Chapter 393 — Hold On a Moment

The baijiu burned so fiercely that tears shot from An Liwen's eyes. He had never drunk so fast in his life. He could hold his liquor, but his stomach and throat simply could not take it, and he choked it all back up in one burst.

An Liwen's face went deathly pale, and he coughed for a good while, Su Taiwei and Yang Ganglou pounding him on the back all the while... Only after a long spell did the color return to his cheeks.

Under the circumstances, though, there was no way he could keep drinking! A flicker of venom passed through the look An Liwen shot at Wei Zhao. The little bastard had played the pig to eat the tiger—clearly he could drink with the best of them, yet he had said nothing before. Had he known, he would never have tried this trick!

"Brother An, are you all right? Shall we continue?" Wei Zhao's single sentence nearly set An Liwen coughing again!

Continue? Was he trying to kill himself? An Liwen's face was ghastly, and he itched to stride over and strangle Wei Zhao. Here he was in this state, and the man still wanted him to drink? Was he trying to drink him to death?

At that moment, he forgot that it was he who had meant to drink Wei Zhao to death.

An Liwen was somewhat at a loss. Today he had meant to teach Wei Zhao a lesson, yet he had stumbled right onto the man's strong suit. If he gave up and conceded now, he would lose every shred of face—especially when he saw Wei Zhao still fiddling with his phone. An Liwen knew at once that the scene just now had likely been recorded by Wei Zhao!

In an instant, humiliation, defiance, fury, and loathing flashed through his heart one after another! No, he could not concede. If he conceded, Gu Mengyao would laugh herself sick!

He had meant to teach Wei Zhao a lesson, but instead he was the one being taught. If word of this got out, where would the Four Young Masters of Songshan's face be? And this was the second time—coming back to settle the score after being taught a lesson the first time!

"Let me take over!" Su Taiwei saw the shifting expressions on An Liwen's face and knew he was finished. Among them all, Su Taiwei held his liquor best. If he did not step forward, no one else could stand against Wei Zhao.

Let us hope Wei Zhao can only handle fast drinking, and that his true capacity falls short of mine. Su Taiwei calculated silently. He could put away five bottles; he did not believe Wei Zhao could knock back five in one go and still be fine!

"Fine." Wei Zhao agreed readily and without hesitation. "Can you still manage?"

"Of course!" Su Taiwei gave a cold laugh. In his heart he thought: Don't put on airs. After five bottles, let us see whether you topple. Do you think you are a roly-poly toy that never falls?

"Oh, my apologies, I forgot—you are Brother Wei, and how could Brother Wei ever fail?" Wei Zhao opened the baijiu in his hand and raised the bottle, giving it a little shake at Su Taiwei.

Damn it! Su Taiwei cursed inwardly, then raised his own bottle and drained it alongside Wei Zhao.

"Phew..." After finishing the second bottle of baijiu, Su Taiwei let out a long breath. His insides felt as if they were on fire, and he wanted a bite of food to settle it, yet he was a little too proud to reach for any.

Because Wei Zhao was at that very moment sitting there, face unflushed and heart unbeating, smiling as he held up his phone and recorded Su Taiwei's predicament.

Su Taiwei seethed inwardly, but could not bring himself to eat, and so he simply forced himself to endure.

"Taiwei, have something to eat first. Weren't you complaining about being hungry on the way here? The dishes are all here now—eat a little while it's hot." Su Taiqiang saw that his younger brother was in a bad way and, without making a show of it, threw him a lifeline.

Su Taiwei shot Su Taiqiang a grateful glance and said, "That's right, I came here with an empty stomach all this time. Well, then, I won't stand on ceremony!"

With that, Su Taiwei picked up his chopsticks and began eating in great mouthfuls...

Wei Zhao watched the Su brothers play their little duet, one prompting and the other answering, and felt nothing but contempt—though he did not voice it. He only said mildly, "Since this Brother Wei has already gone limp... oh, I mean hungry, then Brother Taiqiang, will you take his place and continue?"

"All right, I'll drink with you!" Su Taiqiang nodded. "But my capacity isn't so great, haha... How about this: you drink yours in one go, and I'll split mine into two."

Su Taiqiang had seen the sorry state An Liwen was in. He did not have Su Taiwei's capacity—his was about the same as An Liwen's—so rather than drink it all and spew it out in disgrace, he might as well be gracious about it, admit his capacity was lacking, and ask to split it into two.

"Fine, no problem! You can even drink half if you like!" Wei Zhao cursed the Su brothers inwardly for their shamelessness, but aloud he spoke with great magnanimity.

The moment the words left Wei Zhao's mouth, Su Taizao nearly died on the spot, his heart exploding with regret. Half a bottle was acceptable too? Why hadn't he said so sooner? Had he said so sooner, why would I have split it into two rounds? But though Su Taizao was somewhat shameless, he had not yet sunk to the point of having no face at all, and there was no taking it back now.

Wei Zhao, still impassive, downed a bottle of Moutai in one go, while Su Taizao drank his in two. He did not spray the liquor out the way An Liwen had, but he was not much better off.

Once he had finished, he sat in his seat without moving, plainly scorched by the burn, his face crimson, tears glinting in his eyes, forcing down the urge to cough. There he sat, still as a statue.

In truth, Su Taizao did not dare stir, afraid that at the slightest movement the liquor in his belly would come bursting out.

"Brother Wei, your brother looks about done for. Still no match for Brother Wei! Well then, shall we continue?" Wei Zhao glanced at Su Taiwei, who was frantically seizing the moment to shovel down food, and asked.

"All right! Continue!" Su Taiwei wiped his mouth and nodded. He had eaten a good deal just now and had recovered somewhat; another bottle should pose no problem. But by now he understood that Wei Zhao could hold more liquor than he could, for Wei Zhao had already drunk four bottles!

Wei Zhao downed a fifth bottle without the slightest suspense, and Su Taiwei went off to rest, Yang Ganglou taking his place on the field. Yet Yang Ganglou came out with something utterly shameless: "I'll drink half. My tolerance really is no good! Allow me to drink first in respect!"

With that, Yang Ganglou raised the bottle and killed half of it, as if terrified Wei Zhao might go back on his word...

"Wait..." Before Wei Zhao could finish, Yang Ganglou had already drained it and set the bottle down.

"Oh? Something the matter, Brother Lin?" Yang Ganglou thought to himself what a close call that had been. Had he been a step slower, Wei Zhao might well have reneged. What he had said to Su Taizao earlier must have been only to needle him; how could he possibly let Su Taizao off the hook?

So Yang Ganglou was thoroughly thrilled by his own cleverness. Worthy of the strategist indeed, his head was good for something. I have finished drinking now, and nothing you say matters anymore. What do you want to do? What can you do?

"Ah, you have already finished it all. Anything I say now would be meaningless!" Wei Zhao sighed.