Chapter 188 Unexpected Source Of Advice

"Sorry, they don't have that on the menu," Jingwei said, to break the awkward silence, after taking a quick glimpse of the menu. He wondered if he could order alcohol for himself. He definitely needed it to get through this evening. "There are a lot of French courses instead. Do you want mushroom soup?"

"That'll do for an appetiser, thanks Jingwei," Xingzi smiled at him, before turning to Tianwei. "So what are you having? Or are you planning on achieving immortality by skipping meals?"

"I'll have the lobster and white truffle risotto with chardonnay." Tianwei said. "What about you Jingwei?"

"A steak? Or maybe a beef wellington," His stomach growled in approval. "Can I get a bottle of red wine to go with it?"

"No."

"No."

Xingzi and Tianwei stared at each other in surprise, as though they didn't expect the other party to reject Jingwei's request. Jingwei would feel happy that they are finding common ground, but with the way his life was going, he really wanted a drink!

"Oh? I'm surprised you're not letting him drink."

"Jingwei is underage, what kind of older brother would I be to let him indulge like this?"

"And I suppose you are a kind and responsible older brother?"

"I am a kind and responsible man to begin with."

"I find that hard to believe."

As they continued to argue with each other, their faces progressively got closer. Jingwei felt like a third wheel already. A third wheel that desperately needed alcohol in his system.

"Can I have just a glass? I'm not even driving." Jingwei whined, but they ignored him to continue arguing with each other. Jingwei realised that this was probably what constituted flirting for them, and made a face. He took advantage of their distraction to flag down a server and place their orders, adding an extra order of red wine before they could stop him.

He was initially planning on drinking just a glass, but as he watched his brother and his not-girlfriend bicker, he mentally added more glasses.

Thankfully, their dishes arrived soon enough, stopping their strange foreplay for that moment.

His brother raised an eyebrow at the red wine, but Jingwei made a point in pouring glasses for the both of them first, determined to polish off the rest of the bottle himself when the both of them continued to flirt.

The rest of the evening progressed pretty well, with Tianwei managing to make Xingzi-jie smile a whopping 23 times, which was 23 times more than Jingwei predicted. His brother also seemed more cheerful as the evening went on, although that could be due to the alcohol.

While they ate, Jingwei also entertained Xingzi with stories of his exploits in school, refusing to even touch the topic of Wu Shang Jing as best as he could. However, that caused his stories to not make sense, because Shang Jing was there for at least half of them, and it was so difficult to censor him out.

Now that he thought about it, he really didn't have anything that he did that wasn't tied up with Shang Jing. Maybe that was the problem. He sighed and took a swig of red wine, failing to notice the way Xingzi's eyes narrowed as she met his brother's.

His brother gave a shallow shrug, and helped himself to more alcohol too. He drank enough that he ended up spilling some of it on his pristine white shirt, which made Xingzi cackle into her soup.

Tianwei glared at her as he went to the restroom to wash up. Xingzi gave him a cheerful wink and laughed again when he nearly tripped.

As the restroom door closed, Lian Xingzi immediately turned to pin him down with a gaze sharper than a knife, despite also consuming alcohol. Jingwei had a feeling that he was a mouse trapped underneath the claws of a cat.

"Jingwei, is there something bothering you? Is there someone bothering you?" She asked, concerned.

"Eh, not really I mean - " Jingwei blabbered, surprised by her question.

"Since I've known you, you have not been a good liar," Xingzi-jie looked at him sympathetically. "You being half-drunk makes it worse. Whatever it is, feel free to tell me. I swear - I won't tell your brother. And don't worry about scandalising me - it can't be worse than the stuff I hear in law school, when we go through our cases."

"Really?" Jingwei asked suspiciously. "What if it's about… rape? Or murder? Or arms trafficking?"

"Really. You won't believe all the fucked up shit people do," Xingzi said, shaking her head. "I've been told I'm a good listener."

"By my brother?"

"Hahahah!" She laughed breathlessly, and several heads turned in her direction. She paid them no mind, taking another swig of her drink. "Yes actually. Admittedly, he was pissed drunk and nearly crying from exam stress back then, and it was a terrible time for him back then, so I don't expect a repeat compliment."

"Wow." Jingwei said nonplussed. He didn't think his brother was capable of drinking till he was so utterly pissed, and crying from exam stress. He had always been smart after all. "I didn't think he…"

"Yeah. It's been hard for him since…your - since forever." Xingzi said, shrugging. Jingwei had a feeling she wasn't telling the whole truth.

"But I'm now asking about you! Do you have anything you want to get off your chest? Other than your shirt, because I'm not explaining to your brother why you'll be sitting shirtless when he gets back."

Jingwei gave a weak laugh, before thinking seriously about her offer. Perhaps… if he didn't say who it was, and made it sound like a hypothetical situation…

"Xingzi-jie," he started, wetting his dry lip as he tried to explain. "I have this friend that found out that his best friend was doing a lot of illegal stuff. What would you do?"

"How illegal are we talking about?" Xingzi asked, the inquisitive lawyer in her emerging. "Are we talking about littering? Or shoplifting? Those crimes are technically illegal, but on the moral spectrum no one is really going to care. I need more information."

Jingwei swallowed. "Like seriously illegal. Morally corrupt. You know… stuff involving drugs and prostitution. The kind that would give someone a lifetime sentence in prison."

"Okay…continue? What do you plan to do?" Xingzi said, trying to follow Jingwei's train of thought.

"This isn't about me, this is about my friend being worried about his friend," Jingwei clarified hastily, sweat beading on his temples.

"Right right, my apologies, do continue. What does your friend think about these criminal activities?" Xingzi asked, even as she did not buy his explanation.

Jingwei was definitely involved, despite his fervent claims that this was the problem of a friend of a friend. This was clearly textbook deflection.

Which was worrying. What was Jingwei's friend really involved in, and how did Jingwei get pulled in?! Did Tianwei know about this - was this why he brought Jingwei along for dinner?

"My friend hates it. Ever since he found out, he can't sleep well, he can't eat well, and he's been stressed constantly. But even when he tries to convince his other friend to stop, the other friend doesn't listen to him. What can my friend do?"

"Does your friend plan to report his other friend to the authorities?"

"He wants to, but he can't," Jingwei said after a pause.