Drinking

As more and more people gathered around Liu Shang, Zhou Liang, on the other side, frowned deeply. His plan for a war of attrition was ruined.

Originally, his plan was to use the tactic of overwhelming numbers in a war of attrition to get Liu Shang drunk.

Ideally, he wanted Liu Shang to embarrass himself in front of Jiang Ruolin and see how he behaved when drunk.

After all, one's behavior when drunk reflects their character!

But now, with Liu Shang pulling this stunt, not only was their plan foiled, but everyone, including Zhou Liang and Tan Feng, had to join the drinking spree.

After all, Liu Shang had said that after this round, he wouldn't be drinking with anyone else!

After some commotion, Liu Shang's area was surrounded by seventeen or eighteen people, most of whom were holding beer bottles in their left hands and raising their glasses in their right.

At this point, an impatient person was about to raise their glass to propose a toast but was stopped by Liu Shang with a smile.

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

Upon hearing this, everyone was provoked again, and then they clamored for baijiu.

Soon, the waiter brought over the baijiu, Luzhou Laojiao.

However, after looking at the alcohol content, Liu Shang shook his head and frowned again.

"This 38° baijiu is like a man in his early twenties, possessing only the basic form but lacking the substance of a true man or the charm of a mature man."

"So what?"

With Liu Shang's deliberate pause and leading questions, a lively girl beside him shouted with a laugh, "We prefer substance!"

Her answer was met with a burst of laughter from the crowd, making the atmosphere even more enthusiastic and harmonious.

At this moment, even Zhou Liang had to admit and admire internally that Liu Shang's charisma and ability to control the scene were far more skillful than his own!

Amidst the laughter, the waiters replaced the drinks with 60° high-proof baijiu. Only then did Liu Shang nod with satisfaction and pour himself a full glass, just like the others.

At this moment, Jiang Ruolin, who was beside him, quietly tugged at his hand, her expression quite worried.

Liu Shang smiled and shook his head at her, gently squeezing her small hand with a little force, then smilingly joked with the girls at the table:

"Sisters, I'm going to go all out with them later!"

"All of you keep an eye out. If anyone tries to sneak in later, someone who isn't here now but comes from elsewhere to drink with me, we'll send them back, okay?!"

The girls were tickled pink by his words and enthusiastically agreed. The more than ten men holding their wine glasses nearby couldn't help but stare blankly.

Seeing that everyone had filled their glasses, Liu Shang smiled slightly.

"This first glass, I'll toast to everyone present."

"Meeting each other is fate. Encountering everyone here is a beautiful landscape in each of our lives!"

With that, Liu Shang directly picked up his glass and downed the 60° baijiu in one go.

Perhaps it was because Liu Shang's words were eloquent and his drinking action was unexpectedly bold and unrestrained, it immediately drew a series of cheers from the surrounding crowd.

Seeing this, the others also mustered their courage and followed Liu Shang's example, downing their drinks in one go.

However, being students, how much drinking experience could they have?

Especially drinking such high-proof spirits.

Some people spat it out after just a small sip, while others vomited onto the floor after drinking half a glass.

In short, they were utterly embarrassed and lost the face to stay any longer, slinking back to their original seats.

On Tan Feng's side, they had every reason not to back down, so they frowned and drank the liquor as if it were poison.

Two people who were usually bad at drinking felt their esophagus burning like fire and their stomachs churning like waves after downing just one glass. They immediately ran towards the restroom or outside.

Damn it! Let's do this!

Zhou Liang, who also wasn't a good drinker, could already smell the pungent alcohol before he even brought the glass to his lips.

Cunning as he was, he knew at this moment that he was likely to fail this time.

Liu Shang's approach was also a straightforward stratagem: if you're a man, drink; if not, don't bother me again.

In this situation, Zhou Liang could only go along with it, forcing himself to drink the glass with a stiff upper lip.

With just this one glass, eight or nine out of the seventeen or eighteen people around Liu Shang surrendered and laid down their arms.

To everyone's surprise, amidst the gasps and exclamations, Liu Shang, who had just finished a glass of strong liquor, raised his glass again.

"This second glass, I'll toast to our group leader, Tan Feng."

"Thank him for providing such a platform for everyone, and thank him even more for generously paying for the banquet!"

"I'll go first!"

After speaking, under everyone's incredibly astonished gaze, Liu Shang tilted his head back and finished another glass.

This time, Liu Shang's toast was to Tan Feng, and it was also to thank him for footing the bill for this banquet.

Those who had wanted to escape at the last minute were already too late. To avoid losing face, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and drink this glass again.

The previous glass of 60° strong liquor hadn't even settled, and now another one had gone down. How could an average person handle this?

As a result, several people, after finishing their drinks, immediately ran out and vomited outside the hotel entrance, while others vomited halfway to the restroom.

Zhou Liang, who already had a low tolerance for alcohol and was only holding on through sheer willpower, promptly sat down on the ground and passed out from the drink.

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

At this moment, they all felt dizzy and unwell, as if their bodies were on fire.

Tan Feng, for example, was so disoriented that he had forgotten the reason Liu Shang was toasting them for the third time.

All they knew was that amidst everyone's exclamations, they drank the third cup, then their bodies reflexively vomited it back up.

And after that, they lost consciousness…

After the third cup, only Liu Shang and Lu Kai, a friend of Tan Feng's who often got into fights, remained at the scene.

However, Lu Kai was clearly drunk at this point, stumbling even as he sat down.

"This drinking is exhilarating!"

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

Seeing Liu Shang shake his head and smile, Lu Kai lit a cigarette and took a puff.

He then glanced apologetically at the girl next to him, "Sorry, you girls might not like the smell of smoke."

At this, a girl who was quite familiar with Lu Kai and his friends smiled and said, "While we don't really like the smell of smoke, I have to admit, Lu Kai, you look pretty cool when you smoke."

Lu Kai chuckled and uttered a rather world-weary and stylish line, "Men! There are times when we're forced to try and impress."

With that, he tossed his cigarette pack, still with the lighter, towards Liu Shang's side.