Chapter 17 Cursing
At eight o'clock, the lights in the banquet hall dimmed, and the emcee in an evening gown walked onto the stage. Standing under the spotlight, she delivered a welcome speech in a beautiful and sweet voice.

After a brief introduction to the wine tasting process, the wine tasting officially began.

The wines tasted this time came from the Poker Winery in Country F. There were eight types in total, which were served one by one in the form of wine and food pairings.

Shen Nanxi picked up the wine list on the table.

There is a detailed introduction to each wine above, but Shen Nanxi focused on the name of the winery.

Poker Winery.

Founded 20 years ago as a Sino-foreign joint venture, the company has been suffering from losses and a debt crisis in the past two years due to climate warming and increasing production, which has led to oversupply and an imbalance between supply and demand. Wine prices have fallen sharply.

At the beginning of this year, news came out that the winery was facing bankruptcy.

Shen Nanxi remembered that one of the investors of the winery was Wen Ping’s husband, Jiang Zerong.

Take a look at the ten-carat diamond ring on Wen Ping's hand. It sparkles brightly under the light, dazzling the eyes, but lacks a bit of liveliness, as if it is of too high a quality and not pure enough.

Shen Nanxi turned the page and continued reading the wine introduction.

Exquisitely presented appetizers were served on the table accompanied by champagne-colored sparkling wine.

Shen Nanxi was concentrating on the wine list in her hand and didn't make any move. Only after Chen Jiajun beside her reminded her did she pick up the sparkling wine and take a sip.

Kang Ruimin, who was sitting diagonally opposite, saw this scene, raised her long eyebrows, and sneered, "Ms. Shen doesn't seem to be able to drink."

Shen Nanxi's eyelashes twitched and she looked at her.

But Kang Ruimin showed off her slender fingers, holding the stem of the glass, picked up the tall flute-shaped glass, took a sip elegantly, and said, "Miss Shen doesn't even know the most basic way to hold a wine glass. Can you really taste the flavor of the wine?"

The people sitting at the same table with me are either celebrities, business elites, or at least rich second-generations.

Table manners are very particular.

The way she holds the wine glass is exactly the same as Kang Ruimin's.

Only Shen Nanxi held the cup with her fingers, looking overly casual.

Shen Nanxi listened to her words and smiled gently. Her amber eyes were like the iced wine in the glass, clear yet with a hint of coolness.

Chen Jiajun didn't understand why Kang Ruimin made things difficult for Shen Nanxi again and again, but when he looked at Shen Nanxi's profile that was as bright as the moon, his mind became confused and he was deeply attracted by it.

He put down his wine glass and was about to speak for Shen Nanxi.

The people around me spoke up themselves.

"Miss Kang, do you know what the rules are?"

Shen Nanxi asked Kang Ruimin.

Kang Ruimin was stunned, not knowing what this sentence meant. She pursed her lips and did not answer.

Shen Nanxi's slender fingers, as soft as scallions, gently rested on the wine glass. After picking up the glass, she shook it slightly and took a sip of the smooth, fruity sparkling wine. She said slowly, "Rules are the constraints that superiors place on inferiors. They confine them with rules and tell them what they need to do to become superiors."

“Thereby constraining their thoughts, behaviors, and even culture.”

"Of course, the superiors don't need to do this at all."

Shen Nanxi smiled brightly, her pupils bright and indifferent: "By the way, modern society calls rules etiquette, for example, wine etiquette."

Shen Nanxi's words undoubtedly scolded everyone.

Although she didn't mean that, she was simply fighting back against Kang Ruimin's rudeness.

But the speaker has no intention, and the listener has intention.

Everyone present had a bad look on their faces. They put down the wine glasses in their hands, as if Shen Nanxi's words had touched their sore spots. They felt guilty, but if they didn't put down their glasses, they felt that they were being scolded.

Dilemma.

A few seconds passed.

Xie Jingwei laughed out loud, and put his long and powerful fingers through the stem of the cup, lifted the cup belly, and raised the cup to Shen Nanxi: "Miss Shen is not only beautiful, but also speaks beautifully. In fact, the most important thing about drinking is the intention. You can drink however you like. If you pay too much attention to etiquette, you will easily lose interest in drinking."

Among the ten people present, Xie Jingwei has the most honorable status.

The Xie family is the head of the four major families and was a wealthy and influential family during the British Hong Kong government era.

After so many years, the four major families have gone through countless reshuffles, but only the Xie family remains standing.

The prince of Hong Kong City is not something that can be said casually. Even though Mrs. Yao is Xie Jingwei's elder, she had to smile and agree with him: "Victor is right, it's just drinking, the most important thing is to be happy."

Thus, the topic was turned over.

Kang Ruimin was not convinced and wanted to say more.

Wen Ping gave her a sharp glare.

She frowned, snorted heavily, turned her head, and glared at Shen Nanxi before stopping.

The subsequent wine tasting went smoothly.

The lights flickered, glasses were toasted, and in the blink of an eye, it was time for the last drink.

Low in tannins, moderate in acidity and smooth in taste.

If you drink it alone, you can accept this relatively light wine. However, if you use it to finish a drink, it lacks the flavor and is not heavy enough to suppress the impact of the previous wines. It ends up being a little anticlimactic.

Shen Nanxi only took a small sip and didn't touch it again.

Instead, Chen Jiajun put down his glass and talked to her about the wine with great interest.

Wen Ping was standing next to them, so she didn't say much and just said, "It tastes good," as a perfunctory response.

Chen Jiajun was very cautious and gave a long list of his own opinions.

From the color to the aroma.

From taste to aftertaste.

Treat the wine in front of you as your research paper.

Shen Nanxi didn't know whether it was because she drank too much or the person in front of her talked too much, she felt dizzy. She said sorry, got up and went to the bathroom.

I washed my face with two handfuls of cold water, and the dizziness in my head felt a little better.

When I looked up, Xie Jingwei's face appeared in the mirror.

Holding a cigarette in his mouth, he leaned against the wall, his deep eyes looking into hers.

"uncomfortable?"

Xie Jingwei asked her.

"No."

She shook her head, tore off two pieces of tissue paper and wiped the water stains off her face.

Xie Jingwei took a puff of cigarette, and before he exhaled, the smoke detector above his head sounded an alarm.

The sound was a bit sharp and soon attracted the staff.

Shen Nanxi didn't want anyone to see her having contact with Xie Jingwei, so she took advantage of Xie Jingwei's distraction and left to the other side.

"Mr. Xie, the smoking room is over there. I'll take you there."

The staff member smiled and made a gesture to guide us.

"no need."

Xie Jingwei frowned, looking annoyed. He put out the cigarette butt on the trash can beside him, walked around the staff and returned to the banquet hall.

This time, he saw Chen Jiajun sticking to Shen Nanxi like a toad, talking in a low voice.

The smile on his face was more disgusting than a toad. He wanted to punch him a few times just looking at him.

Take a few steps forward.

"Thank you, sir."

Suddenly a man appeared and stopped him.

He tilted his head, his eyes flashing with ferocity and aggression.

The man shrank back, terrified, feeling that the look could kill him.

But when he thought about his current predicament, he still mustered up the courage to step forward and say hello: "Hello, Mr. Xie, my name is Cui Ping'an."

(End of this chapter)