Chapter 209: Chapter 209: Don’t Be Afraid
Soon, someone stood up, speaking with a forced bravery.
"We’re not forcing her to drink. Don’t blabber with your eyes wide open. Since you really want to drink for her, then you can take all her drinks from now on," he said.
Upon hearing this, Liu Zheng found it quite laughable, not even finding a trace of logic in his own words.
Isn’t this forcing her to drink, then what is?
Just as he was about to say something, to his surprise, Chen Xiaoxiao gently tugged at the hem of his shirt from behind.
Then she whispered.
"Thank you for helping me, but it’s okay. I can handle it."
Her voice was so soft that almost no one else could hear it, only Liu Zheng did.
Seeing her distressed face, as she forced herself to speak through the pain, how could Liu Zheng not know that she was compelled and did not want him to get involved in the turmoil on her account?
And the more she behaved like this, the less he could just stand by and watch.
Indeed, after that person had spoken, several of the others chimed in.
"Yeah, if you really want to help her, you drink on her behalf," they said.
"That way, don’t blame us for not being considerate. We’ve been more than generous already."
"Right, I think that’s fair. Initially, we didn’t allow it, but since you insist, making it seem as if we are unreasonable, then let’s compromise a bit."
After hearing this, everyone understood that they were definitely going to make Liu Zheng drink heavily, and this time they intended to teach him a lesson.
Others couldn’t help but worry for Liu Zheng.
And when Chen Xiaoxiao heard these words, she stepped forward immediately and said.
"It’s fine, I’ll drink."
Liu Zheng found it even more laughable.
Perhaps what they said was intended to make him aware that he should leave quietly.
But there was no way he would simply acquiesce to their will.
"Alright, of course, there’s no problem. I’ll drink however much you want, on one condition: for every drink I take, you guys must drink the same amount."
After hearing this, the people in front of him looked at each other, not understanding what Liu Zheng meant.
Initially, Liu Zheng thought that by intervening he could restrain them a bit, but he hadn’t expected them to be so blatant about wanting to force him to drink.
If that was the case, then he really did not need to show them any courtesy.
The others didn’t grasp what Liu Zheng was getting at.
So they dared not reply, unsure of what they should say next.
Seeing their silent expressions, Liu Zheng finally spoke slowly.
"I know you just want to make me drink, it’s simple, no need to beat around the bush so much. I’m a straight talker who says it as it is."
"Moreover, it looks like right now only Chen Xiaoxiao and I are in this together, so how about this: whatever amount we two drink, all of you must drink the same volume."
At first, they were confused about what Liu Zheng was trying to do.
But now, Huang Haoxiang was really getting annoyed.
"Alright then, since you’ve put it that way, wouldn’t it be rude of me not to agree?" he said.
Liu Zheng just laughed and said.
"No, it’s fine if you don’t agree, right? If you don’t, I can drink less, can’t I?"
His extremely calm demeanor infuriated Huang Haoxiang even more.
Everything was nearing success.
He was close to seeing the light of victory.
Unexpectedly, Cheng Yaojin now came from nowhere.
This indeed infuriated Huang Haoxiang immensely.
No matter what, he could not let Liu Zheng off easily; he had to show him what the consequences of opposing him were really like.
"Forget about the others, how about my few brothers and I drink with you?"
Originally, Liu Zheng was worried that the others might be unhappy, but he hadn’t even brought up the topic when he raised it himself.
Since that was the case, how could he possibly refuse?
At that moment, Liu Zheng nodded with a smile and said.
"Sure, no problem, I don’t want to involve innocent people."
Although he said this, to be honest, he didn’t feel they were innocent in his heart; they clearly knew what was going on yet remained bystanders, which was enough to show they weren’t kind either.
But at least they had not become aggressors for the time being.
Liu Zheng would let them off for now.
Soon after, Huang Haoxiang had the waiter bring up several cases of alcohol.
In Huang Haoxiang’s mind, he believed Liu Zheng was just trying to show off to play the hero.
Moreover, Liu Zheng did not look like someone who could hold his liquor, appearing rather frail.
Now that things had come to this, no matter what, he had to show Liu Zheng what an ordeal opposing him would be.
And to him, Liu Zheng’s arrogance was merely a show for the lady present, not a true measure of his capabilities.
He thought that by making absolute statements, Liu Zheng might give up, but he would not let go of this no matter what.
Little did he know that what followed would not be as simple as he imagined.
"How do you want to compete?"
Liu Zheng looked at the several cases of alcohol that had been brought in and asked slowly.
And Huang Haoxiang replied immediately.
"We old classmates haven’t seen each other for so long, why don’t we continue to play games like before? That’ll be better. It’ll make everybody laugh when they see us. What do you think?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Zheng just felt he was extremely hypocritical. After all that had happened, why bother with games? Why not just drink directly?
And he indeed didn’t want to give them any chance to catch their breath.
"What’s fun about that, I think there’s no need for games. We’ve already made it very clear just now, how much I drink you guys will drink the same amount. Let’s just start drinking, let’s skip the unnecessary stuff."
He didn’t want to waste any more time with these people and wanted to end this battle quickly.
Huang Haoxiang had a bad feeling in his heart as the alcohol was served and Liu Zheng still spoke with such arrogance.
