There's an occult law that says you're doomed to bad luck upon meeting this person, and when Jiang Xi saw Gu Bichen, she had this ominous premonition.
She was afraid she wouldn't be able to take the wine today.
Jiang Xi did not back down; she walked in slowly. The owner saw her and greeted her warmly, "Miss Jiang, you're here. It's such a coincidence, President Gu has also taken a liking to this bottle of Lafite. You see…"
The owner cleverly tossed the problem to Jiang Xi, not wanting to offend either side, as both were important patrons whom he couldn't afford to upset.
Jiang Xi knew the owner was slick and gave him a reassuring smile, "It's fine, I will talk with President Gu about it."
Gu Bichen was looping his arm around the thin waist of a female artist when he saw Jiang Xi smiling at the bald-headed owner, and he couldn't help feeling an intense irritation. When she was flirting with men outside, did she also smile so provocatively?
Jiang Xi took a few steps and stopped in front of the female artist, "Miss Shu, the man you're leaning on is mine, and so is this wine. Choose one to take with you, the man or the wine."
The winery owner was dumbstruck — could things really be resolved this way?
The female artist, who had been in the entertainment industry for many years and had seen all sorts of turmoil, was actually taken aback by Jiang Xi's aura.
She felt the hand around her waist tighten subtly and glanced at Gu Bichen.
Honestly, Gu Bichen was handsome, generous, and not bad in bed. But this man was heartless, immediately switching to a professional demeanor after putting his pants back on.
She had never seen him become so unpredictable at the mere sight of someone. It seemed he cared a lot about this woman.
"What if I want both?" asked the female artist with a soft and gentle retort.
Jiang Xi chuckled, pulled out her phone on the spot, and snapped a photo of the two, "Miss Shu, don't be too greedy. Surely you wouldn't want your fans to find out you're juggling three at once."
"You!" The female artist's face changed drastically. She had not expected Jiang Xi to play this card and turned around to coquettishly complain to Gu Bichen, "President Gu, she's going to expose us. Won't you do something?"
Gu Bichen looked at Jiang Xi with a dark gaze, "Delete the photo."
"Give me the wine, and I'll delete the photo." Jiang Xi calmly faced the intimately positioned pair, her eyes stinging.
Gu Bichen was not threatened by her. He let go of the female artist, took the '82 Lafite from her embrace, turned around to place it on the counter, quickly unraveled the bottle's packaging, and used a corkscrew to open the cork.
Jiang Xi was baffled by his swift actions, and it wasn't until she smelled the mellow aroma of the wine, aged for years in the cellar, that she snapped back to reality and quickly approached, "Gu Bichen, what are you doing?"
Gu Bichen slammed the corkscrew along with the cork into her arms.
The impact caused a dull pain in Jiang Xi's chest. With the last bottle of '82 Lafite in Jing City now opened by this madman, Gu Bichen, how was she supposed to apologize and make amends to Director Zhang?
Jiang Xi's eyes reddened, "Gu Bichen, you've gone too far."
"This is too far?" Gu Bichen lifted the wine bottle, tilting its neck slowly, as the red liquid poured out, instantly filling the air with an enchanting fragrance.
For the first time, the winery owner saw someone desecrate fine wine like this, stomping his foot in distress. Ah, that's an '82 Lafite, priceless — it's not '82 mineral water!
The female artist was also stunned.
The red wine stained the hem of Jiang Xi's white silk wide-leg pants, speckling them like splatters of thick fresh blood.
Gu Bichen raised an eyebrow and chuckled coldly and decisively, "Jiang Xi, I've said before, anything you set your eyes on, anything you like, I would rather destroy it than give it to you. If you want this bottle of wine, then kneel and lick it clean."
Jiang Xi watched, eyes wide open, as Gu Bichen poured an entire bottle of red wine onto the ground. It pained her heart so much that it physically ached, and she forcefully pushed Gu Bichen away as tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Gu Bichen, I hate you. I have never hated someone so much before. Congratulations, you've achieved that."
Gu Bichen laughed unrestrainedly and wildly, "What does it matter if you hate me? I just love seeing you hate me and being utterly powerless to do anything about it. How helpless."
Jiang Xi looked at his almost psychopathic smile, fiercely wiped the tears off her face, and snatched the empty wine bottle from his hands, her gaze resolute, "Gu Bichen, from today on, our relationship will be just like this wine bottle."
She raised the wine bottle high, and amidst Gu Bichen's suddenly changing expression, she smashed the bottle ruthlessly at his feet.
With a "crash."
The wine bottle shattered on the ground, scattering pieces all around.
Jiang Xi didn't look at Gu Bichen again, straightened her back, and walked away with large strides.
From now on, she would never shed a tear for Gu Bichen again. No matter how he bullied or insulted her, she could endure it, but now that he had become a stumbling block in her career, she could not tolerate it!
Jiang Xi walked out of the vineyard, and a phone call came in—it was Teacher Tiantian from the kindergarten, saying that DouDou had hit another child and she needed to come over right away.
Jiang Xi hung up the phone and felt like the sky was falling down in an instant.
Her marriage was unhappy, her career was not going well, and now even a four-year-old brat was causing trouble for her at the kindergarten. Was there no justice left in the world?
Jiang Xi drove to the kindergarten, seething with anger.
DouDou was her younger brother, a little demon of chaos.
To this day, she still didn't know how this brother had come about. It was just that one day, when she woke up from her sleep, there was suddenly an extra baby in the house.
Her mother told her that she had been injured and lost her memory, having forgotten everything that had happened in the past year. The baby was her brother, the posthumous child of her father, and she needed to raise him well.
In the blink of an eye, four years had passed. DouDou had grown from the nursing baby who cried for food to the nuisance disliked by both dogs and cats.
Jiang Xi parked the car and ran to the teacher's office. Still in the hallway, she heard DouDou inside, boasting, "In the future, you'll be following Brother Dou. If Brother Dou gets a bite of meat, he'll make sure you have a sip of soup."
Jiang Xi almost fainted at the sound, wishing she could turn around and leave right away. What sort of gangster talk was this? Could it be her little demon brother had come to the kindergarten to gather underlings?
As she walked into the office, she saw DouDou with his hands in his pockets, standing there like a little ruffian, leaning lazily against the wall. Next to him stood a well-dressed boy with a refined posture, clearly a child who had received elite education.
Right now, the handsome boy's face bore several minor bruises, likely from the scuffle with DouDou.
Jiang Xi took a deep breath, approached with an apologetic smile, "Teacher Tiantian, I'm so sorry for the trouble my DouDou has caused you. Rest assured, I will discipline him when we get back. Jiang Doudou, come here and apologize to the teacher and your classmate."
Jiang Doudou came over reluctantly.
Teacher Tiantian looked at the two individuals in front of her, her face filled with worry, "Miss Jiang, apologizing to me won't do. That child's last name is Rong."
After saying this, she even pointed upwards with her finger.
Jiang Xi immediately understood which 'Rong' she was referring to. She felt a thunderclap overhead and heard footsteps approaching the door. Instinctively, she looked up.
As the sun made its westward journey, Jiang Xi's vision was graced by a suave man dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, bathed in the holy sunlight. The man slowly approached, walking over the ground speckled with shards of light, and stood before her.