Celebration

Barbecue Restaurant, Beer!

Chu Yu noticed that Su Ruo really liked these two things. When the first chapter of The Garden of Words was published, Su Ruo had taken him to a barbecue restaurant.

And today, not long after they got home, Su Ruo drove to their apartment building and honked her horn.

It was the same old routine: ordering a pile of meat that seemed impossible to finish, and... a table full of beer.

"Hey, Su Lao..." Chu Yu started, but Su Ruo's warning gaze cut off his next words.

"Sister Su, do you think it's necessary to order so much alcohol every time you ask me out to celebrate something?"

"Do you forget that last time you ordered a basket of beer, and in the end... only a few bottles were tipped over?"

"And this time it's not just you and me, even Zhao Qinyin is here..." Chu Yu said, looking at Zhao Qinyin, who sat upright and silent beside him.

"Heh." Su Ruo glanced at him.

"Last time I was just not in the right state. Today, this beautiful lady is in a great mood. I finally crushed the spirit of a certain scoundrel at the serialization meeting. Enough said, we won't go home until we're drunk today." Su Ruo said, her expression looking like she was gritting her teeth.

Chu Yu and Zhao Qinyin naturally knew who Su Ruo was referring to... Song Jiayu, the Ink Fish Manga Company Deputy Editor-in-Chief.

Chu Yu was very curious about this Song Jiayu, whom he had only heard of but never seen. How annoying could that person be?

Spending more time with Su Ruo, one would understand that although she was beautiful, she was actually a straightforward person. She was optimistic and serious, and most importantly, she didn't hold grudges or act petty.

Yet, such a person would show such an expression of disgust when mentioning Song Jiayu. Because of her close relationship with Chu Yu and Zhao Qinyin, she would chatter endlessly about Song Jiayu's bad deeds on a daily basis.

"Forget it, don't mention that person, it's annoying." Su Ruo picked up a bottle of beer, took three cups, and poured the alcohol into them with glug-glug sounds.

"Today is the day we celebrate the decision to serialize Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal on Man Ying. Enough said, let's have a drink first!"

After speaking, Su Ruo downed the entire cup and looked at the two of them.

"Hey, Sister Su, that's too much. I'll drink with you, but Zhao Qinyin should just order two bottles of soda..." Chu Yu hadn't finished speaking.

Zhao Qinyin, sitting directly opposite him, had already picked up a cup of beer. She slowly drank it down. In a short while, she finished the cup and then her gaze fell upon the other bottles of beer on the table.

Chu Yu felt like he was seeing things wrongly.

The School Student Union President, the Class Monitor of Class Five Grade Three's Gifted Class, beautiful, quiet, and the top student whose grades were consistently first in the grade.

Why were your drinking actions so skilled?

Why wasn't one cup enough for you, and you opened another bottle and poured yourself another cup to drink...

What the heck?

The third cup?

"What are you thinking about?" Su Ruo looked at Chu Yu and asked.

Chu Yu's train of thought was interrupted.

"Do you know why I ordered so much alcohol and so many dishes the first time I ate with you?"

Su Ruo looked at Zhao Qinyin.

Zhao Qinyin, who had changed into casual clothes at home, looked much more youthful. Her fair face seemed to have turned slightly red after drinking a bottle of Beer.

Su Ruo looked at Zhao Qinyin.

"It's because of a habit I had when eating with someone before. The alcohol was ordered for them to drink, and the meat was for me to eat."

"It's just that I got drunk that day. You couldn't drink the alcohol or eat the meat, so that whole table was wasted..."

"What do you mean?" Chu Yu frowned and drank the Beer in front of him.

Although he could drink, no matter how many times, Chu Yu felt this stuff was truly awful.

"Oh, right, this was your first time eating with Zhao Qinyin!" Su Ruo looked at Zhao Qinyin and smiled.

"You don't mind if I talk about you with him, do you!"

"It's best if you don't!" Even though Zhao Qinyin's face was flushed from drinking, her tone was as steady as ever.

"Tsk, boring!" Su Ruo said with a look of disinterest, but didn't say much more.

"This... what's going on?" Chu Yu looked at Zhao Qinyin, who was drinking one glass after another by herself, even though no one was urging her to drink.

He felt his perception of Zhao Qinyin today had been slightly overturned.

"I can only say this." Su Ruo looked at Zhao Qinyin and said.

"She's the best drinker among everyone I've known since I was a child."

"What?" Chu Yu felt like he had misheard.

Two hours later, Chu Yu and Su Ruo were both dizzy, their heads resting on the table, trying to sober up.

Only Zhao Qinyin, from two hours ago until now, maintained a straight back and drank alcohol at a steady, rhythmic pace.

Although her face was a little red, the clarity in her eyes had never disappeared.

Pouring the last half bottle of alcohol into her cup, Zhao Qinyin drank it down in one gulp.

At this point, all the dishes and alcohol on the table were finished.

Chu Yu finally understood what Su Ruo meant when she said she could eat and Zhao Qinyin could drink.

Zhao Qinyin drank eighty percent of a large basket of wine, and Su Ruo ate eighty percent of a large table of dishes.

Only Chu Yu, who could neither eat nor drink, was almost drunk.

Whoever marries these two women will be poor for the rest of their lives!

This thought flashed through Chu Yu's mind.

"Are you drunk?" Zhao Qinyin stood up and looked at the two people with their heads down, foreheads resting on the table.

"No, no... not drunk!" Su Ruo looked up, stammering.

"Are we done?" Chu Yu looked up, but there seemed to be two or three Zhao Qinyins in front of him.

"What a bother!" Zhao Qinyin shook her head, looking at the two who were clearly not in the right state.

In their daze, Su Ruo and Chu Yu felt like they had gotten into a car.

The three of them squeezed into the back seat of a taxi.

Despite drinking so much, Zhao Qinyin seemed quite sober and even had the mood to take out her phone and browse Weibo.

"Damn it, Song Jiayu, I'm going to cut you up..."

Su Ruo, who had already fallen asleep beside them, suddenly started shouting and kicking the front seats. The taxi driver's face darkened.

Chu Yu, beside her, was in a slightly better condition.

"Hey, Zhao Qinyin."

His mind was also hazy, but he realized Zhao Qinyin was next to him, so he blurted out what he wanted to say.

"Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal has been decided for serialization..."

"I want... you to continue being my assistant... Will you?"

After more than a week of working together, Chu Yu had a deep understanding of how much a manga assistant could improve his efficiency in drawing manga.

Before, he thought hiring a manga assistant was quite expensive, but now, he only felt that the money was well spent.

When it was confirmed that Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal would be serialized on Man Ying, Chu Yu had this idea.

The previous agreement with Zhao Qinyin was only limited to completing the original manuscripts for the first three chapters of Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal by this Friday.

Now, Chu Yu wanted this working relationship to continue.

I originally wanted to bring it up at the dinner table, but after drinking, I got dizzy and didn't get the chance.

Now, Chu Yu vaguely remembered this matter and subconsciously asked Zhao Qinyin.

Continue to be the manga assistant for Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal!

Zhao Qinyin hesitated upon hearing this and thought carefully about it.

"Let's talk about this after you've sobered up!" Zhao Qinyin looked at Chu Yu and murmured softly.