Forced Me to Regress, Huh?

As soon as Cheng Zhu finished speaking, the atmosphere in the room changed, and there was a hint of gunpowder in the air.

But this was how men at this age acted when they drank. They liked to banter and shoot their mouths off at each other.

Even men in their forties and fifties were like this.

As the team captain and cousin, Shen Minglang definitely had to step in at this point. “What the fuck are you saying?! Drink up first. Since you’re willing to bet, you have to accept defeat. Drink double!

“Eight people lost, and you still have the nerve to complain? You can’t refuse the drink. Even if we’re doing one-on-one, you should drink the penalty drinks first!”

With that, the birthday boy cheerfully ran over, lined up eight glasses on the table, and poured alcohol evenly into them.

While pouring, he kept cursing, “Fuck, it’s just eight people sharing a bottle, and you’re even saying there’s something wrong with our dice? I don’t believe your leopard roll either. Do you want me to check the surveillance footage in the private room for you?”

As soon as Shen Minglang finished speaking, before he even noticed, a fair and slender hand reached over, took one of the glasses, and drank the wine inside.

“Huh? Ningning, why did you drink it?” Shen Minglang finally reacted, surprised that Shen Qingning had so decisively drunk the alcohol herself.

He had planned to drink for his sister.

Moreover, there were five men in Shen Qingning’s team, so Shen Minglang felt that one of these noobs should help with the drinking.

Shen Qingning shook her head, glanced at Cheng Zhu and Lin Lu, and said, “It’s fine.”

Shen Minglang didn’t say anything else.

He knew his sister’s drinking capacity well.

It all started because their father, for reasons unknown to anyone, spent too much time surfing the internet and picked up some strange bits of knowledge. One day, he suddenly came up with an idea and called the siblings over to drink.

They drank like this for several days in a row.

It started with beer, then red wine, followed by spirits, and finally baijiu…

Their father had a high tolerance and always outdrank both siblings.

One day, he earnestly said to Shen Qingning, “Ningning, I’ve had you drink with me for all these days because I want you to learn your own limits and know when you’ve had too much. That way, if you ever need to drink in the future, you’ll have a sense of your limits, and I’ll be more at ease.”

After saying this, he didn’t even glance at his son and continued his tender moment with his daughter.

Shen Minglang: “???”

So I’m just here to keep you company, huh?

Of course, it was precisely because of this that Shen Minglang knew Shen Qingning’s drinking capacity well.

She’s better than most girls but definitely not up to the level of girls who frequent drinking scenes, he thought.

Shen Minglang even thought, It’s her brother’s birthday. She’s happy, and wanting to drink is completely normal.

With me here, what could possibly go wrong?

When Liu Hongjing and the other men saw that Shen Qingning had already started drinking, they realized they couldn’t keep grumbling and refusing to drink. It would be too embarrassing.

One by one, they picked up their glasses and poured the alcohol into their mouths.

Jiang Wanzhou, who had once been forced to drink until he vomited by this pack of dogs, was grateful that Cheng Zhu had helped him vent his anger today, so he immediately rushed over to supervise.

“Liu Hongjing! Why are you leaving so much alcohol in your glass? Are you raising fish?

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Wang Wei, you can’t even drink as cleanly as the girls. Oh, and you didn’t finish it, so you’re adding ice? Planning to fool everyone into thinking that it’s not alcohol in your glass but ice that has melted?”

Jiang Wanzhou opened fire.

Cheng Zhu watched from the side with a grin. Don’t be fooled by how he didn’t seem to take Jiang Wanzhou seriously. He still held a grudge, remembering how Jiang Wanzhou had told him about how these guys had gotten him so drunk he couldn’t stand.

After the opposing team finished the entire bottle of Hennessy XO, Shen Minglang picked up where they left off. “Liu Hongjing, Wang Wei, what do you think? Want to take on my cousin Cheng Zhu one-on-one?”

Neither of them dared to accept.

If they lost and had to drink half a bottle, they would turn into human fountains, losing all their dignity.

The bespectacled Wang Wei quickly came up with a response and said in a sly tone, “What one-on-one? Let’s keep playing World War. We’ve still got four rounds left. I think you’re just trying to change the battlefield because you don’t have as many people!”

Liu Hongjing immediately chimed in, “Yeah. If you have the guts, win four more rounds against us!”

“Fine! Come on!” Shen Minglang, who was a noob himself, was full of vigor and confidence.

—Who am I afraid of with my cousin here?

As the captain, he went forward to play rock, paper, scissors with Liu Hongjing again. The winner would get to decide on the number of penalty drinks for this round.

“One bottle this time!” Shen Minglang commanded with an imposing air after winning, as if his team had eight members.

Normally, if the captain of a team with fewer members won, they would set a smaller penalty.

Lin Lu said in a surprise, “Huh? Why are we playing so big this round?”

She turned to Cheng Zhu and said with a serious expression, “We’re counting on you!”

“I can’t win every time,” Cheng Zhu replied, feigning helplessness.

Lin Lu thought about it and realized he had a point, so she said, “Then teach me a couple of tricks!”

“What? You want to become my disciple?” Cheng Zhu said with a smile. “Call me master then.”

To his surprise, Lin Lu clapped her hands together and called out, “Master!”

Her voice was crisp and pleasing to the ear.

Cheng Zhu nodded with satisfaction and beckoned to her, signaling her to lean in so he could whisper into her ear.

Lin Lu couldn’t help but recall the ticklish feeling from the earlier whispers. Just remembering it sent an electric shiver through her body. She immediately waved her hand in refusal. “No, Master, speak softly. I can hear you!”

Cheng Zhu didn’t mind. He had already noticed she had sensitive ears.

Whispering in a public setting was meaningless anyway.

He leaned over and quietly told Lin Lu that many experienced players could bully beginners because they were timid and afraid to take risks.

The key for a beginner was to be fearless.

When Lin Lu went over for her turn, she really followed Cheng Zhu’s advice. Whether it was luck or not, she actually won.

The voice actress was ecstatic, feeling that her master had just opened up her meridians.

Time flew by amidst rounds of drinking and dice games. Moments of showing off and acting cool always seemed fleeting. In the blink of an eye, it was almost midnight.

Although Cheng Zhu was skilled and knew how to cheat, it didn’t guarantee he would always win in this game. There was still a chance he could lose.

After five rounds of the World War game, their team had lost one round, while the opposing team had lost four. It was truly remarkable.

Towards the end, Shen Minglang started shouting, “Ah, I’m so thirsty!”

He was having a great time at this year’s birthday party!

It was only when the final round ended that Jiang Wanzhou suddenly remembered something and said, “Shen Minglang, we haven’t eaten the birthday cake yet!”

“Oh, right, right. It’s almost midnight. I almost forgot!” Shen Minglang said.

He had arranged for the cake shop to deliver the birthday cake to the front desk, where the staff had taken it and put it in the fridge.

They had been so caught up in the drinking game that they had forgotten about the cake.

Of course, whether they ate the cake or not didn’t matter much, but the birthday wish had to be made.

Shen Minglang said to Jiang Wanzhou, “Go supervise their team with the drinking. Sun Yue, come help me unbox the cake.”

He didn’t forget to remind his sister, “By the way, Ningning, don’t drink anymore. I’ll drink for you later!”

Shen Qingning’s cheeks were already red, and her mind felt a little fuzzy.

Her alcohol tolerance was fairly good among girls, but she was already starting to feel tipsy.

After drinking, the cold, distant air she usually gave off instantly disappeared.

Coupled with her fair, smooth skin, now glowing with the blush of alcohol, she looked even more delicate.

Moreover, Shen Qingning seemed to have a mild alcohol allergy. People like her lacked the enzyme that breaks down alcohol, so while they wouldn’t feel physically uncomfortable from drinking, their skin would turn red all over.

Her long, slender, fair, and perfectly toned legs now had a subtle rosy tint, resembling red jade—exquisite beyond words.

At this moment, she casually brushed her long hair aside and ignored Shen Minglang’s words as she reached for her glass.

But suddenly, a large hand stretched out and covered her glass.

Shen Qingning raised her head in puzzlement and saw Cheng Zhu’s well-defined face.

The two of them looked at each other. Cheng Zhu noticed that her eyes had a hint of drunkenness, making her look even more alluring.

At this moment, Shen Qingning gave off a strong sense of contrast.

Cheng Zhu didn’t drink from her glass directly. Instead, he silently poured her penalty drink into his glass and downed it in one go.

Since the rule was that if someone drank for another, they had to drink double, so he added more alcohol to his glass. After pouring the same amount, he raised his head and downed it again.

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed it down.

“Drink less,” he said simply to Shen Qingning after finishing the task.

With that, he turned around, walked away without saying another word to her, and returned to his seat.

Anything more would be unnecessary.