n

n

n

nBella stared blankly at William. Had she just been rejected?

nLila and Emily were even more astonished.

nNeither of them expected Bella to be so direct upon meeting William.

nSkipping all formalities and going straight to marriage was a bit too extreme.

nBella proposing marriage to someone— if this got out, it would cause a major stir in their whole circle of friends.

nThe most crucial part was…

nShe had been rejected!!

n“Do you know what you’re saying?” Bella’s face turned cold as she looked seriously at William. “I’ll give you one last chance to consider your answer.”

nWithout giving it a second thought, William replied, “Then I must reject you once again.”

n“…” Bella’s teeth clenched. Her grandfather, Eric Bell, had personally approached her yesterday, asking her to get close to William. Though he didn’t mention William’s identity, it was clear from his words that he held William in high regard and wanted her to become friends with him—or at least not offend him.

nThese past two years, her family had started pressuring her to marry. But Bella didn’t want to marry a rich second-generation heir and then lead an idle life; she thought it best to marry an ordinary man.

nShe felt her grandfather was choosing a future husband for her.

nYesterday, she went to East 62nd Street and saw from William’s residence that he was not wealthy. Today, seeing that William was fairly handsome and at least pleasant to look at, she decided to “compromise.”

nBut she never ever thought she would be rejected.

nAnd rejected twice in a row, at that.

nMaria, noticing that William and Bella were talking, and seeing Bella’s unhappy expression, came over with the wine.

n“Three beautiful ladies, here’s the wine you ordered,” Maria said, followed by a server who specialized in opening wine.

nAfter all, a two-thousand-dollar bottle of red wine wasn’t cheap in their bar, and not many people ordered it on a daily basis.

nBella momentarily relieved the awkwardness, saying, “Open it.”

nThe server then opened the red wine and began to aerate it.

n“If you ladies don’t have any other friends joining, would you like William to accompany you for a couple of drinks? He’s new here and may not be very talkative. I hope you’re not upset,” Maria, adept at reading the room, said, though she couldn’t directly ask William to leave unless Bella and her friends specifically asked him not to accompany them.

nBella suddenly laughed, looked deeply at William, and asked, “So you’re in charge of accompanying customers for drinks?”

nWilliam wasn’t angry but nodded, saying, “If Miss Bell wants me to drink with her, I certainly won’t refuse.”

n“Great!” Bella pointed at the bottle of red wine, saying, “Finish this bottle first, and after that, I’ll give you ten thousand dollars!”

nMaria sensed Bella’s anger but didn’t intervene. She looked at William and asked, “William, can you drink?”

nWilliam laughed, “Getting paid to drink, of course I can! But I wonder, is it ten thousand per bottle or just for this one?”

nBella was both angry and amused, “From the way you speak, it sounds like you can drink several bottles?”

nWilliam made a face, “Seven or eight bottles shouldn’t be a problem.”

n“Bring me ten bottles!” Bella said, “Charge it now!”

nTen bottles?

nMaria quickly interjected, “Miss Bell, I’m sorry, but we only have three bottles of ’96 Lafite in stock, including this one.”

n“Other wines will do; price doesn’t matter. Just bring the most expensive ones from your store to make it ten bottles. I want to see how much he can drink today!” Bella initially didn’t intend to offend William, but his words had riled her up.

nFrom childhood to now, she had always been the one rejecting others. When had anyone ever rejected her?

nMaria acknowledged and immediately sent the server behind her to fetch the wine.

nAfter giving the orders, she followed.

nThough William claimed to be quite capable of drinking, downing ten bottles of wine would surely incapacitate anyone.

nMaria followed the server to select nine more bottles of red wine, ensuring not to mix in any spirits, otherwise, it would be more than mere drunkenness for William.

nBesides, Maria also brought over a small POS machine and handed over a bill: “Miss Bell, these ten bottles of wine total $15,388. You can give $15,000; that’s fine.”

nShe had thought it through. If William were to collapse from being unable to drink any more, could Bella force open his mouth and pour it down his throat?

nSell the wine first, then see.

nBella pulled a bank card from her bag, saying, “No need for a discount, charge $16,000 for the drinks. Also, you stand here and watch. For every bottle he drinks, I’ll charge tens of thousands!”

nBella was adamant about this clash with William.

nSuddenly, William realized that he had chosen a great profession.

nPicking up the opened bottle of red wine from the table, he tipped his head back and drank heartily.

nIn less than a minute, the bottle was empty, William’s expression unchanged.

nHe did not intentionally suppress the effects of the alcohol. But the reason alcohol intoxicates is that it causes the central nervous system to go from excitement to inhibition, manifesting in a series of abnormal symptoms.

nBut would William’s central nervous system be paralyzed?

nThat’s a joke.

nHe might wish to get drunk, but due to his constitution, he was destined to find it hard to achieve.

nHe only drank wine for the taste now.

n“This wine is not bad!” William smacked his lips, speaking to the server who opened the wine, “Keep opening bottles!”

nNicholas, sitting at another table entertaining guests, saw William from afar and couldn’t help but gasp in astonishment.

nThe title of “God of Wine” seemed about to change hands.

nWilliam’s spectacle naturally attracted the attention of other patrons and servers in the bar.

nBottle after bottle was opened, and William drank them down without pause. .

n“Fifth bottle already!!”

nLila was shocked as well; she had never seen anyone drink like this.

nNot even Maria, the bar owner, had ever seen anyone drink like William.

nDowning five bottles of red wine without a change in expression or pace, this was incredible!

nShe now fully believed William’s words.

nWhat did “never gets drunk” mean?

nSuch talent must not be snatched away by others.

nBy the time William reached the ninth bottle, Bella’s face had changed. She had intended to embarrass William but hadn’t expected him actually to drink it all.

nAlready the ninth bottle, and William showed no sign of intoxication.

n“Hold on! There’s no problem with this wine, is there?” Bella prided herself on her intelligence, but William’s drinking was entirely unreasonable. The only explanation was that there was something wrong with the wine.

nWhat if it was filled with grape juice?

nAfter all, she hadn’t tasted it, and having just paid the bill and spoken those words, it wasn’t impossible that the owner might have switched the wine with grape juice or some other beverage.

n