Chapter 444: Plastic Brothers

Li Xinfang pondered for a moment: The expert's character is this poor?

"Assistant Li, what kind of expert is he?"

Li Zhen said nothing: If I don't call him an expert, do I dare call him a leader here?

Li Xinfang understood in a second, blinking her eyes: "Did that person say anything else?"

Li Zhen sighed.

The words that followed were disgusting: It was basically asking Lin Sicheng if, after the banquet ended, he could let him come to his room and "assist" him too. What was even more disgusting was that after saying it, he smiled provocatively: Teacher Lin, just a joke, you wouldn't mind, would you?

He must have thought Lin Sicheng needed something from him, so he used the alcohol as an excuse to make a request in a joking tone, assuming Lin Sicheng wouldn't refuse. But he didn't expect Lin Sicheng's reaction to be so intense...

Li Zhen still didn't speak, but Li Xinfang guessed for herself, smacking her lips: "Lin Sicheng really splashed it?"

Li Zhen nodded: With so many people watching, could it be fake?

If Teacher (Shang Yan) hadn't seen the situation quickly and grabbed his other hand at the time, Lin Sicheng would have backhanded him across the face. Li Xinfang was stunned for a long while: Not only did he splash, but Lin Sicheng was also prepared to hit him?

Usually, he feels gentle and mild-mannered. I didn't expect his temper to be so fiery when encountering trouble.

She made a "tsk" sound: "Since it was a farewell banquet, there must have been a lot of people there?"

Li Zhen nodded again: More than just a lot?

District and city levels, industry, cultural relics, culture, tourism, etc. —as long as it was a relevant department, basically everyone came, sitting at about eight or nine tables. Lin Sicheng, Dean Su, and Professor Shang sat at the main table, and the remaining assistants sat nearby. All around were the leaders of these departments. They watched, wide-eyed and caught off guard, as Lin Sicheng splashed a glass of wine on him. Lin Sicheng originally wanted to teach him a lesson, but Professor Shang held him too tightly; when he tried to pull his other hand away, he couldn't, and then she hurriedly dragged him back two steps, so Lin Sicheng let it go.

At the time, he also smiled: Leader, sorry, I drank a bit too much, my hand was shaking.

Actually, that night, Lin Sicheng hadn't drunk a single glass of wine...

With a "whoosh," Li Xinfang's eyes looked as if lightbulbs had been installed, staring straight at Li Zhen's face.

At first, Li Zhen could feign naturalness, but after a few seconds, her gaze began to drift.

"Doctor Li, what are you looking at me for?"

What else could it be for?

At that time, Lin Sicheng hadn't even graduated with his bachelor's degree, and the Intangible Cultural Heritage Center and the Research Center only existed in his imagination. The school's support was nowhere near as strong, and as for district governments or cultural departments, there wasn't even a shadow of them.

It meant his career had just started, and it was the most difficult time. And Tongchuan was the first stop for his field study; for Lin Sicheng, it was truly, truly important.

But for the sake of Li Zhen, he risked a falling out and a total break, resolutely splashing that glass of wine—how much courage does that take?

What, too exaggerated?

From childhood to adulthood, Li Xinfang has seen too much: in order to close a deal, or even just for a bit of petty profit, some bastards even offer up their girlfriends and wives.

Let alone a mere assistant?

Not to mention whether Lin Sicheng had feelings for Li Zhen at that time, just looking at that age, how many people have that kind of sense of responsibility?

The key is that at that time, Lin Sicheng was still just a piece of uncut jade wrapped in stone, nowhere near as dazzling as he is now.

But by that time, Li Zhen had already been following him in his startup for over half a year and already had enough understanding of Lin Sicheng, including his ability and talent. And the two were basically together every day, inseparable and close.

Therefore, Li Xinfang really couldn't understand: With such a man, such ability, such character, such looks, and such a sense of responsibility, plus enough opportunities, how did Li Zhen manage to keep Lin Sicheng until now, completely intact, without losing a single hair?

"Assistant Li, you really are... the opportunity was given to you, but you couldn't grasp it." Li Xinfang sighed, "Look at Gu Ming?"

If she were Li Zhen, Lin Sicheng wouldn't have been able to leave her room that night...

Li Zhen didn't quite understand: What about Gu Ming?

After thinking for a long while, she finally reacted, and with a "whoosh," her face turned completely red.

Her tongue seemed even more tied: "It's... it's... not the same?"

It is indeed different: Gu Ming doesn't have Lin Sicheng's strong ability, nor his clever brain, and even less his calm temperament. Even when the two are together, one feels that Gu Ming is incredibly dense.

But if you compare him after leaving Lin Sicheng, whether it's character, integrity, ability to handle affairs, experience in worldly wisdom, or intelligence, Gu Ming is definitely among the top tier of his peers.

The key is that he has responsibility, spirit, and dares to take charge. Therefore, Li Xinfang acted without hesitation, without looking back...

"It is indeed different, because Lin Sicheng is more outstanding!" Li Xinfang sighed, "I think: in order to pursue happiness, there is nothing to be embarrassed about; the key is to have the courage to go all out and dare to take a gamble."

At least, she won her gamble...

Li Zhen remained silent: Li Xinfang is using a false analogy; it has nothing to do with having courage or daring to gamble.

She shook her head: "People are different!"

Lin Sicheng is not Gu Ming, and Li Zhen is not Li Xinfang...

Li Xinfang didn't know how to refute: Oranges grown south of the Huai River are oranges, but north of the Huai River they become trifoliate oranges...

She sighed and changed the subject: "They should be arriving soon, right?"

Li Zhen nodded: "Soon!"

In the rather large residential complex, the curbs on both sides of the entrance were packed with cars.

There were a great many guests, in groups of three or five, seven or eight, standing far away to watch the excitement.

Further ahead was the main gate of the complex, which had been specially decorated with a bright red square archway. On both sides were two lines of poetry: Three generations of heroes passed down the bow and horse, the Hu family's tiger daughter wears the long rainbow. Today she sheds her armor to don the rosy clouds, still bearing a heroic spirit to protect her beloved mate!

The Santana stopped, and Lin Sicheng and Gu Ming got out of the car, looking at the archway and exchanging a glance: It feels like this poem has some meaning behind it.

"Shedding armor today" refers to the bride taking off her uniform and putting on a wedding dress. But the first line, "Three generations of heroes passed down the bow and horse": Director Hu counts as one generation, so who were the two generations before him?

Lin Sicheng pondered for a moment: "Is the cousin-in-law's grandfather still alive?"

"Long gone!" Gu Ming sighed, "A veteran of the Vietnam War, he was seriously injured and passed away in the nineties!"

"What rank?"

"I heard from my dad that when he retired, it seemed to be regiment level, but he didn't transfer to civilian work; he took a medical retirement at the time!"

A regiment-level officer in the war era—that is truly impressive.

Lin Sicheng nodded secretly: "What about the generation before that?"

"I haven't heard my dad mention it!" Gu Ming shook his head, "I don't know either!"

Not knowing doesn't mean they weren't impressive; daring to write it like this, it probably isn't simple.

Thinking secretly, Lin Sicheng glanced at the noisy crowd: "Let's go, let's head over first!"

Gu Ming followed behind: "Why is it so noisy?"

"Probably blocked by the Hu Mansion's friends and relatives; they're playing games."

As the two spoke, they walked toward the residential complex gate. While walking, they took out their brooches and pinned them to their chests.

Seeing two very spirited young men arrive, wearing "Best Man" brooches on their chests, someone laughed and jeered: "Make way... everyone make way, the groom's side has sent reinforcements..."

Instantly, the crowd cleared a path.

Deepest inside, right under the archway, stood seven or eight people: four best men; Lin Sicheng and Gu Ming basically didn't recognize them, they must have been Lin Siping's friends and college classmates.

The two Aunts receiving the bride were Chunmei and a sister-in-law from a cousin's family. At the very front was Lin Siping, holding flowers in his hands, with the Six Rites placed by his feet. Seeing Lin Sicheng, Chunmei let out a long sigh of relief, waving her hands like little fans: "Our family's college student is here? Sicheng, Gu Ming, come quickly, come quickly..."

As soon as the words fell, a burst of laughter erupted: "So what if he's a college student? As if no one else has been to college?"

"If you don't believe it, ask the groom, aren't his brothers-in-arms college students too? Every single one of them is from a prestigious university..."

"Go look in the hallway, the best men blocking the door, which one of them isn't a prestigious university student?"

Chunmei was exceptionally proud: "Our Sicheng is different."

"Come on, tell us, how is he different?"

There were too many people, and it was unclear who had started the jeering. Chunmei rolled her eyes and beckoned to Lin Sicheng and Gu Ming: "You two, hurry up!" The two walked over, and Lin Sicheng looked around: "Where is my Fourth Uncle?"

The Fourth Uncle was their fourth paternal cousin, the Gift Pressing Master for this bride-receiving, and also an elder of the groom's side. Besides him, there was a pair of boy and girl flower attendants, who were Lin Sicheng and Lin Siping's cousins once removed.

"He was invited inside by the Makeup Pressing Official (the bride's side elder) to drink tea, and Lele and Qianqian (the boy and girl attendants) went too. The Aunt who escorted the bride invited us in too, but we were worried..."

Understood, today's difficulties were only meant for the groom, at most the best men, not the elders of the groom's family.

To be honest, it was quite measured.

Thinking this over secretly, Lin Sicheng looked to the side: the four best men were already red-faced and flushed from drinking. Chunmei and the cousin-in-law were fine, still smiling, but Lin Siping had already stiffened his face, anger hidden in his eyes.

Looking further in, the two brothers were both startled: a red carpet was laid from the complex gate to the entrance of the apartment building.

The distance was not short, and every so often, a long table was set up. A rough count showed there were eighteen tables in total.

The key was: on each table were ten disposable paper cups, filled to the brim, and before they even got close, the distinct soy-sauce aroma of Old Xifeng came Floating over.

No need to guess, anyone who had drunk alcohol knew: this cup was at least four taels.

Looking at the bride-receiving group again, they had only just passed the first table. Behind, there were still seventeen whole tables.

Looking at the four best men again: they were already grimacing, their faces red and necks purple.

Lin Sicheng cupped his chin: This isn't right, is it?

One cup is four taels, one table is four catties; counting everyone who came to receive the bride—men, women, old, and young—they could at most pass two tables, what about the sixteen tables behind?

Furthermore, today there was definitely more than just this one checkpoint; the ones behind would only get harder one after another...

Gu Ming grimaced: "Chunmei, what's the situation?"

Lin Siping's eyes bulged, and just as he was about to say something, Chunmei glared at him, meaning for him not to open his mouth.

Then, she lowered her voice: "This checkpoint is called Ten Miles One Choice: there are ten cups in total, nine contain alcohol, one contains sweet water; you must find that cup of sweet water within the first three cups, otherwise you have to drink all ten cups..."

Gu Ming was half-believing, looking at the best men: "Thirty percent probability, is the luck really that bad?"

The best men didn't speak, just glared at him.

Lin Sicheng didn't make a sound, and looked back again: the probability was indeed quite high, and these guys drinking like this probably had bad luck when passing the first table. But the problem was, you have to gamble on probability at every table. With eighteen tables in total, even if you were lucky and had an eighty percent success rate, you'd still have to drink at least three tables' worth. One table is three catties and six taels, three tables is over ten catties.

Fifty-two percent proof Old Xifeng, Gu Ming, you're big, right? Come, try it, how many catties can you drink?

Lin Sicheng thought for a while, then sighed: "Chunmei, it was you who gave my dad the idea to trick us into coming over, right?"

Chunmei didn't speak, her gaze Floating away.

She was out of options too: out of six best men, two had already collapsed after just the first table, what about the remaining seventeen tables?

They couldn't just not receive the bride today, could they?

Gu Ming suddenly realized: there was no such thing as "a best man riding a motorcycle into a ditch," this was truly having no other way, and tricking Lin Sicheng into coming to save the day. Godfather is really something, even scamming his own son?

Just as he was secretly complaining, Chunmei lowered her voice: "Sicheng, you know Siping's father-in-law, and it seems you know their leader too, can you ask them to put in a good word and let Director Hu make an exception?"

Lin Sicheng thought about it, but shook his head.

It could probably be made an exception, but that's not how things are done. Because it was Lin Siping who didn't act properly first.

At this time, if you ask for some leader, it's not putting in a good word, but using power to pressure people. Even if an exception is made today, it might bury a big landmine for the future.

Besides, with such a big scene today, the Hu family's relatives couldn't be too excessive, and certainly wouldn't make the situation too stiff.

Therefore, there must be a compromise.

Lin Sicheng thought for a moment: "Which one is the cousin-in-law's elder?"

"The elders went inside to drink tea!" Chunmei pointed to the two men opposite, one around thirty, one in his early twenties: "These two are the Tea Offering Official and the Chuanxilang!"

Both were of the same generation; the Tea Offering Official should be the bride's cousin or similar, while the Chuanxilang was the bride's unmarried younger brother or clan brother.

The two smiled and bowed: "Best Man Official!"

"Big brother, brother, thank you for your hard work!" Lin Sicheng returned the bow with a smile, pointing to the wine table, "The young men can't hold their liquor, it's easy to make a fool of themselves if they get drunk, is there a way to make an exception?"

"There is, and we already said it..." Chuanxilang smiled and pointed to the side, "If you don't want to drink alcohol, you can drink Five Flavors Soup, one cup replaces one cup." As he spoke, a boy of sixteen or seventeen brought over a tray, on which were ten paper cups: yellow, red, black, green, white, two cups of each color.

Smelling the scent, it must be vinegar water, sugar water, salt water, bitter melon juice, and mustard juice.

Lin Sicheng looked: "Brother, can we taste it?"

"Of course!" The young man waved his hand, and the boy carrying the tray walked over.

Lin Sicheng took the bitter melon juice, and Gu Ming took the mustard juice.

The two each took a sip, then exchanged: one was very bitter, one was slightly spicy, but not impossible to drink.

At least it didn't sting the nose, which meant there was only a little bit of mustard in it.

Lin Sicheng looked at Gu Ming: "How many cups of the spicy one can you drink?"

Gu Ming thought about it: "Eight or nine cups, if it exceeds ten, I'll probably throw up!"

Lin Sicheng could also drink eight or nine cups, adding up to seventeen or eighteen cups. Even if they lost everything, two cups per table, that would only be thirty-six cups. But don't forget, there were still four best men and two Aunts behind.

The hardest thing to drink is this mustard juice; the rest are nothing to worry about, anyone could drink them. So, I feel like this game isn't hard, right? It definitely can't be called difficult for people, at most it's just uncomfortable for a little while...

Lin Sicheng and Gu Ming turned their heads, just about to say something, when the four Best Men waved their hands repeatedly: "Don't look at us, we'd rather drink alcohol!" As they spoke, the four of them exchanged a look, their eyes faintly revealing a hint of schadenfreude deep down.

The brothers were stunned, then looked at Lin Siping again: No wonder he was stuck here?

And even less wonder, why Lin Siping's expression didn't look too good?

It must be that Sister Chunmei sensed something was wrong, saw that these few were not only useless but also very likely to cause trouble, so she called Dad (Godfather) and coaxed the two of them over.

No... what kind of friends has Lin Siping made?

Purely plastic brothers...