Chapter 15: My Hand Is Sweaty

The grievances Shen Manman had bottled up inside suddenly burst out at this moment.

All those accumulated emotions surged into her heart, and tears instantly streamed down her face.

Shen Manman wasn’t crying because Shi Xiaoqiang had hit her.

She was crying from pure fury at what he had done.

I did so much for you, yet you wouldn’t even pay me any attention.

A few kind words from him once in a while would keep her happy for ages.

Was that supposed to be enough?

She felt that the relationship between her and Shi Xiaoqiang was completely unequal.

It wasn’t even on par with his attitude toward Wang Yuting.

Wang Yuting went up to urge you not to drink, and you merely pushed her aside.

I went up to urge you not to drink, and you slapped me?

Shen Manman had no desire to linger here and walked straight out.

The drinking bet, however, was not over yet.

Seeing that he couldn’t talk Shi Xiaoqiang down, Lawyer Wang turned his efforts toward Su Cheng.

What was more, he brought up legal angles, mixed with subtle threats.

“Student, under the newly revised code^[1], if something happens while drinking together, you won’t escape legal liability.”

“Stop drinking right now.”

Su Cheng: ???

That law applied to people who pressured others to drink.

What did that have to do with him?

Not only had he not pressured Shi Xiaoqiang to drink, he had actively told him to stop.

It was Shi Xiaoqiang who insisted on drinking.

Still, someone actually dying was definitely not an outcome Su Cheng wanted to see.

He truly had to hand it to Shi Xiaoqiang for such stubborn bullheadedness.

“Young Master Shi, why don’t we call it off?”

“Let’s just pretend this bet never happened.”

Shi Xiaoqiang’s face was flushed crimson and his body swayed unsteadily, yet his eyes were as vicious as a wolf’s.

How could he possibly let things go so easily?

Shi Xiaoqiang raised his glass, going on the offensive against Su Cheng once again.

But before he could even swallow two mouthfuls, he sprayed it right out, stumbled onto the couch, and began vomiting uncontrollably.

“Blegh… blegh…”

All the alcohol Shi Xiaoqiang had just forced down came spewing back up in a messy torrent.

The stench… made everyone instinctively cover their noses and mouths.

“Quick, call an ambulance!” Lawyer Wang shouted to the people nearby, then immediately called Old Shi.

There was no way he could shoulder the blame for this!

The scene instantly descended into chaos.

Nobody cared about any bet anymore; everyone clustered around the retching Shi Xiaoqiang in a panic.

Su Cheng and Li Lei ended up as invisible bystanders on the sidelines.

Time to slip away.

“Are you all right?”

Once outside the KTV, Li Lei checked on Su Cheng’s condition, even reaching out to peel back Su Cheng’s eyelids to make sure he wasn’t just faking being sober.

“You reek of booze, but how do you not look the least bit drunk?”

“I haven’t drunk with you for a few days, and you’ve turned into the god of wine? When did your tolerance get so huge?”

Li Lei looked at Su Cheng in disbelief.

He was genuinely worried about Su Cheng’s health.

Nobody could drink that much and be completely fine.

At the same time, seeing Shi Xiaoqiang stubbornly push himself until he practically puked up his own bile had felt unbelievably satisfying.

“I’m fine. You know my tolerance has always been high.”

“You brag even harder than me. As if I don’t know what you’re capable of,” Li Lei said, rolling his eyes at Su Cheng.

What happened tonight would shock him for a whole year.

That slap from Shi Xiaoqiang had been seriously loud!

Li Lei had never imagined the guy would actually hit a woman.

“It’s normal. When booze goes to someone’s head, they’re capable of anything.”

“Besides, it’s not like he likes Shen Manman anyway.”

The words had barely left his mouth.

A girl suddenly stepped out from a corner behind them.

“I didn’t expect you two to gossip behind people’s backs too!”

They turned around to look.

Shen Manman?

She hadn’t left?

Talk about bad luck, caught red-handed talking behind someone’s back.

All three of them felt pretty awkward.

“He’s the one who said it, not me!”

“Oh, I just remembered I haven’t fed my cat yet, gotta run back and feed the cat, you two chat, bye-bye!”

Li Lei bolted right on the spot, abandoning Su Cheng to deal with Shen Manman alone.

Su Cheng saw no need to make excuses.

What was said was said.

Shen Manman had already heard it, so what else could he do?

Li Lei really was a terrible bro, taking off just like that.

Feeding a cat? What cat? He didn’t even have a cat!

“Where are you heading later? The dorms are already locked at this hour,” Shen Manman asked.

“I’m… just going for a walk to sober up.”

“Then let me come with you. You drank so much, I don’t want anything happening to you.” Shen Manman was genuinely concerned about Su Cheng’s condition.

If not for her, Su Cheng wouldn’t have clashed with Shi Xiaoqiang or drunk so much alcohol.

The two strolled side by side along the street.

“I thought you’d already left.”

“I did leave, but I looped around and came back,” Shen Manman explained. “Who won between you two?”

Wee-woo, wee-woo, wee-woo…

An ambulance drove toward them, siren wailing.

“That ride is here for Shi Xiaoqiang,” Su Cheng said, pointing at the vehicle to announce his victory.

Next came three full minutes of deadly silence.

Shen Manman didn’t speak.

Su Cheng didn’t know what to say either.

In the end, it was Shen Manman who broke the silence, asking Su Cheng, “Why did you help me?”

Su Cheng was about to say that he hadn’t helped her, but had simply fought for his own dignity.

But before he could speak, Shen Manman cut in.

“It’s been a very long time since I felt the way I do today.”

“What, did his slap knock some sense into you?” Su Cheng joked.

Shen Manman admitted it openly. “It’s not just you. Everyone else says I’m just a bootlicking simp^[2] for Shi Xiaoqiang.”

“I didn’t think so before. Whenever anyone said that, I’d get angry and sulk about it.”

“But today… his slap really did wake me up.”

“Thank you, Su Cheng.”

Su Cheng felt he hadn’t really done much.

All he had done was engage in a drinking contest with Shi Xiaoqiang.

Shen Manman truly waking up came down to herself.

If even that slap couldn’t wake her up, then she really would have been a lost cause.

She wouldn’t have had a shred of self-respect left.

It would have been a total waste of her pretty face and great figure.

“I didn’t drink against him for your sake.”

“No need to thank me. Thank yourself.”

“It has nothing to do with me.”

Su Cheng admitted frankly.

He couldn’t be bothered to take credit for that kind of favor.

There was no point.

“The way you talk right now sounds so much like him!”

“Who?”

“Shi Xiaoqiang.”

“All cold and cool.”

Taking the opening, Su Cheng took Shen Manman’s hand.

“What about now?”

“Even more like him. The first time, he tried to hold my hand like this too.”

“And what did you do?”

“I pulled my hand away.”

“Then why aren’t you pulling it away now?”

Shen Manman stammered, unable to get a word out for the longest time.

In the end, she managed to come up with a stiff excuse.

“You drank so much, I’m afraid you’ll fall.”

That explanation… was pretty flimsy!

So she never even let Shi Xiaoqiang hold her hand!

Su Cheng now understood a bit of why Shi Xiaoqiang treated her so coldly yet never completely cast her aside.

He still coveted a prize cabbage^[3] like Shen Manman and refused to let anyone else touch her.

“Hey, how did we wander over here?”

“Where is this?”

“I rented a floor in an office building and set up a gaming studio.”

“Really? Can I go up and take a look?” Shen Manman was very curious about Su Cheng’s studio.

“Sure, I’ll take you up.”

“And also…”

“Hmm?”

“Could you let go of my hand… it’s getting sweaty.”

“Aren’t you worried I’ll fall now?”

“I meant… we could switch hands…”