Chapter 1605

After all, it was the main street.

"North Hua Prefecture" could be considered one of the best restaurants in the entire Jiaoya Town.

A single meal cost at least one or two gold coins, and spending ten to twenty gold coins was nothing unusual.

If it had been back when he was still in school, Zhao Chi wouldn't have even stepped through the door.

But now he could buy the whole place outright.

The attendant at the entrance greeted him warmly.

Zhao Chi asked, "Where is the 'High Mountains and Flowing Water' room?"

"On the second floor, this way please."

Led by the attendant, Zhao Chi entered the private room on the second floor.

It was very lively inside.

The moment the door opened, he heard Yang Xiong's unrestrained laughter.

Lu Yi was also covering her mouth, her body shaking with nonstop laughter.

Cao Feng stood with arms crossed, sneering coldly, as if looking down on everything.

There were ten people in the private room in total.

Besides Yang Xiong, Lu Yi, Cao Feng, Li Xun, and Wang Lie, there were also Zhou Lue, Wei Jinlong, and three fellow students from the Eighth Academy.

Those three fellow students were all members of Zhou Lue's team; their strength was decent, slightly stronger than Li Xun and Wang Lie, but a bit weaker than Yang Xiong and Lu Yi.

Zhao Chi knew that Zhou Lue's team was also joining the gathering tonight.

Everyone was gathered around the big round table, chatting and laughing.

The table was laid out with fruit plates and sunflower seeds.

Right now there was only one empty seat, next to Lu Yi—clearly the spot reserved for Zhao Chi.

But on the other side of the empty seat sat a woman.

Quite pretty, slightly short.

She had just been smiling and saying something, but her expression remained somewhat indifferent. Now, upon seeing Zhao Chi, her smile faded and she looked at him with slight nervousness.

Wei Li.

Why was she here?

Zhao Chi was a little surprised.

The others, hearing the sound of the door opening, all looked over.

"Hey, Zhao Chi's here, come sit down." Lu Yi called to Zhao Chi, pointing at the empty chair beside her.

Yang Xiong said, "Damn, you're a full half hour late—the wine's already been poured, so figure it out yourself."

Cao Feng said, "Combat power goes up, and so does the ego."

Zhao Chi smiled and said, "Sorry, sorry, something really did hold me up."

Zhou Lue smiled: "It's fine, you're different from before now—being busy is only natural."

Wei Jinlong smiled and nodded at him.

Wei Li greeted him softly: "Good evening."

Zhao Chi didn't want to sit next to Wei Li.

But everyone had finally managed to get together, and Zhao Chi didn't want to ruin the mood, so he kept smiling and sat down in the empty seat between Lu Yi and Wei Li.

Having two beautiful women beside him should have felt pretty good.

But Zhao Chi kept feeling that there was a thorn in Wei Li's gaze.

A soft thorn.

Lu Yi said, "Zhao Chi, this is Wei Li, the team leader of the Glazed Team—you know each other, right? We've known each other for a long time. She knew about our gathering today and wanted to join in. One more beauty joining at the last minute—you don't mind, do you?"

Cao Feng cut in: "What's there to mind? Having a great beauty at the gathering—he'd be only too happy."

Yang Xiong said, "That's you, but I honestly don't mind either."

Zhou Lue said, "I've heard of Wei Li from the Seventh Academy before, but this is my first time meeting her today, so I still feel quite honored."

Wei Li responded politely to everyone.

Zhao Chi said, "Of course I don't mind. Something really did hold me up just now—I'll punish myself with one cup."

Lu Yi stopped him: "You don't have to drink a whole cup. This liquor is high-proof—one sip is enough."

Zhao Chi smiled: "It's fine."

With that, he tilted his head back and downed the wine in front of him.

Wei Li seemed to want to stop him too, but she opened her mouth and said nothing.

Zhao Chi smacked his lips, a little surprised: "Why is this wine so sweet? It's not high-proof at all."

Only then did Wei Li say softly, "That one is mine. Yours is this pale yellow one."

"Huh?"

Zhao Chi had just mistaken the pale yellow wine for beer, and Wei Li's clear wine for baijiu.

The two glasses were placed one in front of the other, so Zhao Chi naturally picked up the "baijiu" and drank it.

Cao Feng said, "Zhao Chi, did you do that on purpose? Trying to share a glass with Wei Li?"

Zhao Chi thought, Bullshit.

But on the surface he said, "It really was a misunderstanding. I'll drink another cup."

With that, he downed that pale yellow cup in one go as well.

Sure enough, the proof wasn't low.

His throat burned, very harsh.

Cao Feng said, "Drinking it like that is a waste — how does it taste? This is our family's private stock."

Zhao Chi actually couldn't tell the difference.

He felt every kind of liquor tasted the same — all of it just tasted like alcohol.

But since Cao Feng had said so, there was no need for Zhao Chi to brush off his face; after all, the man had brought liquor from home, so no matter what, he ought to politely offer a compliment.

"Good liquor!"

Hearing Zhao Chi's praise, Cao Feng was very pleased: "Hmph, as long as you know. Pour it yourself."

He took out a wine pot, its exterior extremely exquisite.

Wei Li stood up and took it: "Let me pour for you."

Before Zhao Chi could refuse, Lu Yi stood up again: "Wei Li, you sit down — you're the guest, I'll do it."

Zhao Chi stopped them both: "Our get-together doesn't have that many rules — I'll do it myself."

Lu Yi raised the wine pot: "Exactly because there aren't that many rules, listen to me. Don't be polite either — sit properly."

Zhao Chi sat down, and Lu Yi poured the wine.

Wei Li took Zhao Chi's empty cup and filled it again with sweet wine.

Cao Feng said: "Wei Li, don't use that cup — there are new ones over here."

Wei Li smiled and shook her head: "It's fine."

Yang Xiong hollered at the top of his lungs: "Server, you can bring the dishes now!"

The dishes were truly exquisite.

The flavors were indeed excellent.

But the portions were very small.

Zhao Chi still preferred just eating big mouthfuls of barbecue straight up.

Yang Xiong also felt it wasn't quite enough: "Next gathering, don't come here. There's a big food stall to the south — eating there feels great."

Cao Feng snorted: "You really can't appreciate fine things."

Zhou Lue laughed and said: "Different shops have different ways of eating. This place has its own elegance, the outside has its own boldness — both are good. This is the second gathering of our two groups, but it's the first with Zhao Chi and Wei Li. Let's all have a cup together!"

Everyone raised their cups.

Three rounds of wine.

Five flavors of dishes.

Everyone was getting a bit tipsy.

Dizzy and fuzzy, their words also grew more plentiful.

Most of it was about school matters.

Although Wei Li was at the Seventh Academy, there was basically not much difference, and she could occasionally chime in with a few words.