Chapter 121 - 101: Downing a Bottle (Bonus for 4,500 Monthly Votes)

Only then did everyone focus their attention on Xu Chunliang.Jin Yonghao had just been forced to down a large glass of liquor, and his head was spinning. Seeing Xu Chunliang step up and speak, he felt a bit happy; this young man had some courage. Because he had been working long-term at the Weishan Island Branch, Jin Yonghao didn’t know much about Xu Chunliang. However, he had received all the internal documents, and recently there hadn’t been any mention of Xu Chunliang taking on the position of Director of the Medical Department. He guessed that Yan Huaiyi deliberately said it for Zhang Haibin and his group’s ears. At the hospital, there are three types of directors: by rank, by title, and honorary. Anyway, it’s an undisputed fact that there are directors all over the hospital.

Yan Huaiyi said, "Yes, Section Chief Xu, is this how you treat guests? By order, you should toast Director Xu first."

Xu Daqing glanced at Zhang Haibin, and upon receiving a signal, Zhang pretended to take a sip of tea.

Xu Daqing smiled, "That was my oversight."

He picked up a bottle and poured a full glass of liquor in front of Xu Chunliang, then poured himself a full glass too.

Jin Yonghao couldn’t help but feel worried for Xu Chunliang. Xu Daqing was known for his capacity to drink. Although Xu Chunliang was commendable for stepping up to defend Tang Mingmei, tonight he might pay the price for his courage.

Xu Daqing stood, while Xu Chunliang remained seated without any intention of standing up. This kind of trash wasn’t worth him getting up for.

"Director Xu, you’re a guest from afar. I’ll down this first as a sign of respect!" Xu Daqing downed his full glass of baijiu in one go.

Xu Chunliang also picked up his glass and drank it. Seeing him stand up for her, Tang Mingmei felt grateful but was also worried about his health and urged him to eat something.

Xu Chunliang said, "What’s the alcohol content of this drink? It tastes a bit weak."

In this area, it was customary to drink low-alcohol-content liquor. The liquor they were using tonight was Weishan Lake at 35%, which is why locals are used to drinking with glass cups and often finishing the glass in one go. If it were higher-proof liquor, they wouldn’t dare drink this way.

"Director Xu, you have a good tolerance!" Xu Daqing poured another full glass for Xu Chunliang, indicating he wanted to drink another with him.

Xu Chunliang was not intimidated at all; drinking this kind of liquor didn’t faze him in the least. Since he arrived in this era, he had never been drunk. How much he could actually drink, he wasn’t even sure.

Before coming to Weishan Island, his grandfather gave him a bottle of a family-secret hangover remedy, which worked well. It was just in case he had to drink too much while socializing outside. Xu Chunliang believed his drinking capacity didn’t require the remedy just yet.

Seeing Xu Chunliang down two glasses effortlessly, Xu Daqing realized this kid indeed had a massive capacity. There was no need to compete hard with him. He was about to change targets, but Xu Chunliang had no intention of letting him off and immediately returned two glasses to Xu Daqing.

Xu Chunliang’s strategy in dealing with enemies was to identify and focus on the target, press the attack home, and not give the opponent any chance to breathe.

You, Xu Daqing, came to me voluntarily; I might as well knock you out first.

Xu Daqing hadn’t expected Xu Chunliang to return two glasses. It added up to four glasses in total. They were using large glasses, so after finishing, a whole jin (500 ml) of liquor had been consumed. Even though it was low-proof, drinking eight liang (400 ml) so quickly made Xu Daqing feel a bit tipsy. After finishing, he sat back down, planning to take a rest.

But Tang Mingmei wouldn’t miss the opportunity to press the advantage, proactively offering him a toast. This toast wasn’t to show him respect but to strike while the iron was hot. "Kick him when he’s down" was the strategy, and when a woman wanted revenge, she was even more decisive than a man.

Xu Daqing intended to use a small glass, but Tang Mingmei proposed a large one. She performed a "one glass, double meaning" toast and downed hers first out of respect. Her drinking capacity wasn’t weak either; she could manage a jin of this 35% Weishan Lake without a problem.

Now Xu Daqing was completely on the defensive. If he didn’t finish that glass, he’d be the joke of the night. Reluctantly, he downed it again, totaling up to a jin in less than five minutes.

With this proof of alcohol, he could probably handle two jin if he drank slowly. But now, he felt like he’d had over two jin. His face turned red, his tongue felt big, and his speech became slurred.

Zhang Haibin had initially brought his two best drinkers to embarrass Yan Huaiyi’s group and teach the Quality Control Team a lesson. But despite the well-laid plan, the scene changed drastically. He discreetly signaled his cousin Zhang Haitao to step in to share the fire.

Zhang Haitao immediately understood his intention. First, take down Xu Chunliang, the most capable drinker. He picked up a bottle and went over to Xu Chunliang, offering to chug a couple of glasses with him. The plan was to shoot the loudest mouth first, knock down the one with the best drinking capacity, Xu Chunliang.

Xu Chunliang suggested not to bother with the small glasses and proposed that both of them drink a whole bottle each.

"What?" Zhang Haitao was taken aback by the counter-offer.

"This drink is light and tasteless, almost like beer. It’s rare for the atmosphere to be this good, and you’re all so enthusiastic. If you want to see if our feelings are genuine, we should each chug a bottle. How about we each chug a bottle to liven things up?"

Everyone was stunned. They had seen people chugging bottles of beer, but never white liquor. Xu Chunliang had already drunk a jin. Just how much could this guy drink? Anyway, he didn’t lose any ground in the aggressive atmosphere.

Although Yan Huaiyi admired Xu Chunliang’s courage, he couldn’t encourage this behavior. Young people shouldn’t act on impulse. If they hurt their bodies from drinking, it would be troubling, so he reminded everyone to drink at their own pace and not force themselves.

Zhang Haibin said, "Dean Yan, don’t worry. I’ll host tonight, and since we’re drinking, we should enjoy it to the fullest. I think Director Xu is also a straightforward person. Haitao, have a chugging contest with Director Xu." In his view, Zhang Haitao hadn’t yet drunk half a jin, while Xu Chunliang had started with one jin. If both of them drank a bottle, Zhang Haitao would be close to a jin and a half, and Xu Chunliang would reach two jin.

Zhang Haitao knew his own drinking capacity; he could handle one and a half jin. He wanted to see just how much Xu Chunliang could drink.

Zhang Haitao found himself stuck. In front of so many people, he couldn’t show weakness, so he grabbed two bottles of alcohol, handing one to Xu Chunliang.

Xu Chunliang remained seated, smiling as he said, "Let’s be clear, if you throw up, it doesn’t count. If you’re scared, just say so early."

"Who are you calling scared, bastard!? I’ll drink first out of respect!" Zhang Haitao was a straightforward guy; he couldn’t resist such simple provocation. He tilted his head back and started pouring down the alcohol, doing the "drink first out of respect" routine.

Zhang Haibin quickly noticed that Xu Chunliang hadn’t moved at all and was simply smiling as he watched Zhang Haitao drink. He couldn’t help but wonder, was this guy tricking Zhang Haitao into drinking all of it without him taking a sip?

Xu Daqing also noticed this and blushed as he glared at Xu Chunliang, "Why... aren’t you drinking?"

Xu Chunliang said, "Isn’t it customary here to drink first out of respect? I’ll drink after he finishes."

Xu Daqing cursed Zhang Haitao for being an idiot in his mind. Didn’t he know his own capacity? Even if you want to die, don’t drag someone down with you, and still going with the ’drink first out of respect’ routine? I’m curious to see how you’ll wrap this up.

Zhang Haitao had drunk up to eight liang almost and couldn’t take it anymore. He placed the bottle on the table and turned around to rush outside, where he started throwing up in the yard.

Yan Huaiyi felt very amused at the moment. Xu Chunliang, you sly dog, the guy drank more than half the bottle, and you haven’t had a sip yet. How will you wrap this up?

Zhang Haibin and Xu Daqing both looked at Xu Chunliang, thinking this guy is too cunning, setting up Zhang Haitao who ended up throwing up, while his bottle was still untouched.

Xu Dafang picked up the bottle and placed it in front of Xu Chunliang, lifting his chin to signal that it was his turn.

Xu Chunliang said, "I was drinking with him; why are you getting involved? If you’re not convinced, you can also chug a bottle?"

Xu Dafang was left speechless, and Zhang Haibin said, "Director Xu, Haitao has finished his."

Xu Chunliang pointed at the bottle with more than two liang left and said, "Vice Director Zhang, your eyesight is off; there’s still half a bottle left."

Zhang Haitao came back in, swaying after vomiting, "It’s your turn!"

Xu Chunliang said, "A bottle of alcohol, you drank eight liang and threw up a jin, so you actually have two liang to make up, didn’t I say beforehand?"

Wang Xiaofeng said, "If you throw up, it doesn’t count." Tonight they were united against a common enemy; after all, the branch had two different factions.

Zhang Haitao pointed at Xu Chunliang and cursed, "You scheming against me? Don’t you know who I am?"

Xu Chunliang replied coldly, "I don’t know who you are, but nobody should talk crap in front of me, or don’t blame me if I slap you!"

"You dare..."

Zhang Haibin quickly stepped forward to hold him back, "What are you doing? Going on a drunken rampage? Aren’t you afraid of being laughed at? Dean Yan, could you say a fair word? Should Director Xu drink?"

"He should drink, but Xiaoxu did say beforehand, throwing up doesn’t count." Yan Huaiyi was naturally biased towards Xu Chunliang.

Zhang Haibin thought about it; Xu Chunliang indeed said those words, and he was stuck, thinking he said, "Director Xu, then let’s drink, I’ll chug a bottle with you." Xu Dafang and Zhang Haitao were with him, if he doesn’t regain face today, how could he lead others in the future, who would still respect him?

But doing this was a bit underhanded, it was essentially the three of them taking turns with Xu Chunliang, playing a relay race style. Zhang Haibin hadn’t drunk much himself from start to finish, with the other two charging ahead. He wasn’t bad at drinking and thought he could still hold his own against Xu Chunliang.

Xu Chunliang said, "I admire straightforward people like Vice Director Zhang, I’ll drink first out of respect." With this, the matter of Zhang Haitao was settled, who told you to throw up? You deserved it.

Xu Chunliang picked up the bottle, downing it all in one go, then shook the bottle upside down afterwards to show not a drop remained. The key was he showed no change in his expression and didn’t seem the least bit drunk.

At first, there was a dead silence, then Yan Huaiyi took the lead to applaud, and everyone except Zhang Haibin and the other two clapped and cheered, realizing that tonight Zhang Haibin’s side was thoroughly on the losing end.

Zhang Haibin looked at the bottle, stuck between drinking and not drinking. If he drank, who knew if he would also throw up halfway like Zhang Haitao. But if he didn’t drink, he’d become a complete joke tonight.

Jin Yonghao, who had been here for a year, was always bullied and marginalized by them but had never been as proud as tonight. Grinning, he said to Zhang Haibin, "Old Zhang, your turn."

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