Although Li Zhi spoke forcefully, his words couldn’t dispel the crowd’s suspicions.
"Fine, I’ll drink! I don’t believe it. It’s got to be water."
The young man took a cup and drained it in one gulp.
"Quick, tell us! Was it water or liquor?"
the others asked.
"Damn it, it really is liquor! It’s so strong it’s killing ."
The young man hadn’t expected it to actually be liquor.
"Let try too. I refuse to believe it. They can’t all be liquor."
Another young man also picked up a cup. They had all been speculating that so of the cups had to contain water, not liquor. But when he took a drink, his cup contained liquor too.
"You guys try, too."
After he finished, he saw there were two more small cups on the tray and urged the others to try them.
Li Zhi started to get anxious. There were four small cups on the tray—two with water and two with liquor. He, Sun Jiaming, and Gu’er knew the trick. The main concern was that Jia Ming and Gu’er would have to drink, so they had mostly been given water. The liquor was just for show, to avoid suspicion. ’But now,’ he thought, ’the two remaining cups are both water. Won’t the secret be out as soon as soone tries them?’
Li Zhi tried to stop them but failed. Two n snatched the cups and drank them down.
Li Zhi was frantic, but he couldn’t snatch the cups back. Sun Jiaming and Gu’er remained silent. ’Even if they find out it’s water, it’s not a big deal,’ he reasoned. ’They’ll just complain for a bit and make us drink a couple of penalty shots, that’s all.’
Dingzi said nothing, rely staring intently at the two n who had just drunk the water from the cups.
His gaze was chilling, like that of a ravenous, venomous snake.
’I know I shouldn’t describe Dingzi like that,’ Gu’er thought, ’but that’s the feeling I get. It’s like he’s watching his prey, ready to lunge and kill it with his venomous fangs the second it moves.’
The two young n who drank the water knew what it was the mont it touched their lips. One of them was about to shout when he t Dingzi’s gaze. A shiver ran down his spine. His feeling was different from Gu’er’s. ’To , Li Zhi is like a leopard. If I dare say it’s water, he’ll probably tear to shreds.’
He didn’t know what Dingzi did for a living, and Dingzi hardly ever spoke, but he feared him from the bottom of his heart.
"It’s... liquor."
The young man swallowed the water and changed his answer to "liquor."
The other man felt the sa way and quickly nodded. "Liquor. It’s really liquor."
Once they said that, the others naturally believed them. Even the one or two who still had their doubts didn’t voice them.
"I told you it was liquor, and you all still made a fuss. Now you believe , right?"
Only then did Li Zhi let out a long sigh of relief, his voice growing louder.
"The bride can really hold her liquor! She’s almost as good as my mom. My mom is a beast—she can drink a whole liter by herself."
"Get outta here. The bride is as pretty as a flower. What are you doing comparing her to your mom?"
soone chided him.
"Alright, alright, that’s enough of the wedding gas. If you’ve got nothing better to do, go drink with the bride’s family. Rember to drink a few of them under the table. Don’t lose face for us."
Li Zhi clapped one of them on the shoulder, giving them their instructions.
After a full round of toasts, Gu’er wasn’t feeling very well. Though she wasn’t drunk, having a stomach full of water was uncomfortable. She took the opportunity when no one was watching to slip away to the restroom.
"Gu’er."
Not far from the restroom, Li Zhi waved Gu’er over.
Gu’er hurried over to him.
"Zhou Mazi showed up with a few guys. We stopped them and got them into a car on the side. I ca to ask you what we should do about it."
Li Zhi whispered to Gu’er. His intention was to just get rid of them, but he was afraid Gu’er might feel a lingering sense of obligation, so he ca to check with her first.
"Are you sure it’s Zhou Mazi?"
Gu’er frowned.
"Yeah, I went and saw for myself. It’s him. I asked around. Zhou Mazi was gambling and owes so people money. He’s got nothing left at ho, so he told them he’d hand over Zhou Feng’er and Zhou Duo’er to them. But because of what happened last ti, the creditors didn’t dare to accept, so Zhou Mazi brought them here. He knows you and Jia Ming are getting married today—everyone in the village knows, there’s no hiding it. He brought these guys here to get money from you. He figured that in front of so many people, you’d be too embarrassed to refuse and would just pay up. If you don’t, he’ll have them cause a scene. He even said he’d drag Li Hua back to be his wife again. Those creditors followed him here to get their money. I had so people stationed outside. They noticed them acting all sneaky, and when they were questioned, their story fell apart. That’s when we grabbed them."
"Have your n send them back to the village. And have them tell those creditors that I have nothing to do with Zhou Mazi. If they dare co looking for or my mom for his gambling debts, we’ll have them thrown in jail. Those types bully the weak and fear the strong; they definitely won’t dare to co back after that. And tell Zhou Mazi that if he ever dares to co to the city looking for us again, we’ll break his legs."
Gu’er’s words were rciless, but compared to Zhou Mazi, she truly wasn’t rciless at all. Zhou Mazi was less than human. Even if Zhou Duo’er wasn’t a good person, how old was she? Only fourteen, yet he was talking about selling her off.
"Great, your word is all I need. I’ll go tell them right now. Ti to teach them a lesson they won’t forget."
Li Zhi nodded excitedly. He had been afraid Gu’er would be soft-hearted.
"Thank you."
Gu’er thanked Li Zhi. If he and his n hadn’t been so thoughtful as to arrange people beforehand, it would have been a real disaster if Zhou Mazi had caused a scene today.
"Look at you. Why be so polite with ?"
After speaking, Li Zhi gave Gu’er a deep look, then left.
As Gu’er watched Li Zhi leave, she started walking back toward the main hall. But from nearby, a girl erged. She stared at Gu’er’s back, a sinister sneer in her eyes.
Gu’er returned to the banquet, found a table, and sat down to have a few bites of food.
Of course, she didn’t eat her fill. After eating a little, she returned to the Sun Family’s ho with a few other people.
As for the tasks of cleaning up and packing the leftover food, they had nothing to do with her.
Gu’er spent the entire afternoon just going through the motions and dealing with guests.
After dinner, many people were still at the Sun Family’s ho. So even wanted to continue the wedding night hazing, but Li Zhi and his friends stopped them.
Darkness fell, and the night grew quiet.
Gu’er could no longer hear any noise from outside.
Sun Jiaming pushed the door open and ca in, placing the bowl in his hands on the table.
"You must be hungry. I had Aunt Zhao make you a bowl of noodles."
Sun Jiaming went to pull Gu’er over. He had originally wanted to cook the noodles for her himself, but Aunt Zhao found him and chased him out of the kitchen. By the ti Li Zhi and the others left, the noodles were ready, so he brought them to Gu’er.
Gu’er was indeed hungry. She had only had a single bite during dinner. Now, slling the fragrant aroma of the noodles, her stomach started to rumble.
"Brother Jia Ming, eat with . This bowl is so big, I can’t finish it all by myself."
Gu’er looked at Sun Jiaming. He certainly hadn’t eaten properly either. She could still sll the alcohol on him; he must have drunk quite a lot.
"Alright."
Sun Jiaming didn’t stand on ceremony. The two of them finished the bowl of noodles together.
After they washed up and got into bed, Gu’er wrapped herself tightly in the quilt. She knew what was coming next, but she was a little scared.
Just as Sun Jiaming was about to co over, Gu’er, blushing, called out for him to turn off the lights. Sun Jiaming chuckled and switched them off.
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Thanks to reader 140525141926461 for the monthly ticket. There will be a bonus Chapter tomorrow for the He Shi Bi.
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