Unexpectedly, Sophia shook the medicinal wine, shook her head, and said, “Oh? No? Are you going to tell me to use a small cup? No way! Is that all the courage you have? If you’re really that timid, don’t invite me to drink. I don’t drink with people who can’t hold their liquor!”
Calvin had a hot temper and couldn’t stand being provoked, especially since he was the one who started it! Backing down now would make him a laughingstock.
Without hesitation, he poured a full cup.
Sophia raised her glass and said cheerfully, “Come on! Bottoms up!”
She drank it all, turning her glass upside down afterward.
Provocation! Pure provocation!
“Wow!”
“Well done!” The roommates all clapped.
Barbara asked worriedly, “Are you okay, Sophia?”
Sophia shook her head, her face unchanged.
In reality, her drinking capacity was just average, but she was skilled at drinking medicinal wine. It might have been because her grandfather was a traditional medicine practitioner. Since she could remember, her family had soaked various kinds of medicinal wines, and her grandfather and father would have a glass regularly, sometimes even giving her a sip. Sophia, who was just a little girl at the time, could be said to have grown up drinking medicinal wine. When she got older, she started to drink casually with others, drinking health-preserving medicinal wine. Although she had never drunk liquor, she often drank medicinal wine and was not afraid of it.
From the memories of her original self, she knew that her original self couldn’t drink either, but she also often drank medicinal wine, so she dared to come.
Seeing that her face didn’t turn red and her heart rate didn’t quicken, Calvin had a bad feeling. But with everyone cheering him on, he couldn’t back down, so he gulped it down in one go.
Then Sophia drank the second glass! He also drank the second!
The third glass!
The fourth!
The fifth!
…
It’s worth noting that this was medicinal wine! Its alcohol content was high and had a strong after-effect! It wasn’t like beer, where you could drink multiple glasses. By the end, even the nearby waiters were coming over to watch the spectacle, occasionally clapping and cheering.
“Well done! Go, beautiful girl!” Everyone cheered for Sophia.
Sophia’s face remained unchanged, her eyes slightly lowered, and a faint smile on her lips. She stared at him, fearless and undaunted.
After six or seven glasses, Calvin managed to hold on at first, but towards the end, he felt dizzy and disoriented as the after-effect of the medicinal wine kicked in.
He immediately covered his mouth and threw up in the trash can.
Another round of applause erupted around them, and Sophia smiled as she poured a glass of wine and handed it to him.
“Come on, one more! Didn’t you say, ‘The deeper the feeling, the bigger the gulp; if it’s shallow, just a lick’? What’s wrong? Can’t take it?”
Calvin’s eyes and face were red as he clutched his stomach, unable to speak.
He couldn’t respond to Sophia’s words, and after a while, he pleaded, “Beautiful girl, I admit defeat! I surrender!”
Only then did Sophia stand up and say with a faint smile:
“Don’t be so quick to push a girl to drink! It’s not that we don’t want to; if we truly drink, you men won’t stand a chance.”
–
Outside, a tall figure had been watching for a long time.
“Mr. Scott, that young lady is quite a drinker!” A boss nearby chuckled, “She’s truly a heroic woman among women! A true champion with wine!”
Scott Livinus glanced sideways at Sophia, who was always smiling.
For some reason, though she was always smiling, he felt her smile was a bit cold.
It stood in stark contrast to the lively atmosphere around her.
Perhaps it wasn’t to his liking.
“Mr. Scott? Shall we go?”
Scott Livinus nodded and withdrew his gaze with a look of indifference.
Sophia sensed someone’s gaze and instinctively turned her head, seeing Scott Livinus being escorted by a group into another private room.
Scott Livinus’s figure soon disappeared, reappearing quickly in the pavilion by the lake.
The lakeside pavilion was also a private room in this restaurant, but it was much higher in standard than the room Sophia was in. This private room was built over water, accessed by a walkway, with a pavilion-like roof, surrounded by panoramic glass windows. Surrounded by the lake, it was named “Lakeside Pavilion.”
The Lakeside Pavilion had a high minimum charge, which was not something ordinary people could afford.
It was almost exclusively visited by the wealthy.
From where Sophia was sitting, she could see the dim yellow light of the American-style chandelier through the uncurtained window of the private room.
Scott Livinus sat at the head, chatting and laughing with a group of bosses.
Sophia couldn’t see his expression clearly; he seemed to be smiling, yet not.
Unlike ordinary businesspeople, even though he was sitting at the wine table, he always gave off a detached vibe, as if everything had nothing to do with him. Yet, paradoxically, he was always the center of attention.
Sensing someone’s gaze, Scott Livinus suddenly looked up.
With his pitch-black eyes, he quickly locked onto her gaze.
The Lakeside Pavilion and Sophia’s private room weren’t far apart; they could see each other through the glass window.
The two locked eyes, neither reacting and soon each turned back to their own lively group.
–
Calvin was drunk and lay asleep on the sofa.
The table quieted significantly, and Anna frowned at him, saying, “Nathan, why did you bring someone like this? He loves to push people to drink way too much.”
“Sorry!” Nathan sighed, “He’s a friend from my hometown. We had planned to eat together today, and you happened to invite me, so I brought him along. Today’s meal is on me as an apology to everyone and to Sophia.”
Anna’s expression softened a bit.
With Nathan offering to pay, the group didn’t hold a grudge, letting the matter go.
Afterward, everyone chatted and laughed, enjoying the good atmosphere.
