Chapter 277: Chapter 277: Do You Have the Ability to Humiliate Me with Money?

Maeve said, “President Qi is still in a meeting and might arrive late. He told us to start eating, so let’s serve the dishes now!”

There are a total of seven tables in the private room.

All the other tables were full, except for Lin Qi and Han Na’s table, where no one else was willing to sit.

Han Na said, “Speechless. Why won’t they sit with us? Are they afraid we’ll poison the food?”

Lin Qi replied, “Isn’t that great? A whole table of dishes for two people, we can eat however we want!”

One dish after another was served.

As a representative, Maeve briefly delivered the opening speech, but Lin Qi couldn’t be bothered to listen and started eating with her chopsticks.

She was really starving.

Maeve glanced at her from the corner of her eye and snorted coldly.

Such a lack of manners!

She is at least her half superior, and Lin Qi doesn’t even listen to her superior’s speech before starting to eat!

Maeve said, “Alright, that’s all from me! I see some people have already started eating, so everyone else can start as well!”

No sooner had she finished speaking than everyone looked at Lin Qi.

A grating voice said, “Lin Qi, the boss was still talking, and you started eating by yourself. Are you a starving ghost reincarnated? Didn’t you eat enough in your last life?”

The person was half serious, half joking, but thoroughly sarcastic.

“Yeah, right, shouldn’t she be punished with a drink? Hurry up and toast a drink to Ms. Mia!”

Lin Qi waved her hand and bluntly refused, “I don’t drink.”

“You still need to toast a drink even if you don’t!”

“This newcomer really doesn’t get it!”

A male colleague came over with a bottle of alcohol and, without allowing any refusal, poured a full glass and gently pushed her shoulder, “Hurry up and toast.”

Maeve stood with her arms crossed, waiting for Lin Qi to come over and toast.

But Lin Qi didn’t budge.

She looked up, narrowed her eyes, and said, “Didn’t I say I don’t drink?”

The male colleague was stunned.

He didn’t expect this newcomer to be so defiant!

He turned around and deliberately instigated, “Ms. Mia, look at her, she’s not giving you any respect at all!”

Countless mocking voices started to rise:

“She must have a big backing! After all, she’s parachuted into the project team with President Qi’s support. Of course, she wouldn’t take Ms. Mia seriously!”

“Exactly. Such a big show-off. If you didn’t know better, you’d think she’s Ms. Mia’s superior! Big attitude, indeed!”

“Such a huge ego for a newcomer! I wouldn’t dare to be this cocky when I was new!”

Lin Qi could see it now.

What kind of a welcome party for the department was this?

It was clearly a feast set up as a trap.

Worried that Lin Qi wouldn’t be able to step down gracefully, Han Na proactively picked up a glass, filled it with alcohol, and walked towards Maeve, “Ms. Mia, maybe she really can’t handle her liquor. Let me toast this one for her!”

Maeve’s face was cold, motionless.

A female colleague sarcastically said, “Who are you to represent her? Han Na, whose side are you on? Aren’t you part of our team? Why are you siding with someone who’s not?”

Another colleague chimed in, “Can’t you all see? This Han Na is very good at sizing up the situation! She is President Qi’s person. Han Na wants to cling to her and curry favor!”

“Yes, exactly. Han Na, you better understand that in our project team, no matter how big your background is, it’s useless without real skills. If your abilities don’t cut it, you’ll still have to leave!”

Zhou Xiaoying scoffed, “You’re absolutely right! In the project team, we rely on real skills, and we can do without this kind of insincerity!”

Then she said to Han Na, “Han Na, go back to your seat!”

Feeling grateful for Zhou Xiaoying’s initiative to spare her the embarrassment, Han Na returned to her seat.

Lin Qi felt like she was being targeted.

These people were convinced that she had President Qi, Ling Chuan, as her backer, and thus they were excluding and squeezing her out.

But if she took these groundless accusations seriously, she would lose.

The more seriously she took them, the more these people would believe the rumors to be true.

Silence is the best response!

Suddenly, the door to the private room was pushed open.

Li Wanru came in carrying tea.

Upon seeing Li Wanru, Maeve was also stunned.

A male colleague immediately whispered in her ear, “Ms. Mia, this woman, she’s related to Lin Qi! She’s Lin Qi’s biological sister!”

Maeve doubted, “How is that possible?”

“I’m serious!”

The male colleague immediately called Li Wanru over, “You, come here!”

Li Wanru hurried over, looking uneasy, and asked, “Is there something you need?”

The male colleague pointed at Lin Qi and asked, “Is she your little sister?”

Li Wanru looked at Lin Qi and hesitantly nodded.

The male colleague then asked, “What’s your name?”

Li Wanru said, “My name is…”

“Ah, come on! Your name isn’t important!” Seeing how submissive Li Wanru looked and easy to bully, the male colleague suddenly had an idea, “Your sister refuses to drink, how about you, as her elder sister, drink a few on her behalf?”

Li Wanru’s eyes widened, “I… I can’t drink…”

“What?!” interrupted the male colleague, “This drink isn’t for you to have for free! You drink one, and you get a reward for it.”

He stood up, placed six empty glasses in front of Li Wanru, and poured alcohol into them one by one.

Li Wanru watched with widening eyes, growing increasingly anxious.

The man pulled out his wallet and took out several hundred-dollar bills, placing $200 under the first glass, $400 under the second, $800 under the third, and so on.

“For every glass you drink, the money under it is yours to take!”

The man smugly put his wallet away, smiling smugly, “Will you drink or not? Will you or won’t you?”

Lin Qi’s expression changed slightly, knowing that he was deliberately making it difficult!

She stood up, “Wanru!”

But Li Wanru was dazzled by the stack of hundred-dollar bills.

Drinking one glass for $200, by the fourth drink, it would be $1,600, the fifth drink, $3,200, and after all six drinks, she could walk away with $12,000!

Li Wanru asked, “If I drink all this, will the money be mine?”

The man nodded, “Yeah, if you can finish, all the money is yours!”

Li Wanru reached for the glass, ready to down it in one go.

But Lin Qi immediately stepped forward and pulled her away, “What are you doing?”

Li Wanru said, “This gentleman said if I drink in your place, if I drink all this, the money is all mine!”

Who can resist the temptation of money?

Especially someone like Li Wanru who is so scared of poverty.

Lin Qi said, “Can’t you see? He’s humiliating you.”

Li Wanru responded, “He’s giving me money, how is that humiliating me?”

“Hahahahaha!” The man suddenly burst out laughing, “Lin Qi, how is this humiliating? Your sister is so pitiful, working here serving tea and being looked down upon, and I’m offering her so much money, that’s more than two months of her salary! Besides, even if it’s humiliation, so what? If you have the capability, you humiliate me with money too! Let’s see if you give me this much money, will I drink it or not?”