Chapter 118 – Swap Out All the Alcohol

At every company gathering, the employees together would typically drink around 20 cases of beer. With 12 bottles per case, that added up to roughly 240 bottles of beer.

If all of that were to be replaced with this thousand-yuan-per-bottle wine… that would be more than 200,000 yuan right there.

And if the employees happened to drink a little more, it might even hit 300,000!

Chen Mo’s eyes lit up. He looked at the hotel owner and said,
“Could you please have the waitstaff remove all the beer from the banquet hall and replace it with this wine—this one that’s 1,000 yuan a bottle? Just bring out 300 bottles for now, and we’ll return or add more as needed. That okay?”

“Mr. Chen, how many bottles?”
The hotel manager asked uncertainly, wondering if he’d misheard.

Surely he meant thirty bottles, not three hundred?

“Three hundred,” Chen Mo repeated.

“Alright, Mr. Chen, I’ll go inform them right away.”

After confirming he’d heard correctly, the manager quickly responded and rushed off to organize the removal of beer and delivery of wine.

“Mr. Chen, isn’t that wine kind of… expensive?”
Shen Rou quietly asked from beside him.

She had seen the price—it was 1,000 yuan per bottle! And Mr. Chen had just ordered 300 bottles in one go? That felt way too extravagant.

“You don’t get it,” Chen Mo replied seriously. “Red wine has beauty and skincare benefits—much better than beer.”

“You’ll be drinking some too,” he added matter-of-factly.

He remembered that last time Shen Rou had drunk fruit wine. If she could drink that, then red wine shouldn’t be a problem.

“Eh? I have to drink too?”
Shen Rou’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Of course! The company’s only going to grow bigger, and as my assistant, you’ll definitely have to attend banquets and events with me. If you don’t understand anything about alcohol, how are you going to handle it then?”

Seeing her startled reaction, Chen Mo casually made up a reason to persuade her.

Shen Rou seemed thoughtful after hearing his words.

He was right.

As Mr. Chen’s assistant, she would surely be accompanying him to social events. And if Mr. Chen didn’t drink, then when necessary, she’d have to step in and drink on his behalf!

Back in the banquet hall—

Chen Mo had just walked in when Li Shen approached him.

“Mr. Chen, the waitstaff have removed all the beer. They said you told them to replace it with other drinks?”

“That’s right, I swapped it out for something better. You seem to hold your liquor well—drink a bit more tonight!”

Chen Mo gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder and went back to his seat.

Soon enough, several waitstaff entered, wheeling in carts of red wine.

Gasps and exclamations quickly filled the banquet hall. Employees curiously examined the bottles on the table. Some couldn’t wait and poured themselves a glass to try.

Seeing their reactions, Chen Mo nodded to himself. Looks like the staff were quite satisfied with the red wine.

But as time passed, he realized something was off.

At first, everyone had been drinking with enthusiasm. A single bottle would be emptied in no time. But by the time they reached their second or third bottle, things started to slow down.

Some employees even stopped drinking altogether.

This wouldn’t do.

Chen Mo instantly became anxious.

If they didn’t finish all the wine, how was he supposed to burn through that 300,000 yuan of system funds?

So he got up and started making rounds at each table.

“Hmm, you ladies should drink a little too. Red wine is great for your skin and has beauty benefits.”

“Exactly!”

“A real heroine, just like Mulan!”

“Hey, what’s with you guys? These ladies already finished a bottle each and you men haven’t even finished half?”

“What, trying to raise goldfish? Fill those glasses—top them off!”

“Right! True friendship? Bottoms up! Brotherhood? Drink ‘til you bleed!”

“Wang Maonian, didn’t you brag about your drinking skills? Three bottles and you’re done?”

Seeing Wang Maonian sitting idle without touching his glass, Chen Mo opened a bottle and placed it in front of him.

Wang Maonian rubbed his head and awkwardly replied,
“Mr. Chen, it’s not that I don’t want to drink… this wine has quite the after-effect. I just need a breather.”

“Alright, take a break—but that bottle’s yours.”

Chen Mo smiled quietly to himself at Wang Maonian’s obvious discomfort.

Payback at last—for all those toasts he forced on me before.

As the night went on and dishes were cleared, the celebration finally came to a close.

In the end, they didn’t manage to finish all the wine. Only 236 bottles were consumed.

But Chen Mo wasn’t too concerned—he had just come up with another way to spend money. Since this was a celebration banquet, there should be an award ceremony too, right?

He could totally hand out bonuses to the employees who participated in the Tianlong Reform!

As Chen Mo was thinking about this, Wei Yan and a few others were already organizing the employees to start leaving.

Outside the Emperor Grand Hotel—

“Lawyer Tang, I’m leaving these two to you.”

Chen Mo gestured toward Zhou Chen and Zhao Lingling, who stood beside Tang Qiu. Both had been working remotely and, after half a bottle of red wine each, were already staggering.

Fortunately, Tang Qiu had driven and hadn’t drunk anything. She’d even volunteered to take them home.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Chen. What about Shen Rou?”
Tang Qiu glanced toward Shen Rou, who was leaning heavily against Chen Mo.

She was completely drunk.

Tang Qiu hadn’t expected someone as delicate-looking as Shen Rou to go so hard. She’d actually downed two full bottles of wine.

“I’ve already contacted one of her classmates. I’ll take her to the university.”

Chen Mo glanced at the woman leaning on him and replied calmly.

“Alright.”

Tang Qiu nodded and then helped Zhou Chen and Zhao Lingling into her car.

Chen Mo also helped Shen Rou into the company vehicle.

“Brother Yang, head to Jiangcheng University first.”
—

Outside Jiangcheng University—

Zhang Lan stood at the school gate, pacing anxiously. She had come right after receiving Chen Mo’s call.

Soon, a business vehicle pulled up in front of the campus. Chen Mo got out, carrying Shen Rou on his back.

She rushed over.

“Is Shen Rou okay? How’d she end up drinking so much?”

Zhang Lan looked worriedly at Shen Rou, who was fidgeting in Chen Mo’s arms.

“She’s fine. Just drunk. Where’s your dorm?”

Chen Mo replied a little awkwardly. He’d only told Shen Rou and the other women at that table to drink a bit—but when he came back from making the rounds…

He found that everyone at the table—aside from Tang Qiu and another woman who couldn’t drink—was drunk. That included Zhou Chen and Zhao Lingling, who’d been taken away earlier.

And Shen Rou? Even more impressive. While the others had drunk about a bottle or half, she had finished two full bottles.

Chen Mo felt genuinely touched. Shen Rou really understood him—she even drank herself silly just to help him spend money.

Unlike Wang Maonian and the others, who were all enthusiastic about toasting him, but then bailed when it was time to actually drink.

Zhang Lan checked on Shen Rou’s condition and, seeing that she was indeed just drunk and nothing more, finally relaxed.

She pointed toward the dorm building and asked curiously,
“How much did Xiaorou drink to end up like this?”

“Two bottles,” Chen Mo replied as he walked in that direction.

“That’s weird… We’ve drunk together in the dorm before, and she drank more than two bottles then. She didn’t get this drunk.”

Zhang Lan frowned in confusion.