Please Marry Me (GL) - Chapter 27

Ye Sixin had really crossed the line.

For a newly graduated intern, being eager to prove oneself is understandable, but coming alone to negotiate a deal so blindly was, frankly, a bit stupid.

By the time Jiang Yi rushed over, Ye Sixin was still foolishly drinking with the client. The man was practically leaning into her, and she seemed completely oblivious.

“Mr. Zhang.” Jiang Yi pushed the door open, her expression solemn. Taking advantage of the moment Mr. Zhang spent staring at her in a daze, she snatched the wine glass from Ye Sixin’s hand.

Mr. Zhang studied her, a look of stunned admiration flashing in his eyes—especially toward her legs. He had never thought black stockings could look quite that good until this moment.

“And you are?” His gaze was practically glued to her.

Jiang Yi set the glass on the table. “I’m Sixin’s colleague. There’s an emergency at her home, so I’ve come to take her back. I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Zhang. This meal is on me. Please enjoy your dinner; we’ll be taking our leave.”

“Wait a minute.” Mr. Zhang grabbed her hand. “Is this how Qiguang treats guests? Do you still want to sign this contract or not?”

“Contract? I want to sign, I want to sign! Come on, Mr. Zhang, let’s keep drinking.” Hearing the word “contract,” Ye Sixin regained a flicker of sobriety. She tried to break free from Jiang Yi’s grip to reach for the wine on the table.

“See? Your colleague wants to sign. I’ll tell you straight: I’m only free this one day this month. If you want to book me again, it won’t be so easy.” Mr. Zhang let out a cold snort.

“Ye Sixin, you’re drunk. Forget the contract; come home with me.” Jiang Yi pulled at her with all her might. “Ye Sixin!”

“No! I want to sign!” Ye Sixin was like a stubborn ox; she couldn’t be held back.

Mr. Zhang spoke up again. “Your colleague wants the deal, but you say she has an emergency. How about this? You send her back, and you stay here to sign with me.”

Jiang Yi thought for a moment. Her priority was getting Ye Sixin out of there. As for whether she’d actually come back… well, that would depend on her mood. She agreed immediately.

“I’ll drop Ye Sixin off first. Mr. Zhang, please start eating.”

With that, Jiang Yi helped the girl up and led her out of the private room. After a struggle to get downstairs, she hailed a car for Ye Sixin and prepared to leave herself.

“Miss, Mr. Zhang is still waiting for you.” Suddenly, a man’s voice came from behind. Jiang Yi froze and slowly turned around.

“Who are you? I’m going home.” Jiang Yi had zero interest in dealing with a pot-bellied man like Mr. Zhang.

“Mr. Zhang said that if you don’t go back, you can forget about ever doing business with him again.”

“…” So now it’s a threat?

Jiang Yi watched the driver take Ye Sixin away and breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at the attendant watching her, suppressed her annoyance, and ultimately chose to go back. Lin Fei had said Mr. Zhang’s tolerance was only slightly better than average. She didn’t believe she couldn’t outdrink him.

She pushed the door open and got straight to the point. “Mr. Zhang, when are we signing that contract?”

True to his reputation as a veteran of the drinking table, Mr. Zhang immediately tried to string her along. “No rush. Come, have a drink with me.”

“But my wife doesn’t let me drink too much. I’d love to have a small glass with you, though,” Jiang Yi said innocently.

“You’re married?” Mr. Zhang’s hand paused as he narrowed his eyes, clearly skeptical.

Jiang Yi smiled. “I wouldn’t dare lie to you. My wife is a professor at the Yingyu Academy of Sciences. She’s quite prominent. If you’d like to meet her, I can introduce you.”

“A professor, huh…” Mr. Zhang seemed to reel it in a bit, but seeing Jiang Yi in that white dress and black stockings, he was still unwilling to let it go. “Then just a few glasses. Drink a bit, and I’ll sign.”

Jiang Yi knew he was backing down but needed a graceful way out. “Fine.”

She accompanied him through nearly a whole bottle of wine. Mr. Zhang was clearly getting dizzy, yet he didn’t forget to try and take liberties. His “pig hooves” crept toward her several times, only to be pushed away by Jiang Yi without a trace.

“Mr. Zhang, we’ve finished a bottle. Is it time to sign?” Jiang Yi produced the contract she had taken from Ye Sixin and placed it before him.

Though the alcohol had gone to his head, Mr. Zhang was still mostly lucid. He squinted at her, realizing she wouldn’t be fooled much longer—and that if he pushed further, she’d likely flip the table. Finally, he picked up the pen and signed.

“Now you can stay and keep drinking with me, right?” Mr. Zhang put down the pen, still frustrated. He had drunk so much yet hadn’t managed to touch her once. He suspected this woman had a massive tolerance.

“Sure.” Jiang Yi tucked the contract away safely.

Mr. Zhang brought over a bottle of Sprite. “You’ve had so much wine, you must be thirsty. Have some soda to quench your thirst.”

Jiang Yi looked at the opened Sprite. Feeling cautious, she grabbed a fresh, sealed bottle from the side. “Good idea.”

The Sprite was sweet and refreshing. “Why aren’t you drinking, Mr. Zhang?” she asked curiously.

“I’m drinking, I’m drinking!” Mr. Zhang watched her, baffled that she had no reaction. He had heard that mixing Sprite with white wine and red wine made people get drunk instantly. Was that a myth?

So, under Jiang Yi’s watchful eye, Mr. Zhang drank several gulps of the Sprite.

A minute later, Mr. Zhang started belting out folk songs at the top of his lungs. His level of intoxication had bypassed “drunk” and gone straight to “delirious.”

Jiang Yi: “???”

Soon, she also felt a wave of dizziness hit her brain. Her vision began to blur.

No! What little logic she had left told her she couldn’t stay here. There was no telling what a drunk man might do.

She struggled to pull her phone from her bag. The contact list was a mass of overlapping shadows. Jiang Yi tapped the screen several times but couldn’t hit the right spot, her heart racing with anxiety.

Dut… dut… dut…

She hit it! She hit a contact. Jiang Yi breathed a sigh of relief. Once Song Rao picked up, she would tell her to come get her. She had to hold on.

“Hello.” A cold, distant voice came through the line.

Jiang Yi didn’t realize she had dialed the wrong number. Holding the phone to her ear while fighting the vertigo, she stammered, “I was… forced to drink. Come pick me up… the address is Taixi Hotel… Fugui Suite…”

She couldn’t tell if the person on the other end was listening; there was silence for a long time.

“Can you please hurry up?”

Jiang Yi’s stomach was churning painfully, but she couldn’t throw up. She tried to stand but slumped back into the chair.

Perhaps the movement caught Mr. Zhang’s attention; he locked his greasy gaze back onto her. “Hehe… black stockings… I like ’em.”

Mr. Zhang wobbled as he lunged toward her. Turning pale, Jiang Yi lunged out of her seat. Mr. Zhang missed completely, crashing into the chair and hitting the floor with a loud thud.

Terrified, Jiang Yi caught the lecherous smile Mr. Zhang was still aimed at her. Her heart hammered. She turned and stumbled drunkenly toward the door, twisting the handle.

The reaction to the alcohol intensified. The world spun; her feet felt heavy one second and light the next. She began to fall backward.

At the critical moment, a hand caught her by the waist.

The scent was so familiar. Familiar enough to make her heart skip a beat in spite of herself.

“Jiang Yi.”

Her legs gave way, and she slumped against the woman, resting her hands on her shoulders and burying her face in her chest. She inhaled the crisp fragrance of jasmine on the woman’s collarbone. “Shen Siyun…”

“Shen Siyun…”

She called the name twice, and suddenly, an overwhelming sense of grievance washed over her. She bit the woman’s collarbone resentfully, her eyes filling with mist.

“Why did you take so long…?”

“Do you know… I almost got molested! Waaaah—”

Tears fell rapidly, soaking into Shen Siyun’s chest. Jiang Yi clutched the fabric of her coat, her body trembling.

“It’s okay. I’m here.” Shen Siyun was stunned by the reaction at first, then felt a searing heat from those scalding tears. Her heart skipped a beat.

“Don’t be afraid.” Shen Siyun held her tight.

Inside the room, Mr. Zhang shifted his large belly and crawled toward the door. Seeing Jiang Yi’s back, his gaze slid down to the black stockings beneath her skirt. He reached out to touch them. “Black stockings… here I come…”

Standing to the side, Xin Wenyue delivered a swift kick with her heel. “What kind of trash is this?”

Mr. Zhang was kicked onto his back, flailing like an upturned turtle, unable to get up. It was a pathetic sight. He wailed, “Who kicked me? Who?!”

“I did.” Xin Wenyue stepped into the room. She calmly placed her heel on his right palm and ground it down.

A scream like a slaughtered pig erupted from the room. The noise drew a waiter, who stood at the door in shock. Is this a brawl?

“Miss, what happened? Do you need me to call the police?”

“Police?” Xin Wenyue heard the small crack of a finger bone breaking and finally let go with a smirk. “You should call an ambulance.”

The waiter looked at Mr. Zhang on the floor, who was clutching his hand in agony, half-sober now from the pain.

Xin Wenyue glanced at Jiang Yi in Shen Siyun’s arms, crying her heart out. “Shen Siyun, take her back first. I’ll handle things here.”

“Be careful. Don’t go too far.”

Shen Siyun left those words behind as she carried Jiang Yi away.

After placing her in the passenger seat and fastening the belt, Shen Siyun walked around the car and gripped the steering wheel. She was about to start the engine, but her fingers paused.

At home, Song Rao was putting the groceries into the fridge one by one when her phone suddenly rang. She looked at the caller—it was Jiang Yi—but the voice that answered was Shen Siyun’s.

“What is it? Why do you have Jiang Yi’s phone?”

“She was forced to drink just now. She’s… not in a good state emotionally.” Shen Siyun looked at the woman passed out beside her. Jiang Yi’s eyes were rimmed with red, and her cheeks were flushed like ripe cherries. Under the car lights, the fine texture of her skin showed a delicate down.

Song Rao’s brow furrowed, her voice filled with worry. “Is she okay?”

“No one took advantage of her. She just drank too much. Do you want to… come pick your wife up?”

As the words fell, both sides lapsed into a long silence. In that moment, Shen Siyun suddenly craved a cigarette, but she hadn’t smoked in years and couldn’t even find a pack.

Song Rao looked at the fridge full of food and said slowly, “I’m in the lab right now and can’t get away tonight. Shen Siyun, can you help me take care of her?”

“If you can… don’t bully her. And don’t make her cry.”

“Okay.”