Chapter 1898 — Drinking Contest, Part 2
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Just then, the karaoke waiter returned, two bottles of Red Star Erguotou in hand. Fan Ganhe took them, then pulled four disposable paper cups from the cabinet in the private room, one for each person, and set them before Wei Zhao and the others.
"How shall we drink?" Zhang Duopan asked.
"I'll go first." Before Bai Weituo could speak, Wei Zhao had taken it upon himself. Liquor of this strength was, to Wei Zhao, about the same as drinking water.
As he spoke, Wei Zhao took a bottle of Red Star Erguotou, opened it, and filled his cup to the brim.
"I'll keep you company! Your opponent is me!" Fan Ganhe followed Wei Zhao's example and filled his own cup to the top.
"Meiyue, do us the favor of being referee. When you say go, we go." Wei Zhao raised his cup and smiled. "But let's agree first: you can't let too much spill past the corners of your mouth, and you can't leave too much in the bottom of the cup, or it counts as a loss."
"No need to tell me. I won't cheat." Fan Ganhe snorted.
"All right—three, two, one... go!" Seeing Wei Zhao's confident manner, He Meiyue said no more and took up her role as referee.
How nimble was Wei Zhao? He was an Earth-rank expert. The instant the last word left He Meiyue's lips, his cup was already at his mouth; he tipped back his head, poured the fiery liquor straight down his throat, and set the paper cup on the table with a casual flick of his hand.
"Whoa—" Bai Weituo, He Meiyue, everyone present—all of them turned to stare at Wei Zhao in astonishment! Even Zhang Duopan could not help but cry out in shock! For Wei Zhao had drunk incredibly fast, almost as fast as if it were water. How was this drinking at all?
Fan Ganhe had drunk quickly too, but it was only after Wei Zhao set down his cup and the others had finished exclaiming that he finally put his own paper cup down. Yet he believed he had been very fast, and took the crowd's gasps as meant for him, so once he set the cup down, he could not resist saying smugly, "Well? Scared now?"
Everyone looked at Fan Ganhe with somewhat peculiar expressions. Zhang Duopan's face reddened; he was privately fuming—was Fan Ganhe out of his mind? The man had already finished drinking, and here he was still saying such things.
Fan Ganhe was waiting for everyone's praise and for the sound of Wei Zhao's fear, but after waiting a good while he heard nothing at all. Somewhat puzzled, he snapped out of his self-satisfaction and looked at Wei Zhao in surprise. "Did you drink?"
"Are your eyes failing you?" Wei Zhao pointed at the empty cup on the table.
"Gah!" Only then did Fan Ganhe realize that Wei Zhao had finished too—and by the look of it, had finished long ago, faster than himself. Thinking of the words he had just spoken, his face burned with shame; but he was thick-skinned. "Ha, since we've both drunk, let's carry on!"
"You haven't taken off any clothes yet," Wei Zhao said with a shake of his head. "Don't tell me you're drunk after one cup? You've forgotten even the forfeit?"
"Who says?" Fan Ganhe casually stripped off his outer garment. In autumn, people generally wore two layers—an outer coat and a shirt or T-shirt beneath—so taking off one did not matter much.
Having removed his clothes, Fan Ganhe refilled his cup and raised it of his own accord. "With this baijiu, no matter how fast you drink the first cup, with nothing in your stomach, drink fast now and you'll be suffering soon enough!"