Chapter 196 174: Jokester

Wu Ruiying said, "That's not guaranteed; Chen Ke doesn't look like someone with revolutionary determination as solid as iron."Huang Liancheng, fundamentally a wild one, showed his true colors in excitement: "When working, you have to grab with both hands. It should be solid as iron when needed and as soft as mud when necessary."

At this moment, the whole lamb platter was brought up. Pan Hongwei used public chopsticks to pick a lamb whip for Huang Liancheng: "Director Huang, eat this dish, and you must be as solid as iron."

Yu Xiangdong laughed and said, "Director Huang is so young, it's completely unnecessary."

Huang Liancheng said, "How can it be unnecessary? The younger you are, the more you consume, right, Xiaoxu?"

Xu Chunliang smiled, "Director Huang is experienced; the newer ones should learn more from the advanced." The more they drink within the system, the more they like to talk about these topics, probably because they're used to pretending to be serious at work; they show their true colors in such private gatherings.

Everyone laughed again; Xu Chunliang's response was clever.

Tang Mingmei said, "Xiaoxu and Xiaocheng aren't married; don't corrupt the kids."

Huang Liancheng said meaningfully, "Director Tang is distressed."

This time, everyone laughed a bit perfunctorily. After all, they had all heard the rumors about Tang Mingmei and Xu Chunliang, so everybody was avoiding this topic; unexpectedly, Huang Liancheng blurted it out, hitting the nail on the head. Some jokes between colleagues are okay to make, and some are not; if you cross the line, there's a chance they could fall out on the spot.

Tang Mingmei laughed and said, "Xiaoxu is my brother; of course, I'm distressed. I'm warning you all, no one is allowed to bully him. If anyone bullies him, I'll drink them under the table."

Xu Chunliang said half-jokingly, "Sister Tang, Director Huang bullied me."

Tang Mingmei had long found Huang Liancheng annoying and raised her glass, "Director Huang, let's have a drink."

Huang Liancheng, also a lover of drinking, said, "Let's do it. Director Tang, however many you want, I'll accompany you."

The onlookers egged them on, and Tang Mingmei and Huang Liancheng each drank a full glass, which received applause.

Tang Mingmei went for a double blessing, drinking two glasses. Huang Liancheng had already wilted; everyone in the hospital knew about each other's drinking capacities. People like Huang Liancheng were the type to seek abuse actively; this was just Tang Mingmei, and Xu Chunliang hadn't even made a move yet. Huang was almost done, slurring his words.

After just the first hot dish, he was already drunk. Everyone understood that Huang Liancheng's careless words had offended Tang Mingmei, so no one wanted to make a fuss. After all, it was Huang Liancheng's own mouth that got him into trouble.

The person was invited by Pan Hongwei, who naturally didn't want Huang to look bad and tried to smooth things over: "Director Huang, I don't know about anything else, but right now your tongue is as solid as iron."

Huang Liancheng said, "I'm...okay...come on...let's have another drink..."

Considering they were from the same hospital, Tang Mingmei didn't continue to press him, knowing if he had another drink, he'd end up under the table.

At this point, the waiter brought in a yolk corn dish, specially ordered for the ladies.

Seeing it was getting a bit cold, Section Chief Yu Xiangdong started telling a joke: "The other day at dinner, I heard a corn story. Let me tell it to liven things up."

Wu Ruiying said, "I hope it's not another dirty joke."

Chen Guangming said, "Rest assured, Section Chief Yu never refrains from spicing things up."

Tang Mingmei said, "You're the worst."

Cheng Xiaohong added, "He's not bad, he's secretly naughty."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Bang! They heard a head hit the table; it was Huang Liancheng, who couldn't hold it any longer and fell asleep on the spot.

Pan Hongwei said, "Director Huang is really particular, not even touching the hot dishes, saving me money."

Everyone laughed heartily, mostly schadenfreude.

Yu Xiangdong continued with his story: "Two corn kernels got married, and the next morning, the male woke up to find a popcorn beside him. He asked curiously, 'Hey, who are you? Where's my wife?'" He paused intentionally here.

Wu Ruiying thought she had guessed the reason: "Popcorn is also made of corn. Is he stupid? Just a different hairstyle and he doesn't recognize her."

Yu Xiangdong smiled and said, "The popcorn shyly replied, 'One pop and I was blown away, and you don't recognize me anymore.'"

Wu Ruiying burst out laughing, accidentally spitting out water onto the floor.

The others laughed, leaning back and forth.

Pan Hongwei said, "Section Chief Yu, I really sympathize with your wife."

The words were too detailed to ponder over and were simply hilarious.

Xu Chunliang didn't laugh as exaggeratedly, realizing that at government banquets, no meat means no meal. When in Rome, do as the Romans do; listen to some jokes to lighten the mood.

Yu Xiangdong pointed at Wu Ruiying, "Your lipstick is all smudged."

Wu Ruiying pulled out a wet wipe from her bag and wiped her mouth.

Yu Xiangdong continued, "In the old days, a beauty found her lipstick too heavy and wiped it off with a wet tissue, discarding it on the road. An old man picked it up, inspected it for a long time, and then remembered what it was. He chased after her and said, 'Girl, this ultra-thin kind is easily worn off!'"

Tang Mingmei was laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes, and Cheng Xiaohong's face was red from laughter. Yu Xiangdong really was an old rascal.

Only Huang Liancheng wasn't laughing; he must have heard the commotion and mumbled, "I'm not that drunk..."

Tang Mingmei said, "Director Huang, if you're not drunk, get up and keep drinking."

Huang Liancheng waved his hand, "I... can't..." He got up and ran outside.

Yu Xiangdong sighed and said, "Director Huang lacks stamina." This brought another round of laughter.

Pan Hongwei said, "Director Huang drank too much, let me check on him." After all, he organized the event, and it's never good if something happens to a guest.

Chen Guangming gestured for him to stay seated, indicating that he would go check since he was closer to the door, making it more convenient to come and go.

Tang Mingmei took the initiative to toast with Xu Chunliang, "Director Xu, congratulations on being entrusted with important responsibilities by Dean Zhao."

Yu Xiangdong said, "Now we should call you Dean Xu."

Xu Chunliang laughed and said, "Section Chief Yu, don't make fun of me, everyone here holds a higher position than me."

Yu Xiangdong said, "You're now the governor who commands respect!"

Everyone chimed in, but Xu Chunliang corrected them, saying that the governor was actually Jin Yonghao. He was just a nominal deputy dean at a branch, responsible for handling property transfer paperwork assigned by Dean Zhao. Once he finished this task, his mission would be complete.

At this moment, they heard shouting from outside. Xu Chunliang felt something was amiss and got up to take a look. Once outside, he saw that Huang Liancheng had vomited on the way to the restroom, splattering the pants leg of a passing guest. The guest was furious and grabbed Huang Liancheng, ready to hit him.

Chen Guangming quickly intervened, repeatedly apologizing to the angry guest. Huang Liancheng, sobering up after vomiting, turned pale upon seeing the guest's furious demeanor.

Xu Chunliang saw the guest was someone he knew, Ding Si, whom he had previously disciplined at Min Nan Seafood City.

Ding Si hesitated upon seeing Xu Chunliang, realizing that Huang Liancheng was with him. Although Ding Si was usually aggressive, he had previously lost face to Xu Chunliang and still harbored fear of him. His anger dissipated immediately, and he quickly greeted, "Director Xu!"

Xu Chunliang smiled and said, "President Ding, why such a big fuss?" From the looks of it, Huang Liancheng indeed seemed to be someone everyone disliked, the kind who gets beaten up in the community.

Chen Guangming explained the situation, and at this point, some of Ding Si's tablemates, marked with tattoos, had also gathered around.

Huang Liancheng stood there with his head hung low like a student caught doing something wrong, completely different from his earlier bravado at the drinking table. Xu Chunliang quietly laughed to himself; this guy was a coward. He said to Ding Si, "President Ding, sorry about this. Our Director Huang drank too much. How about you take off your pants and we'll get them dry-cleaned for you?"

Ding Si wouldn't dare accept such an offer, laughing, "Director Xu, I didn't know he was your friend. We're all on the same side, it's nothing, it's nothing." He waved his hand, signaling for his friends to disperse. Xu Chunliang made Huang Liancheng apologize to Ding Si, and since the matter was so clear-cut, Xu Chunliang saw no reason to defend him.

Indeed, it was Huang Liancheng's fault for being rude first. No matter what, you can't just vomit on others; he had to accept his bad luck today.

Due to this incident, the mood for drinking was somewhat dampened, and Tang Mingmei suggested ending the night early.

When Pan Hongwei went to settle the bill, he learned that President Ding had already paid it as a friend of Director Xu. Pan Hongwei said to Xu Chunliang, "See, I promised to treat, yet your friend ended up picking up the tab."

Xu Chunliang wouldn't really call Ding Si a friend. On his way out, he saw Ding Si at the door, sending people off. Xu Chunliang went over to greet him. Even though their initial encounter wasn't pleasant, Ding Si showing such respect, giving him face in front of so many colleagues, was appreciated.

Ding Si wanted to consult him about something and asked Xu Chunliang to talk in a spot away from the crowd.

Ding Si whispered, "Director Xu, I've been having trouble with, um, duration lately."

Xu Chunliang, feigning ignorance, asked, "What kind of duration?"

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Ding Si said, "You know, that kind. I used to last over half an hour, but now I'm done after just a few tries."

Xu Chunliang said, "What are you implying? Are you blaming me?"

Immediately shaking his head, Ding Si said, "No, I'm not blaming you. I wouldn't dare. The medicine you prescribed last time worked great, except it upset my stomach. I followed the same formula a few more times, and while things got better, the side effects were too strong."

Xu Chunliang struggled to keep a straight face. This guy was a bit of an idiot. He had intentionally pranked him, and Ding Si actually dared to use it again. Men often go to great lengths when it comes to performance issues.

Xu Chunliang said, "You're misusing medicine. That was a different situation; you can't use the same prescription now."

Ding Si said, "Director Xu, I know Huichun Hall has secret formulas. Can you help me out?"

Xu Chunliang replied, "Aren't there Western drugs for this?"

Ding Si sighed, "I've been to the men's health clinic, and they gave me Viagra and Cialis, but they didn't really work. It's not that I can't get it up, it's just... you know."

Xu Chunliang said, "Alright, I'll ask my grandfather and see if he has any solutions."

Ding Si said, "Thank you so much, Director Xu. Can I add you on WeChat? I'll send over my detailed symptoms later."

Xu Chunliang added him on WeChat.

After getting in the car, Cheng Xiaohong couldn't contain her curiosity and asked what he and Ding Si had talked about for so long.

The end of the month is here, and I'm asking for monthly votes! Adding an extra chapter as a token of sincerity! There are no double votes at the end of the month, don't keep those monthly tickets in your pockets, vote them out!