Xue Rui looked at the group of spirited young men and couldn't help but laugh to himself.
He had been their age once. How could he not know what these kids were thinking?
At their carefree age, not to mention they weren't doing any back-breaking labor, did they really need alcohol to numb themselves?
These boys weren't drinking because they liked alcohol. They were imitating adults, pretending to be mature.
They especially loved to put on a show in front of girls, not unlike silly peacocks constantly fanning their tail feathers to attract a mate.
They might not have been trying to get any particular girl's attention, but in the heat of the moment, they'd think, 'The girls are watching. I absolutely can't chicken out.'
They mistakenly believed that smoking and drinking were marks of a mature man. In reality, the true marks were responsibility and pressure; smoking and drinking were just the outward symptoms.
