Drink

As more and more people gathered around Liu Shang, Zhou Liang on the other side furrowed his brow deeply. His plan to wear Liu Shang down with a relay drinking battle had gone down the drain.

Originally, he had planned to use their numbers to take turns drinking Liu Shang under the table.

Ideally, he wanted to make him embarrass himself in front of Jiang Ruolin and see what kind of drinker he was.

After all, the way one drank reflected one's character!

But after Liu Shang's move, not only had their plan fallen apart, everyone—including Zhou Liang and Tan Feng—had to join this drinking contest.

After all, he had said that once this round was over, he would not drink with anyone else!

After a burst of commotion, seventeen or eighteen people had gathered around Liu Shang, nearly all of them holding beer bottles in their left hands and cups in their right.

At that moment, some impatient people raised their cups, intending to drink first as a show of respect, but Liu Shang stopped them with a smile.

"I see we're all men here, so let's not drink beer like the girls do. How long would that take?"

Hearing that, everyone was riled up again and began shouting for hard liquor.

Before long, the servers brought over bottles of Luzhou Laojiao baijiu.

But after checking the alcohol content, Liu Shang shook his head again and frowned.

"This 38-proof baijiu is like a man in his early twenties. He has only taken shape, yet lacks the depth of a real man and the charm of a mature one."

"So?"

Guided by Liu Shang's deliberate lead-in and pause, a lively girl beside him laughed and shouted, "We prefer men with depth!"

Her answer sent the entire room into laughter, and the atmosphere grew even livelier and more harmonious.

At this moment, even Zhou Liang had to admit to himself, with reluctant admiration, that Liu Shang's charisma and ability to control the room were far superior to his own!

Amid everyone's laughter, the servers replaced the liquor with 60-proof baijiu. Only then did Liu Shang nod in satisfaction and, like the others, fill his own cup to the brim.

At that moment, Jiang Ruolin, who stood beside him, quietly tugged at his hand, her expression full of concern.

Liu Shang smiled and shook his head at her, giving her small hand a gentle squeeze before joking with the girls at the same table.

"Ladies, I'm about to go all out against them!"

"Keep an eye on things too. If anyone tries to sneak in later—someone who wasn't here now but comes over from somewhere else to challenge me to drink—let's send him packing, all right?!"

The girls were doubled over with laughter and all shouted their agreement, making the dozen or so men beside them, cups in hand, stare blankly.

Seeing that everyone had filled their cups, Liu Shang smiled faintly.

"This first cup is for every single person here."

"It is fate that brought us together. Every person we meet here is a beautiful sight in our lives!"

With that, Liu Shang lifted his cup and drained the 60-proof baijiu in one gulp.

Perhaps because Liu Shang's words had been so eloquent and his drinking so unexpectedly bold and carefree, cheers immediately erupted all around him.

Seeing this, the others worked up their courage and followed Liu Shang's lead, downing their drinks in one go.

But they were all students. How much drinking experience could they possibly have?

Especially with such high-proof liquor.

Some sprayed it out after only one sip, while others threw up on the floor after getting half a cup down.

In short, they were in a miserable state, and too ashamed to remain there any longer, they slunk back to their original seats.

Tan Feng's group had every reason not to retreat, so they too frowned and swallowed their drinks as if they were drinking poison.

Two of them usually had terrible alcohol tolerance. After one cup, their throats felt as though they were on fire and their stomachs churned violently. They immediately ran toward the restroom or outside.

Damn it! I'm going for it!

Zhou Liang's alcohol tolerance was not much better. Before he could even bring the cup to his lips, he could already smell the pungent alcohol.

Cunning as he was, he already knew that he was probably doomed this time.

Liu Shang was using an open scheme against him: if you were a man, then drink. If not, stop bothering me.

Under those circumstances, Zhou Liang could only force himself to drink the cup.

With just that first cup, Liu Shang had made eight or nine of the seventeen or eighteen people around him surrender and lay down their arms.

To everyone's surprise, amid the crowd's gasps and cries of amazement, Liu Shang, who had just downed a cup of strong liquor, raised his cup again.

"This second cup is for our group leader, Tan Feng."

"Thank you for giving everyone a platform like this, and thank you even more for generously paying out of pocket to treat us all!"

"I'll drink first!"

With that, under everyone's astonished gazes, Liu Shang tipped back his head and drained another cup.

This time, Liu Shang's toast was to Tan Feng, to thank him for footing the bill for the gathering.

It was already too late for those who wanted to slip away. To avoid losing face, they could only grit their teeth and drink another cup.

The first cup of 60-proof liquor had barely settled before another one went down. How could an ordinary person withstand that?

Several people ran outside after finishing and vomited at the hotel entrance, while others threw up halfway to the restroom.

Zhou Liang, whose alcohol tolerance was poor to begin with and who had been holding on purely through willpower, collapsed onto the floor and passed out drunk.

After that round, only five or six people remained around Liu Shang, including Tan Feng and Lu Kai.

At this point, they felt dizzy and disoriented, as though their entire bodies were burning with discomfort.

Tan Feng, for instance—their minds had grown so muddled that they had forgotten Liu Shang's reason for making the third toast.

They only knew that, amid everyone's shocked cries, they drank the third cup and then vomited it back up in a physical reaction.

After that, they lost consciousness...

Once the third round was over, only Liu Shang and Lu Kai, Tan Feng's buddy who often got into fights, remained.

But Lu Kai was obviously drunk too, staggering badly even as he tried to sit down.

"Now that's some satisfying drinking!"

"Liu Shang, I'm going to smoke a cigarette first, then we'll keep going. You don't mind, do you?"

When Liu Shang merely shook his head with a smile, Lu Kai lit a cigarette and took a drag.

Then he glanced apologetically at the girls beside him. "Sorry. You probably don't like the smell of smoke."

At that moment, a girl who was fairly familiar with Lu Kai and the others smiled. "We really don't like cigarette smoke, but I have to say, Lu Kai, you do look pretty cool when you smoke."

Lu Kai smiled and said something rather weathered and stylish. "Men always have times when they have no choice but to smoke."

With that, he tossed his cigarette pack, lighter still inside, toward Liu Shang.