It’s Not Okay to Kiss Me as Soon as We Meet (ABO) - Chapter 5

The chatter and laughter in the private room had stopped at some point. Everyone’s gazes involuntarily focused on Lin Huaiyi and the glass in her hand.

A draft beer mug paired with whiskey made for an inelegant combination. Yet held in the alpha’s clear-jointed, slender, and strong hand, it evoked a unique charm, as if whiskey should always be drunk this way.

The young alpha, twenty-something, drank neither hastily nor slowly, as if the cup held not a penalty drink but some fine brew.

Everyone still lingered in their surprise, too late to voice any stop, when that glass of whiskey reached the bottom.

Lin Huaiyi swallowed the last sip, raised her hand to wipe her mouth, and felt the air had grown somewhat quiet.

She raised the glass in jest. “Is this okay?”

Hearing Lin Huaiyi’s voice, everyone snapped back from the scene and exchanged glances before erupting in cheers.

Only Xiao Wen’s eyes reddened. She reached out and tugged Lin Huaiyi’s sleeve. “Little Lin, are you okay? Does it hurt? You drank so much alcohol…”

In her previous life, Lin Huaiyi had a decent tolerance for alcohol, but downing this glass of strong liquor all at once today still left her dizzy.

She had overestimated this body’s current capacity.

In her previous life, Lin Huaiyi had weathered the business seas. In that world, no merchant could avoid drinking. There was a saying: Wine reveals character.

This meant that when sober, people mostly wore masks different from their true nature. Some chose masks for self-protection, while others used them to deceive.

But when drunk beyond clarity, the real humanity hidden behind the mask emerged fully. So everyone believed that if someone had good drinking behavior, their character deserved trust.

In her previous life, Lin Huaiyi had forged ahead alone and inevitably navigated wine tables with others. Over time, she naturally honed her drinking skills.

In the ABO world, Lin Huaiyi relied on the Lin family’s vast power, making her from absolute elite stock in City A. At just over twenty, she had not picked up a drinking habit. In her past life, she likely never faced someone forcing drinks on her.

Now, after just one glass of whiskey, dizziness and blurred vision set in. Lin Huaiyi inwardly had only three words: Careless.

Feeling someone tug her sleeve, Lin Huaiyi looked up but saw only a blur, knowing this person meant no harm.

Lin Huaiyi had always disliked physical contact with others. Under alcohol’s influence, her senses heightened. This light touch irritated her germaphobic self, making her frown involuntarily.

“Um, I’m fine.” Xiao Wen received this somewhat cold reply from the alpha.

Shen Li had been marked by Lin Huaiyi not long ago, so her body’s dependence on Lin Huaiyi remained at its peak. Seeing Lin Huaiyi drink, her whole heart clenched, leaving her somewhat sluggish.

Shen Li had no time to sort this feeling when she saw a cute, obedient little Omega tug Lin Huaiyi’s sleeve.

Out of concern for a subordinate, Shen Li had meant to send Assistant Yang for hangover medicine. Now she saw Lin Huaiyi had someone to care for her.

Assistant Yang felt the surrounding temperature drop suddenly. Worried some unpleasantness might arise at the welcome event and hinder future work, he grew uneasy inwardly and sneaked glances at Shen Li’s expression.

Shen Li appeared calm as ever, but the frost on her face seemed to thicken another layer.

Her anger showed subtly, after all. She usually presented an icy face at minus 100 degrees Celsius. Now it merely shifted to minus 150.

If not for seeing her daily and knowing his boss’s temperament, others would not notice.

For instance, thick-browed, big-eyed host brother Yang Qiang noticed nothing of their President Li’s current irritability. He remained immersed in the joy of playing matchmaker.

Yang Qiang: “Whoa! Little Lin drinks with such gusto! But hey, whiskey has a big kick. Xiao Wen, quick, help your Little Lin to the sofa to lie down.”

Xiao Wen felt steam rise from her head at those five words “your Little Lin.” She turned straight into a Wen-brand big red shrimp.

She tried to weakly protest. “Brother Yang, please don’t say that….”

Xiao Wen’s voice was soft and thin, soon buried in the hooting crowd without a sound.

Seeing no one listened to her, and everyone tacitly assumed caring for Lin Huaiyi fell to her, she could do nothing despite her blush—not to mention her genuine worry for Lin Huaiyi.

She gathered courage to reach for Lin Huaiyi’s arm. “Little Lin, let me help you sit over there.”

Though Lin Huaiyi felt a bit woozy now, she knew roughly what went on around her. She disliked this hooting but did not want to embarrass Xiao Wen publicly.

She naturally dodged Xiao Wen’s attempt to link arms and, going with the flow, rose with her to rest temporarily on the sofa in the private room.

With so many eyes in the crowded private room, and Shen Li at a distance from Lin Huaiyi, Shen Li naturally saw nothing of Lin Huaiyi’s evasion.

From Shen Li’s vantage, Lin Huaiyi looked perfectly content as Xiao Wen supported her to the sofa for care.

Shen Li knew her current concern for Lin Huaiyi stemmed entirely from pheromone interference. Out of sight, out of mind. Shen Li turned her head away, refusing to look at that irritating person.

After all, this was before colleagues, no different from the company. Shen Li needed to maintain her rational persona at every moment.

The Shen Corporation did prohibit office romances, but the icebreaker banquet earned its name “icebreaker” by breaking down the strangeness and distance among new employees.

Past icebreakers had grown far more exaggerated than today’s. Even if two in the department truly paired up, as long as they did not flaunt affection openly at work and hinder others, no one made a big fuss over it.

Shen Li glanced down at the empty draft beer mug on the coffee table that Lin Huaiyi had drunk from. In the end, she still instructed Assistant Yang to buy some hangover medicine from a pharmacy.

But that voice cut sharper and colder than icicles.

After a day’s work, Shen Li felt some fatigue too and sat on the sofa.

Shen Li had been a small leader in the team before. When facing work, she always demanded strictness, clear standards, and excelled in execution.

Though she appeared cold as frost, this did not hinder her from maintaining amicable relations with team members.

Those who had worked in Shen Li’s team knew she valued fairness most. She never wronged her subordinates nor let slackers take advantage. She also never relied on being a Shen family member to wield any privileges at the company.

In the ABO world, those who differentiated into alphas gained major boosts in physical strength and IQ. Those who became Omegas correspondingly gained beauty, IQ, and EQ enhancements.

Due to these objective factors, successfully differentiated people always held advantages in life and work.

For this reason, many company executives favored selecting alphas or Omegas when picking core team backbones.

Yet Minister Shen Li, who always championed fairness, differed. In her view, every person in the product department—even new hires, regardless of gender—counted as her battle comrade. If someone’s character and ability passed muster and aligned with her ideals, they all had equal chances to become core team members.

This batch of new product department hires was half undergraduates and half postgraduates, all very young.

The similarly aged youths warmed up quickly in the KTV. After a day’s contact, they no longer felt as distant as that morning.

Shen Li had reviewed everyone’s resumes early and could now call each by name upon seeing them. She chatted briefly with all.

During several chats with new employees, she accidentally glimpsed Lin Huaiyi shrunk on the sofa at the other end a few times. Beside her, Xiao Wen gazed gently at Lin Huaiyi’s profile. The KTV lights flickered dim and bright, casting an ambiguous glow on people.

Over there, Yang Qiang persisted in his host mission, seeming to have endless energy.

“Spin the bottle, dare on the rise!” Yang Qiang roared.

Aside from Lin Huaiyi and Xiao Wen, everyone got swept up in Yang Qiang’s enthusiasm.

All overlooked the earlier minor episode and plunged eagerly back into the game. Shen Li, surrounded in the middle, naturally joined too, hailed enthusiastically by Yang Qiang for the next round.

In the sofa corner, Xiao Wen asked the server for a cup of warm water and handed it to Lin Huaiyi.

Xiao Wen: “Little Lin, drink some warm water. It’ll make you feel better.”

Lin Huaiyi had marked Shen Li not long ago, so her perception of Shen Li’s mood sharpened beyond the ordinary.

She already sensed the ice mountain on the verge of erupting, struggled to sit up straight, and said to Xiao Wen politely but distantly with open eyes: “Thanks, I’m not thirsty. Sorry, I troubled you tonight. I’m fine now. Go back and play the game with them.”

Xiao Wen’s face fell dim. Tears glistened in her eyes. She pursed her lips, looked at the rejected water cup in her hand, and wanted to say something when she saw a fair arm reach over.

Shen Li: “Lin Huaiyi, take the hangover medicine.”

Several pills lay quietly in Shen Li’s palm, the ones Assistant Yang had just rushed out to buy.

Lin Huaiyi fretted over the awkward spot with her and Xiao Wen when someone came to her rescue. She felt great joy. Hearing this, she looked up and saw ice-face Shen Li’s unquestionable expression, along with Assistant Yang standing beside her, drenched in sweat.

Seeing Lin Huaiyi hesitate a moment without taking the medicine right away, Shen Li asked coldly: “Hangover medicine—will you take it or not?”

Lin Huaiyi, hearing it was hangover medicine, paid no mind to Shen Li’s harsh tone and felt warmth in her heart instead.

In her previous life, when she drank herself senseless at wine tables, a small wish hid in her heart: Someone to timely hand her a hangover pill when she felt unwell.

Xiao Wen saw Shen Li pass Lin Huaiyi the hangover medicine, bit her lip, and still planned to offer the warm water in her hand to help her swallow the pill.

Shen Li saw Lin Huaiyi obediently take the medicine, her gaze softened a bit, and she reached for the water cup from Assistant Yang, shoving it into Lin Huaiyi’s hand with an unquestionable tone.

“Wash it down with water.”

Lin Huaiyi looked at the medicine and water cup in her hand with a wry smile. How was this woman so contrary? Clearly caring, yet she had to voice it in a domineering tone.

Lin Huaiyi obediently took the medicine. Shen Li stood beside her like a supervisor, in five-centimeter fine high heels, her presence towering like two meters eight.

Lin Huaiyi felt suppressed by this aura and dared not lift her head. Ask, and the answer was: Very cowardly, wanting to chug the water quickly.

The more hurried, the more mistakes. As Lin Huaiyi drank, she suddenly coughed hard, clearly choked by the water.

Shen Li saw her cough until breathless and, frowning, reached over to pat her back.

Lin Huaiyi lifted her face to look but saw only hazy lights. Shen Li bent at the waist, very close, considerately helping her catch her breath.

Lin Huaiyi never flushed from alcohol before, but now her face burned red. She felt her heart pounding as if to leap from her chest. Then her eyes rolled back, and she fainted into Shen Li’s arms.