Su Yang looked at Tao Shu and asked, "By the way, if you drink, what are you going to do about your car later?"
"Just leave it here and pick it up tomorrow."
"That works."
"How's your alcohol tolerance?" Tao Shu asked, resting her chin on her hand as she looked at him.
"Me? I'm barely okay, I guess. I can't drink that much."
"Little lightweight."
"Little what?"
"Oh, I'm complimenting you," Tao Shu smiled, the corners of her lips curling up.
"Why doesn't it sound like a compliment to me? Don't use your local dialect to curse at me."
"I'm not, it really is a compliment."
"Tch, how old are you?" Su Yang asked.
"Don't you know you shouldn't casually ask a girl's age?"
"What, girls are special? Why can't I ask?"
Tao Shu rolled her eyes at him. "Typical clueless guy! Dense. Whatever, it doesn't matter if I tell you. I'm 21. You?"
"24, a few years older than you. Did you graduate from college at 21?"
"I didn't go to college."
"Really? Then what do you usually do?"
"Work. Ride my bike when I'm free, and do some live streaming when I'm in a good mood."
"You live stream?"
"I just do it for fun, I'm not a professional streamer."
Su Yang nodded. "Oh, oh, then what kind of work do you do?"
"Hmm, that's a secret."
"A secret?"
"Forget it, it doesn't matter if I tell you. My family arranged it."
"No wonder you didn't go to college. After all that, you just skipped that step and prepared to inherit the family business early, huh?"
Tao Shu rolled her eyes again. "My grades were bad, so I couldn't get into college! Plus, my family's business isn't some big corporation, so there's no such thing as inheriting a fortune."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, it's just a small media company, thirty people in total."
"That's still pretty good. Better than you having to go out and find a job yourself."
"It's just making do for now."
"But I didn't expect that you didn't go to college. You look a lot like a top student."
"Which eye of yours thinks I look like a top student? Are top students ever this pretty?"
"You're certainly not modest."
"It's just the truth."
"Badass."
"By the way, what's your TikTok account name? I'll follow you."
"Sure." Tao Shu smiled, took out her phone, opened TikTok, and showed him her profile.
Su Yang looked at it and laughed. "Little Peach?"
"Is there a problem?"
"Uh... no problem, good name." Su Yang said as he searched for it and hit follow.
Tao Shu's TikTok only had over 100 followers, so it seemed she really wasn't a professional streamer.
"What do you usually stream about?" Su Yang asked.
"Just chatting. I don't do this as my main thing, so I don't need to put on any talent shows. It doesn't matter if anyone watches or not."
"This name of yours... Driving a Sports Car to Buy Groceries? That's so tacky!!" Tao Shu frowned as she looked at her phone.
"When it's tacky to the extreme, it becomes trendy, understand?"
"I don't get it, it's too tacky." Tao Shu shook her head.
"Never mind that, follow me back."
"Alright."
The two added each other as friends on TikTok, and after chatting a bit more, the waiter finally started bringing over the various dishes.
"Excuse me, you two." The young waiter said as he turned on the heat. A round black pot was placed in the middle of the table.
The center of the pot was sunken in to hold the raw ingredients, while the outer ring was meant for placing the cooked food.
Looking at this pot he had never seen before, Su Yang smiled and asked, "Is this the special pot for griddle cooking?"
The young waiter smiled, "Yes, handsome. Our oldest Lin City griddles use this type of pot. Nowadays, there is also another type of round pot that bulges upward, but that's the style of neighboring Shui City."
"However, there are also many griddle places in Lin City that use that style."
Su Yang nodded. "Oh, oh, thanks for the info."
"Hehe, you're welcome." The waiter quickly placed the ingredients they had ordered into the pot.
After putting everything in, another waiter came over carrying a case of ice-cold beer and placed it by their feet.
"You two, everything you ordered is here."
"Great, thanks. We just wait for it to cook and then we can eat, right?"
"Yes, actually it's already half-cooked. You can eat in just a few minutes."
"Okay, thank you."
"You're welcome."
The two waiters turned and left, and Tao Shu got up to go get dipping sauces.
"What kind of dipping sauce do you want? I'll get it for you."
"What do they have?" Su Yang asked.
"They're all dry chili powder. There's mild, medium, extra spicy, as well as five-spice and garlic flavors."
"Then please get me an extra spicy one."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. Like I said, I can handle spicy food really well."
"Alright then, don't end up drooling from the spice later." Tao Shu smiled and went to get the dipping sauces.
Taking this opportunity, Su Yang looked around the small restaurant.
The place wasn't large, just two rooms, and the tables were placed very close to each other.
Right next to him was a table of female customers. There were four of them in total, all wearing miniskirts, crossing their legs, holding cigarettes in their hands, and boldly chugging from beer bottles.
At the neighboring tables, there were men who had taken off their shirts, their faces red from drinking, playing drinking games.
'The people of Lin City are so relaxed and uninhibited. So bold, how interesting.'
As Su Yang was thinking, Tao Shu returned carrying two small dishes of chili powder and sat down.
"Here, your extra spicy."
Su Yang took the dish and leaned in to smell it. "Whoa, this chili smells so good."
"The most important part of eating griddle food is the chili. Whether the chili is good or not determines if the restaurant's business will be good."
"Is that so? Then I really need to taste it."
"Don't rush, let's have a drink first," Tao Shu said as she took out two bottles of cold beer from the case by their feet and opened them.
Then she poured a glass for both herself and Su Yang.
"Come on, cheers."
"Cheers. From the looks of it, your alcohol tolerance is pretty good?"
Tao Shu downed her beer in one gulp and said proudly, "It's alright. Half a pound of liquor, and I can drink beer endlessly."
"Endlessly?" Su Yang asked back, not quite believing her.
"What? You don't believe me?"
Su Yang shook his head. "I don't believe it. I've never seen anyone who can drink endlessly."
"Then today I'll let you witness it. Hurry up and drink."
"Haha, alright." Su Yang tilted his head back and finished his drink.
Tao Shu immediately refilled his glass.
Seeing this, Su Yang thought to himself, 'She's got some skills, huh. I want to see just how much you can drink.'
The two ate and drank, occasionally bickering with each other.
Eating the delicious griddle food, immersed in the nightlife of Lin City, and having just finished taking care of a major matter, Su Yang was in a very good mood.
[Ding, detected that the host is currently in a comfortable mood and thoroughly enjoying the present moment. Rewarding 3,000,000.]
[Ding, detected that Tao Shu's affection level towards the host has increased to 50. Rewarding 2,000,000.]
Because Tao Shu poured drinks so quickly, the two of them finished the entire case of beer in less than an hour.
Su Yang sized Tao Shu up. Seeing that her face wasn't red and her breathing was completely steady, he thought to himself, 'Oh? She really is quite impressive.'
Tao Shu finished her last glass of beer, looked at the empty case, and said, "We're out of beer. Do you still want to drink?"
"Up to you."
"Oh? Looking at you, it seems you aren't feeling it at all. Didn't you say your tolerance was just average?"
"It is average. Mostly, you were the one drinking a lot."
"Then should we get another case?"
"Sure."
"Boss, bring us another case of beer!"
"Alright, coming right up!"
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
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.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
