WT Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Red Wine Sweetheart, Shixi Prefers Sweet Drinks.

Wen Shixi’s expression didn’t change, but his eyes grew colder.

He gazed at the hesitant figure, his fingertips twitching slightly.

Standing beside Wen Shixi, Jiang Yan, though long retired from performing, clearly recognized Tang Xu.

Seeing a perfectly good young man being deliberately made uncomfortable, Jiang Yan revealed a hint of displeasure.

But soon, looking at Tang Xu’s face, Jiang Yan suddenly wore a slightly dazed expression.

Jiang Yan frowned, muttering in confusion, “Tang…?”

Hearing Jiang Yan’s murmur, Wen Shixi turned back: “What is it?”

Hearing this, Jiang Yan looked up: “You know Tang Xu too? He’s been quite the sensation abroad recently.”

“I know.” Wen Shixi’s expression shifted slightly: “…Is there something about him that Father finds particularly concerning?”

“Not particularly concerning, just suddenly reminded me of an old matter.” Seeing that there was nothing else happening around them, Jiang Yan stood where there were fewer people and slowly said, “Many years ago, a man surnamed Tang came to Linggang and opened a foreign trade investment company. In just a few years, he used shady methods to swindle money from many prominent families, and finally, before the scandal broke, he absconded abroad with the funds, almost unscathed. I heard that man had a son who was raised in America… I met that man a few times back then. Tang Xu doesn’t look much like him, but the way he’s being deliberately embarrassed now, the expression in his eyes, is exactly like that man.”

As Jiang Yan spoke, he looked at the crowd, “I’ve met those few kids too, they’re not people who don’t know how to read a room… so seeing them act like this makes me think that maybe it’s related to this matter.”

Wen Shixi remained silent, and looked again in Tang Xu’s direction.

Because he accidentally dropped a wine glass, he was mocked for being a pianist whose hands weren’t nimble enough. It even escalated, with people ridiculing Tang Xu’s wine tasting abilities… such deliberate humiliation didn’t seem unreasonable.

An outsider who had taken away the money of many business families was an insult to those who still remembered the past, so of course they would want to retaliate.

The rumors about Tang Xu and Jiang Quanyu didn’t spread widely. Apart from a few ripples before and after Tang Xu’s performances, they weren’t reported by mainstream media, perhaps because they wanted to wait until the official engagement to make it public. It’s normal that those who don’t follow classical music wouldn’t know.

But Wen Shixi didn’t understand. Jiang Quanyu and Tang Xu were so close in America, how could Jiang Quanyu not know about what even Jiang Yan knew? How could Jiang Quanyu be so careless as to let Tang Xu attend the banquet alone?

Voices carried over from afar, and many people, seeing the situation, couldn’t help but scatter, lest they get into trouble themselves.

As the surroundings gradually emptied, the voices became clearer.

From a few sentences of conversation, Wen Shixi heard that Tang Xu indeed couldn’t distinguish the connection between wine chateaus and vintages, and seemed to lack even the most basic understanding.

He grew more and more strange, unable to figure out what Jiang Quanyu was doing.

Wen Shixi had taken a wine tasting class when he was fifteen.

At that time, his teacher was his older brother, who lived in the main building.

Jiang Quanyu always liked to drink a little crisp dry wine before going to bed. One day, many years ago, because he had lost a piano competition, Wen Shixi grabbed Jiang Quanyu’s wine glass and gulped down half of his brother’s glass of wine.

Dry wine was sour and astringent, with no sweetness at all.

Just like the competition result that read “Wen Shixi – Second Place,” it was equally depressing and annoying.

People who never drank naturally had an inexplicable trust in wine, as if a little alcohol would make all their troubles disappear.

But half a glass of wine wasn’t intoxicating at all, and Wen Shixi was slapped on the back of the head by his brother, which made his ears ring.

Then, Jiang Quanyu told him that wine wasn’t drunk that way.

Observing the color, smelling the aroma, tasting the flavor, every step had its particularity. In the lamplight, Jiang Quanyu patiently explained it to him for a long, long time.

Until finally, as the ethanol slowly expanded in his body, Wen Shixi’s cheeks flushed slightly, and he obediently sat on the sofa, watching Jiang Quanyu stand in front of the wine cabinet, extremely serious, and select a glass bottle from the cabinet again.

Sweet red wine from the Petrus winery in France, with the addition of unique pear and berry flavors, was the “red wine sweetheart” of wines.

After just the right amount of decanting, the sweetness spread in the room.

Wen Shixi had just listened to a long string of wine knowledge and hadn’t quite recovered.

He took the glass that Jiang Quanyu handed him and took a small sip.

The late-harvested grapes were extremely sweet, and the sugar stirred up a tipsy atmosphere.

Afterward, the fifteen-year-old Wen Shixi gave this glass of wine a very high rating: “Delicious.”

Jiang Quanyu took the glass back: “Even if it’s delicious, you can’t drink any more, you’re still young.”

Wen Shixi leaned back on the sofa, his breath full of sweetness and wine aroma: “Then when can I drink with Brother?”

Jiang Quanyu lowered his face and thought for a moment.

“When you’re a little older.”

Wen Shixi: “Then can we not drink such complicated wine by then?”

The lazy student bargained with the “teacher”: “I’m afraid I’ll forget what you just said.”

Hearing this, Jiang Quanyu, while smelling the fruity sweetness in Wen Shixi’s wine glass, said.

“The reason I’m teaching you how to drink wine is because I hope that in situations where you need it, you won’t feel helpless and embarrassed, and you’ll know what to do, not because I’m requiring you to drink wine this way. A mere bottle of red wine, no matter how high-end, exists to be tasted, and represents nothing.”

Jiang Quanyu raised his hand, holding the glass, and put the rest of Wen Shixi’s wine into his mouth.

After the heavy sweetness, the aftertaste was the light and sweet aroma of oak and berries, with a hint of light violet fragrance.

Jiang Quanyu placed the wine glass on the coffee table in front of him: “But even if you don’t remember the wine knowledge I told you today, it’s not like you haven’t gained anything, because you only need to remember this…”

He looked at Wen Shixi, his voice as gentle as the aroma of the wine.

“If you’re going to drink in the future, Shixi prefers sweet drinks.”

At the edge of the magnificent banquet hall, Wen Shixi stood in the crowd, his eyes drooping slightly for a moment.

The sarcasm not far away hadn’t yet come to an end, and Tang Xu seemed a little uneasy, unsure of how to escape.

Wen Shixi sighed, signaled to Jiang Yan, and strode toward them.

In the midst of the chaos, a beautiful tormentor took a small glass of vodka from a passing waiter’s tray and held it out to Tang Xu.

“Mr. Tang’s way of drinking is more suitable for this kind of strong liquor.”

Tang Xu’s expression flickered, and he hesitated, not reaching out to take the glass.

Because of his frequent performances, Tang Xu never drank, and his alcohol tolerance was extremely poor. He wouldn’t even touch a strong liquor like vodka.

Tang Xu looked at the small glass, just about to refuse, when he suddenly saw a slender, fair hand enter his line of sight and take away the vodka that was giving him a headache.

Wen Shixi pinched the wine glass, and the coldness instantly climbed onto his fingertips.

He expressionlessly raised the small wine glass to his lips and drank it in one gulp.

The ice touched his upper lip, and then, as it fell, dropped back into the wine glass.

His Adam’s apple bobbed gently, and the coldness, mixed with the scorching alcohol stimulation, went all the way into his body.

Then, Wen Shixi put down the glass and muttered to himself, “So disgusting.”

He frowned and looked up at the others, his expression indifferent: “Jiang Quanyu is really losing his taste, if this kind of uncultured person can be invited to the party.”

Wen Shixi really couldn’t understand how Jiang Quanyu could let his fiancé be alone in this kind of situation.

The dissatisfaction in his eyes was indifferent, strong, and it was hard to tell whether it was directed at the disgusting vodka, these impolite guests, or the person who still hadn’t shown himself.

The person who had his wine glass snatched away immediately revealed anger after hearing Wen Shixi’s words: “Who are you calling uncultured?”

Wen Shixi’s tone was extremely casual: “Surely someone has taught you that true cultivation should be a deep respect and tolerance in the heart, rather than something like wine tasting, this kind of formality.”

As he spoke, he placed the empty wine glass back on the waiter’s tray.

“Getting pleasure by pointing fingers at others…” Wen Shixi’s thin lips gently parted: “That’s too low-class, isn’t it?”

The companion beside the bullying man recognized Wen Shixi and quickly tugged at the man’s forearm before he could speak again.

“Don’t say anything…” he whispered, “This is Wen Shixi.”

Wen Shixi, the Jiang family’s young master, Jiang Quanyu’s younger brother.

The few people who had been sarcastic and arrogant just now immediately fell silent, their eyes flickering with panic.

High society has always been snobbish, and since they gather quickly, they disperse just as quickly.

Without even any extra arguments, the few people quickly apologized and left, afraid that Wen Shixi would remember their faces.

Wen Shixi watched the few people run far away, not even having had time to say a few more words, and could only tilt his head speechlessly.

At this moment, a voice came from behind him.

“Um… hello.”

Wen Shixi turned back at the sound.

Tang Xu stood behind him, giving him a smile.

The omega in his sight had a gentle appearance, round eyes, and a very amiable smile on his face, like sunlight spreading over warm rice fields.

“I just heard them say that your name is Wen Shixi.” Tang Xu said sincerely, “Thank you so much, Mr. Wen, for helping me out.”

Wen Shixi: “…You’re welcome.”

Tang Xu’s eyes were bright, and his face was bashful as he carefully asked, “Um, I heard you mention Jiang Quanyu just now… Could it be that you are someone Quanyu-ge knows?”