A different way to drink

"Kid, you'd better watch your mouth. Believe me, I'll cripple you right here."

Yellow Hair's words immediately drew everyone else over.

The burly men at the table each grabbed a bottle and came over, surrounding Chen Hao in an instant.

Zhang Liang watched coldly from the sidelines, looking ready to enjoy the show.

Just then, another man, a bald fellow sitting beside Zhang Liang, suddenly spoke. "Sit down, you little punk. Unless you give my buddy a proper apology today, don't even think about leaving this room."

As soon as he finished, Yellow Hair shoved Chen Hao. "Didn't you hear Brother Long? Sit your ass down, or I'll crack your skull open right now."

Faced with this mob, Chen Hao was pretty scared. Aside from doing some aerobic exercise in bed with his girlfriend, he hardly ever worked out. Any one of these men could take him down easily.

Outnumbered and outmatched, Chen Hao could only swallow his anger and turn back to take a seat, however resentful and upset he felt.

This Brother Long was clearly the leader of the group. He picked up a bottle of baijiu and planted it in front of Chen Hao. "Finish this bottle. Consider it an apology to my buddy."

An entire half-liter bottle of baijiu, downed in one go? What a joke. Anyone knew that was impossible.

Yet Zhang Liang smiled at the outrageous demand. "Exactly. Finish it, and I'll let you go."

Seeing a show in the making, everyone crowded around and started egging Chen Hao on.

Every one of them knew that if a normal person downed a whole bottle of baijiu, he would practically be half-dead.

Chen Hao knew that too, of course.

When Chen Hao still made no move, Yellow Hair lost patience. "Hey, hey! Are you a man or not? Get on with it. Don't make me pour it down your throat."

After a long internal struggle, Chen Hao could only pick up the bottle, silently cursing eighteen generations of Zhang Liang's ancestors.

Normally, Chen Hao never touched alcohol. Forget a whole bottle—even a single glass would probably be too much for him. Making him drink a bottle now was no different from trying to kill him.

Chen Hao's eyes darted around. Suddenly, he slapped the bottle down on the table. "I was out of line today. I owe an apology not just to Mr. Zhang, but to every brother here."

As he spoke, Chen Hao started pouring liquor into the glass in front of him.

Yellow Hair immediately objected. "Nobody said you could use a glass. Brother Long told you to finish the bottle."

Chen Hao smiled. "Brother, honestly, if you make me down this whole bottle, I'll definitely collapse on the spot. If something happens to me, none of you here will get away with it."

Brother Long and Zhang Liang exchanged a glance at his words, but neither argued.

Chen Hao continued, "Don't worry. Since Brother Long wants me to drink today, I won't back out. I'll make sure every one of you has a good time."

Yellow Hair blinked twice and looked at Brother Long.

Brother Long thought it over and seemed to find Chen Hao's argument reasonable. If they really forced Chen Hao to drink it all, and something happened, it would indeed be troublesome for them.

Zhang Liang caught on to Brother Long's thinking and went along with Chen Hao's suggestion. "Fine. Let's see what tricks you're trying to pull today. Tell us, how are you going to drink with us?"

One corner of Chen Hao's mouth lifted as he filled his glass to the brim.

"Today, I have to make sure all you brothers have a good time. I'll take you all on by myself. One, two, three, four..." As he spoke, Chen Hao started counting.

After counting everyone present, Chen Hao continued, "Me alone against all ten of you. The question is, do you have the guts?"

Before Brother Long could respond, Yellow Hair got worked up. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? You saying we don't have the guts?"

Seeing Yellow Hair take the bait, Chen Hao quickly seized the opening. "Then bring it on! Anyone who backs out is a little bitch."

With that, Chen Hao picked up his glass and gestured at Yellow Hair.

Yellow Hair was clearly an impulsive sort. "Fine! Like I'm scared of you!"

Their glasses clinked softly, and both men tipped their heads back and drank.

Brother Long had actually wanted to stop them. He had seen through Chen Hao's little scheme.

But then he remembered that there were ten men on his side, and each could put away at least half a liter of baijiu. Ten against one—they could win with their eyes closed. So he said nothing more and let Yellow Hair lead the drinking contest against Chen Hao.

The last time Chen Hao had touched baijiu was at his college graduation several years earlier, and even then, he had only drunk around 150 to 200 milliliters.

At this rate, two glasses would definitely knock Chen Hao out.

What Chen Hao hadn't expected was that his first mouthful had none of baijiu's usual fiery bite. It was as though he were drinking plain water, completely tasteless.

That first mouthful left Chen Hao stunned. He thought he had lost his sense of taste.

Yellow Hair could hold his liquor too, and downing a glass barely affected him.

Chen Hao, meanwhile, looked completely fine. After finishing, he even smacked his lips twice, as though he hadn't had enough.

As Chen Hao puzzled over this, he suddenly remembered what had happened earlier that day. He seemed to have received something called the Celestial Immortal Art from that man named the Old Immortal of the South Pole.

Could he really be an immortal? Could I really drink a thousand glasses without getting drunk?

At the thought, Chen Hao was so overwhelmed with regret that he slapped his thigh hard, startling everyone around him.

If all of this is real, why the hell am I still delivering takeout and driving other people home? There's a whole group of immortals in that chat. Any one of them could set me up for life!

Watching Chen Hao slap his thigh one moment and slap himself in the face the next, everyone was utterly bewildered.

What was going on? Had one glass fried his brain?

Brother Long nudged Zhang Liang beside him. "Your friend hasn't drunk himself stupid, has he?"

Zhang Liang was baffled too. He shouted at Chen Hao, "Hey, you little punk! Quit acting weird and keep drinking."

Chen Hao quickly chuckled. "Of course! Come on, let's keep drinking."

Just as one of the underlings was about to refill Chen Hao's glass, his eyes suddenly flickered. I can drink a thousand glasses without getting drunk now. Isn't this a little too cautious? "Wait. I need a different way to drink."

Thinking Chen Hao was trying something underhanded, Brother Long said impatiently, "Why do you have so much bullshit to say?"

Zhang Liang sized Chen Hao up and interjected, "Fine. Whatever game you want to play today, I'll play along."

Chen Hao grinned at Zhang Liang and walked toward the service counter, replying with a smile, "Don't worry, Brother Long, Mr. Zhang. I'm just getting something different to drink out of. These glasses are no fun."

When Chen Hao returned with a whole set of stemmed glasses and laid them out, everyone was dumbfounded.

The blond was the first to speak. "Hey, kid, what are you doing? Planning to drink with our arms linked?"

Chen Hao gave a cold laugh and began pouring liquor into the stemmed glasses in front of him. "Since you guys are having such a good time, of course I have to keep you company. Those little glasses weren't satisfying. Now these are more like it."

The bottle ran dry when he had barely filled a glass halfway. Chen Hao smiled at the Yellow Hair beside him. "Brother Blond, go downstairs and bring me a case of the hotel's most expensive liquor."

Yellow Hair's expression immediately soured. The hell? He dares order me around? But then another thought struck him, leaving him stunned. A whole case of the hotel's most expensive liquor?

The Golden Splendor Hotel wasn't one of Zhonghai City's famous hotels, but it was fairly large and had something of a reputation in the neighborhood.

It might not have much rare liquor, but it surely stocked bottles costing several thousand yuan. A whole case would cost tens of thousands.

Yellow Hair instinctively glanced at Brother Long, who in turn looked at Zhang Liang beside him.

Zhang Liang seemed to get the message. Curling his lip, he said, "Hah. Do you know how much a case of their most expensive liquor costs? Are you paying?"

Chen Hao chuckled. "Of course. Put it on my tab."

"Good! That's the spirit!" Brother Long slapped the table, pointed at the blond, and barked, "Blond, go downstairs and bring me a case of collector's edition Moutai!"

Hearing that they would get to drink collector's edition Moutai, everyone immediately started cheering.

"You got it! Just wait." Laughing loudly, Yellow Hair rushed out of the room to fetch the liquor.

Brother Long rubbed his chin and quietly asked Zhang Liang beside him, sounding puzzled, "Zhang Liang, can this kid really hold his liquor?"

Zhang Liang replied scornfully, "Hold his liquor, my ass. Back when he worked at my company, two glasses made him puke. He's a total wimp."

That only confused Brother Long further. "Then where does he get the guts to drink with us like this?"

Munching on peanuts, Zhang Liang regarded Chen Hao as though he were an idiot and replied casually, "Why worry about it? He's paying for the Moutai today anyway. He's not getting out of that."

That made sense to Brother Long, so he stopped thinking about it and waited for the case of Moutai to arrive.

Soon, Yellow Hair came back carrying a case of Moutai, panting heavily. "Boss, here it is."

The sight of a whole case of Moutai nearly had everyone drooling.

Normally, when Brother Long and his crew got together, even a bottle of baijiu costing four or five hundred yuan was a treat. Who among them had ever drunk Moutai, let alone one costing four or five thousand a bottle?

Yellow Hair opened the case, revealing twelve bottles of Moutai neatly arranged inside.

Chen Hao stepped forward and asked everyone to help open the bottles while he started filling the stemmed glasses in front of him.

At first, everyone was delighted, basking in the fragrant aroma of the Moutai. But as they watched Chen Hao fill more than a dozen stemmed glasses to the brim, one after another, their expressions grew grim.

Yellow Hair swallowed. His smile gradually faded, and he couldn't help glancing at the fat man beside him.

The fat man was getting nervous too, and glanced at Brother Long beside him.

Zhang Liang was instantly dumbfounded as well. Wasn't Chen Hao just making trouble for himself? He was taking on ten men today, yet he dared use glasses this big. Wasn't he asking to get wrecked?

For a moment, Zhang Liang couldn't figure Chen Hao out. Could this kid be trying to intimidate us?

The same thought occurred to Brother Long. His expression unchanged, he snorted coldly. "Just a bluff. Trying to intimidate us? Dream on. He should ask around. I've never been afraid of anyone when it comes to drinking."