ABT Chapter 199: Calling You True to Your Nature
An Ning had been paying attention to this side for quite a while. Her table was filled with executives from various car companies, all naturally very concerned about the current situation. When she heard that the potential candidates for the presidency this term included Li Fanyu, Xu Guangsheng, Lu Heming, and Xue Yaoguo, she felt uneasy.
Xue Yaoguo hadn't attended the event and had sent a deputy instead, signaling his lack of interest in competing. In fact, Guangqi's strategy was clear: to make significant achievements in the civilian car sector. As long as Xue Yaoguo excelled in expanding their achievements in civilian cars, he would naturally gain political credit, without needing to bolster his resume through the association.
She didn't know much about Lu Heming, but she was very familiar with Xu Guangsheng's background. When she first graduated and returned to China, she worked at Beiqi, and she knew very well what kind of person her old boss was.
This man was duplicitous and narrow-minded. If it hadn't been for having such a leader and the company's poor atmosphere, she wouldn't have left for Mercedes-Benz.
So, seeing Li Fanyu obviously struggling with the alcohol and being pestered by Xu Guangsheng, she came over.
The banquet featured a local specialty from Pu City—Chongming Laojiao. Although it was rice wine, it had been aged and was over thirty degrees.
After downing a cup, An Ning felt a burning sensation in her throat.
Draining the last drop of wine, she turned the cup upside down to show she had finished. But looking at the opposite side, she saw that Xu Guangsheng hadn't even touched his drink.
"Who do we have here? Isn't it Engineer An? You look even more beautiful after such a short time apart. What, working at Zhengxin now and coming back to fool your old family? This drink was for young Li, what does it mean for you to drink it instead?"
With a mocking smile, Xu Guangsheng placed his cup on the table and brushed off nonexistent dust from his clothes as he spoke.
An Ning took a deep breath, trying to maintain the smile on her face. "Mr. Xu, you must be joking. If I've been presumptuous, let me make it up to you with another drink."
With that, she filled her cup again and presented it to Xu Guangsheng with both hands.
Xu Wenhai didn't dare to speak further and looked expectantly at Li Zhaokui beside him.
Receiving a signal, the usually amicable Li Zhaokui cleared his throat and said, "Mr. Xu, how can you refuse a drink from a beautiful woman?"
Xu Guangsheng grew increasingly annoyed at the sight of Li Fanyu. This young upstart had been overshadowing even veteran state-owned enterprise executives like himself recently. It was as if this brat was born to spite him. He had taken a liking to An Ning back then, but before he could make a move, she had resigned and gone to Mercedes-Benz.
Now, seeing An Ning standing up for Li Fanyu at every turn made his chest tighten with rage—this wretched woman must have climbed up the ranks using her body! How could this kid get all the good things?
Irritated and emboldened by the alcohol, he abandoned all pretense of decorum. "Old Li, don't stick your nose in where it doesn't belong. I'll drink with whoever I want!" He then glanced at An Ning and muttered under his breath, "Three-faced slave..."
Hearing this, Li Zhaokui's face showed clear embarrassment. Even a mud statue can get angry, and this Northeasterner slammed his cup on the table with a cold snort and fell silent.
An Ning's face turned pale and then red, her hand trembling with anger as she held the cup. Xu Guangsheng's "three-faced slave" remark was clearly directed at her, referring to her moves from Beiqi to Mercedes-Benz to Zhengxin.
Li Fanyu, completely dazed from the alcohol, hadn't heard the "three-faced slave" comment, but seeing the situation, he knew Xu Guangsheng was deliberately making things difficult for An Ning.
How could he stand for this? He got up, took An Ning's cup, and stood in front of Xu Guangsheng, shielding her behind him.
"Mr. Xu, you're a senior. I appreciate you offering me a drink. I'll drink to that." He swayed slightly and slurred his words.
An Ning felt both angry and anxious; he seemed even worse off than before, still talking about drinking? Couldn't he see this was a setup? He was already stumbling; another drink might knock him out!
Thinking this, she quickly tugged at Li Fanyu's clothes from behind. To her surprise, Li Fanyu grabbed her hand and gently squeezed it.
Feeling pleased, Xu Guangsheng thought, "At least this kid knows his place."
He nodded approvingly, raised his cup, "That's more like it! True to your nature! Come on, let's drink."
"Wait! Mr. Xu, you're a senior. If I'm to drink in your honor, it wouldn't be right for you to remain standing!" Li Fanyu stopped him, speaking as he helped Xu Guangsheng sit down in his chair.
Xu Guangsheng felt even more pleased! Hey, it looks like this kid knows his place, aware of his own limitations. Not bad, not bad at all.
With a drunken look, Li Fanyu saw Xu Guangsheng sit down and draped his arm over his shoulder. "Come on, Mr. Xu, I'll drink this in one go, you do as you please!"
With that, he wrinkled his nose, raised his cup, and downed it in one gulp.
Seeing the pained expression on his face, Xu Guangsheng glanced around the room with a triumphant look before raising his own cup.
Before he could take a sip, he felt the hand on his shoulder tighten and heard the young man next to him shout, "Mr. Xu!"
"Huh?"
Startled, Xu Guangsheng looked up.
Li Fanyu, thinking about all the disgusting things he'd seen from childhood to now, looked at Xu Guangsheng's flushed, boozy face and silently thought, "Here it comes!"
The next second, Xu Guangsheng saw a stream of yellow fluid shooting straight toward his face.
Instinctively, he tried to dodge, but his shoulder was held firmly, leaving him unable to move.
Immediately, he felt a warm sensation on his face.
Splatter, splatter, splatter!
A large amount of warm, foul-smelling, sticky substance hit Xu Guangsheng squarely in the face, not wasting a single drop. It spread from his face down to his neck and flowed into his collar.
At that moment, Xu Guangsheng looked like a piece of bread smeared with rancid butter! The partially digested food, reeking of stomach acid and alcohol, completely covered him.
Li Zhaokui had been sitting firmly in his chair but was so shocked by the sight that he nearly fell over, accidentally straining his back.
Liu Wenhai covered his face with his hand, thinking, "Well, things just got interesting!"
Lu Heming's chopsticks clattered onto the table as he suddenly felt that being harassed by mosquitoes was an incredibly fortunate experience!
An Ning's almond-shaped eyes widened, and she covered her full lips in surprise. When she saw the mischievous grin on Li Fanyu's face, she couldn't hold back and let out a stifled laugh.
When Xu Guangsheng had tilted his head back and said "huh," his mouth had been open!
Tasting the regurgitated food in his mouth, he couldn't even stay angry. He retched, spewing it out again, and rushed to the restroom, covering his mouth.
"Kid! Ugh! Just you wait! Ugh! I won't let you get away with this! Ugh..."
Though Li Fanyu was the culprit, he was completely clean. He took a bottle of mineral water, rinsed his mouth, and acted as if nothing had happened.
Noticing the stunned silence around him, he shrugged helplessly. "Sorry, sorry, I can't hold my liquor well. Sorry to have embarrassed myself in front of you all."
Lu Heming, barely suppressing his laughter, helped him to a chair and loudly proclaimed, "No embarrassment at all! This, this, Mr. Li always gets drunk easily, he's truly genuine. Yes, genuinely true to his nature."
Li Fanyu grinned as he sat in the chair, glaring at him and silently cursing, "Damn it, why are you interrupting? Can't you see I was trying to find an excuse to leave, you idiot?!"
Now how am I supposed to leave? Huh? How?
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