First Marriage, No Experience (Thanks to the Master "Yellow Hero of the Untrodden Path")

"You've got way too much liquor here. Let's just keep it symbolic, alright?"

"Not a chance! Think you can just waltz in and take the bride? Heh, not that easy~"

Song Anquan didn't seem bothered, grinning as he replied, "Fine, then open this gate first. How are we supposed to come in and drink if you don’t let us through?"

"Alright, but no pushing! This is good liquor—spilling it would be a waste."

"Don’t worry, when it comes to drinking, folks from Tianhai Province never back down!"

"That’s the spirit! Open the gate!"

One of the three young men by the door smiled and pulled open the iron gate.

Song Anquan and the others quickly filed in.

Inside the courtyard, several more guys stepped forward to block their path. "Hey hey, where do you think you're going? Drink up first!"

"Drink it is—I’ll go first!" Song Anquan handed the bouquet in his hand to Song Da beside him, then picked up a small glass of baijiu and downed it in one go.

"Whooo!! Legend!! Keep going!"

Song Anquan laughed loudly. "Good stuff!" He grabbed another glass and emptied it just as fast.

"You can’t hog all the fun! Where are the groomsmen? Everyone else has to drink too—except the drivers! This is wedding liquor! It brings good luck!"

At that, Song Anquan’s two groomsmen and the other non-drivers squeezed forward to grab drinks and join in.

Song Da had a decent tolerance, and since Jiang Mengyun would drive them back later, he didn’t need to worry. He passed the bouquet to Chen Qi behind him and stepped up to help.

For a while, the crowd surged, cheers echoing across the courtyard.

Su Yang and Jiang Mengyun stood at the back of the group, smiling as they watched the scene unfold.

"That’s a lot of alcohol," Jiang Mengyun remarked casually.

Su Yang chuckled. "Yeah, but at least they’re being reasonable with the pours. Any more, and the groom might be too drunk to carry the bride later."

"But there’s so much of it. Look at all those bottles waiting behind them."

Su Yang jumped slightly to peer over the crowd. "If it gets bad, I’ll try to squeeze in and help. But they’re packed tight on both sides—we’re outnumbered. Still, it should be fine. Our guys aren’t fools; they’ll fake drinking if they have to."

Jiang Mengyun nodded. "Good thing we’re driving and don’t have to drink. I’d probably be puking after three glasses max."

"You seem like you can hold your liquor, though. Three glasses wouldn’t take you down, would they?" Su Yang teased.

"You’ve never even had a drink with me. How would you know?"

"Then how about we fix that sometime?"

"Sure~"

As they chatted, the table by the gate was cleared of all drinks within minutes.

Song Anquan and the others cheered, pushing further into the courtyard—only to be stopped by over a dozen people surging forward.

"Hold up, hold up!! One more round!! Finish this, and you can knock on the bride’s door~"

"Then let us through first! How are we supposed to drink otherwise?"

"Fine, let them pass!!"

The blockers scattered, allowing Song Anquan’s group to move to an open space in the middle.

A makeshift path about seven or eight meters long had been formed with benches, each side lined with glasses of liquor.

The dozen or so men grabbed drinks and gulped them down, a few toward the back discreetly dumping theirs—no one would notice in the chaos. They drank as they inched toward the main door.

Another few minutes later, as the last glass was emptied, the crowd erupted in cheers.

"Beast mode!!"

"Not bad, not bad! You actually finished! Consider the first challenge passed. Go ahead—knock!"

Song Anquan's face was already slightly flushed, but as the protagonist of the day, he couldn't afford to get drunk just yet. Two groomsmen with decent alcohol tolerance, along with Song Da, had been helping him drink quite a bit. So far, he’d only had about three or four ounces of liquor. Given his usual capacity of half a pound and his good condition today, the alcohol hadn’t hit him much—just a rosy tint on his cheeks.

With a cheerful smile, Song Anquan approached the front door of Wang Xiaoyan’s house and knocked, calling out, "Open up!!"

"You think they’ll just open the door because you yelled like that?" The relatives and friends watching nearby burst into laughter.

Song Anquan turned to them and asked, "Then how should I do it? It’s my first time getting married—no experience here!"

"Hahaha, you rascal! Sing a song for the bride inside first. What do you all say?" someone suggested.

As soon as the words were spoken, the crowd in the courtyard erupted in agreement: "Yes! Sing! Sing!"

Song Anquan rubbed his hands nervously. "Come on, can’t we do something else? I’m terrible at singing!"

"No way! You’ve got to sing something heartfelt. Doesn’t matter if it’s good—what matters is the bride hearing your sincerity!"

Helpless, Song Anquan glanced toward Su Yang, who was standing in the crowd.

Noticing his look, Su Yang quickly stepped up to the door and asked with a grin, "What’s up?"

"Bro, I remember you’re pretty good at singing. How about you do me a solid and sing for me?"

Su Yang shrugged. "I don’t mind, but you’ll have to see if they agree."

Song Anquan raised his voice to address the crowd. "Listen, folks, I really can’t sing. How about my friend here does it instead? He’s got a great voice."

Most of the crowd shouted back, "No way! It’s your wedding, not his. You’ve got to sing!"

However, a few young women in the courtyard gazed dreamily at Su Yang by the door and giggled, "It’s fine if the handsome guy sings instead~"

"Shush, no distractions! The groom sings!"

......

Seeing no way out, Song Anquan steeled himself and declared, "Fine! I’ll sing!"

After a moment’s thought, he turned to the door and belted out: "Go with the flow..."

The second the first line left his mouth, Su Yang’s eyes widened, and he rushed forward to clamp a hand over Song Anquan’s mouth. "What the—?! They asked for a love song! You think this’ll get you in?!"

"Uh... sorry, that lyric just popped into my head," Song Anquan admitted sheepishly.

Su Yang shot him a sidelong glance and stepped back. "Try again."

"Alright, alright."

After a brief pause, Song Anquan took a deep breath and launched into another song.

"I love you! Love you! Just like the old..."

Hearing this, Su Yang facepalmed and shook his head in resignation.

After a few lines, Song Anquan turned to the crowd. "Happy now?"

"Eh, good enough. We’ll let it slide."

......

Next, Song Anquan pulled out a stack of red envelopes and started slipping them through the door crack. After answering three questions from the women inside, the door finally creaked open—just a sliver.

But that was all the opening the crowd needed. A dozen people immediately rushed the door, slamming against it five or six times until it burst open.

Once inside, Song Anquan grabbed a handful of red envelopes from his black backpack and tossed them into the crowd. While everyone scrambled for the money, he seized the moment, dodged past the chaos, and bolted for the staircase to the second floor.

Seeing this, the people behind shouted, "What the hell are you guys doing?? The groom's making a run for it!!"

"Stop him!"

"Relax, there's one last checkpoint at the upstairs room door~"