At that moment, Qiao Lianhu and Xia Li exchanged a glance.
Xia Li said calmly, “Drink up, we lost.”
Qiao Lianhu nodded and picked up a bottle of beer to start drinking, but Xia Li didn’t join in.
The others didn’t say much either. After all, the rule was that the losing side had to finish all the remaining drinks, but it didn’t matter who actually drank them.
Zhao Rui quickly finished a bottle, then plopped down on the sofa, waiting for Kong Fang and Qiao Lianhu to finish their drinks.
After a few seconds, Meng Wenzhou pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
He exhaled a puff of smoke, then looked at Zhao Rui and said, “Brother Zhao, don’t forget—you’re covering everyone’s tab tonight.”
Zhao Rui shook his head with a smile. “Don’t worry, Young Master Meng, I can still afford this.”
“That’s good.”
Zhao Rui glanced at Su Yang. “You’re Su Yang, right?”
“That’s me. What’s it to you?” Su Yang replied coolly.
Zhao Rui scratched his nose and chuckled, “Nothing much. Just didn’t expect you to be so strong—you actually took down my friend in an instant. Looks like you’re not an ordinary guy, huh?”
Su Yang was momentarily taken aback, then smiled. “If I’m not ordinary, then what am I? Superman?”
“Heh, I meant you must have trained, right?”
“In what way? Arm wrestling? Or something else?”
“Obviously more than just arm wrestling. Your skills must be pretty good too, right?”
Hearing this, Su Yang knew he was being tested.
He smiled and said, “Not bad, I know a few moves. Handling street thugs is no problem.”
Zhao Rui laughed heartily. “Haha, good, good. Then our loss isn’t unjust.”
Bang!
Qiao Lianhu finished the last bottle of beer and set it down on the table.
Kong Fang almost simultaneously finished his bottle as well.
Su Yang and the others turned to look.
There had been twelve bottles left on the table just moments ago, and these two had split them evenly—six bottles each.
Yet, after finishing, both still looked perfectly fine, showing no signs of being affected, even after having already drunk quite a bit earlier.
Su Yang thought to himself, ‘These guys are seriously tough. Chugging six bottles in a row without any reaction—no wonder Zhao Rui was so cocky before.’
Meng Wenzhou clapped his hands as he stood up, laughing, “Impressive, impressive. Alright, the drinks are done, the game’s over, let’s head out.”
“Wait.”
Just as everyone stood up to leave, Zhao Rui suddenly reached out and stopped Meng Wenzhou.
Liu Bo’s expression changed, ready to step forward, but Zhao Rui smiled and said, “Hold on, Young Master Meng.”
Meng Wenzhou looked at Zhao Rui with a calm expression. “What? Not had your fun yet?”
“Heh, the drinks are almost done, but the game’s not over yet.”
“Then you guys keep playing. We have other things to attend to, so we won’t keep you.”
No sooner had Meng Wenzhou finished speaking than Kong Fang quickly stepped in front of everyone and held out his hand to block them.
This move stunned not only Meng Wenzhou and his group but also Xia Li, who was standing beside Zhao Rui.
However, she reacted quickly. Rising to her feet, she looked at Zhao Rui with a serious expression and said, “Zhao Rui, what are you doing?”
Zhao Rui’s face turned grave as he stood up and faced the others.
Liu Bo’s fist clenched, ready to strike at any moment.
Suddenly, Zhao Rui’s face changed as he burst out laughing, “Hahaha, just kidding with you all!!”
“Kong Fang, step aside. Meng Shao, you dare to stop me? You think you’ve got a death wish?”
Kong Fang, expressionless, silently stepped aside.
Zhao Rui quickly walked up to Meng Wenzhou and Su Yang, chuckling, “Hehe, sorry about that, Meng Shao, Brother Su. Just joking around. I was afraid you’d leave too quickly, so I wanted to get your contact info. Mind if I add you?”
Su Yang and Meng Wenzhou exchanged a glance. “Sure, go ahead.”
Meng Wenzhou pulled out his phone as he said, “Zhao Rui, I’ll remember you.”
“Oh, Meng Shao, it’s an honor to be remembered by you! Hehe, come on, let me scan yours.”
Meng Wenzhou opened his WeChat QR code, and Zhao Rui quickly scanned it to add him.
Then he turned to Su Yang, “Brother Su, your turn.”
*Beep~*
After the three had added each other on WeChat, Meng Wenzhou looked at Zhao Rui coolly, “Now can we leave?”
“Of course, of course, Meng Shao and friends, please feel free. Oh, just wait a minute.” Zhao Rui said as he turned to wave at a nearby waiter.
“Hey, handsome, come over here.”
The waiter smiled brightly and hurried over, asking, “What can I do for you, gentlemen?”
“Nothing much, just wanted to let you know that for all the tables here tonight, you can add up the bills and tell me later—I’m picking up the tab.”
“Ah??” The waiter froze on the spot, stunned. In all his years on the job, this was the first time he’d encountered such a situation.
“Are you stupid? Don’t you understand what I’m saying? Go calculate it now. Up to this moment, all the bills are on me.”
Zhao Rui said that and no longer paid attention to the waiter. He looked at Meng Wenzhou with a smile, “See, Meng Shao? I keep my word, hehe.”
“All right, then we’re off.”
“Okay, Meng Shao, take care. Let’s meet again sometime.”
The group walked forward, ignoring Zhao Rui. When Meng Wenzhou and Su Yang reached Xia Li’s side,
Meng Wenzhou stopped and smiled at Xia Li, “We’re leaving first.”
“Meng Shao, take care. Sorry about today. When you have time, I’ll treat you to a meal myself.”
“No need to be so polite.”
“Su Yang, when you have time, I’ll treat you to a meal too~” Xia Li gave Su Yang a coquettish smile.
Su Yang smiled back, “There’ll be a chance. Let’s go.”
Without looking back, the group walked out of the bar.
After Su Yang and the others left, Zhao Rui plopped down next to Xia Li and said, “Meng Wenzhou… what’s your relationship with him?”
“Nothing much. We’ve met a few times before. Oh, and a heads-up: you’d better not mess with him. He’s not someone you can afford to provoke.”
Zhao Rui laughed indifferently, “Heh, of course I know that. Otherwise, do you think they’d have walked out of here so easily today?”
“As long as you know. I even have to give him some face, let alone you.”
Zhao Rui narrowed his eyes and glanced toward the bar entrance, saying quietly, “What’s his old man’s name again? Meng Jianyun, right?”
“Yeah.”
"Alright, I’ve got it. And that guy named Su Yang—I’ve got him marked too."
"Why do you need to remember him? He’s just a friend of Meng Wenzhou," Xia Li said, puzzled.
"Heh, he’s not just anyone. Your judgment’s off if you can’t see that," came the reply.
"I honestly don’t see what’s so special about him. Besides being a bit better looking and a bit stronger, what else is there?"
"Heh, it’s not that simple. He took down Kong Fang effortlessly and has trained before—his skills must be top-notch. Do you really think someone like that is ordinary?"
Xia Li’s eyes narrowed as she pondered for a few seconds, then she smiled faintly. "Interesting. Alright, if I cross paths with him again, we’ll see. I’m heading out now."
"The contract matter?" Zhao Rui asked hurriedly.
"I’ll sign it back in Modu."
"Heh, good! Take care, Sister Xia~"
Xia Li grabbed her small bag, twisted it in her hands, and walked out of the tavern. Qiao Lianhu quickly followed behind.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
