My Terrible Life in Those Years

When we entered the large Tiantan Hall, there were already three people sitting inside.

There is one person in the main seat, two people below him, and an empty seat to his left.

When Ms. Shu, a career woman, led me in, a middle-aged man in his forties sitting at the head of the table paused for a moment, but then immediately smiled and said to Ms. Shu, "It's rare to see you like this, Ms. Shu. I didn't know our Ms. Shu could be late like this!"

The other two laughed along with him.

Shu, a career woman, adjusted her pace, quickened her pace slightly, and smiled at the middle-aged man, saying, "Sorry, Mr. Zeng, there was a bit of traffic on the way!"

"Manager Chen, Manager Su, hello!" Those two, judging from their appearance, were middle-level managers under General Manager Zeng, only they were qualified to sit here for a meal.

"Who is this young man? He looks unfamiliar," Mr. Zeng asked curiously.

The three of them stood up at about the same time, and Mr. Zeng even pulled out a chair for Aunt Shu so that she could sit down.

It was this empty space on his side.

I consciously moved to the empty seat at the very edge where the food was served.

After Aunt Shu sat down, she introduced him to the three men: "Leaders, this is Jiang Ning, our company's newly recruited sales assistant. He's just starting work today, so I brought him here to learn from you all and broaden his horizons! Please give him your guidance."

I immediately stood up and gave a slight bow to the three leaders: "Greetings, leaders. My name is Jiang Ning. Please take care of me!"

At this moment, Mr. Zeng finally managed to tear his gaze away from Aunt Shu's exquisitely beautiful face and turned to look at me.

When he saw my height, build, and face when I stood up, the corner of his mouth twitched for some reason.

"Very good, very good. Such a handsome young man. Anyone who catches President Shu's eye must be exceptional. Please sit down, please sit down. Let's have a few drinks together later!"

After I greeted them, I shut my mouth.

Serving food and drinks is something that waiters handle, and their duties will definitely not be mentioned at this stage.

So now I will only see and hear, and I will not speak!

When the waiter brought the drinks, I was dumbfounded.

Three bottles of strong liquor were brought to the table. The waiter opened the bottles and poured the liquor into the decanter. Then, he took out five small liquor glasses and began to fill them to the brim.

Aunt Shu frowned slightly, seemingly unaware of what was happening: "Mr. Zeng, it's the middle of the day, let's drink less, shall we? I'm still driving."

Mr. Zeng feigned surprise: "Ms. Shu, you're known in the drinking world as someone who can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk. This little bit of alcohol isn't even enough for you. Let's call it a day, okay? I'll find you a designated driver later. Don't worry! I promise you won't be allowed to drive drunk."

I was secretly astonished. My goodness, Aunt Shu can drink so much!

As the round table spun, I followed suit and took a wine glass from it, placing it in front of me!

I rarely drink alcohol. At school, I either don't have the money to drink or I don't have many opportunities to drink, so I don't know whether I can drink or how much I can drink.

Anyway, at the graduation party, no baijiu (Chinese liquor) was served. After the fifty cases of beer were all drunk by my classmates, I found that I was actually quite sober.

Since I don't have to drive, I can drink it. Besides, she didn't say I couldn't drink!

At this moment, the chubby fellow surnamed Chen smiled and said to Aunt Shu, "Ms. Shu, you're late today. According to our usual rules, you'll have to drink a penalty shot!"

The even fatter Manager Su immediately chimed in, "Not bad, not bad! Last time I was late, I was punished with a solid three drinks!"

Aunt Shu put down the white towel she was using to wipe her hands, glanced at Chen and Su, and said with a beaming smile, "Of course, of course!"

When she picked up her wine glass, she glanced at me sideways, making my heart skip a beat. Was she going to settle scores with me later?

She was late because of me, or rather, largely because of me!

I quickly looked down at the beautiful tablecloth.

As they were talking, Aunt Shu tilted her head back and downed the wine in her glass in one gulp. The waiter had already brought over the other two glasses that had been poured.

At that moment, Mr. Zeng suddenly looked at me strangely and said, "Hey, young man, why aren't you drinking?"

I was momentarily confused. What does that mean? I want a drink too?

I'm just a junior assistant, a temporary worker!

Chen Su immediately turned her face away, her displeasure evident. Her attitude towards me was completely different from the smiling face she gave to Aunt Shu.

I glanced at Aunt Shu, who nodded slightly. Without being polite, I took the cup, which was a bit thirsty, and poured it directly into my mouth.

Holy crap, this is really spicy!

But I calmly put down my glass, and the waiter followed suit, bringing over two full glasses of wine.

They treated me differently in terms of how they spoke, but when it came to drinking, Aunt Shu and I were treated equally!

After downing three glasses, Aunt Shu's face began to flush slightly, but there was no trace of alcohol in her eyes.

They were still chatting and laughing with Mr. Zeng.

After those three drinks, I could clearly feel a fire slowly starting to burn in my stomach. It's only a small spark now, but I reckon if I keep doing this, it'll probably ignite into a full-blown fire.

At this moment, Aunt Shu turned the round table at the opportune moment and said with a light laugh, "Gentlemen, please have something to eat and drink first, to fill your stomachs!"

The three of them picked up their chopsticks and started eating. I didn't stand on ceremony and quickly ate a few bites to calm my breath.

Halfway through the meal, we drank more than we ate.

The three men took turns urging Aunt Shu to start toasting. When the two bottles of wine were empty, almost a whole bottle had gone into Aunt Shu's stomach, while the three of them probably only shared the other bottle equally.

After the penalty drinks, they seemed to have tacitly let me off the hook. They didn't ask me to drink or offer toasts, so I had some peace and quiet and ate my food by myself.

I couldn't name any of the dishes. The waiter would say the name of each dish: such as "Jiangnan in the Rain" or "Soaring to Success". When they were first served, I couldn't tell what they were just by their names. I was curious and decided to try them.

That meteoric rise to power was actually a whole sea fish, while the misty, rainy Jiangnan region was just a fresh vegetable!

I thought to myself, "You Shili Xiang Restaurant really know how to have fun! You city folks know how to have fun even more!"

After finishing two bottles, Aunt Shu finally had a moment to put down her glass: "Mr. Zeng, the main reason I came today is to renew your contract, what do you think?"

When Chen, Su, and I heard that we were getting to the main topic, we all put down our chopsticks at the same time.

Fat Su glanced at President Zeng first, and seeing that he had no intention of speaking, he spoke up for him.

"Mr. Shu, it's not appropriate to talk about business before we've even had a proper drink, is it?"

I was speechless. My goodness, we've already downed two bottles of baijiu, and they still say we haven't had enough? Do we have to drink until we pass out under the table to be considered drunk?

"So, what does Manager Su mean?"

Aunt Shu quickly retorted, implying that she couldn't possibly be unclear about something so crucial.

"Actually, since our General Manager Zeng was promoted to head the sales headquarters, we've been working closely with you since the first half of the year, and we've had a great partnership. Furthermore, General Manager Shu and our General Manager Zeng are also very close, but..."

Let alone Aunt Shu, even I, a newbie in the workplace, could tell that this chubby Su had something in common with her words!