The Emotional Value of the Little Rabbit

To be honest, Lu Yuning really liked drinking red wine, even though her alcohol tolerance was absolutely terrible.

Back in college, when she went out to eat with her female roommates, she had tried a tiny bit of baijiu, only to pass out after just one small shot.

As for beer... it made her feel a bit bloated, and she had this fear of developing a beer belly. Her massive bust already made her body look a bit "bulky"; what if she actually drank herself into having a massive gut?

Anyway, red wine was delicious, and Lu Yuning also enjoyed the tipsy feeling it brought.

It helped her gain more creative inspiration.

You see, didn't ancient poets all drink to boost their inspiration? She, Lu Yuning, could do the same!

The problem, however, was that any decent red wine was quite expensive. The one Su Bai had taken her to drink the other day was a premium wine worth tens of thousands of yuan a bottle, and it had completely captivated her taste buds.

It sounded a bit embarrassing, but for the past few days, Lu Yuning had been thinking about the exquisite taste of that red wine, yet she couldn't bear to spend the money to buy it herself.

Even though Su Bai paid her a monthly salary of a hundred thousand yuan, spending tens of thousands on a bottle of wine all at once was still far beyond Lu Yuning's spending habits.

She never expected Su Bai to actually bring a bottle over tonight.

Actually, he had just brought it along casually. While passing by the OUT12 Bar, he picked up a bottle on a whim.

With Su Bai's current spending habits, this was just an effortless thing.

Lu Yuning hugged the wine bottle, staring at it with shining eyes.

Her soft assets pressed gently against the bottle, creating curves that would leave one's imagination running wild.

Su Bai looked at this pleasing sight and nodded inwardly.

Yup, bringing this wine was totally worth it!

After a moment, Lu Yuning finally snapped out of her daze. Looking a bit flustered and embarrassed, she said, "Boss, this wine... it's so expensive. How about... you deduct it from my salary?"

"There's absolutely no need for that. I'm going to drink it anyway," Su Bai waved his hand. "You're treating me like a stranger."

"Mhm..."

Lu Yuning lowered her head shyly, her mind racing with a thousand thoughts.

By saying she was treating him like a stranger, did that mean... in a sense, Su Bai already considered her one of his own?

If she could be like the other girls around Su Bai and enjoy his...

Yes, exactly. In Lu Yuning's eyes, if Su Bai did that kind of thing to her, she wouldn't be losing out at all. After all, Su Bai was so handsome and incredibly wealthy. He was the absolute epitome of a girl's dream Prince Charming.

Filled with these anxious and exciting thoughts, Lu Yuning slowly ate her dessert.

Zhou Jialu sensibly took charge of pouring and decanting the wine.

Red wine had a relatively low popularity on ordinary dining tables in the country. This was largely because domestic wine marketing primarily focused on dry reds and dry whites, both of which required decanting before the meal.

It was troublesome.

Furthermore, even after decanting, the taste still had a distinct tartness and astringency. It worked well to cut through the grease when paired with roasted meat like Europeans and Americans did, but the problem was, if they were all taking the high-end route, would high-end dining really be that greasy?

Anyway, Su Bai felt that this damn wine marketing strategy definitely had to take the blame.

More often than not, red wine had been reduced to a product used just for showing off; in reality, not many people actually liked drinking it. Su Bai had a broad acceptance for food and drink and loved trying everything, so he could at least appreciate its subtleties.

So, Su Bai first opened a bottle of chilled sparkling wine and asked Lu Yuning if she wanted a taste.

She hesitated a bit, having a premonition that if she drank a glass of this and then a glass of the expensive red wine, she would end up completely dizzy.

But if she didn't drink this sparkling wine, she felt it would be a shame. After all, she really liked its ice-cold, fruity aroma.

However, if she drank it, it might ruin her capacity for the expensive wine later.

Lu Yuning fell into a dilemma.

"It's fine, the alcohol content is very low, and it's not like I'm trying to get you drunk on purpose!" Su Bai laughed.

"I know, I know, Boss wouldn't harm me... even if you did get me drunk on purpose, it'd be fine~"

Lu Yuning muttered the last part under her breath.

Su Bai acted like he didn't hear clearly. Lu Yuning quickly covered her small mouth, her big eyes blinking just like a startled little rabbit.

What a pure and cute girl, Su Bai sighed silently. What man wouldn't want to hold a girl like this in the palm of his hand and pamper her? Unfortunately, most of the time, men lacked the means to do so. Now that Su Bai had the power and wealth, it was only natural for him to take good care of such good girls.

In truth, Su Bai had heard exactly what she said; he was just pretending not to.

With the hearing from his intermediate body modification, how could he possibly fail to overcome such a short distance?

But Su Bai chose to play dumb; there was no need to expose her.

Lu Yuning's attitude toward him completely matched his expectations. Generally speaking, when you show kindness to a kind-hearted girl, she will return it with kindness of her own.

Only a bitch would think, "If you treat me well, it means I'm amazing and you're beneath me."

After struggling internally for a moment, Lu Yuning admitted honestly, "I'm afraid that if I drink too much tonight, I won't be able to get up tomorrow to visit the factory..."

"It's fine. Visiting the factory can be postponed anytime. You can go whenever you want."

"Aww, really?"

"Really. I've promised you before. Working for me, you just need to unleash your talents to the fullest. There's no need to be as stressed out as a regular job," Su Bai said.

It was way more than just "not stressed out"... Lu Yuning was so moved she could almost cry. How could there be such a wonderful boss in the world?

She must have hit the jackpot, catching a windfall straight from heaven, to end up with a boss like Su Bai, Lu Yuning thought to herself.

Since Su Bai had put it that way, she wouldn't hold back. Mostly, it was because Zhou Jialu had already poured the wine for her. The dense bubbles made a delightful fizzing sound, and the crystal-clear liquid gave off an enticing aroma.

Gulp!

Lu Yuning swallowed hard and said timidly, "T-then I'll drink it. Thank you, Boss!"

She cupped the wine glass with both hands, took a careful sip, and narrowed her eyes in a look of pure satisfaction.

It was so delicious.

She remembered seeing this bottle of wine on an e-commerce platform; it cost several hundred yuan a bottle... Of course, a wine at this price point was just sweet water for Su Bai to drink for fun. But for the old Lu Yuning, she would have had to save up for a long time before she could bring herself to buy a bottle of such expensive wine to taste during a promotional sale.

And even then, tasting it would require a certain sense of ritual.

It was quite poignant.

Then again...

Given her current situation, she should probably be considered as being kept by Su Bai, right?

Although Lu Yuning wasn't very good at reading social cues, she wasn't an idiot. Over the past few days, she had come to realize that she truly didn't possess any abilities worthy of Su Bai paying such a high price.

Therefore, in essence, she was basically a kept woman.

Thinking of this, Lu Yuning didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Su Bai really thought highly of her. After all, she was just a useless, chubby little country bumpkin who didn't even know how to coax people or provide emotional value.

However, that was just her misconception. In reality, as Su Bai and Zhou Jialu watched her savoring the sparkling wine, the emotional value was absolutely maxed out.