Jiang Wang was once bold and daring in his youth. In his early twenties, he was tough on others and even tougher on himself.
If he were to face these people back then, he might very well have ended up drinking hard enough to cause stomach bleeding.
But at twenty-eight, it was different.
He hadn’t won over Teacher Ji yet, so it wasn’t important whether he won or lost.
With a calm attitude towards health, Boss Jiang smiled and accepted drinks, drinking whenever someone toasted, without any unnecessary chatter.
Ji Linqiu watched in shock, wanting to stop him, but someone next to them quickly chimed in, “Well done, Boss Jiang! You are so different from those flowery weaklings!”
Jiang Wang seemed not to hear the mockery in their words, simply picking up dishes and drinking, as if he had long since blended in with this group, looking quite at ease.
During the banquet, someone brought up Ji Linqiu’s relationship status. Before he could speak, several people who had arrived early the day before eagerly answered, retelling the embellished stories Jiang Wang had shared, causing a ruckus among the crowd.
“Teacher Ji is quite the ladies’ man!”
“Didn’t see it coming! Come on, let me toast you a drink! Teach me how to pick up girls!”
“Awesome! If I could do that, I wouldn’t even get married. Who needs a wife to keep tabs on me?”
As they chatted, Jiang Wang’s face began to redden, little by little.
Ji Chuanrong found it amusing and filled Jiang Wang’s glass again. “This is just the beginning! Are you already out of it? Come on, let’s go for another!”
Ji Linqiu reached out to stop him, but Jiang Wang went around his hand and clinked glasses with someone, downing the drink in one go.
After drinking, he slumped sideways onto the table, falling asleep without any further reaction.
The table fell silent, and Ji Linqiu grew anxious, reaching out to check his breathing.
“Don’t make a fuss,” Jiang Wang mumbled sleepily, “I’m just sleeping.”
Laughter erupted from the crowd, everyone delighted as if someone had fallen out of the ring in the first round.
“Is he really out already? Don’t be a coward!”
“From his accent, he’s from the north, can’t believe he goes down after just a little bit!”
“Come on, wake him up. Let’s keep drinking!”
Ji Chuanrong had been ready to go all out tonight, but unexpectedly found his opponent completely out cold, a proud yet disdainful expression on his face.
“I haven’t even started yet, I was just getting a taste of the liquor.”
Ji Linqiu was the only one in the chaos who genuinely worried about Jiang Wang’s condition. Without hesitation, he picked him up.
Some relatives who couldn’t bear to see this also lent a hand, suggesting they take him upstairs to rest, and if he didn’t improve, they would drive him to the hospital.
Ji Linqiu had thought Jiang Wang would make a stunning entrance at the table, but now he couldn’t even care to guess, he just forcefully carried him to the second floor.
Oddly enough, despite Jiang Wang’s lean build and being 1.9 meters tall, he felt weightless when lifted.
Ji Linqiu felt nothing while carrying him, but his cousin grunted, “Damn, this guy’s heavy! My shoulder’s gonna break!”
At this point, they hadn’t been seated for long, and less than 70% of the dishes had been served. The young wives were bustling around, and when they saw someone had already passed out, they all gasped in shock.
“Drinking this heavily today?”
“Hey, he’s a guest from Hongcheng!”
“Guests shouldn’t be throwing up! Those guys are going too far…”
The nearest guest room upstairs was just around the corner. The cousin helped carry Jiang Wang and laid him on the bed, then headed downstairs to continue eating.
Ji Linqiu turned on the bedside lamp but was afraid it might hurt Jiang Wang’s eyes. After a moment of thought, he turned it off and brought a cup of warm water over in the dark, sighing as he prepared to move Jiang Wang’s limbs toward the center of the bed.
As he approached and set down the cup, he reached out to check Jiang Wang’s forehead temperature, but the next second, Jiang Wang pulled him into his embrace, causing him to suddenly lose balance and fall onto him.
“Shh.” Jiang Wang covered his mouth and chuckled as he kissed Ji Linqiu’s cheek, “Be quiet.”
His lips felt a bit dry, and the touch was even more pronounced.
Ji Linqiu’s breath hitched for a moment, lowering his voice, “You’re drunk, you should get up and drink some water first.”
Jiang Wang didn’t get up; his mind was clear. “First, check what time it is.”
When Ji Linqiu looked at his phone, it read 6:15 PM.
“6:15,” Jiang Wang calculated, “I’ll head down at 6:35, eat a full meal, and then drink a bit more until I’m out again.”
“You’re still going down??” Ji Linqiu was getting angry, “Do you really think they’ll dare to force you to drink if you go down?”
“That’s exactly what I want.”
Jiang Wang reached into his pocket and exclaimed, “Ah, I left my phone on the table. Here’s the deal: you let me borrow your phone to check the time, then go down and eat, smile, and enjoy yourself, don’t give them a cold shoulder.”
Ji Linqiu vaguely guessed what he was planning and nodded in agreement.
After taking a couple of steps toward the door, he quickly returned, reaching out to touch Jiang Wang’s forehead.
“Not really drunk?”
Jiang Wang kissed the palm of his hand and playfully whined, “I am drunk. Now come over and give me another kiss on the cheek.”
Ji Linqiu hesitated for a moment, but he actually leaned closer, whispering, “Just one kiss.”
Jiang Wang didn’t expect Ji Linqiu to follow through with his request, and being teased like this made him stiffen up. He suppressed the unusual feelings and seriously kissed Ji Linqiu’s face.
So fragrant. It really smelled like gardenias.
As Ji Linqiu stepped out the door, he ran into his second aunt, who had come up to check on the situation. Internally anxious, he maintained a calm exterior. “He’s fine; just let him sleep for a bit.”
His second aunt nodded, wiping her hands on her apron, inviting him to join for dinner.
Many others were also keeping an eye on the situation, after all, there weren’t many fools at the drinking table, and everyone was quite aware.
Having a few relatives get drunk was no big deal, but Jiang Wang was still a guest.
Ji Linqiu noticed that many people at the table were looking at him and smiled, saying, “He’s fine, he just drank too much and is sleeping it off. He’s just talking nonsense.”
Ji Chuanrong had been worried that Ji Linqiu would use this opportunity to embarrass him and ruin the atmosphere. Upon hearing this, he laughed loudly, “I told you! Come on, everyone, keep eating!”
Since the person involved said there was no problem, he was even more like a victorious rooster, flaunting and boasting, and the table was filled with joy.
However, perhaps thanks to Jiang Wang’s influence, everyone knew that Ji Linqiu not getting angry was already giving face, and this time, no one urged him to drink.
The kitchen was very busy, bringing out delicacies like spicy fish head, pig tendon in milk soup, and stir-fried pig’s head meat one after another.
Outside the mountains, the sound of firecrackers crackled, echoing through the hills, with the sound of cowbells rising and falling, continuing without pause for a long time.
The distant mountain winds swept through, lending a strangely warm atmosphere of reunion to the room.
Ji Linqiu thought of these as mere illusions. He tucked Jiang Wang’s phone away in his sleeve and quietly checked the time.
6:32 PM.
A few minutes later, Jiang Wang actually returned from a brief nap, stumbling down the stairs. Surprisingly, he looked even better than before.
Ji Chuanrong was the first to notice him and reacted even faster than Ji Linqiu, enthusiastically waving him over to sit.
“Hot pot is just starting, come eat!”
“How are you holding up?”
“Of course,” Jiang Wang replied cheerfully, “that last round doesn’t count, let’s drink some more!”
Everyone laughed and welcomed him, with several people taking the chance to tease him a bit. Jiang Wang just smiled at everything, completely unconcerned with saving face.
“Why don’t you eat something first?” one of the women serving food suggested, “Be careful not to hurt your stomach. Chuanrong and Chuanhua, don’t just keep urging him to drink, he’s a guest!”
“Got it, got it!”
Jiang Wang followed the plan exactly, leisurely drinking soup and eating dishes. After finishing half a bowl of rice, he comfortably let out a burp.
Someone else tentatively poured him some liquor while keeping an eye on Ji Linqiu’s expression.
Ji Linqiu remembered their earlier conversation upstairs and pretended not to see it this time.
Jiang Wang welcomed the drinks: “Let’s go! Thanks, brothers!”
“Really generous,” one of the uncles gave him a thumbs-up, “Now that’s a real man! So what if you go down? Just keep drinking, not scared!”
Ji Linqiu had already guessed what this guy was planning to do and was trying to hold back laughter while eating.
As expected, Jiang Wang didn’t know if it was from the spiciness or the alcohol, but his face turned red, and he downed four or five small cups the size of a thumb in one go. After swaying his head and mumbling a few words, he fell asleep again.
This time everyone was aware and specially went over to poke him.
“Don’t…” Boss Jiang slurred, “Sleepy… sleepy.”
Afterward, he fell back into a deep sleep, essentially shutting down at the dining table.
Everyone laughed heartily. Ji Linqiu sighed and, in front of everyone, felt his forehead temperature, speaking nonsense without a draft.
“He was like this when he got drunk before, looks like he just wanted to get a high.”
“Can’t blame him for that. If he passes out like this, he won’t earn any face,” Ji Chuanhua said proudly, “Only our people from Zhouxiang can drink, you should learn from him!”
Ji Linqiu and another person carried him back to the room. As soon as their help left, Jiang Wang immediately opened his eyes, wide awake.
“What time is it?”
“7:45. Here’s your phone,” Ji Linqiu tossed the phone to him and sat at the head of the bed, deep in thought.
This time, he didn’t wait for Jiang Wang to speak, he reported the situation first.
“We’ll finish the banquet around 9 PM, a little later if it goes on, and we’ll have our last round of drinks by 10:30 PM at the latest before heading back home.”
The weather was cold, so everyone slept early.
Jiang Wang quickly figured out his line of thought and lay on the bed laughing, “You’re quite astute.”
“You plan to block them for the last round, right?” Ji Linqiu thought for a moment, “I used to be too honest, it’s nice to play a little dirty.”
“Don’t say that,” Jiang Wang replied slightly dissatisfied, “Am I that kind of person?”
“By the way,” he propped himself up, glancing outside while whispering, “Do your aunts know how to make hangover soup?”
“They do, but those people drink less, so sometimes they don’t make it.”
“As a junior, you should definitely remind them to make the hangover soup,” Jiang Wang’s eyes glinted with determination, “As for me, I naturally have the duty to take care of the elders.”
Ji Linqiu chuckled softly and kissed his forehead in the dark.
“Bad guy.”
Jiang Wang slept until 8:50 PM. During that time, someone worried he might have thrown up or choked, but Ji Linqiu just waved his hand, indicating that it was fine to vomit. After all, it was his own choice to drink.
“Look, look,” Ji Chuanhua said with satisfaction, “My little brother used to love nagging people and was never sociable. He’s been with Boss Jiang for this long, and he’s finally a bit more accommodating!”
“Exactly! You need to blend in, stop always wearing a cold face and smile more!”
“So about flirting with that girl — tell us about it!”
As the banquet reached its second half, most people had drunk enough. The women were sitting at another table, eating the leftover dishes. Although they were pre-prepared meals, they had long since gone cold, and the chicken, duck, fish, and meat had already been cleaned up by the children at the side table.
Among the ten or so men present, almost ten were already drunk, leaning or lying down, while the Chuanrong and Chuanhua brothers continued to play dice and drink, but they were also at their limits.
At that moment, the cheerful Boss Jiang came downstairs again.
“Hey, you guys didn’t wait for me, and you’ve finished drinking already?!”
Many people were already feeling the effects of the alcohol, their words slurred as they waved their hands, indicating they couldn’t drink anymore.
“That won’t do,” Boss Jiang said seriously, “I’ve rested up, come on!”
“You’re cheating,” Ji Chuanrong jokingly scolded him, “You ran off to sleep while we were drinking, and now you come to show off?”
“I just fell asleep and can’t be blamed,” Jiang Wang downed a drink as an apology, smacking his lips and saying, “Good wine, strong! Come on, brother, let’s have another one!”
Ji Chuanrong laughed a bit reluctantly, “You came too late, I’ll have half a cup with you, okay?”
If it had been at the beginning of the banquet, he could have drunk Jiang Wang under the table, but now that everyone was feeling the effects, there was no way they could drink more.
The few who were still relatively sober pushed back, unwilling to drink with Jiang Wang again, just as the elder sister-in-law brought out a large bowl of hangover soup.
“Good stuff,” Jiang Wang’s eyes widened as if he had discovered some rare treasure, “We drink this in Hongcheng, six or seven bowls, and it’s not as much as this!”
“What’s so special about it? It only takes ten minutes to make,” the old woman said shyly, “If you like it, I can tell you the recipe.”
“Did you know? The lotus seeds and mung beans you put in are great for nourishing the stomach and protecting the liver,” Jiang Wang scooped a large bowl right in front of her, then noticed the women coming out one after another to clean up their drunk husbands, raising his voice a bit, “Old Chinese medicine says that after drinking, you should avoid sleeping on an empty stomach. Otherwise, it will ruin your liver and stomach!”
“Sister-in-law, do me a favor and feed the older brothers and uncles some soup, at least half a bowl each.”
Jiang Wang led the way and drank most of a bowl himself, putting the porcelain bowl down with satisfaction, “I have to be righteous. If they drink less, they should take care of the elders more. Come on, I’ll help you feed them, don’t let them get hurt!”
Ji Linqiu pinched the bridge of his nose and watched the show from the side.
The drunks were already confused, unable to distinguish between plain water, liquor, and hangover soup, mumbling and begging to stop drinking.
Taking advantage of this, Jiang Wang passionately educated them, saying the secret to health for city folks was to drink at least half a bowl.
Several people already felt nauseous, and when forced to down another bowl of soup, they immediately began to throw up. Their wives watched, feeling both pained and scolding, “You never learn! If you keep drinking like this, who will take care of you when your health fails!”
“Throwing up is good,” Ji Linqiu suddenly spoke up, “If the food and alcohol have been sitting in your stomach overnight, you’ll wake up with a worse headache. Brother Jiang is right.”
Jiang Wang glanced at him, and Ji Linqiu returned the look, indicating they were on the same page.
Usually, everyone just scattered after drinking, with no such aftercare.
Today, when Boss Jiang spoke, the hangover soup had to be used and not wasted; he ended up feeding quite a few people.
The group of men who had boasted about drinking earlier were now begging, crying, and choking.
“I won’t drink anymore! Really, I won’t drink anymore! Stop feeding me!”
The women scolded back, “Who fed you more alcohol? Open your mouth and drink the hangover soup quickly before heading home!”
That night became a nightmare for many people. The next day, they woke up with their noses filled with the smell of lotus seeds and mung beans mixed with vomit.
Boss Jiang gained fame from this battle, and many secretly spat on him for taking advantage of the situation while also having to greet him with a fake smile, thanking him half-heartedly.
“No need to thank me,” Boss Jiang said with a compassionate expression, politely adding, “I just hope everyone has a healthy new year and did a little something from my side.”
Ji Linqiu was laughing so hard he could hardly stand up.