two rounds and he had already drunk four glasses of beer. Before they could get Zhang Wei drunk, he might very well end up under the table himself. Guo Bin wiped the saliva off his face, looking quite bitter. He hadn't expected Zhang Wei to actually guess the answer, and as Xu Ge said, the answer was very meaningful. Even if he claimed it wasn't the real answer, no one would believe him, so he was doomed to drink those three glasses of beer. "Cough, good beer," Guo Bin said, although reluctant, he still downed three mouthfuls of beer, burped, and slammed the table shouting, "Again, I don't believe I can't beat you." Wang Min also drank a glass of beer, her face gaining a touch of blush, making her look even more charming and seductively charming, causing Zhang Wei to steal glances at her.

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