NANSO Chapter 8

TL: Hua

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Chapter 8: Forced Drinking

For the next few days, nothing happened.

In the original novel, Shen Ci had a high fever and was on an IV drip for three days, and the original owner, afraid of catching his illness, didn’t contact him for those three days. This was a rare moment of respite for Shen Ci in the early stages of the novel.

In reality, Xie Yu comfortably slept for three days, sampling all the hotel chef’s specialties, even remarking with interest, “The black truffle is a bit old, there’s too much sugar in the mousse, and the chocolate shell is too thick; it doesn’t feel very authentic.”

The system could only watch and not eat, so it could only glare resentfully while Xie Yu ate, so bored that mushrooms almost sprouted on it. Finally, Saturday arrived, another important plot point.

Xie Yu flipped open the novel chapter: [Saturday Gathering].

On this Saturday, He Zhiyuan, consumed by his desire for Shen Ci, was desperate to get his hands on the cold beauty. So he organized a gathering. He instructed Xie Yu to definitely bring Shen Ci along, and the original owner, with a bit of “brotherly loyalty,” actually brought Shen Ci. The groups of people drank themselves into a stupor, making the academic genius have gastric bleeding. The events that followed were all censored, but Xie Yu guessed it was mostly illegal activities that would land them in jail.

Considering the completeness of the plot, he definitely had to bring Shen Ci along; the “mosaic” parts could be improvised.

As expected, early in the morning, He Zhiyuan was shouting in the group chat, rounding people up for a get-together.

He Zhiyuan: “Drinking tonight? I got two good bottles of wine to liven things up, old spot, on the Riverside Pleasure Boat. I’ve booked the whole place.”

The Riverside Pleasure Boat was the most luxurious cruise ship in the city, also operating as a hotel, setting sail every evening, and spending the night on the river. A night there was quite expensive.

He Zhiyuan shouted, “Zhou Yang, Zhou Yang, coming or not?”

Zhou Yang: “Coming.”

“And Young Master Xie, is Young Master Xie coming?”

Xie Yu replied concisely, “Coming.”

He Zhiyuan’s true intention wasn’t the wine. Seeing Xie Yu speak, he immediately asked, “That beauty you just hooked up with, the researcher from A University, with the slender waist and long legs, he’s really something. He ran off last time, so is he coming this time?”

“Whatever our relationship is, I’ll tie him up and bring him over for you.”

This was a line from the original text.

Xie Yu typed out such intimate lines, yet his face showed no expression. His amber eyes were cold and distant, faintly revealing impatience.

He Zhiyuan was overjoyed: “As expected of Brother Xie, looking out for his brothers.”

Xie Yu thought to himself, “Bullshit.” Looking out for his brothers meant sending someone to his brother’s bed, trampling their dignity into the mud, and then stepping on it a few more times? What kind of brotherhood was this?

He grew increasingly impatient. Unable to say much due to his persona, he adopted the tone of a rich second-generation heir, perfunctorily responding to He Zhiyuan a few more times, then turned off his phone.

By noon, Shen Ci was probably out of the lab. Xie Yu called him, according to the original text: “There’s a gathering tonight at seven. Get ready, wear something clean. I’ll pick you up.”

This time, the phone rang only three times before Shen Ci answered. He kept his voice low and quickly replied, “Okay.”

From the sound, there seemed to be less reluctance than last time.

Xie Yu still had several threatening lines he hadn’t spoken, but Shen Ci’s single “okay” cut him off. He paused for a moment before lowering his voice and continuing, “Be good. Don’t forget, I got your grandmother’s quota.”

“Okay,” Shen Ci replied. “I know.”

He sounded as if someone was nearby, keeping his voice very soft. In the original book, Shen Ci’s tone was sharp, and he never gave Xie Yu a good impression, but now he sounded a little soft.

Xie Yu: “…”

He looked at the original text in his hand, skipped the next few lines, and coughed twice: “Anyway, you stay put. I’ll pick you up tonight.”

With that, he directly hung up.

In the lab, Shen Ci also put down his phone and put his gloves back on. The milky white rubber encased his long fingers, with a hint of flesh showing through a slightly open section. He looked up to see Han Yunyun and Li Yue winking at each other.

Shen Ci stopped what he was doing and looked up: “Something wrong?”

“No! Nothing!” Han Yunyun quickly stood at attention.

Shen Ci didn’t say anything more and continued to look at the data. But when he looked up again, Han Yunyun was hiding behind the experimental bench, fiddling with equipment, peeking over.

Shen Ci sighed slightly: “What exactly do you want?”

Han Yunyun gave an awkward laugh: “Senior, I just wanted to ask, do you have something important going on recently? You never used your phone in the lab before.”

She actually wanted to ask if he was dating.

Shen Ci didn’t think that much and just hummed in response.

Young Master Xie’s messages were indeed important. If he replied two minutes late, he didn’t know how much trouble he’d be in.

Han Yunyun gasped, covering her face with an experimental report, her thoughts running wild.

Li Yue glanced at him and handed another document to Shen Ci: “So, Senior, seeing as you’ve been quite busy lately, are you still taking on work-study assignments from the student affairs office?”

Li Yue was one of the student officers in the student affairs department and knew about Shen Ci’s family situation. Previously, when Shen Ci did work-study, Li Yue would save him some well-paying jobs.

Shen Ci nodded: “Yes, I am.”

His involvement with Xie Yu was mainly for his grandmother’s medication contract, but he hadn’t received much financial support and was still struggling. With Shen Ci’s pride, he couldn’t bring himself to ask Xie Yu for money.

Li Yue said, “Currently there are two short-term assignments. One is to be a temporary teaching assistant for next week’s pharmacokinetics. Their TA is hospitalized, and it’s finals the week after next, so you’d need to explain homework to students. One evening self-study session has a 50-yuan subsidy.”

“The other is to be a volunteer at a hospital school in the suburbs, assisting the school’s publicity department. There’s a 200-yuan travel allowance for the round trip.”

Neither job was difficult or time-consuming. Shen Ci nodded: “I’ll take both.”

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As autumn was approaching, the sun set quickly. On Saturday evening, it was completely dark by just before 7 PM.

The Riverside Pleasure Cruise was docked, neon lights already shining. People were dancing in the cabin, flashing disco balls bouncing to the intense drumbeats, a kaleidoscope of dazzling colors.

He Zhiyuan had ordered a champagne tower, with over two hundred stemmed glasses stacked layer upon layer. Golden liquid cascaded from the top, half pouring into the glasses, half clinging to the rims. The air was filled with a pungent smell of alcohol. They were using expensive champagne from Seros, averaging tens of thousands of yuan per bottle. Just one such tower wasted hundreds of thousands.

Shen Ci got out of Xie Yu’s car. The wind by the river made him pull his clothes tighter.

It was very cold.

Xie Yu stepped onto the boat and handed his jacket to a waiter. Someone quickly came forward to guide him inside.

After taking a couple of steps, Xie Yu noticed Shen Ci lagging behind and slightly turned his head: “Why aren’t you coming up?”

Shen Ci lowered his gaze and followed, “I’m coming.”

He stepped onto the gangplank. The boat gently swayed in the river. Then, after two hoots of the horn, the cruise ship gradually pulled away from the shore.

Shen Ci took one last look at the riverbank and went up to the second floor with Xie Yu.

From now on, this boat was like an isolated island, with no village before or after it. The rich young masters inside laughed wantonly, while others were isolated and helpless, with no way to call for help.

Xie Yu walked through the crowd and took a seat in the innermost private room.

He Zhiyuan and Zhou Yang had already arrived. The two sat on either side, leaving the middle seat for Xie Yu. Lin Yin, carrying a small bag, sat cautiously beside He Zhiyuan. Seeing Xie Yu and Shen Ci, her eyes darted away, quickly shifting her gaze.

He Zhiyuan’s gaze swept over Shen Ci, then he put an arm around Xie Yu, laughing suggestively: “Good brother!”

Xie Yu subtly pushed his arm away, smiling without warmth: “Naturally.”

He Zhiyuan didn’t notice Xie Yu’s rejection. He offered champagne: “We were just waiting for you.”

Xie Yu took two sips, then turned to talk to someone else.

He Zhiyuan’s intention was on something else, so he let go of Xie Yu and turned to Shen Ci. He scrutinized Shen Ci from head to toe, then bent down, stopping twenty centimeters from Shen Ci’s nose, placed a glass of wine in front of him, and smiled: “Mr. Shen, will you do me a favor?”

It was a glass of strong white liquor with an alcohol content of 62 degrees or higher.

Just one glass would make someone like Shen Ci, who couldn’t drink, vomit.

He Zhiyuan didn’t dare to force strong liquor on Xie Yu, only offering him champagne, but with Shen Ci, he had no qualms.

Shen Ci calmly stated, “I don’t drink.”

Hearing this, not just He Zhiyuan but Zhou Yang also laughed, wearing expressions of someone watching a good show.

These spoiled dandies, when excited, would force drinks on anyone, regardless of whether they could drink or not. Who cares if they vomit?

He Zhiyuan narrowed his eyes and picked up the glass: “Really don’t drink? Everyone on this boat drinks.”

Even if they didn’t, once they were on this boat, they should.

Shen Ci looked him straight in the eye: “I don’t.”

He Zhiyuan evidently didn’t expect Shen Ci to be so disrespectful. His face suddenly darkened, then he sneered, “Alright, very good.”

Saying that, he suddenly raised the wine glass and pressed it heavily against Shen Ci’s lips. His left hand reached for Shen Ci’s neck, intending to forcefully pry open his jaw and pour the wine in.

“If I force you, will you drink it?”

Shen Ci turned his head to dodge, but the chair had limited space, his back against the cushion, leaving no room to retreat.

He frowned, his face showing disgust. The liquid was so close, a lot of it splashed out of the glass, wetting his shirt collar. With just a slight lowering of his head, he could smell the pungent odor of alcohol.

He pressed his lips together, with no escape.

“Hey.”

Someone suddenly spoke from behind him, but with a beauty in front of him, He Zhiyuan’s mind was filled with Shen Ci’s listless expression—that look of disdain, or perhaps disgust, was irritatingly dazzling, setting He Zhiyuan’s heart ablaze. He was eager to pour the liquor in, to stain that beautiful face with fear, despair, and pain. He wanted to make this person vomit, convulse, and ideally never be able to make that expression again…

“I said, hey!”

As He Zhiyuan was thinking, he suddenly felt a strong force from behind, and then he was grabbed and pulled back two steps and forcefully pressed onto a seat.

He Zhiyuan turned back in astonishment. Xie Yu leisurely released his hand, lightly patting his cuff as if brushing off something dirty.

Young Master Xie then slumped into the seat, raised an eyebrow, and looked at him: “Hey, I said, the party just started. What’s the point of getting everyone drunk so quickly? Let’s take our time; don’t be so impatient, okay?”

He Zhiyuan: “But…”

Before he could refute, he saw Xie Yu, with half-lowered eyes, cast a light glance at him, staring steadily, with a hint of a smile. He was clearly in the center of the dazzling lights, his dark eyes reflecting the light, yet they were serene and indifferent, as deep as a cold pool.

He Zhiyuan’s back stiffened, and for some reason, he dared not speak.

He touched his nose, picked up his wine glass, and sat back down, awkwardly saying, “True, it’s just getting started; the night is still long, still long.”

Although everyone present was a rich second-generation heir, there were differences in family background. Xie Yu was considered top-tier in Jiangcheng, so everyone had to give him face.

During this time, more rounds of drinks were served. The rich second-generation heirs laughed and cursed. Zhou Yang played dice, winning and losing a couple of rounds. Someone else in the private room lit a cigarette, blowing out smoke.

Shen Ci choked twice, coughing with a suppressed voice. A moment later, he got up: “I’m going to the restroom.”

Xie Yu nodded.

He then quickly walked onto the deck. The early autumn river wind was chilling; a gust of it dispersed the smell of tobacco. Shen Ci stood by the rail in a quiet, deserted spot, listening to the river water play a continuous, surging sound, wave after wave.

These ten minutes may be the quietest time of the night.

He stood for a while, about to head back, when he suddenly heard someone call him softly: “Shen Ci?”

Shen Ci looked in the direction of the voice. Lin Yin was hidden in the shadows, her expression hesitant, as if she had something to say.

Shen Ci asked, “Miss Lin Yin, is something wrong?”

Lin Yin was nominally He Zhiyuan’s girlfriend, but her mind was clear. She felt nothing for He Zhiyuan. She was only after his money and attended parties to play the part of a pretty ornament. She hadn’t uttered a word during the first half of the evening, so Shen Ci hadn’t expected her to approach him.

“Mr. Shen, it’s like this,” Lin Yin hesitated for a moment, then spoke, “When I came in, I saw Young Master He’s phone. He was chatting with Young Master Xie… You know what he said?”

Despite having half her foot dipped into this circle, Lin Yin wasn’t a bad person. Though powerless to pull anyone out of the mud, she felt compelled to give a warning when she saw certain things.

Shen Ci paused, “What?”

Lin Yin took a deep breath: “It’s like this: Young Master He organized this gathering and asked Young Master Xie to come. He specifically asked if Young Master Xie could bring you. Then Young Master Xie said, ‘We’re good brothers; I’ll even tie him up and bring him over for you.’… You know what that implies in our circle, right?”

The cold wind blew over the river. Shen Ci froze, feeling strangely cold. He tucked his icy fingers into his sleeves, adjusting his clothes: “I don’t know.”

Lin Yin bit her lip: “It means allowing others, many, many people, to play together!”

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