Chapter 64

Ziguang Pavilion is a famous local Shanghainese restaurant in Haixi, not far from Liyejia. Starting from the residential area where Liyejia is located, walk west along the Wusu River for a while, and you will find a large lawn surrounded by trees. Drive across the lawn and then across a small grove of sycamore trees, and you will see a small building in the style of the Republic of China by the river. That is Ziguang Pavilion.

Xiao Chenyue requested a small room on the second floor overlooking the river. It was very quiet, with large-leaved sycamore trees outside the window. Although they were not as lush and shady as in spring and summer, they were not bare either. The slightly yellowed leaves gave them a kind of poignant beauty.

"Attorney Li, you've had a tough day today, arriving ten minutes early." Xiao Chenyue said with a teasing smile.

"That's right, after all, I'm a lawyer, so I have a sense of time."

After speaking, she glanced at Xu Wanyi casually, but Xu Wanyi didn't look at her. Li Ye quickly looked away. Since the two of them had already talked things out, she knew what Xu Wanyi was thinking and what she wanted, so she stopped pressuring her and gave her some space to do what she needed to do.

So Li Ye simply walked over to Xiao Chenyue and plopped down next to her.

Xiao Chenyue didn't expect this person to be so shameless. In the past, when she was invited to dinner or meetings, she would always show up at the last minute. Now she still has the nerve to use words like "sense of time".

"Attorney Li is something else. She went to Japan and learned nothing, but her skin has certainly gotten thicker. Mr. Xu, is she like this in your company too?"

Xu Wanyi glanced at her and said, "I don't work on the same floor as Attorney Li, so I don't know much about her."

"Oh, that's quite a distant way of putting it..." Li Ye glanced at Xu Wanyi almost imperceptibly, and said unhurriedly, "Well, I don't see Chairman Xu even once a month. Unlike President Xiao, who is so approachable and kind, and often invites me to dinner. Come on, since we're late, how about I have a drink with President Xiao?"

Xiao Chenyue was a little flattered. Had Li Ye taken the wrong medicine? Why was he being so enthusiastic towards her today, and even offering to drink with her?

However, whatever the reason, she decided to take the initiative this time, so why not? Xiao Chenyue picked up the Moutai on the table, opened it skillfully, and poured each of the three decanters to the brim.

"Attorney Li offered me a toast, how could I refuse, right?"

Knowing Xiao Chenyue's personality, Li Ye had already eaten something before coming. Without any hesitation, he clinked glasses with Xiao Chenyue and was about to drink when Xiao Chenyue suddenly said, "Wait, it's all your fault, Li Ye. You asked for drinks as soon as you came in, making me forget about Chairman Xu." Then she turned to Xu Wanyi and said, "Come on, Chairman Xu, have a drink."

"That's right, but I can't drink as much as Mr. Xiao and Attorney Li. I'm allergic to alcohol and can't drink that much. I can only drink with one of them."

Xu Wanyi recalled the outcome of her last drinking session with Li Ye, and her face flushed. She glanced at Li Ye silently, her eyes filled with reproach. Li Ye was puzzled, thinking that Miss Xu was really strange. It wasn't me who asked you to drink, so why was she glaring at me all of a sudden?

“Okay, no problem, Mr. Xu, feel free to do as you please, we’ll take it.”

Xiao Chenyue had done her homework. Xu Wanyi was as beautiful as an angel, but she was actually a super strong person. Not only did she completely overshadow Xu Xuanming, but she also almost never drank alcohol when they went out to eat. The fact that she was willing to pick up a glass this time was a sign of respect for herself.

Towards the end of the meal, Xiao Chenyue suddenly asked, "Chairman Xu, could the lease term for that land be extended to 40 years?"

Xu Wanyi's heart sank, but her expression remained unchanged. She said, "President Xiao, the lease term is a big deal. Our company's board of directors has already approved it, and it's not so easy to adjust."

They didn't agree, but they didn't say anything definitively either.

Upon hearing this, Li Ye thought, "Truly, President Xiao is something else entirely. My jinx really came true; he's still thinking about changing the main elements of the contract. This industrial land has a total of 50 years of use, and that piece of land only has a little over 40 years left. What's the difference between your request and asking Miss Xu to sell you the land? The only difference is the price is lower."

Li Ye glanced at the two of them discreetly. Xiao Chenyue seemed oblivious to Xu Wanyi's expression, busy distributing the freshly served oysters to everyone. Although Xu Wanyi's face was expressionless, Li Ye knew she was very unhappy.

“You’re not a listed company, so it’s just a matter of when to hold a board meeting. After all, Chairman Xu is in charge of Leguang now,” Xiao Chenyue probed.

“Right? Attorney Li.” He didn’t forget to say to Li Ye.

“Mr. Xiao, uh, there’s something I haven’t had a chance to report to you yet. The board’s proposals have all been sent to the directors. The lease agreement is in the proposal. Uh, I just received the votes from all the directors this afternoon.” Li Ye said quietly, paused, and then added, “Passed unanimously.”

Xiao Chenyue glared at him, about to get angry, when Li Ye immediately raised his hands: "President Xiao, please recall, this was a task you and President Ma assigned to me last week, saying to hurry up, so I took it very seriously."

Xiao Chenyue felt a lump in her throat. She remembered that she had indeed said that, but it was just a routine matter. What was there to expedite about those few trivial proposals?

"Hey, Attorney Li, I'm not saying this out of the blue, but I've never seen you take this seriously in the past few years. I was wondering why you weren't here last week. Did you go and get the signatures done in person?"

“I happened to be going to Yuzhou on a business trip last week, and I thought I would also visit a few old gentlemen, so I brought them along. The ballots were sent to Chairman Liu in Linzhou, and they arrived today.”

What Li Ye didn't say was that after sending the ballot, she specifically called the person's secretary to say that President Ma and President Xiao needed it urgently, and if Chairman Liu had time, please take a look as soon as possible. As expected, Chairman Liu lived up to expectations and sent the ballot back today.

Seeing Xiao Chenyue's suppressed anger, Xu Wanyi finally couldn't hold back any longer while Xiao Chenyue was glaring at Li Ye, her eyes almost overflowing with laughter. She then glanced at Li Ye, and for the first time tonight, she genuinely smiled. Xiao Chenyue, still fuming at Li Ye, missed Xu Wanyi's smile.

Li Ye had to play along with Xiao Chenyue; he couldn't very well be laughing on the sidelines when Xiao was furious. So he had to maintain a serious and earnest expression.

Xiao Chenyue knew that these old guys were not easy to deal with. If she asked them to sign again, she would not only have to explain herself, but they might also bring up several things she had already arranged for discussion, which would be a loss.

"Attorney Li, I don't even know what to say to you." Xiao Chenyue felt the same way she always did when facing Li Ye: it was like punching cotton.

"Alright, Attorney Li, you've resolved this difficult matter for me so early, which is a merit, but you've caused me to lose my bargaining chips with Chairman Xu, which is a fault. The merits and faults cancel each other out, so I won't pursue the matter further. However, you said it in front of Chairman Xu, which made me lose face, so I'll punish you with three jugs of wine."

Ha! President Xiao is indeed more ruthless than Xu Xianming. Young Master Xu's catchphrase is "three cups of punishment wine," while President Xiao directly upgrades it to "three pots."

Li Ye looked troubled.

"Drink or not?" Xiao Chenyue slammed her wine glass on the table with a "bang," looking at her with a mixture of anger and amusement.

Li Ye knew that Xiao Chenyue was probably really angry, so he raised his hand to signal Xu Wanyi, who was about to come up and stop him, and said, "Drink, drink. Didn't you say you wanted to drink with President Xiao as soon as you came in? You'll definitely drink today."

Xiao Chenyue's expression softened slightly, her grip on the cup loosened, and she visibly relaxed.

"Then I wish both of you a prosperous new year." With that, Li Ye picked up the wine jug and drank the Moutai inside in one gulp.

Xiao Chenyue immediately filled it up. She had no intention of letting Li Ye off the hook. Liking her was one thing, but ruining her negotiations was another. If she didn't teach her a lesson, she would change her name back to her own.

Li Ye caught his breath, looked at the full glass, gritted his teeth, and chug it down again. Just as he put down the wine pot, President Xiao promptly refilled it.

After finishing the drink, she was clearly starting to feel tipsy. Her eyes were red, she was sweating profusely, and her face, neck, and ears were all flushed. Her gaze became unfocused. She glanced at Xu Wanyi and Xiao Chenyue, and both of them felt that her gaze was very ambiguous.

At this point, Li Ye no longer needed to be urged to drink; she had already started smiling and pouring wine into her mouth. She simply stood up, picked up the wine pot, tilted her head back, and downed another pot. After finishing, she took two steps back and sat down in a chair two seats away from Xiao Chenyue.

After drinking three jugs of wine, Li Ye could barely see clearly. But she had an exceptionally good drinking habit; even when drunk, she didn't cause trouble or ramble on. She just sat there, her eyes hazy as she looked at the two people in front of her, a half-smile on her face, as if she were mocking someone.

As Xu Wanyi watched Li Ye down pot after pot, she felt a mix of emotions. She knew perfectly well that Li Ye was doing this on purpose, aiming to settle the matter as soon as possible, ultimately for her sake.

But seeing Xiao Chenyue's initial anger followed by her relentless pursuit of getting Li Ye drunk, she knew she couldn't persuade him now. Persuading him would only make things worse and make Xiao Chenyue suspect Li Ye's motives. She could only watch with heartache as he poured himself down the strong liquor like water.

After Li Ye finished drinking three pots of wine and sat opposite her with a dazed look in his eyes, Xiao Chenyue suddenly realized that she had gone a bit too far today. She had insisted so much just now, firstly because she was angry that Li Ye had ruined her plans, and secondly because she was angry that Li Ye had rejected her many times before. She made this request because she was angry on top of that.

In her mind, given Li Ye's temperament, he would definitely refuse to drink so much; at most, the two of them would have an argument. But today, she didn't know what possessed him, and he actually drank all three pots without saying a word.

As she was thinking this, she suddenly noticed that Li Ye's face was turning pale and his lips were moving from time to time. When she turned to look at Xu Wanyi, she saw that Xu Wanyi had her brows furrowed and was looking at Li Ye with a worried expression.

From the moment Li Ye started chugging alcohol, Xu Wanyi's eyes never left her. She had already noticed that something was wrong with Li Ye, but since she didn't know exactly what was wrong with him, she didn't want to make a fuss. When she saw Xiao Chenyue looking over, she quickly said, "President Xiao, I think Attorney Li seems a bit off."

"Li Ye, Li Ye, can you hear me?" Xiao Chenyue walked up to Li Ye, cupping her face with one hand and gently patting her with the other. Xu Wanyi saw this and really wanted to immediately pry Xiao Chenyue's hands off and rush over to hug Li Ye. Unfortunately, she still couldn't do anything.

The slap brought Li Ye back to her senses, and she realized that her stomach was aching. She looked at the two people in front of her, her mind racing. She thought to herself that she was too drunk to stay with either of them.

"Call Zhuang Ke and ask her to come pick me up." He said, taking out his phone.

"Zhuang Ke? Who is Zhuang Ke?" Upon hearing this, Xiao Chenyue's eyes immediately filled with vigilance and doubt. This person was drunk and the name coming out of his mouth was that of a stranger.

"Stop hitting me, it's the middle of the night. I'll take you home."

"No, really, no need. Mr. Xiao, you're busy. Zhuang Ke, Zhuang Ke is my college classmate, my childhood friend. Just have her pick me up."

Xiao Chenyue wanted to continue arguing with Li Ye, but Xu Wanyi came over and said, "President Xiao, don't argue with a drunkard. You'll only get angry. Since she mentioned Zhuang Ke, why not call her and see who it is?"

Xiao Chenyue thought about it and realized that made sense. So she took Li Ye's phone, found Zhuang Ke's number, dialed it, and it was answered immediately.

"Hello, is this Zhuang Ke? This is Li Ye's friend. She's drunk, can you come pick her up? The address is..."

After saying that, Xiao Chenyue hung up the phone. While Xiao Chenyue was on the phone, Xu Wanyi secretly sent a WeChat message to Zhuang Ke: "Li Ye is in trouble, come quickly, and pretend you don't know me when you see me." She didn't have time to type any extra words, but Xu Wanyi believed that Zhuang Ke would understand.

Zhuang Ke, that unlucky fellow, had to clean up Li Ye's mess even though he was already in bed in the middle of the night. Not only was he ordered around by a woman with an arrogant tone to pick up Li Ye, but he was also annoyed by Xu Wanyi's commanding text message.

"Li Ye, you bastard, why did you have to mess with these women!" Zhuang Ke thought to himself as he sped along the highway, cursing Attorney Li a thousand times over.