Wang Shenghui, a 22-year-old young man from Gansu province, worked as a food runner in a hot pot restaurant located on Hanguang North Road in Xi'an city. Around 10 p.m. on March 9, after the restaurant closed for the night, Sun Qi (a pseudonym), the hall manager, had dinner with five or six employees. Manager Sun's girlfriend Xiao Ying (a pseudonym) also joined them.
They drank a lot of beer and no one could remember how many bottles they had drunk. During the meal, they played finger-guessing games. As the game became disorderly, they began to quarrel. Wang Shenghui felt that his colleagues were scolding him. There was an exchange of words between several people. Enraged by what he heard, Wang started an argument with his colleagues. As they were speaking under the influence of alcohol, a physical fight broke out. Wang Shenghui was pinned down and scalded with hot water poured over his head. During this period, Manager Sun was trying to mediate but to no avail.