Chapter 475: 499 Li Zhien: Xiuyuan-xi, are you a gigolo model

497 Li Zhien: Xiuyuan-xi, are you a gigolo model? (Please subscribe, please vote for monthly tickets)

Inside the restaurant.

Lin Xiuyuan leaned against the bar counter, one arm resting on the cold marble surface, his fingers unconsciously fidgeting with a small coaster.

His gaze passed through the glass window, over the interior, and toward the atrium garden outside.

Those two young women had been standing there chatting for quite a while, their heads very close together, as if exchanging some information that couldn't be heard by others.

Moreover, as they chatted, they would glance toward the restaurant interior from time to time.

To be precise, they were glancing at Lin Xiuyuan, who was leaning against the bar.

Among them, Li Zhien glanced over with particular frequency; her gaze would stay on him for less than half a second before snapping back, and then she would continue whispering into Xueli's ear.

Lin Xiuyuan, who had been watching them the whole time, muttered to himself: It seems the topic is quite exciting, and it even has something to do with him.

Thinking of this, he flipped the coaster in his hand over, held it down with his finger, and spun it gently on the bar.

He wasn't in a hurry; he had no other plans for the day anyway, so he would let them chat to their hearts' content outside.

Afterward, he didn't continue staring out the window, lest they turn around and feel uncomfortable upon discovering they were being watched.

Withdrawing his gaze, Lin Xiuyuan turned to face the inside of the bar and asked the waiter who was wiping glasses, "Excuse me, do you have zero-alcohol Sparkling Wine?"

"Ah, I'm sorry, sir, we don't."

The waiter paused in his glass-wiping motion and looked up at Lin Xiuyuan. His eyes held a subtle confusion, as if he had heard a rather unusual request.

It was normal to order wine when dining at a Western restaurant, but asking for zero-alcohol Sparkling Wine right off the bat was indeed a bit ahead of its time for a typical restaurant in 2014.

The waiter mentally ran through the wine list from beginning to end, confirmed he hadn't misremembered, and added an apologetic explanation.

"We only have standard wine and beer; the only non-alcoholic options are soft drinks."

Hearing this, Lin Xiuyuan sighed with regret.

A few days ago, while he was in 2026, he had tasted a Spanish-produced 0-alcohol sparkling grape juice.

Although it was labeled as zero alcohol, the fruit aroma was astonishingly rich, the crisp sweetness of the white grapes and the fine density of the bubbles were perfectly balanced, and the refreshing sensation the moment it hit his mouth was no less than that of traditional Sparkling Wine.

Most importantly, it was 0 alcohol, so he could still drive as usual after drinking it.

Now, at this point in 2014, it seemed there was no hope; the R&D team for that grape juice was probably still in the vineyard picking grapes and conducting experiments.

So, having no other choice, Lin Xiuyuan had to settle for second best and changed his request to the waiter behind the bar.

"Then bring a bottle of Jacob's Creek."

Upon hearing this, the waiter nodded, turned around to take a bottle from the wine rack behind him, and placed it in front of Lin Xiuyuan.

Looking at the bottle, he didn't rush out, but continued to lean against the bar, watching the outside world intermittently.

Not until he noticed that the two young women outside were finally no longer standing and had sat down, did he pick up the wine bottle and glasses and step out from the bar.

It was still raining outside.

However, the rain was much lighter than the torrential downpour from the morning, having turned into a fine, dense, and continuous light-to-moderate rain.

Fortunately, there was a covered corridor between the restaurant interior and the atrium dining area, so he didn't get wet at all on the way.

Thus, Lin Xiuyuan soon reappeared in front of Xueli.

He first placed the bottle of Jacob's Creek gently in the center of the dining table, then took down the three Glass Cups one by one and placed them in front of each person's seat in turn.

The sound of rain hitting the canopy overhead went *patter-patter*, and mixed with the slight clinking sound of the Glass Cups being placed on the tablecloth, it actually had a rare sense of ritual in daily life.

Just looking at these three wine glasses, Xueli couldn't help but look up, her eyes darting back and forth between them and Lin Xiuyuan's face.

Her delicate eyebrows arched slightly, and she couldn't help but ask, "Oppa, although I don't have to work, isn't it a bit too much to be drinking in broad daylight?"

"Just take a small sip; who comes to a Western restaurant and doesn't drink?"

Lin Xiuyuan's reason was very appropriate, appropriate enough to be used in almost any situation.

After all, having some wine with a Western meal is indeed an unwritten rule.

But it also depends on the person.

So much so that Li Zhien, sitting next to her, actually nodded in strong agreement, leaned her body further toward Xueli, and reached out to gently tug at the corner of Xueli's clothes.

She whispered into Xueli's ear, "It's fine, a small sip is okay, and I happen to have no work today either."

"IU, are you sure? You're a one-glass lightweight, don't ask me to send you back later; I have a flight to catch."

Xueli turned her face to look at Li Zhien, the curve of her mouth very malicious, even filled with the anticipation of watching a good show in advance.

Didn't Xueli know her best friend's alcohol tolerance inside and out?

Basically, she was a one-glass lightweight.

No, not even one glass; in the past, when Li Zhien drank the fruit-infused wine she had brewed herself with such enthusiasm, drinking that stuff that was as sweet as fruit juice like a beverage, she could still end up with a muddled mind and dazed eyes.

This woman's alcohol metabolism was recognized as the bottom of their entire circle of friends.

"Then I'll just drink a tiny bit." Li Zhien's gaze passed over Xueli's shoulder, glanced at Lin Xiuyuan sitting opposite, then quickly withdrew, and she leaned her whole body closer to Xueli again.

In her view, she wanted to drink with Xueli, not with Lin Xiuyuan across from them.

Afterward, the three of them began to officially order their meal.

The waiter, having finished taking the order, picked up the bottle of Jacob's Creek on the table and, using a standard wine-serving posture, poured less than a third of a glass into each of the three wine glasses.

Then he stepped back.

And Lin Xiuyuan was the first to reach out and pick up his glass; he didn't foolishly swirl the glass like those wine connoisseurs, but just raised it, then looked across the table at Li Zhien sitting opposite.

Thinking about his phrasing, he said, "How should I put it, it's a rare encounter, let's have a toast."

Faced with Lin Xiuyuan's remark, although Li Zhien didn't have a high impression of him in her heart, she was very good at handling this kind of basic social etiquette.

Even if she couldn't understand why Xueli was so tolerant of this boy, she wouldn't make the scene awkward on the surface.

So, she very graciously raised the wine glass in front of her, reached her hand to the center of the table, clinked it gently against Lin Xiuyuan's glass, and then clinked it against Xueli's glass.

After clinking, she brought the glass back to her lips and took a sip that was almost symbolic.

It really was just a touch; she used her lips to say hello to the wine glass.

She had a very clear understanding of her own alcohol tolerance.

She still had to take it slow at the start; if she really gulped down a large mouthful all at once, she would definitely make a fool of herself in public when it came time to eat later.

Moreover, she still had a long list of questions in her head that she wanted to ask the boy in front of her, so she had to stay sober.

At least until she finished this meal and had probed enough to get the answers she wanted.

And so, as the dishes were brought down from the tray by the waiter one by one, filling the entire table, Li Zhien also officially began her journey of curiosity.

"Xiuyuan-xi, how old are you?"

"I should be older than you." Lin Xiuyuan chewed the steak in his mouth, swallowed, and replied with a smile.

"Oh, I see. Since you're that old, do you have a girlfriend then?"

After hearing this question, Lin Xiuyuan did not answer immediately; instead, he turned his head first and looked with a smile at Sulli, who was sitting diagonally across from him.

Then he turned his head back and replied to Li Zhien with the exact same answer he had given Lin Xiaolu this morning, "That, I don't. I'm still single to this day. Can't help it, nobody loves me."

"Oppa~"

Sulli, across the table, was already struggling to hold back her laughter.

Because she knew very clearly that Lin Xiuyuan was actually just teasing Li Zhien.

She also knew that Li Zhien, upon hearing this, must be frantically roasting Lin Xiuyuan in her heart right now.

Thinking of this, Sulli felt this scene was just too funny; how did these two conversations from completely different channels end up being forced onto the same dining table?

Was it because of her?

Hahaha!!!

What a bad man.

Sure enough, Li Zhien, sitting next to her, added an emphasis mark to those three words—Lin Xiuyuan—in her heart the moment she heard his reply.

Then she shifted her gaze away from Lin Xiuyuan's smiling face and glanced at Sulli, who was laughing so hard her shoulders were shaking.

However, the other party's reaction was something Li Zhien truly could not understand.

Her crush had clearly just said he was single, yet the person who liked him was sitting right there laughing like that.

The level of absurdity in this scene had exceeded all of Li Zhien's understanding of normal relationships.

And the most, most, most critical point was that Lin Xiuyuan had clearly heard Sulli introduce him to his face just moments ago, saying, "This is my crush."

Yet now he turned around and said he was single and unloved; he was simply wicked to the core.

However, there were some things she couldn't say directly to Lin Xiuyuan's face.

Once Lin Xiuyuan was gone later, she would have a good talk with her little Xiao Taozi.

Anyway, as of now, no matter from which angle she evaluated this man named Lin Xiuyuan, Li Zhien felt she couldn't allow him to go and ruin her little Xiao Taozi.

He was just too...

Thinking this, Li Zhien couldn't help but steal another glance at Lin Xiuyuan.

Fine, she admitted, this man was indeed very handsome and good-looking; from an objective aesthetic point of view, there was nothing to nitpick.

But, he was also too much of a playboy.

And what she found particularly unacceptable was that the other party actually dared to be a playboy so openly and brazenly.

He had clearly been kissing Lin Yun'er in the car this morning, yet he could sit here at noon without changing his expression, smiling and saying he was single; how could such a person be so composed?

Thus, in this state of mind, Li Zhien unknowingly finished the small glass of red wine in front of her.

It was truly unknowingly; she hadn't realized she was drinking at all. She had just been thinking about things while subconsciously picking up the glass and bringing it to her lips, taking small sip after small sip.

By the time she put the glass down most recently, only a few drops of deep red residual wine remained at the bottom.

Meanwhile, across the table, more than half of the red wine in Lin Xiuyuan and Sulli's glasses—which had been less than a third full—remained.

So when Lin Xiuyuan and Sulli noticed the empty glass, both were somewhat surprised and simultaneously turned their gaze toward Li Zhien.

Then they both saw Li Zhien's clearly flushed, slightly tipsy state.

A distinct pinkish hue had spread across her cheeks, extending from her cheekbones all the way to her earlobes, and her eyes looked a bit watery.

With her chin resting on her palm and her elbow propped on the table, the smile on her face was much more relaxed than when she had first walked in.

It formed a huge contrast with the cool, stylish all-black outfit she was wearing today.

Watching this scene, Lin Xiuyuan gave a surprised "Wow," a very unexpected smile hanging on the corners of his mouth, "Wow, are you really a one-glass lightweight, IU-xi? I thought that was just a persona you all set for yourselves."

His tone was genuinely surprised, not faked.

Because he had always thought this talk of being a "one-glass lightweight" was a trope deliberately exaggerated for the sake of the Variety Show.

After all, for an artist, having a persona label was the most normal thing in the world.

In reality, who actually gets drunk after one glass?

Now it seemed, this wasn't show business; this was clearly a real physiological reaction.

And just as he finished speaking, he was glared at by Sulli from across the table with a very charming yet reproachful look.

"Oppa, nobody sets a persona like that."

"So, IU, are you really drunk?" Lin Xiuyuan straightened his gaze and looked at Li Zhien, who was sitting across from him propping her chin with her hand, her face flushed red.

As he spoke, his body leaned forward slightly, and his tone shifted from the previous teasing to a more gentle confirmation.

Hearing this, Li Zhien first let out a laugh, then waved her hands very forcefully.

It was just that although the direction of her waving was toward Lin Xiuyuan, her eyes couldn't precisely meet his because her focus was a bit scattered.

But she still tried to act normal, smiling and saying with a speech rate slowed by half a beat, "No, it's just that my eyes are a bit hot. I guess I didn't rest well last night. You don't need to worry about me."

Just as Lin Xiuyuan and Sulli were feeling somewhat dumbfounded looking at Li Zhien, who claimed she wasn't drunk but was clearly already tipsy,

the slightly tipsy girl across the table suddenly raised her exceptionally watery, large eyes, her gaze landing steadily on Lin Xiuyuan's figure.

Then, in a very sudden way without any buildup, she spoke with a shocking remark.

"By the way, Xiuyuan-xi, are you a gigolo male model?"

"???" Lin Xiuyuan's eyes widened the instant he heard this sentence.

Across the table, Xueli, who was sitting next to Li Zhien, had her first reaction be to immediately raise both hands to cover her entire face when she heard the four words "gigolo male model" pop out of her best friend's mouth.

It's over, it's over; how did this IU say the very things she had repeatedly warned her not to say just a moment ago?