"Mo Wu of Hangcheng."

"Yan Gui of Anxi Province."

"Bai Yuan of Dongshan Province."

"Li Shouzhong of East Sea City."

"Liao Chianxing of Nanhe Province."

"..."

One by one, their voices echoed throughout the private room. Amid their solemn shouts, the doctors all bowed as one.

"Thank you, Mr. Xu!"

As medical practitioners, to witness the birth of a medical breakthrough that would benefit all of humanity… They could die without any regrets!

In a corner, Liu Beiming, who had previously harbored prejudice against Xu Lai, also bowed with a deeply respectful expression. Xu Lai... He is truly worthy of this bow. Even more so, he is worthy of the title 'Sir'!

SQUEAK—

The door to the private room opened. A waitress saw the scene inside: a group of elderly men and women bowing to a young man. She then saw that everyone had tears streaming down their faces as they continuously murmured, "Thank you."

The waitress was startled. She carefully closed the door, took out her phone, and dialed a number.

"Hello, 110? I want to file a report. I think there's a pyramid scheme operating here..."

「Half an hour later.」

The police officers left with stern faces.

The young waitress, choking back sobs, repeatedly bowed and apologized to Xu Lai's group under the reprimand of the Meteor Melody manager.

"It's alright, don't scold the young lady," Lin Qiu said. "She did the right thing; we did look quite suspicious."

He and the others were still in high spirits, feeling happier than a scholar who had topped the imperial exams or a groom on his wedding night. Faced with such a minor incident, they all just laughed and expressed their understanding.

Afterward, the group was moved to a larger private room.

Lin Qiu, Yan Gui, and most of the other doctors did not drink alcohol. This was especially true for Li Shouzhong; even after becoming the school doctor at Dongli University, he still held his position as the director of the First People's Hospital Emergency Department. He was strictly teetotal. This was a responsibility he held not only to himself but also to his patients.

But today, they all made an exception, continuously toasting Xu Lai.

After one glass of white liquor, everyone's faces flushed red. They were overcome with excitement, looking even happier than they did during the New Year.

Ruan Tang glared at Xu Lai in exasperation. What if this drinking leads to someone's death? What would they do? These were all elders in their sixties and seventies, not young people who could drink so carelessly.

"Don't worry," Xu Lai smiled. "Nothing bad will happen with me here."

He let this group of seniors—who had toiled for Hua Country and its people their entire lives—have a moment of respite, even if it was just for the duration of this meal.

Xu Yaoyao tugged at Ruan Tang's sleeve and asked curiously, "Ruan Tang, who exactly is Xu Lai? That was about the Nobel Prize!"

Xu Yaoyao's heart was a tangle of complex emotions. At first, I hated him. He abandoned my best friend for five years! What kind of person does that? But everything that had just happened forced her to completely re-evaluate him.

Furthermore, Liu Beiming had just told her that Xu Lai's research could benefit the entire world. It would bring light and hope to countless families living in darkness. Just this one research result alone could awaken all patients from a vegetative state. It was an act of immeasurable merit!

"Me?" Xu Lai leaned over with a smile. "I'm just an ordinary person."

"An ordinary person can win a Nobel?" Xu Yaoyao lowered her voice to ask, "Are you a fool? Why would you give up the credit? This is a huge opportunity to become world-famous."

"I was afraid my wife would feel inferior," Xu Lai said earnestly.

"..."

Ruan Tang stomped on Xu Lai's foot, smiling sweetly. "Well, I should really thank you then, shouldn't I?"

"You're welcome," Xu Lai replied.

Ruan Tang looked at Xu Lai, her heart a swirl of emotions. Fame, power, money... He cast them all aside just now without a second thought. What on earth does he actually want?

As if reading her mind, Xu Lai leaned close to her ear and whispered, "What I want is you."

"Xu Lai!" Ruan Tang pushed him away, her face cold. "If you keep talking nonsense, you'll face the consequences." Her face, however, was burning hot.

"What consequences?"

"..."

Ruan Tang was at a loss for words. That's right, how could she possibly punish him? It seemed... there was nothing she could do.

"I'm actually having a few regrets," Xu Lai said, annoyed. "I should have set a condition, like: 'These research findings will only be handed over when Ruan Tang marries Xu Lai.' Then I could have let the entire country pressure you on my behalf."

Ruan Tang was so irritated she almost laughed. "In your dreams."

"A dream without you would be meaningless."

"..."

Ruan Tang's brows furrowed in deep thought.

At first glance, Xu Lai's words seemed fine. Upon reflection, they didn't seem wrong, either. So why did it feel so strange? It also felt like he had just taken advantage of her.

Ruan Tang finally turned her head away, deciding to ignore him.

Xu Lai chuckled softly. My wife is so thin-skinned.

Just then, Li Shouzhong and the others came over for another round of toasts, after which they all passed out drunk.

Xu Lai shook his head with a light chuckle and took a small sip for himself.

"Drinking a few old men and women under the table is nothing to brag about. I'll drink with you!" Liu Beiming declared.

"Alright," Xu Lai nodded.

One shot of white liquor.

Then another.

And another.

Liu Beiming gave Xu Lai a surprised look. This kid could really hold his liquor. Counting the previous rounds, he'd already put away a significant amount of white liquor and was completely unaffected.

"Can you keep going?" Xu Lai asked.

Liu Beiming scoffed, "You'd better have some plastic bags ready. Otherwise, you're going to be throwing up in the taxi on the way home. They call me the Wine Immortal!"

Xu Lai just chuckled softly.

In just half an hour, the self-proclaimed Wine Immortal, Liu Beiming, had collapsed under the table, hugging a stool leg and repeatedly shouting, "Yaoyao, I like you! I really, really like you!"

This left Xu Yaoyao feeling both moved and helpless.

In the end, she had to call a waiter to help get him into a taxi. Xu Lai thoughtfully handed her two plastic bags.

"Here, you might need these in the car."

"Thank you."

Xu Yaoyao covered her face, flushed with second-hand embarrassment for her boyfriend. He had called himself the Wine Immortal, only to end up dead drunk while Xu Lai was perfectly fine.

How humiliating!

From the car, Liu Beiming suddenly shouted, "Xu Lai, Liu Nanwei is my sister! I... Our Liu Family, we let her down! We owe her! Tell her to come home... come home and visit—"

Before he could finish, Liu Beiming fell into a deep sleep, mumbling intermittently, "I am the Wine Immortal... the Wine Immortal..."

Afterward, they had the front desk at Meteor Melody help arrange for cars to take the drunken Lin Qiu, Li Shouzhong, and the others to a nearby hotel.

Watching the taxis disappear into the distance, Xu Lai suddenly recalled an interesting young man he had met over a thousand years ago.

It had been early morning. Outside a thatched cottage atop a Nameless Mountain, thick flakes of snow drifted down like goose feathers. Xu Lai, having climbed the mountain to admire the snow, had encountered that young man.

After a bit of conversation, he was pulled into a round of drinking by the other man. That man also boasted, "They call me the Wine Immortal," but he inevitably ended up completely drunk.

However, after getting drunk, the man sang a little tune. Xu Lai was quite fond of one of the lines—

*He must be an immortal, drunk on the heavens,

Clumsily crumpling the white clouds into disarray.*

Much later, Xu Lai left Earth, remembering only that the man's surname was Li.

What a pity he was born in the Tang Dynasty. And yet, what a blessing he was born in the Tang Dynasty.

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