BANG!

"You’re one arrogant little girl!"

Boss Jin glared at her, his anger partially real, but mostly intended to intimidate An Ning.

Boss Jin had his eye on this house for a long time. Or rather, he and An Guoming weren’t the only ones interested in this location.

But Boss Jin had always considered the house his for the taking, simply because he had a few tricks up his sleeve when it came to drinking.

Boss Jin’s outburst, the burly man’s amusement, An Guoming’s readiness to spring into action—

"Calm down."

An Ning pressed down on An Guoming’s shoulder with one hand, her head turning slightly as she gazed calmly at Boss Jin.

The fury Boss Jin had hoped to provoke was completely absent. All that remained was a placid calm.

In that moment, the other two men at the table finally realized something: this girl was the one actually in charge.

They had been mistaken the entire time.

"Slamming the table is so tasteless."

An Ning smiled faintly. She gently lifted her left foot, seemingly without any force, and then set it down again.

CRACK—CRACK—

A fissure split open in the ground.

Even though it was an earthen floor, it had long been packed solid from years of being walked on.

With one stomp, she had cracked the earth.

As her left foot landed, An Ning filled a bowl of liquor for herself, her tone airy. "I can be even more arrogant. Care to see?"

"It might involve a bit of bloodshed, though. So please, be careful."

CLANG!

The liquor pot hit the table. An Ning raised her bowl in Boss Jin’s direction and said, "I’ll drink my liquor."

"You drink yours. What do you say, Boss Jin?"

’What do I say?’

Boss Jin had a feeling that if he dared to say no, her next stomp would land on his neck.

"Fine... fine, fine!"

"Let’s drink!"

Boss Jin stopped arguing about making toasts and silently raised his own bowl of liquor, gulping it down. GULP, GULP.

An Ning’s gaze shifted to the burly man opposite her. She could practically see the awkwardness of a new bride on him; he averted his eyes, raised his bowl, and swallowed it all in one go. GULP.

He choked a little, forcing the bowl of liquor down.

"Not bad. You two can really hold your liquor."

An Ning smiled again.

But the two men felt the hair on their arms stand on end.

’Why do I have such a dangerous feeling?’

An Ning put down her bowl and called for the owner.

"Another ten jin of baijiu."

"Oh... right. Ten jin each."

After An Ning shouted her order, the owner who was supposed to bring the liquor froze in place.

’Ten jin per person? Is she trying to drink someone to death?’

He didn’t dare.

An Ning sized up the owner and asked, "What’s wrong? Are you out of liquor?"

"N-no, that’s not it. We... we have liquor."

Terrified by a single look from An Ning, the owner stuttered, then steeled himself and turned to get the liquor.

’If they drink themselves to death, so be it!’

Most importantly, the owner felt that if he didn’t go get the liquor, he would be the one to die right now.

’Whose daughter is this girl, anyway? Where did she get this thuggish aura?’

The owner used a small cart to wheel out three jugs of liquor and placed them next to the small table.

An Ning tore off the red seal. She grasped the mouth of the jug with two fingers, and the ten jin of liquor seemed as light as a feather in her hand, utterly weightless.

When pouring from a jug like that, most people would spill at least a little.

But with An Ning, not a single drop was lost.

This display of skill left everyone in the courtyard thoroughly impressed.

"Gentlemen, please, help yourselves. I have a bowl, you have a bowl. That’s fair, isn’t it?"

An Ning poured for herself and drank, not offering toasts, not asking for any, just simply drinking.

Yet it was precisely this version of her that left the two men opposite her not daring to object.

What followed was a strange scene in the courtyard: a young girl would drink a bowl of liquor, and the two men would have to match it.

Before they knew it, half of the ten jin of liquor was gone.

Boss Jin really couldn’t take it anymore, and his sneaky little movements reappeared.

An Ning, holding her liquor bowl in her right hand, shot her left hand out like lightning, grabbing Boss Jin’s wrist and twisting it with a sharp force.

"AH—"

Boss Jin’s palm, which had been facing down, was forced open, revealing a yellowish-white pill.

"You’ve already taken one pill. Wouldn’t taking another be a breach of martial etiquette?"

An Ning’s clear eyes stared directly at Boss Jin.

Her words made Boss Jin shiver uncontrollably.

’She knows.’

"Jin—you! You fight dirty."

The burly man genuinely wanted to drink; he had just assumed Jin could really hold his liquor, so he’d subconsciously sided with him.

As for that skinny man, An Guoming, the burly man had looked down on him the most.

Seeing that he’d been exposed, and terrified by the strength in her grip on his wrist, Boss Jin didn’t try anything else. He decided to just admit defeat.

"In that case, I withdraw from this—"

"I’m afraid not."

The pressure from An Ning’s hand didn’t lessen in the slightest.

"Boss Jin, since we’ve already started, it would be rude not to leave here lying flat on your back, don’t you think?"

"After all, my second brother is still dazed over here."

An Ning didn’t care about the house, but she had to avenge her second brother before she left.

Never let a score go unsettled overnight—that was something her teacher had taught her on the very first day of her interstellar classes.

Boss Jin met An Ning’s gaze. In that instant, he understood.

"Fine. I’ll drink!"

He wasn’t getting out of this.

An Ning gave that same faint smile again, her lips closed, but her eyes held no trace of amusement—only a deep, calm serenity like the surface of the sea.

But no one believed it was true serenity. The power of the ocean lies in its ability to stir up storms in an instant.

This girl had the power to destroy him with a single finger.

Boss Jin caved.

"To the last drop."

An Ning raised her bowl and drank again.

Boss Jin and the burly man naturally had to drink with her, bowl after bowl after bowl.

An Ning’s face wasn’t even flushed, and her fingers hadn’t trembled once.

From a full jug to an empty one, she hadn’t spilled a single drop of liquor.

By now, Boss Jin had been drunk under the table.

Literally drunk under the table.

Boss Jin had tried to feign being drunk, but An Ning saw right through him with a single glance.

An Ning had just said airily, "I think you can still drink more."

Boss Jin immediately performed an on-the-spot resurrection and drank several more bowls with An Ning.

When he finally collapsed for real, An Ning didn’t even spare him a glance, her full attention falling on the burly man.

The burly man, who normally loved to drink, was for the first time finding that liquor didn’t taste so good after all.

"Little Sister An, you win. We don’t have to drink anymore, right?"

"Oh? That won’t do. I’m still waiting for five thousand to become three thousand."

An Ning waved her hand, about to order more liquor.

The burly man really couldn’t take it anymore. His stomach was full of liquor; he truly couldn’t drink another drop.

"I’ll sell it to you for three thousand right now!"

An Ning’s gesture to order more liquor paused for a moment.

But...

"Owner, another ten jin of baijiu."

"No need to concede. I like to win fair and square. If you let me win, I’ll lose face, and I won’t be able to hold my head high in the future."

An Ning picked up the last bowl of liquor on the table and raised it in the burly man’s direction.

"Come on, don’t be shy. I’ll make sure you drink your fill today."

The burly man now understood. An Ning was angry with him.

But why?

He truly didn’t understand.

But the liquor was here, and he had to force himself to drink it.

"Bottoms up!"