Chapter 212 Shanghai Trip 1: Drinking Contest

The trip to Shanghai begins.

We set off at 9 am on June 11th. Everyone brought some luggage. The driver, Xiao Ruan, opened the back cover and took out the luggage one by one, neatly stacked them.

Xiao Ma sat in the front passenger seat. Mr. Chen and I sat in the first row, and Lao Xiao and Zhang Qingruo sat in the second row.

The car drove towards the suburban highway entrance.

Mr. Chen said, "Eat well, drink well, and have fun along the way. But Lao Xiao, you and Qing Ruo must learn the lessons well. Ask them how they built the 5A-level hotel, ask them accurately, and remember them in detail."

Lao Xiao said, "When it comes to learning the scriptures (essence), Mr. Zhang has an advantage over me."

Others didn't dare to laugh. I couldn't help laughing. Then others started laughing.

Zhang Qingruo said, "Teacher Wan, please tell us something useful. Mr. Xiao can't spit out ivory from his mouth."

Mr. Chen responded: "That's a good suggestion."

"What can I say that is useful?"

Mr. Chen said, "It's just like when we launched a new book in April. They are all reporters, and you answer their questions."

Zhang Qingruo said, "That's great. Everyone asked about it, except Xiao Ruan."

Everyone started asking questions, all sorts of questions, and I answered them one by one. The atmosphere became more and more lively, and even Secretary Ma kept asking a question:

"When my dad gets up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, he always coughs a few times first. He asks me to do the same. Why is that?"

"This is called the mutual avoidance of yin and yang. At night, the yin energy is strong, and wandering ghosts and spirits roam everywhere. Coughing a few times is a sign that you need to go to the bathroom."

Zhang Qingruo said: "My mother is even more bizarre. When I got on the bus, she saw five women on it and immediately got me off and told me to wait for the next one. When I asked her about it, she wouldn't tell me."

"These are called 'Seven Evils'. Five plus you two make seven."

"Isn't this pure superstition? Seven women means something's bound to happen? Who's ever done statistics?"

I laughed and said, "Many disasters have occurred in history, such as major car accidents and shipwrecks, and there were seven women on board. It doesn't mean that something will definitely happen, because life only comes once. You have to understand your mother."

“She’s still a teacher.”

"Teachers read a lot, so there are taboos. If you find a peasant woman, she can only squeeze into the car and never get off."

Everyone laughed.

Xiao Ruan also joined in, saying, "I was driving once, and there was a funeral procession in front of me. I couldn't overtake it, and a piece of paper money flew onto my windshield.

That year, I had a particularly bad time.

So, if I encounter this situation now, I will just take a detour."

I said, "Anytime there's a funeral procession, you might run into one. There's paper money on the road, and the wind or passing cars can blow it up. Your best bet is to quickly overtake the funeral procession."

"What if we meet?"

"Pull over immediately, remove the paper money, then put your hands together and chant: 'God bless you, may all things be well.' When you get home, buy some paper money and burn it facing that direction."

Mr. Chen coughed, and Xiao Ruan didn't dare to ask any more questions.

Lao Xiao said, "Over at Rising Sun Villa, there's often a cat meowing. It sounds like a baby crying. What's that?"

"You must not chase this cat away."

"That's annoying."

"Hate it if you want, it will go away naturally after a while."

"Why does it cry like crying?"

I deliberately kept silent.

Everyone urged: "Is there any mystery in this?"

"It's in heat."

Everyone burst into laughter when they heard it.

I said, "Some taboos do need to be observed, but if they're too strict, it becomes difficult to follow through. For example, Buddhists emphasize not killing. But I feel like they're killing animals every day."

Even Mr. Chen was interested in this topic and said, "My mother-in-law is a Buddhist and never kills."

I said, "Is she going out?"

"That's definitely going to happen."

"I kill animals every time I go out. I don't know how many ants I step on."

Everyone laughed again.

Lao Xiao asked: "So what exactly do you mean?"

"Those who believe have it, and those who don't believe don't have it. You must always adhere to the principle that you either believe or you don't. Sometimes you believe, sometimes you don't, and that will cause you endless troubles."

Mr. Chen said: "In the big picture, you still have to believe."

After chatting all the way, we arrived at the first scenic spot for our investigation and study - Mingyue Mountain in Jiangxi.

This place is known as a "natural oxygen bar".

We stayed at the Metropark International Hotel. Zhang Qingruo was an expert at this sort of thing; she had already booked the room online and had the key card. When I walked in, I was in high spirits.

Not only are the exterior walls pure milky white, but the interior walls are also spotlessly white. As for the quilt and pillows on the bed, they are both white and soft.

After lunch and a nap, Mr. Chen took Lao Xiao and Zhang Ruoqing to a meeting with the scenic area manager in the afternoon, asking him to share his experience.

For dinner, Mr. Liu, a local friend of Mr. Chen, came and invited us to have dinner at a farm house.

Mr. Liu also brought a woman with him.

The woman was indeed good-looking.

She had long hair like a waterfall, a standard oval face, and a pair of charming fox eyes. Halfway through her drink, perhaps because it was too hot, she took off her coat.

She can drink, and is a "drinker" brought in by Mr. Liu, targeting Mr. Chen. Mr. Chen is not very good with alcohol, so I had to step in to deal with him.

My goodness, she has so many requests, such as drinking face-to-face wine or drinking from a cup-to-cup relationship. Drinking from a cup-to-cup relationship is better, but drinking face-to-face wine means two people face each other, looking into each other's eyes, and whoever looks away first drinks.

My grandparents had a flushed face, blurred eyes, the smell of alcohol from their mouths, and the scent of perfume from their bodies were hard to resist.

I played for a while, grabbed a bottle of white wine, and said, "I'm not going to play with you anymore. I lose. I'll drink a bottle as punishment."

He filled two cups with white wine and I started drinking.

After finishing the first drink, Mr. Liu and the woman were dumbfounded.

As I picked up my second cup, Mr. Liu actually came over and grabbed my hand: "Brother, we're just having fun. Don't take it seriously."

I said, "As Mr. Chen's friend, how can I go back on my word?", then I pulled his hand away and gulped down the drink.

They no longer dared to compete with me in drinking and continued eating, which was finished in less than ten minutes.

After the banquet, Mr. Liu invited us to sing. Mr. Chen clasped his hands together and said he was tired because he hadn't rested well on the way. Everyone also said I sang too much and needed to be helped back to rest.

After getting in the car, Mr. Chen kept a sullen face. After driving two or three miles, he said, "I'm sorry, everyone, this meal wasn't enjoyable."

Lao Xiao said: "I'm happy."

Mr. Chen said, "Mr. Liu was indeed a very good friend of mine. I haven't seen him for more than ten years. I didn't expect him to change so much and bring such a prostitute to accompany his guests."

Old Xiao consoled him, "It's okay. She's not necessarily a prostitute. Local customs vary. Some places just like this, and we're all used to it. It's just that Mr. Wan Shanhong wasn't very good at what he did. He was defeated by this fierce woman."

Everyone laughed, and Zhang Qingruo said, "You mean you can drink cheek-to-cheek wine with him?"

Everyone burst into laughter again.

Mr. Chen said, "Shanhong performed exceptionally well. If he hadn't come forward, the situation would have been even more embarrassing. After all, it's better to see friends less often after more than a decade. I wonder what's become of him."

Back at the hotel, I took a nice hot spring bath. After the bath, my pores opened up, and I covered myself with a thin quilt, turned on the air conditioner, and fell asleep on the soft bed.

In the middle of the night, the fox-eyed girl knocked on the door and came in wrapped in a bath towel.

When I woke up from the dream, my face was blushing.