Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Tina stared at him in surprise. “You’re choosing to withdraw while you’re still relatively sober?”

“Yes,” Chen Nuo said.

“What are you thinking, Chen Nuo?” Ruirui asked. “Even if you don’t drink this glass, you don’t have to withdraw. You could keep your total from the last round and take the sobriety test later!”

“Because my head is spinning, and it’s getting worse…” Chen Nuo did not want to explain any further. He turned to Tina. “Since I’ve withdrawn, I can use the restroom now, can’t I?”

“Yes, you can.”

Chen Nuo entered the men’s room. The first thing he did was push his index finger deep into his throat and trigger his gag reflex.

After several dry heaves, he vomited violently. His breakfast and the four liang of high-proof baijiu he had just drunk surged out of his stomach. He emptied it all at once, then splashed cold water over his face. His head cleared immediately.

He was grateful for one thing: even in his drunken state, he had made the correct choice.

If he continued drinking, he would inevitably end up so drunk that he collapsed. By withdrawing, however, he could vomit, wash his face, and keep his mind clear.

He could use the remaining time to think and try to predict what the sobriety test might be. If he could determine even the general direction, he could tell Ruirui and Zhang and help them decide whether to keep drinking.

In other words, they needed someone sober to judge when they should stop and how far they could safely go. Right now, Chen Nuo was the only person who could fill that role.

With his strategy decided, he strode out of the restroom. He surveyed the room and counted the players in his mind.

Ten people had withdrawn: Chen Nuo himself, Tang Ying, the tall, thin Liu, Shu Yanjun, Shu Ke, Xiang Meiling, Saisi, Liu Dashan, Bie Shuiyin, and Bie Menghan. The twin sisters had failed to finish the first round and had therefore withdrawn without a score.

Two others had clearly stated that they could drink no more, leaving their totals at the first round: the curly-haired Guan and Che Dongming.

Five could still continue: Hong Long, Ruirui, the round-faced Zhang, Thomas Feng, and Lv Chao.

Judging by their condition, Thomas Feng and Lv Chao were already running on fumes. Their totals would most likely end with the second round.

Hong Long addressed Song Xue. “So, little sister, are we drinking again or listening to another story?”

“You still want to hear me ramble?” Song Xue asked.

Hong Long chuckled. “Truth be told, I once had feelings for a drinking hostess too. It didn’t work out for us. But you and Zhao Bo actually got married. I want to know whether you kept working as a hostess afterward.”

Song Xue shook her head. “No. Later, I opened a shop and ran a respectable business. Our married life was much the same as any other couple’s. We told people we had chosen to remain childless, but the truth was that several abortions when I was young damaged my body. I couldn’t have children.

“Because of that, Zhao Bo’s mother, my mother-in-law, repeatedly urged him to divorce me. I didn’t blame her. Older people want grandchildren. Naturally, she was unhappy that her son had married a woman who couldn’t give her any. Worse, she hired someone to investigate what I used to do and why I was infertile. That was how she learned I had been a drinking hostess.”

Ruirui had become absorbed in the story too. “How did she react?”

“She tied a rope to a ceiling beam and told Zhao Bo that if he didn’t divorce me, she would hang herself immediately.”

“Oh… What did Zhao Bo do?”

Song Xue did not answer. Tears poured down her face. After a long silence, she choked out the words.

“My husband told her, ‘Mom, if you hang yourself, I’ll hang myself immediately afterward. But I will never divorce Song Xue. She is the only wife I will ever accept in this life!'”
The alcohol had made Ruirui sentimental. Her eyes reddened.

“Your husband really was a good man…”

“But I killed him,” Song Xue said.

“Was the trip to Xiangji Island your idea?” Ruirui asked.

“No. No one could have imagined coming here would lead to this. I mean… I drove him out of the hotel and made him the first person to die! If I hadn’t, he would still be alive!”

“You drove him out?” Ruirui knew Zhao Bo had left the hotel, but not why.

“Yes. On our first day here, Zhao Bo invited me to go swimming after breakfast. But he slipped away without telling me and went to the massage area on the tenth floor. When I found him in one of the massage rooms, he was completely naked while two beautiful women massaged him. I lost my temper. I dragged him out, cursed at him, and said some vicious things. He got angry and decided to leave the hotel to clear his head. Then…”

The scene from several days earlier surfaced in Song Xue’s mind again. She sobbed so hard she could barely speak.

“I regret it so much… Why couldn’t I calm down and control myself? I called him a bastard and a piece of shit… I only said those things because I was angry. The truth is, he was better to me than anyone else in the world. I’ll never find another man like him. Even if he went for a massage and enjoyed some sexual services, what did it matter? It was legal here… Besides, what kind of decent woman was I? Back when I worked as a hostess, if a customer paid my overnight fee, I slept with him… What right did I have to blame my husband? But none of that matters now…”

Song Xue finally broke down, wailing as the alcohol released all the grief and anguish she had suppressed over the past several days.

“Ms. Song Xue, please restrain your grief. No matter what happened, the game still has to continue,” Tina said.

“I know.” Song Xue wiped away her tears with her palm. “I chose a drinking contest partly because I used to be a hostess and already had a high tolerance. But the main reason was that I wanted to get completely drunk.”

She turned and searched the liquor cabinet. After a moment, she found a bottle and took it down.

“This time, let’s drink until we can’t drink anymore.”

“What is that? Something foreign?” Hong Long asked.

“Yes. Even I’ve never tried it. I only heard how famous it was when I worked in nightclubs. Polish distilled vodka, ninety-six percent alcohol.”

“Ninety-six percent?” The round-faced Zhang cried in horror. “Can people even drink that? One sip would probably knock someone out!”

“I’ve heard that people with low tolerance can pass out just from smelling it. I don’t know if that’s an exaggeration, so let’s find out today. Two hundred milliliters. All right?” Song Xue asked.

“Two hundred milliliters… Another four liang? And we have to down it in one go?” For the first time, fear showed on Hong Long’s face. “Are you insane? Drinking that much liquor this strong at once could kill someone.”

“I don’t care.” Grief filled Song Xue’s expression. “Honestly, winning isn’t that important to me. I got my husband killed. If I return home alone, I won’t be able to face my mother-in-law. If I drink myself to death, I can join my husband in the next world. Didn’t he come to see me as a ghost last night? Perhaps he missed me… I miss him too.”

“Is that your decision? Then for the third round, two hundred milliliters of Polish distilled vodka at ninety-six percent alcohol,” Tina announced to the five remaining players. “Raise your hand if you can drink it!”

This time, no one raised a hand. They all seemed terrified.

It appears my brilliant performance convinced them. They believed every word of my story, Song Xue thought with secret delight.