But... those few people had no intention of paying attention to them at all!
Li Luxi looked at the two unimpressive people and thought, forget it, if I can't rely on them, I'll do it myself!
She picked up her wine glass and walked towards the group that was having a great time playing games. She plopped herself down right next to the girl sitting beside Jian Xi. The reason was simple: Wang's Group and this girl's family had several project collaborations, and this girl was the only one among them that Li Luxi was somewhat familiar with.
Li Luxi reached out and patted her, then asked with feigned curiosity, "Mengmeng, what game are you all playing? It looks so much fun. Can I join you?"
Her attitude was quite humble, but she had a grating tone that made people feel uncomfortable. The few people playing the game stopped their movements, their faces showing impatience, thinking, "Big sister, this is a gathering of girls, what are you trying to pull off here?"
Luo Mengmeng was also a bit annoyed by Li Luxi. It's not like their families just started collaborating - they've been partners for a while now. Yet Li Luxi kept pestering her, which was really getting on her nerves!
But Luo Mengmeng was someone who hated confrontation. Thinking it's better to keep the peace, she would always politely decline Li Luxi instead of saying anything harsh. But this woman just didn't seem to understand, and kept asking Luo Mengmeng out every so often.
In recent years, Wang's Group had been developing rapidly and could potentially become a top-tier family business in a few more years. So for the sake of long-term interests, Luo Mengmeng's father told her to be patient and not antagonize Li Luxi for now, since Wang treated her like the apple of his eye!
Jian Xi sensed that everyone disliked this woman. She also curiously examined Li Luxi. This person was quite unappealing - big ears, small nose, skinny legs - clearly destined to be a mistress. Her exposed nostrils suggested a lack of self-restraint. Most importantly, her furrowed brows revealed a narrow-minded personality prone to retaliation.
Hmm, this person was indeed unappealing, but Jian Xi couldn't help but feel she had seen her somewhere before, though she couldn't recall where exactly.
Ah, whatever, she was too lazy to think about it. It had nothing to do with her anyway.
So she just sat there hugging her arms, quietly watching the drama unfold.
Luo Mengmeng glanced at everyone's displeased expressions and fell silent, feeling conflicted.
They were all friends, and the others didn't want to see Luo Mengmeng in an awkward situation. So a short-haired girl stepped in to smooth things over, "Alright, alright, it's perfect that there are seven of us now - an odd number. With her, we can pair up. Come on, let's keep playing. Ms. Li can pair up with Mengmeng."
Luo Mengmeng gave the short-haired girl a grateful look. She had no choice - Li Luxi had used the excuse of coming to play with her today. How annoying!
And so, Li Luxi successfully joined the game.
But whether it was a coincidence or not, Jian Xi had been losing continuously before, but after Li Luxi joined, whenever she was paired against Jian Xi, she would lose and be punished with having to drink alcohol.
Li Luxi felt that Jian Xi must be targeting her, and her grip on the cup tightened as her face grew darker and darker!
Little did she know, she was simply projecting her own behavior onto Jian Xi!
At first, Jian Xi didn't know how to play, but after a few rounds, she caught on to the rules of the game, so of course she wouldn't keep losing!
After downing ten cups of wine, Li Luxi's face turned red, and she withdrew from the game and headed to the restroom.
In the hallway, she ran into Yan Sen, the second young master of the Yan family. The last time she had hired a private investigator to look into Jian Xi, she happened to learn that this Yan Sen seemed to have some kind of grudge against the two of them.
With this in mind, she directly stopped Yan Sen, "What a coincidence, Young Master Yan."
"Well, well, if it isn't Ms. Li. Not accompanying Mr. Wang today, so you have time to come out and play?" Yan Sen said in a nonchalant tone, cigarette dangling from his mouth.
Li Luxi smiled coyly and said, "My godfather is still at the company. Wang's Group just signed several big projects recently, so he's been really busy. That's why he let me come out and play on my own. As it happens, my sisters were hosting a gathering, in the private room number 336. You should know all of them - there's Luo Mengmeng, Li Shujing. Oh, and Su Yinghe came too, and she brought her sister, I think her name is Jian Xi. She's quite a beauty!"
When Yan Sen heard the names at first, he didn't react much. But upon hearing Su Yinghe and Jian Xi's names, he dropped the cigarette from his mouth and crushed it viciously with the tip of his shoe!
The 'humiliation' from that incident at the bar still haunted him, to the point where he had become the laughingstock among his group of brothers. He had been holding a grudge against them this whole time, but hadn't found a good opportunity to teach them a lesson until now!
Seeing his reaction, Li Luxi knew that this Yan Sen really resented Su Yinghe and Jian Xi. Actually, she didn't intend to bring Su Yinghe into this, since she had no grievances with her. But thinking about Su Yinghe's arrogant demeanor and her familiarity with Jian Xi, she figured Su Yinghe could share Jian Xi's misfortune.
Li Luxi put a hand to her forehead, feigning drunkenness, and said apologetically, "Ah, you see, my brain... I forgot that Young Master Yan has only been back in the country for a few months, so of course you wouldn't know my sisters. I've had a bit too much to drink today."
"You don't know, the sister Su brought today is a young lady. She's the only one in the room drinking juice since she can't have alcohol. The little lady is quite good at games - I've already had ten cups of wine, while she's only just finished her first glass of juice. Anyway, Young Master Yan, I'm going to sober up a bit first. When the server brings the little lady more juice later, I'll have to battle her a few more rounds!"
Without waiting for Yan Sen's response, Li Luxi headed towards the restroom!
"Room 336, juice, huh?" Yan Sen muttered, then turned and went to the stairwell, taking out his phone and making a call.
"Get some people to come to Jinse. I need to teach two people a lesson."
*
A knock came at the door of Su Yinghe's private room - it was the server delivering juice.
The server set down the juice and left. Soon after, Li Luxi returned, but this time she didn't join their new game. Instead, she sat there playing on her phone, though her attention was clearly not on the screen.
Jian Xi was still struggling to understand the new game at first, so she picked up her juice, prepared to accept the penalty.
But just as the glass reached her lips, she paused for a moment, her lips curling into a slight smirk. Then she threw her head back and took a big gulp before continuing to play the second round of the new game.
On the sofa, Li Luxi breathed a silent sigh of relief, a glint of malicious joy flashing in her eyes.
Earlier, when she was coming out of the restroom, she had witnessed Yan Sen slipping a check to that server and pouring some unknown liquid brought by the men behind him into Jian Xi's juice, before instructing the server to deliver it to the private room.
