Back Then, I Adored You

Lu Bancheng returned to his senses and looked at his friend without speaking. He turned off the tap, took a paper towel, and slowly wiped his hands dry. Then, they left the restroom together.

The tables at Jinyuan were separated by green plants. If Lu Bancheng hadn’t bumped into Xu Wennuan at the restroom, he wouldn’t have realized that her table was not far away from his with a perfect view.

Director Li, who Lu Bancheng didn’t know, was sitting close beside her and kept pouring more alcohol into her glass. After three glasses, she simply could not continue drinking anymore. She smiled and said a few words to Director Li, when the delighted smile on his face instantly vanished. Lu Bancheng guessed that her declining to drink more had made him unhappy. Director Li stared at her for a moment before he abruptly picked up the open bottle of wine and placed it in front of her.

As there was some distance between them, Lu Bancheng could not catch what Director Li said but, based on his expression and behavior, Lu Bancheng could guess that he was probably saying something along the lines of working with Xu Wennuan if she would finished the entire bottle of wine.

Xu Wennuan was obviously at her limit after having vomited so much in the restroom, yet she was now staring at the bottle as if she was weighing her options, until she reached for it.

She looks so pale… She must be sick. Judging from how much she was throwing up just now, it’s obvious that she’s already drunk too much. And now she’s going to drink more? Don’t tell me this is how she earned the $100,000 that she repaid me with?

Lu Bancheng’s eyes instantly became cold, and his hands curled into fists on the table.

“Boss Lu?” The young female secretary sitting beside Lu Bancheng handed him a glass of wine under her own boss’s orders, but Lu Bancheng paid no attention to her. He stared fixedly at Xu Wennuan. As the bottle reached her lips and she started drinking the wine, his lips pressed together into a tight, thin line.

She only drank two mouthfuls before placing the bottle on the table and turning around to cough. And the more she coughed, the more her frail body trembled. After her coughing fit, she gritted her teeth and picked up the bottle again.

“Boss Lu…” the female secretary awkwardly said again after being ignored by Lu Bancheng, who finally responded by sweeping his gaze over the female secretary and cocking his head so that it was near the head of the man he had just gone to the restroom with. He raised his finger and pointed at the man sitting beside Xu Wennuan. “Do you know who he is?” he asked.

His friend looked over at where he was pointing. After a few seconds, he replied, “He looks familiar. I believe he is the director at Huayu.”

Lu Bancheng hummed without any change in his expression. After a moment, he whispered something into his friend’s ear again, causing him to turn his head and gaze at Lu Bancheng rather doubtfully. “No way! You’re considering a small company like Huayu?”

Lu Bancheng hummed again without saying anything else. “Hold on for a moment.” His friend then rose and headed toward Xu Wennuan’s table.

Xu Wennuan had finished a third of the bottle when a man came walking over. He stopped beside the table, lowered his head, and whispered into Director Li’s ear. Director Li stood up with a surprised look on his face and followed the man without saying anything to Xu Wennuan.