The CEO is domineering, the devil Boss is addicted to pampering

Chapter 1324: Yunrui Enchanting: Drowning Sorrow in Wine

The night, like a piece of velvet soaked in ink, hung heavy over the city. The lights in the "Reef" bar were dim. The amber liquid of whiskey swirled between Qi Ruixiang's fingers. The crisp sound of the ice ball hitting the wall of the glass, mixed with the melody of the blues saxophone, brewed a thick sense of decadence in the air.

He had been sitting here for three hours, with six empty cups scattered in front of him, his tie hanging loosely around his neck, his shirt cuffs rolled up to his elbows, revealing the scratches on his forearms that had not yet faded - those were the marks that Gu Yunxi left on him last time.

The bartender behind the bar secretly looked at him. This man who usually wore a suit and had sharp eyes seemed to have his bones pulled out at this moment. Even the strength to lift his eyes was broken.

"Another glass." Qi Ruixiang pushed the empty glass over, his voice as hoarse as sandpaper grinding on rusty iron.

The bartender hesitated for a moment, but still filled his glass. The amber liquid overflowed the rim of the glass and left a small wet mark on the counter.

When the door was pushed open, a gust of cold wind came in. Yang Xiaotang stood at the door wrapped in a beige windbreaker. His eyes swept around in the dim light and shadow, and soon locked onto the lonely figure in front of the bar.

When he walked over to Qi Ruixiang, he didn't even look up. Yang Xiaotang sat down on the high stool next to him. The bartender gave her a similar drink with just a glance.

Following her gaze, she involuntarily fell on the red corners of Qi Ruixiang's eyes.

"I want to go back home. You can come back with me in the afternoon." She said softly, as if stating an insignificant fact.

Qi Ruixiang's fingers gripping the wine glass suddenly tightened, his knuckles turning white, but he didn't respond.

"It's come to this. There's no point in you staying." Yang Xiaotang picked up the soda water that had just been delivered, her fingertips cold. "Why don't we go back together? The Gu family should guard the place themselves. She wants to bang her head against the wall, but there's no way to stop her."

The ice cubes melted in Qi Ruixiang's cup, making a slight sizzling sound.

He finally looked up, his eyes misted with moisture, whether from the alcohol or something else. "She's always like this," he said, his tone almost cruelly self-deprecating. "She won't turn back even if she hits a wall."

Yang Xiaotang watched him tilt his head back and drink half a glass of whiskey, the curve of his Adam's apple hiding an indelible melancholy.

She suddenly recalled the scene when she first met Qi Ruixiang. How could he have imagined at that time that one day she would be drunk in a bar and heartbroken for a woman who didn't love her?

"Is it worth it?" She couldn't help but ask, her voice so soft it sounded like a sigh. "For her, I've put myself through this."

Qi Ruixiang laughed, his voice tinged with alcohol and an indescribable sadness. "You don't understand." He tilted his head, close enough to see the light flickering on her eyelashes. "You've never experienced the feeling of holding your heart out and having it thrown to the ground and crushed."

Warm breath sprayed against my ears, carrying with it the strong smell of alcohol and the lingering scent of cedar perfume.

Yang Xiaotang's heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively tried to dodge back, but he reached out and pressed his shoulder. His palm was scorching hot, and the force was so strong that it seemed to dig into her bones and blood.

"She never believed me." Qi Ruixiang's voice was close to her ear, with a kind of broken honesty. "She might not even look at the things I left behind. She would rather get her head broken and bloodied than look back at me."

Yang Xiaotang's heart seemed to be tightened by something.

She looked at the bloodshot in his eyes and the self-deprecating curve at the corner of his mouth, and suddenly had an absurd thought - if she had been the one who met Qi Ruixiang first, if Gu Yunxi had not used those gentle disguises to approach him, would everything be different?

"She doesn't cherish it, but someone else does." These words came out almost immediately, and Yang Xiaotang regretted it as soon as she said it, her cheeks flushed red instantly.

Qi Ruixiang paused, let go of her hand, leaned back against the bar, and looked at her with complicated eyes.

The saxophone in the bar changed its tune, the melody lingering and sad, like a lover's whisper. Qi Ruixiang took another sip of wine, but this time he didn't swallow it. He held it in his mouth, his eyes fixed on her.

Yang Xiaotang's heart was beating like a drum, and her fingertips were twisting the hem of her windbreaker unconsciously. A voice in her head was screaming, "Take advantage of the opportunity to get close to him," while another voice was scolding, "What's the big deal about taking advantage of someone's misfortune?"

She thought of Gu Yunxi, who was obsessed with Lin Xu, sleeping in the same bed with Qi Ruixiang, the lavender finger marks on her neck, and the pain in Qi Ruixiang's eyes at that moment - these thoughts were like fuel, instantly igniting the jealousy in her heart.

"Qi Ruixiang." Yang Xiaotang took a deep breath, her voice trembling unnoticed. "Look carefully, the person next to you now is me."

Qi Ruixiang raised his eyebrows, said nothing, and just handed the remaining wine in the glass to her mouth.

The amber liquid glowed dangerously under the light. Yang Xiaotang hesitated for half a second, then tilted his head back and drank it.

The spicy liquid slid down her throat, burning her eyes red, but also giving her courage.

She reached out and gently stroked his Adam's apple with her fingertips, feeling the pulse beating beneath his skin there.

Qi Ruixiang's breathing suddenly became heavier, and he gripped her wrist a little harder, his eyes dark as if he wanted to kill someone.

"Don't play with fire." His voice was very hoarse.

"I just want to try." Yang Xiaotang's fingertips moved up along his neck, stopping at his earlobe and gently stroking it. "I want to see if I can replace her, see if I can make you... forget her."

Her movements were awkward and bold, like a novice gambler who put all her courage at stake.

Qi Ruixiang looked at her red eyes and her slightly trembling lips, and suddenly chuckled, his laughter was full of drunkenness and indulgence.

He leaned in, close enough that they could feel each other's breath.

Yang Xiaotang's heartbeat was almost about to burst out of her chest. She closed her eyes and waited for the drunken kiss to fall - she had even thought about it. If he really kissed her, she would lean into his arms and say all the bad things about Gu Yunxi to make him give up the idea completely.

But the expected kiss did not come.

Qi Ruixiang simply nuzzled her forehead, like soothing a livid cat, then let go of her hand and leaned back against the bar, his tone returning to his usual coldness: "It's too late, I'll take you home."

Yang Xiaotang's gaze was like a fire-quenched needle, fixed on his lips that were glistening with alcohol.

There was still half a glass of whiskey on the bar, the amber liquid swaying dangerously under the light. Without saying a word, she suddenly picked up the glass, tilted her head back and took a big gulp.

The spicy wine burned her throat, slid down her esophagus into her stomach, and instantly a ball of fire rose up, burning her eyes red.

"Take me home?" Her voice was stained with alcohol, carrying a wet and sticky taste. The tip of her tongue licked the wine stains at the corners of her lips, her movements so ambiguous that it seemed like she was acting coquettishly. "Qi Ruixiang, do you dare to have another drink?"

Qi Ruixiang's eyebrows were knitted into knots, and his fingertips tapped lightly on the bar, making a rhythmic sound, as if he was suppressing something. "Don't play tricks."

"How dare I?" Yang Xiaotang smiled, her smile lines dripping with alcohol. She suddenly leaned in close, so close that she could count the fragments of light on his eyelashes. "I just want to ask you to taste how strong this wine is."

Before she finished speaking, she tilted her head back slightly, suddenly grabbed the back of Qi Ruixiang's neck, and kissed him without saying anything.