69novels Chapter 20 Alcohol and Cat House
Chapter 20 Alcohol and Cat House
On a celebratory night steeped in alcohol, she called out to her lover in the maze of the alleyways, but he was trapped in his cat's den on the other end of the phone, and even a simple "wait for me" had become a luxury.
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Zeng Jia had barely arrived at the entrance of Da Dong restaurant when Zhang Zhishan arrived with his group of men from the Northeast investment promotion team. She didn't have time to process the recent dramatic moment; she immediately flashed a bright smile and started chattering away – after all, Northeasterners are known for their talkativeness when they get together.
Inside Da Dong's private room, the dazzling lights were blinding, and the air was filled with the aroma of 05 Moutai and the greasy smell of roast duck skin. The deafening shouts of urging others to drink almost lifted the roof off!
"Mr. Zhang, this won't do!" At the head of the table, Director Li's chubby face was a deep, swollen mess from drinking, his eyes practically disappearing as he grinned. "You're already swaying after just one lap around the table? Is this all the drinking capacity is for people from the Jiangzhehu region?"
The group of people at the table burst into laughter, shouting without any restraint.
Zeng Jia really hadn't expected Zhang Zhishan, a seasoned veteran who'd been around the block, to have such a low alcohol tolerance; he was already tipsy after just two small glasses. Drinking too much wasn't the problem, though; what about the contract? They had to close this deal today, or the Northeast group would be gone tomorrow!
Zeng Jia picked up the Moutai that Zhang Zhishan had just filled, pressing the rim of the glass directly to his chin: "Director Li, we don't bully people! A table full of tough guys from Northeast China, and they're targeting our General Manager Zhang, an out-of-towner? I'll take the blame for him today! This toast is for you, and also to thank you all for giving fate this opportunity! I'll drink it all, you can drink as you please!"
Zeng Jiayi tilted her head back and gulped it down!
The Moutai burned like a red-hot wire, scorching her from her throat all the way to the bottom of her stomach, making her see stars.
Zhang Zhishan chuckled to himself, as if he had struck gold. He never expected that this girl would be so useful in a crucial moment.
"Great! That's the kind of girl from Northeast China we're talking about!" Director Li slammed his hand on the table with delight, the dishes clanging loudly. "I'm telling you right now, if we drink to our hearts' content tonight, we'll immediately revise the contract and stay to finalize it!"
Zeng Jia's eyes lit up instantly. "You mean what you say, no backing down!"
"At this age, how can you go back on your word? Someone who goes back on their word isn't a biological child!"
"Then let me toast Director Li again!"
Zeng Jia ignored the churning in her stomach and kept chugging down one glass after another. But even though the liquor didn't fill her stomach, her narrow stomach quickly ran out of room.
She pretended to take a small sip of her drink, then casually tossed it down, using the tablecloth as cover. With a flick of her wrist, the drink spilled onto the floor. She then leisurely placed the empty glass back on the table, her face expressionless. If she couldn't outdrink them, she had to resort to some dirty tricks. After all, the people opposite her were already dazed and didn't care about her little antics.
Zhang Zhishan glanced at her sideways, then continued chatting with Director Li, their conversation revolving around how to best sell goods from Northeast China.
"To be honest, your Tianyi team is really ruthless!" Director Li was a bit drunk, and his words were blunt. "They're pushing the cut-off points down so hard that, in the end, not only do we not make a profit, we actually lose money!"
"Your cooperation with other platforms has high barriers to entry, but if you do the math, let's not even talk about logistics losses. If the delicacies from the mountains get damp and moldy halfway through the journey to the south, or if the cold chain for frozen pears and sticky rice cakes breaks, they'll all melt. Isn't that just throwing money down the drain?"
"Besides, bulk sales don't fetch high prices, and quality control is unreliable. Why not just implement a four-tiered distribution system? With high-end bulk sales flourishing both online and offline, we can also boost tourism and culture in Northeast China. Why worry about a few extra points?"
Zhang Zhishan launched into another long, eloquent speech, spitting as he spoke. Occasionally, when the atmosphere cooled down, Zeng Jia would repeat her old trick, offering Zhang Zhishan a couple more drinks to liven things up again.
She secretly poured three out of the five glasses of wine, and spat the remaining two onto her napkin while wiping her mouth.
After several rounds of this, Zhang Zhishan finally couldn't hold back any longer. While Zeng Jia was pouring tea, he leaned close to her ear and said, "You tried to skip drinking, but you poured it all into my shoes! My socks smell like expensive Moutai now!"
Zeng Jia's face flushed instantly. She looked down and sure enough, Zhang Zhishan's shiny leather shoes were practically overflowing with alcohol, reflecting light as he swayed!
She quickly slipped out, crouching low, and called the Maybach: "Hurry! Send Mr. Zhang a pair of clean shoes! And socks too, it's extremely urgent!"
After the shoes arrived, she used the excuse of pulling Zhang Zhishan outside to whisper a few words to him, making him change into both the shoes and socks. Zhang Zhishan didn't say much, changed, and quickly went back to continue their chatter.
They chatted and laughed, and somehow managed to finalize the cooperation! The guys from the Ministry of Commerce immediately changed their tickets to stay three more days to finalize the details. Before parting, Director Li and his fellow villagers showered Zeng Jia with praise, making her feel a little overwhelmed.
Zhang Zhishan was also quite happy. He had other things to discuss, so he asked the Maybach to take Zeng Jia home first.
The Second Ring Road was relatively clear at 11 o'clock, but the alleys of Beijing were as narrow as belts, and parking required some skill. Even though Zeng Jia was so drunk that her eyelids were drooping and she was stumbling, she didn't dare let that precious Maybach squeeze into the alley.
Even the slightest scratch would cost her more than she could afford to pay for by selling her blood.
She got off the car reluctantly and staggered into the alley. The streetlights in front of her flickered on and off, like a shaman performing a ritual.
The alley was still the same alley, the lights were still the same lights, but she wandered back and forth three times and still couldn't find her way home!
"Zeng Xiaojia, are you drunk out of your mind? You don't even recognize your own home!" she scolded herself.
But the alcohol hit her hard, making her stomach churn. She leaned against the cold wall and plunged into the public restroom, where she squatted down and vomited violently.
She vomited up everything – roast duck, shark fin, geoduck – mixed with Moutai. She turned on the cold water tap in the public restroom and splashed it on her face. In the dead of winter, the water was so cold it made her grimace and her mouth go numb!
Even when she was a little more awake, the door to that house seemed to have grown legs and she couldn't find it at all. She plopped down on the curb, took out her phone, and opened Wang Haowen's chat window by feel.
"Wenzi... I signed a huge deal today! I'm so happy! But... I can't find my way home... Please come pick me up quickly... I'm a little scared..."
At this moment, Wang Haowen is still trapped in that "luxury cage" from the daytime.
His social engagement tonight is just bizarre.
Mrs. Zhang, an investor, had a Ragdoll cat at home and proudly showed it to Yu Li in a video. Yu Li casually remarked, "It's so enviable, I want one too." Mrs. Zhang immediately decided to give her one of her kittens.
Yu Li was put in an awkward position and had no choice but to take the child home to raise.
Wang Haowen rolled his eyes inwardly. He couldn't even figure out his own son, yet he had the leisure to serve the cat ancestor? Sure enough, the task of serving the cat ancestor came crashing down on his head with a "thud".
Late at night, he ran around buying cat food, cat litter, and a cat litter box, and then squatted in a corner of the living room, laboriously assembling a cat bed and cat tree.
Normally, he would have dumped this chore on Zhang Zihao long ago, euphemistically calling it "cultivating compassion." But today, he had just caused a ruckus with Zeng Jia at the villa, so calling Zhang Zihao would be nothing short of walking into a trap. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and do it himself.
The job wasn't too difficult, it was just tedious. Wang Haowen knelt on one knee, holding a screwdriver in his hand, with a pile of parts spread out on the ground. He looked like a laborer on an assembly line, sweating profusely.
He was engrossed in fiddling with his phone when it suddenly started buzzing in his pocket, making his inner thighs tingle. He glanced at it while checking the time, and when he scanned the message from voice to text, he was nearly scared out of his wits!
She's so drunk she can't even find her way home?! How much cat pee did this tiger woman drink?!
He quickly excused himself to go to the bathroom, pressed the voice call button, his voice hoarse with anxiety: "Zeng Xiaojia! Send me your location right now! Hold on and don't wander off! Wait for me where you are! Do you hear me?!"
Upon receiving Zeng Jia's location, he rushed back to the living room. Just as he was about to ask for leave, Yu Li pointed to the pile of unfinished cat bed parts, her impatience reaching its peak: "Hurry up and finish assembling it and move it to the big balcony! And those claws are trimmed too, don't let them scratch my things. Mrs. Zhang, really, she takes a few polite words so seriously! Mao Mao is such a nuisance!"
She launched into a tirade of complaints, effectively silencing Wang Haowen's attempt to say, "Something came up at home." Was he just asking for trouble by directly confronting her now? He was already looking for a punching bag, and if he just went along with it, wouldn't he get fired in a fit of rage?
Seeing that he wasn't moving, Yu Li asked, "Is there anything else?"
Wang Haowen hesitated for a few moments, but didn't dare to say he wanted to leave. He gritted his teeth, squatted down, and started assembling the cat bed, wanting to finish as soon as possible and leave. His fingers were almost twisted into pretzel shapes when he finally finished assembling the cat bed. The palm-sized Ragdoll cat crawled inside like a boss and purred happily.
"You can go back now. There's no rush for tomorrow's bidding proposal. We can finalize the third draft the day after tomorrow." Yu Li's rare act of kindness.
"Alright, Mr. Yu! I'll be off then!" Wang Haowen sprang up like a spring, grabbed his coat and wrapped it around himself, his movements so fast they created a gust of wind.
"Wait." Yu Li's voice suddenly rang out again, like a spell that had frozen her in place.
As soon as Wang Haowen touched the cold doorknob, his heart skipped a beat, fearing that Yu Li would cause some trouble again.
"Take the trash away." Yu Li pointed to the large pile of cat parts packaging by the door.
Wang Haowen breathed a sigh of relief, grabbed the precious trash, and fled into the cold wind of early winter as if escaping a disaster.
"Driver! Follow the GPS and keep going! I'll cover any traffic violations! I'll pay whatever it takes!" He hailed a ride-hailing car, jumped in, and yelled.
Seeing his anxious and pale face, the driver didn't dare to say anything and kept the speed limit at 90 mph the whole way.
Wang Haowen didn't even bother to check his watch; he frantically called Zeng Jia.
"Sorry, the number you dialed is currently unavailable..." The cold, mechanical female voice sent a chill down Wang Haowen's spine.