The entire banquet was pushed to a climax by the appearance of Laimo Winery.
Wei Dong's fingers moved slightly, and over a dozen attendants stepped forward to help everyone sober up, pour wine, and refill glasses. This hotpot meal, which was supposed to be simple, was made to feel more exquisite than a French dinner.
Li Li looked at the scene before her, feeling a sting of embarrassment. Remembering the words she had spoken to Bai Xi earlier, she picked up her handbag, intending to slip away.
Tong Yao, seeing her movement, grabbed an empty bottle of Romanée-Conti and walked in front of Li Li, blocking her path. "Li Li, eat up. I'm watching!"
Tong Yao's words drew the attention of everyone who had been enjoying the wine back to them.
Especially those who had joined Li Li in belittling Bai Xi began to mock Li Li. "Yeah, yeah, hurry up and eat. How can you not follow through on your own words?"
"If you think it doesn't taste good, why not smash it and boil it in the hotpot?"
"Eat up, eat up, we're all waiting to see."
Li Li's face turned crimson, but she knew she was not on the same level as Bai Xi.
This was true in the past, and it was true now.
However, for the sake of her pride, she refused to back down. "Bai Xi, you are indeed wealthy. I misunderstood you. But what we said about eating the wine bottles earlier was just a joke among classmates. You're not taking it seriously, are you?"
She didn't believe Bai Xi would actually make her eat a wine bottle.
Bai Xi's eyes were calm. She gently swirled the red wine in her crystal glass and said softly, "If this wine were fake, would you still consider what you said a joke?"
Li Li knew in her heart that if the wine were fake, she wouldn't necessarily force Bai Xi to eat the bottle, as she wouldn't dare cause a death. But she would definitely go to great lengths to humiliate her.
She would not only belittle her to worthlessness but might even make her... kneel on the broken wine bottles and apologize to everyone.
But now, she dared not speak.
"Naturally, even if it were fake, I wouldn't truly harm you."
Seeing the fleeting malice in Li Li's eyes, Bai Xi immediately understood her intentions. "In that case, there's no need to eat."
Upon hearing this, Li Li felt a wave of relief. She forced a smile and said, "I have something to do today, so I'll be leaving now. Enjoy yourselves, and we'll meet again..."
With that, she turned to leave.
Bai Xi said softly, "Wait!"
Li Li heard Bai Xi call her, but she made no move to turn back, intending to leave. However, she was stopped by Bai Xi's two subordinates in black attire. "Our eldest miss is calling you."
Li Li wasn't deaf; she heard perfectly clearly, but she simply didn't want to go back, fearing Bai Xi would humiliate her in the same way she had tried to humiliate Bai Xi.
Thus, she chose to make a run for it.
Seeing her actions, the two men in black regarded her as if she were an idiot. They simply reached out, grabbed her, and dragged her back into the private room. Li Li finally panicked. "What are you doing? Let me go!"
The next second, she was thrown in front of Bai Xi. "Please, Miss, deal with me."
As Li Li was thrown, she lost her balance and landed on the ground with a thump, all her former elegance and composure gone. "Bai Xi, don't go too far. Don't just do whatever you want because you have a bit of money. If you dare lay a hand on me, I'll call the police."
Tong Yao snorted. "Who was it that thought they were so great just because they had a bit of money and spoke ill of our Xi'er? And now you want to talk about fairness?"
She was the one who was bullying others with her status, and now that she found her own status inferior, she was turning around and accusing others of bullying. It was truly laughable.
Li Li's face flushed red and white from the retort. "I, I, I was just joking before."
Tong Yao raised an eyebrow. "Heh, compared to the joke you made earlier, your current expression is even funnier."
Although Li Li hadn't been physically harmed, her face still felt like it was stinging. "Xi'er, we were classmates after all. There's no need to make things so ugly, right?"
Bai Xi truly felt that laying a hand on someone like Li Li would dirty her own hands. She said softly, "I asked you to come back not for anything else, but simply to ask you to pay for the wine you bought."
Li Li blinked in surprise. "Pay? Pay for what? Aren't you treating us to this wine?"
Tong Yao immediately understood and raised an eyebrow. "Xi'er said she would treat everyone to good wine, but she didn't say she'd treat everyone to 1982 Lafite. This Romanée-Conti is what Xi'er is treating everyone to. These ten bottles of 1982 Lafite were ordered by you and opened for you, so naturally, you should pay for them."
Wei Dong, being a perceptive person, snapped his fingers. A server brought the bill and handed it directly to Li Li. "Miss, ten bottles of 1982 Lafite, plus Laimo Winery's service fee, totals nine hundred and seventy thousand. Will that be cash or card?"
Li Li stared blankly. "This, this, I, I..."
Tong Yao smiled. "Didn't you say you were very rich? With such a large diamond ring on your finger, you won't be able to afford what you ordered, will you?"
Li Li's face was pale and unsightly. "Of course, I can afford it."
With that, she pulled out a stack of credit cards. "Swipe."
The server didn't delay and immediately swiped the cards. Unfortunately, after swiping all of them, he said, "Miss, your card has reached its credit limit. Your diamond ring is a moissanite, and its purity is also average. After pawning it at market price, you are still short by seventy thousand."
A ripple of murmurs went through the crowd.
"So, even the diamond ring is cheap."
"Li Li, it seems your so-called boyfriend isn't treating you very well."
"Ha, you can only fool outsiders like us."
"A cheap imitation pretending to be high-end. You've run into a tough opponent this time."
"Real CEO fighting fake socialite, this plot is exciting!"
Upon hearing this, Li Li's face turned both pale and red. "I, I, I don't have it on me right now. Can I owe you?"
Wei Dong, listening to Tong Yao, finally understood the whole story.
This woman in front of him actually wanted to humiliate their esteemed guest with a few bottles of wine. How could he stand by and do nothing?
He walked towards Li Li step by step, a smile on his face, but with a hint of danger. "Miss, these ten bottles of wine you ordered are not even a fraction of the cost of one bottle of Romanée-Conti that our eldest miss has. You can't even afford that? Laimo Winery always operates on a cash-on-delivery basis, and no one has ever dared to owe us money. Since this lady cannot pay, come here and take her away to settle her debt!"
Li Li was intimidated by Wei Dong's aura. Although she didn't know Bai Xi's background or why she could afford such expensive wine, she knew that Laimo Winery was not to be trifled with.
Laimo Winery had connections in both legitimate and illegitimate circles. The fact that they had such a large chain across China meant there were many hidden dealings. Who knew what was behind it all.
If she were taken away today, it was uncertain whether she would see the sun tomorrow.
Now that Laimo Winery was even stepping forward to defend Bai Xi, she deeply regretted wanting to mock Bai Xi just because she heard Bai Xi had found a doctor. Her momentary whim had undoubtedly dug her own grave.
She immediately knelt on the ground. "Xi'er... No, no, Eldest Miss... I was wrong. I failed to recognize your eminence. I was blind and looked down on you. Please let me go. I beg you, please, please ask these people to let me go. I promise I will never dare to do it again."
Tong Yao found her demeanor disgusting. "When you were shouting at Xi'er just now, you didn't have that expression."
Li Li kowtowed to Tong Yao a few more times. "Miss Tong, I was wrong, I was truly wrong!"
Finally, she looked at Han Mo and kowtowed several times. "Doctor Han, you are a doctor. Saving lives and helping the injured is your sacred duty. I beg you, please, please speak up for me and save my life."
Bai Xi before her seemed like a tyrant who held the power of her life and death, and Han Mo was Bai Xi's favored consort. Begging him... should be the most effective!