Inside Bianyifang Restaurant.
Like at every wedding feast under heaven, Chen Ji went from table to table toasting, draining bowl after bowl; the liquor was turned into vapor by the stove of fire inside him.
What was different was that Zhang Xia was not like other brides, sitting in the boudoir with a red veil over her head waiting. Instead, she followed Chen Ji around toasting and drinking hard alongside him.
Her Path could not neutralize alcohol; after more than a dozen bowls she was already tipsy, her face flushed like the evening clouds.
Chen Ji wouldn't let her drink anymore, so she just followed behind him. Chen Ji drank two bowls each time, downing Zhang Xia's share as well; once the bowls were empty, Zhang Xia poured for Chen Ji.
Her elder brother Zhang Zheng, the big brother-in-law, arrived belatedly.
He gritted his teeth and went bowl for bowl with Chen Ji for more than ten bowls, but before Chen Ji got drunk, he himself went under first.
