Chapter 18: I Don’t Believe It

Page (1/3)

Li Xiaofei saw all her colleagues staring at her, so she had no choice but to brace herself and take a sip from the half glass of orange juice.

Yet anyone could see that she merely touched her lips to the rim, never truly drinking it down.

With a hint of defiance in her tone, Li Xiaofei said, "Ruan Mianmian, now you should believe me—the orange juice is fine."

"I don’t believe you at all. Drinking just one sip proves nothing. You have to finish it to show there’s really no problem, and just now you were only pretending. You didn’t drink it, everyone saw," Ruan Mianmian exposed her without a shred of mercy.

Trying to harm her? Not a chance!

Everyone watched the three, surprised at how Ruan Mianmian would embarrass Li Xiaofei so blatantly.

Ordinarily, at this point, people would seek peace and move on.

But Ruan Mianmian insisted she didn’t trust Li Xiaofei.

She was playing by her own rules.

Li Xiaofei slammed the glass down. "Ruan Mianmian, don’t go too far. I already drank it."

It was clear she was barely holding back her anger.

Ruan Mianmian remained calm. "Fine, then I’ll call the police and have them test the orange juice. If there’s a problem, Fang Liyah won’t be able to explain herself. If it’s clean, I’ll apologize to you and Fang Yali in front of everyone."

Li Hao hurried to smooth things over, saying, "No need, no need! It’s just some orange juice, let’s not make a scene and call the police. If none of you three want to drink, then don’t. Let’s not ruin everyone’s mood; most of us haven’t started eating yet. Come, let’s eat."

What was Ruan Mianmian up to?

With a mocking smile, Ruan Mianmian said, "Supervisor Li, could it be that there really is something wrong with the juice? Are you covering for them? Or did you instruct them to drug me? What was the purpose? What was in the juice?"

She fired off five sharp questions.

She was determined to force Li Xiaofei and Fang Yali to drink the tampered orange juice themselves.

She wanted to strip away their masks.

Li Hao glanced at the crowd, forcing a smile. "How could that be? You’re being ridiculous. The juice is from the restaurant—it’s absolutely safe. Xiaofei, Yali, drink it for Ruan Mianmian. Then she’ll believe you. Bringing in the police would be so embarrassing!"

Now Li Xiaofei and Fang Yali had no choice; Li Hao’s words made it clear—police must not be involved.

If they didn’t drink, it would mean there really was something wrong with the juice, and they’d be unable to explain.

Fang Yali was especially nervous, for she had handed the orange juice to Ruan Mianmian.

She drank her half glass in one gulp, not a drop left.

Page (2/3)

Seeing Fang Yali finish hers, Li Xiaofei had no choice but to grit her teeth and drink the other half glass.

"Ruan Mianmian, surely now you believe there’s nothing wrong with the juice. We both drank it!" Li Xiaofei spoke through clenched teeth, her voice trembling with barely contained rage.

"Whether it’s safe or not, only you know. I can’t say. But I see your sincerity, so I’ll drink too," Ruan Mianmian said, and took a sip from her own glass of orange juice.

[Congratulations, host. You saw through Li Xiaofei’s scheme, deftly diffused the crisis, and struck back beautifully. You’ve earned 500 points, and your lifespan increases by 50 days.]

"Wow, 007, why so many points this time?"

She had spent 500 points to upgrade her system earlier, and now earned it all back tonight—a delightful surprise.

The key was fifty more days of life!

[Host, this system detected that Fang Yali’s orange juice for you was indeed problematic. You faced three adversaries and emerged victorious. Naturally, your reward is high.]

"007, you’re not playing fair. If you could detect the juice was tainted ahead of time, why didn’t you warn me?"

[Host, the system lacks the authority to inform you in advance. Upgrade the system two more levels, and I’ll be able to alert you beforehand.]

"How many points for the next upgrade?"

[Host, you need one thousand points for the next upgrade.]

"One thousand? Might as well rob a bank!"

One thousand points equals a million!

[Please work hard to upgrade. The higher the system level, the greater the surprises.]

Ruan Mianmian thought about the apartment she won last time she upgraded—it really was worth it.

She checked her points summary. She had 913 now—just a little more to reach a thousand.

"All right, I’ll work hard. Maybe soon I can upgrade you."

Mainly, her way of surviving was far too risky. If the system could warn her in advance, she wouldn’t so easily fall victim to schemes.

Tonight, had she not been extra cautious, she might truly have been trapped.

Still, she wondered what those three planned after drugging her.

Could they have prepared a room and a man for her?

If so, then they were truly wicked and malicious.

[Host, keep it up!]

The drinking drama passed.

Page (3/3)

Li Xiaofei didn’t go on to toast other colleagues. A few minutes later, she excused herself, "I drank too much earlier—I need to go to the restroom."

Fang Yali chimed in, "Xiaofei’s had too much, I’ll go with her. Mianmian, help me support her, will you? She can barely stand."

Ruan Mianmian: "..."

So they did have follow-up moves?

She feigned a smile. "Of course, I’ll help you support her. I need to use the restroom myself."

She wanted to see what sort of drama these two had planned for her.

Xu Weiwei looked at her with concern. "Mianmian, I’ll go with you."

Ruan Mianmian gave her a reassuring look. "Weiwei, keep eating. It’s just the restroom, I’ll be fine."

She and Fang Yali, each on one side, supported Li Xiaofei toward the restroom.

This private room had no restroom; it was outside.

Li Xiaofei deliberately leaned her weight onto Ruan Mianmian.

Once inside, Fang Yali and Li Xiaofei washed their faces, and Li Xiaofei pretended to vomit.

"I feel awful. Help me over there to rest," Li Xiaofei said.

Ruan Mianmian glanced at the direction Li Xiaofei indicated—it was another private room, secluded enough that few would notice it even existed.

"All right, let’s help you over," Fang Yali said.

Ruan Mianmian played along, supporting Li Xiaofei.

At the door to that room, Fang Yali’s face was flushed, but she managed to stay somewhat alert and opened the door.

Li Xiaofei, perhaps thanks to the liquor, was worse off—dazed, muttering, "So hot!"

Once inside, Ruan Mianmian saw it was just as she suspected: two men were waiting.

Those men, seeing the three enter, immediately closed the door.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Ruan Mianmian feigned panic, taking the chance to scan the room.

Sure enough, there were no cameras.

It seemed this room had been prepared especially for her.

"What do we want?" The bald man in a floral shirt sneered. "Why, you, of course!"