Chapter 35

In a private room of a critically acclaimed restaurant, the soft sound of jazz was played with a small melody.

There was a variety of seafood dishes on the table where five of Li Shaoze's former mentors gathered, including Liu Gang himself. They were all above fifty of age and and Li Shaoze was the only one who could be considered young, even if he was almost thirty.

Picking up the abalone to eat, he kept to himself as he listened to the oldies talking and laughing with each other. The atmosphere was quite harmonious.

Li Junfeng was seen circling around the table, taking on an observer stance as he looked at the five men and women. It was his first meeting with the people who had helped his brother out during his younger years when he went away. So Li Junfeng wanted to know them.

He listened to their conversation and sometimes laughed along with the old. He didn't know the upper management of Quze Industries could be this lax with their attitude when outside of the company.

All he had ever seen inside Li Group as a vice president were tight-lipped shareholders and expressionless personnels who seemed tense and stressed all year round. This kind of situation actually made Li Shaoze's mentors seem more dependable and trustworthy. It made Li Junfeng breathe a sigh of relief.

He thought Li Shaoze didn't have anyone apart from him. Who would have known that his circle consisted of these very highly influential people?

Nevertheless, a burden on his shoulder felt a little lighter.

"Shaoze, try this lobster. It's tasty," Liu Gang motioned to Li Shaoze. As a man who already had three grandchildren, he was kind to Li Shaoze.

Liu Gang's children had all married and they were around Li Shaoze's age. But they lived in the south city so they rarely met. So he thought of Li Shaoze as his own son.

The marketing director was called Fu Wanying, she had a daughter who was around Li Shaoze's age. She had always wanted for Li Shaoze and her daughter to try for a blind date. She knew Li Shaoze was a good man for her daughter.

However, she never once mentioned it to Li Shaoze because she knew his own circumstances from young. He might not be able to give love a hundred percent commitment because of the way he was brought up.

Fu Wanying smiled and told him, "I hope you can become familiar with the internal organization soon. You've always gotten a quarterly report everytime on Quze since two years ago but it's good to work on it yourself to see more,"

Li Shaoze also thought so, "I know,"

"If you need anything then come to us. You're our best student and will soon be the chairman," a man sitting beside Fu Wanying said with a laugh.

Li Shaoze nodded and continued to eat. Li Junfeng glanced at him and couldn't help but to inwardly sigh. Why was his brother so stingy on his words? Couldn't he at least be more talkative towards his teachers whom he had known for more than ten years?

On the other side, Li Junfeng also felt relieved that these old people didn't seem to mind Li Shaoze's cryptic behavior. It looked as if they were already used to it.

The dinner soon ended and everyone excused themselves. Li Shaoze sent them all back before he went to his car where Zhu Zijin was waiting. However, before he got inside, a man called his name from behind him.

Li Shaoze turned around and saw a familiar face that he had seen once. It was one of Pei Zeyan's best friends, Shi Yuan.

"Were you having dinner nearby?" Shi Yuan smiled good-naturedly.

"Yeah," Li Shaoze nodded. He wasn't sure what to say to someone he barely knew but he kept a polite smile.

Shi Yuan had a positive impression on Li Shaoze because Pei Zeyan quite liked him so he smiled and said, "I see. We're also having dinner nearby. Would you care for a drink?"

Li Shaoze didn't expect he would get invited to hang out but he really wanted to get home quick. But before he could reject, the loud Qi Xifeng appeared out of nowhere. He was surprised to see Li Shaoze and he greeted him like he had long missed an old friend.

"Come join us! You won't regret it, I tell you. There's so many delicious snacks and good drinks too!" said Qi Xifeng. He already knew that Pei Zeyan would like to invite Li Shaoze in their circle so he instinctively made use of his charm to entice others.

Being cornered by two men, Li Shaoze felt extremely conflicted. This was just his second time meeting them so what gives?? Were people in this country had now gotten very casual in social etiquette? Was he the only one who was clueless then?

Li Junfeng was also interested by the turn of events. He didn't know his brother was so close to Pei Zeyan that he even knew his close friends. This was a good direction to dive in. When Li Junfeng was still dating Pei Qian, it took him quite some time to get invited to Pei Zeyan's circle.

Li Junfeng knew that Pei Zeyan was quite a powerful figure of the younger generation. But he was very close knit with his relationship that not anyone could get close to him. They had a three-year age gap and Li Junfeng had his own circle of friends so he never thought of Pei Zeyan on the same level. He saw Pei Zeyan more like a senior and future brother-in-law whom he had great respect for. But to befriend him? He would have to be capable like his brother first!

"Brother, you should go!" Li Junfeng suggested with stars in his eyes. The look in those pupils suggested very exaggerated respect and salute.

Hearing Li Junfeng said that, Li Shaoze was even more troubled. Shi Yuan saw his reluctance and calculated for a while. Soon, the guy he had waited for came out. It was Pei Zeyan himself! He had just come out from the hotel lobby where they had their dinner just now.

When Pei Zeyan saw Li Shaoze, his eyebrows rose up. He greeted him and practically 'coerced' Li Shaoze to follow them to a nearby private clubhouse.

***

In the private enclosed space reserved under Qi Xifeng's name, Pei Zeyan invited Li Shaoze to treat himself. He actually wasn't that fond of going to the club, but sometimes he would accept Qi Xifeng's invitation to meet up with his three best friends.

Fu Moran arrived the latest as he had something to deal with at his company. His family hailed from the military and his grandfather was actually the current major general of the federal army. But he liked playing sports so much that he founded a company that dealt with the famous sportswear brand. His company and Qi Xifeng's family dabbled in quite the same industry so both of them were the closest to each other.

When he sat down, he ruffled Qi Xifeng's bleached hair while not forgetting to shake hands with Li Shaoze. In the meantime, he received a flying kick from Qi Xifeng who was dissatisfied of the childish treatment he received.

Li Shaoze could actually count by hands how many times he had been in a club. He was never accustomed with the loud and dark environment but he sometimes went to the club for a meeting with the potential clients for Quze A. Investment. Most of the time, he had to entertain them with alcohol but he would always refuse politely.

This actually created a sense of distance between him and his potential clients, but he often used a professional doctor's certificate to decline the invitation for a drink. Only then would those clients stop cornering him.

When the server came, she seductively winked at Pei Zeyan's table, including Li Shaoze who was the closest to her. She had never seen a group of hotties gathering together. It was a rare occasion. Their appearance was an outright insult to those ugly men she had gotten to know. Especially Li Shaoze whom she had never seen around the area before.

He had an aura of abstinent and a cold exterior, but full of deterrent charisma. Yet he also seemed the most unsuspecting and low-key, making others easily disregard him at the table. If she wasn't standing right beside him, she would undeniably ignore him too.

When the others finished ordering, Li Shaoze took his turn to order soda and a glass of water. Qi Xifeng looked at him as if he had grown two heads.

"You don't drink?" he asked.

"I don't," Li Shaoze replied simply.

"What? Seriously?" even Fu Moran was surprised. Wasn't the purpose of going to the club to drink?

"I really don't," Li Shaoze shook his head. He was afraid they would take offense but he really couldn't take up on their offer. This was the main reason why he didn't want to join in the first place.

There was a reason for Li Shaoze not to touch alcohol. When he ran away to another city to escape Li manor, he had tried to mix alcohol with dextromethorphan, a cough medicine. The changes in climate between different cities made him catch a cold at the time. He drank the mixed alcohol and drug in one go and he almost really died. It happened during one of his triggering episodes.

When Qin Meili finally found him and knew about it, she banned him from alcohol. He abided by her rules till this day. Not long after that, he was diagnosed of alcohol intolerance due to his long consumption of non-prescriptive medicines.

Even after her death, Li Shaoze still never drank any alcoholic beverages. If he was in a bad mood, he would just sip coke.

Li Shaoze should be able to drink non-alcoholic beer and wine or mocktails though, but he was never interested to try it. Perhaps he was still regretting his suicide attempt back then and he was quite resistant.