The man turned his head to look at another table behind him, then glanced at Shen Nian's beautiful face, but still couldn't bear to leave, sticking to her like a stubborn piece of toffee.
"Well... I'm playing Truth or Dare with my friends, gorgeous. Why don't you have a drink with me? If you don't, I'll lose face in front of my buddies."
"Get lost," Shen Nian said, struggling to refrain from smashing the pot at him.
However, that simple "Get lost" struck a blow to the man's self-esteem.
Shen Nian's coldness, combined with the catalyst of alcohol, made him feel utterly humiliated. Since she refused to drink with him, the man flew into a drunken rage and launched into a torrent of verbal abuse against Shen Nian.
"Who do you think you are, huh? Don't act so high and mighty!"
"I was doing you a favor by offering you a drink, but look at how arrogant you're being. I wonder if you'll still be so arrogant when I've got you pinned down on the bed!"
"Don't pretend to be so pure and innocent. I bet you're secretly the wildest one of them all!"
"..."
All sorts of vulgar, misogynistic, and demeaning language poured out of his mouth. He already looked sleazy to begin with, but now that he was hurling obscenities, his unsavory aura was on full display for all to witness.
There's a certain type of man in this world who, despite having no money, capability, or background, acts meek and submissive when sober, but becomes overconfident and boastful after a few drinks, deluding themselves into thinking they're hot stuff just for spewing a few crude insults. In reality, all they're doing is exposing their own lack of class and refinement, their self-importance, and making fools of themselves in public.
Jiang Lingling was dumbfounded, as the man's language was simply too vulgar and offensive.
"What's wrong with you? Why should we drink with you?" she protested.
But as soon as Jiang Lingling spoke up, the man immediately turned his wrath on her.
"Mind your own damn business! Who asked you?"
At a nearby table, a burly man couldn't stand it any longer. He slammed his chopsticks down and confronted the rowdy drunk.
"You're the one with problems, pal. Can't you see these ladies don't want to drink with you? Why are you cussing them out? Who do you think you are, anyway? Why should they have to drink with you?"
The big guy was clearly from up north, his imposing stature alone enough to intimidate.
Stung by the rebuke, the man's bruised ego drove him to start arguing with the burly stranger.
After trading insults, the two men came to blows.
The northerner was no pushover, his muscular frame easily overpowering the drunken pest. The man's friends, having been keeping an eye on the commotion, rushed in to defend their buddy after seeing him get beaten up - especially the other drunken louts among them, emboldened by the alcohol coursing through their veins.
The burly man wasn't fazed in the slightest, effortlessly kicking aside anyone who came at him.
With a single powerful kick, he sent the man crashing to the ground, clutching his stomach in tears of pain.
The beating seemed to have sobered him up a bit, but instead of feeling remorse for his appalling behavior, he merely flew into an even greater rage, casting a resentful glare at Shen Nian.
It was all that damn woman's fault he got beaten up!
Turning toward their table, he noticed the empty beer bottles left over from their earlier drinking session.
Without a second thought, the man grabbed one of the bottles and charged straight at Shen Nian.
The burly man was still busy dealing with the other goons, while his wife tried to usher Shen Nian and Jiang Lingling to safety. As Jiang Lingling shook her head worriedly, Shen Nian's face paled - the situation had escalated dangerously, with everyone gawking at the fracas. The staff had tried to intervene earlier but failed, so they went to call for backup.
Sensing the impending danger, Shen Nian looked up to see the man's twisted, contorted face bearing down on her, bottle in hand.
It all happened too fast for her to react. She could only watch helplessly as the man closed in on her.
"Smash!"
"Ungh..."
But the expected pain never came. Shen Nian merely heard the man's muffled grunt.
Looking up, she was met with a gentle, handsome face.
"...Xiao Mubai?" she uttered in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"
His brow was furrowed, clearly suppressing the pain.
Fixing his gaze on Shen Nian, the first words out of his mouth were, "Are you all right?"
"..."
He was the one more seriously hurt, yet his first concern was for her safety.
Shen Nian shook her head.
Without a moment's hesitation, Xiao Mubai pulled her head into his chest, shielding her face from view.
The commotion had grown so chaotic that onlookers were whipping out their phones to record the spectacle. Xiao Mubai's actions protected Shen Nian's identity from being exposed.
The staff had finally brought security, who immediately apprehended the man wielding the bottle.
The police station was nearby, and someone had already called them when the fight first broke out. Soon, the officers arrived on the scene as well.
After a quick assessment of the situation, they rounded up all the brawlers, including the burly man and his wife.
Although the big guy had resorted to violence as well, the restaurant's security footage and numerous eyewitness accounts clearly showed that the drunken lout had initiated the conflict by harassing the women with lewd comments, prompting the burly man to intervene. Even when the scuffle turned physical, it was the drunk who threw the first kick at the big guy, who was merely acting in self-defense when he retaliated.
So the northerner wouldn't face any charges for defending himself.
Since Shen Nian was directly involved in the incident, she and Jiang Lingling would have to go to the police station to give their statements.
Shen Nian noticed Xiao Mubai's pallid complexion and a glimpse of red on the back of his white shirt...
Fortunately, the drunken man was shorter than Xiao Mubai, so the bottle had only struck Xiao Mubai's shoulder. If it had hit his head, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
"Xiao Mubai, are you all right?" A few men approached with concern, apparently Xiao Mubai's friends.
"Xiao Mubai," Shen Nian said, her lips quivering slightly, "you should go to the hospital and get that wound treated first."
Though the pain in his shoulder was acute, Xiao Mubai merely flashed a smile. "Let me take you to the station to give your statement first."
With that, he cradled Shen Nian's head and led her out, an act of chivalry that elicited admiring gasps from the young ladies present.
Soon, some of the other guys were draping their jackets over Jiang Lingling's head too, concealing her face from the cameras.
Xiao Mubai escorted Shen Nian to the police station before going to the hospital to treat his own injury. While not technically a victim himself - he had simply stepped in to shield Shen Nian from the bottle-wielding drunk, getting hurt in the process - his own wounds entitled him to seek medical attention first.
At the station, Shen Nian recounted the events from the beginning. The police also obtained the security footage.
With physical evidence and eyewitness testimonies, the case was straightforward. The instigators were swiftly taken into custody.
As Shen Nian exited the interview room after giving her statement, the door of the adjacent office opened at the same time, revealing a familiar figure.
The two women locked eyes, surprise flickering across their faces.
"It's you?!" they exclaimed in unison.
After a brief moment of shock, the other woman broke into a smile. "Shen, the assistant - I must admit, I didn't expect to see you here."
Shen Nian was equally taken aback. She never imagined she'd run into Liang Jinghe at the police station.
