Just then, Song Yaqi explained, "Lin Feng, you probably don’t know this, but the food you guys have been eating lately was all made by Ling’er!"
"Come to think of it, this is probably your first time officially meeting Ling’er."
"Not counting class time, of course..."
Lin Feng looked over at Chu Ling’er, a little surprised by what he’d heard.
’Who would’ve thought? This girl looks so delicate, but she can actually cook?’
’And her skills aren’t the least bit inferior to a professional chef’s!’
Lin Feng smiled and praised her aloud, "Ling’er’s cooking is truly excellent!"
"It’s perfectly to my taste. It’s no exaggeration to call you a master of Sichuan cuisine."
Hearing Lin Feng’s praise, Chu Ling’er grew a little shy and said in a fluster, "No, no, my cooking is pretty average. It’s not as good as my grandma’s."
"Besides, if it weren’t for the food I made today..."
"...none of this would have happened."
Chu Ling’er seemed wracked with guilt, her voice barely a whisper.
"What does that have to do with you?"
"It was their fault to begin with. They can’t handle spicy food but insisted on eating Sichuan cuisine,"
Song Yaqi said, coming to her defense.
Even the most good-natured person would probably have a hard time tolerating a situation like that.
Chu Ling’er simply lowered her head again.
"Forget it. Let’s not talk about this stuff,"
Song Yaqi said, shaking her head in resignation.
She picked up the large bottle of Wusu beer from the table and poured a glass for herself and another for Chu Ling’er.
"Lin Feng, Yang Qiniang, Cao Ming, Jiang Chao."
"This drink is to you guys. Thank you for speaking up for me today."
Even though they hadn’t been able to help much, Song Yaqi still made a point to toast Lin Feng and his friends in gratitude.
Chu Ling’er raised her glass as well, though her head remained slightly bowed.
"You don’t have to be so formal. Anyone would have done the same in that situation,"
"We just happened to be there, that’s all."
Jiang Chao explained with a flustered expression, as if eager to downplay his role.
Yang Qiniang glanced at Jiang Chao and raised his glass with a smile.
"Old Jiang, that’s not what you were saying earlier,"
"he said. "When you saw them yelling at Song Yaqi, your eyes went red and you were about to go fight them!"
These words made Jiang Chao even more flustered.
Song Yaqi glanced at Jiang Chao and said with a smile, "In any case, you were all willing to help, so I should thank you."
"We’re all classmates; we should help each other out."
Seeing that Jiang Chao was too embarrassed to say anything more, Lin Feng picked up his bottle and took the initiative, clinking it against Song Yaqi’s and Chu Ling’er’s glasses.
With Lin Feng taking the lead, the others naturally followed, clinking their glasses with Song Yaqi’s and Chu Ling’er’s one after another.
Song Yaqi shook her head, not wanting to dwell on the matter any longer.
"Alright!"
"That whole thing is in the past."
"Let’s drink until we drop tonight and forget all about it."
Lin Feng raised his bottle again for another round of clinks.
"Alright."
"Cheers."
Yang Qiniang and the others didn’t refuse.
That included Song Yaqi and Chu Ling’er.
But Lin Feng noticed something: Chu Ling’er seemed to have a low tolerance for alcohol.
After just one glass, her face was already starting to flush.
Chu Ling’er had very fair skin to begin with, especially her legs beneath her hot pants, which were so pale you could almost see the capillaries beneath the surface.
’How did she stay so fair after all that military training?’
After a few beers, a faint crimson blush spread across her pretty face.
If you didn’t look closely, you might think she was wearing blush.
"By the way, Lin Feng, Yang Qiniang,"
"the welcome party is next week."
"The head teacher probably won’t be there, so we’ll need to help our classmates find where to go."
Having had a couple of drinks, Song Yaqi was subconsciously looking for a topic of conversation.
Somehow, she’d landed on this.
’Well, she is the Youth League Secretary, after all,’
’he thought. ’Not like the two of us, with our cushy, do-nothing committee roles.’
Song Yaqi was the class’s second-in-command. Although she didn’t have the same standing as the class president,
a lot of matters still required her attention.
"So go find it. The two of us are useless for that stuff. We can only guarantee that we’ll show up to the party,"
Lin Feng said. He didn’t want to get involved in these matters.
’It’s too much trouble!’
Yang Qiniang was of the same mind.
Hearing Song Yaqi’s words, he shook his head and said,
"We’re the Psych Committee member and the Health Committee member."
"You guys can worry about this kind of thing."
’After all, he and Lin Feng were just nobodies.’
’It was better to just coast and collect the course credits. No need to go looking for extra work!’
"Fine,"
Song Yaqi said, perhaps seeing the two of them embracing their slacker attitudes.
Song Yaqi knew it wasn’t her place to press them further,
though she stopped herself from saying what she was thinking.
Lin Feng waved to the owner and ordered some more grilled skewers.
The group of six drank their beer and ate their skewers.
Song Yaqi was naturally outgoing,
so over the course of the meal, she grew much closer to Lin Feng and the guys.
Only Chu Ling’er remained apart.
She just sat there quietly by herself,
not eating anything.
She would only raise her glass to join in when Lin Feng and the others made a toast.
Lin Feng wanted to ask Chu Ling’er why she wasn’t eating,
but he held his tongue in the end.
「They ate and drank until a little past nine.」
Only then did the group, some supporting others, pay the bill and leave.
By the time they left, Jiang Chao was already drunk.
Perhaps in an attempt to look impressive in front of Song Yaqi,
he had drained his bottle with every single toast.
No matter how much was left, he’d chugged it all in one go.
Watching his friend’s antics, Lin Feng could only lament, ’Ah, to be young and foolish.’
’Only a kid would drink himself sick just to save face.’
’An adult knows that getting wasted causes more problems than it solves.’
’Besides, being drunk feels genuinely terrible.’
Lin Feng had always made it a habit to know his limits.
The moment he felt he was reaching his limit, he wouldn’t drink a single drop more.
But something seemed different tonight.
Normally, after drinking this much,
he would have been well on his way to being drunk.
But tonight, he felt completely sober.
Other than needing to use the restroom a few more times than usual,
he felt no signs of intoxication whatsoever.
’Could it be the effect of the Unyielding Golden Spear skill?’
’While enhancing his endurance, had it also strengthened the function of certain other organs?’
’If that were the case, it would be a very pleasant, and unexpected, bonus.’

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