Try threatening me again?

"Waiter, how much is your most expensive bottle?" Li Yi asked.

"Rémy Martin Louis XIII Black Pearl, priced at 1.35 million."

"That sounds good. Bring me a bottle and charge it to room 261, under Zhou Xuanze, the Zhou family's second son."

"Are you sure?" The waiter looked a little excited and checked once more. "If you're sure, I'll go get it right away."

"I'm sure. If you're worried, I'll wait here and go in with you."

"All right, I'll get it right away."

Afraid he might change his mind, the waiter brought the bottle over in less than five minutes.

He carried it reverently on an ornate tray, even putting on a pair of white gloves, and followed with extreme care beside Li Yi, who strolled along as leisurely as if he were out for a walk.

"Li Yi?" Xu Ming and Song Tianyi, who had come to meet someone, stared in astonishment at the person approaching them. "How did you get in?"

"How did I get in? On my legs, obviously." Li Yi tilted his head at them. "Did you two only learn to walk upright today?"

"You don't have a membership card. Whose card did you mooch off to get in?" Angered by the retort, Xu Ming began to sneer. "If they catch you mooching off someone's card, you'll get thrown out. Don't drag us into your embarrassment."

"Your eyes are so tiny. Were you born in the Year of the Rat?

"And here I brought you such a nice bottle. What a waste." Li Yi looked at the waiter beside him, who understood his distinguished guest's meaning in an instant. This was a guest buying a bottle worth over a million, after all. His commission alone would be tens of thousands.

Wasn't it just saying a few words?

He could even hurl a few insults!

Otherwise, he wouldn't feel right taking that commission.

He cleared his throat and announced loudly, "The distinguished guest beside me is already an esteemed member of our establishment, and the bottle I'm holding is our most expensive: Rémy Martin Louis XIII Black Pearl, priced at 1.35 million!"

"1.35 million!" Even Song Tianyi, the birthday boy, froze for a moment. His family had some standing in Beicheng, but he had never drunk anything worth over a million.

Li Yi must have been madly in love with Zhou Xuanze, buying a bottle worth over a million for him without hesitation!

He was too foolish. Zhou Xuanze wasn't worth him giving so much.

He felt sorry for Li Yi and thought he would put in a few good words for him once they reached the private room.

"Where did you get the money for a bottle worth over a million?" Xu Ming looked Li Yi up and down, then suddenly gave an ambiguous smile. "I heard you've been leaving early and coming home late for work these past few days. You aren't... doing some shady job, are you? That little face of yours is pretty. Dress yourself up properly, and I bet the pay's good."

"Don't be so quick to envy me." Li Yi likewise curled his lips and looked Xu Ming up and down. "Uneven eyes, a flat nose, not even 1.8 meters tall.

"Short limbs, a potbelly, greasy hair that's prone to balding. You'll have a bald crown before thirty and be ringing bells at a mountain monastery before fifty.

"Tsk, tsk. No one would appreciate someone like you no matter how you dressed up. Go haul bricks instead."

"You're actually telling me to haul bricks? And calling me ugly?" Furious, Xu Ming fussed with his hair. "Do you know what my family does?

"Xu Group..."

"A real estate company. Your dad's Xu Feng, you're Xu Ming, your brother's Xu Tan, and your sister-in-law's..." Li Yi raised an eyebrow at Xu Ming with a smile, enunciating each syllable. "Xu. Lin. Li."

Your little lover.

"You fucking..." Xu Ming's pupils contracted. His face went from red to white, white to black, then back to red, like a paint palette. In the end, he simply surrendered, not daring to utter another peep.

His anger flared high, then quietly died out. He only dared stare at Li Yi, and not too fiercely, afraid Li Yi would finish the rest of that sentence.

"You two know each other?" Song Tianyi looked suspiciously between them.

Although they had all seen Li Yi before, Zhou Xuanze had never formally introduced him to them. Officially, they were strangers, but privately, they had long known all sorts of embarrassing stories about Li Yi.

"How could a pauper like him be worthy?" Xu Ming snorted.

"I've always had high standards. Ugly bastards don't qualify to be my friends." Li Yi snorted too, clasping his hands behind his back as he walked ahead of them.

The bag in his hand swung behind his back, catching Song Tianyi's attention.

"Is that box a present for me?"

"This?" Li Yi paused and said mysteriously, "You'll find out when we get to the private room."

"Harry Winston?" Xu Ming glanced at the logo on the bag, curled his lips, and started sneering again. "You can even afford Harry Winston jewelry?

"Looks like that job of yours really does pay well."

"If you're jealous, just say so," Li Yi said. "I'm not as petty as you. Whatever you want to know, I'll tell you straight.

"My job doesn't just have a great working environment and short hours. It comes with all five social insurance plans and the housing fund, eight days off a month, and even three meals a day.

"Unfortunately, they're only hiring me.

"You have no chance."

"Who the fuck wants to know exactly what you do? Don't get so smug." Xu Ming sneered. "Sooner or later, you'll catch something and die."

"I will catch something." Li Yi nodded. "Laziness. Dying from being this lazy would be pretty blissful.

"Unlike certain people with so much time on their hands, whose families won't give them a single job. All they have is a title, and they spend every day hanging around a bunch of equally useless rich kids.

"And they still think they're something special.

"Once the Xu family's next heir comes along, that title of the Xu family's young master will belong to someone else.

"Then you'll be idle old Uncle Xu."

Li Yi pressed his thumb against the tip of his little finger. "When that happens, out of the whole enormous Xu Group, you'll only get this tiny scrap. And if you and... get exposed, you won't even get that."

"That's none of your business." Xu Ming moved closer and warned him in a vicious whisper, "Keep your mouth shut. If you dare tell anyone, watch your life."

"Try threatening me again?"

Li Yi cupped both hands around his mouth like a megaphone. "I'll tell everyone right now."

"Don't say it!" Xu Ming was practically angry enough to have a heart attack. Why wouldn't Li Yi respond to either persuasion or threats?

"Show me some respect!" Li Yi lifted his eyes. "I'm your distinguished guest today! If you make me unhappy, I'll make everyone unhappy."

"Fine." Xu Ming clenched his back teeth. "You're a distinguished guest. I respect you."

He didn't just say it; he demonstrated it too, taking the initiative to open the private room's door and let Li Yi enter first.

With his hands in his pockets and an easy posture, Li Yi stood in the doorway, beaming. "I'm here. Is everyone having fun today?"

That move left all three people inside at a complete loss.