Living Only For Myself: Make Those Who Hate Me Regret It-Chapter 201: "If You Can Drink With ’Those’ Old Men, Then Have a Drink With Me Too.

Chapter 201: Chapter 201: "If You Can Drink With ’Those’ Old Men, Then Have a Drink With Me Too.

Xu Su was left speechless. ’As if his own motives are so pure.’

’Didn’t he want to whisk me away to his lair and guard me from the moment we met? Now he’s upset just because someone else had the same idea...’

"I got his license plate number. It won’t take long to run a check." In the entryway, Zhou Mochen pulled out her little pink slippers. He didn’t seem angry that she wouldn’t answer. "If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. It’s not like you could possibly fall for that old man anyway."

Had the man today been ten or twenty years younger, and had Xu Su still been so secretive, Zhou Mochen’s mind would have been racing with possibilities.

As it stood, Zhou Mochen was confident enough. If Xu Su could really reject him for a flabby-faced man in his forties, then the world had truly gone mad.

The truth was, it wasn’t that Xu Su was unwilling to talk about it. She just hadn’t figured out how to phrase it yet.

’If Zhou Mochen finds out I toasted that old man with a shot of baijiu, there’s no telling how furious he’ll be...’

Shen Chen, dressed in loungewear, had been replying to emails on his laptop on the sofa. Hearing Zhou Mochen’s words, he immediately got up and looked over.

While Xu Su hesitated, Shen Chen chimed in, one eyebrow raised in keen interest. "What old man?"

"..." ’Just when Zhou Mochen finally dropped it, Shen Chen has to bring it up again.’

"Why are you so nosy!" she shot him an irritated glare before going to wash her hands, ready to eat.

’Why has Shen Chen been in Chang City for so long anyway!’

It was almost one o’clock. She had barely eaten anything that morning, trying to save time, and now she was starving. Zhou Mochen had said he’d bring her lunch, but instead, he’d picked her up to eat at his place.

By the time she washed her hands and got to the dining room, the two men were already seated and waiting for her.

They had clearly both waited for her before eating.

Xu Su felt a little embarrassed. ’I don’t deserve this much fuss. There’s no need for them to be so formal.’

Shen Chen was now getting the rundown on the "old man" from Zhou Mochen. He watched the girl across from him quietly eating her rice, his curiosity piqued.

"Xu, you don’t seem like the type to party. You’re at school all day. It’s already a miracle you know Brother Zhou, so where on earth did you meet that old man?"

Xu Su froze. Hearing him call her that reminded her of President Zhao’s "Su Su"...

"I hear he even called you ’Su Su’..." Shen Chen clicked his tongue in disgust. "That old man actually knew your name."

Xu Su slammed her bowl down, thoroughly repulsed. "Can you let me eat in peace for once? He’s the one who insisted on calling me that, and I’m already sick to my stomach about it. Now you keep bringing it up!"

"Alright, alright, I won’t mention it again. Just eat." Shen Chen used the serving chopsticks to drop a piece of beef jerky into Xu Su’s bowl, a grin on his face. "Eat up. You’re a growing girl, after all."

Zhou Mochen, who had been serving Xu Su, paused. He shot Shen Chen a deadpan look. Seeing the other man start eating so nonchalantly, his eyes narrowed.

Xu Su, however, didn’t notice anything amiss. ’He’s right, I *am* still growing,’ she thought. ’Even if I’ve maxed out my height at five-foot-six, high school is mentally draining! Of course I need to eat more!’

She quickly wolfed down two heaping bowls of rice and a bowl of old duck soup, even finishing the braised beef Shen Chen had put in her bowl, before finally setting down her chopsticks. A true foodie.

At least, Shen Chen had never seen a girl eat that much in front of him before.

All his female companions, regardless of age or profession, had bird-like appetites. Most would take a few bites and then coyly claim they were full.

After eating, Xu Su didn’t leave the dining room right away. She cradled a cup of black tea the housekeeper had prepared and watched Zhou Mochen eat with a smile.

He had been so busy serving her that he had barely eaten a thing himself.

Beautiful people are even beautiful when they eat. Especially Young Master Zhou, whose table manners, honed by a family with a centuries-old pedigree, were a pleasure to watch. It was enough to lift anyone’s spirits.

Her mood lifted, and Xu Su felt more willing to talk. Besides, he could find out with a simple investigation anyway.

Xu Su never doubted Zhou Mochen’s incredible reach. Even without relying on the Zhou family, his personal influence in Chang City was not to be underestimated. Investigating a director at the telecom bureau? He could do that in minutes.

She took a small sip of her hot tea and decided to preemptively smooth things over. "Zhou Mochen, I’ll tell you how I met him, but you have to promise you won’t get mad at me."

Her words were surprisingly loaded. Not just Zhou Mochen, but even Shen Chen froze. The smile vanished from his face as he looked over in silence.

Who knows what scenarios were playing out in Zhou Mochen’s head, but his voice was laced with ice. "You know I don’t get angry at you easily. So, Susu, what did that old man do to you?"

"....He didn’t do anything. I just toasted him." Affected by the suddenly heavy atmosphere, Xu Su timidly held up one finger and explained, "With one shot of baijiu."

"Tsk. It was at your cousin’s wedding, wasn’t it?" Shen Chen understood immediately. He relaxed, a sarcastic smile playing on his lips. "You’re always so sharp-tongued with me. How is it that in a situation like that, you let someone force you into a toast?"

Once he’d put the pieces together, he switched into full-on mockery mode. "And here I thought you just couldn’t stomach red wine and wanted to try baijiu for yourself. Turns out you were just forced into it by some old man?"

Xu Su hated Shen Chen’s tone more than anything. It was the kind of tone that made her want to argue back, whether she was in the right or not.

She started to argue defensively, "I wasn’t forced! My cousin’s pregnant, so I volunteered to make the toast for her. Those men are all my brother-in-law’s bosses. Is it so wrong that I didn’t want him to get on their bad side?"

Even now, Xu Su didn’t think she had done anything wrong. ’I was just being considerate and looking at the bigger picture. I was being so mature!’

If that group of old men hadn’t pushed their luck and started asking for her contact information after the toast, looking at her with lecherous, ill-intentioned eyes, it would have been a perfectly fine situation.

Unfortunately, neither Shen Chen nor Zhou Mochen saw it that way.

Zhou Mochen was only just now learning that she had actually drunk baijiu that day. He laughed, but it was a laugh born of anger. "You’ve got some nerve, Xu Su. Do you have any idea how strong baijiu is? You’ve barely ever had a drink in your life, and you downed a whole glass?"

The more he spoke, the angrier he seemed to get. He called for the housekeeper to bring a bottle of Lai Mao from the liquor cabinet, which he opened with a few deft movements before filling two small cups to the brim. "If you can drink with ’*those*’ old men," he said, "then you can have a drink with me."

He said the word "those" through gritted teeth. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Xu Su hadn’t expected such a strong reaction from him. It was just one toast. ’It’s not like I’ve never had a drink before...’

Just as she was about to refuse, the rich aroma of the liquor wafted towards her...

Something stirred...

The craving for alcohol in Xu Su’s gut stirred to life.

Zhou Mochen’s liquor collection was anything but ordinary. The ones he kept in Beijing were, of course, top-shelf, but even here—which wasn’t his main residence, but still a place he’d lived for two years—a bottle like this was easily worth six figures.

In her past life, he had never let her drink baijiu. Now, with the opportunity right in front of her, Xu Su snatched up one of the small cups as if afraid he would change his mind. A proud, defiant look crossed her face. "Fine. I’ll drink with you."