Upon hearing Qin Huai's words, Si Lijue's expression darkened further. He rolled his eyes at him unhappily and said coldly, "How come I didn't know you were so concerned about my marriage?"
Qin Huai's eyes darted away, and he replied guiltily, "I kept it all inside and didn't dare let you know, afraid of hurting your self-esteem."
"You're such a smooth talker!" Si Lijue ruthlessly exposed. "Everyone knows your mind is completely focused on your girlfriends. Do you think I'd believe you'd take the time to care about me?"
"No, brother, at least give me some face in front of sister-in-law." Qin Huai looked at someone with pleading eyes, lowering his voice for fear that Si Lijue would reveal all his romantic affairs.
"Do you even care about saving face? You've already embarrassed yourself in front of us with all those girlfriends." Si Lijue didn't seem to care and continued to be sarcastic.
Unable to argue with him, Qin Huai could only explain to Su Niannian, "Sister-in-law, please don't take what my brother said seriously. He's deliberately saying bad things about me to get revenge for calling me an old iron tree."
Su Niannian wanted to laugh, but she forced herself to hold it in.
She smiled sweetly at Qin Huai and uttered a single word: "Okay."
Seeing how understanding Su Niannian was, Qin Huai smiled and praised, "Sister-in-law is such a good person. Here, here, let me toast you with this glass of wine." As he spoke, he poured Su Niannian a glass of red wine and placed it in front of her.
He poured himself a glass of wine, raised it, and made a toasting gesture.
"......"
Su Niannian was in a dilemma, unsure whether she should drink this glass of wine.
She shifted her gaze to Si Lijue's face, looking at him helplessly.
She has always had a bad drinking habit, and she can't hold her liquor. One glass of wine is enough to make her slightly tipsy, and three glasses will definitely make her drunk.
Five years ago at her graduation ceremony, she was toasted by her classmates. After three drinks, she became completely drunk.
For some reason, she ended up sleeping with Si Lijue and giving birth to Xibao, causing irreversible damage to Si Lijue.
In recent years, she has been afraid of getting into trouble after drinking, so she has not dared to drink alcohol again. She doesn't know if her alcohol tolerance has increased after giving birth to Xibao.
She dared not try it, especially in front of Si Lijue's friends. She was afraid that she would behave inappropriately while drunk, causing trouble for Si Lijue and making a fool of herself.
Qin Huai, puzzled, urged, "Sister-in-law, why aren't you drinking? Aren't you being disrespectful to your younger brother?"
"I'm not a big drinker," Su Niannian replied awkwardly.
Qin Huai didn't see Si Lijue's face darken, and he continued to foolishly persuade her: "Sister-in-law, what are you afraid of with your brother here? If you get drunk, your brother will take you home."
"I think it's better not to drink it! It's not a good idea," Su Niannian politely declined.
Qin Huai refused to give up and continued, "Sister-in-law, if you don't drink this cup, you're disrespecting me and not giving me face. I'm sincerely toasting you, so I'll drink this cup first, and you can drink as you please." After saying that, he drank the cup in his hand in one gulp.
Su Niannian looked at Qin Huai's empty wine glass, while Si Lijue remained silent and did not step forward to help her out of the predicament.
A surge of anger and resentment welled up inside her, and with a determined bite, she decided to go all out!
Without hesitation, she reached out and grabbed the exquisite wine glass on the table.
Just as Su Niannian raised her wine glass to her lips, preparing to take a small sip, a strong, large hand suddenly reached out like lightning and gripped her wrist tightly.
Su Niannian turned her head in surprise and found that the man beside her, who had been silent all along, was now making a move to stop her from drinking.
Before she could even feel happy, Si Lijue, completely unconcerned about the various gazes directed at him, took Su Niannian's hand openly and without any hesitation, and slowly brought the wine glass to his lips.
Then, he tilted his head back slightly, opened his mouth, and drank the dark red liquid in the glass in one gulp with great elegance but also with a touch of domineering.
He slowly let go of Su Niannian's hand, but his gaze remained fixed on her face. His tone was somewhat displeased: "If you can't drink, then don't drink. Why are you being so stubborn?" After saying that, he asked the waiter to bring over a glass of juice.
"I..." Su Niannian hesitated, her lips twitching as if trying to defend herself, but she ultimately didn't say anything.
Si Lijue seemed to see her concerns and said slowly, "You should do things according to your own will. You don't have to give face to everyone who toasts you."
"Uh..." Su Niannian didn't expect him to embarrass Qin Huai in public. She secretly glanced at Qin Huai not far away and nodded embarrassedly, "I know, I won't do it again."
Si Lijue was very satisfied with her obedience. He raised the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a half-smile, and added, "Just remember, it's enough that you only have me in your eyes and heart. You don't need to care about anyone else."
"Mmm!" Su Niannian blushed a little at Si Lijue's actions, and lowered her head shyly, not daring to look at the reactions of others.
"What? Brother, what do you mean by this?" Qin Huai blinked, his face full of disbelief, staring straight at Si Lijue.
He never dreamed that his elder brother would disregard his reputation so much in order to help his sister-in-law, embarrassing him in front of everyone.
Si Lijue glanced at Qin Huai and explained calmly, "Your sister-in-law hasn't been feeling well these past few days and can't drink. You're not allowed to offer her any more drinks tonight."
Just then, a waiter came over with a glass of juice. Si Lijue took the juice from the waiter's tray, gently placed it in front of Su Niannian, and said softly, "Let's drink this tonight."
"Thank you!" Su Niannian quickly glanced at Si Lijue and thanked him softly.
Although she wasn't as uncomfortable as Si Lijue had described, she was genuinely touched that he had helped her out of the predicament by stopping her from drinking alcohol and even thoughtfully ordering her a glass of juice.
No wonder my brother spoke so sarcastically and didn't give me any face.
It turns out that my sister-in-law was on her period and wasn't feeling well, so she couldn't drink alcohol!
Qin Huai felt relieved instantly.
"I see." He suddenly realized, and remembering how he had forced Su Niannian to drink, he hurriedly apologized to Su Niannian: "I'm sorry, sister-in-law, I didn't know you weren't feeling well. Please forgive me."
Su Niannian looked up at Qin Huai and smiled, "I'm not angry. Ignorance is no excuse!"
Just then, Si Lijue's phone rang.
He picked up the phone to check the caller ID, then suddenly leaned close to Su Niannian's ear and whispered, "I'm going out to take this call. You sit here and wait for me."
"Mmm!" Su Niannian responded obediently.
Si Lijue stood up from the sofa and said to everyone present, "Don't frighten your sister-in-law. Take good care of her. I'll be right back."
"Okay, big brother, you go ahead and do your work! I'll take care of your sister-in-law for you, there won't be any problems," Qin Huai assured him confidently.
Si Lijue didn't say anything, and walked straight outside.
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