“Could this kid be pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger?” Sun Bo was startled for a moment, then immediately thought, “No way, this kid can’t hold his liquor. He must be deliberately using this trick to scare me. I can’t let him bluff me!”
“Bottoms up!” Sun Bo took the beer Qin Lang handed him, tilted his head back, and drained the whole bottle.
Sun Bo knew he could drink six or seven bottles of beer, about the equivalent of a pound of white liquor, but his drinking capacity was relative. If you drank quickly on an empty stomach, your tolerance would drop drastically. Sun Bo knew this well, so he had planned to use this tactic against Qin Lang — never expecting Qin Lang to turn it right back on him, using his own method against him.
“Teacher Sun, good drinking capacity!” Qin Lang praised, quickly finishing his own bottle. Then, without giving Sun Bo any chance to breathe, he deftly opened two more bottles. “This time, I drink to you! Teacher Sun, you’re not only a good drinker but also easygoing — treating us students as equals, calling each other brothers — really rare… Well, anyway, everything’s in the drink. I’ll down mine first to show respect!”
What’s called “weaving your own cocoon”? What’s called “digging your own grave”?
By the time the third beer was down, Sun Bo had learned the meaning of both. Even though it was only beer, it was still alcohol, not water — and even if it were water, chugging three big bottles in a row would make anyone uncomfortable. Sun Bo’s stomach felt as if it were churning violently; if he kept going like this, he was sure he’d make a fool of himself.
What depressed Sun Bo was that this brat Qin Lang still looked calm, with not a hint of drunkenness, and was even smiling as he opened two more bottles.
Sun Bo’s face changed and he quickly said, “Xiao Qin… enough is enough… You’re still a student after all. If you drink too much… it’s not good. How about this — you drink up… I’ll just sip.”
A trace of contempt flashed in Tao Ruoxiang’s eyes. When Sun Bo had started encouraging Qin Lang to drink, she had known he was trying to make Qin Lang lose face. Who would have guessed Qin Lang would pretend to be weak only to turn the tables, putting Sun Bo in an awkward bind. But Sun Bo was slippery — seeing he couldn’t outdrink the other, he just used “I’ll sip” as a way to save himself. Using such tactics on students said a lot about his character.
Still, Tao Ruoxiang didn’t want to see Sun Bo humiliated, so she said to Qin Lang, “Since Teacher Sun can’t go on, let’s stop here.”
Hearing Tao Ruoxiang say he “can’t go on,” Sun Bo wanted to grab a bottle and go all-in with Qin Lang out of spite. But experience told him that if he kept pushing, the first to embarrass himself would only be him!
Seeing that Tao Ruoxiang had spoken, Qin Lang didn’t press the attack. He began eating heartily instead — after all, Sun Bo was paying, so he wasn’t going to be polite.
After eating for a while, three shady-looking young men came into the restaurant, all smoking. The one in front, though a man, had his hair tied in a ponytail.
The three hooligans sat at the table next to Qin Lang. Just as they sat down, the ponytail guy suddenly stood up, touched his backside, and shouted toward Qin Lang’s table, “The hell! Who spilled beer on this chair! Dammit—”
It turned out there was some beer on the chair. As soon as he sat down, he felt a cold shock on his backside. Now the area under his crotch was damp — just like he’d wet his pants.
“Sorry… we might have spilled it by accident earlier. How about I pay for the dry cleaning?” Sun Bo didn’t know what bad luck had hit him today. Earlier, to avoid drinking too much and embarrassing himself in front of Tao Ruoxiang, he had slyly splashed some beer foam onto the floor. Who knew it would cause trouble now? He quickly stood to apologize.
“Dry clean your mother!” Ponytail cursed directly at Sun Bo.
Sun Bo knew they were street thugs and didn’t want trouble, so he said meekly, “I’m a teacher at No. 7 High School. How much… how much are these pants… I’ll pay.”
“Oh, so being a teacher makes you great? You’re nothing but a professional thug yourself!” Ponytail snorted, blowing a puff of smoke into Sun Bo’s face. “See this? Italian brand — ‘Ama-f***’ — two thousand a pair! Pay up!”
“Two thousand… this is extortion!” Sun Bo’s mouth twitched with anger. One look and he could tell these pants were cheap street-market goods — the guy didn’t even get the brand name Armani right.
“So, what if I’m extorting you? What?” Ponytail shoved Sun Bo in the chest. That shove was the last straw — Sun Bo’s already turbulent stomach spasmed violently, and his mouth suddenly became a high-pressure nozzle, spraying all the beer he had drunk earlier straight at Ponytail.
Qin Lang reacted quickly, pulling Tao Ruoxiang — chair and all — closer to him.
Whoosh! Whoosh~
Ponytail got sprayed full in the face — and it wasn’t just one round.
After several spurts, Sun Bo finally felt relief in his stomach and a bit clearer in his head. But soon he realized he was in big trouble. Sure enough, Ponytail wiped the filth off his face and swung a punch at Sun Bo, roaring, “I’ll kill you!”
The other two moved in to surround Sun Bo.
“Stop! Or I’ll call the police!” Tao Ruoxiang stepped in. After all, Sun Bo was her colleague — she couldn’t just watch him get beaten senseless.
Ponytail wasn’t the kind to back down. He cursed at Tao Ruoxiang, “Call the cops? Fine! It’s you lot in the wrong here. But, seeing as you’re a pretty girl, come watch a movie with me and I’ll let this slide — what’s that? You don’t like it, kid? Trying to play hero? I’ll kill you!”
That last part was aimed at Qin Lang, because he saw the killing intent in Qin Lang’s eyes.
“Brother Ma, give me some face, let’s drop it,” the restaurant owner hurried over, not wanting a scene.
“Fine, it’s their fault anyway. Here’s the deal — this kid’s still a student, so I won’t hit you. But the guy lying on the floor is with you, right? Either you pay me two thousand for the pants, or the girl comes with me to watch a movie and sing, and I’ll let it go!” Ponytail said arrogantly — he was used to throwing his weight around in this street outside the school.
This whole mess had started with Sun Bo, but now the guy was lying there playing dead, making both Qin Lang and Tao Ruoxiang quietly despise him. Sun Bo had turtled up; Qin Lang certainly wouldn’t. He looked at Ponytail with open disdain: “Ponytail, right? Did that recycled beer knock your brains out? This is between you and him — nothing to do with us! If you want money, go ask him. Teacher Tao, let’s go.”
“Looking for death—” Ponytail had never been ignored like this. With a roar, he blocked Qin Lang’s way and threw a punch straight at his nose, clearly aiming to smash his face in.
Qin Lang had been waiting for him to make the first move. Seeing the punch come, he didn’t dodge, standing tall — then suddenly raised his leg and kicked Ponytail hard in the stomach.
Bang!
“Agh—”
With a cry of pain, Ponytail was sent flying right out of the restaurant, landing three meters away like a dead toad, belly up and limbs splayed.
The other two thugs saw Qin Lang kick him that far and didn’t dare block him — they quickly pulled out their phones to call reinforcements.
Qin Lang didn’t bother with them. With flowers in one hand and Tao Ruoxiang in the other, he ran, calling back to Sun Bo, “Teacher Sun, run while you can! Stop playing dead!”
Sun Bo was miserable, but it was true — he hadn’t been seriously hurt. Ponytail’s crew had just wanted to teach him a lesson, not kill him. He had only curled up on the floor pretending to be badly hurt to avoid more punches. Who knew Qin Lang would see right through it and call him out for playing dead?
But since Qin Lang and Tao Ruoxiang had both run, Sun Bo could only get up and run too — if Ponytail’s friends arrived, he’d be the first target.
Once out of the restaurant, Sun Bo remembered he hadn’t even paid for the meal.
At that moment, he saw a group of people running after Qin Lang and Tao Ruoxiang — clearly Ponytail’s reinforcements. Without hesitation, Sun Bo ran in the opposite direction, disappearing without a trace.
